The Canadian Press

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew says some hotel owners in the province are not doing enough to help wildfire evacuees.

Kinew said on Thursday after touring some fire-hit areas that while a large majority of hotel operators have been great, some need to open up rooms as there are evacuees still sleeping in cots in emergency shelters.

About 21,000 people in Manitoba have had to evacuate including from Flin Flon, Pimicikamak Cree Nation and other areas.

The federal and provincial governments have announced they will match Red Cross donations to help those affected by wildfires burning in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Both provinces declared provincewide states of emergency last week to allow various levels of government to co-ordinate resources and support.

The federal government announced Wednesday that it would match every dollar donated to the Canadian Red Cross that will support wildfire disaster relief and recovery efforts across Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Officials in Manitoba and Saskatchewan say areas affected by wildfires aren't expected to see much relief in the weather forecast in the coming days.

More than 30,000 people in those provinces have been forced to leave their homes as wildfires threaten their communities.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said Tuesday that there would be challenging days ahead due to a lack of rain in the forecast.

As emergency officials work to find hotel space for wildfire evacuees on the Prairies, a Manitoba Indigenous group says it has welcomed residents from the Pimicikamak Cree Nation at a hotel in Niagara Falls, Ont.

The organization, which represents Indigenous peoples in Manitoba, said in a social media post that the first of the evacuees from Pimicikamak were greeted Sunday at the airport in Hamilton with snacks and drinks before being loaded onto a bus for the last portion of their trip.

Canada Post has rejected a request from the union representing about 55,000 of its workers to send their ongoing labour dispute to binding arbitration.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers made the request in a statement Saturday, saying it was inviting Canada Post to a fair, final and binding arbitration process to resolve negotiations that have dragged on for months without producing a new collective agreement. 

Fire crews in northern Manitoba have so far been able to contain an encroaching wildfire that forced thousands from their homes, while more residents in Saskatchewan have been told to leave due to a fast-moving blaze. 

The Saskatchewan government has issued an evacuation alert for the dozens of residents that live in the small northern hamlet of Timber Bay.

Residents have been asked to make their way to a hotel in Regina. 

More people in northern Manitoba are leaving their homes as wildfires continue to threaten communities.

The roughly 600 residents of Cranberry Portage have been placed under a mandatory evacuation order because fires have knocked out power to the community -- a situation expected to last for days.

An evacuation of Pimicikamak Cree Nation, which started earlier this week, is ongoing and officials are expecting five flights to leave for Winnipeg by the end of today.

There's no rain in the forecast for Flin Flon, Manitoba, over the next week as crews there fight a wildfire that's raging nearby.

Temperatures throughout the weekend are expected to range from the low to high 20s, before cooling off.

Thousands have evacuated the northwestern Manitoba city, including municipal government officials and health-care professionals.

Flin Flon mayor George Fontaine said on Friday that unless things changed, the fire was projected to take chunks out of the town.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew says thousands more evacuees are expected and the city of Flin Flon is virtually deserted as wildfires continue to rage in his province.

Kinew told a Friday news conference that the mayor, councillors, health-care staff, and other officials have had to depart Flin Flon.

"The only folks remaining on the ground are firefighters and folks in the office of the fire commissioner and RCMP, who are there to battle the blaze," Kinew said.

"We do expect some very, very challenging conditions in Flin Flon and in the surrounding community."

The mayor of Flin Flon, Man., says fierce, shifting winds are threatening to propel a nearby raging wildfire into the city and begin burning structures.

"Unless we get one heck of a boost, it's projected to take chunks out of our town and surrounding areas," George Fontaine said in an interview Friday morning.

"It's looking very ugly right now."

Fontaine added, "We're trying to manage and maintain and keep our crews.

"We're begging for air support (to help douse the fire). It's really crucial."