National News

Talks between WestJet and the pilots' union continue amid the countdown toward a Friday strike deadline, with the airline saying it has started to cancel flights ahead of the anticipated work stoppage.

Some 1,800 pilots at the carrier and its Swoop subsidiary are poised to walk off the job as of 3 a.m. eastern daylight time after the Air Line Pilots Association issued a strike notice Monday.

Air quality statements continue to blanket much of British Columbia and the Prairie provinces as scores of wildfires rage.

As of Tuesday evening, more than 19,500 people in Alberta have been forced out of their homes with 91 active wildfires burning in the province, 27 of which are considered out of control.

Meanwhile, the northeast British Columbia city of Fort St. John, with a population of about 21,000, remains under an evacuation alert in response to a wildfire that's more than 130 square kilometres in size.

The federal government says the Security and Intelligence Threats Task Force will be closely monitoring byelections in four ridings next month for signs of interference. 

Votes are being held June 19 in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce–Westmount, Oxford, Portage–Lisgar and Winnipeg South Centre. 

The task force, known as SITE, is expected to provide regular assessments of foreign interference threats to a committee of deputy ministers, who will brief members of cabinet if needed. 

The City of Fort St. John in northeastern British Columbia has issued an evacuation alert telling all of its approximately 21,000 residents to get ready to leave in response to a wildfire that's grown to more than 130 square kilometres in size.

An update from the BC Wildfire Service Monday afternoon says the Stoddart Creek wildfire was burning out of control and continuing to spread.

The fire has previously triggered evacuation alerts and orders for other properties in its path in the Peace River Regional District since it was discovered on Saturday. 

A search for the remains of two First Nations women at a Winnipeg-area landfill could take up to three years and cost $184 million, says a study examining whether a successful search is possible. 

The study, obtained by The Canadian Press, looked at the various scenarios and challenges that come with searching a landfill and concluded a canvass of the Prairie Green Landfill is feasible.

Indian authorities have started the process to have two Canadians extradited to face charges after four members of the same family froze to death in southern Manitoba while trying to cross into the United States, says a police officer.

Chaitanya Mandlik, deputy commissioner of police for Ahmedabad's crime branch in the state of Gujarat, said authorities are looking to send Vancouver residents Fenil Patel and Bitta Singh, who also goes by Bittu Paji, to face charges in India. 

People's Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier appears set to announce his candidacy in a coming by-election for a federal seat in Manitoba.

A news release issued Wednesday afternoon said Bernier, a former cabinet minister who quit the Conservative caucus in 2018 to found the party, will make an important announcement about the byelection in the Portage-Lisgar riding on Friday.

The byelection was prompted by longtime member of Parliament Candice Bergen, who served as interim Conservative leader last year, stepping down in February.

Canadians who need their travel documents renewed before visiting far-off shores will soon be able to skip the line at the passport office, the immigration minister announced Wednesday.

Starting in the fall, Canadians with simple passport renewals will be able to apply online and upload the necessary documents and passport photo on a secure government website, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said.

Former members of an elite Alberta wildfire-fighting crew say government budget cuts have left the province battling its current blazes short-handed. 

"We could have been difference-makers," said Jordan Erlandson, a former member of Alberta's Rapattack team.

Those firefighters were trained to rappel from helicopters to get at wildfires while they still only covered a few hectares. When one storm sparked several fires, they could extinguish them before they merged. They also cleared landing spaces for other helicopters to bring in crews and gear. 

Canada's electronic waste more than tripled in the last two decades and is expected to keep increasing, a new study indicates, with researchers urging better e-waste management to reduce environmental harm and bring economic rewards.

Researchers from the University of Waterloo conducted what they called a comprehensive estimate of e-waste in Canada to better understand the lifecycle of electronic items from point of sale to disposal.

The study, published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, looked at e-waste data going as far back as 1971.