In the news today: Canadians facing extreme weather, major projects bill on track

Winnipeg Free Press

5 hours ago

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed…
Extreme weather affected 1 in 4 people: poll
Almost one in four Canadians were directly affected by extreme weather events over the past year, a new poll suggests.
The Leger poll — released as Canada copes with its second-worst wildfire season on record — says 23 per cent of Canadians who responded said they were personally affected by extreme weather events like heat waves, floods, fires and tornadoes over the last 12 months.
Among those who said they had felt the impacts of extreme weather, almost two-thirds reported being forced to stay indoors because of air quality concerns, while 39 per cent reported suffering emotional stress.
Twenty-seven per cent of those who reported experiencing extreme weather said they had to postpone travel plans, while one-fifth said they suffered property damage.
CO2 budget for 1.5 C could be exhausted in 3 years
The world is on pace to emit enough greenhouse gas emissions over the next three years to blow by an international target to limit global warming to 1.5 C, according to a new study co-authored by a Canadian researcher who says the finding underlines the need for urgent transformational change.
The study by more than 60 scientists says the 1.5-degree carbon budget – how much CO2 can be released while staying below that limit – sits at about 130 billion tonnes as of the start of 2025.
At current levels, that budget would be exhausted in a little more than three years, the report said. Within the next decade, the budgets for 1.6 and 1.7 degree warming thresholds are at risk too, the report found.
Concordia University professor Damon Matthews said 'every increment matters' in the effort to avoid increasingly severe climate impacts, from thawing permafrost to raging wildfires.
Major projects bill on track to soon clear House
Running roughshod over the environment. Spawning the next Idle No More movement. Picking economic winners and losers.
Prime Minister Mark Carney's Building Canada Act is anything if not a magnet for criticism.
The Liberal government's controversial legislation that would let cabinet quickly grant federal approvals for big industrial projects like mines, ports and pipelines sailed through committee in the early hours of Thursday.
A House of Commons panel sat from Wednesday afternoon to after midnight reviewing Bill C-5 in a hurried study, as the Liberal government seeks to pass it through the chamber by week's end.
Disabilities groups ask Liberals to amend tax bill
Advocacy groups are asking the federal Liberal government to adjust its proposed tax bill to ensure people with disabilities don't end up paying more to the Canada Revenue Agency.
Inclusion Canada says it favours Ottawa lowering the lowest marginal tax rate from 15 to 14 per cent, as proposed in the bill that passed first reading earlier this month.
However, the group says the unintended result of the change is that tax credits for people with disabilities will decrease in many cases.
That's because the credit — used to reduce taxes payable — is generated by a formula that is tied to the marginal tax rate, and by dropping that rate to 14 per cent, the credit shrinks.
Affordability challenges plaguing renters: report
A new report suggests Canadian renters continue to face affordability challenges even as asking rent prices have fallen this year, while those considering the leap to home ownership are taking a wait-and-see approach.
Royal LePage's 2025 Canadian renters report, which includes results from a survey conducted by Burson, found 37 per cent of renters in Canada spend between 31 and 50 per cent of their net income on monthly rent costs.
The survey of more than 1,800 renters in early June indicated that 15 per cent of respondents were spending more than half of their income on rent, while 37 per cent were spending 30 per cent or less.
Rents have eased for eight consecutive months, but remain well above historical norms, according to the report.
Families fear memories of Air India bombing fading
Rob Alexander's father wasn't supposed to be on Air India Flight 182 on June 23, 1985.
'My mother had actually booked him on an Air France flight to go see his mother in India,' recalled Alexander, who was in his teens at the time.
'One of the guys that we knew, he worked for Air India and he wanted to sell my father a ticket very badly to get the commission or something.
'Eventually, he agreed.'
Alexander recalled the small argument that ensued between his father and mother, and how she had to cancel his Air France ticket.
An Ontario surgeon, Dr. Anchanatt Mathew Alexander boarded the flight in Toronto on the evening of June 22.
Early the next morning, about 200 kilometres off the Irish coast, a bomb exploded, sending the Boeing 747 plunging 31,000 feet into the ocean and killing all 329 passengers and crew. The majority were Canadians.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2025