First Nation leaders call for public inquiry into Ontario wildfire response
By Jordan Omstead First Nation leaders are calling for a public inquiry into the Ontario wildfire response after they say communities were left to evacuate without help from the province and some residents narrowly avoided the encroaching flames. The chief of Gull Bay First Nation says an inquiry should investigate a number of issues such as the government’s emergency co-ordination with First Nations, evacuation planning and overall provincial preparedness. Chief Wilfred King says the lack of communication and evacuation support should “horrify all Canadians.” Record-breaking wildfires burning across northern Ontario have prompted evacuations in at least 12 First Nations and forced more than 1,800 people to flee their homes. Several communities, including Whitewater Lake and Whitesand, have reported widespread destruction. Premier Doug Ford says his government has done “everything we...
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Ford says Canada can ‘dismantle’ U.S. ahead of meeting between Carney and premiers
By Eli Ridder Prime Minister Mark Carney and the country’s premiers are huddling for a virtual Team Canada meeting Tuesday afternoon after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a dramatic increase in tariffs on some Canadian goods. P.E.I. Premier Rob Lantz, who is hosting his counterparts for an annual leaders meeting, said Carney was added to Tuesday’s agenda after Trump signed orders to increase levies by 50 per cent on a variety of goods ranging from hockey sticks to honey to cement. Senior White House officials said the tariffs, to be applied within 30 days, are in response to provincial bans on U.S. liquor, Canada’s supply managed dairy system and quotas on certain U.S. vehicles. The new tariffs will not apply to energy, potash, fish or other goods already facing separate...
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Thunderstorm cancels first day of World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series
SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER-Sprint Car Series fans will have to wait another day to enjoy the World of Outlaws festivities at Ohsweken Speedway after the first night of the event was cancelled due to thunderstorms. After sustained downpour and strong winds were felt throughout Ohsweken on Tuesday (July 21) morning afternoon, World Outlaws announced that night one of the marquee event would be cancelled. “With heavy rainfall hitting Ohsweken Speedway Tuesday morning and afternoon and weather models showing continued downpours through the evening, World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car Series and track officials have agreed to cancel the Federated Auto Parts Six Nations Showdown opener,” they said in an update. They confirmed that the second night of the two-day event would still be going on as scheduled, with weather forecasted to...
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Indigenous leaders meet premiers on sidelines of national meeting in P.E.I.
By Alessia Passafiume Indigenous leaders meeting premiers on the sidelines of a national conference this week say their voices must be heard nationwide as provincial and federal governments pursue major projects and a new trade deal with the U.S. Provincial and territorial leaders are assembled in Charlottetown this week for the annual Council of the Federation meeting. Indigenous leaders typically meet with the premiers ahead of their official meetings, something Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak has compared to being relegated to the “kiddie table.” First Nations chiefs secured their own meeting with premiers and Prime Minister Mark Carney this October after years of demanding one. Victoria Pruden, president of the Métis National Council, says Métis ought to have their own meeting with Carney and relevant premiers...
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Union blasts Ford government for ‘mismanagement’ of forest firefighting efforts
By Jon Thompson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Ricochet As wildfires swallow swaths of northern Ontario, in what is already the worst wildfire season in the province’s history, the union representing forest firefighters is sounding the alarm over what he calls “government mismanagement at the highest levels.” Noah Freedman, vice president of Local 703 with the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, says from human resources to aircraft, the province’s culture of relying on surge funding to pay for forest fires is costing Ontario a lot more than money. “What we’re talking about is government mismanagement at the highest levels,” Freedman says. “We have a lack of helicopters to get people to fires. We have a lack of crews to get people to these fires. The reason these fires ended up the...
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This is Ontario’s worst wildfire season, early estimates suggest. It’s not over yet.
By Jordan Omstead Wildfires across northern Ontario have torched more of the province’s forest than during any previous year on record, early estimates suggest, with a recent burst of fast-moving wildfires responsible for nearly all of the area burned in just a few days. The province’s latest numbers suggest fires have burned through more than 7,250 square kilometres of Ontario’s forest, surpassing the previous record set in 2021. Fire estimates are often revised once officials get a closer look at the devastation, but the initial numbers indicate just how quickly the season has worsened. “Just seeing how much smoke and how large these fires grew very quickly was just a testament to how intense they were,” said Liam Buchart, a fire weather specialist with the Canadian Forest Service. Ontario’s season...
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Emergency plans urged for all areas
By Sandi Krasowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Chronicle-Journal Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Natural Resources Minister Mike Harris and Emergency Preparedness Minister Jill Dunlop visited Thunder Bay on Saturday and toured evacuation centres and the Thunder Bay International Airport. They saw first-hand the plight of evacuees who were forced from their burning communities as well as the pilots working to extinguish the fires and evacuate people. By Monday, 1,800 people from 13 northern communities had been evacuated, with many still in the process of evacuation as flames came closer to their homes. The province says it recognizes the changing climate and annual increase of wildland fires both across the province and the country. “We need a large national fire strategy,” Ford said. “We seem to be going through this every...
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Inuit company gets $35.6 million from feds to build 23 staff housing units in Iqaluit
By William Koblensky Varela, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunavut News The federal government is investing $35.6 million to build a 23-unit staff housing complex in Iqaluit at 174 Nikku Lane, which will be built by Inuit firm Arctic Fresh Projects. That works out to just over $1.5 million per home. Many housing developments in Nunavut cost between $800,000 and $1 million per unit. The higher price tag is because this housing project will be highly efficient and environmentally sustainable, and will be the first LEED Gold building in Nunavut, explained Kevin Turner, an official at Public Services and Procurement Canada. Minister of Public Works and Procurement Joel Lightbound made the announcement on July 21 at Iqaluit’s Pilimmaksaivik Office, which is the Federal Centre of Excellence for Inuit Employment in Nunavut....
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‘Wildfires are now a crisis’: Indigenous communities knew how to care for the land; then the rest of us arrived
By Anushka Yadav, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Pointer Much of Canada is ablaze. Ontario has become the face of nature’s wrath with the highest number of active wildfires in the country. As firefighters battle nearly 200 forest fires — 70 not under control — Ontarians woke up to a yellow Wednesday sky with the worst air quality in the world, and things only got worse today in parts of the province. The ominous pearl grey chemical air that eventually descended upon millions, as the smoke became too thick for even the sun to affect its colour, was not all that July 15 brought. Shortly after 11 a.m., dystopia and irony were packaged into a parody brought to you by the stalwarts of “Protect Ontario”. “Canadians know that we can...
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Fort William Gardens sits vacant despite opening doors to evacuees
By Clint Fleury, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, TBnewswatch.com THUNDER BAY – There are 157 empty cots set up at the Fort William Gardens. No one had walked into the evacuation centre to register yet when Premier Doug Ford and Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Response Jill Dunlop were there Saturday, she told reporters at a Toronto press conference Monday. Monday afternoon, Newswatch was informed by site commander Jason Kay, with the Loomex Group, that evacuees have still not registered at the building. He said that, at the moment, the facility isn’t required to be filled, but it’s open to all evacuees affected by wildfires. The evacuation centre was set up for the Namaygoosisagagun (Collins) First Nation and Armstrong evacuees, Dunlop said. Those communities evacuated on Monday, July 13, but the...
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Cote First Nation holds community camp at Madge Lake
By Bastien MacLean, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Kamsack Times Band members were invited to camp out at Elk and Moose campsites at Madge Lake, as the Cote First Nation held a community camp. “We’ve been running it for the last 30 plus years and it’s always a good time for our community to come out,” said Judge Cote, a councillor at Cote First Nation. “Everyone can have a great time, have some food, have some entertainment.” “Definitely with the weather we’ve been having, and the washouts, it can definitely dampen some spirits out there. Events like this, it’s nice to just get away from that kind of situation and forget some of our problems for a week, come out and have fun and just enjoy ourselves”. Vendors were on site,...
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Construction begins on $4B Enbridge natural gas pipeline expansion in B.C.
Enbridge Inc. has broken ground on a $4-billion natural gas pipeline expansion in British Columbia. The federal government approved the Sunrise Expansion Program in April. The project aims to add another 300 million cubic feet per day of transportation capacity to the province’s natural gas transmission system. The Sunrise project is using Canadian melted and poured steel supplied by InterPro Pipe and Steel in Saskatchewan. The federal government says Sunrise will help ensure natural gas supplies are available to liquefied natural gas export facilities on the West Coast while meeting local needs. Enbridge holds a 30 per cent stake in the Woodfibre LNG export terminal under construction in Squamish, B.C. The Sunrise expansion will add about 140 kilometres of new pipe to Enbridge’s existing 2,900-kilometre Westcoast Pipeline. Enbridge plans to...
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Quebec and Ottawa agree to streamline, speed environmental assessments
By Stéphane Blais Quebec and Ottawa say a new agreement will streamline the environmental assessment process for major infrastructure and resource development projects. Pascale Déry, provincial environment minister, and Joël Lightbound, Quebec Lieutenant and federal minister of government transformation, public works and procurement, made the joint announcement Monday. The two governments say they have reached an agreement in principle that aims to expedite environmental assessments for major projects such as mines, ports and pipelines. The agreement will ensure projects that fall under Quebec’s jurisdiction are subject only to the province’s evaluation. Déry said this agreement will eliminate duplicate assessments. “We need to strengthen our economy, diversify our markets, and that means developing our projects more efficiently and quickly,” she said. Residents and groups have 21 days to voice their concerns...
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Touring Fort Simpson’s changed landscape with Dehcho Grand Chief
By Claire McFarlane, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cabin Radio As village residents return home, Grand Chief Norwegian offered advice about grief, returning to the community and to the land. A Fort Simpson resident, Norwegian stayed in the village during the nearly three-week long evacuation to monitor wildfires across the region and provide support and comfort to community members. He described sending photos to evacuees of their homes to reassure them they were safe, and he called some of the firefighting efforts he witnessed a “war.” “You’re seeing these incredible burns that are taking place – just Mother Nature at work – and it was just a powerful feeling,” said Norwegian. “You just feel so minute when you see something like that unfolding, when you compare the power that you have,...
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Six whales moved out of Marineland in ‘complex’ operation, headed to U.S. aquariums
By Liam Casey Marineland’s whales are on the move. The closed Niagara Falls, Ont., tourist attraction shipped six belugas on Monday to aquariums in the United States, in what the park called a major milestone in a complex process months in the making. Andrew Burns, Marineland’s external legal counsel, called the move “unprecedented.” “It’s huge. This has required the … sudden and critical attention of all of the leading marine mammal aquariums on the planet and a complex, co-ordinated response involving dozens and dozens of people putting all their time and attention into the logistics, the care, the management, the financing of all this in an extremely accelerated time frame,” he said in an interview Monday. The park tried last year to ship its complement of 30 belugas and four...
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This is Ontario’s worst wildfire season, early estimates suggest. It’s not over yet.
By Jordan Omstead Wildfires raging in northern Ontario appear to have pushed the province to its worst wildfire season on record. The province’s latest numbers suggest fires have burned through more than 7,250 square kilometres of Ontario’s forest, surpassing the previous record set in 2021. The preliminary estimate is likely to be revised once officials get a closer look at the devastation, but it stands as a sign of how quickly the season has worsened. The vast majority of that fire has burned in the past 10 days, on the back of severe thunderstorms and a scorching heat wave around Thunder Bay where temperatures soared to around 15 degrees above seasonal. Climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, is making wildfire seasons longer and more intense across Canada....
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Trade, major projects expected to top agenda as premiers meet in P.E.I.
By Eli Ridder Domestic trade and major projects will be on the agenda as Canada’s premiers gather Tuesday in Prince Edward Island for a three-day meeting coloured by a renewed tariff threat from U.S. President Donald Trump. The annual summer gathering of provincial and territorial leaders will culminate with Prime Minister Mark Carney joining the discussion Thursday. The premiers will also meet with Indigenous leaders later Tuesday. Key issues among the provinces have included efforts to cut down any remaining barriers to internal trade and advocating for big infrastructure projects that could bring investment and jobs to their regions. But there’s also fresh economic uncertainty after Trump on Monday signed an executive order to impose 50 per cent tariffs on certain Canadian products within 30 days. Senior White House officials...
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Construction begins on $4B Enbridge natural gas pipeline expansion in B.C.
Enbridge Inc. has broken ground on a $4-billion natural gas pipeline expansion in British Columbia. The federal government approved the Sunrise Expansion Program in April. The project aims to add another 300 million cubic feet per day of transportation capacity to the province’s natural gas transmission system. The Sunrise project is using Canadian melted and poured steel supplied by InterPro Pipe and Steel in Saskatchewan. The federal government says Sunrise will help ensure natural gas supplies are available to liquefied natural gas export facilities on the West Coast while meeting local needs. Enbridge holds a 30 per cent stake in the Woodfibre LNG export terminal under construction in Squamish, B.C. The Sunrise expansion will add about 140 kilometres of new pipe to Enbridge’s existing 2,900-kilometre Westcoast Pipeline. Enbridge plans to...
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Around 1,800 people have fled wildfires as Ontario weighs further evacuations: Ford
By Jordan Omstead Around 1,800 people have fled their communities due to wildfires raging across northern Ontario, Premier Doug Ford said Monday, as officials consider further evacuations. Fires have destroyed communities, prompted numerous evacuation orders and filled the skies across Ontario and beyond with noxious smoke. Evacuees have fanned out to host cities across the province, including Thunder Bay, Toronto, Sudbury and Niagara Falls. “Thirteen communities have been evacuated or are in the process of evacuating, with the decision still pending on one additional community,” Ford said. At least 500 people were sheltering in Thunder Bay over the weekend, which city officials described as a conservative estimate. The fire chief said most evacuees were hosted by First Nation organizations or found available hotel space themselves. Inside a Thunder Bay arena...
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Around 1,800 people have fled wildfires as Ontario mulls further evacuations: Ford
Around 1,800 people have fled their communities due to wildfires raging across northern Ontario, Premier Doug Ford said Monday, as officials consider further evacuations. Fires have destroyed communities, prompted numerous evacuation orders and filled the skies across Ontario and beyond with noxious smoke. Evacuees have fanned out to host cities across the province, including Thunder Bay, Toronto, Sudbury and Niagara Falls. “Thirteen communities have been evacuated or are in the process of evacuating, with the decision still pending on one additional community,” Ford said. Recent rain helped to temper fire activity over the weekend, but officials warned the hazard remained high as another First Nation reported widespread destruction. Chief Pauline Drake of Whitewater Lake First Nation said Sunday that a wildfire had destroyed much of the remote community about 250...
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