A Canadian premier has accused a group of US lawmakers who demanded the country do more to tackle its wildfires of "trying to trivialise" a deadly situation.
Smoke from the fires is making it difficult for Americans to enjoy summer, six members of Congress said in a letter to Canada's embassy this week.
The premier of Manitoba, which has just declared a state of emergency for a second time this summer due to active blazes, praised US firefighters who are assisting the province.
"I would challenge these ambulance chasers in the US Congress to go and do the same, and to hear how much the American firefighting heroes who are here love our province," Wab Kinew said on Thursday.
He added: "This is what turns people off politics. When you've got a group of congresspeople trying to trivialise and make hay out of a wildfire season where we've lost lives in our province."
