Half of Canadians have negative opinion of latest Liberal budget: poll
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.
More than 400 wildfires are burning thousands of hectares of forest and land across Canada in an "unprecedented" start to wildfire season.
Ken McMullen, president of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs says, in his career, he's never seen such an early and devastating start to the wildfires season marked by large fires in regions countrywide.
"We're seeing fires like we've never seen before, at an earlier stage in the month of May than we've ever seen," McMullen told CTV's Your Morning on Wednesday.
Volunteers comprise the majority of Canada’s firefighting capacity, putting aside their day jobs when they are called. McMullen estimates, of the 126,000 firefighters countrywide, between 80,000 and 90,000 are volunteers.
"It's unbelievable,” he said, suggesting most Canadians have no idea. "The volunteer system has been around for centuries, and it works most of the time. What it isn't designed for is for the long, sustained, drawn-out events similar to what we're seeing in the wildfires."
Given the current needs, and the expectation they will not be reduced in the future, McMullen says there needs to be more incentive for people to become volunteer firefighters.
"Right now our volunteers get a tax incentive of up to $3,000," he said. "I know we use the term volunteer, but the fact of the matter is there is some form of remuneration given to these volunteers in our communities and we've asked the government to increase that tax incentive from $3,000 to $10,000 annually."
On June 8, 2022, six fires were burning out of control , among active wildfires covering 30, 575 hectares.
The latest data available, according to records from the National Wildland Fire Situation Report, as of May 31, 2023, 45 fires were uncontrolled and 2.7 million hectares of land had been burned.
Given the extreme season, McMullen says fire crews are "absolutely exhausted."
"But they continue to do what they do every single day, which is to go out and give every effort that they possibly can to keep ourselves in our community safe," he said.
McMullen says training for more firefighters, including Indigenous fire crews, would also help.
"Indigenous communities just have a very different understanding of fire," he said. "They use it differently, they respect it differently, they've lived on the land for such a long time that they understand what the fire risk is in their city…They also protect their communities in a very different matter than us."
To watch the full interview click the video at the top of this article.
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.
Appointing a trusted person to help with financial obligations can give you peace of mind. In his personal finance column for CTVNews.ca, Christopher Liew outlines the key benefits of naming a confidant to take over your financial responsibilities, if the need ever arises.
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their “extremely dangerous” experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
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.
An Ontario senior’s attempt to get technical help online led him into a spoofing scam where he lost $25,000. Now, he’s sharing his story to warn others.
A Minnesota state senator and former broadcast meteorologist told police that she broke into her stepmother's home because her stepmother refused to give her items of sentimental value from her late father, including his ashes, according to burglary charges filed Tuesday.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
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.