A man from Quebec has recently been convicted of igniting fourteen forest fires in Canada last year.
Brian Paré, aged 38, has pleaded guilty to starting these fires, which were attributed to “climate change” by the mainstream media and advocates of the green agenda. Paré admitted to 13 counts of arson and one count of arson with disregard for human life at a courthouse in central Quebec, as reported by CBC.
Upon his arrest, Paré confessed to starting the fires in order to determine the dryness of the forest. His spree of arson began in May and continued until September. Last year, Canada experienced its most severe wildfire season on record. The smoke from the Canadian wildfires heavily impacted North America. Dangerous smoke lingered for months, causing cities like New York to be enveloped in a yellow haze.
International firefighting crews assisted Canada in extinguishing the flames. Two of the fires ignited by Paré resulted in the evacuation of approximately 500 homes in Chapais, Que., a small community located around 265 miles northwest of Quebec City.
According to prosecutor Marie-Philippe Charron’s statement to the court, as reported by CBC, the residents of the town were unable to return home until June 3. One of these fires, at Lake Cavan, consumed over 2,000 acres of forest and was the largest among the fires Paré admitted to starting.
This fire was the first in a series of five fires set by Paré between May 31 and June 1, just three days after the Quebec government had imposed a ban on open fires in or near forests due to dry weather conditions, as stated by the outlet. Charron expressed concern over the occurrence of five fires within a brief timeframe.
According to the prosecutor, authorities concluded that the fires were deliberately set and not a result of natural causes. While the fires ravaged the forests, left-wing individuals and their media allies were quick to attribute them to “global warming.”
However, in November, the director general of Canada’s fire services stated that 99.9% of the over 700 wildfires last year were ignited by lightning strikes, aggravated by dry conditions.
Nonetheless, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Democratic President Biden attributed the fires to climate change during that period. After installing a tracking device on his vehicle, the police successfully apprehended Paré. Charron mentioned that suspicions were initially raised on June 2 when Paré displayed a peculiar interest in fires while being interviewed by the police at a fire scene, as reported by CBC. The tracking device revealed that he was present at locations where other fires were ignited on September 1 and September 5. When questioned on September 7, Paré confessed to starting nine fires.
“At this point, the accused admitted he was the one who started the fires and, as his main motivation, claimed he was doing tests to find out whether the forest was really dry or not,” Charron said.
According to local fire officials, the Vancouver Sun reports that over 100 wildfires are currently active in British Columbia. This is attributed to a busy wildfire season, severe drought, and overall warmer and drier weather conditions experienced throughout December.