Out-of-control wildfire prompts evacuation of Alberta hamlet for a second time in 2 years
The residents of the Alberta hamlet of Peers is praising fire crews for saving their homes from a potentially devastating wildfire. Kathy Le has their story.
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CBC
41 minutes ago
- CBC
Sherbrooke, Que., faces growing pains as it looks to expand its cycling network
On her daily rides through Sherbrooke, Que., Laurence Williams often finds herself cruising along a bike path — until it suddenly comes to an end. A self-described "utilitarian cyclist," who uses her bicycle for all her transportation needs, Williams says it's possible to get around the city by bike. But it's not always easy. "Sometimes you have a beginning of a bike path and then it just stops," Williams says, adding that this kind of interruption is common on the cycling network in the city, located 150 kilometres east of Montreal. Aside from being inconvenient to someone who is looking for the fastest route to a given destination, Williams feels that the variability in what kinds of infrastructure exist for cyclists also makes her commutes more dangerous, because it is harder to know what is coming up around the next corner. "When you use your bike on a day-to-day basis, you want your route to be quick, to be safe and predictable," she says. Williams argues that in a city like Sherbrooke where there appears to be political will for bike and environmentally friendly initiatives, she expects it to be easier to make progress. "In a context where ecological transition has been mentioned as a priority for the City of Sherbrooke and a context where more than 50 per cent of our citywide greenhouse gas emissions are directly related to transportation, we really need to go faster." 'A big challenge' for the city In May, Sherbrooke highlighted 16 areas where expansions to the cycling network have been planned. Over the next three years, the hope is to bridge a number of significant gaps in the existing system. According to Anne-Sophie Demers, a division chief for sustainable and integrated mobility with Sherbrooke's Strategic Territorial Development Service, the goal of these priority areas is to improve the connectivity between different parts of the network. "It is a big challenge for our team because the context and situation is never the same," Demers says. Demers and her team have been charged with trying to determine how best to implement safe and functional bike paths on existing roads without disrupting the needs of existing traffic. It is an urban planning puzzle, she said, because some roads are simply not large enough to accommodate both drivers and cyclists on fully protected bike lanes. Despite those difficulties, Demers says that the city has been in conversation with local cycling groups to try to find the best options available in the hopes that a more secure cycling network will open the door to more cyclists. The city is also trying to improve access to bikes in other ways. Demers notes that there is currently work underway for the installation of Bixi bike-sharing stations similar to the system that has been in place in Montreal for more than a decade "We think it has the potential to transform mobility in Sherbrooke." The initial Bixi system in Sherbrooke is expected to have 250 bicycles at 25 stations, with 80 per cent of the fleet being e-bikes. Although no official start date has yet been announced, Demers says the system should be operational by July. A city with a lot of potential "The arrival of e-bikes has literally changed the landscape of who's able to cycle," says Magali Bebronne, director of programs at Vélo Québec. The cycling advocacy group is one of the parties Demers's team has turned to for support and data in its planning process. Vélo Québec conducts regular research into the state of bicycle adoption in several different Quebec cities, including Sherbrooke. For a city as hilly as Sherbrooke, Bebronne says bikes equipped with an electric motor are a game changer for cycling accessibility. That, combined with the known benefits of public-access bicycle programs like Bixi, creates an interesting opportunity for increased adoption of cycling as a way of getting around in the city. Vélo Québec also publishes a portrait of cycling in the province every five years and, although the 2020 report was carried out in unusual circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic, research showed that just over half of all Quebecers were using a bicycle and 2.1 million people were using one as a regular mode of transportation. Bebronne says the group is currently in the process of preparing the 2025 edition. Bebronne also challenges the idea that using bikes in this way is uniquely a "big city" phenomenon. "In smaller cities, people actually live closer to where they work," Bebronne explains, noting that Vélo Québec's last study of Sherbrooke showed that about 44 per cent of the population live within five kilometres of their work.
CBC
44 minutes ago
- CBC
Potholes are costing Canadians billions. But there are some solutions
Dylan Langille is very familiar with the swerves it takes to dodge the potholes of Halifax. "I could probably close my eyes on my commute back to my house, and I could avoid the pothole because they've been there for so long," Langille told the Cost of Living. "What are you supposed to do when there are potholes every 10 feet here." Langille, 30, is a radio announcer and content creator. He's milked the pothole hate on his TikTok account, including attempting to fish and golf using local potholes. "Just like putting on real green, I came up short," he said. Langille is one of many Canadian drivers who have to deal with potholes on a daily basis. It has municipalities spending millions on maintenance, and drivers making frequent trips to the mechanic. But there are some new solutions emerging to this old and growing problem — from using artificial intelligence to monitor for the holes, to changing the road surface itself. How the holes form The main culprit for all the potholes in Canada is all the freezing and thawing roads go through, says Nemy Banthia, a professor of civil engineering at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Moisture from rain and melting snow seeps under the road and freezes. That causes the ground to expand. When it gets warmer during the day, the ground shrinks back down, leaving a bulge in the road. Then, when people drive over it, it cracks. "As the wheels go over it, they will take some of this broken off material and a pothole is formed, right there and there," said Banthia. WATCH | What does the weather have to do with how bad potholes will be? What does the weather have to do with how bad potholes will be? 2 months ago Duration 1:46 If you need someone to blame for those pesky potholes that emerge in spring, look no farther than Mother Nature. The weather in Manitoba has a significant impact on how bad the roads will be when the temperature warms up. Watch CBC Manitoba weather specialist Riley Laychuk explain why. And it's getting worse, for a number of reasons. Banthia says that climate change has contributed to more of these rapid freeze and thaw cycles, and brought more intense rain. Plus, there are about a million more registered vehicles in Canada now than six years ago. "And we have not kept up on the innovation side to manage our pavements," said Banthia. What it costs The economic impact of potholes is being felt across the country. According to a 2021 study published by the Canadian Automobile Association, Canadian drivers incur extra costs of $126 annually per vehicle because of poor road quality, which totals to $3 billion for Canadian drivers every year. That includes vehicle repairs, higher maintenance, and other operating expenses, the study says. And municipalities are paying big bucks, too. In Edmonton, the city spent $5.9 million on pothole repair back in 2015. That budget is up to $11 million this year, which is the highest of any major city in Canada. In 2024, crews repaired a total of 537,305 potholes. They've fixed 91,020 so far this year. "I wouldn't say that Edmonton is the pothole capital of Canada, but I think we probably are the pothole filling capital of Canada," said city councillor Andrew Knack. In Saskatoon, city crews repaired over 50,000 potholes in 2024, according to the City of Saskatoon's Roadways Department. That's 52 per cent more than the previous year. But the increased cost isn't just because there are more potholes. Materials and labour also cost more. And Matthew Fair says it's something that needs to be dealt with, and not just because it can come with a big bill. He is the head of maintenance operations in Durham, Ont., which means it's his job to make sure the potholes get fixed. "If you hit a large enough pothole, it's public safety. Like you can lose control, it can cause an accident," said Fair. Can we fix it? People have tried all sorts of clever ways to draw attention to the plight caused by potholes. In New Brunswick, a concerned citizen filled in holes with soil and flowers, which were promptly run over. In the U.K., a British man built a pair of denim-clad wooden legs and erected them in the middle of a rain-filled hole. In Durham, they use AI software called CityRover. Installed on a smartphone and mounted on the window of their maintenance vehicle, it can detect and log potholes that need fixing. "If they are not detected and left too long, it can lead to larger, more expensive types of restorations to the roadway. So if we catch these potholes early, it saves us money in the long run," said Fair. But according to Banthia, there are long-term solutions too. "We need to start building roads with more innovation in them so that not only these things last longer, they also have lower carbon footprint," said Banthia. He says one of those solutions is to create roads that are crack-resistant. In Surrey, B.C., they tried a more flexible type of pavement that will potentially last much longer. Then there are what's known as "self-healing roads" — a technology that might sound like science fiction, but it's real, says Banthia. He's worked with Chawathil First Nation near Hope, B.C., and the village of Thondebhavi, in Karnataka, India, where they used a fibre-reinforced concrete that's designed to fill in the cracks as they form, creating a more long lasting road. The road in Thondebhavi was paved in 2015, and when Banthia went for a visit last year, he said the road was completely crack- and pothole-free. Banthia hopes more places in Canada will apply some of these innovations. He understands that the first-time costs for these are higher, but he says it could save money long term. "If we can actually do something so that we can not target just innovation but also make sure that our first-time costs are lower, I think that would actually make the technology far more attractive for the industry," said Banthia.
CTV News
3 hours ago
- CTV News
Centennial Academy secures funding for future survival
It's been a stressful year for staff and students at Centennial Academy, with the threat of closure hanging over their heads. But thanks to a coalition of private donors, school will be back in session next year and the foreseeable future, according to the school's director, Angela Burgos. 'The Leger Family Foundation has initiated a coalition with the support of the Molson Foundation and with the support of these foundations. We have been able to regulate our situation and we are going to be good for next year and the years to come,' she said. The school caters to students with learning difficulties, including ADHD and dyslexia, and has developed models that aren't offered in the public system. It moved to its current location on 2075 Sherbrooke St. West in 2020, but the heritage building required significant renovations, and the school's debt grew to nearly $9 million. Burgos said the crisis drew the community together, including the students who demonstrated to save their school. Ellie Girard, 16, who suffers from mental health and learning difficulties, has only been at Centennial Academy for two years, but said it's the only school where she's thrived and she wanted to do whatever she could to support the effort. 'We did a protest recently where we were holding up a bunch of signs. We have no Plan B help because a lot of us, we don't have any Plan Bs,' she said. Girard said she's filled with relief now knowing the school will be open next year. 'I can finish everything without having the anxiety of being a new kid again at another new school. And I get to finish my year here with the teachers that I know and the system that works for me,' she said. But there are still future challenges facing the school, according to Burgos. With the help of Liberal MNA Jennifer Maccarone, they are currently lobbying Quebec for funding for its French sector. In 2008 the province stopped accrediting new francophone private schools, and Centennial launched its French side in 2016, and they make up nearly half of the 300-student body. They are asking for special status for the school since it serves a population with unique needs and has an 80 per cent graduation rate. 'What we're doing is unique and has for many years provided a solution for many families with great successes of students that have gone on to all kinds of careers,' she said, adding that they still have spaces available for the 2025-2026 school year.
