Water building behind B.C. slide appears to have doubled in size: First Nation chief | Canada News Media
Connect with us

News

Water building behind B.C. slide appears to have doubled in size: First Nation chief

Published

 on

 

WILLIAMS LAKE, B.C. – The chief of Williams Lake First Nation says water building behind a landslide of debris that has dammed the Chilcotin River in British Columbia’s central Interior appears to have nearly doubled in size since Wednesday.

Chief Willie Sellars, who toured the slide site by helicopter Wednesday and Thursday, says the water is continuing to build on one side of the dam, while the riverbed on the other side had “completely dried up” for about two kilometres.

Officials have said the water collecting behind the slide south of Williams Lake could reach a level where it will start flowing over the debris, or it will erode the material, setting off a release.

They have estimated a release could come Friday or Saturday, and could set off dozens of evacuation orders and alerts downstream.

Evacuation orders span 107 square kilometres along the Chilcotin, and officials saying the slide poses an “immediate danger to life and safety.”

The nearby Tsilhqot’in National Government has declared a state of local emergency and warned people to stay away from the river.

The state of the river has also prompted Interior Health to relocate 21 patients out of a hospital and long-term care home in Lillooet to alternative areas.

Sellars says his community is about 45 minutes away from the slide, so an evacuation of the community likely won’t be necessary.

However, he says the region is of “massive cultural significance” to First Nation communities in the region, noting the slide will also affect navigation channels for salmon.

“(There’s) a lot of history, former village sites, burial grounds, and we need to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to document and protect those,” he says.

Sellars says “it’s hard to describe in words how massive this slide is, and how devastating it is,” adding he hasn’t received updated projections yet on when the dam may break.

“We want to get more information out and you know, our team is on it, and working collaboratively with the (Cariboo Regional District), the province and the federal government and I’m feeling very confident that we’re going to have that information soon.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 2, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

News

RCMP investigating after three found dead in Lloydminster, Sask.

Published

 on

LLOYDMINSTER, SASK. – RCMP are investigating the deaths of three people in Lloydminster, Sask.

They said in a news release Thursday that there is no risk to the public.

On Wednesday evening, they said there was a heavy police presence around 50th Street and 47th Avenue as officers investigated an “unfolding incident.”

Mounties have not said how the people died, their ages or their genders.

Multiple media reports from the scene show yellow police tape blocking off a home, as well as an adjacent road and alleyway.

The city of Lloydminster straddles the Alberta-Saskatchewan border.

Mounties said the three people were found on the Saskatchewan side of the city, but that the Alberta RCMP are investigating.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Sept. 12, 2024.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story; An earlier version said the three deceased were found on the Alberta side of Lloydminster.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



Source link

Continue Reading

News

Three injured in Kingston, Ont., assault, police negotiating suspect’s surrender

Published

 on

KINGSTON, Ont. – Police in Kingston, Ont., say three people have been sent to hospital with life-threatening injuries after a violent daytime assault.

Kingston police say officers have surrounded a suspect and were trying to negotiate his surrender as of 1 p.m.

Spokesperson Const. Anthony Colangeli says police received reports that the suspect may have been wielding an edged or blunt weapon, possibly both.

Colangeli says officers were called to the Integrated Care Hub around 10:40 a.m. after a report of a serious assault.

He says the three victims were all assaulted “in the vicinity,” of the drop-in health centre, not inside.

Police have closed Montreal Street between Railway Street and Hickson Avenue.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



Source link

Continue Reading

News

Government intervention in Air Canada talks a threat to competition: Transat CEO

Published

 on

Demands for government intervention in Air Canada labour talks could negatively affect airline competition in Canada, the CEO of travel company Transat AT Inc. said.

“The extension of such an extraordinary intervention to Air Canada would be an undeniable competitive advantage to the detriment of other Canadian airlines,” Annick Guérard told analysts on an earnings conference call on Thursday.

“The time and urgency is now. It is time to restore healthy competition in Canada,” she added.

Air Canada has asked the federal government to be ready to intervene and request arbitration as early as this weekend to avoid disruptions.

Comments on the potential Air Canada pilot strike or lock out came as Transat reported third-quarter financial results.

Guérard recalled Transat’s labour negotiations with its flight attendants earlier this year, which the company said it handled without asking for government intervention.

The airline’s 2,100 flight attendants voted 99 per cent in favour of a strike mandate and twice rejected tentative deals before approving a new collective agreement in late February.

As the collective agreement for Air Transat pilots ends in June next year, Guérard anticipates similar pressure to increase overall wages as seen in Air Canada’s negotiations, but reckons it will come out “as a win, win, win deal.”

“The pilots are preparing on their side, we are preparing on our side and we’re confident that we’re going to come up with a reasonable deal,” she told analysts when asked about the upcoming negotiations.

The parent company of Air Transat reported it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31. The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.

Revenue totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.

On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.

It attributed reduced revenues to lower airline unit revenues, competition, industry-wide overcapacity and economic uncertainty.

Air Transat is also among the airlines facing challenges related to the recall of Pratt & Whitney turbofan jet engines for inspection and repair.

The recall has so far grounded six aircraft, Guérard said on the call.

“We have agreed to financial compensation for grounded aircraft during the 2023-2024 period,” she said. “Alongside this financial compensation, Pratt & Whitney will provide us with two additional spare engines, which we intend to monetize through a sell and lease back transaction.”

Looking ahead, the CEO said she expects consumer demand to remain somewhat uncertain amid high interest rates.

“We are currently seeing ongoing pricing pressure extending into the winter season,” she added. Air Transat is not planning on adding additional aircraft next year but anticipates stability.

“(2025) for us will be much more stable than 2024 in terms of fleet movements and operation, and this will definitely have a positive effect on cost and customer satisfaction as well,” the CEO told analysts.

“We are more and more moving away from all the disruption that we had to go through early in 2024,” she added.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TRZ)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending

Exit mobile version