Jewish Federation steps up to Table with vital donation

De Havilland calls for national water bomber fleet as it scrambles to meet demand

MONTREAL - On July 13, a pair of Canadair water bombers touched down on the Seine River, skimming along its surface to refill their water tanks as they battled a wildfire south of Paris.

The "super scoopers," with their signature ketchup-red wing tips on a mustard-yellow body, sucked up 6,000-plus litres from France’s most famous waterway in one go as part of a fight against the flames then rampaging across Europe.

The event in north-central France underscored how wildfires are ranging even farther from their traditional grounds and fuelling an urgent need for water bombers to fend off climate disasters.

The iconic Canadair turboprops serve as the only amphibious firefighting aircraft currently in production built from the outset for that purpose, rather than being retrofitted to douse flames.

Deaths, injuries as fire hits Alberta military base: McGuinty

WAINWRIGHT - Defence Minister David McGuinty says there have been deaths and injuries after a fire broke out Saturday at a military base in Alberta.

Fire crews scrambled late into the night as fierce winds whipped flames beyond CFB Wainwright, a massive military training base located 200 kilometres southeast of Edmonton.

McGuinty, speaking to reporters in Ottawa, confirmed the casualties but had no other details to share, including numbers or what happened.

"I cannot recall such an incident in my short time for sure as a minister, but I cannot recall an incident like this in recent memory,” McGuinty said.

Katz ‘violated public trust,’ Sheegl lacked ‘moral compass,’ police HQ inquiry commissioner concludes

The final report from the public inquiry into the scandal-plagued Winnipeg Police Service headquarters construction project concludes that former mayor Sam Katz and former city CAO Phil Sheegl broke public trust and engaged in unethical conduct.

And the report, released Monday by inquiry commissioner Garth Smorang, says the cost of the project — transforming a downtown Canada Post office tower and warehouse into the police HQ — soared, in part, because main contractor Caspian Projects overcharged the city by more than $40 million in expenses.

The project’s initial $135-million initial price tag rose to about $209 million in the end. The city purchased the complex in 2009; construction was completed in 2016.

Smorang’s report concludes Katz “violated the public trust” and council code of conduct, and Sheegl suffered from a “complete lack of a moral compass.”

Officials say catastrophic base fire was known ahead of time, allowed to burn

Canada's military says a grass fire that killed four soldiers and sent scores more to hospital with bad burns was known well beforehand but not considered a threat.

Maj.-Gen. Wade Rutland, commander of 1st Canadian Division, says the grass fire was a kilometre away and considered sufficiently under control that training exercises were allowed to continue Saturday afternoon at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright in central Alberta.

However, he said conditions — including a violent, sudden windstorm — sent those flames racing over the Prairie landscape at lightning speed, landing right on top of the soldiers.

"This was a very uncommon occurrence," Rutland told a news conference Sunday.

Winnipeg: Home of IG’s past and future

Shortly after IG Wealth Management was established in Canada, our founders chose Winnipeg as the home of our young, ambitious company.