Latest news with #Ballantyne
Calgary Herald
5 days ago
- Politics
- Calgary Herald
'Cried my eyes out': Northern Saskatchewan communities evacuated as wildfires burn
Article content For some, like Brian Ballantyne, it starts with a knock on the door. Article content Article content Northern wildfires are forcing many communities to issue mandatory evacuation orders, and lives are suddenly upended. Article content Ballantyne — from the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation community at Pelican Narrows — is among the people who have been forced from their homes. Ballantyne was looking after his brother's house when he heard what he described as persistent knocking at the door. Article content Article content Evacuees to Saskatoon are being supported by the Canadian Red Cross, which is providing necessary supports out of the Cosmo Civic Centre. Article content Ballantyne said many people had already left ahead of the evacuation order, so the road into the community was not extremely busy as he was leaving. He said air quality was not bad, but added officials were expecting the wind to change and bring smoke into the Pelican Narrows townsite. Article content 'I wasn't planning on going out of town,' he said. 'I was planning on staying there, but they told me you had to go.' Article content Article content When it comes to the battle against fires threatening the community, Ballantyne said he saw water-bombers and helicopters working to contain the flames. Article content The province, in conjunction with the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, on Thursday declared a state of emergency. As of Thursday, there have been 206 wildfires in Saskatchewan this year — well above the five-year average of 125. Article content Article content 'We are seeing the devastating effects of wildfires impact communities across our province,' Premier Scott Moe said. Article content The state of emergency will be in effect for 30 days and can be extended if necessary. Article content Lana Sheppard said East Trout Lake is 'devastated' after fire on Wednesday swept through, leaving the small resort subdivision north of Narrow Hills Provincial Park largely destroyed. Article content East Trout Lake was issued an evacuation orders earlier this week, along with nearby Little Bear Lake campground. Article content 'There's nothing left. Everything's gone,' she said, after receiving aerial photos from the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency showing the aftermath.
Time of India
27-05-2025
- Climate
- Time of India
'There's fire all over the place': Wildfire forces mass evacuation of Pelican Narrows as only escape route threatened
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel A rapidly advancing wildfire has forced the evacuation of people living in Pelican Narrows, a remote community in northern Saskatchewan, as flames threaten the sole access road and nearby Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation (PBCN), which governs Pelican Narrows, declared a state of emergency on Tuesday(May 27) morning. Chief Peter Beatty emphasized the urgency: "It's a single road that goes south to Hanson Lake Road. The fire itself, when the winds shift late tonight or early tomorrow, it's going to drive that fire toward the access road into Pelican Narrows. That's why we're trying to get people out of the community, as many people as we can today."Residents were instructed to register at Pelican Narrows High School to board evacuation buses starting at 1 pm CST. Approximately 2,000 people remained in the community of 4,000 and were urged to leave immediately, either by bus or personal wildfire has already forced hundreds to relocate to centers in Saskatoon, Prince Albert, and Flin road between Pelican Narrows and Sandy Bay, Highway 135, remains closed, and residents are advised not to use this route. Highway 106, known locally as the Hanson Lake Road, and several roads around Narrow Hills Provincial Park are also closed due to fires, the Campfire and the Shoe fire, which have been burning since early May north of Prince Albert, have merged into one, now referred to as the Shoe fire. This fire has prompted evacuations at Lower Fishing Lake, Piprell Lake, East Trout Lake, and Little Bear Lake, with a pre-evacuation notice for Whiteswan/Whelan of Tuesday morning, the fire had grown to more than 216,000 Ballantyne, a resident of Pelican Narrows, described the harrowing experience: "It's so scary. My hometown is burning. There's fire all over the place." He is now among the evacuees housed at the Saskatoon Hall Lake, about 230 kilometers north of Prince Albert, the Pisew wildfire expanded rapidly from 14,000 to 44,000 hectares within 24 hours. A mandatory evacuation affects about 380 people. A back burn was conducted to protect the community, but concerns remain. "We're kind of worried about if this back burn will hold," said Lac La Ronge Indian Band Coun. Norman Ross. "Yesterday, people were starting to panic because of the smoke [from the back burn], but it was doing what it's supposed to do."The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) reports 21 active wildfires across the province, with only five considered contained. Many communities, including Little Bear Lake, Lower Fishing Lake, and East Trout Lake, are under evacuation orders. Southeast of Prince Albert remains under a pre-alert, and special air quality statements are in SPSA has expanded the provincial fire ban to include all vacant Crown land, provincial parks within the provincial forest, and the provincial forest itself, effective as of 5 pm on May 26, ban prohibits any open fires, controlled burns, and fireworks in the designated areas. "An extreme fire risk exists across most of the province," said SPSA Vice-President of Operations Steve Roberts. "The majority of the active fires in the province are caused by human activity. Everyone needs to know that human-caused fires are preventable."
National Business Review
21-05-2025
- Business
- National Business Review
Naomi Ballantyne joins Tower board
Insurance company Tower has appointed Naomi Ballantyne as an independent director to its board to fill a casual vacancy. In 2023, Ballantyne sold Partners Life Limited, an insurance company she founded in 2010. She is currently the managing director of KNK Consulting Limited, chair of insurance distribution group TAP Group Limited, and a director of Dai-ichi Life Asia Pacific Limited, the regional office of International Life Insurance Corporation. Other insurers she has previously founded or worked for include Unique Solutions and Advice Limited, ING Life (now Chubb), and Sovereign (now AIA). Her previous directorships include Accuro Health Insurance, Newpark Financial Services, Club Life, and New Zealand Superannuation Services. Tower chair Michael Stiassny said in a statement that her extensive experience would be invaluable to the company. 'Naomi has forged an impressive career, having founded, built, and led successful financial services companies for more than 40 years.' Tower's board has determined that Ballantyne is an independent director and the appointment is effective from May 21. As required by the NZX Listing Rules, she will retire at the annual shareholder meeting in February next year and be eligible for re-election. Meanwhile, the board has also decided that director Marcus Nagel is now an independent director, following the sell-down by Bain Capital of all of its shares in Tower. This is supplied content and not commissioned or paid for by NBR.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ports demand £120m for ‘obsolete' Brexit border posts
Britain's ports are demanding £120m in compensation after Sir Keir Starmer's EU trade deal removed the need for costly post-Brexit border posts. The request for taxpayer-backed compensation has been made after the new UK-EU agreement meant that new refrigerated inspection sheds, warehouses, car parks and roads would become surplus to requirements. The Prime Minister's agreement will remove the need for border checks on plant, animal and food imports from the EU, wiping out the fee revenue that ports were banking on to recover the hefty capital cost of setting up the new checkpoints and inspection facilities. The ports' demands could add an unforeseen taxpayer cost to the UK-EU deal, putting further pressure on the Government's already stretched finances and offsetting some of the deal's benefit. It would also be controversial, given Britain's ports are owned by Middle Eastern and Chinese investors. Some of the recipients would include UAE-owned DP World and the Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison. 'We've prepared these facilities in good faith, and now they're not going to be used,' said Richard Ballantyne, chief executive of the British Ports Association. 'Some of them may be eventually demolished, or at least modified. The Government should cover the full costs of these white elephants and put this episode behind us.' In 2020 the government doled out £200m to 41 ports across Britain in payments ranging from under £100,000 to more than £20m. The money was to be spent on infrastructure designed for inspections and spot checks on trucks from the EU carrying farm and food produce. But the Port Infrastructure Fund was not large enough to meet demand, leaving the ports to foot up to £120m of the bill – much of which was incurred during the pandemic, when construction costs soared. Once built, a typical large border control post costs around £200,000 to maintain, with running costs including energy, security, business rates, cleaning and repairs. The plan was for the ports to recoup at least the operating costs of the facilities, if not the capital and opportunity costs, from charging levies or fees on the EU-origin trucks that used them. Up to 40pc of Britain's trade with Europe is in agri-food or related products. But the UK-EU deal will set up a 'common sanitary and phytosanitary area' that will remove the need for the checks and inspections – and for the revenue and infrastructure that supports them. 'It's quite impressive infrastructure. But it could be largely redundant now,' Mr Ballantyne said. It could be more than a year until the UK-EU deal on animal and plant products is implemented. Mr Ballantyne said this would give the Government and industry time to set up any compensation mechanism. 'Based on our experiences last time, it's got to be quite flexible. The conditions that were placed on ports last time were too onerous,' Mr Ballantyne said. The Government was contacted for comment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
20-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Ports demand £120m for ‘obsolete' Brexit border posts
Britain's ports are demanding £120m in compensation after Sir Keir Starmer's EU trade deal removed the need for costly post-Brexit border posts. The request for taxpayer-backed compensation has been made after the new UK-EU agreement meant that new refrigerated inspection sheds, warehouses, car parks and roads would become surplus to requirements. The Prime Minister's agreement will remove the need for border checks on plant, animal and food imports from the EU, wiping out the fee revenue that ports were banking on to recover the hefty capital cost of setting up the new checkpoints and inspection facilities. The ports' demands could add an unforeseen taxpayer cost to the UK-EU deal, putting further pressure on the Government's already stretched finances and offsetting some of the deal's benefit. It would also be controversial, given Britain's ports are owned by Middle Eastern and Chinese investors. Some of the recipients would include UAE-owned DP World and the Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison. 'We've prepared these facilities in good faith, and now they're not going to be used,' said Richard Ballantyne, chief executive of the British Ports Association. 'Some of them may be eventually demolished, or at least modified. The Government should cover the full costs of these white elephants and put this episode behind us.' In 2020 the government doled out £200m to 41 ports across Britain in payments ranging from under £100,000 to more than £20m. The money was to be spent on infrastructure designed for inspections and spot checks on trucks from the EU carrying farm and food produce. But the Port Infrastructure Fund was not large enough to meet demand, leaving the ports to foot up to £120m of the bill – much of which was incurred during the pandemic, when construction costs soared. Once built, a typical large border control post costs around £200,000 to maintain, with running costs including energy, security, business rates, cleaning and repairs. The plan was for the ports to recoup at least the operating costs of the facilities, if not the capital and opportunity costs, from charging levies or fees on the EU-origin trucks that used them. Up to 40pc of Britain's trade with Europe is in agri-food or related products. But the UK-EU deal will set up a 'common sanitary and phytosanitary area' that will remove the need for the checks and inspections – and for the revenue and infrastructure that supports them. 'It's quite impressive infrastructure. But it could be largely redundant now,' Mr Ballantyne said. It could be more than a year until the UK-EU deal on animal and plant products is implemented. Mr Ballantyne said this would give the Government and industry time to set up any compensation mechanism. 'Based on our experiences last time, it's got to be quite flexible. The conditions that were placed on ports last time were too onerous,' Mr Ballantyne said.
