Canada’s premiers forced to confront escalating climate change-related disasters
By: Lyndsay Armstrong
HALIFAX (CP) – As Canada’s premiers reckoned with housing, health care and their contentious relationship with Ottawa during meetings last week in Halifax, many of them remained consumed by climate change-related natural disasters that have only escalated since they returned home.
“It’s not lost on us that emergency preparedness for natural disasters is more important than ever,” Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said in his closing remarks on the final day of the Council of the Federation conference.
Canada’s provincial and territorial premiers gathered for three days of meetings, and discussion of ongoing natural disasters was consistently on the agenda, Houston said. This summer has so far included multiple flash floods, including one this month in Nova Scotia that killed a 13-year-old boy, and wildfires across the country that have resulted in destruction of property and the evacuation of thousands of residents.
Canada’s North, which has also faced recent wildfires, is suffering from a drought that has left water levels on the Mackenzie River so low barges can’t travel on it.
Fire near Golden destroys structures, spurs evacuation
B.C. (CP) – The Town of Golden, B.C., says a nearby wildfire burning south of the community crossed the Columbia River and has destroyed “several structures.”
It says in a post to social media that the 1.33-square-kilometre blaze has spread north, but rain and a northern wind are expected to help the fire fight.
The BC Wildfire Service says a trend of cooler weather across much of the province has resulted in a dip in the number of fires burning for the first time in weeks, and that will allow crews an opportunity to make progress on some of the 425 active blazes.
However, the service says the number of fires of note — those that pose a threat to people or property or are highly visible — has increased to five due to the blaze near Golden.
More than 230 fires are now burning out of control, with a cluster in southeastern B.C., a region that has seen thousands of lightning strikes in a series of thunderstorms. The service says the region continues to be warm and dry.
Firefighters in British Columbia are expecting the warmer-than-usual weather to ease off today, fuelling hope for more respite in their battle against more than 400 blazes.
The BC Wildfire Service says cooler temperatures and rain in the north slid into the central Interior on Wednesday, moving the mercury closer to seasonal norms for the first time in a month.
Three tornadoes likely hit Quebec Wednesday, uprooting trees, damaging infrastructure
By: Joe Bongiorno
MONTREAL (CP) – Environment Canada says at least one tornado is confirmed to have hit Quebec on Wednesday night and it appears two others also touched down on the province earlier in the day.
A tornado formed on Montreal’s South Shore just before 8:15 p.m. and uprooted trees, overturned a semi-trailer truck and damaged other infrastructure, the weather agency said. Tornadoes likely also hit St-Hippolyte, Que., in the Laurentians region, and Portneuf, Que., west of Quebec City.
Mélanie Mercille, spokesperson for police in Longueuil, Que., on Montreal’s South Shore, says the driver of the semi-trailer that overturned suffered minor injuries. There were no other reports of injuries, she added.
More than 3,500 households lost power on the South Shore late Wednesday, but electricity was almost fully restored by the following morning.
Earlier in the day, around 4 p.m., a tornado likely hit St-Hippolyte, uprooting trees and damaging infrastructure, Environment Canada said, adding that two-centimetre hail also fell on the area.
Bob Rae elected to lead UN international development body
OTTAWA (CP) – Bob Rae, Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, will head the UN’s Economic and Social Council.
Global Affairs Canada says Rae has been elected president of the council for a one-year term.
The Economic and Social Council is one of the UN’s main six bodies and co-ordinates its work on international development.
Global Affairs says Rae’s presidency will focus on ethical use of artificial intelligence for sustainable development, global migration and financing solutions for international development.
It says the term coincides with Canada taking over the presidency of the G7 group of countries next year.
Rae is the third-ever Canadian to be president of a UN charter body.
Poverty more prevalent among those who died during B.C.’s heat dome: study
VANCOUVER (CP) – A study of British Columbia’s deadly heat dome in 2021 says the risk factor most strongly associated with dying during those sweltering days was whether that person was receiving income assistance.
The paper, by researchers at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control and published in Environment Research: Health, compared those who died with similar people who survived, focusing on health conditions and socioeconomic status.
A 2022 B.C. coroner’s report said 619 deaths were attributed to the heat event, and the latest research says the prevalence of low income was 2.4 times higher among the people who died compared with those who survived.
Temperatures soared for several days across much of British Columbia in late June 2021, reaching temperatures into the high 40s in some areas, while overnight temperatures remained uncharacteristically high.
This study calls the 2021 heat dome “one of the deadliest weather events in Canadian history.”
Researchers found health conditions most strongly associated with death during the heat dome were schizophrenia, COPD, Parkinson’s disease, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, ischemic stroke, and substance use disorder.
Poilievre says Ontario teenager’s killing shows Liberal, NDP policies have failed
OTTAWA (CP) – Opposition Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre blames a national rise in crime and the recent killing of an Ontario teenager on what he calls failed Liberal and NDP policies.
Poilievre held a press conference in London, Ont., today, just one day after the community held a vigil for Breanna Broadfoot, 17, who police say was a victim of intimate partner violence.
Poilievre says the suspect had previously been arrested, but was released before the fatal attack on Broadfoot.
The Conservative leader says Broadfoot is the latest victim of radical “wacko” policies by the Liberals and NDP, and repeated his previous calls for bail reform.
Statistics Canada released a report today showing police-reported crime was up 2.5 per cent in 2023, though violent crimes remained virtually unchanged.
Poilievre promises that if his party forms government he will reform the bail system, end safe supply of drugs, and close supervised consumption sites near schools.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he questions how genuine Poilievre’s comments are, and accuses him of playing politics with people’s lives.
The Justice Minister didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
