Military deploys to N.S., P.E.I., N.L. to help with Fiona clean up
Hundreds of Canadian military personnel are deploying to communities in Atlantic Canada affected by post-tropical storm Fiona to assist with clean-up efforts, the commander of Joint Task Force Atlantic said in a news conference Monday.
Rear Admiral Brian Santarpia says the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) received requests for support from the provincial governments of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.
He says more than 100 CAF members are either on route or currently in, each of those locations.
“We have been tasked to provide assistance to all three of those provinces by putting troops forward who can clear the way from debris and make the job easier to restore power,” said Santarpia during the news conference.
He says CAF members are now in Cape Breton and a command and control element is on its way to the island from Truro, N.S.
Christina Lamey, a communications officer with the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, says troops are working alongside Nova Scotia Power crews to assist in power-restoration efforts.
The P.E.I. government has asked the CAF for help in specific communities, where Santarpia says members from Canadian Forces Base Gagetown are deploying.
In Newfoundland, Santarpia says the Canadian forces are gathering its members from various militia units and are making their way to the western side of the province to help.
Santarpia says an Arctic patrol vessel, HMCS Margaret Brook, has been tasked with conducting wellness checks along the south coast of Newfoundland, as it makes its way to Port-au-Basque, N.L., where the storm swept entire homes out to sea.
According to the commander, his forces are taking lessons learned from Hurricane Juan in 2003 and applying them to Fiona recovery efforts.
Santarpia says each immediate response unit is equipped with kits containing tools, chainsaws and other equipment needed to clear a path.
However, he says the units lack the heavy vehicles required to remove large pieces of debris -- a job he says will be done in coordination with local municipalities.
“It’s really a case of many hands make light work,” said Santarpia.
In each community, the commander says CAF members will stay in the nearest military reserve base, to not draw resources away from residents.
“We won’t be a burden on anybody when we bring troops in. We will be able to sustain them ourselves.”
If more troops are needed, Santarpia says they could be pulled from CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.