This official letter, dated July 15, 2026, is addressed to "The Right Honourable Mark Carney, P.C., M.P., Prime Minister of Canada." It says, "We write today as members of Michigan's congressional delegation" and identifies the signatories as John James, Jack Bergman, and John R. Moolenaar; the letter also discusses "forest thinning, fuel reduction, and prescribed burns" as measures the authors say Canada was told were being addressed.

Today, Reps. Jack Bergman, John James, Lisa McClain, and John Moolenaar are demanding immediate action from the Canadian government as another wildfire season brings dangerous smoke across the border and into Michigan communities.[1] In a joint letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Michigan Republicans warned that patience has run out and called on Canada to move beyond promises and take real action to protect communities on both sides of the border.[1] In their letter, the Members argued that “We write today as members of Michigan's congressional delegation...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.”[1]

Four Republican lawmakers from Michigan sent a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney asking for the Canadian government to take stronger measures to mitigate wildfires through forest thinning, fire fuel reduction, and prescribed burns.

In a letter sent to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, the lawmakers said they believe more aggressive forest management and wildfire mitigation efforts are needed to reduce the frequency and severity of fires. The letter was signed by U.S. Reps. John James, Jack Bergman, John Moolenaar and Lisa McClain.

On Wednesday, July 15, he and three other Republican members of the state's congressional delegation − U.S. Reps. Jack Bergman, of Watersmeet, Lisa McClain, of Bruce Township, and John Moolenaar, of Caledonia − sent a letter addressed to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney saying despite concerns raised a year earlier, "the season has come around again, and nothing has changed except that our patience has run out." The four went on to write that they were "done accepting apologies in place of action" and if Canada would not take steps to manage its forests and better prevent the fires, they would look into what avenues might be available for the United States "exploring direct involvement" in means of reducing dry tinder and adding firefighting capacity.

This week, James signed onto an angry letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney with three other GOP members of Michigan's delegation, complaining that his government hasn't treated the crisis with the urgency it deserves and that "American lungs are paying the price for Canadian inaction." "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," the lawmakers wrote to Carney. "That means our own agencies exploring direct involvement in cross-border fuel reduction and firefighting capacity. It means reconsidering how much benefit of the doubt this relationship continues to earn on an issue where American lungs are paying the price for Canadian inaction, year after year." U.S. Reps. Jack Bergman of Watersmeet, Lisa McClain of Bruce Township and John Moolenaar of Caledonia also signed the letter.

We write today as members of Michigan's congressional delegation to raise our voices on an issue that has already drawn letters from our colleagues in past years: wildfire smoke drifting across the border from Canada into our communities. Additionally, last year, Reps. James and Bergman each wrote letters to your government to raise the alarm about wildfire smoke pouring across our border from Canada into our communities. We write jointly this time because a year has passed, the season has come around again, and nothing has changed except that our patience has run out. We were told last year that this would be treated with urgency. It was not. We were told the causes, chronic under-investment in forest thinning, fuel reduction, and prescribed burns, along with inadequate enforcement against arson, were being addressed. They were not, or not adequately enough to matter to the people we represent.

Four members of Michigan’s congressional delegation have sent a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, calling for stronger action to reduce the impact of wildfire smoke drifting into the United States. The lawmakers say repeated smoke events have affected air quality in Michigan and are urging Canada to increase wildfire prevention efforts, including forest management and fuel reduction.

In the open letter addressed to Canadian officials, US lawmakers John James, John Moolenaar, Jack Bergman and Lisa McClain said their "patience has run out". "We are done accepting apologies in place of action," they said, warning the US could explore direct involvement in cross-border wildfire protection and firefighting if Canada failed to act. "We were told last year that this would be treated with urgency. It was not," they claimed, adding that instead "American lungs are paying the price for Canadian inaction, year after year". They said that issues such as "chronic under-investment in forest thinning, fuel reduction, and prescribed burns, along with inadequate enforcement against arson", had not been addressed "adequately enough".

Washington – Today, Reps. Jack Bergman, John James, Lisa McClain, and John Moolenaar are demanding immediate action from the Canadian government as another wildfire season brings dangerous smoke across the border and into Michigan communities. In a joint letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Michigan Republicans warned that patience has run out and called on Canada to move beyond promises and take real action to protect communities on both sides of the border. The letter to Carney continued, "We were told last year that this would be treated with urgency. It was not. We were told the causes, chronic under-investment in forest thinning, fuel reduction, and prescribed burns, along with inadequate enforcement against arson, were being addressed. They were not, or not adequately enough to matter to the people we represent."

DETROIT (News 10) — Four Republican members of Michigan's congressional delegation have sent a joint letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as wildfire smoke continues to blanket the state.[2] The letter was signed by Reps. John James, Jack Bergman, John Moolenaar, and Lisa McClain.[2] The Michigan lawmakers are calling on Canada to do more to manage its forests. They also warned that the U.S. could take unilateral action to protect the border.[2]

The recriminations kicked off this week when four lawmakers in Michigan’s Republican delegation penned a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, calling for accountability for the smoke traveling across the border. "We are done accepting apologies in place of action," said the letter, signed by Reps. Jack Bergman, John James, Lisa McClain and John Moolenaar. "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. That means our own agencies exploring direct involvement in cross-border fuel reduction and firefighting capacity." Carney did not answer questions regarding the Michigan representatives’ letter during a news conference in Ontario on Thursday, according to Canadian outlet CBC News. "Climate change is everyone’s responsibility — truly everyone’s — including the United States," Carney said.

That comes after Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives Jack Bergman, John James, Lisa McClain and John Moolenaar penned a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney and sent it on Wednesday “demanding immediate action from the Canadian government.”[3] “American lungs are paying the price for Canadian inaction, year after year,” the letter said. “Sovereignty comes with responsibility, and the responsibility to prevent a foreseeable disaster from crossing into another country’s airspace has not been met.”[3] This came after Michigan Rep. John James sent a letter to Carney saying his constituents were choking on toxic wildfire smoke, with another group of Republican members of Congress expressing similar concerns to Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., Kirsten Hillman, earlier in July 2025.[3]

In a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney, lawmakers John James, Jack Bergman, John Moolenaar and Lisa McClain accused Canada of failing to improve forest management and warned the U.S. may take its own action on cross-border fire prevention. The Republicans said repeated conversations with Canadian officials and a previous letter had culminated in a "lack of meaningful progress" on wildfire smoke drifting into Michigan and other northern U.S. states.

In response to the wildfire smoke blanketing Michigan and other parts of the northern Midwest, members of the U.S. Congressional delegation from Michigan have sent a letter to Canada's Prime Minister seeking action. The letter from Republican Reps. Jack Bergman, John James, Lisa McClain and John Moolenaar cites repeated conversations with Canadian officials and a previous letter, which have so far culminated in what they called a "lack of meaningful progress."

A group of Michigan Republican lawmakers — Reps. Jack Bergman (R-MI), John James (R-MI), Lisa McClain (R-MI), and John Moolenaar (R-MI) — published a letter to Carney on Wednesday demanding concrete action and condemning the Canadian government for ignoring pleas from American officials to properly address forest management.

Republican Reps. Jack Bergman, John James, Lisa McClain, and John Moolenaar sent Prime Minister Mark Carney a letter on July 15 accusing Canada of failing to prevent wildfires, calling it the third consecutive year they've had to write about a crisis that Canada has the tools to prevent and has chosen not to. They warned that the U.S. "will look elsewhere, and act on our own" if Canada doesn't do more, and closed with the memorable line that they are "done accepting apologies in place of action."

Amid another round of hazardous air quality due to Canadian fires, state Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Watersmeet) has joined another coalition urging Canadian officials to take action on their wildfires. His previous letter in August 2025 was addressed to Canadian Sen. Michael MacDonald. This year, he joined Reps. John James, Lisa C. McClain, and John R. Moolenaar in writing to the Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. “We were told last year that this would be treated with urgency,” read the letter.

Reps. Jack Bergman, John James, Lisa McClain, and John Moolenaar — four adults with security clearances and access to the Library of Congress, along with mega MAGAT from Ohio, Bernie Moreno — have written to Prime Minister Mark Carney demanding Canada stop the wildfire smoke.[7] The piece describes their letter as a “FINAL WARNING” over wildfire smoke and criticizes their demands regarding Canadian forest management and wildfire control.[7] It notes that John James promoted the effort with a campaign-style graphic reading “CANADA: NO EXCUSES. STOP THE SMOKE.”[7]

The lawmakers said residents in Michigan and other states have endured multiple summers of hazardous smoke, arguing Canadian officials have not taken sufficient steps to prevent recurring wildfire impacts. They warned that if conditions continue, the United States could consider pursuing additional cross-border wildfire prevention measures.

The letter says the causes included "chronic under-investment in forest thinning, fuel reduction, and prescribed burns, along with inadequate enforcement against arson." It also asks: "What funded, measurable steps has your government taken since last summer to reduce fuel loads and wildfire risk in the provinces responsible for the smoke reaching the American Midwest?"