Donations pour in for victims of northern Saskatchewan wildfires
WATCH: As Wayne Mantyka tells us, donations are pouring in to help people evacuated due to northern wildfires in Saskatchewan.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
22 minutes ago
- CTV News
N.B. government throws support behind hybrid operating room in Fredericton
The outside of the emergency room of the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton. (CTV Atlantic/Laura Brown) The New Brunswick government is throwing its support behind a hybrid operating room in Fredericton that is expected to run up annual costs of $3.3 million. The Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital has been undergoing renovations for years and three years ago doctors began advocating that one of the newly-renovated spaces become a hybrid operating room. 'A hybrid operating room combines a traditional operating room with advanced medical imaging devices, allowing physicians to diagnose and perform complex, minimally invasive surgical procedures in one setting,' a news release from the province says. The Chalmers Foundation is raising money to pay for new equipment and it expects to shore up $4.3 million. The government is also committing money to help with preparations, although its release did not give a firm amount. 'The foundation is delighted to get the green light to raise funds for a hybrid operating room, something that our board, the local community and our medical staff have long advocated for,' said Charles A. Diab, CEO of the Chalmers Foundation, in the release. 'For patients, this will significantly improve wait times for care and important surgeries. 'Also, it is really going to help us in recruitment and retention efforts for specialists and surgeons who want the tools and equipment to do what they're trained to do.' -With files from Laura Brown More to come… Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital The outside of the emergency room of the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton. (CTV Atlantic/Laura Brown) For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
CBC
25 minutes ago
- CBC
Wildfire evacuee numbers climb to more than 17,000 in Manitoba, premier says
Social Sharing The number of wildfire evacuees in Manitoba has increased, with more likely as a handful of communities remain on alert. "The numbers have continued to grow. We were saying 17,000. I think we can safely assume it's north of that number now," Premier Wab Kinew said on CBC Manitoba's Information Radio on Thursday morning. He didn't have an estimate on the total but said about 16,800 people are now registered with the Canadian Red Cross. "And keep in mind, not everyone registers with us. Some folks, they just make the decision they're going to stay with family," Kinew said. It's been eight days since he declared a provincewide state of emergency due to rapidly spreading wildfires and extreme fire conditions in northern and eastern Manitoba. Since then, the northwestern part of the province has also become a danger zone. There are 15 communities under mandatory evacuation orders and another three under voluntary evacuation. Three others — Snow Lake, Norway House and Chemawawin Cree Nation (Easterville) — are under evacuation alerts or notices, with people ordered to be ready to leave with short notice. "We are in a new reality when it comes to wildfires. Typically, we would have one part of the province dealing with challenges and … there'd be, like, maybe two communities on evacuation in other summers. This year, it's every region at the same time," Kinew said. "So that's one thing that we need to plan for in the future." The pace at which everything has been happening has also opened an unfortunate door to misinformation on social media, Kinew said. To combat that, the province is launching a digital information portal later on Thursday. "It is striking during a state of emergency how quickly false claims can make their way around social media that actually pull away time and resources from people who would otherwise be co-ordinating an evacuation effort or responding to the actual wildfires themselves," Kinew said. Watch as the northern Manitoba wildfires grow 20 hours ago Duration 1:11 Wildfires have been burning in northern Manitoba since late May, when a province-wide emergency was declared. Watch as CBC Weather Specialist Riley Laychuk tracks the fires threatening the communities of Flin Flon, Sherridon and Pukatawagan. Three days after last week's evacuation of the city of Flin Flon, rumours sprouted on social media about firefighters being killed while battling the blaze. "I realize people are driven by stress in some cases, and in other cases by a compassionate response to try and get information out there, but … to have the added stress of some false information being shared on social media was counterproductive," Kinew said. The province's info portal "will be a trusted source of information on fires, where to find evacuation supports, how [people] can help in the response," he said. The province will also begin holding regular, but not necessarily daily, news briefings. The first of those is scheduled for 12:45 p.m. Thursday. As of Wednesday (the most recent data available), a total of 513,803 hectares had burned in the province. Last year at this time, 43,141 hectares had been impacted. Manitoba's fire situation report shows there are 27 active wildfires and a total of 111 fires to date, which is well above the average of 91 for this time of year. Kinew on Thursday also defended the province's decision to send evacuees to Ontario, addressing criticisms that suggested Manitoba was unprepared to respond to the demand. "That is the Manitoba response, just to be clear," he said. The province hired a private firm to manage the evacuee response, "and they found rooms in Niagara." "Earlier in this same wildfire season, Ontario didn't have rooms and we housed more than 1,000 Ontario evacuees here. I think one of the things that we're seeing this year is that we have to have a pan-provincial — a national — response, just given the scale of the emergency we're facing." The ability to get people, within a week, out of harm's way and into shelters and provide wraparound supports is a testament to the emergency management team in Manitoba and partners like Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, the Manitoba Métis Federation and municipal leaders across northern Manitoba, Kinew said. One of the other challenges the province has had to address is ensuring thousands of evacuees, especially those in major centres like Winnipeg, are kept safe from exploitation. "It is one of the very disturbing things about this, that even in the midst of the vast, vast majority of Manitobans stepping up and donating or volunteering, that there is a small group of people who are also trying to show up and prey on evacuees," Kinew said. "You can let your mind wander to some of the really bad behaviours that this might encompass." To counter that, security guards and other resources have been installed around evacuation centres, and police are working with First Nations safety officers, he said. "If there's a criminal act going on, there's going to be accountability. Somebody's going to get arrested," Kinew said. And then there's what he calls "a fourth layer of response," meaning help from community groups in Winnipeg like the Downtown Community Safety Partnership, the Bear Clan and Ogijiita Pimatiswin Kinamatwin (OPK), an Indigenous-led organization that supports at-risk youth affected by gangs, poverty and violence. "We've been working with them to ensure that they're, in some cases, that insulating security layer around people to protect them from bad actors," Kinew said. "In other cases, this is about somebody struggling, and we do have crisis stabilization unit, public health nurses and, you know, the medical professionals at each of these shelter sites and reception centres." Mandatory evacuations are in place for: Bakers Narrows. Big Island Lake. Bissett. Cranberry Portage. Flin Flon. Little Athapapuskow cottage area. Lynn Lake. Marcel Colomb First Nation (Black Sturgeon). Nopiming Provincial Park. Parts of Whiteshell Provincial Park. Pimicikamak Cree Nation (Cross Lake). Pukatawagan (Mathias Colomb Cree Nation). Schist Lake. Sherridon. Tataskweyak Cree Nation (Split Lake). Voluntary evacuation orders are in place for: Opaskwayak Cree Nation. Snow Lake. Wanless. Are you an evacuee who needs assistance? Contact Manitoba 211 by calling 211 from anywhere in Manitoba or email 211mb@
Globe and Mail
28 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Financial lessons from a woman whose husband died suddenly at 39
If you can't find the time or motivation to plan financially for your death or a serious illness, please read Jane Blaufus's book. It's called With the Stroke of a Pen: Claim Your Life, and it includes a 33-page checklist of questions for working through the process of helping family members sort through your affairs when you die. The checklist is helpful, but so is Ms. Blaufus's personal experience after the loss of her husband. To hear more, check out this e-mail Q&A I did with Ms. Blaufus: Q: Jane, can you tell us in both a personal and professional sense how you came to write your book? A: My 39-year-old husband walked out the door one Sunday morning, and that afternoon a police officer arrived in my driveway to share the news that he had been killed in an accident. In less than 60 seconds, the world I knew had been turned upside down and I had become a widow with a 12-year-old daughter and a financial tsunami coming my way. By that time, I had been in the life insurance industry for 16 years and had foolishly thought that if anything ever happened to me that I would be better prepared than others. Wrong. I was blindsided by so many unexpected things and thought that if I wasn't prepared, despite all of my knowledge and expertise, what would the average person do in that situation? Fast forward to today and I am happily remarried to a wonderful man who was also widowed after his wife suffered an illness. We collectively decided to pay it forward by sharing our story to help prevent other families from going through what we did. Q: In the conversations you've had with readers, friends, family and clients in your professional life, what have you learned about the capacity people have for preparing for their own death and the death of loved ones? Do we ever get to a point where nine in 10 people have a will, powers of attorney and made other preparations? A: Unfortunately, most people are terrified to talk about death and illness. For many it is like looking their own mortality in the face, but these conversations are crucial because we have an obligation to ourselves and those we love to leave this world in an organized manner. The last thing someone needs when a loved one has become ill or died is to be running around trying to find all the pertinent documents needed to make decisions about medical care or funeral arrangements. Sadly, I do not think we will ever get to the point where nine in ten people will have had these important conversations. Q: If you were to list some of the top things to do to make sure your loved ones are prepared in case of your death, what would they be? A: To start, make sure your loved ones know what your final wishes are. I had asked my husband four times what he would want if anything happened to him and he would always change the subject. When he died, I had to plan a funeral as if I had been blindfolded; it was horrible. Next, make sure you have a current, up-to-date will and powers of attorney for both medical and financial matters. You would not believe the number of times I have heard stories about couples divorcing and the ex-spouse gets everything because the will was never changed. Also, make sure you have enough life insurance for today. Do not stick your policy in a drawer, as things have a way of changing over time. Also, if you have a special needs member of the family, make sure you have provided for them to be cared for in the future. Please make sure all of the beneficiary designations are correct and current as well. And, make sure you have assembled all of your important documentation into one central location, and make sure everyone who should know where it is, does. Your loved ones and your executor should be able to quickly and easily access this information. Speaking of executors, make sure you have asked your executor and legal guardians for your underage children if they willingly accept the role and associated responsibilities. Do not simply assume they will, because if they decline to accept the role after you are gone, you cannot make changes from the grave. Q: What do you think about bringing your adult children into the discussion of what happens when you die? How old should kids be for this conversation? A: This is a very important question, and I believe it is critical to bring them into the discussion, especially today, where there are so many blended families. Having them involved in the conversation can mitigate so many issues that have the potential to erupt after someone dies. As for your question about how old they should be, I would leave this in the parents' hands to determine the age, as they will know their child's maturity level better than anyone else. However, at the latest, I personally would bring them in when they reach adulthood. My poor daughter has had more of these conversations than I think she would care for! Q: Looking back on your own experience when your husband died, what types of advance planning had you done and how did they help in the aftermath? A: The year before my husband died, we had met with our financial advisor to review our investments and life insurance policies. We actually purchased more insurance as things had changed from our last review. The life insurance my husband lovingly put in place for us became a financial lifeline that helped me as I tried to get back on my feet and return to work. We also reviewed our wills with our lawyer, which made settling his estate much easier for me. Q: I've seen some apps and software over the years that were designed to help people organize themselves for when they die, but none seems to have taken off. Do you think the right app could help people engage more with this type of planning, and do you know any apps people should check out? A: I personally do not think an app would engage more people and I do not have a go-to suggestion to offer. What I have done in my book is provide my readers with a checklist designed to help get the conversations going with the people you need to be having them with. It serves as a workbook to help people get their personal and financial lives in order while they can. Are you reading this newsletter on the web or did someone forward the e-mail version to you? If so, you can sign up for Carrick on Money here. Dollarama vs. Costco A nine-product price comparison, including staples like tomato sauce and paper towels. Would you buy a Canadian car? How feasible would it be to tap into Buy Canada sentiment by launching an actual Canadian car company? Foreign companies assemble vehicles in this country, but there are no Canadian automakers. Fixing the problem of too much stuff Advice on de-cluttering from YouTube's The Minimal Mom. The emphasis is on making your living space more comfortable, not throwing a lot of stuff out. Life with the Cybertruck An amusing take on what it's like to drive the Tesla Cybertruck, which starts around $120,000 in Canada. A recent report from J.D. Power shows that in the segment of people who say they are likely to consider an electric vehicle for their next purchase, Tesla has dropped to eighth place after four years among the top two. Subscribe to Stress Test on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Ask Rob Q: What should the investing approach for seniors be for stocks versus guaranteed income certificates? One, both, neither? A: Both can work well. Stocks for long-term growth and dividend income, GICs to supplement bonds as a source of interest income and stability when stocks decline. An all-stocks approach is too risky for most seniors, while all GICs means a sacrifice of growth for safety. The 5 per cent GIC yields of a few years ago far exceed today's peak rates of 3.5 to 3.95 per cent. Tools and guides This new retirement planning calculator was created by a team including Ben Felix, a portfolio manager who has done a lot of great educational work. In the social sphere Social Media: A LinkedIn discussion about a column I wrote recently about a proposal to tax real estate investment properties. Watch: Toronto's spring housing market: Dead on arrival Money-Free Zone: The band Wye Oak strips down the Kate Bush song Running Up That Hill to the basics, and makes it work. Here's the great, more ornate original version. More PF from The Globe - They downsized to save money and simplify their lives. Here's what they wished they'd known - For travel-loving Canadians, other financial goals take a back seat to vacation spending - When did tipping diverge from a reward for good service to a wage-subsidization tactic?
