We’ve all seen photos of Jasper and the devastation wrought upon it by one of the several dozen wildfires that burn unabated across much of Alberta and British Columbia, a new and troubling fixture of Western Canadian summers.

We’ve seen the charred remains of the once-picturesque town, the ruined heaps of a community that captured the imaginations of all who saw its rugged beauty.

We’ve seen the ash-covered streets and the gray-cloaked skies; the scorched earth and the blackened trees.

We’ve also seen the weary, tear-stained faces of those who’ve fled the flames, many of whom lost their homes and all their possessions, mere matchboxes as they were to the encroaching maelstrom.

Most of us haven’t seen direct images of the “monster fire” itself: the untamable force behind Jasper’s destruction.

We have, however, heard of the 100-meter-high walls of flame that have consumed more than 34,000 hectares of land – Jasper’s largest fire in its 117-year history – and of the weather-altering pillars of smoke that fill the air, clogging the lungs of all that breathe.

As we learned, there is little humans can do to control a natural disaster of such epic proportions.

Ottawa sent in the military, Quebec, and other provincial governments deployed water bombers, and firefighters from Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, and South Africa joined their Canadian counterparts to help battle the blazes.

Alas, even these formidable efforts have failed to douse the wildfire. Indeed, it has only grown in size and has now claimed the life of one courageous firefighter.

It’s a tragedy, all of it. And Canadians have every right to mourn the heavy losses we, individually and collectively, suffered.

But from mourning must come action.

Jasper is—or at least it should be—a wake-up call to all Canadians and their political representatives.

For far too long, our elected officials (from all mainstream parties) have ignored the climate emergency. Instead of implementing the policies to reduce emissions and proactively preparing for (and preventing) ever-worsening natural disasters, establishment politicians have sat idly by, refusing to act with the urgency required.

Conservatives have been the worst culprits.

For years, nay, decades, they peddled mis-and-disinformation on the topic, insulated major polluters from government oversight, opposed forward-thinking environmental policies, and, at times, even outright denied the existence of anthropogenic climate change. At best, they have been irresponsible climate laggards, and at worst, culpable climate villains.

We’ve witnessed as much from Alberta’s UCP premier, Danielle Smith, with her vehement opposition to any carbon price, and federal Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, with his career-long history of climate antagonism.

Canada’s so-called progressives (in Liberal and centrist NDP circles) are hardly any better.

Their rhetoric on the crisis is more accurate and sincere. And, to their credit, they implemented some (albeit modest) climate-friendly policies. Think Justin Trudeau’s federal carbon tax or Rachel Notley’s accelerated coal phase-out.

However, these climate-timid progressives have not been genuine environmental stewards.

How could they be when they have championed the construction of heavy-omitting projects like the Trans Mountain pipeline and done little to reel in the pollution or greed of the mighty oil and gas industry?

Of course, it goes without saying that Canadian action alone won’t stop the rise in global temperatures. Nor will it halt the occurrence of climate-related natural disasters.

But if the world is to have any hope of reducing emissions and slowing down the incoming climate catastrophe, it will need all countries, including Canada, to do their part. As we’ve seen, failing to do so will only result in higher temperatures, increasingly erratic weather patterns, and more frequent natural disasters.

This is no small task, and Canadians must be prepared for the paradigm shift that awaits them.

It will require a transition away from non-renewable resources, a significant investment in renewable energy, and, yes, far more funds to prevent and mitigate climate-related natural disasters. In Alberta (and Ottawa, for that matter), that includes boosting spending on wildfire management, a budget item that both provincial Conservatives and New Democrats bizarrely cut at different points in their tenures. As I said, no party is absolved of guilt.

The wildfire that nearly destroyed Jasper will always be remembered in history as a moment of ecological heartbreak. By forcing our political representatives to take the climate crisis seriously, however, Canadians can at least limit the trauma that awaits future disasters.