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Hello and welcome to Best Of Maclean’s.

Each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday we deliver the top stories from Maclean’s directly to your inbox, showcasing the most interesting people, places and stories from across Canada.

I’ve battled wildfires for 30 years. If you don’t believe in climate change, come and talk to me.

Veteran firefighter and incident commander with B.C. Wildfire, Scott Rennick, was on the ground in Chetwynd, British Columbia earlier this month during another stretch of devastating fires.

“When a fire gets to that level, people need to understand they are natural disasters, with the power of a tornado or a tsunami. The fire is coming like a freight train.”

From emergency evacuations to massive controlled burns, Rennick shares what it’s like to attempt to manage an environmental disaster—and why an already tough job is getting much worse.

Full story

The Curious Case of Gina Adams: A “Pretendian” investigation

In 2019 Gina Adams joined the faculty at Vancouver's Emily Carr University as part of an effort to increase Indigenous representation at the school. But soon questions arose about her Indigenous identity. Last week, shortly after this piece was published, the school announced that Adams had resigned from her position—but the issue of “Pretendians” at Canadian institutions persists. Read More

Rick Mercer rants on Poilievre, Trudeau, stand-up and his new show

“I consider stand-up an art form. There’s nothing purer. But it’s a completely insane occupation. Who in their right mind would walk out on stage with a microphone and a glass of water and decide to entertain either 30 people in a club or 2,000 people in a theatre? They don’t have a guitar or backup singers, they just have themselves. It’s inherently exciting.” Read More

My father was a criminal. Here's how I found out.

Leslie Bradford-Scott thought she was a normal kid. Her dad hid guns in every corner of their house and ‘business associates’ would come and go at all hours. In their small town of Grimsby, he was one of the only people who drove around a Rolls Royce.Years later, she found her dad’s 550-page autobiography— and with it, a criminal past she didn’t know. Read more

The Big Idea: Physician assistants can help solve the health-care crisis

Only three universities across Canada train physician assistants and graduate just 70 students each year, writes Katharine Smart, the former president of the Canadian Medical Association who currently practises pediatric medicine in Whitehorse. Hiring and training more physician assistants can ease the burden on doctors and provide better care for patients. Here’s why: Read More

On newsstands now:

Big Lies On Campus

Gina Adams was hired by Emily Carr University in an effort to recruit Indigenous faculty. She rose to the role of assistant dean. Then questions arose about her identity...

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