Latest news with #Mountie
Global News
27-05-2025
- Climate
- Global News
‘Seasoned' Swan Hills wildfire evacuees find safe haven in Whitecourt
After years of dry and hot springs in Alberta, wildfire evacuations are nothing new for evacuees and the communities that step up to welcome them in. In north-central Alberta, the 1,300 residents of Swan Hills were ordered to leave Monday night ahead of an advancing, wind-whipped fire. People living in the town roughly 200 km northwest of Edmonton were asked to register at the Allan & Jean Millar Centre in Whitecourt, about 80 km to the south. The community of about 10,000 people along Highway 43 has been a safe haven for wildfire evacuees from several different communities north of it in recent years. 'We're a hub in this part of west-central Alberta,' Whitecourt Mayor Tom Pickard said on Tuesday outside the evacuation reception centre. 'We're centrally located, we're right in the middle of the boreal forest.' Story continues below advertisement 'We've had people here from Fox Creek, Valleyview, the First Nations around Valleyview — even as far north as Yellowknife over the last couple of years.' Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We've had people here from Fox Creek, Valleyview, the First Nations around Valleyview — even as far north as Yellowknife over the last couple of years." 1:48 Alberta communities who faced wildfire threat earlier this year now welcoming N.W.T. evacuees Pickard said a little more than 700 people have registered since Swan Hills evacuation began Monday night. A few hundred are staying at local hotels while others are staying with family and friends or have moved on to other parts of Alberta. Pickard has lived and worked in the Whitecourt area for more than 40 years, as both a Mountie and in oil and gas before becoming mayor, and said many residents and businesses in town are doing their part to help. 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 'I know our restaurants are busy, hotels are busy and we're just very pleased that we can help,' he said. 'We're happy when people feel safe here because that's what we're trying to deliver.' Story continues below advertisement 'People in Whitecourt are hard-working, compassionate people,' he said Tuesday, noting that it's not the first time his community has hosted evacuees. Those who left Swan Hills Monday night said it was a calm, organized process — one they've done before. 'We're pretty seasoned now from two years ago, so we know what to expect,' said Gina MacDonald, who spent Monday packing up essentials and preparing to leave with the kids and animals. She wasn't too stressed about the fire. 'I know our fire department's the best, so I'm not worried. I know they have the town, so it's in good hands.' Jay and Robyn Marriott have lived in Swan Hills for 25 years, where Jay also grew up. Story continues below advertisement 'I think this is about my fifth evacuation in total. My brother's probably been through ten up there,' Jay said. They began preparing to leave after being alerted Sunday night they may have to do so if the fire grew. 'We just spent the day slowly getting things ready,' Robyn said. 'Once they started talking evacuation, we got our bags together, food together, dog stuff together.' On Tuesday, the fire north of Swan Hills remained about seven to eight km north of town. The Marriott's son has been checking his security cameras, which they said has helped to ease anxieties. 'Everything seems to be nice and peaceful,' Robyn said. Alberta Wildfire officials said night vision-equipped helicopters, firefighters and heavy equipment worked overnight, when fire activity was low — growing from 2,000 to 2,266 hectares — but activity was expected to increase again Tuesday, with hot, dry and windy conditions. 'The weather is what the weather is,' said Alberta Wildfire information officer Derrick Forsythe. 'It's gonna be warmer and it's windy and it's still pretty dry. So that's gonna to be challenging, but we've been on these fires for a long time and we know what we're doing.' Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's gonna be warmer and it's windy and it's still pretty dry. So that's gonna to be challenging, but we've been on these fires for a long time and we know what we're doing." Arriving in Swan Hills on Tuesday were two wildland urban interface crews, a high-volume water delivery system, an incident command team and additional firefighting crews. Story continues below advertisement 'We're working pretty closely with our partners — there's a lot of industrial sites out there — so we're (working) closely with them to make sure that we've got those things covered and looked after,' Forsythe said. View image in full screen A wildfire north of Swan Hills, Alta. on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. Global News The fire near Swan Hills isn't the only fire of concern in Alberta — as of Tuesday afternoon, there were 27 active blazes in the northern and western regions Alberta Wildfire monitors. On Tuesday, people living in a remote area southeast of Hinton in the foothills were told to prepare for a possible evacuation because of an out-of-control 400-hectare fire burning west of the former coal mining town of Mercoal. There's also a 3,100-hectare wildfire in eastern Alberta, on the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range roughly seven km north of the Kirby airstrip, that's a concern for oil and gas operations in the area. Story continues below advertisement 'We're managing the fires on the ground right now with the resources we have in the province,' Forsythe said. 'We just ask people to take that that extra time and be careful when they are in the forested areas.' — with files from Aaron Sousa, The Canadian Press
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
B.C. Conservative MLA questioned by RCMP about leaked documents
BC Conservative MLA Elenore Sturko, a former Mountie, didn't expect to be, herself, questioned by the RCMP. "It is intimidating. Even as a former police officer, when you hear an anti-corruption unit wants to talk to you, it doesn't feel good," said Sturko, the Opposition's public safety critic. The topic in question: leaked Ministry of Health slides released publicly by Sturko in February. The slides revealed that a significant portion of prescribed opioids were not ending up in the hands of the intended recipients but were instead being trafficked nationally and internationally. It also revealed that police were aware of some bad-actor pharmacies allegedly offering kickbacks to clients who got their safer supply prescriptions filled there. The slides were shown to law enforcement agencies across B.C. Shortly afterwards, B.C. Health Minister Josie Osborne announced a significant rollback of the safer supply program. Patients must now consume their prescription opioids in front of a pharmacist to prevent diversion. Sturko saw that as a victory and a sign that the leaked slides forced the NDP government to address the problems with the program. Five days after Sturko went public with the leaked slides, B.C.'s director of police services, Glen Lewis, wrote a letter to the head of the B.C. RCMP, requesting an "investigation into the unauthorized disclosure of the slides … which included sensitive information." Sturko says she was interviewed by the RCMP on April 30. She says the fact that the whistleblower's actions are being probed by the RCMP will have a chilling effect on people who want to bring forward important information. "I think that British Columbians should be very concerned by actions that would silence people from coming forward to their MLA," Sturko said. Lewis's letter to the RCMP was released Wednesday by the premier's office, to back up Premier David Eby's statements that he didn't know about the investigation. "The independent decision was made by the director of police services to request an RCMP investigation," Eby told reporters at an unrelated news conference. Eby says he supports the rights of whistleblowers to bring forward information, and Sturko did nothing wrong by publicizing that. "She was doing her job. I understand why she would be unhappy to get a call from police when all she was doing was exactly what British Columbians hired her to do," Eby said. Minister of Public Safety Garry Begg, also a former Mountie, says he supports Lewis's decision to ask for the police probe, but notes he was not involved in that decision. "He did not ask me, nor did I tell him to do this," Begg told reporters. B.C. RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Vanessa Munn says in a statement that an "investigation was launched under the B.C. Police Act, Section 44, to look at allegations that third-party information was released without authority that could compromise an active ongoing investigation." Munn says investigators spoke with a number of individuals during the investigation to "determine the source of the information shared and if there was a breach of a law enforcement officer's responsibilities." Munn made clear that Sturko "is not now, nor ever was, under investigation." B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad accused the NDP government of "actively trying to put a chill on anyone who speaks against them." Eby fell short of ordering the whistleblower investigation to be dropped, saying he has no control over police investigations. But Eby says a higher priority for the RCMP is continuing its probe into the bad-actor pharmacies that were allegedly offering kickbacks.
CBC
12-04-2025
- CBC
Resisting arrest, alcohol charges also laid against teen in case involving off-duty Mountie
A teenager charged with assaulting an off-duty P.E.I. RCMP officer is also facing charges of resisting arrest and a number of liquor-related offences, according to Chief Superintendent Kevin Lewis. The 15-year-old male accused can't be named under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act. At least part of the incident was captured in footage by witnesses with cellphones, a gas station's CCTV security system, and the body cams worn by RCMP officers who came to their colleague's assistance, Lewis told CBC News on Friday, a day after the force issued a news release about the incident. "Police officers are 24/7," he said of the off-duty officer's actions. "There's an expectation that we maintain public safety at all times — and if we witness an offence occurring or about to occur, we have to intervene." It all started at about 6:30 p.m. on April 1, when the off-duty officer smelled alcohol while standing near someone inside the gas station in New Haven, in central P.E.I. Lewis said the officer then watched the person leave the station and get into the driver's seat of a car. When he went to talk to the driver, Lewis said the officer noticed both open and sealed alcohol in the car and asked the driver to get out, presenting his ID and badge and identifying himself as a police officer. Detaining the youth as part of investigation of impaired driving, he took the young man back into the gas station. "A third party that was a passenger in the vehicle then enters a gas station and causes a confrontation between the police officer and that individual," Lewis said. "At that point in time, the detained youth then pushes the police officer multiple times… "A struggle ensues between the police officer and the male youth, which goes outside the gas station, and the police officer then attempts to further detain the individual and keep them on the ground." Lewis said yet another bystander then tried to pull the off-duty Mountie off the person he was trying to arrest. "Again the [officer] tried to identify themselves as a police officer and asked them to refrain from what they were doing."
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Yahoo
Resisting arrest, alcohol charges also laid against teen in case involving off-duty Mountie
A teenager charged with assaulting an off-duty P.E.I. RCMP officer is also facing charges of resisting arrest and a number of liquor-related offences, according to Chief Superintendent Kevin Lewis. The 15-year-old male accused can't be named under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act. At least part of the incident was captured in footage by witnesses with cellphones, a gas station's CCTV security system, and the body cams worn by RCMP officers who came to their colleague's assistance, Lewis told CBC News on Friday, a day after the force issued a news release about the incident. "Police officers are 24/7," he said of the off-duty officer's actions. "There's an expectation that we maintain public safety at all times — and if we witness an offence occurring or about to occur, we have to intervene." It all started at about 6:30 p.m. on April 1, when the off-duty officer smelled alcohol while standing near someone inside the gas station in New Haven, in central P.E.I. Lewis said the officer then watched the person leave the station and get into the driver's seat of a car. When he went to talk to the driver, Lewis said the officer noticed both open and sealed alcohol in the car and asked the driver to get out, presenting his ID and badge and identifying himself as a police officer. RCMP on P.E.I. began using body-worn cameras in November 2024, so this will be one of the first cases where the footage could be presented in court. (Laura Meader/CBC) Detaining the youth as part of investigation of impaired driving, he took the young man back into the gas station. "A third party that was a passenger in the vehicle then enters a gas station and causes a confrontation between the police officer and that individual," Lewis said. "At that point in time, the detained youth then pushes the police officer multiple times… "A struggle ensues between the police officer and the male youth, which goes outside the gas station, and the police officer then attempts to further detain the individual and keep them on the ground." Lewis said yet another bystander then tried to pull the off-duty Mountie off the person he was trying to arrest. "Again the [officer] tried to identify themselves as a police officer and asked them to refrain from what they were doing." On-duty officers arrived shortly to take over, he said, leading to charges eventually being laid.
CBC
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Canadian superhero Captain Canuck is having a comeback, and we have Trump to thank
Social Sharing U.S. President Donald Trump's annexation threats and tariffs have breathed new life into a superhero from the 1970s: Captain Canuck, a government agent with superhuman strength who defends Canada's sovereignty. "All of a sudden, Canadians are looking to Captain Canuck as a symbol. And it's basically, to them, Captain Canuck symbolizes independence," said Richard Comely, 74, the artist who co-created the comic book character. Captain Canuck, a.k.a. Tom Evans, is a Mountie who gained his special powers after an alien encounter. He wears a white and red outfit emblazoned with maple leaves. Comely said he created the character at a moment when he thought Canadians wanted their own icon, given that the United States had Captain America. "I think there was an undercurrent, so to speak, in Canada in the '70s. So I think Canadians were starting to feel like, you know, like they should acknowledge the fact that we had our own country, and we had our own culture and be proud of the fact that we were Canadians," Comely said. WATCH | Creating Captain Canuck (from 2013): Creating Captain Canuck 12 years ago Duration 5:35 Comic artist-writer Richard Comely recalls superhero's origins Since the first publication in 1975, there have been four million Captain Canuck-themed comic books, books and graphic novels in print worldwide, according to Comely. Comely says his original storyline envisioned Canada as a world power that faces challenges from groups seeking to infiltrate, destabilize and take over the country. Of course, never in any of those stories was it America that was going to be taking over Canada, Comely said. 'We've got to stand in opposition' For the cover of Captain Canuck 's 50th anniversary issue, Comely depicted the superhero wagging his finger at Trump, who has said he wants Canada to become a U.S. state. "It's got a lot of Canadians, you know, thinking about their identity as Canadians and feeling more united as Canadians. We feel like, OK, we've got to stand in opposition to these proposals," he said. WATCH | Captain Canuck stands up to Trump: #TheMoment a Canadian superhero stood up to Donald Trump 24 days ago Duration 1:21 Co-creator of Captain Canuck, Richard Comely, recounts the moment he drew up a new comic book cover that shows his symbolic superhero standing up to Donald Trump. Captain Canuck and Comely have had an on-again, off-again relationship with the comic book world since their start in 1975, falling silent when Comely stepped back to help raise his large family, with a brief return in the '90s charting out a different storyline in Captain Canuck Reborn. Since 2012, when Comely entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Chapterhouse Comics, Captain Canuck has become a mainstay in the comic book scene, expanding his reach with an animated web series and memorabilia. Comely said he has received more calls from Canadian companies that have expressed keen interest in the fictional character due to the political tensions between the two neighbouring countries. "So in a sense, we have Mr. Trump to thank for a bit of resurgence," he said.
