Quebec Man Pleads Guilty to What He Accused the Government Of: Starting Wildfires

A Quebec resident who last summer had shared conspiracy theories online suggesting that the Canadian government was deliberately starting wildfires to convince people climate change is happening has now pleaded guilty to setting more than a dozen fires.

Brian Paré, 38, pleaded guilty to lighting 14 fires in the Chibougamau area of Quebec between May and September 2023. Last year was Canada’s worst wildfire season on record, with a total of 45 million acres burned. On many days, smoke from the fires spread across North America and around the world, degrading air quality and disrupting the daily lives of millions of people.

Two of the fires Mr. Paré set forced people to evacuate about 500 homes in the town of Chapais at the end of May, according to a statement by the prosecutor, Marie-Philippe Charron, in court and reported by The Canadian Press. One of those, the Lake Cavan fire, burned more than 2,000 acres of forest and was the largest of the fires Mr. Paré admitted lighting. The court hearing took place Monday; sentencing is expected in April.

Rising global temperatures contribute to longer fire seasons and increased lightning strikes, which were responsible for starting the most damaging Canadian fires last year.