For centuries, music and nice and clean. While different instruments gave notes different timbres, the frequencies of these notes were expected to be projected with clarity and purity. Yes, you could add a little oomph but playing fortissimo, but the dogma was “Let’s not overdo it.
But sometimes the situation called for overdoing things. Banging a piano in a certain way turns a melody and a beat into boogie-woogie. A raspy, hard-blown saxophone brings energy to a performance.
But creating lots of volume and pleasant distortion with either of these instruments–and we can name a few others–is limited to the abilities of the human body. Volume and distortion and all that energy that comes from playing this way are restricted by how hard you can hit or blow into something.
The electric guitar has no such limitations. It can be played so all the notes are pristine. Or you can summon all the demons of hell with plenty of power and glory. And that is cool.
The electric guitar is one of humankind’s greatest musical inventions. Starting in the 1950s, it revolutionized many types of popular music. Country, the blues, jazz, and, most of all, rock. After it appeared, nothing was ever the same and the sound of music changed forever. It’s impossible to imagine what today’s music would sound like had the electric guitar not been invented.
But how did we get here? This is the story of the electric guitar part 2.
We’re still looking for more affiliates in Calgary, Kamloops, Kelowna, Regina, Saskatoon, Brandon, Windsor, Montreal, Charlottetown, Moncton, Fredericton, and St John’s, and anywhere else with a transmitter. If you’re in any of those markets and you want the show, lemme know and I’ll see what I can do.
Finding a name for your band is hard and it can take forever to come up with the right one. Sometimes, though, fate can intervene.
The two primary members of The Lumineers have always been Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites. When they first started playing gigs around New York City, they used a variety of names like Free Beer, 6Cheek, and the very basic Wesley Jeremiah. Nothing was working, including all the music they were trying to make.
Then one night before another crappy club show in New Jersey, the emcee made a mistake. Another band called “The Lumineers” was scheduled to play at that same venue in a week. The emcees introduced Schultz and Fraites as “The Lumineers.”
The name stuck—and no one seems to know what happened to the band who originally had that name.
The City of Calgary said in a release that the boil water advisory is just a precautionary measure following a watermain break Thursday afternoon that cut off water flow to a large portion of these communities. Water has been restored to most homes.
“We were able to restore water to the affected communities early Friday morning. The Boil Water Advisory has been issued out of an abundance of caution,” said Chris Huston, acting director for water services.
All affected people and businesses are advised to boil all water that can be consumed, such as when drinking, brushing teeth, cleaning raw foods, making ice, and preparing juice, coffee or infant formula.
The media release confirmed that the water used for washing clothes and bathing or showering does not need to be boiled.
Residents may choose to consume bottled water until the advisory is no longer in effect.
The city did not say how long the boil water advisory will last. But the city confirmed it is working closely with Alberta Environment and Protected Areas as well as Alberta Health Services to resolve all water quality concerns.
For any health-related questions regarding the boil water advisory, contact Healthlink at 311 or visit the how to use water safely website.
WATCH: Pierre Poilievre compares Kelowna to third-world country
Pierre Poilievre is off to Manitoba to rally Conservative supporters ahead of a byelection that Maxime Bernier is hoping will send him back to Parliament.
The far-right People’s Party of Canada leader lost his Quebec seat in the 2019 federal vote and lost again in the 2021 election.
The riding of Portage_Lisgar came up for grabs after longtime Conservative MP Candice Bergen, who served as the party’s interim leader before Poilievre took over, decided to resign. Bernier will test his luck in the rural Manitoba riding that delivered his fledging party its best result in 2021, with slightly more than 20 per cent of the vote.
Numbers like that spooked Conservative MPs, especially those in the West who saw their typically rock-solid support slipping to a more populist party.
Bernier stood vehemently against COVID-19 health restrictions, while then-Tory leader Erin O’Toole struggled to strike a position on vaccine mandates that satisfied anyone the party’s base.
Now with Poilievre at the helm, the federal Conservatives are facing a rematch and supporters are looking for a victory that quashes the idea that the PPC poses a real threat.
Poilievre plans to host a “special meet and greet” rally Friday evening in Winkler, a city roughly an hour and a half south of Winnipeg. MPs have also visited the area, including House leader Andrew Scheer, whose razor-thin defeat of Bernier in the Conservatives’ 2017 leadership race paved the way for the former Quebec MP to strike out on his own.
But the People’s Party’s candidate from the 2021 race attributes his support in that vote to momentum driven by strong feelings about the pandemic.
And Solomon Wiebe thinks the political climate has shifted.
“(Bernier) would be very lucky to get half of what I got last time,” he said in an interview on Thursday.
“This is just what my expectations are, and I like to keep my expectations real.”
As far as Bernier is concerned, his biggest challenge is operational, given that his party lacks the strength of the Conservatives. “We didn’t have that team in the beginning of the campaign.” Money is another matter, as the Tories raised $8.3 million in the first three months of the year, compared to the People’s Party, which hauled in just under $300,000.
Bernier believes people across the acres of farmland and Mennonite communities that dot the sprawling rural riding remember the pandemic.
It’s a reality the Conservative candidate knows, too.
Branden Leslie – who managed Bergen’s election campaign in 2019 _ won the party’s nomination over three others, including the former provincial health minister, by highlighting that he stood as “pro-freedom” while his opponent locked down churches.
It was in the region where Bernier was also arrested for violating COVID-19 restrictions in 2021.
His strategy for attracting support for the June 19 byelection has so far involved making anti-trans statements targeting youth and children _ characterizing it as a position on “gender ideology” _ and vowing to reopen the abortion debate. Both are issues he views as weaknesses for the federal Conservatives.
“It’s important for people here,” he said in an interview. “People want to have a real debate about (these) issues.”
He also hopes to tap into frustration over what he calls “climate hysteria.”
Poilievre also rails against what he calls “destructive woke policies,” releasing a recent video showing the toppling of statues, vandalized Christian churches and a decision by one Quebec school to replace Mother’s Day events with a celebration of parents _ a move that was made to acknowledge that some students were living in foster care, or had lost a parent.
Poilievre earned the support of social conservatives during last year’s leadership race for his vocal opposition to vaccine and mask mandates, but there remain some who believe he should put a greater focus on cultural issues.
He has said a future Conservative government would not pass a law restricting abortion. And after ousting a social conservative candidate during a nomination race in rural Ontario back in March, some supporters of Campaign Life Coalition say they are “very cautiously observing” what Poilievre does next.
“We’re not ready to abandon the Conservative party by any means,” said Jack Fonseca, director of political operations for the anti-abortion group, adding he hopes that situation was a “one-off” and not indicative of the way social conservatives can expect to be treated.
At the time, a party spokeswoman said the candidate, Gerrit Van Dorland, was barred for failing to comply with a request to provide all previous comments made online or in other publications. His campaign disputed that.
Fonseca, who said his group has support in almost 900 households across Portage_Lisgar, likes at least some of what Bernier is proposing.
RightNow, another anti-abortion group that spoke out after Van Dorland’s disqualification, is providing its supporters with information on where Bernier and Leslie stand on certain matters in the upcoming byelection, rather than endorsing anyone outright. That’s because both espouse certain “pro-life” stances, according to co-founder Alissa Golob.
In a written statement, Leslie said he is “pro-life” and attacked Bernier as a parachute candidate.
“Maxime Bernier will say and do whatever he thinks people want to hear in order to get attention. He is pretending to be a social conservative, even though his entire record as an MP was to support woke policies,” Leslie said.
Bernier, meanwhile, continues to blast the federal Tories as “fake conservatives.” His message to prospective supporters is to “give Maxime a chance.”
“’If you don’t like what I’m doing, if I’m not keeping my word, then just vote me out in 2025.”
WATCH: Amazon Prime will be releasing the 'Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets' docuseries on June 2.
NOTE: This article contains detailed descriptions of abuse. Please read at your own discretion.
The camera lens is once again being pointed at the Duggar family, but long gone is the wholesome, smiling and sanitized group you may remember from the TLC series 19 Kids and Counting.
A new docuseries, airing this Friday on Prime Video, explores the untold side of the Duggar family story that was not shown in 19 Kids and subsequent spin-offs and specials — namely, their fundamental religious upbringing and ties to the cult-like Christian organization, the Institute of Basic Life Principles (IBLP).
Many will remember the reality television phenomenon that (quite literally) grew to be 19 Kids and Counting – a quaint show about an extraordinarily large family with extraordinarily well-behaved children. Plotlines followed parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar as they homeschooled their modestly dressed brood, tackled never-ending chores like laundry and meal prep and popped out new kids with incredible frequency.
Followers of the reality shows will also remember the scandals that have rocked the family in more recent years involving the Duggar’s eldest son, Josh. 19 Kids was halted in 2015 after reports surfaced that Josh had sexually assaulted five girls — some his sisters — prior to beginning the show.
FILE - This undated mugshot provided by Washington County, Ark., Detention Center shows Josh Duggar.
The Associated Press
The show was resurrected later in 2015 in a follow-up TLC series, Counting On, which followed some of the grown-up Duggar siblings as they started their own families, but it was also cancelled when Josh was caught up in another scandal: he was arrested in 2021 for the possession of child sex abuse material. (He was convicted and sentenced to more than 12 years in jail in 2022.)
And while this new series touches on Josh’s crimes and the fallout, it digs much deeper into the disturbing dynamic of the Duggar family, the systems of control imposed on them by their faith and the ultra-conservative teachings of the IBLP.
A promotional poster for "Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets"
The Institute for Basic Life Principles is not a church but rather an organization, reminiscent of Scientology or NXIVM, that has specific and non-negotiable rules and teachings families are expected to follow.
Founded by Bill Gothard, an influential leader in the “Quiverfull” conservative Christian movement, the IBLP encourages families to have as many children as possible in order to create more voices to share its teachings.
Gothard’s doctrine focuses heavily on “umbrellas of authority” — where each follower falls under the authority of someone else. Women are to submit to male leaders, especially their husbands, and children are expected to submit to their parents. Children are also expected to follow an IBLP homeschool curriculum that falls well short of accepted educational targets.
Members of the Duggar family sing as they make a stop on their "Values Bus Tour" outside Heritage Baptist Church on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013, in Woodbridge, VA.
Getty Images
And while Gothard, who was unmarried and never had children, eventually resigned from the IBLP in 2014 (following at least 30 claims of sexual harassment from former employees) the documentary makes a compelling case that Gothard’s — as well as Josh’s — behaviours were not isolated events.
Through interviews with ex-IBLP members, sociologists, pastors and journalists, the documentary explores an alleged endemic of sexual assault, harassment and exploitation within an organization that was designed to keep people from speaking out about the abuse that was happening within.
Jill Duggar speaks out
One of the voices brought on to expose the dysfunctional inner workings of the IBLP and, subsequently, the Duggar Family, is none other than the fourth-born Duggar sibling, Jill.
The first episode opens with Jill and her husband, Derick Dillard, getting settled in front of the camera as Jill expresses her trepidation.
“Yeah, I mean, doing an interview like this isn’t easy, and I didn’t want to do it,” Jill admits with a nervous laugh. “There’s a lot there,” she continues. “Like, do I want to open that can of worms?”
Jill Duggar Dillard appears in "Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets."
Prime Video
“There’s a story that’s going to be told and I’d rather be the one telling it.”
Jill, one of her brother’s victims, describes what it was like to be interviewed by Megyn Kelly of Fox News when the news broke of Josh’s molestation.
“It’s not something I’m proud of,” says a sobbing Jill, telling the camera that she had never said “no” to Jim Bob before, referencing how she was expected to be submissive to her parents.
During The Kelly File interview, which Jill now claims was the Duggar family’s attempt “to get to where TLC would be cool moving forward with this show,” both Jill and her sister Jessa appeared to minimize the allegations against Josh, saying that “the extent of it was mild” and defended him against claims that he was “a child molester or a pedophile or rapist.” The sisters also said they forgave their brother and praised Jim Bob and Michelle for how they handled the situation.
“In hindsight, I wouldn’t have done the Megyn Kelly stuff. I felt like I was in a place again of, like, bearing the burden and the weight of just … even though you volunteer, it’s like you feel obligated to help,” she says in Shiny Happy People, wiping away her tears.
“If I hadn’t felt obligated to do it for the sake of the show and do it for the sake of my parents, I wouldn’t have done it.”
Sneaky contracts
And while Jill says she often felt beholden to her parents under the IBLP’s umbrella of authority structure, there were other times when she felt outright deceived by her dad.
On the hectic day before her wedding, shortly after 19 Kids was cancelled, she says she was running through the kitchen when her dad had her sign a contract.
“I didn’t know what it was for,” she said, but acknowledges that in the Duggar family “signing contracts to agree to certain rules or standards of behaviour was not uncommon.”
The Duggar family appears in an undated photo.
TLC
“We found out later that it was a commitment of your life for the next five years,” added Derick, explaining that by hastily signing the document they were now tied into a contract for the upcoming show, Counting On.
When it came time to have their first baby — a big money-making episode for TLC — the couple was not interested in having the cameras there, but the contract they signed said otherwise. In a compromise, Jill says TLC gave her and her husband handheld video cameras and had them document the process themselves.
“I felt like, if I said ‘no,’ and I’m not obeying my parents, then bad things are going to happen to me,” Jill says. “IBLP and the teachings draw in people like my dad who want this control. It can foster this cult-like environment. I absolutely think people would be drawn to that.”
The Duggar family visits "Extra" at their New York studios at H&M in Times Square on March 11, 2014, in New York City.
D. Dipasupil / Getty Images for Extra
Jill and Derick also claim that they were never paid for their work on Counting On, despite being two of the show’s main characters. Instead, they claim, Jim Bob kept the money for himself.
When they finally pushed the issue with Jim Bob, and he offered some of the older children a lump sum payment, it came with strings attached: they would be required to sign a lifelong production commitment with Jim Bob’s company. When Jill and Derick declined, their relationship with TLC came to an end.
The IBLP’s extreme lengths to control their membership, the documentary argues, went far beyond contracts and umbrellas of authority.
Children, the docuseries’ subjects explain, were taught that “instant obedience” to their parents was the only option — that they were never to argue or talk back, but instead, enthusiastically do what was asked of them.
If a child in an IBLP family showed insubordination, it’s alleged they were often spanked or hit with rods. IBLP parents, it’s alleged, followed the corporal punishment teachings outlined in the book To Train Up a Child by Michael and Debi Pearl, and the audience is shown a clip where Michael Pearl instructs parents to hit a misbehaving child five times.
“If he screams too hard with the first five, gets hysterical, wait. You know, a little psychological terror is sometimes more effective than the pain,” Pearl says in the clip.
Global News reached out to IBLP about claims of abuse within their organization, but they did not respond by press time.
In 2022 they issued a statement saying they “would never condone nor do we tolerate abuse of anyone. There is no teaching by IBLP that women are inferior to men because there is no such teaching in the Bible. From a Biblical perspective, all people are equal in value before God despite the fact that we are all different with varying gifts and talents, and may have different complementary roles.”
They added that the “IBLP does not comment on the personal lives of its program participants.”
Training, as described in the documentary, started at an early age with “blanket training,” where an infant child would be put on a blanket with an object placed nearby but off the blanket. If the child left the blanket or reached for the object, they would be hit.
The goal was “breaking the rebellious spirit they’re born with,” says Eve Ettinger, an ex-IBLP member featured in the documentary.
Older children, the show alleges, were often sent to training centres where they performed long hours of unpaid labour. Sometimes they were locked in rooms for days or weeks at a time, until an authority figure determined they had repented for their sins long enough.
And it wasn’t just children who were controlled with spanking; wives were often abused and spanked by their husbands for their insubordination or behaving in ways that were deemed unappealing. These fear and shame-based techniques went hand-in-hand with aspects of the Duggars’ personalities evident on 19 Kids, the show explains, like the children’s meek personas and Michelle’s infantilized “baby voice.”
While Jim Bob and Michelle have not spoken out about the contents of Shiny Happy People, or the documentary’s claims of the IBLP’s deep influence in their lives, they did issue a statement to NBC News in 2022, responding to an article that was critical of the organization, saying: “We do not agree with everything taught by Dr. Bill Gothard or IBLP, but some of the life-changing Biblical principles we learned through IBLP’s ministry have helped us deepen our personal walks with God.”
In this handout image provided by FOX News Channel, FOX News Channel's Megyn Kelly interviews Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar of the TLC program "19 Kids and Counting" at their home in Tontitown, Ark.
FOX News via Getty Images
From control to silence
These extreme measures to control women and children ensured a persistent pattern of grooming and abuse within the IBLP, the show’s subjects argue, and led to years of the covering up of crimes, as well as silence from victims.
Jim Bob’s sister, Deanna Duggar, and her daughter Amy King (née Duggar), say they learned the year before TLC’s very first Duggar special, 14 Children and Pregnant Again!, that Josh had “touched his sisters inappropriately.”
Amy King attends the Celebration of WEtv's "Marriage Boot Camp Reality Stars" and "L.A. Hair" at Nightingale Plaza on January 5, 2017, in Los Angeles, Calif.
Allen Berezovsky / WireImage
Bobye and Jim Holt, former friends of Michelle and Jim Bob, said they learned of the abuse around the same time, when their daughter Kaeleigh had been selected by Josh for courtship leading to marriage. The Holts recall that when they asked the Duggars about it, Michelle told them that Josh was planning to reveal the abuse to their daughter after the marriage was finalized.
Sexual and physical abuses in the organization, however, were never discussed; teachings were developed within IBPL making it “impermissible to gossip,” which further silenced those who were suffering.
The future intentions of the IBLP
The culmination of secrecy, silence and control comes together in the final episode of the documentary, where viewers learn about an ongoing project that one subject calls “one of the most ambitious plots of modern evangelical history (that) almost no one has ever heard of.”
Alex Harris, a lawyer and ex-IBPL member, explains that the organization has been planning a decades-long, multigenerational plan to “raise an elite strike force of Christian, homeschool graduates to infiltrate the highest ranks of government.”
Harris says he knows firsthand of the plan because he used to be part of it — it’s called “Generation Joshua” and he used to be one of the leaders.
IBPL’s most promising and charismatic homeschooled children, Harris explains, receive specialized education and training with an emphasis on law and government, with the goal of getting into some of America’s most influential law-making offices. The long game, he says, is for these kids to eventually take seats in the Senate and be appointed as Supreme Court justices.
He cites some of Generation Joshua’s recent successes as former Rep. Madison Cawthorn winning a seat in Congress, young members working for former president Donald Trump and the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.
Military crews from across Canada, as well as firefighters from the U.S. and even Costa Rica are being dispatched to Nova Scotia to help extinguish the province's ferocious wildfires. Mike Armstrong reports on the gruelling conditions, what's been aiding firefighters, and where new evacuations are being ordered. And Global News meteorologist Anthony Farnell explains when the rain will dampen some of the flames.
Crews battling ongoing wildfires in Nova Scotia — which includes the largest wildfire ever recorded in provincial history — could get some welcome relief Friday with rain in the forecast.
Environment Canada forecasts a 60 per cent chance of showers Friday, with rain beginning in the evening. Periods of rain are also expected for the next few days.
Officials have said the hot, dry weather seen so far this wildfire season is making it easier for the fire to spread and harder for crews to fight.
According to Nova Scotia’s wildfire map, there are currently 16 active wildfires burning in Nova Scotia, with four considered out of control.
A blaze broke out Sunday afternoon in the Tantallon area, about a 30-minute drive from downtown Halifax, and has since grown to about 837 hectares. The fire has destroyed about 200 buildings, including 150 homes, and forced the evacuation of more than 16,400 people.
David Steeves, a technician of forest resources with the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables, said Thursday that the fire had not grown in the last day and is about 50 per cent contained, though he warned “we are far from being out of the woods.”
Some people whose homes were damaged or destroyed will be able to see their properties today. The municipality’s Emergency Management Office sent an email to impacted residents Thursday night, saying they will be able to participate in a bus tour Friday morning to see the damaged homes. People will not be able to leave the bus to walk around their properties, the email said.
Three firefighters with Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency work to put out fires in the Tantallon area.
Communications Nova Scotia
Fire crews in the Halifax area were kept busy Thursday afternoon, with at least 12 outside fires reported, including at the Waegwoltic Club on Coburg Road.
Halifax Mayor Mike Savage says at least two people in the city have been fined for violating a provincewide burn ban after one was caught lighting leaves on fire with a propane torch and another decided to have a bonfire.
Shelburne fire largest in province’s history
In the southwestern part of the province, there are two out-of-control fires in Shelburne County, where 40 per cent of residents have been evacuated.
A fire that started Saturday at Barrington Lake has grown to 20,000 hectares — over 200 square kilometres — making it the largest wildfire ever recorded in provincial history. The blaze has destroyed about 50 homes or cottages.
An aerial image showing the magnitude of the fire burning in Shelburne County, N.S. is shown in a Wednesday, May 31, 2023 handout photo. Air quality statements have been issued by Environment Canada in Nova Scotia as wildfires continue burning in the province.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Communications Nova Scotia
A new, smaller fire at Lake Road, also in Shelburne County, was estimated at around 120 hectares Thursday.
And another wildfire that started Monday in nearby Pubnico in Yarmouth County measures around 163 hectares.
On Thursday, a small fleet of water bombers took aim at the biggest fire amid soaring temperatures and tinder-dry conditions, and the provincial government said six more aircraft would be flying in from the United States today and over the weekend.
As well, an unspecified number of firefighters from the U.S. and Costa Rica were on their way.
In Ottawa, federal officials announced that more than 300 firefighters from the United States and South Africa are heading to Canada to battle what has become an unprecedented wildfire season.
A burning building in Mississauga near Hurontario and Dundas late Thursday.
Twitter / @derynrizzi
Firefighters pulled an unconscious man from a burning building in Mississauga late Thursday, the city’s fire chief says, in what she is calling an “incredible rescue.”
A fire at Dundas Street West near Hurontario Street was reported at around 10:30 p.m.
Mississauga Fire Chief Deryn Rizzi said a 911 call reported that a generator that was on fire on the exterior of a structure.
“As firefighters were responding, the information was updated to a two-storey commercial building (home sales centre) on fire,” she said.
“Upon arrival, crews noticed heavy flames coming from the rear of the building, extending into the roof.”
Two crews entered the building to conduct an initial search, she said, as other firefighters were setting up for a defensive attack.
Firefighters inside the building used a thermal camera to find a man in the “dark smoke-filled structure,” Rizzi said, noting that he was unconscious but had a pulse.
Firefighters treated the man until paramedics arrived. He was then taken to hospital.
“Crews continued to set up master fire streams and large diameter hose lines on the exterior of the structure to extinguish the fire and protect exposures,” Rizzi said.
Peel paramedics told Global News the man was taken to hospital in life-threatening condition.
In an update posted to Twitter shortly before 1 a.m., Peel police said the man was in critical, but stable condition.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation.
UPDATE: -male party transported to hospital is in critical but stable condition
WATCH: 'Our fingers are crossed': Nova Scotians hope troops, rain help wildfire fight
Jade Najam was getting excited about camping during the May long weekend, sitting around the campfire late into the night with his family and sipping hot chocolate.
“Camping is all about the campfire. Just surfing the fire and sitting around the fire,” said Najam. “Sitting around the campfire is the most important part of our evening.”
But Alberta’s fire ban, which was put in place in early May, still hadn’t been lifted. Najam called off the plans to go camping in the wilderness, deciding it was better to stay home instead.
Fire bans began rolling in after hot, dry weather took over much of Canada early in the season – starting in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, now expanding to the Maritimes. While Saskatchewan and Alberta have lifted the bans in some regions, people in the Prairies have been monitoring the wildfire season closely.
Companies that supply camping enthusiasts have been seeing trends change.
Najam, who is the managing director of Smart Firewood Products, based in Leduc, Alta., says demand usually picks up around mid-April and continues until mid-October.
“This May, I’m not even at five per cent of what I did last year in sales,” he said.
Najam said his company provides “truckloads” of firewood to national parks in Alberta every year, while serving locals with retail firewood in his yard.
“My semi-truck full of firewood didn’t even get out of the yard,” he said of the current season.
One outdoor outfitter, meanwhile, is seeing a jump in sales for propane gas outdoor firepits.
“People have to look at things a bit differently when planning their camping trip due to fire bans,” said Mike Eerkes, general manager at a Mountain Equipment Company store in Edmonton.
He said campers are opting for alternatives that don’t get the classic smoky-wood campfire but still provide a warm glow.
For propane fires, Eerkes said, “All you need is a propane firepit, a propane tank and some gas in it.”
The biggest advantage to propane fire is that “you can have it,” he said. “They’re fully compliant with the fire bans.”
However, he acknowledges that propane fires are not fuel efficient, based on his experience. He suggested buying larger, refillable propane tanks for cost-effectiveness.
Overall, Eerkes said he hasn’t seen a remarkable shift in the sales of camping gear overall.
“It’s certain the fires are going to have some effect but I’m not convinced we’re seeing a massive downturn in people going camping this year.”
A private campground about 100 kilometres southwest of Halifax has been getting cancellations since the fire ban and camping bans in wooded areas of Nova Scotia earlier this week.
“When fire bans are in place, it’s the private campground’s choice to follow the fire ban to not,” said Minseo Kim, manager of the Little Lake Family Campground in Lunenburg, N.S. “But for this fire ban, private campgrounds have to listen as well.
“This has never happened before. We never faced this issue.”
Kim said the cancellations will not have a huge effect in the coming weeks, partly because the peak season begins in July and the campground also has an open space outside of the wooded area.
He is hoping the fire ban lifts soon for overnight campers.
Nova Scotia imposed the fire ban on Monday, with Prince Edward Island following Tuesday.
Chris Nuttall-Smith, the author of the newly released book “Cook It Wild,” said campers don’t really need campfires to enjoy the outdoors or prepare meals.
A longtime backpacker and camper, Nuttall-Smith said fire bans are not a “huge limitation” for cooking outdoors with alternatives like backpack stoves available.
Nuttall-Smith, in his book, shares 75 recipes to cook in the wild, with up to 65 of them possible without a campfire, he said.
“Some of the best trips that I’ve ever taken are in places where you’re never allowed to have a campfire,” he said. “I don’t think a lot of people miss it.”
He recommends campers making due without fire this season bring pre-prepared food and enjoy the outdoors.
“You can find so much beauty out in the wild at dusk, after dark, like looking at the fireflies, looking at the stars. There is so much to do.”
WATCH ABOVE: The Toronto Transit Commission is investigating after multiple recent incidents of fireworks set off on buses and subway platforms. Sean O’Shea has the latest on the concerning trend.
A teenage boy has been charged in two separate incidents involving a firecracker being set off on a Toronto public bus.
Toronto police say in the first case on May 24, a boy boarded a TTC bus in the Guildwood Parkway and Livingston Road area, and threw firecrackers from the bus into a crowd of people waiting at a bus stop.
He then reportedly left the vehicle and got on a different bus, where he threw another firecracker, with one person suffering minor injuries.
Police allege on May 25, the same boy got on a bus in the Guildwood area and threw a firecracker, forcing the evacuation of the bus due to smoke.
A 16-year-old boy has been charged with three counts of mischief, two counts of assault with a weapon and two counts of possessing a weapon for committing an offence.
The Toronto Transit Commission says it has launched an investigation into several incidents of fireworks/firecrackers being set off on its buses in recent weeks, including one caught on video and posted online.
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