Quebecers launch safety app to help fishers navigate 'unstable' ice conditions
CBC
Marc-André Galbrand says the ice is not what it used to be on the Saguenay River in eastern Quebec.
What was once a solid, frozen slab dotted with fishing cabins along parts of the 100-kilometre stretch has become unpredictable and even "unstable."
"We have all these new realities," said Galbrand, the director of Contact Nature, an environmental organization based in Saguenay, Que. "Last year … was the first year that we were not able to organize the ice fishing villages because the ice was just too thin."
This week, he says the river has almost no ice at all.
"With climate change … we lost almost 95 per cent of the ice," said Galbrand.
The melting ice and the danger it presents to fishers is part of what inspired him to create an app called Glaces du Fjord, designed to help inform people and keep them safe.
Working closely with the coast guard and local fishermen in the area, the app compiles information about the tides, cargo schedules and ice conditions, including thickness. It even gives users the chance to report changes or issues while out on the water.
Set to be released to the public on Friday, Galbrand says Contact Nature — the organization behind the app — has been working on the free tool for months.
The app uses information from St. Lawrence pilots who fly over the water and create "ice cards" multiple times a week to note information about the conditions for icebreakers, says Galbrand.
He says he came up with the idea after seeing similar products designed to detect mountain safety and avalanche prevention.
With the Saguenay River being a unique and popular winter fishing destination, Mathieu Aubin says the app can help increase security.
"There's really [a] unique kind of fishing … it's really remote and it's gaining [popularity]," said Aubin, who runs a general store and local bait shop, Accommodation des 21, which has been in his family for five generations.
He was among the 20 people who have helped test the app and, over the past few months, helped collaborate on the project.
He says the tool will not only serve experienced anglers, but also those new to the sport.
Marc-André Galbrand says the ice is not what it used to be on the Saguenay River in eastern Quebec.
Advisers from one of the world's largest investment banks, J.P. Morgan, have delivered a glowing review of the Churchill Falls memorandum of understanding, saying it offers the necessary guardrails and financial returns to ensure the mistakes of past energy deals in Newfoundland and Labrador are not repeated.
Educators in Sudbury are once again raising alarm about violence in schools, arguing chronic underfunding is leading to unwieldy class sizes and reduced staffing that create frustrated students who lash out.
The flow of people moving to Nova Scotia from other Canadian provinces has slowed down over the last two years, meaning the province's population growth is now primarily made up of international migration.
The rush of people moving to New Brunswick from other provinces has slowed down to a trickle, with international immigration continuing to lead as a source of population growth.
Canada Soccer's Olympic espionage debacle has lifted the veil on years of turmoil inside the organization racked by internal and financial problems, and which has been criticized for a lack of transparency.
The new CEO of Winnipeg's downtown development agency has been asked to create more affordable housing in Manitoba's capital, and come up with a new vision for Graham Avenue after Winnipeg Transit routes move north to Portage Avenue later this year.
This story is part of Welcome to Canada, a CBC News series about immigration told through the eyes of the people who have experienced it.
Young Regina athletes have their sights set on a gold medal at the World Dodgeball Federation's first ever World Youth Open.
Operating hours for the Red Deer, Alta., supervised consumption site are now cut in half, as the facility moves to shut down by March.
A day after her client was accused in the death of a newborn, a lawyer for self-styled "childbirth activist" Gloria Lemay was in B.C. Supreme Court Wednesday claiming $30,000 in damages from B.C.'s College of Nurses and Midwives for an alleged breach of her rights.