Banff residents have given a thumbs down to a pedestrian zone in the community's downtown, rejecting the idea in a plebiscite Monday. The Town of Banff posted unofficial results of the vote on its website, saying 1,328 votes were cast against the town council's decision to have a pedestrian zone on Banff Avenue every summer, from the May long weekend to Thanksgiving long weekend.
Jessica Lunn, mayor of Slocan in British Columbia's Kootenay region, said she drove along Highway 6 this week to survey the damage done by a nearby complex of fires that forced the evacuations of hundreds and destroyed homes along the road. Lunn, who said attention was now turning to recovery, called the losses "heartbreaking," although she couldn't see the damaged buildings from the newly reopened section of highway.
Many parts of northern Manitoba are under an air quality warning due to wildfire smoke, which is also causing reduced visibility. Environment and Climate Change Canada says the amount of smoke can fluctuate over short distances and can vary considerably from hour to hour.
The operators of three Calgary child-care facilities shut down this week are speaking out against the Alberta government's inspection process, saying they've been discriminated against.
The Calgary programs were forced to close Monday, with the government citing "an imminent danger to the health, safety and well-being of children attending the programs."
The Public Health Agency of Canada says it was only after multiple Listeria cases emerged in Ontario in June that it recognized a broader outbreak that had started back in August 2023. Questions have swirled around why it took nearly a year for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to announce a national recall of several Silk and Great Value plant-based milk products on July 8.
Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, fell 0.6 per cent to $82.4 billion in June.
The agency says sales fell in five of the seven subsectors.