Group of P.E.I. firefighters to join the fight against wildfires in western Canada
CBC
A dozen P.E.I. firefighters have been deployed to help fight the wildfires disrupting communities in western Canada.
Ten forest firefighters have been sent to Saskatchewan, where there were 18 active fires as of Monday afternoon, with eight listed as not contained. On the border with neighbouring Manitoba, a huge fire continues to threaten Flin Flon, a city of 5,000 people.
In addition to the 10 firefighters sent to Saskatchewan, two people have been sent to Manitoba to work as safety officers.
Mike Montigny is the manager of field services at the P.E.I. Forests, Fish and Wildlife Division.
"Every province, territory and federal agencies — including Parks Canada and the Department of National Defence — we all have signed agreements for mutual aid, knowing full well that you can't build a program for situations like Saskatchewan or the western part of Canada are facing right now," he said.
"Knowing that we can support each other when needed, they don't need to carry that permanent burden of the staffing, the training, the resourcing... We can share resources across this country."
Montigny said extreme fire emergencies happen only once in 15 to 20 years, though they seem to be more frequent in recent years.
The province of Saskatchewan declared a state of emergency on Thursday. About 20 communities have been under evacuation orders, with thousands displaced from their homes, many of them evacuated from remote communities by air.
Some of the firefighters sent out west have gone through the first year of the P.E.I. department's wildland fire program.
"We were able to get four great students this year," Montigny said. "They're excellent and so far they've been learning lots, and they're going to be buttoned in with some very, very experienced firefighters."
Montigny said there are a few things the province looks for in potential candidates for the training program: People who are "able to learn quickly, to be physically fit — because it's a physically demanding job — and to be able to deal with the mental side of wildland fire as well too."
Montigny said helping other provinces will continue to let P.E.I.'s firefighting strength grow.
"That knowledge and experience comes back home to the Island," he said. "We're able to see, especially some of the younger employees, they get a confidence, they get some experience... you can't get that kind of training."
That confidence boost isn't just for the trainees, he added.
For years, there has been “glaring inequity” in the way the province has allocated the millions of dollars in its county roads budget, according to Department of Transportation Minister Chuck Chiasson.
Six months after passing a law aimed at making it easier for new grocery stores to open, Manitoba's premier says lower grocery bills could be on the horizon.
Timothy Smith was acting in self-defence when he punched Landon Waddell, and shouldn't be found guilty of manslaughter, his lawyer says.
Thoroughbred horse racing at Vancouver’s Hastings Racecourse is ending after more than a century, with the operator announcing Friday it will no longer run a racing season at the historic facility.
A memorial to remember lives lost to gender-based violence was held in Charlottetown Friday, ahead of the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, which is marked annually on Dec. 6.
A Calgary dentist who defrauded five insurance companies over a decade should spend up to three years in prison, the prosecution argued Friday.
B.C. Conservation Officer Service says it has called off its search for a bear responsible for an attack on a group of school children in Bella Coola, B.C. on Nov. 20.
The union president called it a rally for solidarity as Iqaluit Housing Authority employees gathered Friday while negotiations are ongoing between the Nunavut Employees Union and the employer.
The federal government is stoking Quebec separatism by walking back its climate commitments — including in its recent deal with Alberta — Liberal MP and former cabinet minister Steven Guilbeault says.
Four more Alberta MLAs are facing recall petitions organized by their constituents, including the first NDP representative to be caught in the province's ongoing wave of recall efforts.
Frank Gehry, the Canadian-born renegade architect behind some of the world's most recognizable buildings, has died at 96.
Hundreds of P.E.I. parents can't find child-care spaces, especially for infants. The provincial government says expanding those spots remains a top priority — and it recognizes the concern.
An Alberta judge says a referendum proposal on Alberta separating from Canada goes against Charter and and Treaty rights, in a decision given less than 24 hours after the provincial government introduced legislation that would have ended the court proceeding.