B.C. to end state of emergency as wildfire risk winds down
Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 14 Sep, 2023 05:12 PM
The British Columbia government says it is ending the state of emergency imposed last month when thousands of residents were chased out of their homes by wildfires.
The government says in a statement the wildfire risk is diminishing in much of the province as temperatures cool, allowing most residents to return home.
A report published this morning by parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux estimates ending wait lists, increasing staff pay and benefits, providing more hours of care each day and expanding home care could cost around $13.7 billion.
Last year, Canada sent 529 front-line crew members, 62 supervisory teams and a number of aircraft to help the U.S. battle rampant wildfires in California and the Pacific Northwest.
The B.C. board says home sales in the region totalled 3,326 last month, a 6.3 per cent increase from the 3,128 sales recorded last July and an 11.6 per cent drop from the 3,762 homes sold in June.
Legal arguments are expected over the next few weeks from the Department of Justice and Meng's lawyers over whether she should be extradited to the United States.
COVID-19 cases in B.C. continued their upward march as the province reported more than 700 infections Tuesday over a four-day period, with more than half of those in the Interior where the vaccination rate is lower.
Recent showers were a welcome relief to firefighters, but the rain wasn't enough to make long-lasting impacts on wildfires that continue to burn in British Columbia, a Wildfires BC operations director said Tuesday.