CKPG-TV (Prince George, BC)

Premier Doug Ford is planning to visit Thunder Bay, where many evacuees fleeing northern Ontario wildfires have sought shelter. Ford is expected to join Natural Resources Minister Mike Harris in the city today, as the province faces criticism for its emergency response. Nearly 200 wildfires are blazing across the province, already scorching more land than all of last year's fires and sending up plumes of hazardous smoke that have choked the skies across Ontario and parts of the United States.

The issue of data centres is percolating into the political debate from the local level to Ottawa. Opponents of proposed facilities have made their voices heard from Vancouver to Olds, Alta., to Hamilton. Olds residents have been rallying against a proposal for a 10-building campus with a total of 1.4 gigawatts of gas-fired power generation. In June, opponents held a protest in Vancouver to demonstrate against the opening of AI data centres.

Just under half, 46 per cent, said building the facilities to give Canada more control over data would be a good thing, while 37 per cent said it would be a bad thing. "We're seeing evidence that there is a bit of a divided opinion amongst Canadians regarding the construction of these data centres around the country," said Andrew Enns, Leger's executive vice-president for Central Canada.

By The Canadian Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - Bahrain activated its air sirens for a second time on Saturday, warning residents to shelter after it detected possible incoming drones or missiles. The Gulf states have come under frequent fire from Iran over the past week as tensions continue to ramp up between the U.S. and Iran. The Associated Press

By Pattison Media The annual Kids' Carnival at Huble Homestead returns on Sunday, July 19, from 10:30 am to 4:00 pm! Venture out to the historic site north of Prince George for fun games (with guaranteed prizes!), magic shows, a petting zoo, community groups, and many other activities. Bring a picnic lunch, make some ice cream, or grab a treat from the General Store. More information can be found here: hublehomestead.ca/kidscarnival

CLEVELAND (AP) - The game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cleveland Guardians scheduled for Friday night has been postponed due to air quality concerns because of wildfire smoke from Canada and northern Minnesota. Heavy, pungent wildfire smoke darkened skies in the U.S. from the Great Lakes to parts of the East Coast, reducing visibility and prompting warnings that breathing the air outside could be dangerous.

LeBlanc says the immediate concern for many workers is figuring out the timeline for their employment and what options may exist after that. "So, I think right now, most of them are just trying to figure out, okay what is our timeline? When is the mill going to go down? When am I going to be released? And and then from there they'll start to, you know, look for jobs and figure that out." But finding similar work in Prince George could be difficult.

With bargaining temporarily on hold, union leaders chose Prince George as the site of Friday's rally, saying Northern Health nurses are facing a disproportionate share of reported workplace concerns related to the ongoing job action. According to the BCNU, nearly 4,500 reports of intimidation, coercion and interference have been submitted by nurses across British Columbia since job action began on July 2.

OTTAWA - Federal officials say there have been no outbreaks of the diarrhea-causing parasite cyclospora in Canada and that no lettuce implicated in an ongoing U.S. outbreak has been distributed in the country. Iceberg lettuce from Mexico served at Taco Bell restaurants in five American states has been identified as a source of the outbreak.

By The Canadian Press WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump is threatening to increase tariffs to Canada due to smoke from wildfires in Ontario blanketing parts of the United States. Trump says on social media he is "holding Canada responsible" for not properly maintaining forested areas and that he will call Prime Minister Mark Carney to discuss the issue. More coming. The Canadian Press