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Climate and Environment

    • Hot and dry conditions persist as wildfires rage through Western Canada

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    Hot and dry conditions are expected to continue as wildfires throughout Western Canada have forced evacuations affecting thousands and affected air quality as far east as northern Ontario.

    "Prayers are needed for rain," said Chief Wilfred Hooka-Nooza of Dene Tha First Nation in northwestern Alberta.

    Hundreds of people were forced to flee Chateh, a community that is part of the First Nation, earlier this week as a blaze approached.

    Hooka-Nooza said the wildfire has now crept within 13 kilometres of the community and workers are using bulldozers to build a fire guard to keep the flames at bay.

    "The wind is in our favour at the moment, blowing in a different direction, but it could change," the chief said.

    Roughly 2,500 people are fighting the fires throughout Alberta and 24 of 87 active wildfires were considered out of control as of midday Tuesday.

    Wildfires have also been a concern for Alberta's neighbours, including the Northwest Territories, where the K'atl'odeeche First Nation and town of Hay River, about 120 kilometres from the Alberta boundary, are under evacuation orders.

    A convoy of vehicles was allowed to leave a northern Saskatchewan village early Tuesday morning after Buffalo Narrows issued a mandatory evacuation order.

    Mayor Sandy Ericson posted on social media that poor air quality due to the smoke and the loss of electricity made it unsafe to stay.

    In British Columbia, the city of Fort St. John, about 200 kilometres northwest of Grande Prairie, Alta., also issued an evacuation alert for its roughly 21,000 residents in response to a wildfire that's more than 130 square kilometres in size.

    The British Columbia Wildfire Service hopes calmer winds in the province's northeast will give it some reprieve to assess the blazes.

    An unusual May heat wave has spurred rising wildfire risk across the West. Another 37 heat records were set in B.C. on Monday and 18 were tied or broken in Alberta.

    Hooka-Nooza said the heat has been unprecedented and early in the season, which has left the land in his region very dry.

    "I have never seen that before way back then, in the years I used to do wildfire fighting," the chief said.

    "I have never seen something this early into the spring."

    This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2023.

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    Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

    The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.

    An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

    Emergency crews in northern Ontario found the bodies of four people inside a home where a fire broke out Thursday night.

    The Montreal couple from Mexico and their three children facing deportation have received a temporary residence permit.

    Canada

    • Emergency crews in northern Ontario found the bodies of four people inside a home where a fire broke out Thursday night.

    • Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

    • A field trip aimed at educating Toronto students about the plight of a northern Ontario First Nation ended with them taking part in a protest where pro-Palestinian slogans were shouted.

    • The Montreal couple from Mexico and their three children facing deportation have received a temporary residence permit.

    • The second-degree murder trial of Thomas Hamp is being adjourned until December so an expert witness central to the trial can testify.

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    Autos

    • An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

    • Video of a brazen daylight auto theft which shows a suspect running over a victim in a stolen luxury SUV has been released by police west of Toronto.

    Local Spotlight

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      WEATHER

      Friday will be cool and wet with intermittent showers likely through most of the day.

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      Agreement to build a new NHL arena at LeBreton Flats has been reached between the Ottawa Senators and the National Capital Commission (NCC), sources tell CTV News Ottawa.

    • Police say a man, 34, who was taken to hospital in critical condition after being shot Thursday night has died.

    • The Ford government is considering restricting Ontario municipalities from installing new bike lanes that would require the removal of lanes of traffic, a source confirms to CTV News Toronto.

    • The Montreal couple from Mexico and their three children facing deportation have received a temporary residence permit.

    • Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault has invited his Quebec counterpart to the negotiating table to reach an agreement on caribou before Christmas. He noted that the province could benefit from hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to protect biodiversity.

    • The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.

    • DEVELOPING

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    • The missing family that was last seen in Kitchener, Ont. on Sept. 1 has been found safe, according to police.

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    • Emergency crews in northern Ontario found the bodies of four people inside a home where a fire broke out Thursday night.

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    N.L.

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