Pre-recorded cassettes first appeared in the mid-60s and reached their commercial peak in the mid-80s before slowly fading away over the next couple of decades. This brings me to the problem of the disastrous EMI cobalt cassettes of the 90s.

They seemed to use high-tech ferric-cobalt technology, but in fact, highly compressed audio to mask the fact that EMI was using poor-quality tape. Marketed as xDR cassettes, they were duplicated so that they sounded good on boomboxes and portable cassette players but terrible everywhere else. The music sounded harsh and rough on something like a good car stereo. Listener fatigue was a problem. Not only that, but because the base tape was substandard, xDR tapes degraded fast, especially when it came to treble frequencies.

So, if you’re a collector of vintage cassettes, stay away from these things. They are not worth your time.

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

The expense scandal gripping Queen’s Park has created a divide in the Progressive Conservative caucus, as members quietly express anger over the unintended consequences of their colleagues’ actions and the premier’s office’s handling of the situation.

Global News first reported hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses billed by Willowdale MPP Stan Cho to taxpayers and donors over the course of three years, resulting in apologies from Premier Doug Ford and fresh scrutiny of the rest of the PC Party caucus.

Despite living just six kilometres away from Queen’s Park, Cho billed taxpayers more than $16,000 to stay in Toronto hotel rooms between 2023 and 2025, claiming them under a “special circumstance” allowance afforded to Greater Toronto Area MPPs.

Over that same period, Cho billed nearly $100,000 in food and beverage expenses, more than $6,000 in airfare, more than $12,000 in hotel rooms and over $13,000 at sporting venues in Toronto and beyond — much of which was claimed as “meetings hosted.”

The twin expense scandals, along with the government’s response, have created “camps” of MPPs expressing frustration over the fallout.

Sources said part of the anger stems from Cho’s hotel expenses, which are “hard to justify” given the proximity to his home address.

After the scandal broke, the government quickly moved to eliminate the expense altogether, leaving caucus members feeling deprived of what was widely viewed as a legitimate benefit that was being abused by a handful of MPPs.

A significant part of the anger, however, appears to be directed at the premier’s office and Ford himself, who has offered shifting responses to the scandal.

Ford has publicly called the hotel expenses incurred by Cho a “mistake,” has labelled other hotel expenses PC MPPs “unacceptable” and has vowed that they will pay “every penny” back to taxpayers.

But the premier’s anger at his MPPs appears to directly contradict what his government was privately telling its members over the past four years.

As early as 2022, and again in late 2025, the government house leader and caucus whip’s office instructed PC MPPs to prepare for night sittings by potentially booking hotel rooms.

“Given the uncertainty in the coming days, members may want to arrange Toronto accommodation to ensure they are on or near the precinct until further notice,” one email from October 2022 read.

“This email is being sent only to MPPs and this information should be kept in the strictest of confidences.”

Legislative transcripts show more than a dozen night sittings over that time period were scheduled but then abruptly cancelled by the government house leader.

MPPs who believed they were simply following instructions were angered when Ford appeared to place the blame on them in the fallout of the initial story.

“They’re paying the money back,” Ford said. “The party with the taxpayers’ dollars are over, believe me, nothing compared to previous governments.”

Adding to the anger is the timing of the scandal.

The disclosures come three months after Ford’s ill-fated purchase and immediate sale of a $28.9 million Challenger 650 private jet for his official travel — a decision that led to public uproar and was labelled the “gravy plane” by the opposition.

Weeks later, Ford fired the chair of the Ontario PC Party caucus after the premier was confronted on the thorny issue of MPP pension plans, widely viewed as bungled by the government.

Finally, some Progressive Conservative MPPs have been forced to cancel or reschedule fundraisers, worried that Cho’s riding association expenses would make it difficult to explain how donor funds will be used by the party.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Over two days in September, Prime Minister Mark Carney will try to stanch $1 trillion of foreign investment flight over the last decade.

You can’t fault the man for lack of ambition.

Carney is presiding over what he’s calling the Canada Investment Summit — a gathering of international business leaders, CEOs and institutional investors aimed at recouping the losses over the next five years.

If he pulls it off, it would mark a stunning reversal.

Calling it the “most significant capital exodus in modern Canadian history,” the Royal Bank of Canada reported that over a nine-year period — roughly corresponding to former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s time in office — $2 exited the Canadian economy for every $1 invested, totalling $1 trillion.

Carney clearly wants to turn the page on that particular legacy.

“It’s certainly an ambitious target … and challenging to attain,” Marc Desormeaux, a vice-president with the Business Council of Canada, told Global News.

“(But) there is enthusiasm from the business community to invest in Canada that we haven’t seen in a while.”

A central theme of Carney’s leadership over the last year and a half has been about making Canada more attractive to businesses and investment — creating a Major Projects Office (MPO) to stickhandle files of national significance, reducing regulatory burdens, aggressively seeking out new trade partnerships and jettisoning environmental protections.

Politically, it is a signal that Carney’s Liberals have turned the page on the Trudeau era — or perhaps returned to the “Business Liberal” days of the 1990s and early 2000s.

Economically, the jury is still out. Foreign direct investment reached $96.8 billion in 2025, the highest inflow of capital to the Canadian economy since 2007, but how much of that can be attributed to either Carney’s policies or “open for business” vibes is an open question.

Amid the ever-present trade dispute with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, Carney has had some success in trade talks with major economies such as China and India and has made inroads with non-traditional partners like Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

He’s also moved to strengthen Canada’s economic ties to the European Union. Carney’s recent trip to the G7 in France highlighted $5 billion in partnerships between Canadian companies and firms in Germany, Japan, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, France and Portugal.

But those two days in Toronto this September — and what buy-in the government can secure from international investors — should serve as an indicator for how high Canada’s stock is with international investors.

Less than two months before the summit, it’s not clear how many have accepted Carney’s invitation. A spokesperson for International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu told Global News in a statement that the government could not yet say how many attendees had confirmed, but that “interest is strong” and Sidhu has been “actively engaging” international investors.

The government’s renewed focus on investment and economic growth appears to be matching the mood of the electorate.

The latest numbers from Abacus Data this month showed that Canadians’ top-of-mind concern remains overwhelmingly the cost of living (64 per cent). The poll, which surveyed 4,205 Canadians online from July 9 to 16, had Carney’s Liberals maintaining a seven-percentage-point lead over Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative Party.

All that’s to say that Carney does not appear to be paying a political price for abruptly shifting Liberal policies and tone. The same voters who supported the Liberals’ Trudeau-era environmental protections appear happy to support a Carney government that does pipeline deals with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.

But the Carney government’s desire to build big and build fast was always heading for some challenges, despite public approval. “Fast” is not typically what the federal government is known for when it comes to greenlighting major projects.

Earlier this month, unnamed sources told the Financial Times that the MPO told UAE officials looking to invest $70 billion into Canada that it was “too soon” to inject capital into the projects.

Set up just months after last year’s general election as a “single point of contact” for projects of national significance, the MPO aimed to shepherd those projects through government regulations and approvals to get them completed “faster, responsibly and sustainably, while respecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples and protecting the environment.”

Projects like major liquefied natural gas facilities in B.C., critical minerals mines and significant infrastructure expansions have been referred to the MPO in its first year of operation.

Carney lured Dawn Farrell, the well-respected former CEO of Trans Mountain Corporation and TransAlta, to serve as the MPO’s first chief executive. In its first year, the Liberals referred a total of 24 initiatives — 17 projects and seven “transformative strategies” — to the MPO.

They call them “major projects” for a reason. Valued in the billions of dollars, they are complex, cross-jurisdictional, and are longer-term wagers.

Investors, like the attendees at this September’s summit, would then be able to make decisions on these multi-billion-dollar projects faster without worry that they’d be tied up in years of red tape.

Robert “RJ” Johnson, the director of the University of Calgary’s Energy and Natural Resources Policy branch, said an assessment of the MPO’s effectiveness would be premature at this point.

“The MPO did sort of symbolize (change)” in Carney’s approach to industry, Johnson said.

“In terms of where we are in that change, if it were a baseball game, we’d be in the third or fourth inning.”

Johnson said that the MPO should be considered among a suite of policy changes Carney and his team have made since coming to office, which, taken together, signal a friendlier environment for business investment than past governments.

Desormeaux cautions that there’s always a “lag” between when an announcement is made and when it makes a measurable difference in hard numbers, making it difficult to assess how successful Carney’s push has been.

“The early indicators of positive moves in the right direction are these announcements from companies and these pledges to invest more in Canada, because that really does represent a change in tone and a change in our prospects over the longer run,” Desormeaux said.

Whether the tone has changed to the tune of $5 trillion in new investment remains to be seen this September.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Follow along with Susan Hay and Executive Chef Paul Shewchuk, as he prepares an incredible dessert with Ontario Cherries.

Ingredients
500 g fresh or frozen cherries, pitted
30 g granulated sugar
15 g unsalted butter, for greasing the baking dish

Clafoutis Batter
3 large eggs (150 g)
100 g granulated sugar
70 g all-purpose flour
250 g whole milk
100 g heavy cream (35%)
40 g unsalted butter, melted
5 g vanilla extract
2 g salt
2 g lemon zest
15 g dark rum or Kirsch (optional)

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 23 cm baking dish and sprinkle with the 30 g of granulated sugar. Arrange the cherries evenly in the prepared baking dish. Whisk together the eggs and sugar until smooth, being careful not to over-aerate. Sift in the flour and salt, then whisk until the batter is smooth and free of lumps. Gradually whisk in the milk and heavy cream. Add the melted butter, vanilla extract, lemon zest, and the rum or Kirsch, if using. Pour the batter evenly over the cherries. Bake for 35–45 minutes, or until the clafoutis is puffed, golden brown, and just set in the centre. Let cool for 10–15 minutes before serving. For finishing touches, dust generously with icing sugar before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature with: Vanilla bean crème fraîche, lightly whipped cream, vanilla ice cream.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

REGINA – A career night from quarterback Cody Fajardo and a clutch field goal from Vincent Blanchard has put the Edmonton Elks into the driver’s seat of the CFL’s West Division.

Fajardo had his best game as a pro on Thursday, throwing for 510 yards and four touchdowns, while Blanchard nailed a 57-yard field goal on the final play of the game to give the Elks a 36-34 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in a roller-coaster contest before 28,513 fans at Mosaic Stadium.

The West Division-leading Elks improved to 6-1 and are off to their best start since 2017 when they were 7-0. The Riders, second in the West, slipped to 4-2 on an emotional night for the hosts.

In a game that featured seven lead changes, the Elks used two explosive plays from Fajardo and receiver Austin Mack to put the Elks in position to win. The pair connected on a 57-yard touchdown late in the third quarter to give the Elks a 27-21 lead, but when the Riders scored on their next possession to regain the lead, Fajardo and Mack responded immediately with an 81-yard touchdown to put the Elks back on top 33-28.

The pair were teammates for two seasons in Montreal (2023 and 2024) and when Mack became a free agent after the 2025 season, Fajardo did a hard sell on convincing him to head to Edmonton.

“He’s the guy. He’s the reason why I called him every day in the off-season to get him here because this is what I knew he can do from what he did in 2023 with me in Montreal and in 2024,” said Fajardo.

“I just know what he can do and what he brings to a receiving room. The guy just finds ways to score touchdowns and make big plays.

Saskatchewan kicker Alex Hale closed the gap later to 33-31 with a 48-yard field goal and had an opportunity to give the Riders the lead with three minutes remaining but his attempt from 46 yards was wide left and returned to the Edmonton 20-yard line by Javon Leake.

Hale redeemed himself with an 11-yard field goal with 1:46 remaining but that left Fajardo enough time to move the Elks from their eight-yard line to the Saskatchewan 50-yard line and give Blanchard a shot. He made no mistake, hammering the ball through the uprights as the clock expired.

Elks head coach Mark Kilam couldn’t say enough about Fajardo’s effort.

“Cody’s a warrior. I thought that the key drive was in the third quarter when we were backed up. He scrambled a bit. We hit someone for a pass. He got blasted on a play, got up, went back to the huddle, and I think that was awesome. That’s Cody Fajardo,” said Kilam.

“That guy just lays it out there, leaves his heart on the field every time he plays. That’s why I’ll ride with that guy forever.”

Kilam was thrilled how his team fought through adversity to win the game.

“We found a way. Found a way to win. There’s no quit in this football team. They play with heart. They play for each other. They play tough. Some bad (stuff) happened there at the end of the game, and we found a way to overcome it.

“And full credit to Saskatchewan. That’s a good football team. That was two heavyweights going at it, and you know we were fortunate to make the plays.”

While the Elks were ecstatic with the outcome, the Riders felt they let a victory slip through their fingers.

“I thought that was a pretty good CFL football game. Felt like we were going to win it up until the very end. You know, a play here, a play there, a call here, a call there. I’m probably going to be, you know, waking up all night thinking about the last play, but yeah, it sucks but yeah, it’s two good football teams for sure,” said Riders quarterback Trevor Harris, who completed 26 of 36 passes for 386 yards and four touchdowns.

The teams took to the field just five days after a two-vehicle accident claimed the lives of Riders linebacker Jayden Dalke and Bhishma Rajyaguru, a 22-year-old from Regina, on Sat­urday even­ing just out­side Lums­den, about 30 kilo­metres north of Regina.

RCMP said the 30-year-old Dalke was driv­ing north­bound in the south­bound lane of the divided high­way when his vehicle col­lided with Rajyaguru’s SUV.

Both victims were honoured with tributes and a moment of silence before the opening kickoff at Mosaic Stadium.

Harris admitted the past week was difficult but he hoped the pre-game tributes expressed the emotions of a team and a franchise.

“I felt it was well done by the organization, honouring both people, and obviously it was a tumultuous, strange week to navigate as a team. But just proud of our team in terms of coming out fighting,” said Harris.

“The effort is going to continue to be there. This is a Corey Mace-led football team, and you’re going to get everything we got every single week, regardless of circumstance. I was proud of the guys for that, and I hope both families that we honoured are proud and could take some solace in the pre-game tribute to them.”

In addition to Mack’s two touchdowns, Brendan O’Leary-Orange, on a 16-yard reception, and Leake, on a 12-yard catch, scored touchdowns for the Elks in the first half. Mack had 173 receiving yards on four catches while TJ Luther had 10 receptions for 157 yards.

Kian Schaffer-Baker, Samuel Emilus, KeeSean Johnson and Dhel Duncan-Busby had touchdown receptions for the Riders. Schaffer-Baker had eight catches for 185 yards.

UP NEXT

Elks: Host the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Saturday, Aug. 1.

Roughriders: Visit the Edmonton Elks on Saturday, Aug. 1.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 23, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

What started as a children’s toy has become one of the hottest accessories for Toronto Blue Jays fans this summer.

The Flaming Dragon Ride-On — a plush dragon mounted on a stick — has emerged as the team’s unofficial good-luck charm after appearing in the Blue Jays’ dugout during a series in San Francisco earlier this month.

The surge in popularity has driven customers to The Rocking Horse toy store in Kingston, where staff say demand for the toy skyrocketed almost overnight.

“We were completely shocked at first,” said Lyn Wattam, a sales assistant at the store. “We’ve always had this dragon around, but then there was a peak of interest just in one evening. We did a little bit more research, but it wasn’t until one local customer came in and told us that it was related to the Blue Jays that we realized this was a big trend that was beginning.”

The Blue Jays introduced the stuffed dragon into the dugout during a difficult offensive stretch in hopes it might help spark the teams’ bats. Fans quickly embraced the dragon as a symbol of the team.

“I think that it really tapped into something deeper in people, which is just this nostalgia and this desire to be a part of a bigger community that follows the Toronto Blue Jays,” Wattam said. “That’s not normally a community that shows interest in a toy store, but this really brought them in.”

The Rocking Horse says it has become the only online retailer currently selling the dragon, helping fuel demand from customers across the country.

“Over the past few weeks we have been the only store online that has had these available for purchase, which has added a lot to the traction that we’ve been getting,” Wattam said.

The business says it has received online orders from across Canada, from Prince Edward Island to Vancouver Island, prompting a fresh shipment of 124 dragons that arrived Thursday.

“There’s been a lot of traction,” Wattam said. “We’ve seen over a thousand people visit our website because of this dragon, and they span from coast to coast in Canada. We’ve actually sold over a hundred just in online orders alone, so it really has taken hold and created quite a frenzy.”

For $39.99, fans are hoping this little dragon breathes fire into the Blue Jays’ offence.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Despite a decline in the severity of police-reported crime, many Kelowna, B.C., residents and business owners say they aren’t convinced the city is becoming safer.

Newly released data from Statistics Canada’s annual Crime Severity Index show the volume and seriousness of police-reported crime in the Kelowna census metropolitan area fell 4.5 per cent in 2025.

The decline moved Kelowna to ninth among Canada’s 41 census metropolitan areas, down from fifth the previous year.

“I think it is going down, hopefully,” said Kelowna resident Candy Van Hees. “We can only hope.  Kelowna is a wonderful place, so let’s just keep positive.”

The Crime Severity Index measures both the volume and seriousness of police-reported crime.

Even with the improvement in the rankings, concerns about public safety remain widespread.

“It’s not down. I think it’s up,” said Alfreda Joseph. “There’s a lot of crime that goes on around here.”

Another resident suggested the statistics may not reflect the full picture.

“I personally think people just aren’t reporting it anymore,” said Sharon Kenney. “Where I live, which is off Springfield, there’s a lot of crime.”

That sentiment is echoed by some local business owners.

David Lea, owner of Toshido Mixed Martial Arts in Rutland, agrees.

“I think it is the kind of rhetoric that people are getting pretty tired of hearing,” Lea said. “We keep being told that crime is down, but we’re just not seeing it in the streets.”

Lea said his business regularly deals with social disorder and crime, including deliberately-set fires, drug use and threats against staff.

He said he no longer reports every incident to police.

“If I reported every crime that happens around my business, I would be on the phone with the RCMP every single day,” Lea said. “This is not an exaggeration.”

He believes many business owners have reached the same conclusion.

“I talk to a lot of my fellow business people and people just feel, ‘What is the point?’ Why get on the phone? Why get online when nothing’s going to be done about it?” he said.

In an email to Global News, Kelowna RCMP acknowledged the numbers don’t reflect the whole story when it comes to criminal activity.

“Although Kelowna has seen an improvement compared to last year, the Kelowna RCMP recognizes that the Crime Severity Index is only one measure and does not tell the whole story,” said Cpl. Steven Lang.

“Perceptions of community safety remain important and were identified as a key concern in the City of Kelowna Citizen Survey.”

Lang added that public safety remains a top priority.

“When reviewing the data, it is important to acknowledge that the CSI captures only Criminal Code offences and does not account for calls for service related to public disorder,” Lang said.

“Police continue to work closely with community partners to address the issues that matter most to Kelowna residents.”

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Saskatoon city crews have been hard at work and residents have noticed, saying it seems like every day there’s a new street blocked off.

“There are things that are being done this year that are over and above the norm. I would say the work related to the Link system or the BRT system,” said Matt Jurkiewicz, construction and design director for the city of Saskatoon.

It’s hard to not hit a detour driving around the city, with many projects currently active on major roads like Circle Drive, Wanuskewin Road, College Drive, and the University Bridge.

“It’s not just willy-nilly. We’re using data and we’re trying to be systematic in the work that we do. And a lot of stuff that we do also centres around, like, we’re not going to repave a road if the pipes need to be fixed underground first,” said Jurkiewicz.

“So, we focus on fixing the underground infrastructure.”

With College closed for construction on the new bus rapid transit system, some people have been having a hard time accessing the Royal University Hospital.

In the same area, Ronald McDonald House Saskatchewan, who houses families from outside of the city, says there have been challenges.

“When they see the barricades and they see the fences, if they’re walking over to the hospital, they’re wondering if they can get through,” said Tammy Forrester, CEO of Ronald McDonald House Saskatchewan. “So we’ve had to navigate some of those conversations.”

With much of the work being on major roads, the city has been looking to do a lot of it overnight, including paving on Circle Drive, to mitigate traffic for commuters and contractors during the day.

“I think folks will be able to see and expect more of the work on these busy roads to start happening overnight in the coming years,” said Jurkiewicz.

The city is reminding drivers to keep an eye out for signage and detours to keep city workers safe.

Watch the video above for more on how people are getting around the construction.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim held an emergency meeting with the city manager and police chief on Thursday, after a bizarre public hearing that received many calls from the United States.

People from outside Vancouver and even outside Canada called into a public hearing on the city’s controversial villages plan.

Councillors grilled the callers on their reason for phoning in and if they had any connection to Vancouver.

The plan would rezone 17 single-family neighbourhoods to allow six-storey multi-unit buildings.

With the influx of callers, Wednesday’s public hearing went from morning to midnight.

“We do not want that democratic institution disturbed or disrupted,” Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said, calling it an act of foreign interference.

“Individuals who have no connection to Canada, who have no connection to Vancouver, who are calling from a foreign country to clog up our system. That’s where people will lose confidence,” Sim added.

A B.C. hospitality union, Unite Here Local 40, says it organized some of the out-of-town speakers, including some from California.

The union argues that the villages plan benefits developers without guaranteeing affordable housing.

“I think it’s just bad form to encourage this as an active campaign, and it does not benefit anyone perhaps other than donors or interested parties,” said Pete Fry, a Vancouver city councillor with the Green Party.

“But it certainly doesn’t impact the outcome of our decision making.”

Vancouver police confirmed they are investigating and say if the calls meet the threshold of foreign interference, they could be referred to the RCMP.

“We’re going to take it seriously because we can’t have people interfering, if that’s the case, in our institutions, in our city, in what’s going on locally that impacts you and I from somewhere abroad,” Chief Const. Steve Rai with the Vancouver Police Department, said.

“So we’re going to look at that seriously.”

Sim is asking the province to amend the Vancouver Charter so only Canadians can register to speak at public hearings.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Thick wildfire smoke shrouded Kelowna, B.C., on Thursday, obscuring the city’s signature lake views, disrupting tourism and prompting public health officials to urge residents to limit their exposure.

What is typically a postcard-worthy view of Okanagan Lake was barely visible as smoke settled over Kelowna and surrounding communities.

“It’s awful, I can’t see anything,” said Gina Hill, who is visiting from Ontario.

The smoky skies were a dramatic contrast to the much clearer conditions seen just 24 hours earlier.

“I wasn’t really expecting this this fast, though, because yesterday I had a couple friends here and they said it was pretty nice,” said Edmonton resident Robyn Papirny.

The sudden deterioration in air quality also forced some visitors to change their plans.

“We cancelled some of our plans to go up to the trestles to ride bikes,” said Darryl Dreger, visiting from Alberta.

The smoke is also taking a toll on local businesses.

Sandra Ng, owner of the Aloha Okanagan food truck, said fewer people are visiting beaches and parks because of the poor air quality.

“We’re going to have to possibly shorten our hours, possibly close early, maybe not open some of the days,” Ng said.

“This is our season. This is like when we do the most business, so if we’re reducing the number of days that we’re working, obviously we are majorly impacted financially.”

The smoky conditions were reflected in the region’s air quality readings.

On Thursday, the Air Quality Health Index reached 10+, the highest risk category on the scale.

“At that level, that’s when the general population should be reducing their strenuous outdoor activities,” said Dr. Andy Delli Pizzi, medical health officer with Interior Health.

Interior Health is also reminding residents that limiting exposure to wildfire smoke is especially important for seniors, young children, people who are pregnant and those living with chronic medical conditions.

“Things like lung disease, COPD or asthma, or for people who have heart disease — wildfire smoke can make those illnesses worse,” Delli Pizzi said.

“If people are feeling unwell with shortness of breath or chest pain, then that’s a reason to either call 9-1-1 if it’s an emergency or you can call 8-1-1 for advice otherwise.”

According to Global meteorologist Peter Quinlan, the smoke is expected to linger for several days.

While mornings may bring temporary relief, wildfire activity typically intensifies through the afternoon, causing smoke conditions to fluctuate throughout the day.

For many residents, however, smoky summers have become an unfortunate reality.

“It’s expected,” said Kelowna resident Steve Montgomery. “Nothing new about it.”

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.