National News

The techniques used to put out the wildfires that are burning across Canada vary somewhat depending on geography, but ultimately they depend on people on the ground with hoses and shovels digging out hot spots one by one, experts say.

As of midday Thursday, there were 430 fires burning across Canada, including 235 that were out of control, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.

Weather maps hang on the walls and precipitation reports flash across screens in the Winnipeg office where major decisions about Canada’s battle against an unprecedented wildfire season are made. 

Inside the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre headquarters in Manitoba’s capital, just east of the exact longitudinal centre of Canada, there are discussions on how best to battle blazes from coast to coast.

“It's definitely an unprecedented season," Jennifer Kamau, communications manager for the centre, said Tuesday.

The season for pool parties, beach excursions and trips to the cottage has begun. Sadly, some of these events turn tragic each year and drowning is the second leading cause of preventable death for children under 10 years old in Canada. 

Here are some tips from the Lifesaving Society of Canada on how to keep your kids — and yourself — safe:  

When kids are in the water, they should always be within arm's reach of an adult. It only takes seconds for a child to drown. 

A summer forecast warns western wildfires will likely continue to be “a major concern," with higher-than-normal temperatures expected when the second fire season ramps up in July and peaks in August.

The Weather Network released predictions Wednesday that point to a cooler season overall in Canada, although there will likely be periods of hot and dry stretches broken up by unsettled weather in June, July, and August.

Alberta’s United Conservative Party emerged bloodied but still standing in Monday’s bitterly contested provincial election.

Danielle Smith’s UCP dominated outside Alberta’s two largest cities while retaining enough support in Calgary to overcome an NDP sweep in Edmonton and win a second consecutive majority government. 

"To paraphrase our dear friend (former Alberta premier) Ralph Klein, welcome to another miracle on the Prairies,” Smith told cheering supporters on the Calgary Stampede grounds. 

It’s election day in Alberta in what polls suggest could be a nail-biter finish between the province's two dominant parties. 

Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party is fighting to win a second consecutive majority government, while Rachel Notley’s NDP is trying to regain the government it lost to the UCP in 2019. 

Both leaders have been premier and leaders of the official Opposition. 

A wildfire that has damaged or destroyed dozens of homes in suburban Halifax is still burning out of control because of gusty winds and dry conditions.

Halifax deputy fire Chief David Meldrum says an estimated 14,000 people were forced to flee their homes after the rapidly spreading fire broke out Sunday afternoon in Tantallon, a 30-minute drive northwest of downtown Halifax.

A new report is casting doubt on the idea that Canada is facing a widespread labour shortage and bolsters the arguments by some labour economists that high job vacancies aren't due to a shortage of workers.

The Statistics Canada analysis finds there are no labour shortages for jobs that require high levels of education, suggesting other factors, such as a mismatch in skills and pay, might be to blame for a high number of empty positions.

A Florida man pleaded not guilty to human smuggling charges Friday in a case linked to the discovery last year of a family of four migrants from India found frozen to death just steps from the Canada-U.S. border. 

Steve Shand, 48, waived the reading of the indictment before entering the plea via videoconference as part of a brief but long-awaited arraignment in Duluth, Minn.

A new plan to force hospitals to report adverse effects of "natural health products" such as herbal remedies and supplements has come as a surprise to manufacturers, who say they were blindsided by the proposed change.

The federal government included the plan in the 2023 budget bill, which is still making its way through the House of Commons.

It would see natural health products fall under the same category as pharmaceuticals when it comes to how they are monitored once they are on the market.