A Seattle woman was fined $1,500 after pleading guilty to having her dog off-leash near a grizzly bear in Banff National Park.

Viral Banff bear video leads to $1,500 fine

A close encounter with a grizzly bear in Banff National Park has ended with a $1,500 fine for a woman who admitted letting her dog off-leash.

Brook Koski pleaded guilty Wednesday in Canmore Court of Justice. The case began after a video of the encounter spread widely on TikTok.

The roughly 90-second clip shows Koski filming as her husband, Kraig, stands just metres from Grizzly Bear 142. He carries bear spray and repeatedly tells the bear to back away.

Meanwhile, their off-leash dog moves between the couple and the bear.

Thankfully, the grizzly does not show signs of aggression. Instead, it eventually walks into the woods.

Grizzly encounter sparks online reaction

The video quickly attracted several million views. However, the attention also brought a wave of criticism towards the couple.

Koski appeared in court online from Seattle, Wash. She became tearful as she apologized for what she called a lapse in judgment.

“We’ve learned our lesson,” she said.

Her lawyer, Isaak Hurst, said Koski was distressed during the encounter and had never been in court before.

He also said the couple wanted to respect Canadian wildlife and nature. In addition, he noted that Koski faced significant online criticism after the video went viral.

Hurst argued that the dog never attacked the bear and that Koski’s husband remained calm throughout the encounter.

Park officials say dogs must stay on leash

Crown attorney Caroline Lirette described the encounter as terrifying. Still, she said the case highlights why dogs must remain on leash in national parks.

“Animals can react unpredictably,” Lirette said, stressing that visitors have a duty to understand and follow park rules.

She added that keeping dogs on leash can reduce the chance of a dangerous encounter with wildlife.

According to Parks Canada, dogs must remain on leash at all times in national parks. In Banff, Jasper, Kootenay and Yoho national parks, dogs can use most trails and day-use areas unless restrictions are posted.

Court calls the incident more serious than it looked

Justice Indra Maharaj said Canadians value both outdoor recreation and wildlife protection.

However, she said those values must work together.

Maharaj recognized Koski’s sincere remorse. At the same time, she warned that wild animals can respond suddenly when they feel threatened.

The grizzly could also have had cubs nearby, she noted.

Fortunately, nobody was hurt and the bear was not harmed. Even so, Maharaj said the incident was more serious than it might first appear.

She explained that leash laws are not designed to make hiking harder. Instead, they help protect visitors and animals that may be nearby but out of sight.

Study highlights danger of dogs near bears

The case also comes as research raises concerns about dogs and bear encounters.

A recent study published in the Journal of Wildlife Management examined more than 300 conflicts involving dogs and bears. Researchers found that dogs started more than half of those encounters.

The reported conflicts resulted in the deaths of five people and 56 dogs.

As a result, wildlife officials continue to urge visitors to keep pets under control around bear habitat.

Parks Canada urges visitors to plan ahead

Giuliana Eljuri, a communications officer with the Banff field unit, said visitors should consider leaving dogs at home when camping, hiking or travelling in the backcountry.

She also urged people to check trail restrictions before heading out.

Most importantly, she reminded visitors that their choices can affect both people and wildlife.

“Your actions matter,” Eljuri said.

Parks Canada also warns that feeding, enticing or disturbing wildlife is illegal in a national park. That includes allowing a dog to chase wildlife.

For hikers, the message is simple: enjoy Banff, keep dogs leashed and give wildlife plenty of space.

An IIO review cleared Delta police after force was used during a 2024 Mental Health Act arrest that later led to serious injuries.

IIO clears Delta officers after 2024 arrest

Delta police officers were justified in the force they used while arresting a man during a mental health crisis, according to a new report from B.C.’s Independent Investigations Office.

The incident happened on Sept. 26, 2024, at a Shell gas station in Tsawwassen.

Police arrived around 5:22 p.m. after reports that a man had stopped a woman from entering the store. Soon after, police were told the man appeared to be in psychosis and was throwing objects.

Police tried to calm the situation

Officers first tried to de-escalate the situation.

They told the man he would be taken into custody under the Mental Health Act. However, he did not comply.

Instead, he removed his shirt, jumped around and yelled.

Police then used extended-range impact weapons. The devices fired plastic or rubber projectiles, and about seven struck the man. Still, they did not stop him.

About an hour later, a police dog team arrived.

The man continued to resist. He walked toward officers while spraying water and throwing water bottles.

More force was used before the arrest

Police fired another impact round. An officer also used a Taser.

Neither stopped the man.

The police dog then moved toward him. During the encounter, the man tripped and fell near a doorway.

The dog bit him, and officers then placed him in handcuffs.

The man spent the night in hospital.

Serious injury was found days later

Several days after the arrest, doctors found another injury while changing the man’s dressing for dog-bite wounds.

A test suggested that one of the projectiles had damaged his testicle.

The man later told the IIO that he had suffered two broken fingers, injuries to his stomach and leg, and possible damage to his left testicle that could require surgery.

He contacted the IIO in April 2025 after learning that his injuries could meet the agency’s serious-harm threshold.

The IIO investigates cases in which someone dies or suffers serious harm during contact with police.

IIO says officers acted lawfully

However, police had not known that the injuries met that threshold at the time. As a result, they did not contact the IIO themselves.

After reviewing the evidence, chief civilian director Jessica Berglund found that officers were acting lawfully.

She said the man appeared to be experiencing a mental disorder and could have posed a danger to himself or others.

Therefore, she found that officers were entitled to use a necessary and reasonable level of force to make the arrest.

Berglund also said the man’s aggressive refusal to comply made a standard arrest too risky.

The impact weapons, she found, gave officers a way to distract him and create an opportunity to take him into custody.

No charges will follow

Berglund said the force used was proportionate to the threat officers faced during the encounter.

She also found that using a police dog was reasonable in the circumstances because officers needed to bring the man under control safely.

As a result, the case will not be sent to the B.C. Prosecution Service.

The IIO has therefore concluded that Delta police officers were justified in the actions they took during the Mental Health Act arrest.

Canada’s inflation rate rose to 3% in July as gas and travel costs climbed, while grocery price growth slowed.

Inflation rises more than expected

Canada’s inflation rate moved higher in July.

Statistics Canada says the Consumer Price Index rose 3% from a year earlier. That was up from 2.8% in June.

The increase was also a bit higher than expected. Most economists had forecast a July rate of 2.9%.

However, the rise may not be a major concern for the Bank of Canada.

Core inflation, which removes some volatile price moves, stayed at 2.2%. That was the same rate seen in May and June.

Gas prices lead the increase

Gasoline was a key reason inflation rose.

Gas prices were 25.7% higher in July than they were a year earlier. In June, the annual increase was 20.5%.

Oil prices have remained volatile. The swings have been linked to the conflict involving Iran and changes in hopes for a ceasefire.

As a result, fuel costs have moved sharply in recent months. That has also affected other prices.

Air travel was one example.

Air transportation costs rose 12% from a year earlier in July. That was up from 9.6% in June.

Travel costs also climb

Travel became more costly in July.

Statistics Canada said prices for travel tours rose 15.2% from a year earlier. In June, the increase was 6.8%.

Higher fuel costs played a role. At the same time, demand linked to the FIFA World Cup pushed up some hotel and flight prices, especially for trips from Canada to the U.S.

Therefore, travel added more pressure to the overall inflation rate.

Grocery price growth slows

There was some good news at the grocery store.

Food bought from stores rose 3.1% in July from a year earlier. That was down from 3.9% in June.

Fresh vegetable prices also cooled. They rose 3.9% over the year, compared with 9.2% in June.

Chicken prices showed an even smaller increase. Fresh and frozen chicken cost just 0.3% more than a year earlier. In June, the increase was 5.7%.

Cereal prices fell, too. They were 1.7% lower than a year earlier.

Fruit prices move the other way

Fresh fruit was a different story.

Fruit prices rose 6.1% from a year earlier in July. That was much higher than the 1.7% increase recorded in June.

Prices also jumped 4.7% in July compared with June. Statistics Canada says that was the biggest monthly increase since July 2011.

Berries and melons helped drive the rise.

What happens to interest rates?

The Bank of Canada aims to keep inflation between 1% and 3%.

July’s 3% reading sits at the top of that range. Still, economists say one higher reading may not be enough to change the Bank’s interest rate plans.

CIBC senior economist Andrew Grantham said the rise came mainly from gasoline and airfares. Meanwhile, core inflation stayed close to 2%.

Andrew DiCapua, principal economist at the Business Data Lab and Canadian Chamber of Commerce, also urged caution.

The bigger risk, he said, would come if higher fuel costs began to push up prices across the wider economy.

For now, the Bank of Canada can wait for more data.

The central bank’s next chance to review its benchmark interest rate is in September. Until then, inflation, oil prices and Canada-U.S. trade will remain key factors to watch.

Photo: Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

Canadian citizenship certificate requests have surged, driven by Americans tracing family roots. The backlog now exceeds 121,800 applications.

Citizenship requests climb sharply

Demand for Canadian citizenship certificates is soaring. Meanwhile, the processing queue has grown to more than 121,800 applications.

A large share of the new demand is coming from the United States. In fact, Americans made up almost half of the people who gained citizenship through recent rule changes.

The surge follows Bill C-3, which took effect in December. The law expanded citizenship rights for people who can prove a direct family link to a Canadian ancestor.

As a result, people with Canadian roots several generations back can now seek recognition as citizens in cases where they could not before.

More than 23,000 people gain citizenship

From mid-December to May 31, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) issued about 6,100 certificates to people who qualified under Bill C-3.

That figure was already up sharply from the 4,075 certificates issued between mid-December and March 31.

At the same time, another 17,390 people received certificates because they had a Canadian parent.

Together, those figures represent 23,490 newly recognized Canadian citizens.

The certificates can then open the door to a Canadian passport. They can also allow eligible citizens to live and work in Canada.

However, citizenship does not automatically mean a person can vote in a federal election. Elections Canada says citizens must have lived in Canada at some point in their lives to vote federally.

Americans lead the new wave

People born in the United States are driving much of the growth.

According to IRCC figures, 3,110 Americans qualified through Bill C-3 between mid-December and the end of May.

In addition, 8,125 Americans received certificates because one of their parents was born in Canada.

So, the American share of the new citizenship wave is substantial.

However, these numbers may be only the beginning.

Application backlog more than doubles

The number of pending citizenship certificate applications has jumped at an even faster pace.

In April, about 56,000 applications were waiting for a decision. By May, that number had climbed to roughly 70,400.

Now, IRCC reports a backlog of about 121,800 applications.

The queue includes many types of requests. Some applicants are seeking citizenship under Bill C-3. Others may simply need a replacement certificate after losing one.

Meanwhile, the wait has also grown.

In May, the estimated processing time was about 12 months. By Aug. 10, it had reached 25 months.

A century of migration is now coming into focus

The potential number of new Canadian citizens is hard to pin down.

The reason is simple. Canadian migration to the United States goes back generations.

During the 1800s and 1900s, hundreds of thousands of Canadians, particularly people from Quebec, crossed the border for work.

Now, their descendants may be able to reconnect with Canada through the new citizenship rules.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer has estimated that about 115,000 people could be affected by the change.

That estimate may help explain why demand has grown so quickly.

Archives face their own citizenship rush

The surge is not limited to IRCC.

Across Canada, archivists are also dealing with a sharp rise in requests for old family records.

Applicants often need documents that prove an unbroken family connection to a Canadian ancestor.

Those records can be very old. Some date back hundreds of years. Others sit in small church archives or collections created before Confederation.

Alyssa Hyduk, president of the Association of Canadian Archivists, says some institutions have seen requests rise by 100 to 300 per cent.

The work can also be painstaking.

Archivists may have to search boxes of paper records. They may also need to scan reels of microfilm for a single name.

And, unlike modern digital files, many of these records cannot simply be searched with a keyboard.

Archives call for more support

The growing workload is also putting pressure on archive staff.

Mab Coates-Davies, the association’s executive director, says these requests often carry a strong personal and emotional element because they involve family history and future plans.

At the same time, archivists must continue serving other researchers and members of the public.

The association is therefore calling for more funding to help archives handle the new demand.

That request comes as small and medium-sized archives face the loss of a major source of support. Library and Archives Canada recently ended its $1.5-million-a-year Documentary Heritage Communities program.

So, the timing has raised concerns. Funding support has fallen just as requests for historical records have surged.

More archive requests could be coming

There may also be another wave ahead.

In June, IRCC suspended about 100 citizenship certificates after concerns emerged about documents submitted with some applications.

Since then, 83 suspensions have been resolved and the certificates restored.

For another 17 people, IRCC sent procedural fairness letters. Those applicants were given 60 days to provide documents proving their Canadian ancestry.

If they cannot provide acceptable evidence, their citizenship certificates could be revoked.

That possibility worries archivists. Some applicants may now have to return to archives to find additional records.

MPs demand answers

The issue has also reached Parliament.

New Democratic Party immigration critic Jenny Kwan says her office has received letters and questions from people affected by the certificate suspensions.

She has written to Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab seeking answers.

For now, IRCC says it is watching application levels and adjusting its operations as needed.

The department also says it has not changed its document requirements. However, it has made guidance clearer on its website and through other public information.

Still, the numbers tell a striking story.

Canada’s expanded citizenship rules have opened a new path for thousands of people with Canadian family ties. Meanwhile, the rush to prove those ties is putting heavy pressure on both the federal immigration system and the country’s archives.

And with more than 121,800 applications now in the queue, the citizenship boom may be far from over.

Canada’s gas tax pause ends Sept. 7. Prices could rise, but cheaper winter fuel may ease the hit soon after.

Gas prices in Canada could take another jump next month.

A temporary federal fuel tax break is set to end on Sept. 7. So, drivers could pay more at the pump just as global oil markets remain under pressure.

However, there may be some relief soon after.

Federal fuel tax break set to end

In April, the federal government paused the excise tax on gasoline sold at retail stations. The pause was set to last until Sept. 7.

So far, Ottawa has not confirmed whether it will extend the break.

Dan McTeague, president of Canadians for Affordable Energy, says the tax pause has helped soften the blow from high fuel prices.

Still, the break has not stopped prices from rising.

The federal excise tax is separate from other taxes, including HST. If the tax returns, McTeague estimates it could add about 10 to 11 cents per litre, depending on the region.

Global oil prices remain a key risk

Meanwhile, the war involving Iran has put more pressure on global oil supplies.

The Strait of Hormuz is a major shipping route for oil. It normally carries about one-fifth of the world’s crude oil and other supplies.

Yet, fears of attacks have sharply reduced traffic through the area. Damage to energy and shipping sites has also added to supply worries.

As a result, oil prices remain well above last year’s levels.

West Texas Intermediate crude was near US$82 a barrel at the time of publication. That was down slightly from a recent high near US$83. However, it was still above the roughly US$75 price seen one week earlier.

Canadian gas prices are already higher

Drivers are already feeling the pressure.

The Canadian Automobile Association says regular gasoline is averaging about $1.67 per litre across Canada. That is up from about $1.64 a week earlier.

It is also far above the roughly $1.33 average recorded at the same time last year.

Gas prices can change for many reasons. Global oil supply and demand play a major role. Taxes, fuel costs and other charges can also affect the final price at the pump.

Winter fuel could bring some relief

There is, however, a possible bright spot for drivers.

Gasoline changes with the seasons. In summer, fuel makers use a blend designed to help cut pollution during warmer weather.

That summer blend tends to cost more.

Then, as colder weather arrives, fuel makers switch to winter-grade gasoline. This blend helps engines start in freezing temperatures. It also uses more low-cost butane.

As a result, prices often fall.

McTeague says the seasonal change could lower prices by about eight or nine cents per litre, depending on the region.

The switch starts after Sept. 15.

That timing could matter.

If the federal excise tax returns on Sept. 7, drivers could first see a sharp rise. Then, only about one week later, winter-grade fuel could help push prices back down.

Drivers could face a short price shock

In other words, the pump price may take a quick ride higher before easing.

The first week of September could bring an increase if Ottawa lets the tax pause expire.

After Sept. 15, however, cheaper winter fuel could offset part of that rise.

Still, global oil markets could change the picture.

Oil supply remains the big question

The International Energy Agency expects global oil demand to fall over the next few months.

Higher oil prices could push households and businesses to use less fuel. Yet, the agency also warns that global supply risks remain high.

Demand could rise again next year, too.

Therefore, a longer oil supply crunch could send gasoline prices much higher.

McTeague warns that low global oil inventories could keep pressure on prices for months or even years.

For Canadian drivers, then, the Sept. 7 tax deadline is only one part of the story.

The bigger question is what happens to global oil supplies.

If the federal government extends the tax pause, drivers could get more short-term relief. If it does not, Canadians may see higher prices first, followed by some seasonal relief later in September.