Warning: This story contains distressing details.

A manifesto titled "A White Awakening" that was written by Nathaniel Veltman, who's accused of killing a Muslim family in London, Ont., on June 6, 2021, outlines his hatred of Islam and opposition to multiculturalism and mass immigration.

The jury at the accused's murder-terror trial in Ontario Superior Court in Windsor heard excerpts from the multi-page document on Wednesday afternoon. The excerpts were read into the record by Crown prosecutor Sarah Shaikh. 

"Below are my political views for whoever is interested," the document begins, and goes on to say "multiculturalism doesn't work" because "different cultures have different interests." 

The manifesto was created on May 4, 2021, the jury heard, as a document called idk.txt and was later renamed awhiteawakening.txt. It was opened, edited and added to several times, court was told.

The document was among contents found on the accused's laptop, Windsor police Sgt. Liyu Guan, a digital forensic investigator, has testified. Guan analyzed the contents of the laptop, the accused's cellphone, two USB thumb drives and an external hard drive.

• Jurors learn what a forensic examiner found in laptop of accused killer of a London, Ont., Muslim family

Veltman is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder, as well as related terror offences. He has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors allege he was motivated by far-right ideology to conduct the killings.

Five members of the Afzaal family were walking in northwest London when they were struck by the accused's truck, a fact that is not being disputed by the defence. 

Yumnah Afzaal, 15, her parents Madiha Salman, 44, and Salman Afzaal, 46, and family matriarch Talat Afzaal, 74, were killed. A nine-year-old boy survived.

Veltman was arrested minutes after the attack and the jury has heard he told a 911 dispatcher, "I did it. I killed those people," prior to being arrested. 

Judge gives jurors direction

The accused also wrote in the manifesto: "I am a white nationalist. White nationalist is simply wanting to preserve European existence, nothing more, nothing less." 

The document calls out "globalist companies and corporatists" as well as "cancel culture," and urges the building of a society where "all white people have a sense of belonging, from the lowest blue-collar worker to the highest professional and members of government." 

It says white people are "facing genocide," "complete replacement" and crimes committed by Muslims, and argues for a "collective resistance to the anti-white hatred."

Veltman listens to testimony on Sept. 28 during his murder and terrorism trial.

The document includes the ending, "Europa Arises!" That's similar to the ending of another manifesto, which the jury heard about on Wednesday, that was written by a mass shooter in New Zealand in 2019 and wrapped with, "Europa Rises!" 

Justice Renee Pomerance reminded the jury that views expressed in "A White Awakening" cannot be used to convict the accused.

"I expect that you will find the views expressed in this document to be offensive," she said. "I remind you that you must not find the accused guilty merely because you find his viewpoints disturbing.... You must not find the accused guilty because you wish to punish him for those views or because you want to take a stand against racism." 

Instead, the jury must "carefully and dispassionately" evaluate the evidence without emotion, bias, sympathy or prejudice," Pomerance said. 

Other manifestos found on thumb drive

Earlier Wednesday, the jury heard about other items found on the accused's electronics. 

About four months before he struck the Afzaals with the pickup truck, he downloaded a video of a mass shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand, and the manifesto of the man responsible, Brenton Tarrant, that's titled "A Great Replacement." 

The 74-page manifesto and the video of the mass shootings at two mosques where 51 people died were found on the accused's thumb drive, downloaded on Feb. 15, 2021. 

Windsor police Sgt. Liyu Guan, a digital forensic investigator, testified Tuesday about the electronics found in Veltman's apartment. 

According to data taken from the drive by forensic investigators, the accused watched the shooting video at least 17 times and opened the Tarrant manifesto at least 12 times. 

In mid-April, just before 4 a.m., the accused also downloaded the manifesto of Anders Breivik, a convicted terrorist who detonated a car bomb and then committed a mass shooting at a summer camp, ultimately killing 77 in Norway in 2011.

Later Wednesday, the defence did a quick cross-examination of Guan before ending for the day. 

The trial, which is into its fourth week of proceedings, continues Thursday and is expected to last eight weeks.

A family member of the couple fatally attacked by a grizzly bear during a backcountry camping trip in Banff National Park said the two were long-time partners who loved each other and the outdoors. 

Speaking on behalf of the victims' families, Colin Inglis identified his nephew Doug Inglis, 62, and Jenny Gusse, 62, as the two backcountry campers killed deep in Banff National Park Friday. Their dog was also killed in the attack. 

Inglis said the two lived in Lethbridge, Alta., and they had been together since university. He said they were on day five of a week-long trip, and would go out at least twice a year — often in the spring and fall. 

"They are a couple that loved each other and loved the outdoors. And they were highly, highly experienced in being out back, whether it be serious treks or canoeing, whitewater canoeing in the North country," he said.

Inglis said Doug worked as a lab scientist, and Gusse was the lead technician at the same workplace. 

Inglis said the two provided daily updates from their trip to him from their Garmin inReach — a GPS often used by backcountry campers and hikers which allows texting and other messages from remote locations. 

He said he received a message that day that they hadn't gotten to the site they had intended, but that they were fine and setting up camp. 

"They were probably making dinner and they were letting us know that they were OK," Inglis said. 

But later that evening, he said, he received an SOS from the Garmin that there had been a bear attack. 

"The message said, 'Bear attack bad,'" Inglis said. 

Colin Inglis said his nephew and partner worked together in Lethbridge.

Parks Canada also received an alert from a GPS device in the Red Deer River Valley west of Ya Ha Tinda Ranch at about 8 p.m. on Friday indicating a bear attack. 

"That night was a start, obviously, of what's continuing to be a grieving process. You have that notification, you know that something bad is happening. You don't have a lot of information," Inglis said. 

Inglis said the couple were highly experienced in the backcountry with an extensive set of equipment, and the attack was a devastating case of the "wrong place at the wrong time." 

But he's remembering the couple for what they loved doing. 

"I was hiking in Waterton with Doug in June and we were looking forward to many more adventures. As were lots of his friends. One of his friends told me one of the things they were looking forward to was taking their son out with Doug because he was so knowledgeable," Inglis said. 

The Banff National Park entrance is shown in Banff, Alta., in March 2020. Two backcountry campers were killed in a remote part of the park last week.

"And Jenny … she was the botanist. She could identify all these wonderful plants that were out there, this berry or this flower. And so that's the kind of love they had for the environment that they were out in." 

Parks Canada says bear had lower than normal body fat 

Parks Canada said the bear that killed Inglis and Gusse was not previously known to them and had lower than normal body fat for this time of year. 

In a media release issued Tuesday, Parks Canada said it conducted a necropsy on the bear, and found it to be a non-lactating older female estimated to be over 25 years old. 

Parks Canada said the bear was deemed to be in fair body condition, but her teeth were in poor condition.  

The attack occurred in the wilderness to the west of Ya Ha Tinda Ranch in Banff National Park. 

"DNA samples from the bear have been sent to the lab confirm that it was the animal responsible for the attack. Updated results from these studies will only be provided if they differ from the information shared to date," the media release said. 

The bear was shot and killed hours after the emergency response call was received, when Parks Canada staff arrived at the scene and the bear charged the response team.

Parks Canada said two cans of bear spray were found at the scene, and the couple's food had been hung appropriately. 

"The individuals were on a backcountry hiking and camping trip and had the appropriate permits to do so. The individuals were also travelling with their dog," Parks Canada said. 

At the time of the incident, there was no active bear warning or area closure in place. The area remains closed to the public. 

"Bear attacks are rare occurrences. Fatal bear attacks are even less frequent. Over the last 10 years, there have been three recorded non-fatal, contact encounters with grizzly bears in Banff National Park. These incidents were the result of surprise encounters. This incident is the first grizzly bear-caused fatality recorded in Banff National Park in decades," Parks Canada said.

Metrolinx, the government agency that operates GO Transit train and bus service in the Greater Toronto Area and beyond, said all of its rail corridors were down, but it was slowly able to resume service on some lines.

Around 4:30 p.m. ET, GO Transit said it was able to run limited service from Union Station, but urged passengers to find other ways to get to their destinations or delay trips until later Tuesday night. 

Some 190,000 passengers use daily GO trains and buses, which connect Toronto's downtown core to Hamilton, Kitchener, Ont., and communities in the regions of Halton, Peel, York and Durham.

The outage left hundreds of frustrated home-bound commuters stuck at Union Station.

Uber caps surge pricing

"This is just crazy, whatever it is, they [GO] need to do better," said David Miller, a coffee shop worker who saw three trains he planned to take being cancelled.

The sudden demand for taxis tripled fares on ride-share service Uber, according to several people who tried to book rides.

An Uber spokesperson said prices temporarily increase when there are more ride requests than drivers.

"In response to this afternoon's GO transit situation, Uber capped surge pricing," spokesperson Keerthana Rang said in an email.

GO Transit said it would prioritize trying to get people home from Union Station, which was "very busy."

Standing before a backdrop that declared Quebec's commitment to a clean economy, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault outlined the details of what they both described as a "historic" project.

The numbers are eye popping. A new manufacturing facility to be built by Northvolt, a Swedish battery giant, will occupy 170 hectares — an area the size of more than 300 football fields — on Montreal's South Shore, in a parcel of land spanning two communities.

Eventually, it is projected to have an annual battery cell manufacturing capacity of up to 60 gigawatt-hours (GWh), which is enough to power roughly one million electric vehicles a year.

This first phase, set to be complete by the end of 2026, will also include facilities to produce cathode active materials (a component of the batteries used in electric vehicles) and recycle batteries.

The government says the project will create as many as 3,000 jobs.

It comes at a high cost: The federal and provincial governments are putting a combined $2.7 billion in taxpayer money toward the project.

There will also be government production incentives totalling up to $4.6 billion — one-third of which will come from Quebec — as long as similar incentives remain in place in the U.S.

'We paid a big price'

The deal is the latest in a series of announcements supporting the burgeoning electric vehicle industry in Canada.

Such projects have faced questions, given the amount of public money involved, but experts say public financing is crucial to compete against cut-throat international competition. 

Last month, Ottawa and Quebec announced an investment of more than $640 million for a new Ford EV plant in Bécancour, Que.

The federal government has also committed billions in Ontario to save the Stellantis-LG electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor and subsidize the Volkswagen battery plant in St. Thomas.

It will take 20 years for the federal and Ontario governments to break even on the pledge to give $28 billion in production subsidies for those two plants, the Parliamentary Budget Officer concluded.

The auto industry has a long history of being propped up by the government, said Greig Mordue, the chair of advanced manufacturing policy at McMaster University's school of engineering, and a former Toyota executive.

"We'll see where this shakes out, but we paid a big price," Mordue said of this week's Quebec announcement.

"Our industrial policy now consists of one tool and that is a chequebook, and that's where we are today."

Levelling the playing field

Trudeau and Legault pushed back on that idea. During Thursday's news conference, Legault likened the investment to the billions spent on hydro-electric dams in northern Quebec 50 years ago under premier Robert Bourrassa.

People called Bourrassa crazy, too, he said.

"For the next 50 years, what's going to be important is the green economy," said Legault.

"So we're building on what Bourassa and company did in Quebec."

Paolo Cerruti, the CEO and co-founder of Northvolt, said the company was drawn to the cheap, clean hydro power on offer and the raw materials that could soon be available. A lithium mine is ramping up production in La Corne, Que., 550 kilometres north of Montreal.

The financial incentives played a big role, too.

"Canada put itself on a level playing field with what the United States has been doing," he said.

The Inflation Reduction Act, viewed as the most ambitious climate action bill in U.S. history, was also an international "game changer," spurring competition between countries to be part of the growing green economy, said Meena Bibra, a senior policy analyst at Clean Energy Canada, a think tank based at Simon Fraser University.

"We're at a point where we either remain competitive in this race to electrification or we get left behind," she said. "The rest of the world, the EU and the U.S. and other economies like China, are moving forward with strong industrial policy on electric vehicles."

The 2023 wildfire season is officially the most expensive and most destructive on record.

According to the B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS), a total of 2,217 fires have been detected this year, burning almost 25,000 square kilometres of trees, bush and grassland. That makes it B.C.'s worst season by land burned, easily surpassing the previous record of 13,540 square kilometres in 2018.

The cost of fighting those fires is also significantly up, to approximately $770 million so far this year, more than the $649 million spent in 2017.

On Thursday, the B.C. government said higher-than-projected costs to fight wildfires had contributed an additional $2.5 billion to the province's projected deficit for this fiscal year.

The government is projecting the total spend for the 2023/24 fiscal year to be $966 million.

The majority of this year's fires — approximately 71 per cent — have been sparked by lightning, while 23 per cent are human-caused, the fire service says.

Underlying conditions of drought made B.C. particularly susceptible to wildfires this year, as tinder-dry conditions made it easier for flames to spread.

Many fires are still burning, though the service says cooler temperatures are helping ease pressure on crews.

Bans and evacuations lifting

Across most of B.C., the fire danger rating has dropped to low or very low as cool, damp fall weather arrives.

The BCWS says there have been no new fires in the last 24 hours, and of the 384 active fires burning in B.C., roughly three-quarters are ranked as under control or "being held," meaning they are not likely to spread.

Wetter and cooler fall weather is reducing the fire risk in B.C. 

Six wildfires of note — highly visible or potentially threatening blazes — are still listed, with four of them either in or straddling the Prince George Fire Centre spanning B.C.'s northeast quarter.

The two others are the 174-square-kilometre Kookipi Creek fire just north of Boston Bar in the Fraser Canyon, and the 168-square-kilometre Hell Raving Creek fire in the west Cariboo.

Cooler conditions mean all open fire prohibitions, including a ban on campfires, lifted on Wednesday in the Coastal Fire Centre and Cassiar, Skeena and Bulkley zones of the Northwest Fire Centre, while the Kamloops Fire Centre is set to remove its campfire ban on Thursday.

Bans remain in place in parts of the Prince George Fire Centre.

Evacuation orders lifted in West Kelowna

Evacuation orders and alerts have also been lifted for all but one property in West Kelowna, B.C., about five weeks after thousands were forced out of their homes by the fast-moving McDougall Creek wildfire.

Central Okanagan Emergency Operations says BCWS crews are now patrolling the fire's edge, working to extinguish any remaining hot spots, but it warns that nearby communities can expect to see smoke within the perimeter in the coming weeks.

A firefighter with the British Columbia Wildfire Service, left, works with a colleague from an Alaska smoke jumper unit to set a planned ignition to help contain a fire burning near a highway in northern B.C. (Jesse Winter)

The 139-square-kilometre McDougall Creek fire swept down on West Kelowna on the evening of Aug. 17, engulfing residential streets that were evacuated with little time to spare.

A provincewide state of emergency was declared the next day, as the same winds that fuelled that blaze fanned fires in the Shuswap region.

• Evacuees return to areas near West Kelowna destroyed by McDougall Creek wildfire

About half of the 400 structures or homes destroyed in B.C.'s record-breaking fire season have been lost in the Kelowna area.

The Central Okanagan centre also announced it is rescinding evacuation alerts and downgrading evacuation orders for the 11-square-kilometre Glen Lake wildfire west of Peachland.

The Thompson-Nicola Regional District Emergency Operations Centre announced it has rescinded all 124 remaining evacuation alerts in the vicinity of the 456-square-kilometre Bush Creek East wildfire, which destroyed almost 200 structures in the Shuswap.

During a particularly testy exchange, Trudeau pointed out that some of Poilievre's Tory MPs dined earlier this year with Christine Anderson, a far-right German politician who has downplayed the Holocaust and pushed anti-Muslim ideology.

"To this day, the leader of the Official Opposition has not apologized — no recognition, no apologies, no consequences for those three MPs who engaged with a far-right German politician," Trudeau said.

"If the leader of the Opposition wants the government to help him vet who his MPs meet with, we'd be more than happy to give him some better advice."

As for who vetted Hunka, Rota's spokesperson has said that the Speaker's guest list for the event was not shared with the Prime Minister's Office.

Rota's picks to be in the gallery were sent to the House of Commons protocol office and the confirmed list of attendees was then shared with corporate security, which is partly responsible for security in the parliamentary precinct, including the Commons chamber in West Block.

Rota resigned from his post Tuesday.

Regardless, Poilievre said Trudeau and his team should have had some oversight of who was on hand.

"What has he done with that responsibility? He's been hiding out in his cottage," the Tory leader said.

Trudeau has been on Parliament Hill this week but, until Wednesday, he'd been notably absent from question period.

Unlike some of his ministers, including Government House Leader Karina Gould and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly, Trudeau did not explicitly say Rota should resign over the recognition of a former Nazi soldier.

The shockwaves from the 98-year-old's appearance in Parliament are still being felt.