Discover Narcity
Get the latest and greatest stories every day in your inbox.
Calgary fire officials share home safety tips during school drills
Calgary officials recommend two escape routes per room and twice-yearly home drills.
With students now settled into the new year, Calgary fire officials have reminded residents that safety doesn’t end at the schoolyard line.
Members of the Calgary Fire Department (CFD) held a media availability on Oct. 22 at St. Elizabeth Seton School, located in the city’s northwest, to demonstrate the behind-the-scenes of fire drills.
Chief Steve Dongworth said each school must complete at least six fire drills each year, and that fire officials must attend at least one. He said this ensures staff, students, and the broader community know what to do.
“Firefighters attend the drill to support school staff, check access points, fire safety systems, evacuation procedures, and assembly areas — all critical parts of a fire escape plan,” said Dongworth.
“We also connect teachers with important fire safety educational resources, so that students and parents can learn what to do in emergency situations.”
He said that, over the years, the fire department has become more involved in spreading this awareness, including partnering with school boards. The basic principle remains the same, however: getting everyone out fast and efficiently.
“To get out quickly, to check that everyone’s accounted for by assembling in a position or a place where it’s agreed that’s what’s going to happen,” said Dongworth.
“So that we can, when we come, take care of whatever situation there is that needs to be taken care of.”
Kean Hallisey, this year’s junior fire chief, is a Grade 8 student who said he wants to become a fireman. He said that it’s important to take fire plans seriously not only at school, but at home, too.
Hallisey recommended that every home have an escape plan with two exit options for each room and a predetermined meeting location far from the home.
“You should practice it twice a year so you remember what to do and stay safe in a real emergency,” he said.
“If you have a pet or something, and you are out, stay out — you can ask the [firefighters] to get them. Hopefully, they can get it for you.”
For more information about home fire safety, visit the City of Calgary’s website.
Copyright 2026, LiveWire Calgary. All rights reserved.
Sarah Palmer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, LiveWire Calgary.
Keep reading
Show less
Vancouver approves non-binding drug plebiscites that mayor-elect Pete Fry disavowed
Vancouver approves drug plebiscites
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns
Voters in Vancouver have voted by about two-thirds in favour of two plebiscite questions proposed by the city's outgoing mayor on drug use, despite ejecting him from office in the same election.
The City of Vancouver says about 137,000 people voted in favour of stronger laws on open-air hard-drug use, and about 136,000 voted for the city to ask the province to provide "100-plus" involuntary care beds in the city.
But the plebiscite questions were non-binding and mayor-elect Pete Fry said during the campaign that he did not think that putting them on the ballot was necessary, criticizing the questions as cynical and lacking details.
Fry has said he supports managing drug use in public spaces, but differs from outgoing Mayor Ken Sim in believing people should be diverted to supervised consumption sites or shelters.
Sim had said a "yes" vote would have given the city a stronger mandate to deal with drug use in Vancouver.
Fry convincingly defeated Sim in the Oct. 17 vote, which also saw progressive parties sweep Sim's ABC party out of all but one council seat.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2026.
Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Keep reading
Show less
University of Toronto isn't the top school in Canada's best universities ranking for 2027
You might not expect some of the universities that are on this list.
A new ranking of the best universities in Canada for 2027 is out, and the top school isn't the University of Toronto.
Ontario post-secondary schools, including a few you might not expect, dominated the list but didn't get the number one spot.
Maclean's recently published the 2027 University Rankings for post-secondary schools in Canada.
It includes lists of the best large, mid-size and small universities, along with rankings based on student awards, graduation rates, faculty awards, scholarships, research, student services, reputation and other criteria.
There are 15 post-secondary schools ranked on Maclean's list of the top large universities. The Canadian universities must have more than 30,000 students and offer a wide range of programs at both the undergraduate and graduate level.
In the ranking of Canada's best large universities for 2027, the top school is McGill University.
Maclean's said that McGill has more Rhodes Scholars and Nobel Prize laureates than any other university in Canada. Its standout programs are Population and Global Health, Education in Global Contexts, and Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry.
Then, the University of Toronto is second, and the University of British Columbia is third.
University of Toronto is "in a class of its own," according to Maclean's, because it has more than 16,500 faculty, over 700 undergraduate programs and more than 102,000 students across three campuses. The standout programs are AI Engineering, Game Studies, and Management Co-op.
Maclean's said the University of British Columbia has an international reputation for research and graduate programs. The university's standout programs are Management, Indigenous Land Stewardship, and Freshwater Science.
Those schools are Canada's big three in university rankings, but the University of Toronto is typically the number one school in Canada, so you might not have expected McGill to take the top spot.
After the top three, the University of Waterloo is fourth, and Queen's University is fifth.
Then, the University of Alberta and McMaster University are tied for sixth, the University of Ottawa is eighth, the University of Calgary is ninth, and Western University is 10th, according to Maclean's.
Université Laval is 11th, Université de Montréal is 12th, York University is 13th, Toronto Metropolitan University is 14th, and Concordia University is 15th in this ranking of Canada's top universities.
Ontario is the most represented province, with eight schools in the province ranked in the top 15, compared to four in Quebec, two in Alberta and one in B.C.
READ NEXT: Canada's top schools fell in this best universities ranking but others aren't close to U of T
Keep reading
Show less
Rosalie Vaillancourt ne mâche pas ses mots envers les insinuations d'une internaute
« Très dommage que vous n’avez pas l’intelligence de voir les efforts d’un artiste. »
Le 23 juillet, l'humoriste Rosalie Vaillancourt animait un gala dans le cadre de Juste pour rire. Sous une publication partagée sur Facebook au sujet de cette apparition de l'humoriste, un.e internaute ne s'est pas gêné.e pour écrire un commentaire désobligeant à propos de Rosalie, ce qui n'a pas passé.
La personne en question a écrit les mots suivants : « Mon opinion : C'est sûrement pas son talent qui l'a menée là ». Rosalie lui a alors dit sa façon de penser en lui répondant.
L'humoriste a tout d'abord fait part de son avis sur le message directement en commentaires :
« C'est mon intégrité dont il est question ici. Je n'ai jamais couché avec personne pour faire avancer ma carrière si c'est ce que vous insinuez. C'est tellement bas. Je réussis parce que je travaille continuellement, que chaque soir (une fois que mon bébé est couché), je vais pratiquer mes numéros dans des bars pour 25 $, que je suis sympathique avec les gens et que je couche avec mon chum qui me rend tellement heureuse que je ne bitch par contre autrui. Très dommage que vous n'avez pas l'intelligence de voir les efforts d'un artiste. »
Rosalie est revenue en force en faisant une capture d'écran du commentaire pour continuer son explication sur sa page Instagram :
« Alors que mes collègues masculins ont eu de superbes critiques toute la semaine et que les gens étaient bien contents pour eux. Moi quand j'en ai une bonne, c'est pas grâce à mon talent, mais parce que j'ai couché avec des gens... super. »
À propos de ses collègues masculins, celle-ci s'est d'ailleurs exprimée concernant les allégations sur Philippe Bond, en montrant son appui aux victimes présumées.