
Sailor missing off Labrador coast rescued after cargo ship picked up his signal
ST. JOHN'S — A sailor who went missing off the southeast coast of Labrador is alive and well after a cargo ship picked up his alert.
Martin Hurley with the maritime rescue sub-centre in St. John's says the man set out on a solo voyage to Greenland in a six-metre sailboat — called the Tonnerre — in early July from Blanc-Sablon, Que.
Hurley says the man was keeping family and friends updated on social media, and someone called authorities on Sunday after his posts had stopped.
Hurley says the sailor ran into stormy weather and five-metre-high waves, which likely damaged his vessel and its electronics.
However, the man was able to send out a radio signal that was picked up Wednesday morning by the Lowlands Century bulk carrier ship.
Hurley says a Cormorant helicopter hoisted the man out of his boat a few hours later, and he was safe and unharmed and taken back to shore.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 24, 2025.
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Toronto Sun
a day ago
- Toronto Sun
Neighbours accuse Toronto builder of gaming system to uproot beloved tree for parking pad
Published Jul 26, 2025 • 4 minute read A tree stump and chopped up branches are shown after a tree was removed from a property in Toronto, in this undated handout photo. Photo by Handout / THE CANADIAN PRESS The big, backyard honey locust had a seating area set up under its canopy and a swing hanging from a sturdy branch. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account It was one of many trees in Leaside, a residential neighborhood northeast of downtown Toronto that is famous for its old growth and green space, but it was special, says Karen Hwang. It was nothing short of an 'oasis' for her neighbour, who liked to entertain in the backyard. It also benefited Hwang's family next door from the time they moved in 34 years ago, supplying fresh air and blocking noise pollution. 'That tree provided, you know, the wonderful shade, the beautiful esthetic,' she recalled in a recent interview. 'It just had so many positive environmental impacts.' Without the city's permission, the beloved giant was recently brought down, in a case that has sparked neighbourhood outrage and calls for change at city hall. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. On the morning of June 26, Hwang said she and her husband were eating breakfast while watching the news when they heard a 'big bang' and their television screen went dark. The couple rushed outside to check what happened, and they saw the tree was being cut down, and a big branch had hit their satellite dish. At the time, developer Modcity was preparing to build a fourplex and garden suite on the property after Hwang's neighbour sold her house. The city confirmed there was no permit to remove the tree before construction began. It said it has launched an investigation. RECOMMENDED VIDEO The Canadian Press made several unsuccessful attempts to reach Modcity for comment, including email inquiries and a visit to a location listed on its website as the company's address. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Privately owned trees with a diameter of 30 cm or more are protected under the city's tree protection bylaw. The diameter of the one removed was closer to 80 cm, according to neighbors. Kim Statham, the city's director of urban forestry, said there was an application to remove a privately owned tree in October, and city staff worked with the builder for five months to revise the multiplex's design to protect the tree. 'The revised tree-friendly multiplex design created a minor variance that was approved by the Committee of Adjustment,' Statham said. 'The honey locust tree was to remain and not be removed.' Rachel Chernos Lin, the councillor representing the area, said the intent was to protect the tree by moving the building's footprint onto the front yard closer to the street. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The developer removed the tree anyway without the city's support. And to add insult to injury, Lin said, the developer applied to place a parking pad where the tree had stood. For community members, the idea of paving a little piece of paradise to put in a parking spot was a bridge too far. 'People feel like (the developer) has really taken advantage of the system and disregarded the rules, and people really care and are very angry about that,' Lin said. Currently, the offence of removing a tree without a permit can carry a fine between $500 and $100,000. It has no impact on permits issued under Ontario's Building Code. The current fine structure is not enough to disincentivize the practice, Lin said. On Thursday, city council adopted a motion Lin proposed that would make tree removal more difficult and add 'additional tools' to protect the city's tree canopy. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The motion requests that the provincial Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing add the tree bylaw as an applicable law for the purposes of issuing building permits. It also suggests repeat offenders be named and shamed publicly. RECOMMENDED VIDEO City staff are expected to report back about progress towards achieving these goals by the end of the year. 'I want to make sure this doesn't happen again,' said Lin. Geoff Kettel, co-president of the Leaside Residents Association, said the builder should not be able to use the revised footprint after taking out the tree that the new design was meant to protect. The supposed compromise allowed the builder to put the multiplex more than two metres closer to the sidewalk, and Kettel said neighbours' bungalows and two-storey homes are now at greater risk of being overshadowed. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'If they destroyed the reason for moving it forward in the first place, there's now no reason to move it forward,' he said. 'People should be obeying the law. They should be doing it right, following the best practices,' he added. 'It's very, very disappointing.' Last week, The Canadian Press visited the construction site, where a concrete foundation had been laid and tree roots were still visible under a pile of soil. Elizabeth Marsden and her friend Ann Aveling walked by the area and stopped to comment on the tree's unfortunate fate. 'It was a beautiful, big red locust and there are not many red locusts,' said Marsden who has lived in the neighborhood for four decades. 'It was just a lovely tree,' she said. 'I was angry. How dare they?' She said she thinks the fines given to builders for such violations are 'peanuts,' and there needs to be better enforcement. Aveling said the uprooting was 'totally unnecessary' and it made her feel sad, especially as the life cycle of many other trees in the neighbourhood is coming to a natural end. 'What drew us to Leaside 40 years ago was the trees, the tree canopy, and you'd have these beautiful shaded streets,' she said. 'Which of course we're now losing.' Columnists Toronto & GTA Columnists Sunshine Girls Columnists


Global News
2 days ago
- Global News
Kingfisher SAR plane joins U.S. Coast Guard in medical rescue of Canadian mariner
Canada's new search-and-rescue plane was back in action on Thursday, as a CC-295 Kingfisher based out of 19 Wing Comox was deployed for a joint rescue with the U.S. Coast Guard off the Oregon Coast. The Canadian Forces said the aircraft was called out around 11:30 a.m. to help support the medical evacuation of a Canadian mariner from a fishing boat about 300 kilometres offshore from Astoria, Oregon. 'Our job was top cover, so what we do is we stay with the helicopter, we stay with the boat, we maintain visual contact throughout the whole rescue, and if there is any issue with the helicopter, any emergency, we are able to help them,' explained Capt. Rock Veilleux, the Kingfisher's first officer. Aircraft commander Capt. Bryn Evans said the crew remained in communication with the fishing vessel, directing them on a heading to the pickup point where it would meet a U.S. Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter. Story continues below advertisement 1:32 Canada's newest search and rescue plane makes night jump to rescue crushed horseback rider The Canadian team coached the fishing vessel crew through clearing their decks to prepare for a search-and-rescue technician to hoist down from the helicopter, he added. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'The interoperability between us and the U.S. Coast Guard was excellent,' he said, adding that the two forces often train together. 'All of that activity really pays a lot of dividends; the rescue (Thursday) went off without a hitch.' The rescued mariner was flown directly to a U.S. medical facility, and is recovering. The deployment comes about a week after the crew of a Comox-based Kingfisher completed the first operational night jump from one of Canada's newest search-and-rescue planes, parachuting to rescue an injured hunter in northeastern B.C. The RCAF took delivery of the Kingfishers in 2020 after years-long procurement effort to replace its 50-year-old fleet of DHC-Buffalo and CC-130H Hercules planes. Story continues below advertisement


Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Winnipegger trapped in B.C. mine for more than 60 hours relieved after complicated rescue
A Winnipeg man who was trapped underground in a northern B.C. mine for more than 60 hours expressed relief and gratitude after his rescue late Thursday. And Jesse Chubaty's Manitoba relatives are eager to reunite with him. Chubaty and two co-workers were brought to the surface of a gold and copper mine near Iskut, B.C., about 1,600 kilometres north of Vancouver, Thursday night after becoming trapped Tuesday morning. DAVE MIDDLETON / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES The entrance to the Red Chris mine near Iskut, B.C., is shown on Wednesday. 'Thank you everyone for reaching out. What a wild week this has been. Glad to be outta there!' Chubaty wrote in a Facebook post about nine hours after the rescue. 'To all my mining brothers, stay safe down there and to everyone else as well!' Chubaty, a driller, and co-workers Kevin Coumbs, from Ontario, and Darien Maduke, from B.C., went into a steel refuge chamber after two ground falls occurred in an access tunnel, blocking their exit at the Red Chris mine, which is operated by Denver-based Newmont Corp. The three men are contractors who work for Smithers, B.C.-based Hy-Tech Drilling. They were stuck about 280 metres below the surface. Chubaty's grandmother, Helen Chubaty, said she was relieved and excited when she was told Friday morning that her grandson had been rescued and was safe. 'I can hardly wait to see him,' she said from her Winnipeg home, while watching TV coverage of the rescue on a national news channel. 'It's hard when something like this happens, and the communication isn't there. 'We didn't know anything, so in your mind you're always thinking about the worst. Thank God everything worked out good for them.' She said her 33-year-old grandson, who is from Transcona and is engaged to be married, works as a driller in several provinces, but has a home in Winnipeg. He's been a driller for about a decade, she said. 'That's his thing. He likes that,' she said. 'Whether he'll still do it, I don't know. I would say that he probably will do it.' Mark Chubaty, who travelled to Smithers, B.C., from Winnipeg while his son was trapped in the mine, thanked people for their concern, while he deferred comment to Hy-Tech Drilling Friday. The men were rescued at about 10:40 p.m. local B.C. time Thursday, following a carefully planned and meticulously executed operation, Newmont Corp. head of safety Bernard Wessels told a televised news conference near Iskut. They had consistent access to food, water and air in the refuge chamber, he said. Wessels said the workers mentioned that they caught up on sleep while they were trapped. 'We are deeply relieved that all three individuals are safe, and in good health and spirits,' he said. 'We thank Kevin, Darien and Jesse, who have held hope and strength through every moment in this incident. We will never forget the courage they have shown.' Officials hailed the trio for following safety training, while thanking personnel who were involved in the rescue. 'The most important thing here is having Jesse, Darien and Kevin out safe. It was quite a euphoric evening,' Hy-Tech Drilling president Dwayne Ross told the news conference. The workers were checked over medically when they exited the mine. Counselling was made available to them. Wessels said the most important thing for the men was to spend the day with their families. After flying in camera-equipped drones to confirm the area was stable, rescuers used large, remote-controlled scoops to clear a blockage that Newmont Corp. said was about 20 to 30 metres long and seven to eight metres high. A team then used a vehicle, equipped with 'fall on protection,' to bring the workers out of the mine one at a time. The initial ground fall occurred at about 7:45 a.m. Tuesday. Newmont Corp. said the workers, who were more than 500 metres past the ground fall, went to a self-contained chamber with enough food, water and ventilation for an extended stay. Wednesdays Sent weekly from the heart of Turtle Island, an exploration of Indigenous voices, perspectives and experiences. A second ground fall occurred in the same area at about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, cutting off direct communication with the workers. The refuge chamber was about 700 metres from the ground fall. Newmont Corp. said natural air continued to flow toward the chamber despite the ground fall. Wessels said officials were nervous but remained patient in order to complete the rescue in a safe way. 'Goosebumps and happiness' is how he described the moment the workers emerged. Wessels said the company is investigating the incident to learn more about what happened and to try to prevent it from happening again. Chris KitchingReporter Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris. Every piece of reporting Chris produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.