The Canadian Press

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. 

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.

The public-sector union representing Canada Revenue Agency employees has struck a tentative deal with the federal government, ending a strike of 35,000 workers just after the tax season wrapped up.

The announcement of a prospective agreement comes after the government and Public Service Alliance of Canada came to separate deals that ended a strike of more than 120,000 other public servants.

CRA employees represented by PSAC's Union of Taxation Employees were still on strike two days after the federal tax-filing deadline.

The Public Service Alliance of Canada has reached a tentative contract agreement with the Treasury Board covering more than 120,000 federal government workers across the country.

The national strike is now over for Treasury Board workers, who are required to return to work at 9 a.m. today or their next scheduled shift.

PSAC says strike action continues for 35,000 Canada Revenue Agency workers nationwide, with contract negotiations ongoing.

Eleven people were killed and 17 were injured during a stabbing rampage on the James Smith Cree Nation and in the nearby village of Weldon, Sask., last year. Myles Sanderson, who police say carried out the attacks, later died in police custody. RCMP have released more details about how the attacks unfolded. Here is a timeline:

Thursday, Sept. 1: 

Myles Sanderson arrives at James Smith Cree Nation and sells cocaine.

Friday, Sept. 2:

The RCMP are releasing details on a stabbing rampage last year in Saskatchewan. Eleven people were killed and 17 were injured on the James Smith Cree Nation and in the nearby village of Weldon on Sept. 4, 2022. Mounties have said Myles Sanderson, who later died in police custody, carried out the attacks.

Here are the latest developments from the police news conference (all times are CT):

12:30 p.m.

A Canadian effort is underway to conduct airlifts out of Sudan and two military vessels have arrived off its coast, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday, as the government looked for a fragile ceasefire to help evacuation efforts in the embattled East African country.

Trudeau said the federal government is co-ordinating with its allies to get Canadian citizens out of Sudan, where fighting between the military and a rival paramilitary group erupted earlier this month, with hundreds killed and thousands more injured.