Good morning. Ottawa says it’s assisting B.C. after wildfires forced the province to declare a state of emergency and evacuate several communities. More of that below, along with the latest from the Middle East and the Tour de France Femmes.
The Bald Range wildfire burns across a hillside in Summerland, B.C., late Saturday.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
TOP STORIES
A fast-spreading B.C. wildfire
British Columbia declared a state of emergency this weekend after more than 20,000 residents were forced to evacuate Summerland and other Okanagan Lake communities. The federal government said yesterday that it is responding to a request from the province to find shelter space for evacuees.
Widespread destruction: The wildfire destroyed homes in its path, and Summerland Mayor Doug Holmes said the fire also torched barns and other infrastructure within the valley, which has many orchards and vineyards. He said he left the community at 3:30 a.m. Saturday and joined a winding convoy travelling south. “Everything behind us is on fire now.”
One confirmed death: The RCMP say an 80-year-old woman who was trying to leave her Meadow Valley home with a family member on Friday died suddenly. Police believe the death to be a result of the wildfire but an investigation is under way to determine the exact cause.
In context: Severe drought and more frequent heat waves are hemispheric in scale, experts told The Globe, and the evacuated B.C. towns are just the latest to experience conditions that produce fast-expanding infernos. The main culprit is changing weather conditions as greenhouse-gas emissions climb despite international commitments to curb them.
Where fires are burning: There were more than 620 active wildfires across Canada as of Sunday. Here’s where they are located.
Sign up for Morning Update:
Reading this online? Start your morning with context and insight on the day's biggest stories, in your inbox every weekday.
Subscribe now
Palestinians walk past the rubble of residential buildings destroyed during the war in Gaza.Mahmoud Issa/Reuters
Israel rejects Trump’s Gaza peace plan
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu restated his rejection of U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest Gaza plan in televised remarks on Sunday. Israel has scaled back attacks since Monday, when a representative from Trump’s Board of Peace met with Netanyahu.
The context: Netanyahu is seeking re-election in October and is caught between far-right ministers, angered by concessions, and Trump, who wants progress toward ending the conflict. The U.S. President announced a breakthrough last month, saying Hamas would disarm, Israel would withdraw from Gaza and a new international force would secure the enclave. But complications emerged: Israel said its troops in Gaza would not move before Hamas disarms, while Hamas insisted that Israel halt its attacks first.
Malehya Brooks-Murray, the mother of Jack and Lilly Sullivan, poses with a photo and belongings of her missing children as well as gifts she has purchased in hopes for their return in Brookfield, N.S.Darren Calabrese/The Globe and Mail
Missing children in Nova Scotia
Malehya Brooks-Murray, the mother of two Nova Scotia children missing for more than a year, says she believes her kids are alive and that it’s possible they were snatched off their backcountry property. She sat down for an interview with The Globe and Mail and the CBC late last month, her first public comments since the early days after Lilly and Jack Sullivan’s mysterious disappearance.
The investigation: The case has confounded the RCMP and led to widespread speculation and finger-pointing, both locally in Nova Scotia’s Pictou County, across the country and in online true-crime communities. Much of that blame has been directed at their mother, who moved away from the remote settlement of Lansdowne the day after her children went missing and never returned to the trailer where they lived. In the interview, Brooks-Murray defended her silence over the past 15 months and demanded answers from police.
Pastor Doug Wilson in Moscow, Idaho.Margaret Albaugh/The Globe and Mail
The Christian nationalists hoping to remake America
Idaho preacher Doug Wilson spent decades on the fringes as his views – from opposing women’s voting rights to making the U.S. a Christian nation hostile to other faiths – grew further from the mainstream. But he’s no longer a voice in the wilderness: the Calvinist denomination he founded has grown to tens of thousands of congregants, including U.S. Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth and other members of the Trump administration.
The philosophy: Wilson calls it the “Moscow mood,” named after the western Idaho town where his church is located. He and others propose restructuring American democracy to bring it closer to what they view as the dictates of a Christian God. The idea that the U.S. has changed too much, too fast, is politically potent, but Christian nationalists have run into stiff local opposition – even in Moscow, where locals can’t recall a church member being elected to any public office.
CellCore's chief science officer Amin Babaeighazvini stands in a flax field in Muenster, Sask. The company is trying to make nitrocellulose from flax instead of cotton.Liam Richards/The Globe and Mail
From flax to firepower
Canadian entrepreneurs are trying to produce nitrocellulose, the chemical compound that makes things go boom. One company, CellCore, is developing methods to use Canadian flax to produce the compound instead of relying on cotton. Its CEO says Canada has major advantages over other countries for this type of production, from its abundant raw materials to its distance from conflict zones.
The background: Canada doesn’t produce any nitrocellulose at the moment, and the global supply chain relies on cotton sourced from major producers such as China, India, the United States and Brazil. But as the wars in Ukraine and Iran put pressure on munition supplies, several NATO countries have pushed to build their own production capacity, and Ottawa has singled out nitrocellulose as one of the materials it wants to produce at home.
The Take
Among Canadians, distaste for the idea of making concessions isn’t fading. It’s getting stronger.
Making trade concessions to the U.S. would change Mark Carney’s political identity, Campbell Clark writes – and may not even guarantee a deal that lasts.
The Shot
Demi Vollering crosses the finish line of the Tour de France Femmes in Nice, France.NICOLAS TUCAT/AFP/Getty Images
The Netherlands’ Demi Vollering won the Tour de France Femmes on Sunday for the second time, and tried to hold back tears afterward while the Dutch national anthem played.
The Wrap
What else we’re following
At home: Prime Minister Mark Carney is on vacation in Italy this week, a trip that his office says has been cleared by the federal Ethics Commissioner.
Abroad: Photographer Siegfried Modola went behind the lines with Fano insurgents battling Ethiopia’s government.
Business: Coming Unifor negotiations with General Motors are expected to focus on job security for auto workers.
Faces: As cosmetic procedures become more commonplace, six Gen X Canadians shared how much they spend on their skin and why.
Pages: Romantasy is transforming the publishing industry – and readers can’t get enough.
Slices: Unorthodox pizza shops have moved way past pineapple, offering options such as sushi pizza and tandoori paneer toppings.