Lack of detention space could force CBSA to release detainees, internal memo warns
The Canada Border Services Agency is scrambling to find space to hold high-risk detainees that are set to be transferred from provincial jails in June.
Federal Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair has said images of wildfires burning across Canada are some of the most severe ever witnessed in the country and the forecast for the next few months indicates the potential for continued higher-than-normal fire activity.
The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre says there are 415 fires currently burning. About 2,285 fires have burned 37,000 square kilometres so far this year
Here's a look at the current wildfire situation as of Tuesday afternoon:
There are five active wildfires. The province has recorded 212 so far this year, about double the number in an average year. About 267 square kilometres have burned.
A fire that broke out at the end of May in suburban Halifax destroyed about 200 structures, including 151 homes. About 16,500 people were initially forced from their homes and the city says about 4,100 residents remain displaced.
A fire in Shelburne County in southwestern Nova Scotia, considered the largest in the province's history at around 250 square kilometres, is still out of control. The province says 150 structures had been lost, including an estimated 60 homes.
The province has reported more than 150 wildfires, including at least 110 that are out of control. This year so far, fires have burned more than 1,730 square kilometres.
Premier Francois Legault says the Abitibi-Temiscamingue region in northwestern Quebec is an area of particular concern, with the communities of Normetal and Lebel-sur-Quevillon under threat.
Fires have forced about 10,000 people from their homes, mostly in the northwestern Atibibi region and eastern Cote-Nord region.
There are 64 wildfires burning across the province, 18 of which are out of control. A total of 590 wildfires have burned about 12,016 square kilometres this year.
Officials recently lifted a provincewide state of emergency, brought in May 6 to expedite co-ordination of firefighting resources and support for evacuees. At one point in early May, about 29,000 were out of their homes in various communities.
About 4,300 remain evacuated. Evacuation orders are in place for Fort Chipewyan, Dene Tha' First Nation, Fox Lake, Chipewyan Lake and surrounding areas, and part of Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation. Garden River is under an evacuation alert.
There are 25 wildfires actively burning, four of which are not contained.
The province has recorded 201 fires so far this year, compared to a five-year average of 135.
Many residents in northern Saskatchewan remain out of their homes. Community members identified as high-risk were evacuated last week from La Loche and Clearwater River Dene Nation.
Indigenous Services Canada says about 400 evacuees are from First Nations.
There are 11 wildfires actively burning across the territory. A total of 21 wildfires have burned nearly 3,833 square kilometres this year.
K'at'lodeeche First Nation residents remain displaced by a fire that has damaged several buildings on the reserve, including the band office. The fire is classified as being held and was last mapped at 32 square kilometres.
The nearby town of Hay River, where residents were allowed to return on May 25 following a nearly two-week evacuation order, remains under a precautionary evacuation alert.
An out-of-control wildfire measured at more than 2,490 square kilometres is burning 10 kilometres from Sambaa K'e near the Alberta boundary. The community was evacuated last week. One home was destroyed in an ignition operation.
There are 78 active wildfires, 24 of which are out of control. A total of 382 fires have burned more than 4,563 square kilometres this year.
B.C. Wildfire Service says an out-of-control fire burning north of Fort St. John, estimated at more 2,400 square kilometres, is the second largest in the province's history.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2023.
By Emily Blake in Yellowknife
This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
The Canada Border Services Agency is scrambling to find space to hold high-risk detainees that are set to be transferred from provincial jails in June.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Guitar legend Dickey Betts, who co-founded the Allman Brothers Band and wrote their biggest hit, 'Ramblin' Man,' has died. He was 80.
Most Canadians in March reported feeling angry or pessimistic towards the federal government than at any point in the last six years, according to a survey by Nanos Research.
Ontario Provincial Police say they have 'disrupted' an organized crime group that allegedly used an emergency grandparent scam to defraud seniors across Canada out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
A Google Drive link allegedly containing 17 tracks that are purportedly from Swift's eagerly awaited "The Tortured Poets Department" album has been making the rounds on the internet in the past day and people are equal parts mad, sad and happy about it.
A motion to reverse a ban on the keffiyeh within Queen’s Park failed to receive unanimous consent Thursday just moments after Ontario Premier Doug Ford reiterated his view that prohibiting the garment in the House is divisive.
The journey to home ownership can be exciting, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew warns about the trappings of becoming 'house poor' -- where an overwhelming portion of your income is devoured by housing costs. Liew offers some practical strategies to maintain better financial health while owning a home.
Calgary police say Winston Campbell, 45, has been charged in the death of a two-year-old girl in 2022.
Molly Knight, a grade four 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.
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.
While many people choose to keep their medical appointments private, four longtime friends decided to undergo vasectomies as a group in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.
A popular highway in Alberta's Banff National Park now has a 'no stopping zone' to help protect two bears.