All weather watches and warnings issued for Ottawa lifted as Canada Day celebrations wrapped up Saturday night, after Mother Nature temporarily shut down the birthday celebrations with heavy rain and thunderstorms earlier in the day.
Canadian Heritage suspended events at LeBreton Flats and on Parliament Hill during the afternoon, while Canada Day festivities in the suburbs were temporarily postponed due to the rain. Canadian Heritage went ahead with the evening show at LeBreton Flats, including the fireworks.
As of 10:30 p.m., all warnings had ended for the city of Ottawa. Earlier in the day, Ottawa was under a severe thunderstorm watch, a severe thunderstorm warning, a tornado watch and a special air quality statement.
The forecast calls for a cloudy evening in Ottawa with a chance of showers. Low 19 C.
A severe thunderstorm watch remained in effect Saturday night for Brockville, Prescott, Kemptville, Prescott-Russell and the Cornwall-Morrisburg areas.
Environment Canada said conditions are favourable for the development of severe thunderstorms.
Air quality statement
A special air quality statement ended for Ottawa Saturday evening, as the smoky air from forest fires in northeastern Ontario and Quebec moved out of the region.
The air quality health index (AQHI) at 7p.m. was measured at 3, or “low risk.”
The air quality is expected to improve on Sunday and Monday to a 3 – “low risk.”
Canada Day schedule changes
Canadian Heritage postponed the afternoon events at LeBreton Flats due to the severe thunderstorms. As of 6:30 p.m., Canadian Heritage said the evening show at LeBreton Flats was proceeding, with fireworks at 10 p.m.
The Beacon Hill Community Association has cancelled tonight’s fireworks in Loyola Park. The fireworks in Dunrobin have also been cancelled.
Fireworks have been postponed in Kanata tonight due to the weather. Organizers of the Kanata Canada Day celebration say the fireworks will take place on Sunday, July 2 at 10 p.m. at Walter Baker Park.
Canada Day celebrations will proceed with fireworks this evening at Petrie Island and in Barrhaven. The Riverside South Community Association says fireworks are still scheduled for tonight.
The Greely Community Association says fireworks are still set for 10 p.m. at the Greely Community Centre.
Canada Day festivities in Stittsville resumed Saturday evening, with fireworks still scheduled.
Not a washout, but risk of storms: Phillips
Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips says weather will be on people’s minds today in Ottawa, with a risk of thunderstorms, but unsettled conditions may vary depending on where you are in the city.
“It’s not going to be a washout,” he told Newstalk 580 CFRA. “It’s going to be more localized here and there. Some neighbourhoods may not get any precipitation or threatening weather and others may get into the severe, where they’ve got to worry about large hail or heavy rain.”
He also expects the weather will improve the air quality in Ottawa.
“We had a very high index last night and I think it will be more moderate today and by midnight it will be low, so whatever weather we get will help to clear out the air,” he said. “I think the smoke will be there, it will be present, but not in the toxic, unhealthy kind of levels you’ve seen in Ottawa for so much of June, but we’re going to start July off with a bit of smoke.”
Saturday night’s forecast includes a 70 per cent chance of showers and the risk of a thunderstorm with local smoke in the evening and overnight. The low is 18 C.
Phillips said it’s important to keep your eye on the sky and be prepared for rain, but don’t let it stop you from celebrating.
“I don’t think it should spoil your Canada Day in the nation’s capital,” he said. “I can’t say for sure what the firework situation will be, it’ll all depend on local situations at the time, but they may very well be able to squeeze those in between showers.”
Canadian Heritage spokesperson Melanie Brault told Newstalk 580 CFRA just before 8 a.m. that the current plan is to go ahead with fireworks, but last-minute changes may be required if the weather changes.
Sunday’s outlook is cloudy with a 40 per cent chance of showers and the risk of a thunderstorm. The high is 24 C with a humidex of 32.
A chance of showers is in the forecast for Monday with a high of 25 C.
Tuesday is looking cloudy with a small chance of showers and a high of 29 C.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
