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WATCH | Canada could see more fires, floods from climate change: 

Canada could see more fires, floods from climate change

One of the effects of a warming climate is rising sea levels. The report found that it is “virtually certain” that sea levels will rise around the world throughout the 21st century and will “continue to rise for centuries to millennia.” 

That’s not only due to a warming ocean which then expands, but also a result of melting glaciers and ice sheets, something that we’re seeing now across Canada, but also in Greenland. Read more on this story here.

Waiting to enter

(Eduardo Lima/The Canadian Press)

Vehicles wait on the Rainbow Bridge before crossing the border into Canada, in Niagara Falls, Ont., on Monday. U.S. citizens and permanent residents are now allowed to enter Canada for non-essential purposes if they can provide proof that they’ve been fully vaccinated for at least 14 days. Read more on the reopening of the border.

In brief

The Alberta government’s decision to eliminate COVID-19 testing has pediatricians extremely worried about the health of the province’s children when they return to school in a few weeks. In a letter sent Monday to Premier Jason Kenney, the Alberta Medical Association’s Section of Pediatrics urges Kenney to delay the removal of monitoring measures until 85 per cent of Albertans have been immunized, or until the COVID-19 pandemic has reached the less volatile endemic stage. “Our major concern is that by abandoning the test, tracing and isolation measures, as well as the elimination of the mask mandate which was done prior to that, and with a population of over half a million children in Alberta that aren’t eligible for vaccination, we’re going to see COVID-19 — the delta variant — spread like wildfire come fall through daycares and through schools,” said Dr. Tehseen Ladha, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Alberta and one of the 13 co-signers of the letter. Read more about the pediatricians’ letter.

Michigan resident Gina Chirco was among the first in line as Canada’s border opened to fully vaccinated U.S. residents for the first time in a year and a half. Chirco’s fiancé, Tony Faneli, was waiting for her in Sarnia, Ont., for the landmark occasion. The two have postponed their much-anticipated wedding for nearly two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and hadn’t seen each other in person for much of that time. “It’s been a tough year and a half,” said Chirco. “I’ve found the love of my life and all of a sudden it was on hold because of the lockdown.” She and Faneli had picked out each other’s wedding rings right before the pandemic began early in 2020. They say they’ve been waiting to get married until their families — extensive on both sides of the border — could be together for the event. Read more about the reunion and other cross-border stories.

WATCH | Joyful reunions, long lineups as Canada reopens border to vaccinated Americans: 

Joyful reunions, long lineups as Canada reopens border to vaccinated Americans

A popular winter resort in Manitoba is cancelling its upcoming winter operations because drought conditions have depleted the water source it needs to make snow. The general manager at Holiday Mountain Ski Resort in La Rivière, Man., says the dry spell that’s plagued much of the province this summer has significantly impacted the Pembina River — which is what the resort uses to make snow. “It’s so dry, we watched a deer walk across it last night,” said Bernice Later. “It’s just an unprecedented condition.” Southern Manitoba saw some rain on Monday, but Later said it’s not enough for Holiday Mountain, which is about 130 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, to start selling ski passes. There were a couple of short seasons in the 1980s when staff couldn’t make enough snow to guarantee a full season because of drought, but this is the first time in its 60-year history that the resort has had to cancel an entire season. Read more on this story.

Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole said Monday that, with COVID-19 case counts rising in many provinces as the potent delta strain takes hold, it’s not the right time to plunge the country into a federal election campaign. Speaking to reporters at a campaign-style stop in Belleville, Ont., O’Toole said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is only considering an election now — just two years into his mandate — because of his “own self interest.” CBC’s Poll Tracker suggests the governing Liberals have a sizeable lead over the opposition parties in national polling. “My biggest concern right now is the potential fourth wave of COVID-19,” O’Toole said. “We shouldn’t be rushing to an election. Mr. Trudeau always seems to put his own self-interest ahead of the interest of Canadians.” While not yearning for an election, O’Toole said the Conservatives are well prepared for a campaign that could start as soon as this week. Read more on O’Toole’s comments here.

WATCH | Party leaders, Elections Canada ready for possible election: 

Party leaders, Elections Canada ready for possible election

A Chinese court today upheld the death sentence for Robert Schellenberg, a Canadian man convicted of drug smuggling. He was arrested in 2014 and jailed for 15 years in late 2018. He appealed, but a court in the city of Dalian sentenced him to death in January 2019. The High Court in the northeast province of Liaoning heard his appeal against the death sentence in May 2020 and confirmed the verdict today. The decision comes before another Chinese court is to rule, possibly as early as Wednesday, on the case of Michael Spavor, a Canadian man accused of spying. The decisions involving the two Canadians come as lawyers for Meng Wanzhou, the detained chief financial officer of telecoms giant Huawei, make their final efforts in B.C. Supreme Court to avoid her extradition to the United States. Read more on the court cases here.

Now for some good news to start your Tuesday: In the backyard of her Ottawa home, April Douglas watches as a monarch butterfly gently rises from her finger. She’s no stranger to monarchs. Over the last three years, she’s carefully raised more than 100 of them from eggs, to larva, to caterpillars, to pupa, to eventually fully-grown butterflies, ready to depart for the wide open world. Monarch butterflies are known for their stunning colouring, their massive annual migrations, and their endangered status. Douglas describes the full process of raising the butterflies as a “very spiritual” experience. “You invest about 17 days of your life raising them, from start to finish, and it’s joyful.” Read more about Douglas and her butterflies. 

Front Burner: ‘A code red for humanity’

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres is calling a major new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change “a code red for humanity.” Today on Front Burner, we break down what’s in the report, its potential impact and why there might be reason to feel hopeful about it.

Our guest is Geoff Dembicki, a Canadian investigative climate journalist based in New York. His book about the oil sands, The Lost Years, comes out next year.

Today in history: August 10

1876:  Alexander Graham Bell makes the first long-distance call, from his residence in Brantford to his assistant in Paris, Ont., 13 kilometres away. 

1921: Franklin Roosevelt is stricken with polio while vacationing at his summer home on Campobello Island, N.B. The man who later became one of America’s most memorable presidents was on holiday at his family cottage from his job at a New York bank when he became feverish and his legs suddenly grew weak. He was 39 at the time.

1981: A 42-day postal strikes ends as workers vote to accept a two-year contract that gives  them a 12.5-per-cent raise. The post office became a Crown corporation two months later.

2008: Massive explosions and fire at a propane storage facility in a north Toronto neighbourhood force thousands of residents from their homes and the closure of highways and subway stations. One employee of the plant died. A firefighter who responded to the emergency call on his day off also died after collapsing at the site. A 2010 report by the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office blamed the blast on a leak during an illegal propane transfer.