The Brazilian delegation that will help the Canadian government fight the forest fires set off for the country around 8 a.m. this Friday (21).

The boarding took place at the Brasilia Air Base, during an event attended by federal government authorities.

Humanitarian aid from Brazil to Canada was announced last Wednesday (19), through a press release published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to Itamaraty, Brazil’s humanitarian aid to Canada is expected to last a month and will involve more than 100 civil servants and military personnel.

These servers include:

• agents from Ibama and ICMBio;
• members of the Ministries of the Environment and Integration;
• troops of the National Security Force (linked to the Ministry of Justice);
• military firefighters from the Federal District and several states, including Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul and Bahia.

Announcing the sending of aid, Itamaraty informed that the costs of the operation will be reimbursed by Canada due to a local law which provides for the payment of humanitarian aid.

Also in the press release, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed that Brazilian experts would be sent to the areas most affected by the fires.

According to local authorities, the province of Quebec, for example, has more than 80 recorded fires, making the air quality “unhealthy.”

Additionally, in Montreal, the region is covered in pollution due to fires.

After the delegation embarked, the representative of the Canadian Embassy, ​​Simon Cridland, declared that the Canadian authorities would guide the Brazilians, during the operation, on the specificities of the country’s vegetation.

Cridland also said the 30-day time frame is expected for this type of collaboration.

In the same vein, the president of Ibama, Rodrigo Agostinho, said he understood that in these 30 days the country would bring the fire under control.

Agostinho also said Brazil should take advantage of the operation to learn how to deal with new equipment and new techniques for fighting forest fires.

“It’s a win-win cooperation. We will learn to deal with wildfires with greater expertise, which will become more frequent with global warming,” he said.

Since Lula took office in January this year, Brazil and Canada have sought to move closer together.

In the first half of this year, for example:

• Lula and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke by telephone in April to discuss the fight against climate change and the war in Ukraine;
• Lula and Trudeau met in May, in Japan, during the G7 summit, and discussed trade relations between the two countries;
• Mercosur, under the Brazilian presidency, wants to intensify negotiations on a trade agreement with Canada.