Sault Ste. Marie hosting forest fire evacuees from northwestern Ontario
Sault Ste. Marie is among municipalities in northern Ontario hosting evacuees from forest fires in the northwest.
The city is hosting around 100 people from North Spirit Lake First Nation, located more than 900 kilometres northwest of the Sault.
Forest fires continue to rage across northern Ontario, prompting a number of communities to evacuate. The evacuees from North Spirit Lake will be housed at the Water Tower Inn.
Sault Ste. Marie Mayor Christian Provenzano said Wednesday a number of community partners are involved.
"I want to thank all of the healthcare and primary care providers, social services, I want to thank all of the First Nations partners that are working with us on this, I want to recognize the Water Tower Inn," said Provenzano.
"This is really, truly a team effort. A lot of people doing a lot of heavy lifting, and I need to recognize the really great work that's being done by the CAO and city staff that are involved in this."
City CAO Malcolm White said the request to host evacuees came from the provincial government last Friday. White said city staff and community partners, including Algoma Public Health, Sault Area Hospital and the Red Cross, worked through the weekend on a plan to host the evacuees.
"Everybody has been very quick to respond and assist us with whatever they can provide," said White, adding local Indigenous agencies -- as well as officials from Batchewana and Garden River First Nations -- have been part of the effort to host evacuees.
With regard to the ongoing pandemic, White said there are no concerns as there are currently no active COVID-19 cases in North Spirit Lake and that the community has a high vaccination rate.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.