Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
The federal government is sending the Canadian Armed Forces to help with the water emergency in Nunavut's capital, and the work may include setting up a mobile water treatment plant.
In a tweet Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had spoken with Nunavut PremierJoe Savikataaq and that the military will be deployed to Iqaluit to co-ordinate and deliver clean drinking water.
The city's 8,000 residents haven't been able to consume tap water for 11 days, since it was discovered to contain fuel.
Iqaluit mayor Kenny Bell said the military will help set up the mobile plant but he didn't offer details about how it would work.
The military has sent three to five people to Iqaluit to assess where it could put the mobile plant, he said. "Right now, it's a little bit too early to say what they're going to do."
In an email to The Canadian Press, a spokesperson for the Canadian Armed Forces said it is "working with federal and territorial partners to finalize the details on our support to the people of Iqaluit" and couldn't provide more information.
Iqaluit residents had reported a fuel smell in their water as early as Oct. 2. But the city said regular testing, for things such as bacteria, had come back clean.
On Oct. 12, workers opened a tank at the city's water treatment facility and smelled fuel. Tests later came back positive for high concentrations of fuel in that tank.
Residents have been collecting water from the city's Sylvia Grinnell River and picking up free bottled water from distribution sites.
The territory's chief public health officer, Dr. Michael Patterson, has said that the health risks to residents who drank the city's tap water are very low.
At a news conference Friday, he said residents may still smell fuel in their water even though the city has bypassed the contaminated tank.
When water is heated up or moved around, Patterson explained, the fuel smell becomes stronger even if the levels mean it's not dangerous to consume.
The city said it's still in the process of flushing the contaminated water from its system and residents need to clean their home's water tanks.
Flushing is expected continue into at least next week.
The city had originally said the process would take about 48 hours, but that another round of flushing needs to be completed.
Services at Iqaluit's hospital have also been affected, as medical tools cannot be sanitized with the contaminated water. Nunavut's health department said the hospital has so far postponed about 30 surgeries, eight urology cases and 28 dental procedures.
It's still not clear how fuel got into the tank at the treatment plant.
Amy Elgersma, the city's chief administrative officer, said an assessment found "no obvious cracks" in the contaminated tank.
The tank was bypassed, but hydrocarbons are still being found in the water, particularly in the city's reservoir tanks, Elgersma said.
"They are presenting as hydrophobic and they tend to remain on the surface, which means they can be removed directly from those tanks using a vacuum system," she said.
Environmental assessments of the ground around the treatment facility are ongoing, she added.
"We do suspect that contamination from the soil or groundwater from outside the plant has seeped into the water treatment plant," she said.
Next steps will depend on thoseassessments, Elgersma said.
The city said it is also in the process of installing a real-time monitoring station to detect fuel in its water.
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that's expected to face legal challenges.
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
The U.S. Senate has passed US$95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars.
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a Grade 4 student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.