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Global News
09-07-2025
- General
- Global News
After Texas floods hit summer camp, what we know about Canadian safety rules
When water rushed along the Guadalupe River in Texas last week, a Christian summer camp in the water's path was devastated as the flooding killed 27 campers and counsellors. At least 100 people have died following the severe flooding in the state, with more than 160 still missing. The tragedy at Camp Mystic may have Canadians wondering about safety standards here and what they should be asking when deciding on camps for their families. 'Camp professionals like directors and operators and senior staff take operating a camp extremely seriously,' said Matt Wilfrid, the executive director of the Canadian Camping Association, which advocates for policies to support the growth of Canada's camps. He said provincial camping associations — which accredit camps — provide comprehensive guidelines and requirements, including mandatory preparation for extreme weather such as tornadoes or flooding. Story continues below advertisement 'This happens in the form of crisis response plans, camp safety plans, evacuation procedures that are reviewed by camp operators and provincial associations on an annual basis,' Wilfrid said. What happened at Camp Mystic? Camp Mystic had emergency plans approved by the Department of State Health Services just two days before the disaster. Records show the camp complied with a host of state regulations on disaster response, including instructing campers what to do if they need to evacuate and assigning specific duties to staff. But five years of inspection reports released to The Associated Press offer no details of those plans. The Associated Press also reports a former camper said she didn't recall ever receiving instructions on what to do in case of a weather emergency. Story continues below advertisement Charlotte Lauten, 19, said the flooding happening in the middle of the night likely hindered the girls' ability to escape, noting campers don't have access to their phones while at camp. How do camps try to prepare? Among the training camp officials receive is what kind of signals could indicate a growing danger, said Eric Shendelman, the former president of the Ontario Camps Association, which accredits camps in the province. 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 That can include monitoring water levels and weather, as well as an understanding of radar systems. 'You'll know if rivers are going to crest, if rain continues and water starts moving to basically mobilize the campers and staff and get them to higher ground for sure and make sure that everyone's accounted for,' he said. If an emergency does happen, each camp will have procedures in place for organizing an incident response team, as well as a health-care team in place, he added. Story continues below advertisement 1:48 Texas floods: Did officials do enough to warn people before disaster? Camps are expected to be able to respond to emergencies 24 hours a day, said Brad Halsey, vice-chair of the Alberta Camping Association board. 'We certainly instill that and there's that expectation that, regardless (of the) time of day, something could happen and we need to be ready to respond,' Halsey said. Halsey told Global News that camps will typically advise campers to know where a 'muster point' or gathering place is to go in an emergency and who the leaders are so they know who to go to. 'Which even speaks into the trust and the nature of camp, and that you're building that relationship so that in an emergency, even if that kid totally forgets, where I'm supposed to go, what I'm supposed to be doing, they know that this authority person in front of me knows what they're doing,' he said. Story continues below advertisement He added that some camps will conduct drills so campers are familiar with the process. Should parents be worried? Even with standards in place across Canada, the flooding in Texas reflects a bigger challenge. 'The reality that we live in now is that these kinds of events — flash flood events, hurricanes, extreme weather that manifests on the ground in unprecedented ways — they are now precedented,' said Kate Maddalena, an assistant communications professor at the University of Toronto – Mississauga whose work focuses on climate communication and emergency readiness. 'We think of the summer camp as a separate space, safe utopia, but it's not. It's part of a community,' she said. Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We think of the summer camp as a separate space, safe utopia, but it's not. It's part of a community," she said. More investments in flood mapping, infrastructure and early warning systems are needed to help get ahead of those threats, said Ryan Ness with the Canadian Climate Institute. Story continues below advertisement He said warnings can help people in the path of flash floods 'prepare or get away, if they can,' flood maps can help know where to send the warnings, and infrastructure improvements like flood walls could protect risk zones. 5:51 Calls for better safety at summer camps What should parents look for? Halsey and Wilfrid both add that if parents are unsure about their child's safety, ask questions of the camp itself and look at whether the camp is accredited. Story continues below advertisement 'I think that provincial accreditation speaks volumes towards a lot of the individual questions about, 'How does my camp respond if there's wildfire smoke?' or those types of things,' Wilfrid said. 'It's important to recognize that risk is inevitable … but what you want to have for your child, and when I think about my daughter, I want her at a place that has seriously considered these risks and designed comprehensive policies and procedures to mitigate them.' According to Halsey, it can also be good to ask if the camp has an emergency preparedness document so you know they have plans in case of an emergency, as well as how supervision is conducted. 'For me and any staff I've worked with, I really try to emphasize the fact that somebody is trusting us with their most precious possession and the last thing we want to do is take advantage of that or add to the risk of them already sending a child away,' he said. — With files from The Canadian Press and The Associated Press
Winnipeg Free Press
09-07-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
Texas flood to create safety planning ‘ripple effect' at Canadian camps: organizers
EDMONTON – Canadian summer camp organizers say they expect a ripple effect of bolstered emergency plans and preparations this summer after more than two dozen campers and camp counsellors were killed by severe flash floods in Texas on Friday. 'I would be shocked if there aren't a lot of people that are looking at this and taking pause, even reflecting on their own policies,' said Brad Halsey, an Alberta summer camp director and board vice chair of the Alberta Camping Association. 'I am pausing and questioning 'Are our policies up to snuff?'' Halsey, who helps run a summer camp north of Edmonton, said unlike the disaster that struck Texas and Camp Mystic, wildfires prove to be the main threat for his camp and camps across Alberta. 'But at the same time, it really is the same thing whether it's fire, flood, whatever. You still need to have the same sort of plan,' he said. 'Do leaders know where to go? Do we have the muster points? Do we have the evacuation plan in place? And have we practiced it?' For Alberta's summer camps, Halsey said the overwhelming answer to all of those questions should be yes. The Alberta Camping Association — a voluntary regulatory body — sets standards for things like safety and emergency preparedness for member camps, of which there are more than 40. Halsey said member camps are required to have crisis and disaster plans in place, trained and qualified staff to execute those plans and proof that regular practice drills occur. 'There's a bit of a nuance ultimately depending on the needs of that community,' he said, noting that emergency plans will differ for every camp based on location and amenities like nearby water bodies. Nearly every province has its own version of a regulatory body like the Alberta Camping Association to regulate summer camps, and Halsey said some insurance companies require that camps be members in good standing. There's also a national body — the Canadian Camping Association — that oversees the provincial bodies. In some provinces, such as Ontario, there's provincial legislation that mandates camps to have safety plans. 'In Ontario, I could safely say that we have put our heart and soul into emergency and crisis preparedness,' said Eric Shendelman, past president of the Ontario Camps Association. Shendelman, an expert on drowning and injury prevention who runs a swim school in Toronto, said he expects summer camp organizers across the country to be taking stock of their own plans and readiness following the news out of Texas. 'It's amazing how a traumatic scenario like that, even if it's across another nation, does have this ripple effect,' he said. Shendelman said he wasn't sure if any enhanced planning measures would've protected campers in Texas. Camp Mystic had its own emergency plans in place — plans that inspectors had signed off on just two days before the flooding occurred. It's not clear if staff followed those plans, as campers weren't moved to higher ground when the U.S. National Weather Service issued a flood watch the day before. Shendelman said Canadian camp organizers are considering what they would've done if put in a similar situation. 'We've heard from a number of directors who are quite concerned,' he said. 'We are doing our very best to find the experts that can help in this flood management area.' Back in Alberta, the Texas flooding comes just as Darielle Rairdan and her co-director of Bar Harbour Camp train staff ahead of the busy summer season. Rairdan said the Texas situation has helped drive home the point that emergency preparedness needs to be taken seriously. 'We don't just talk about these things to talk about them,' Rairdan said. 'If something like that happens, you need to know what we're doing.' She said that for Bar Harbour, 170 kilometres south of Edmonton, wildfires are the biggest risk every year. Rairdan, who is also an Alberta Camping Association board member, said that in her 20 years of attending Bar Harbour — both as a camper and employee — a fire has never harmed the camp or led to an evacuation. But that doesn't mean the camp thinks it won't happen someday. 'We need to make sure that we know what we're doing so that, if we do happen to have a huge wildfire, we don't end up in a situation like that where we have all these casualties,' she said. —With files from The Associated Press This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 9, 2025.
CBC
16-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Canadian campers are going 'elbows up' and staying north of the border amid U.S. trade war
Social Sharing Some outdoorsy Canadians are planning to build their tents with elbows up this summer as the season unofficially kicks off this long weekend. Sally Turner says she and her husband plan to do their camping, canoeing and biking this year in Canadian national parks, including at Jasper National Park this weekend, because of the U.S. trade war and U.S. President Donald Trump's calls to make Canada a 51st state. "I have, in the past, camped in the United States, but that's not going to happen in the near future," Turner said while shopping for camping gear in Edmonton. "Most of the people I know are very much choosing to camp in Canada. Elbows up." Albertan Travis Pegg, however, said he's indifferent to the trade war. "The price of fuel and the cost of getting to the States would have more influence on whether I camp there or not, not the tariff war," said Pegg, a resident of Wainwright, a town about 220 kilometres southeast of Edmonton. "I don't worry about anything I can't do anything about. It just causes stress. I just try to survive." WATCH | Alberta's new camping booking system: How is the province's new camping booking system holding up? 1 year ago Duration 5:02 Summer plans for some children have also been affected by the tariff war, says the head of the Canadian Camping Association, which accredits and oversees youth summer camps across the country. Executive director Matt Wilfrid says fewer children are being enrolled in summer camps this year due to the economic uncertainty Trump's tariffs have created. Wilfrid said more parents have been asking about refund policies and payment plans at their camps. He said an increasing number of camps are struggling with budgets for the summer as the cost of food, activities and staffing has become unpredictable. "Running a summer camp is akin to planning a wedding for thousands of people who don't know each other," Wilfrid said. During his election campaign, Prime Minister Mark Carney was among the Canadians calling for people to celebrate the country after Trump's threats by going to its national parks. He pledged to create a "Canada Strong Pass" that would make access to national parks free for the summer. "Whether it's trips to national parks and historic sites, spending the day at a national art gallery or museum, or hiking Canadian trails, my new government will help the next generation discover all Canada has to offer this summer," he said. "We are a proud country — and united, we will strengthen our Canadian identity in the face of this crisis." Carney's office did not respond to questions about the status of that pledge. Back on the Prairies, Alberta Parks says it has seen around a 25 per cent increase in bookings through its camping reservation system for both March and April compared to the previous year. But Alexandru Cioban, press secretary for Forestry Minister Todd Loewen, has said it's difficult to say whether the increase is due to the tariff war. Ontario Parks says it's on track to have very similar booking numbers as recent years — roughly 12 million. "I do not have any live stats readily available in terms of U.S. visitors, but [I] can say that well over 90 per cent of our visitors come from within Ontario," spokesperson Dave Hunt said in an email. Parks Canada said demand for camping reservations continues to be strong this summer. It says 17 per cent of parks visitors came from the United States in 2023-24, and 16 per cent came from overseas. "The steady interest highlights the enduring appeal of the natural heritage in Canada and the importance of protecting these sites for future generations," it said in an email.
Global News
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Global News
Many Canadian campers choosing to camp north of the border this year amid U.S. trade war
Some outdoorsy Canadians are planning to build their tents with elbows up this summer as the season unofficially kicks off this long weekend. Sally Turner says she and her husband plan to do their camping, canoeing and biking this year in Canadian national parks, including at Jasper National Park this weekend, because of the U.S. trade war and U.S. President Donald Trump's calls to make Canada a 51st state. 'I have, in the past, camped in the United States, but that's not going to happen in the near future,' Turner said while shopping for camping gear in Edmonton. 'Most of the people I know are very much choosing to camp in Canada. Elbows up.' View image in full screen Many Canadian campers say Donald Trump's tariffs and his comments about making Canada the 51st state have convinced them to cancel trips to the U.S. this summer in favour of camping north of the border. Global News Albertan Travis Pegg, however, said he's indifferent to the trade war. Story continues below advertisement 'The price of fuel and the cost of getting to the States would have more influence on whether I camp there or not, not the tariff war,' said Pegg, a resident of Wainwright, a town southeast of Edmonton. 'I don't worry about anything I can't do anything about. It just causes stress. I just try to survive.' Summer plans for some children have also been affected by the tariff war, says the head of the Canadian Camping Association, which accredits and oversees youth summer camps across the country. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Executive director Matt Wilfrid says fewer children are being enrolled in summer camps this year due to the economic uncertainty Trump's tariffs have created. Wilfrid said more parents have been asking about refund policies and payment plans at their camps. He said an increasing number of camps are struggling with budgets for the summer as the cost of food, activities and staffing has become unpredictable. 'Running a summer camp is akin to planning a wedding for thousands of people who don't know each other,' Wilfrid said. View image in full screen It's still early in the camping season, but Alberta Parks has seen a 25 per cent increase in reservations compared to the same time last year. Global News During his election campaign, Prime Minister Mark Carney was among the Canadians calling for people to celebrate the country after Trump's threats by going to its national parks. Story continues below advertisement He pledged to create a 'Canada Strong Pass' that would make access to national parks free for the summer. 'Whether it's trips to national parks and historic sites, spending the day at a national art gallery or museum, or hiking Canadian trails, my new government will help the next generation discover all Canada has to offer this summer,' he said. 'We are a proud country – and united, we will strengthen our Canadian identity in the face of this crisis.' Carney's office did not respond to questions about the status of that pledge. View image in full screen Small business owners that cater to the tourism industry, such as these ones in small community of Bragg Creek, west of Calgary, are excited about the increase in visitors. Global News Back on the Prairies, Alberta Parks says it has seen around a 25 per cent increase in bookings through its camping reservation system for both March and April compared to the previous year. Story continues below advertisement But Alexandru Cioban, press secretary for Forestry Minister Todd Loewen, has said it's difficult to say whether the increase is due to the tariff war. Ontario Parks says it's on track to have very similar booking numbers as recent years — roughly 12 million. 'I do not have any live stats readily available in terms of U.S. visitors, but (I) can say that well over 90 per cent of our visitors come from within Ontario,' spokesman Dave Hunt said in an email. Parks Canada said demand for camping reservations continues to be strong this summer. It says 17 per cent of parks visitors came from the United States in 2023-24, and 16 per cent came from overseas. 'The steady interest highlights the enduring appeal of the natural heritage in Canada and the importance of protecting these sites for future generations,' it said in an email.
CTV News
16-05-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Canadian campers going ‘elbows up' this summer amid U.S. trade war
Tourists take in the views from the newly opened Glacier SkyWalk near the Columbia Icefields in Jasper National Park, Alta., Wednesday, May 7, CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh EDMONTON — Some outdoorsy Canadians are planning to build their tents with elbows up this summer as the season unofficially kicks off this long weekend. Sally Turner says she and her husband plan to do their camping, canoeing and biking this year in Canadian national parks, including at Jasper National Park this weekend, because of the U.S. trade war and U.S. President Donald Trump's calls to make Canada a 51st state. 'I have, in the past, camped in the United States, but that's not going to happen in the near future,' Turner said while shopping for camping gear in Edmonton. 'Most of the people I know are very much choosing to camp in Canada. Elbows up.' Albertan Travis Pegg, however, said he's indifferent to the trade war. 'The price of fuel and the cost of getting to the States would have more influence on whether I camp there or not, not the tariff war,' said Pegg, a resident of Wainwright, a town southeast of Edmonton. 'I don't worry about anything I can't do anything about. It just causes stress. I just try to survive.' Summer plans for some children have also been affected by the tariff war, says the head of the Canadian Camping Association, which accredits and oversees youth summer camps across the country. Executive director Matt Wilfrid says fewer children are being enrolled in summer camps this year due to the economic uncertainty Trump's tariffs have created. Wilfrid said more parents have been asking about refund policies and payment plans at their camps. He said an increasing number of camps are struggling with budgets for the summer as the cost of food, activities and staffing has become unpredictable. 'Running a summer camp is akin to planning a wedding for thousands of people who don't know each other,' Wilfrid said. During his election campaign, Prime Minister Mark Carney was among the Canadians calling for people to celebrate the country after Trump's threats by going to its national parks. He pledged to create a 'Canada Strong Pass' that would make access to national parks free for the summer. 'Whether it's trips to national parks and historic sites, spending the day at a national art gallery or museum, or hiking Canadian trails, my new government will help the next generation discover all Canada has to offer this summer,' he said. 'We are a proud country – and united, we will strengthen our Canadian identity in the face of this crisis.' Carney's office did not respond to questions about the status of that pledge. Back on the Prairies, Alberta Parks says it has seen around a 25 per cent increase in bookings through its camping reservation system for both March and April compared to the previous year. But Alexandru Cioban, press secretary for Forestry Minister Todd Loewen, has said it's difficult to say whether the increase is due to the tariff war. Ontario Parks says it's on track to have very similar booking numbers as recent years -- roughly 12 million. 'I do not have any live stats readily available in terms of U.S. visitors, but (I) can say that well over 90 per cent of our visitors come from within Ontario,' spokesman Dave Hunt said in an email. Parks Canada said demand for camping reservations continues to be strong this summer. It says 17 per cent of parks visitors came from the United States in 2023-24, and 16 per cent came from overseas. 'The steady interest highlights the enduring appeal of the natural heritage in Canada and the importance of protecting these sites for future generations,' it said in an email. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2025. Fakiha Baig, The Canadian Press
