unemployment and the way the Prime Minister was handling the economy." Trudeau infamously gave the protesters the finger; his gesture was caught on a single television camera and immediately used by some as, "a vivid symbol for those who thought the Liberal prime minister arrogant and hostile to Western Canada." However, to many Trudeau's response was seen as a commemorated joke. Only a month after the incident T-shirts, which depicted a caricature of Trudeau leaning out of a train with his middle finger raised, were being produced and sold to the citizens of Salmon Arm. In 1998, an area of 13,500 acres (34 km2 or just over 5000 hectares) immediately southwest of Salmon Arm was burnt to the extent of deforestation by a wildfire started by lightning. An emergency evacuation was executed as the fire got closer. Remarkably, just as the fire reached the valley floor, a sudden change of wind direction forced the fire back on itself, extinguishing it. The fire came so close that trees in many backyards were singed and barn paint was peeled. The media reported "20 homes and 15 barns" were destroyed during the firestorm in the Silver Creek area to the south of Salmon Arm, which also produced Canada's largest civil evacuation up to that date when the "5,000-hectare forest fire that forced the removal of 7,000 residents of Salmon Arm was being blown toward the town." Geography Salmon Arm is on the shores of Shuswap Lake, where the Salmon River empties into the Salmon Arm reach of the Lake. Directly south of the city lies Mount Ida, to the west Fly Hills, and across Shuswap Lake lies Bastion Mountain. Climate With a December and January mean of and a July mean of , Salmon Arm has a warm-summer humid continental climate with strong maritime influences as a result of its relative proximity to the Pacific Ocean. Demographics Ethnicity In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Salmon Arm had a population of 19,432 living in 8,106 of its 8,517 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 17,706. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. Religion According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Salmon Arm included: Irreligion (10,275 persons or 55.2%) Christianity (7,780 persons or 41.8%) Islam (115 persons or 0.6%) Sikhism (100 persons or 0.5%) Buddhism (70 persons or