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Published July 25, 2023 • Read for 5 minutes
CN Rail workers assess damage to a swept-out rail line outside Truro, NS on Sunday, July 23, 2023. A long succession of intense thunderstorms threw record amounts of rain across a wide swath of Nova Scotia, causing flash flooding, wash-offs and power outages. Photo by Darren Calabrese /The Canadian Press
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Here’s a rundown of stories from The Canadian Press, designed to get you up to speed on what you need to know today…
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Correlation between floods, wildfires in Nova Scotia
The fingerprints of climate change can be seen everywhere in the stormy weather witnessed this year in Nova Scotia – and across the country – from raging wildfires to devastating floods.
A series of severe thunderstorms this weekend dumped up to 250 millimeters of rain on Nova Scotia, killing at least two people and damaging infrastructure across the province.
About two months ago, nearly 250 square kilometers of land were scorched by record fires. The province also experiences warmer-than-normal summer temperatures.
There is a link between rising temperatures, wildfires and heavier rainfall, said Kent Moore, a professor of atmospheric physics at the University of Toronto.
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Nova Scotia is about two degrees warmer than normal for this time of year, Moore said.
And as Nova Scotia and the rest of the planet warm up, the atmosphere’s ability to hold water vapor is increasing, he added.
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Firefighters hope for help in the rain
Crews battling British Columbia’s largest-ever wildfire hope a “heavy, sustained rain” in the forecast can help them round the corner from the massive blaze.
Environment Canada has issued a special weather report for the northeast corner of the province, where the Donnie Creek fire burned nearly 6,000 square kilometers of forest.
The weather statement says a low-pressure system over Alberta will interact with the eastern Rockies, leading to heavy rainfall in northeastern BC, causing a buildup of up to 70 millimeters through Thursday morning.
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Julia Caranci, information officer for the Prince George Fire Center, says the rain in the forecast is “very good news,” but they remain cautious as it may not fall evenly over the large area of the fire.
There are about 480 active fires in British Columbia and nearly 15,000 square miles of land have burned, surpassing the record set by the end of the 2018 wildfire season.
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Dock workers in BC are viewing the job posting today
Thousands of workers in British Columbia’s ports will take day off work today to learn details of an agreement between their union and employers.
The BC Maritime Employers Association says the offer presented is the same as the leaders of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union previously rejected, who briefly sent workers back to the picket line last week.
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A 13-day strike that began on Canada Day prevented billions of dollars worth of goods from moving in and out of some of the country’s busiest ports.
The strike action was suspended when the contract was reached with the help of a mediator, but reinstated when the union leadership rejected the plan.
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Food-insecure children go to the doctor more often
The mere thought of grocery shopping gives Jaimee Aragones so much anxiety that she refrains from entering stores, knowing that she would return home without food that she can no longer afford for her children.
Despite the couple’s best efforts to stick to a budget, Aragones said she feels “defeated” by the constant money battle over basic necessities, including rent.
She also worries about how that stress will affect her children, especially her oldest son, who is told to “save that for later” if his favorite treats don’t show up in the fridge.
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On Monday, the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) published a study finding that children and adolescents under the age of 18 living in Ontario homes with food insecurity due to financial hardship made 55 percent more doctor visits for mental health reasons compared to those who had enough to eat.
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Conservatives notch Calgary by election victory
The federal Conservatives swept to victory on Monday to fill a seat that became vacant after MP Bob Benzen stepped down last year.
Benzen, who was elected to represent the area in 2017, announced he would resign his Calgary Heritage seat and return to private life late last year.
Most of Calgary Heritage used to be part of the riding of Calgary Southwest, a seat held by former Prime Minister Stephen Harper until his retirement.
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With Shuvaloy Majumdar, a former policy adviser to Stephen Harper and former Conservative Secretary of State John Baird, the vote stayed true to form, winning 65 percent of the vote.
Liberal candidate Elliot Weinstein and NDP candidate Gurmit Bhachu were virtually tied for second and third with just a few polls to go.
Voter turnout was low, with just over 28 percent of eligible voters casting a ballot.
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Two Ontario rides go to the polls again
Summer is the time for barbecues, bare feet and beaches – and for residents of two Ontario rides, midterm elections.
It’s not traditionally considered the best season for politics, when people are enjoying the weather or on vacation, but candidates in Thursday’s midterm elections in Toronto’s Scarborough-Guildwood and Kanata-Carleton in the Ottawa region swear that voters are engaged — although it was a bit of a slow start.
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The residents of the Scarborough Riding, in particular, could be forgiven for being singled out.
Together with the rest of Toronto, they voted last month in a mayoral by-election, which came just eight months after the general municipal election, and it’s been just 13 months since the last provincial general election.
Genevieve Tellier, a professor of political science at the University of Ottawa, said it will be particularly challenging to hold two midterm elections simultaneously for the Liberals, with no leader and depleted resources after finishing third in two consecutive elections.
However, it will be a challenge for all parties to get their voters to the polls, she said.
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Canadian airline delays are rising over the US
Figures from an aviation data company show that Canada’s two largest airlines see a much higher proportion of their flights delayed compared to many of their counterparts abroad.
Statistics from Cirium show that about 50 percent of Air Canada’s flights were on time in the last two weeks of June and the first two weeks of July overall.
Meanwhile, about 36 percent of WestJet flights landed within 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival, which is considered on time.
The numbers compare to percentages by time that vary between the high 60s and low 80s for the five largest airlines in the United States.
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This report from The Canadian Press was first published on July 25, 2023
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