National News

KELOWNA — The eerie calm on the Kelowna waterfront Saturday morning was broken by the faint percussive chops of helicopter blades in the distance.

Canada's Heritage Minister redoubled her calls for Meta to end its ban on Canadian news content on Facebook and Instagram on Saturday as thousands of Canadians continued their rush to escape wildfires ravaging British Columbia and the Northwest Terri

Thousands of people have been ordered to leave their homes as wildfires approach in the Northwest Territories, including some 20,000 people in the territorial capital of Yellowknife.

MONTREAL — The Cree Nation of Wemindji in northwestern Quebec has lifted an evacuation order for medically vulnerable people after nearby forest fires led the community to declare a state of emergency earlier this week.

OTTAWA — Winnipeg police say former New Democrat MP Roméo Saganash has been charged with sexual assault. Police say they arrested Saganash on June 27 in relation to an allegation from May 1 in Winnipeg and the matter is now before the courts.

British Columbia Premier David Eby says his government's decision to declare a provincial state of emergency allows authorities to rapidly access tools and implement measures to deal with the evolving wildfire situation. B.C.

Yellowknife veterinarian Michelle Tuma was having a hectic month even before an encroaching wildfire forced the mass evacuation of her home community.

OTTAWA — Stefania Giesbrecht was hoping that by the time she finished her studies, she could move back to her community of Saugeen First Nation.

OTTAWA — It's been just over three years since Veterans Affairs Canada released a strategy to tackle its 23,000 backlogged benefits applications, and that file has landed on the desk of a new minister for the first time.

WEST KELOWNA — Homes were ablaze on Friday in West Kelowna, B.C., with firefighters locked in a pitched battle against a rampaging wildfire that helped trigger a provincewide state of emergency.