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At the beginning of this week, Brian Paré had to answer before a court in Quebec, Canada for something he himself had accused the Canadian state of. He admitted 13 counts of arson and one count of arson without regard to human life. The events relate to the period between May and September last year.

The 2023 Canadian wildfire season was destructive and unprecedented. Wildfires scorched a total of about 18.4 million hectares – almost twice as much as the previous record in the North American country. The fires were so widespread that smoke flowing south also “choked” cities in the US and even reached Eastern Europe.

Conspiracy stories are popular during wildfire seasons

But in addition to the destruction of forests, air pollution and the displacement of thousands of people from their homes, the fires had another negative effect: they spawned a series of conspiracy stories and fake news.

To avoid facing the truth—that climate change and the drought it causes are causing wildfires to become more common—climate change skeptics and conspiracy theorists have started telling a different story: It was deliberate arson, and the climate had nothing to do with it to make. Unpleasant.

A study by the global coalition Climate Action Against Disinformation shows that the devastating forest fires in Canada, as well as in Australia (2019-2020) and on the US West Coast (2020), have caused a major wave of such disinformation. The coalition makes it clear in its report:

More than 870 hectares destroyed

But back to Canada. In late summer 2023, police and several first responders to wildfires around the town of Chapais, Quebec, became suspicious when a series of fires with no apparent cause occurred in a short period of time. This is what the prosecutor in the case told CNN.

Police officers became aware of Paré after he was spotted at several fires. In addition, several social media posts by the Canadian were found in which he accused the Canadian government of deliberately setting a fire. In its logic, the state proceeded in this way to convince people of the existence of climate change.

“According to police evidence, the suspect has posted many conspiracy theories about the fires and the government’s involvement in their origins,” the prosecutor said. After police received permission to attach a tracking device to his vehicle, they were able to track the vehicle and with it Brian Paré to the locations of other fires. When he was arrested in September, he admitted to setting several fires.

With his arson – or at least with the known cases – Paré forced the evacuation of about 400 people in the town of Chapais, Quebec. The largest fire that Paré admitted destroyed more than 870 hectares. The suspect cannot remember all the fires he may have started, the prosecutor said. “It is possible there are more, but we have no evidence of that,” she added. (lacquer)