Some U.S. lawmakers on Thursday threatened to sanction Canada – or even possibly annex it entirely – as they raged about wildfire smoke blanketing many parts of Canada and swaths of the United States.
Dozens of fires burning in northern Ontario have forced people from their communities and destroyed homes in Namaygoosisagagun First Nation north of Thunder Bay. Smoke from those fires is causing air quality warnings including across Ontario, and in multiple states including Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, New York and Indiana.
“Hey Canada, ‘just let it burn’ is not a solution. Unless you want to become the 51st state, learn to manage your forests,” Aric Nesbitt, a Republican state senator in Michigan, said in an online post.
Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno said in a post he will introduce a bill next week “to sanction Canada and the responsible Canadian government officials for this atrocity.”
Four Republican members of Congress in Michigan called on Canada to act on the smoke Wednesday, saying their patience has run out.
“We are done accepting apologies in place of action. If Canada will not manage its forests to prevent these fires, the United States will look elsewhere, and act on our own, to protect our people,” they said in an open letter to Carney.
Asked about the U.S. criticism during a Thursday news conference in London, Ont., Carney brushed it off. He said Canada is pursuing investments in clean energy, while the U.S. is actively working against clean energy.
“Fighting climate change is the responsibility of all countries, including the United States,” Carney said in French.
U.S. environmental group BlueGreen Alliance this week said President Donald Trump’s policies have cancelled or delayed 139 clean energy and industrial projects worth almost US$31 billion.
Carney was forced to defend his own government’s record on the environment Thursday.
In a video posted in late June, the prime minister acknowledged that his policies will lead to higher greenhouse gas emissions than had been forecast under his predecessor. He insisted Canada needs to balance resource projects — including a new pipeline — with environmental investments.
Responding to reporters’ questions Thursday, Carney said the government is taking an investment-driven approach, which includes plans to double the size of Canada’s electricity grid. He told reporters his government is building preconditions to reduce climate-altering carbon emissions into investments like the new pipeline agreement with Alberta.
“What you see is the investments or the major projects that we’re helping to catalyze are low-carbon,” he said.
Carney said Canada has “relied too much on targets, laws, that weren’t driving the actual investment that’s necessary to reduce emissions. So we’ve shifted our focus.”
He said his government’s climate strategy is focused on affordability in the short term. “We have amongst the lowest electricity costs in the world. We want to keep those,” Carney said.
In their letter, the four members of Congress said their constituents in Michigan were living under air quality alerts.
“Our hospitals are once again treating children, dialysis patients, and older residents for the effects of smoke that did not originate anywhere near them,” the letter said.
“This is the third consecutive year we have had to write to Canadian officials about a crisis that Canada has the tools to prevent and has chosen not to.”
One of those members of Congress, John James, wrote in a post Thursday: “FINAL WARNING TO CANADA: Manage your forests to prevent these fires. American lungs are paying the price for Canadian inaction, year after year.”
He followed that up with another post later in the day saying that it “smells like Baghdad outside.”
The United States is grappling with its own fires this season. The National Interagency Fire Center says 39,764 fires have burned more than 3.67 million acres.
“Firefighters continue responding to incidents from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest, Great Basin and Rocky Mountain areas,” the centre said Thursday.
A 56-year-old Canadian helicopter pilot from British Columbia died on July 12 when the aircraft he was piloting crashed while he was helping to fight fires in Colorado.
— Written by Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa, with files from Maan Alhmidi in London
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 16, 2026.
By The Canadian Press | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
