Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she is disheartened by a report into last summer's Jasper wildfire that she says unfairly criticizes and minimizes the contributions of her government. Smith, in a statement on social media, says the report and media coverage of it are “politically motivated,” but doesn’t elaborate. The report, based on surveys of firefighters and others, says Smith’s government complicated the response to the fire, which destroyed a third of the Jasper townsite. It says the province regularly requested information and attempted to make decisions despite not being j

On July 17, at 9:55pm, the Fort St John RCMP received a report of a man flashing a pistol at a member of the public, while walking in the area of 87 Street and 99 Ave, in Fort St John. Fort St John RCMP frontline officers immediately attended and located two individuals, one, a intoxicated man matching the description of the suspect with a pistol. The man was arrested for Possession of a Weapon for a Dangerous Purpose. A black pistol was located on the individual and seized by police. The pistol was later determined to be a BB pistol. Because the Fort St John RCMP take firearms calls very seri

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi says at least three people are dead after an incident at a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department facility. There was a reported explosion at the facility Friday morning. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has not confirmed any deaths. The U.S. Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said he’s been briefed on the matter. Los Angeles County Fire Department said it responded to calls about a possible explosion around 7:30 a.m. Newsom’s office said it occurred at the LA Coun

Police in Abbotsford, B.C., say a train derailment has forced the closure of 4th Avenue near the Canada-U.S. border crossing. The department says in a post to social media that the road is blocked off between West Railway to the commercial vehicle entrance for the Sumas border crossing. Police say access to the border entrance is not impacted.They say no injuries have been reported, but did not mention how the derailment happened. The department initially posted an advisory around 11 p.m. Thursday about the closure and to ask drivers to avoid the area. It says in the updated post on Friday tha

An Independent candidate running in a rural Alberta byelection says she has stopped door-knocking because of death threats. Sarah Spanier says she has told Mounties about the online threats, which she attributes to her advocacy for transgender people. She says she has received some messages stating she will be met with a shotgun if she knocks on doors. Spanier is one of almost 80 candidates running in Battle River-Crowfoot, with voters going to the polls Aug. 18. The riding was won handily by Conservative Damien Kurek in the April general election, but Kurek stepped down to all

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers is urging workers to reject Canada Post's latest contract offer. Union national president Jan Simpson says a strong no vote would not only reject the offer, but also protect the integrity of the bargaining process. The Canada Industrial Relations Board will hold the vote on the proposed deal starting next week. Canada Post is at an impasse with the union representing roughly 55,000 postal service workers after more than a year and a half of talks. Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu last month asked the board to step in and put the Crown corporation's latest

A report commissioned by the town of Jasper says crews did their best to fight last year's devastating wildfire but the Alberta government complicated the response. The report was based on surveyed participants and firefighters who battled the blaze that destroyed much of the mountain town. It says the Alberta government wasn't jurisdictionally responsible to lead the crisis but made things more difficult with regular information requests and by seeking to exercise decision-making authority. The report says incident commanders had their focus disrupted and were forced to spend precio

B-C Health Minister Josie Osborne says she's reinstated funding for drug coverage for a ten-year-old Langford girl who suffers from a rare neurodegenerative disease. Osborne says she spoke to Charleigh Pollock's family on Thursday evening and told them that the funding will be available for as long as her doctor and the family deem appropriate. The minister says a letter from experts on Batten disease confirmed that there's ``significant disagreement'' about the drug Brineura, which costs around $1 million a year. Pollock is the only person in B-C with the disease, and one of around 2

Canada’s National Housing Agency says eliminating interprovincial trade barriers could lead to 30,000 more new homes being built in Canada each year. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said in a report Thursday that this would bring the total number of annual housing starts to nearly 280,000, a meaningful step toward addressing Canada’s housing supply gap. To achieve this goal, Canada will need to reduce provincial barriers that hinder transportation infrastructure from west to east, said CMHC chief economist Matthew LeBridge. The agency said this would help maximize the use of