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BC Liberals’ claims they’re being shut out of wildfire info ‘just nonsense’: Public safety minister

Click to play video: 'Drone footage captures B.C. wildfire destruction at Loon Lake'
Drone footage captures B.C. wildfire destruction at Loon Lake
WATCH: Drone footage captures B.C. wildfire destruction at Loon Lake – Jul 26, 2017

B.C.’s new NDP government is firing back at Opposition Leader Christy Clark’s accusations that BC Liberal MLAs are being kept in the dark about the wildfire situation.

Speaking with Kamloops’ Radio NL on Thursday, Clark claimed opposition MLAs were having a “difficult” time getting up to date information from the government about the wildfire situation.

“We’ve been asking them since the day before we left government that we need our MLAs that represent the communities that are burning, [they] need to be part of the daily in-depth briefings. We need to have a contact that is directly in the premier’s office in emergency management, so MLAs can fight for their communities,” Clark said.

As an example, Clark said it took Kamloops North MLA Peter Milobar four days to get answers on the wildfire-related closure of Wells Gray Provincial Park.

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But Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth calls Clark’s allegations “just nonsense.”

WATCH: Full coverage of the B.C. wildfires

“Just about every single [Liberal MLA] has my personal phone number,” Farnworth said.

He said not only is the information available, his government has gone out of its way to get it to opposition MLAs.

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“One of them suggested to me, ‘You know, could we have a briefing with just you every few days.’ We set one up yesterday, at one o’clock, and not a single one was on the line.”

Farnworth said on top of a daily briefing, there’s a dedicated phone-line that takes MLAs to the provincial emergency co-ordination centre, and he’s personally reached out to the interior MLAs.

He said with people still out of their homes, it’s disappointing to see the Liberals focus on partisan attacks.

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