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With more than 100 million Canadians and Americans enduring some of the world’s worst air quality readings because of 800 wildfires burning across Canada, including a dangerous cluster of 200 in Ontario, how can public policy best protect us?

GOLDSTEIN: Wildfires show need to adapt to severe weather, not control climate Back to video

From 2015 to 2025 the Trudeau government took the approach that the best way was a long-term policy to reduce industrial greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity, known as mitigation.

Largely ignored was adaptation to climate change, regardless of whether the causes are human-induced or natural.

Adaptation means wildfire prevention, flood management, disaster relief, properly funded and equipped emergency responders, maintaining public infrastructure in a state of good repair so it is more resilient to severe weather, tougher building codes, requiring mandatory air conditioning as well as heating in new residential construction, and implementing planning policies that ban development in heavily forested areas, flood plains and along coastlines.

In one of these areas alone – public infrastructure – it would take an........

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