In the news: Canada nabs bronze men’s in swimming, B.C. landslide assessment planned

Kharun claimed bronze in the men’s 200-metre butterfly Wednesday in Paris behind French winner Marchand and silver medallist Kristof Milak of Hungary.

“It means a lot. I’m really happy that I got to this moment,” Kharun said.

His was Canada’s third swim medal in Paris after Summer McIntosh’s medley gold and freestyle silver. Kharun was the first Canadian to reach the Olympic podium in 200 fly, although McIntosh is primed to join him Thursday in the women’s event.

B.C. assessing river risk after landslide

British Columbia’s Ministry of Land and Water says personnel are conducting assessments near a landslide that blocked the Chilcotin River in the province’s Interior, including to understand risks that might exist downstream.

A government statement says the landslide Wednesday blocked the river that feeds into the Fraser River, and a sudden release of water “may cause rapid rises in river levels downstream along the Fraser River” south to Hope, B.C.

The River Forecast Centre has issued a flood warning for the Chilcotin River upstream of the landslide and a flood watch downstream.

A flood watch is also in place for the Fraser River from the Chilcotin River confluence to Hope as well as a high streamflow advisory for the Fraser River west of Hope.

Evacuation orders issued Wednesday remain in place, covering 107 kilometres along both sides of the Chilcotin River, after the Cariboo Regional District said there was an immediate danger to life and safety due to flooding.

Jasper wildfire leaves foreign workers in limbo

It didn’t take long for Namneet Singh to find full-time employment again, after a fire in Jasper, Alta., last week destroyed the hotel he had worked at for more than a year.

Singh, who was among hundreds of temporary foreign workers earning a living in the picturesque Rocky Mountain town, was on shift when the community was ordered to evacuate the night of July 22.

All 25,000 people in Jasper National Park, including 5,000 residents of the townsite, were given five hours to get out when flames began cutting off roads and escape routes. Two days later, fire destroyed a third of the town’s buildings, leaving Singh and others in limbo.

Now staying in Edmonton, Singh, who was raised in India, is working at the Jasper Employment and Education Centre to help other displaced foreign workers get new passports and other documents in order to get employment insurance or look for new jobs.

Jury deliberate at Coutts murder-conspiracy trial

The jury in the conspiracy to commit murder trial of two men related to the border protest in Coutts, Alta., will continue its deliberations into their guilt or innocence today.

The five-man, seven-woman jury was handed the case late Wednesday afternoon following five hours of instruction from Alberta Court of King’s Bench Justice David Labrenz.

Anthony Olienick and Chris Carbert face the conspiracy to commit murder charge as well as mischief over $5000, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose while Olienick faces a further charge of possessing a pipe bomb.

The two men were arrested after police seized a stockpile of guns, ammunition and body armour in an early morning raid in Feb., 2022.

The Crown says the two men were planning to use Coutts as a launchpad to start a revolution and were prepared to use violence against the RCMP.

Developers ask for tax breaks on new housing

A coalition of Ontario developers has written to three levels of government to ask for a reduction in taxes on new housing, saying it will pass on those savings dollar for dollar to homebuyers.

The new group, called the Coalition Against New-Home Taxes, or CANT, is composed of 18 developers who collectively plan to build 100,000 new housing units over the next 10 years.

The coalition wants to see federal and provincial governments remove the harmonized sales tax on all new housing, as they have done for rental housing construction. It would also like the province and the City of Toronto to eliminate the land-transfer tax on new construction homes.

The coalition would also like to see municipalities reduce development charges to 2009 rates, adjusted for inflation.

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Glimmer of hope in study of right whale breeding

The tiny population of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales has long had to deal with inbreeding. But a new scientific study, led by researchers at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, is reporting an encouraging finding.

Even though inbreeding appears to be limiting the number of calves born each year, it’s not having an impact on genetic diversity — a trait that is key to the survival of any species.

Last October, the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium estimated there were 356 North Atlantic right whales left on the planet.

The new peer-reviewed study, published Wednesday in the journal Royal Society Open Science, says researchers initially found that most female North Atlantic right whales were not giving birth to calves every three years, as females in the much larger southern population typically do.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published August 1, 2024

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

In the news: Canada nabs bronze men’s in swimming, B.C. landslide assessment planned

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