tonight travel plans rerouted WestJet cancels hundreds of flights over a surprise strike parked planes Force tens of thousands of passengers to Pivot it’s ridiculous I mean they’re leaving everybody stranded as mechanics walk off the job we will get back to work as soon as they start neotion leaving the airline outraged one party that is currently acting very unreasonable fire fears as Canadians prepare to light up the night sky at a time where temperatures are extremely hot and conditions are extremely dry wildfires are of course top of mine putting cold water on cross country celebrations plus the new robots in the race to save a species what’s at stake here is the survival of North Atlantic right whales the battery powered gliders patrolling oceans sounds to flag a whales whereabouts CTV national news with Heather butts good evening the first long weekend of summer is off to a bumpy start with a massive labor dispute at WestJet a strike by Airline mechanics leaves some 30,000 passengers in limbo they’re plans up in the air as hundreds of flights were cancelled today the sudden job action comes after 2 weeks of turbulent discussions and a federal order for binding arbitration ctv’s Christina Talia starts us off a jam packed afternoon at Canada’s busiest airport Travelers like Kathy Nixon arrived at Toronto Pearson packed with optimism until she got an unwelcome message might have to get a um a hotel to stay overnight she’s waiting for an update from WestJet after her flight was cancelled when Airline mechanics hit the picket line uh I’m frustrated at a news conference this morning westjet’s leadership team expressed their own frustrations we’re devastated with the company’s CEO highlighting the impact of flight cancellations on Travelers Canadians are missing wedding celebrations well-deserved holidays they’re missing important medical appointments family reunions and the stress and the devastation this is causing is unnecessary outside one of Pearson’s main terminals the mechanics feel their demonstration is necessary we keep airplanes safe and uh we want to be uh renumerated for that and and get a fair deal out of it this afternoon the labor Minister intervened meeting with both sides a government Source called the meeting tense with Minister oan telling WestJet and the union they need to work together to resolve their differences and get the agreement done in Vancouver the only thing Jennifer Lang wants resolved are her travel plans uh we got to the airport after getting off our cruise and um we were booked with WestJet and we get to the airport to find out that our C our flight is cancelled after wrapping up her Crews and landing at Vancouver International she’s trying to make her way back to Ottawa many WestJet Travelers are still waiting for flight information and they’ll be waiting for compensation with WestJet CEO saying earlier today that the airline abides by federal guidelines when it comes to compensation and in some cases offers overnight hotel stays but beyond that they won’t be offering any additional compensation as for the rescheduling of these flights it could of course take days Christina Talia CTV News Toronto A Renewed strike mandate from Railway workers is being used as a tool to get back to the bargaining table union members at CN and cpkc voted 99% in favor of job action the union says it’s willing to go back to the bargaining table and work with federal government mediators the rail companies are looking for concessions on crew schedules work hours and burnout as many Canadians prepare to light up the night sky with flashy fireworks displays Fire Chiefs across the country are hoping to pour a little cold water on celebrations the current hot dry conditions could be a recipe for disaster in a year already challenging Crews and community ities ctv’s KL crali reports the weekend before Canada Day sales are booming for fireworks in terms of sales Canada is probably our biggest holiday but Fire Chiefs from across the country with a warning fireworks in these hot and dry conditions could be disastrous at a time where temperatures are extremely hot and conditions are extremely dry wildfires are of course top of mine with last year’s wildfire season Breaking records and this year already seeing wildfires in BC Alberta and Manitoba Labrador now has a fire ban in place that also stops the use of any fireworks after a wildfire caused the evacuation of a small town last week someone’s usage of a single means of fireworks can spark a fire especially with Reckless Behavior seen every year that I seen a lot down by by my neighborhood there’s too many young kids are getting them I can’t figure out how they get them there got to be 18 to buy these now fire chief say the rules around fireworks use is easy to break because those rules change from Province to Province and even City to City making it tough to enforce the bylaws and creating confusion among those who want to buy them a lot of our customers they’ll say they didn’t even know that there was a bylaw or things like that so unfortunately I think it comes down a lot to education here at kab boom fireworks in Toronto the local rules clearly spelled out now the fire chiefs pushing to create a regulatory body that would implement the same bylaws for fireworks across the country an idea the federal government says has Merit especially with warmer Summers sparking concern of wildfires Kel carali CTV News Toronto the City of Calgary is in the final stages of restoring water surface now that repairs to erupt water M are complete all that’s left is testing samples and stabilizing the system preliminary testing is looking encouraging and the final stage of stabilizing involves slowly easing the feeder man back into regular use this is great news for all of us mayor jod gondak also says the city is making plans to assemble an independent third-party review panel to investigate the cause of the water main break and assess the city’s response to the crisis this is shaping up to be a summer of uncertainty for the liberal party with growing calls for the prime minister to step down as leader now back in their writing some MPS calling for caucus to gather in Ottawa to discuss a game plan CTV Jeremy Chiron has more as the Prime Minister embarks on his summer barbecue circuit there are increasing concerns within his own caucus about the party’s future he’ll definitely have to work with his caucus of course they’ve got a caucus Retreat scheduled for late in the summer uh I suspect there will be a meeting before then CTV News has confirmed with at least three MPS who support the need for an inperson Caucus meeting sooner than later prime minister welcome to Toronto St Paul’s the party has been searching for answers since losing a decades long liberal seat in the Toronto St Paul’s byelection on Monday certainly some kind of dramatic change is needed uh to try to improve things uh and just a question of how much can be improved and whether a new leader a new team new ideas are enough to do that those are all open questions MPS will also face questions from constituents in their writings this summer as calls grow for their leader to step down Wayne Long yesterday became the first sitting MP to join a growing list of liberals to speak out publicly it’s been four days since a byelection loss that was a traumatic and startling event for the Liberal Party of Canada there been a vacuum if they don’t fill the vacuum if the Prime Minister doesn’t fill the vacuum with intent and choices and change then that vacuum will get filled by others Wayne long is an indication of what could be to come what started as quiet whispers about the prime minister’s future have quickly been Amplified and there is concern if issues aren’t addressed soon MPS could struggle to make progress in their writings this summer Heather Jeremy thanks a historic change in leadership could be in in the works for France voters head to the polls tomorrow in a parliamentary election with the far right closer to power than it has ever been in modern times French Nationals living in Quebec had the opportunity to cast a ballot today ctv’s Denise Roberts on why some are fearful for the future of their country more than 200,000 French citizens call Montreal home and for many of them there was only one thing to do today this woman says she had no no choice but to come out and vote because the situation in France is dire the country has been in turmoil for weeks after president Emanuel mcon called Snap parliamentary elections the election is not for a new president but strictly for the legislature and by extension the Prime Minister it’s a gamble that could see both the extreme right and left make significant political gains it’s also shaken those who are more at home in the Middle with extreme right you don’t know exactly uh how uh how are they going to take all the institutions or they going to handle that and and on left side depending on how how much like taxes and everything they’re going to do the far right naal is ahead in all pre-election polls lot of French people are afraid of the extremist uh parties um winning maybe the majority of the government so it’s our duty to you know vote it’s a duty old vilm said she’s taken for granted I’m a little bit ashamed but um I didn’t vote at the last elections and I was quite shocked about the results that we got she says since then things have actually gotten worse so she made a point to vote today and make her voice heard extreme group right left they are about you know to take control of the country but not only the country but also you know uh the Europe in general in the last parliamentary election in 2022 only 25% of French voters living in Montreal came out to vote but this time around the conso general is expecting more than twice that amount to cast their ballots polls open in France on Sunday and If no candidate emerges with more than 50% of the vote there will be a second round of voting July 7th voters here will be watching closely we sure if feuring is uh is uh appropriate yeah a fateful election for French citizens no matter where they live Denise Roberts CTV news on the South Shore of Montreal today Riot police were called in after Pro Palestinian demonstrators blocked a busy rail line about 30 demonstrators set up camp this morning along a stretch of CN railway tracks that connects Montreal to Halifax the blockade didn’t last long as police quickly moved in to disperse the group four people are facing charges ranging from mischief to assault overseas now rescue crews in the Ukrainian city of denpro are digging through the rubble looking for survivors after a Russian strike ripped through a nine-story residential building at least one person was killed 12 others were wounded several people are missing another Russian missile strike on a town near the Southeastern city of zapia killed seven people and injured 31 coming up a medical breakthrough in epilepsy treatment that really has an opportunity to revolutionize their lives the redesigned brain surgery to help control seizures plus racing to the top a young woman inspiring her sisters to ride on hundreds of thousands of Canadians live with epilepsy a brain disorder that triggers terrifying seizures a British teenager who once endured daily episodes has now become the first child in the world to undergo a groundbreaking procedure to help control them cdv’s Kathy Lee reports are you to be resilient is to still find Joy through the hardships of life and Ora noson has had many I had a fairly bright and upe three-year-old that within a few months of seizur commencing deteriorated rapidly and lost a lot of skill Orin was diagnosed with a rare treatment resistant form of epilepsy over the next decade seizures have taken over every day it’s robbed him of all of his childhood so far I want Orin back I want the child that or at least glimmers of the child that I remember I want some of that back a mother’s want may be realized but but here doctors in London fitted a neuros stimulator under the 13-year-old skull sending electrical signals deep into his brain we now know that we’ve left him with the leads exactly where we want them to be um so that gives the best chance of the device working in reducing the seizures oron seizures have been reduced by around 80% a positive sign for the future if we’re able to bring this treatment in and make it available to more children that really has an opportunity to revolutionize their lives and to allow them to um to get their childhood back yeah look Orin may have lost years of his childhood but he can start building those experiences now it’s going to take time um but for the first time in 10 years we actually have hope three more children will soon take part in the UK trial Kathy Lee CTV News Calgary still ahead whale watch the new robots surveying ocean waters to help save the endangered right whale there’s yet another delay for two astronauts who took Boeing Starliner to the International Space Station NASA now says it maybe weeks before they return home Starliner blasted off on its historic test flight in early June a planned 10day Mission now a weeks long stay helium leaks and Thruster issues have caused multiple delays NASA and Boeing say they need more time to study the root cause of the problems they insist time is on their side a frantic race to rescue a massive pod of dolphins struggling in the shallow Waters off Cape Cod Massachusetts here are just a few of the 125 dolphins that got stuck after the tide dropped with time running out of massive response volunteers armed with life jackets jumping into help guiding the Dolphins to deeper water others using boats to bring them out more than 100 Dolphins were saved Canadian researchers trying to protect the critically endangered right whale are adding to their toolkit expanding their Fleet of underwater robots that will enhance the ability to detect where the whales are and where vessels need to slow down in some of the busiest shipping lanes Sarah Plowman has the details across vast Waters the endangered right whale is tough to spot in the race to save the species scientists are bringing in more robots what’s at stake here is the survival of North Atlantic right whales these battery powered gliders Patrol the ocean not with cameras but a microphone to listen and flag a whale’s whereabouts all marine mammals make sounds the the ocean is an acoustic World detection triggers Federal rules that Force ships to slow down to 10 knots or 19 km an hour in parts of the St Lawrence a large vessel that’s traveling at a regular speed of 25 knots is going to kill a large whale if it hits it at least 40 whales have died since 2017 sightings now prompt fishing closures or speed restrictions for boats but problems persist it’s estimated 360 whales are left ships struck and killed three already this year in the US calves are missing another was found dead entangled in gear upping their Fleet from two to three robots widens researchers reach we need to be doing everything we can to push this in the other direction another threat is fishing gear the first whale spotted in Canada this year had gear in its mouth but later shook it off off New Brunswick this week surveyors saw a calf facing the same challenge Advocates believe ottawa’s strategy to tackle the risk is overdue the time has come to release that information um out into the public realm so that we can provide feedback the department of fisheries and oceans says it plans to share a draft of that strategy early this summer as for those underwater robots they’re already in the Gulf of St Lawrence where they’ll search for right whales for months Sarah clownman CTV News frederickton Canada’s men’s soccer team has advanced the Copa America quarterfinals and they did it without scoring a goal there’s the final whistle it is over one of the biggest results in Canadian men’s soccer history Canada and Chile played to a goalless draw in steamy Orlando Florida the results give Canada a total of four points in group a with a win a loss and a tie they’re headed on to The Knockout round well the streets of Canada’s biggest city are flooded with pride this weekend despite a downpour the morning rain cleared just in time for festivities honoring community members and promoting inclusivity the pride parade will take over Toronto streets on Sunday while tens of thousands turned out on the streets of Paris happy and colorful costumes in London as thousands from the lgbtq2 plus Community gathered to celebrate the annual parade after the break there’s no stopping these sisters help like take my mind off all the negatives just being on my board going downhill really fast highp speed strength and resilience we leave you tonight with the remarkable skill of a BC skateboarder tackling challenges on course and at home faced with an unexpected family tragedy her competitive spirit is now rubbing off on her sisters ctb’s Adam sawatsky tells us we could soon see the trio on the world stage when she first picked up a long board Karina Hill never imagined it would eventually change her life that really clumsy haven’t always had the best balance but she didn’t have any other vehicle so she just pushed herself around town it’s like oh gosh like that’s so much better than walking a couple months later a friend sent her a video of downhill longboarders as a joke but Katerina was inspired I was like oh I would love to learn that so every day Katarina took every opportunity to teach herself to ride before meeting a community of boarders who gave her the confidence to race it just kind of exploded from there well Katarina was exploding to become top ranked woman downhill long Bard in the country it felt like her family was imploding Katarina and her younger sisters lost their dad to a stroke and then their mom died from cancer when my mom passed all my friends in the community they just kind of came over to my house and started helping out a whole bunch and it meant so much to me now the 23-year-old is her sibling’s legal guardian and although she spends her days balancing a full-time job with caring for 17-year-old Rose and 12-year-old tasa Katerina still makes time to skate help like take my mind off all the negatives um just being on my board going downhill really fast it just H man it just feels really great it also inspired both of Katarina’s sisters to follow her path and start racing on Street Lou boards I want to go and hang out with my sister and do she was like oh you if you want to hang out you got to practice now Rose Hill is so competitive in Street Lou both she and Katarina have qualified for this year’s downhill skateboarding World Championships in Italy and have launched an online fundraiser in the hopes that their family of three can attend man and I like really proud of her proud that young T is a formidable competitor too but ultimately Karina feels feels comforted knowing her parents would be proud their daughters are proving to be so United and resilient if you crash in a race you got to still get back up and just like in life if you have your crashes you got to still get back up Adam swatski CTV News abbottsford such strength in those remarkable young women that is our newscast for this Saturday evening I’m Heather Butz for all of us at CTV national news thank you for watching good night and I’ll see you again tomorrow a
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