Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) said Thursday (July 16) he will introduce a bill the following week to sanction Canada and Canadian government officials over toxic wildfire smoke drifting south, as air quality across the Great Lakes, Northeast, and Mid-Atlantic rivaled the historic 2023 smoke event.
Moreno's announcement came as the Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang warned Friday (July 17) that deteriorating air quality across the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast could be "as bad as or worse than during the historic 2023 wildfire event." Air quality readings in Detroit, Milwaukee, and Toledo exceeded 500, well above the 300 threshold considered unsafe. Detroit ranked as the worst major city for air quality on the planet — a 24-hour exposure equivalent to smoking roughly 21 cigarettes, according to meteorologist Colin McCarthy. Chicago, Cleveland, Minneapolis, and Toronto also recorded unsafe levels, while Washington, Philadelphia, and New York deteriorated into unhealthy territory. Health experts cited in the report said spending a full day outdoors in D.C. or New York was equivalent to smoking roughly 10 cigarettes.
Four Republican House members — Reps. John James, Jack Bergman, John Moolenaar, and Lisa McClain (all of Michigan) — sent a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney criticizing his government for not doing enough on forest prevention management.
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.
The economic toll began mounting almost immediately. Six Flags Great America in Illinois closed Friday (July 17) due to "hazardous" air. Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, closed early Thursday (July 16). Dutch Wonderland in Pennsylvania announced a Friday closure. Pittsburgh-area closures were also reported by WPXI.
Canadian wildfire smoke has prompted air quality alerts across the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley, Midwest, and Northeast, as reported by NPR, the New York Times, and IQAir. The Globe and Mail reported economic disruptions including CN Rail freight closures and Domtar suspending forestry operations in Northern Ontario.
CNN, covering the same story, noted Moreno's complaint that Canada has not done enough on forest thinning and other mitigation. A CNN forecaster said conditions in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic are expected to improve with rain, which is also significant for the World Cup final scheduled for Sunday (July 19) at 3 p.m. in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
MyRadar Weather flagged the World Cup final as a concern, noting air quality was already in the "unhealthy" red category in East Rutherford.
The conservative environmental nonprofit American Conservation Coalition wrote on X that "controlled burns, thinning and clearing debris would go a long way toward preventing this from happening every summer." Daily Signal's Tony Kinnett blamed "the Canadian parliament & Mark Carney's decision not to do the most basic forest maintenance out of climate activism stupidity."
Moreno's bill, formally introduced July 20 (July 20, 2026) and titled the "CANADA FIRE Act," would require the President to determine whether Canada failed to adequately mitigate wildfires and, if so, impose financial sanctions and visa restrictions on Canadian officials. The bill text cites disruption to "outdoor work, transportation, recreation, education, tourism, and commercial activity."
Canada currently has over 700 active wildfires with 8.2 million acres already destroyed, according to a post by Our Country Our Choice, a group run by retired U.S. Army Col. Douglas Macgregor.
Whether sanctions on a neighbor and NATO ally gain any traction in the Senate — or whether this becomes the annual summer ritual American lawmakers are warning about — remains the open question.