The only blaze of note identified by the BC Wildfire Service continues to grow. The Izman Creek wildfire near Lytton is now burning 245 hectares, and the danger remains, despite an evacuation order from the Neskonlith Indian Band for about 40 properties in the area being downgraded to an alert last week. This latest blaze comes just over four years after a wildfire destroyed much of Lytton. Lytton is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, which has an evacuation alert in effect for some properties under its jurisdictiondue to the Izman Creek wildfire. The regional district also lift

A new report from advisory firm Deloitte is forecasting a big jump in Alberta natural gas prices next year, with the country's first West Coast export facility now up and running. The Alberta benchmark AECO price is expected to average $2.20 per mmBTU in the second half of this year and then rise to an average of $3.50 per mmBTU in 2026. It averaged $1.36 per mmBTU last year. By the end of the forecast in 2032, the average AECO price is expected to hit $4 per mmBTU. Alberta producers now have an outlet for their gas to markets beyond the United States with LNG Canada shipping its first cargo o

An environmental think tank is warning the federal government against repealing its electric vehicle mandate. In a statement published Friday, Clean Energy Canada said if Ottawa was going to change the mandate, it should be done with near-term adjustments to help the auto sector "weather this temporary storm" of slumping EV sales. The plea comes on the heels of auto manufacturing leaders meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney last week, in which the CEOs repeated their calls for the mandate to be repealed. Starting next year, 20 per cent of all new light-duty vehicles sold in Canada must be

The premiers of Alberta and Ontario will meet in Calgary today to sign two new memorandums of understanding. Danielle Smith's office says she and Doug Ford will sign agreements on energy priorities, trade and interprovincial co-operation. The pair were together at a roundtable in Calgary on Sunday, with Ford tweeting that they discussed how to build new pipelines, as well as rail lines to export Canadian critical minerals and energy. Smith bumped into Prime Minister Mark Carney at the Calgary Stampede on Saturday. When she told Carney about the documents she and Ford would be signing, she tol

B.C. man has been sentenced to 11 years for cocaine, fentanyl trafficking. Jason Thomas Howard Conrad was arrested in 2023 with a shopping bag full of fentanyl, and a large amount of cocaine and cash were also found in his Tesla. According to police, they received a tip in January 2023 that fentanyl was being made at a home on McLeod Court in Richmond. In February, Conrad was seen entering the home empty-handed and returning carrying a backpack that appeared to be full and heavy. When he left the home again in March, he was taken into custody and found 15.6 kilograms of fentanyl in his

Albertans will now need to register to vote in municipal elections. The deadline to register is August 15. This registration is being done in view of the municipal elections to be held on October 20. The city says that voters will have to verify their information by August 15 to ensure that their name is on the list on voting day. It is worth noting that voters who fail to register by this August 15 can register themselves in person on voting day. Let us tell you that one of the changes made during the 2021 municipal elections was the change to voter registration. Due to the Alberta gov

The BJP has also opposed the land pooling policy of the Bhagwant Mann government in Ludhiana district of Punjab. A delegation of farmers from Ludhiana district affected by the land pooling policy, led by the party's state president Sunil Jakhar, met Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria. After meeting the Governor, Jakhar said that the Aam Aadmi Party government's land pooling policy will not allow the plans of forcibly taking away the land of the farmers to succeed. Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Badal has also opposed it in the past. He said that the Akali Dal will not allow the

An Alberta First Nation is asking a judge to review the provincial government's decision earlier this year to end its moratorium on coal mining. In an application for judicial review filed this week, Siksika Nation says Alberta failed in its duty to consult when in January it lifted its moratorium on new coal mining projects on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Siksika Nation, 95 kilometres east of Calgary, says the effects of coal mining in the Rockies threaten Treaty rights and the land that supports its livelihood. It's the second time Siksika Nation has challenged a Un

Industry Minister Mélanie Joly says the federal government is talking to mining and metals giant Rio Tinto about helping the company with cash flow problems caused by the United States' global steel and aluminum tariffs. During a visit to Saguenay, Que., on Thursday to meet with businesses in the province's critical aluminum sector, Joly told reporters Ottawa had started talks with the firm earlier this week. U.S. President Donald Trump last month doubled his administration's global tariffs on steel and aluminum to 50 per cent. Prime Minster Mark Carney said Canada will deliver its response t