'Most of the city is evacuating': Gridlock on Alberta highway after evacuation order in Fort McMurray
Four Fort McMurray neighbourhoods were ordered to evacuate on Tuesday as a wildfire gets closer to the city.
A year after 27 migrants drowned trying to reach the United Kingdom from Northern France, in what was described as the worst maritime disaster in the English Channel in 30 years, the number of migrant crossings has only gone up.
In fact, 2022 has already broken previous records. So far this year, more than 40,000 people have made the dangerous journey across the world’s busiest shipping lane, according to the U.K. government, compared to 28,500 last year, 8,400 in 2020 and 1,900 in 2019.
CTV News spoke to asylum seekers waiting in Calais for a spot on a dinghy and for favourable weather. One man from Afghanistan told us he had his 3,000 euros ($4,100) ready and was waiting for word from the smugglers. An Iranian man whose asylum request in France had been rejected had since tried three times to reach the U.K. Asked if he was afraid of dying while trying to cross, he laughed pointing to the makeshift camp and asked what the alternative was.
They come from Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Albania and Sudan among other countries. The English language is a big factor and for those seeking undocumented work, they’ve heard slipping in the black market is much easier than in other countries. Among them are also some who would be eligible for refugee status once they reach the U.K., but the problem is finding a legal way to land on British soil.
Suella Braverman, the U.K. minister in charge, has called the crisis an “invasion” but during an exchange with a fellow Conservative MP at a parliamentary committee, she failed to explain how one could seek asylum in the U.K. if they they’re not given permission to get onto an aircraft destined for the U.K.
“We need to open safe and legal passages like we did for Ukraine,” charity worker Lucy Halliday told CTV News during a morning trek through a wooded area in Calais. She spends many of her mornings looking for asylum seekers and making sure they have something to eat. “We’ve proved that the U.K. isn’t full, that we can take more people, and we can open safe passages, so that no one needs to risk their life on a small boat crossing the Channel,” she said.
The camps are scattered and when they hear Halliday’s voice offering meal tickets, one African man unzipped his tent, stuck his head out and shouted back “cat food?!” While waiting for a chance to get to the U.K., he’s found nine cats that now come to him for food.
Nearby, in what was once an empty field, the only sound is the rain hitting the blue tents sheltering young Sudanese men. One is only 17 years old and has been here for months. He doesn’t have the 3,000 euros required to travel by dinghy so instead he’ll try to sneak his way onto a truck that will cross the Channel through the Eurotunnel.
For those travelling by boat, 30 kilometres and ruthless smugglers separate them from their final destination. For many the risk of dying along the way is still better than what they left behind.
The figure in the headline has been corrected to say 27 people drowned, not 26.
Four Fort McMurray neighbourhoods were ordered to evacuate on Tuesday as a wildfire gets closer to the city.
Less than a week after two public sculptures featuring a livestream between Dublin, Ireland, and New York City debuted, 'inappropriate behaviour' in real-time interactions between people in the two cities has prompted a temporary shutdown.
Canadian LifeLabs customers who filed an application for a class-action settlement began receiving their payments this week, though at a much lower amount than initially expected.
Saskatchewan RCMP have revealed that a historic sexual assault investigation has led to the discovery of alleged crimes against children dating back to 2005.
Nearly 1,000 wildfires have burned across Canada so far this year. Here's an overview of the situation in Canada.
An American accused of sexually assaulting a Pennsylvania college student in 2013 and later sending her a Facebook message that said, 'So I raped you,' has been detained in France after a three-year search.
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
Captain John Tavares scored 15 seconds into overtime and saved his teammates some embarrassment as Canada held on for a 6-5 win over Austria on Tuesday at the world hockey championship.
The doctor who led Toronto through the COVID-19 pandemic as the city’s top public health official is stepping down.
A team is ready to help an entangled North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
A $200 reward is being offered by a North Vancouver family for the safe return of their beloved chicken, Snowflake.
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.
YES Theatre Young Company opened its acclaimed kids’ show, One Small Step, at Sudbury Theatre Centre on Saturday.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.