In the news today: Wildfires in NWT, heatwave in B.C. breaks records

The City of Yellowknife declared a state of local emergency Monday night, citing an imminent wildfire threat.

Records tumble as heat wave spreads from B.C.’s south coast to Interior, hitting 40 C

Environment Canada is forecasting hot and humid weather for parts of B.C. for much of the week.

By 4 p.m. Monday, at least 12 daily heat records had fallen, surpassing the eight that fell Sunday.

The 40 degrees Celsius benchmark was also broken for the first time in Canada this year, with the mercury hitting 40.5 near Lytton in the southern Interior and 40.1 at Lillooet in the Fraser Valley on Monday afternoon.

Here’s what else we’re watching …

How the feds could push cities to build more homes — with a carrot or stick

As Canada faces a massive housing crunch, figuring out how to get cities to build more homes is becoming a major focus for federal politicians.

The federal government launched the Housing Accelerator Fund this year, giving cities the chance to apply for extra funding toward initiatives that would increase the housing supply.

Leveraging federal dollars to get more housing built is also something Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has called for, although he has chosen to approach the issue with a stick, instead of a carrot.

Poilievre has vowed to withhold federal funding from municipalities that don’t build more housing, and says a Conservative government would support only those transit projects with dense housing around stations.

MAID in Quebec not seen as exceptional: doctor

The head of the independent body that monitors medical aid in dying in Quebec says he worries the practice is no longer being seen by the public as a last resort.

Dr. Michel Bureau says Quebecers have stopped appreciating MAID as an exceptional practice for people with incurable illnesses whose suffering is unbearable.

He says he expects that more than seven per cent of all deaths in the province this year will be doctor-assisted – more than anywhere else in the world.

Earlier this month, Bureau’s commission sent a memo to doctors reminding them of the strict rules governing who is eligible for a physician-assisted death.

Power outage and high winds force new B.C. ferry firm to cancel first sailings

The inaugural sailings for a passenger ferry between downtown Vancouver and Nanaimo, B.C., were cancelled Monday because of unseasonably high winds and an overnight power outage.

Hullo CEO Alastair Caddick said the company had to make the “very unfortunate decision” to cancel sailings scheduled for the morning.

The company later cancelled all Monday sailings, as well as sailings for Tuesday, with hopes to resume on Wednesday.

Caddick said passengers are understandably disappointed, but the company had to “adopt a deliberately conservative approach while we get our sea legs in these kind of conditions.”

Edmonton restaurant chain wins hotly contested auction for donair costume

Bidders showed that they had an appetite for a one-of-a-kind food-based costume.

The winning bid for a donair costume being auctioned off by the Alberta government was listed at $16,025 when bidding closed on Monday evening.

Edmonton restaurant chain PrimeTime Donair has confirmed that it won the auction.

Service Alberta says the costume was purchased in 2015 for a traffic safety video about the perils of driving high on cannabis — but the video was never made.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published August 15, 2023.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

In the news today: Wildfires in NWT, heatwave in B.C. breaks records

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