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SASKATOON – A Saskatoon high school student remembers the pungent smell of burned hair going up her nose, and something like the strong scent from a Sharpie marker, moments after she watched a schoolmate being set on fire.

She had just stepped out of her Grade 8 social studies class for lunch on Thursday, she says, when she saw two other girls in a hallway. A girl in a crop top poured liquid from a black canister onto the head of the girl standing next to her.

The witness says she didn’t see what started the fire but, within seconds, flames had spread from the victim’s hair and face to her shoulders, back and stomach.

The witness said she screamed for help: “Fire!”

And the victim screamed too, while frantically patting down her hair, then the flames spread to her hands.

“The flames were big. She was screaming, ‘Help!'” said the witness.

“I didn’t see her face, because there was a lot of flames.”

Police have said the 15-year-old victim is in serious condition in hospital with burns and a teacher at Evan Hardy Collegiate who was hurt trying to put out the fire was also sent to hospital.

On Friday, a 14-year-old girl appeared in court on charges of attempted murder, aggravated assault and arson. She is set to appear in court again on Wednesday.

Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, the identities of the accused, the victim and young witnesses cannot be published.

The 13-year-old girl who saw the attack said she’s still processing the horrific images from just her second day in her first year of high school.

“I still feel so, like, awkward,” she said, adding she’s not sure if she’ll go back to the school.

“I feel a void.”

She recalled that the attacker initially ran from the scene and multiple teachers came out of a classroom to save the girl on fire. They told her to drop to the ground and roll.

“She, like, tumbled forward and just rolled,” and her head hit a locker, which also caught on fire, the witness said.

She said a teacher took off his jacket and used it to swat at the flames on the victim, while other staff grabbed items of clothing and joined in trying to put out the fire.

The victim squealed, said the witness, who ran outside and called 911. She saw other students crying and standing in shock.

Police said a school resource officer took the accused into custody.

Saskatoon Public Schools said in a statement that both the victim and the accused are students.

The school cancelled classes until Tuesday but said it would remain open for students and staff to access counselling.

“The past 24 hours have been very challenging for the Evan Hardy School community,” the school said in a statement Friday.

“Our hearts go out to the victims and entire school community as we face this difficult time together. We recognize the seriousness of this incident and understand the strong emotions it has stirred throughout our city.”

Samantha Becotte, president of the union representing Saskatchewan teachers, said members have been shaken. Becotte couldn’t provide further details about the fire.

“Right now, we’re just really focusing on supporting the staff that are there and making sure they have what they need to welcome students back. This is a really traumatic incident for the whole community,” she said.

“We want to ensure that when they return, that they’re comfortable and safe, and then looking forward into the future hoping to have further conversations about what’s needed to ensure incidents like this are prevented.”

She has long pushed the provincial government for additional supports to address rising violence and better help higher-needs students.

Teachers went on strike and pulled volunteer work to pressure the province to move on those issues during a labour impasse earlier this year. Both sides have since agreed to go into binding arbitration, with those talks scheduled for December.

“We’re looking to further those conversations, talking about solutions to the challenges students and teachers face in schools and classrooms, and what is needed to best support them and ensure everyone has a safe learning environment where they can thrive,” Becotte said.

The mother of the witness said she’s also processing what happened and doing everything she can to support her daughter.

“It’s hard to believe that something like this would happen,” said the woman, adding she’s going to let her daughter to determine if she’ll return to the same school.

“It’s her trauma, so she can decide.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.

— By Fakiha Baig in Edmonton and Jeremy Simes in Regina

FORT ST. JAMES, B.C. – A British Columbia First Nations leader says the province must rethink its approach to the forest industry in light of Canfor Corp.’s decision to shutter two sawmills and leave 500 workers without jobs.

Nak’azdli Whut’en Chief Colleen Erickson says First Nations must play a bigger role in the industry’s future in B.C. because Indigenous entities would not be “sending our profits elsewhere” as corporations not headquartered locally would.

Erickson’s comments Friday come after Canfor announced it will close mills in Vanderhoof, B.C., and Fort St. John, B.C., by the end of the year.

The Vancouver-based company says the challenge of accessing economically viable timber for fibre, ongoing financial losses, weak lumber markets and a big increase last month in U.S. tariffs all played a role in the decision.

But Erickson says most First Nations members in the area weren’t surprised Canfor could not access affordable fibre anymore due to what she calls “unsustainable” harvesting practices.

She also says an industry with heavier First Nations involvement would not shutter mills in B.C. and invest elsewhere because local community members “are not going anywhere.”

“I think most people have come to that (conclusion) because of the fact that they can just close their doors and go elsewhere to log, and everybody’s basically left on their own (here),” Erickson says.

“There’s no remediation on their part. There’s nothing to compel them to use some of the profits to help people diversify into something else. If things were local, then it would be a local discussion.”

The call for more local management of forest assets has been echoed by unions, including the Prince George, B.C., local of United Steelworkers whose members comprise 325 of the 500 positions lost in the closures.

“There needs to be a better effort by government to decide what vision they have for the industry in B.C.,” Scott Lunny, director of the union’s Western Canada district, said in a previous statement.

“If Canfor won’t do it, find a company that will invest in B.C.”

Public and Private Workers of Canada national president Geoff Dawe says while members of his union are not directly impacted, he agrees that companies that are not invested in local communities should lose their forest tenure rights.

“The government needs to step in and say, ‘Look, if you’re not going to use this tenure, then we need to give it to somebody that is,'” Dawe says. “Because we have a community here, and they should be looking after that community’s best interest.”

Provincial industry group BC Council of Forest Industries has said in light of the Canfor closures that advancing new agreements with First Nations is one key priority the province should have in safeguarding the sector’s future.

“New approaches to First Nations stewardship, forest tenure, treaty, and equity and investment will support economic reconciliation and build stronger partnerships with Indigenous communities,” council CEO Linda Coady said in a previous statement.

But the group also says the province also needs to be “providing a reliable supply of fibre to the industry.”

Erickson says that is where the province need to talk to First Nations more because she feels her community is more knowledgeable about sustainable management of forests locally than others from elsewhere.

“It’s very frustrating that we’ve come to this point,” she says. “But for sure we need to look at the remaining resource that we have and see how we can do better.

“We definitely need to do something different.”

— Chuck Chiang in Vancouver

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

U.S. authorities and the RCMP say a Canadian resident has been arrested in Quebec over an alleged Islamic State terror plot to kill Jewish people in New York around the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel last year.

The U.S. Department of Justice said Friday that Pakistani national Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, also known as Shahzeb Jadoon, was arrested Wednesday in relation to a planned mass shooting that wasto take place around Oct. 7.

United States Attorney General Merrick Garland said Khan was alleged to have had the goal of “slaughtering, in the name of ISIS, as many Jewish people as possible.”

He said Khan was arrested thanks to “quick action” by Canadian law enforcement.

The department alleged in a news release that Khan intended to use “automatic and semi-automatic weapons” in a shooting at a Jewish centre in Brooklyn.

It said he was arrested in or around Ormstown, Que., on his way to New York.

He was charged with one count of attempting to provide material support and resources to a terrorist organization.

The RCMP said it conducted an investigation into Khan in partnership with the FBI and, “that as his actions escalated, at no point in time was Khan an immediate threat prior to his arrest.”

It said Khan was to appear in the Superior Court of Justice in Montreal on Sept. 13, and that the U.S. would be seeking extradition.

RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said in a statement that “violent extremism” is on the rise around the world, including Canada.

“This planned antisemitic attack against Jewish people in the U.S. is deplorable and there is no place for such ideological and hate-motivated crime in Canada,” he said.

The U.S. complaint against Khan says that starting around July, he told undercover officers of his intention to to carry out mass shootings at Jewish religious centres in the U.S.

It alleges he told the officers of his desire to create “a real off-line cell” of the Islamic State, directing them to obtain assault rifles and ammunition and “some good hunting [knives] so we can slit their throats.”

Oct. 7 was chosen as the date for the attack because there would likely be protests, the complaint says, while the Oct. 11 Yom Kippur holy day was also considered.

It says undercover officers told Khan last month they had secured weapons and, at 5:40 a.m. on Wednesday, Khan got in a vehicle in Toronto and set off for Napanee, Ont., picking up “additional passengers on the way.”

In Nepanee, they switched to a second car and drove to Montreal, where Khan and an “unidentified female” changed vehicles again, with another person at the wheel, the complaint says.

At 2.54 p.m., about 19 kilometres from the U.S. border, the vehicle was stopped by police and Khan was arrested.

The complaint alleges Khan wrote last week: “If we succeed with our plan, this would be the largest attack on US soil since 9/11.”

“The defendant was allegedly determined to kill Jewish people here in the United States, nearly one year after Hamas’ horrific attack on Israel,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.

“This investigation was led by the FBI, and I am proud of the terrific work by the FBI team and our partners to disrupt Khan’s plan.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.