N.W.T. MLAs disappointed by cabinet's vote against wildfire inquiry
CBC
The N.W.T.'s regular MLAs said Friday that they're disappointed by cabinet voting against a motion to call a public inquiry into last year's wildfire response — and one MLA questioned the premier's intention to collaborate.
Members of the Legislative Assembly voted 10-6 on Thursday in favour of a public inquiry, with all present regular members voting for the inquiry and all present cabinet ministers voting against it.
In a news release on Friday, regular MLAs said they're disappointed that cabinet did not support a public inquiry but that they would be meeting with the premier to work together on next steps.
"The public needs to understand what the government is looking at and feel comfortable in providing their feedback during that process," the news release states.
After Thursday's vote, Premier R.J. Simpson told CBC he would consider the public inquiry only after two contracted reviews his government is doing are complete. Those reviews will be done for the departments of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA) and Environment and Climate Change (ECC).
Frame Lake MLA Julian Morse responded to the premier's comments during Friday's sitting.
"Is it the premier and cabinet's intent to simply ignore calls for collaboration and suggestions made by myself and my colleagues?" Morse asked.
Simpson responded by saying that is not his intention, but that he has to "look into things."
"I have a responsibility, when the House brings forward a motion and recommendations, to carefully consider those. I also have a responsibility to ensure that we are operating the government in a responsible manner," Simpson said.
The premier told CBC News that the coming summer, potentially another busy fire season, is not the time to hold a public inquiry.
"It would require people to be taken off of fighting fires or providing emergency response to testify, and I don't think that is prudent of us to do that," he said.
Simpson said there would be lots of opportunity for residents to share their input on the 2023 wildfires, and that he knows people want to be heard.
Simpson has said that a public inquiry would be costly and cumbersome, and that the reviews being done for MACA and ECC would yield a similar outcome.
But Kieron Testart, MLA for Range Lake, said he doesn't see how that could be possible.
More than 1,000 Maritime Electric customers are without power after high winds blew across the Island Friday night into Saturday.
The Supreme Court of Canada is deliberating a case that could shape the way sentences are handed down in cases where both the offender and victim are Indigenous, which some Nunavut lawyers say could have ramifications for the Inuit-majority territory.
A man barricaded in a former church in Welland, Ont., was taken into custody early Saturday, nearly 24 hours into a standoff that began over a fence dispute.
Peel police are investigating after a Friday night shooting in Mississauga left one person dead, police said.
Another busy construction season has come to an end in London, and the city is already looking ahead to next spring when a slew of new projects are expected to begin.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has begun to lay out publicly what he sees as boundaries when dealing with China, as his government wades into a new relationship with the economic giant.
Ferry crossings are cancelled and over a thousand households are left without power Saturday morning, due to high winds and severe weather conditions.
Tens of thousands of Nova Scotia Power customers are waking up without power on Saturday morning after high winds and rain hit the province on Friday night.
Statistics Canada is reporting a population decrease last quarter for New Brunswick — its largest quarterly decline since the 1970s, according to an economic development consultant.
Residents clapped, danced, sang and cried in the Anishinaabe community of Kitcisakik this week when the lights were finally turned on for the first time.
A man is suing three members of a Winnipeg family and a real estate broker he alleges used his intellectual disability to financially exploit him through property deals in Canada and India, leaving him out hundreds of thousands of dollars.
When Stephanie Gamble watched her mother model the first dress she made, smiling wide and walking an imaginary runway, she knew that was what she wanted to keep doing in her life.
'Tis the season for cuddling on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate and watching holiday movies. And for people in B.C.'s Interior, that can increasingly mean seeing their home communities on display.