It had to be a joke, right? A group of MAGA lawmakers moaning about “suffocating Canadian wildfire smoke” in a complaint fired off to Canada’s ambassador to the US. Someone at The Beaverton or Walking Eagle News must have been feeling especially snarky.

But, no. Turns out that six of Trump’s besties in Congress spent their July 4 weekend coordinating grievances and writing up a joint letter of protest, demanding action from the Canadian government. Their constituents have been “limited in their ability to go outside … to spend time recreating, enjoying time with family and creating new memories,” the complaint reads.

It makes no mention of the tens of thousands of Canadians forced to evacuate this year or those who have died. The signatories conveniently ignore the fact that smoke from the US side of the border regularly smothers those of us who live north of it. 

In fact, the complaint does not mention fires in the US at all, even though more than two million acres have burned so far this year, and Canadian firefighters have deployed to assist their US colleagues, just as US wildland firefighters have been helping in Canada. 

Given the MAGA credentials of the complainants, you may not be surprised to hear their complaint blames a “lack of active forest management” (a nod to Donald Trump’s weird conviction that countries like Finland rake their forests to remove fuel), admonishes Canada for not preventing arson and makes no mention of climate change whatsoever. 

It most certainly does not mention that the signatories just passed Trump’s “big beautiful bill” that will add an extra seven billion tonnes of fossil fuel pollution to the atmosphere over the next five years, compared to the Biden-era climate targets. The irony is what’s suffocating — while MAGA lawmakers rage at the north for spoiling their barbecues, they’re........

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