Small businesses make up 98.0% of all employer businesses in Canada Note, therefore these businesses have a significant impact on the overall Canadian economy. By the end of 2020, the Canadian economy had experienced nearly a full year of COVID-19, and businesses were adapting to the new reality by shifting to online sales, reducing hours, laying off staff, applying for government funding or seeking rent relief. Note While recent months showed an improvement in economic activity, in light of the resurgence of COVID-19 and a return to a partial shutdown this winter in several provinces, there remain challenges and uncertainty ahead for businesses. GDP grew for eight consecutive months, although overall economic activity is about 3% below February’s pre-pandemic level. ![]() Note With the gradual easing of pandemic-related restrictions, the business climate began to improve. "Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of wildland fires and creating longer fire seasons," said Mike Norton, director general of the Canadian Forestry Centre.Following the onset of the pandemic, Canada experienced a drastic drop in its real gross domestic product (GDP), with the economy contracting 18.2% between March and April 2020. Social media posts insist "arson not climate change" is responsible for the wildfires, but Natural Resources Canada told reporters June 5 that this fire season was exacerbated by hot, dry and windy conditions. "It's expressing the fact that the relationship to the federal government and the provinces has become more insistent and more forceful." "This grievance isn't actually always about a global fear of shadowy UN elites or eco-vigilantes, even though that's how this gets taken up and incubated in this sort of narrative," he said. Russill tied those fears to Canada's signing of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, which raised alarm about the impending climate crisis.Īs the Liberal government implemented stricter climate caps and taxes over the past decade, Russill said people in Canada's natural resource industries have grown defensive. On top of purported vigilantism, some falsely theorize that the Canadian government is starting wildfires, either to advance its climate change policies or to force citizens into cities where it will be easier to impose "climate lockdowns." Graphic showing how increased global emissions can lead to more fire-prone conditions and how more fires can lead to higher emissions, which perpetuates the cycle. "Certainly, we are seeing the impacts of climate change which can increase fire risks." "Human-caused fires can be accidental, intentional or undetermined," said Heather Fairbairn, a spokeswoman for the Office of the Fire Marshal of Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia officials have also said they are still investigating the origins of the province's fires, which are presumed to be human-caused. "It could be related to general causes, including agriculture, forest industry, powerlines, or oil and gas industry, railroad or residential wildfires," said spokeswoman Melissa Story. ![]() "There are a lot which are caused by humans, but these are almost always accidents," she said, noting that recent lightning strikes were to blame for many of Quebec's wildfires.Īlberta Wildfire told AFP that unless lightning is involved, a blaze is classified as human-caused. One Facebook video with more than one million views blames "a terrorist attack" for the flames.īut Karine Pelletier from the province's Forest Fire Protection Agency said the causes are still under investigation. One article speculates that since 90 percent of Alberta's fires could be "human-caused," there is a possibility that "ecoterrorists" may be behind them.Īs wildfires spread in Quebec, some questioned how all the blazes could have started on the same day. ![]() On TikTok, a video already viewed almost 20,000 times, claims the fires in Nova Scotia were set "on purpose to push a climate change agenda." Tens of thousands of people have evacuated as a result. ![]() So far in 2023, Canada has seen larger wildfires than any previous year at this point in the season, with more than three million hectares burned. "I bet a good portion of the wildfires raging across the country were started by green terrorists who want to give their climate change campaign a little boost," Maxime Bernier, a former foreign minister-turned fringe party leader, said in a June 5 tweet.
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