Ottawa (Ontario)
Today, the Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, President of the King's Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada, and the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for Parks Canada, issued the following statement:
"Our thoughts are with all those affected by the wildfires in Jasper and elsewhere. Hundreds of individuals, families and businesses have been forced to cope with being evacuated, the loss of their property, streams of income, and for many, their employment.
"The Government of Canada is working hard to ensure all those affected receive the services and benefits to which they are entitled. The following resources are available if needed to those impacted by the wildfire:
- Employment and Social Development Canada supports impacted individuals with enhanced Service Canada delivery, outreach to evacuees, and deployment of Service Canada employees to evacuation centres to assist clients, including Temporary Foreign Workers, by offering support in submitting applications for benefits, such as Employment Insurance (EI). There is no need to wait for your employer to issue a Record of Employment (ROE).
Individuals affected by wildfires can submit an eServiceCanada request online to receive assistance with EI, Canada Pension Plan, Canada Pension Plan Disability, Old Age Security, Guaranteed Income Supplement, Social Insurance Number, Veterans Affairs, Grants and Contributions Online Services, Record of Employment on the web (ROE Web) and the Canadian Dental Care Plan.
- Many Parks Canada employees live in Jasper, and a significant number of them continue to work to fight the fire and coordinate the response despite significant personal loss. The Government of Canada will continue to ensure that all affected federal workers, including Parks Canada team members impacted by the fire, continue to receive their pay and the support they need as they work to recover and rebuild together with their community.
Parks Canada continues to support recovery efforts, including working on ways to streamline local development review processes to support temporary housing and long-term rebuilding work that will come, both for residents and for business operators and their employees.
Parks Canada, together with the Town of Jasper, is in dialogue with members of the tourism community, local businesses, and the province to ensure that all re-entry needs are identified and addressed.
All existing leaseholders will have their leases remain in place with Parks Canada. To facilitate the rebuilding process, Parks Canada will expedite the renewal and replacement processes for leases that are nearing their expiration date.
Parks Canada and the Municipality of Jasper will work together to address temporary housing as a whole, with priority focus on restoring essential services, including Fire Services, Jasper Dispatch operations, search and rescue, and road rescue response; and ensuring groceries, fuel and pharmacy needs, etc. are met. Parks Canada teams are working as quickly as possible, taking stock of the damage to housing, the number of individuals this damage affects, and on a needs assessment for the immediate as well as medium to longer term.
