Senate committee report calls for better co-ordination of wildfire response

OTTAWA — Canada needs to create an office to co-ordinate responses to wildfire emergencies, says a Senate report.

The recommendation is one of 15 in a report released today by the Senate committee on agriculture and forestry.

Senators on the committee told a news conference in Ottawa today that one of the key concerns they heard while assembling the report was the need for a single national point of contact to co-ordinate wildfire response.

About six months ago, the federal government launched a new national centre to allow for better co-ordination of disaster response.