Wildfire that forced evacuation of Jasper National Park now within 12 km of townsite

An encroaching wildfire that forced thousands of people to flee the community of Jasper overnight is now burning 12 kilometres south of the Alberta mountain town as shifting winds threaten to fan the flames.

Government officials say at least 10,000 residents and visitors were forced to evacuate from Jasper National Park after a wildfire roared into the area late Monday night.

#Alberta #wildfires
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Wildfire in Jasper National Park, Alberta.

#Alberta #wildfires
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Montreal byelection: aspiring Liberal candidates say Trudeau's choice is 'undemocratic'

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's decision to hand-pick a candidate for a riding in an upcoming Montreal byelection isn't being well-received by three aspiring contenders who spent months campaigning only to be shunted aside.

The Liberals announced Montreal city Coun. Laura Palestini last week as the party's candidate in a byelection whose date has yet to be announced for the riding of LaSalle—Émard—Verdun.

Three aspiring candidates - local school commissioner Lori Morrison; entrepreneur Christopher Baenninger; and former Quebec Liberal party organizer Eddy Kara - denounced the decision, with Morrison calling it "anti-democratic, 100 per cent."

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🏳️‍🌈❌Nova Scotia premier says he skipped Halifax Pride parade because of safety concerns

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says his absence from this year's Halifax Pride parade was the result of advice from the RCMP not to participate because of safety concerns.

The premier says he was not at the parade on Saturday "out of an abundance of caution" and that the decision to skip the event doesn't diminish his support for the 2SLGBTQ+ community.

In a normal world you wouldn't have to find excuses not to go to a Pride parade.

#NovaScotia
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⚽️🇨🇦🇳🇿Canadian Olympic Committee offers 'heartfelt apology' after New Zealand accuses Canada Soccer of spying

The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) offered a "heartfelt" apology to New Zealand Football Tuesday after the New Zealand women's club accused the Canadian women's team of spying on them during a training session.

The alleged incident occurred when French authorities in Saint-Etienne, France, detained a support staffer for Canada Soccer after New Zealand, nicknamed the Football Ferns, lodged an official complaint to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). New Zealand claims the staffer recorded their practice with a drone.

#NewZealand
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🪖New Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship out of action because of flooding, mechanical problems

HMCS Max Bernays, one of the new Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS), is now in Pearl Harbor as specialists try to figure out how long it will take to be repaired.

National Defence spokesperson Kened Sadiku confirmed HMCS Max Bernays had to return to Pearl Harbor on July 12 due to mechanical issues and seawater flooding into one of the areas of the vessel. Technicians discovered that there were problems with a pumping and cooling system.

The Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships also can’t perform emergency towing, as was required in the original contract, and some cranes on the vessels are inoperable, National Defence officials confirmed. Other problems, such as contaminated fuel and issues with systems to launch lifeboats, are also being examined or fixed.

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🏦Bank of Canada cuts key interest rate again

The Bank of Canada cut its key interest rate to 4.5 per cent on Wednesday, with governor Tiff Macklem saying during a news conference that it would be reasonable to expect further rate cuts if inflation continues to ease.

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📊Sixty per cent of Canadians say Canada is admitting too many immigrants

Canadians are growing increasingly uneasy with the number of new immigrants coming to the country, with three out of five people saying there are “too many,” the highest rate of dissatisfaction with Canada’s immigration policies in decades, according to a new poll.

Sixty per cent of Canadian adults surveyed in the July poll said Canada accepts too many newcomers, a 10-percentage-point increase in the number who shared that sentiment in February.

#immigration
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Toronto building had to tell its residents to stop throwing feces at electrical workers

Many Torontonians are appalled after learning that some residents at a St. James Town apartment building were throwing feces at electrical contractors working to restore power to some units.

A letter about the incident was sent to residents at 77 Howard St. last week and was shared on Reddit. According to the building’s management company, Wellesley-Parliament Square (WPSQ), electrical contractors were there to restore power to some units following rain storm.

The management team says it has hired additional security staff for the protection of its workers and has informed Toronto police of the situation.

#Ontario
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💸Canadian company at the centre of alleged international pyramid scheme: authorities

A Canadian company is at the centre of an alleged pyramid scheme that foreign officials say stole more than US$2 billion from hundreds of thousands of people in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, according to authorities in those countries.

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Federal government’s green fund chair was in conflict of interest, report concludes

The former chair of a green tech fund violated the Conflict of Interest Act by failing to recuse herself from funding decisions related to companies she was associated with, the federal ethics commissioner says.

Annette Verschuren broke the rules when she participated in decisions to give the company she led $217,000 in pandemic relief money, and when she did not remove herself on several occasions where companies she was associated with were granted funding.

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💰Majority of Canadians say Ottawa overspends, feel overtaxed

A majority of Canadians consider themselves overtaxed by a federal government that spends too much and unwisely. And Quebecers are the ones who most feel the Trudeau government is “investing” too much.

An Ipsos-MEI poll shows that 63 per cent of Canadians think the federal government’s spending is either “too high” or “much too high,” which is a sharp increase compared to a similar poll ran by Ipsos last year. They also feel the government isn’t transparent or accountable enough for the spending spree.

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🇺🇸🇨🇳🇷🇺🇨🇦Chinese and Russian military planes tracked, intercepted off Alaska, NORAD says

Two Chinese and two Russian long-range bombers were tracked flying over international waters near Alaska and US and Canadian fighter jets were sent up in response, their joint aerospace command said.

The Chinese and Russian military activity Wednesday was not seen as a threat, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, known as NORAD, said.

“NORAD will continue to monitor competitor activity near North America and meet presence with presence,” the command said in a news release.

🔎 Source
#US #China #Russia #Canada

☠️ Blood Meridian

🇨🇦🇧🇩 Quebec sees surge in number of asylum seekers from Bangladesh amid unrest

There has been a surge in the number of asylum seekers from Bangladesh to Quebec in recent months.

Between January and June, just over 2,865 Bangledeshis claimed refuge in Quebec alone. Last year that number was just under 1,209. At the current rate, there could be more than 5,000 claims in the province by the end of the year.

#Quebec #immigration
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Alberta premier says a third, perhaps half, of all Jasper buildings destroyed by fire

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says early reports indicate a third and perhaps up to half of all buildings in the historic Rocky Mountain resort town of Jasper have burned in a wildfire.

#Alberta #wildfires
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🇨🇦⚽️Canada's men's and women's soccer teams have relied on drones and spying for years, sources say

Coaching staff and contractors working with Canada’s men’s and women’s national soccer teams have been engaged for years in efforts to film the closed-door training sessions of their opponents, including during the women’s gold-medal winning Olympic tournament in 2021, two sources with first-hand knowledge of the activity said.

The historical spying allegations come with the Canada’s women’s soccer team program under intense scrutiny at the Olympics in Paris.

The Canadian Olympic Committee said on Wednesday that assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi had left the team and returned to Canada after Lombardi was caught using a drone to spy on two of New Zealand’s closed training sessions. On Thursday, Canada beat New Zealand 2-1 in their Olympic tournament opener.

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🩺 New language directive for Quebec hospitals denounced as 'dangerous'

A team of bureaucrats in Quebec’s Health Ministry has issued a 31-page directive spelling out the “exceptional” circumstances in which English is allowed to be spoken in hospitals and other medical facilities.

But representatives from the anglophone community who have read the densely worded directive are already calling it confusing and potentially dangerous.

The Health Ministry produced the directive in response to the adoption two years ago of Bill 96, the Coalition Avenir Québec government’s overhaul of the Charter of the French Language. Bill 96 requires that all government workers — including those in hospitals and nursing homes — use French “systematically” in written and oral communications with their clients, with certain exceptions, like emergencies.

#Quebec #healthcare
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🦠B.C.'s top doctor ends four-year COVID-19 public health emergency

After four years of mask mandates, gathering restrictions, vaccinations and hospitalizations, British Columbia’s provincial health officer has ended the province's public-health emergency for COVID-19.

Dr. Bonnie Henry said Friday that all remaining restrictions, including the vaccination requirement for health-care workers, will be rescinded.

Better late than never.

#BritishColumbia #healthcare
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💸Federal government posts $3.9B deficit in April, May

The federal government posted a $3.9 billion deficit in the first two months of the fiscal year.

The result for the April-to-May period compared to a $1.5 billion surplus for the same stretch last year.

Revenues increased $6.5 billion, or 8.9 per cent, largely due to higher tax revenues.

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⚽️FIFA strips Canada of 6 points in Olympic soccer, bans coach Bev Priestman for 1 year in drone spying scandal

FIFA came down hard on Canada Soccer on Saturday for a drone spying scandal, deducting six points from the Canadian women's soccer team at the Paris Games and banning three staff members, including head coach Bev Priestman, for one year each.

The punishments include a fine of $313,000 for the national federation in a case that has spiralled over the last week. Two staff members were caught using drones to spy on New Zealand's practices before the teams played their opening game.

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'Our schools are full': David Eby says population growth in BC 'completely overwhelming'

British Columbia Premier David Eby has said “unprecedented population inflows” in the province have become “completely overwhelming.”

Asked about increasing numbers of asylum seekers, Eby emphasized that migration in general has created problems in BC.

We’re talking about well in excess of 10,000 people a month. Our most recent total for last year was 180,000 new British Columbians. And that’s great, and that’s exciting, and it’s necessary. And it’s completely overwhelming. To add a new city of 180,000 people every year to our province is not sustainable. Our schools are full. We are unable to keep up with housing starts.

#BritishColumbia #immigration
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