NEWS FOR MONDAY, AUGUST 20TH 2018

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LOCAL
By Patricia Petit Liang

The City of Montreal validated a petition calling on city staff to hold public consultations on systemic racism and discrimination.

According to CTV News, McGill law student Balarama Holness, spearheaded the petition, collecting about 20,000 signatures with the help of other local activists.

The city is now working on a timeline for the consultations.

NATIONAL
By Karl Knox

More than 550 wildfires are burning in British Columbia.

According to CBC News, B.C.’s government is struggling to communicate with Indigenous groups, leaving band leaders scrambling to evacuate their communities.

After last year's wildfires, the province of British Columbia asked the federal government to set up emergency and disaster relief funding for Indigenous groups but the government refused.

INTERNATIONAL
By Patricia Petit Liang

More than 350 people were killed by flooding in Kerala, India this weekend.

According to BBC News, thousands of citizens are trapped and more than 200,000 families are taking refuge in camps without any food or water.

Entire villages have been lost to landslides and authorities are concerned about the possibility of an outbreak of water-borne disease and other contagious sickness.