Canada – Winnipeg Free Press

Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy take part in a meeting during the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Carney to meet Zelenskyy in Halifax as Trump prepares to host peace talks

Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press 1 minute read 5:17 AM CST

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are set to meet in Halifax today ahead of peace talks hosted by the U.S. president this weekend.

Zelenskyy is on his way to Florida for meetings with Donald Trump, who is trying to broker an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine.

The Ukrainian leader's stop in Canada follows a phone call between him and Carney on Friday.

Canada has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022, committing $6.5 billion in military support along with humanitarian aid.

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Gull-Masty reflects on first months of job Indigenous leaders were wary of her taking

Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Preview

Gull-Masty reflects on first months of job Indigenous leaders were wary of her taking

Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press 6 minute read 3:00 AM CST

OTTAWA - When Mandy Gull-Masty took up the role of Indigenous services minister last spring, one question loomed over her appointment: why would a Cree woman want to administer the Indian Act, when another First Nations woman before her turned down the role?

Gull-Masty was named to the cabinet job in May after being elected as a member of Parliament for the first time in April. She told The Canadian Press she was willing "to take the risk" even as some said the government was "setting (her) up for failure."

Others, she said, pointed to a pathway she can help create for the people she once worked alongside, and make progress on the files she knows intimately: clean drinking water, housing and child welfare.

"I've had the opportunity to learn more — way more — than I ever expected. I've also had to push back in my own way," said Gull-Masty from her downtown Ottawa office.

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3:00 AM CST

Minister of Indigenous Services Mandy Gull-Masty speaks during an interview in her office in Ottawa, on Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

Carney, Zelenskyy speak as Ukrainian president prepares for peace talks in Florida

Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press 1 minute read Preview

Carney, Zelenskyy speak as Ukrainian president prepares for peace talks in Florida

Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press 1 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 6:12 PM CST

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke today with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as he prepares to head to the United States for a key meeting in the ongoing talks to end the war with Russia.

Zelenskyy is set to visit Florida over the weekend for a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on a potential agreement the Ukrainian leader said is "about 90 per cent ready."

A 20-point plan is under discussion as the U.S. tries to broker an end to the war, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

Zelenskyy has said the most difficult issues include the territories claimed by Russia, and the security guarantees Ukraine is working to get in the deal.

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Updated: Yesterday at 6:12 PM CST

Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy take part in a signing ceremony at Mariinskyi Palace in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Understanding ice colour and the “1-10-1” rule to prevent drownings

Samira Ait Kaci Ali, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Understanding ice colour and the “1-10-1” rule to prevent drownings

Samira Ait Kaci Ali, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:47 PM CST

MONTREAL - Following the drowning of a man in his forties and a child in Saint-Zénon, the Quebec Lifesaving Society is reminding people of certain safety rules to follow when engaging in on-ice activities.

It was a bleak Christmas Day for the loved ones of the two victims, whose deaths were confirmed by the Quebec provincial police on Thursday. The previous day, the man, accompanied by the young child, was clearing snow with a tractor on a section of Lake Ernest when the ice gave way.

A coroner's investigation was immediately launched to shed light on the circumstances that led to this tragedy and possibly make recommendations to prevent this scenario from happening again.

The Quebec Lifesaving Society, mandated to raise public awareness in order to prevent drownings, records an average of six to eight winter drownings per year. So far in 2025, six people have lost their lives in Quebec's icy waters. In addition to the two deaths in Saint-Zénon, there were three drownings earlier this year and the death of a snowmobiler on December 15.

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Yesterday at 2:47 PM CST

People play ice hockey on frozen Lake Ontario during sunset in Kingston, Ont., on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg

Health minister says Canada can’t rely on U.S. health institutions anymore

Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Health minister says Canada can’t rely on U.S. health institutions anymore

Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 3:46 PM CST

OTTAWA - Canada is used to looking to the United States as a source of health and scientific information, but the federal health minister said that is no longer the case.

"I cannot trust them as a reliable partner, no," said Health Minister Marjorie Michel in a year-end interview.

Michel added that the U.S. "can be reliable on some stuff," but pointed to vaccines as an area in which Canada must go its own way.

U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration have made significant changes to health institutions over the last year.

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Updated: Yesterday at 3:46 PM CST

Health Minister Marjorie Michel rises during Question Period on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Midterms and tariffs: 2026 could be a critical year for Canada-U.S. relations

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Midterms and tariffs: 2026 could be a critical year for Canada-U.S. relations

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press 5 minute read 5:00 AM CST

WASHINGTON - Donald Trump's return to the White House brought with it a tidal wave of change that has upended global trade, rattled allies and pushed political and social boundaries in the United States.

But the U.S. president faces headwinds as he enters the second year of his second term — and Canada can expect to feel the effects.

Next year will see what's likely to be a combative review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico-Agreement on trade and a bitter midterm battle as Democrats try to take back control of Congress. The results of those elections could spur Congress to rein in the president's sweeping use of executive power — or they could embolden Trump even further.

"Midterm elections are generally bad for sitting presidents," said Matthew Lebo, a political-science professor at Western University in London, Ont.

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5:00 AM CST

U.S. President Donald Trump looks toward Prime Minister Mark Carney as they raise their glasses during a toast at a working dinner in Gyeongju, South Korea, on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Last surviving Dionne quintuplet, Annette Dionne, has died: Dionne Quints Home Museum

The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Last surviving Dionne quintuplet, Annette Dionne, has died: Dionne Quints Home Museum

The Canadian Press 4 minute read Updated: 1:05 AM CST

NORTH BAY - Annette Dionne, the last of the remaining world-famous Dionne quintuplets, has died at the age of 91.

A family spokesman confirmed her death Friday. The Dionne Quints Home Museum in North Bay, Ont., says in a social media post that Annette died Christmas Eve, but did not provide further details.

"She believed it was important to maintain the Dionne Quints Museum and the history it provides for the future of all children," the museum said in the post Friday.

"Annette was the only surviving Quints and was the last surviving sibling amongst the 14 children of the Dionne family ... Rest in Peace, Annette."

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Updated: 1:05 AM CST

Annette Dionne, one of the Dionne quintuplets, visits the original cabin she was born in, which was relocated to downtown North Bay, Ont., next to the North Bay Museum, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Thornhill

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Boxing Day draws shoppers despite poor weather in Toronto, much of Ontario

The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Boxing Day draws shoppers despite poor weather in Toronto, much of Ontario

The Canadian Press 3 minute read Yesterday at 2:43 PM CST

TORONTO - Shoppers in some Canadian cities braved heavy snow and wintry conditions on Boxing Day, undeterred by the challenging weather in their hunt for a good deal.

Much of southern Ontario stretching from Belleville in the east to Windsor in the south and Sault Ste. Marie in the west was under weather warnings, for either snow close to 15 centimetres in some places, or up 10 millimetres of freezing rain in others.

The Toronto Transit Commission issued a statement urging shoppers to leave their vehicles at home and use public transit, adding it was taking measures such as running anti-icing trains on subway lines to keep the system moving.

The bad weather didn't stop Cornel Fisic, who was on the hunt for a new pair of shoes Friday when he entered the busy Toronto Eaton Centre.

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Yesterday at 2:43 PM CST

Shoppers pass through Eaton Centre on Boxing Day in Toronto, on Friday, Dec. 26, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sammy Kogan

Freezing rain, snow expected in parts of Ontario as Newfoundland braces for blizzards

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Preview

Freezing rain, snow expected in parts of Ontario as Newfoundland braces for blizzards

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Yesterday at 4:35 AM CST

Parts of southern Ontario are under weather warnings today, with freezing rain expected in the Windsor region and parts of the Greater Toronto Area into the evening.

Environment Canada says some areas north of Toronto could see a mix of ice pellets and snowfall amounts of between five and 12 centimetres.

Further north, areas from Sault Ste. Marie to Thunder Bay to Dryden could experience freezing rain and snow amounting to 20 centimetres.

Heading out west, Environment Canada is warning of extreme cold in the northern parts of Alberta, British Columbia, and the Yukon.

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Yesterday at 4:35 AM CST

A resident takes advantage of a lull to take their child for a sleigh ride in St. John's on Friday, March 8, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Daly

‘The year that the shoe dropped’: How the Canada-U.S. relationship changed in 2025

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Preview

‘The year that the shoe dropped’: How the Canada-U.S. relationship changed in 2025

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 6:26 AM CST

WASHINGTON - The people anxiously sipping hot chocolate in the Canadian Embassy in Washington on a cold night in January almost a year ago couldn't have predicted the roller-coaster of trade provocations and bilateral blow-ups the next 12 months would bring.

In hindsight, that unusually chilly Washington evening foreshadowed how the Canada-U.S. relationship would soon freeze over.

Trump's tariff threats and his talk of annexing Canada had already rattled Canadian politics over the preceding weeks. A rushed trip to Mar-a-Lago in early November 2024 failed to mend former prime minister Justin Trudeau's already rocky relationship with the incoming U.S. president.

On Jan. 20, the day of his second inauguration, Trump returned to the Oval Office to announce his "America First" trade policy. Just weeks later, he announced sweeping tariffs on Canadian imports.

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Updated: Yesterday at 6:26 AM CST

U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney meet in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Raids carried out at Mexican homes linked to former Olympian Ryan Wedding

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

Raids carried out at Mexican homes linked to former Olympian Ryan Wedding

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025

MEXICO CITY - Mexican authorities have executed four raids on homes linked to a suspect whose description matches that of former Olympic snowboarder and alleged Canadian drug kingpin Ryan Wedding.

Mexico's Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection says in a release that multiple agencies including the Attorney General's Office, the Navy and the National Guard carried out the raids at the homes, located in Mexico City and the surrounding State of Mexico.

The release does not mention Wedding by name, but describes the raids and seizures as related to a former Olympic athlete and a fugitive on the United States' 10 most wanted fugitives list.

Wedding — who is originally from Thunder Bay, Ont., and competed for Canada in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics — was added to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's most wanted fugitives list in March.

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Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025

A photo of Canadian fugitive Ryan Wedding released by U.S. law enforcement as they chase down the alleged Olympian turned drug kingpin. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - X, @FBILosAngeles (Mandatory Credit)

Bodies of two family members recovered after a tractor sinks in Lanaudière lake

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Preview

Bodies of two family members recovered after a tractor sinks in Lanaudière lake

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025

MONTREAL - The bodies of a man and a child have been found after a tractor sank in a lake in the Lanaudière region, northeast of Montreal.

The Sûreté du Québec says the bodies were recovered around 11:30 a.m. Thursday.

The SQ says the two people were on the tractor clearing snow from a path surrounding the lake.

The search began Wednesday night in Saint-Zénon.

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Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025

Group of U.S. distillers complains N.S. and other provinces favouring local alcohol

Devin Stevens, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Group of U.S. distillers complains N.S. and other provinces favouring local alcohol

Devin Stevens, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025

HALIFAX - A group of U.S. alcohol producers claims Canadian retailers are giving unfair advantage to local spirits, including what it calls "discriminatory" markups in Nova Scotia and other provinces.

The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States has sent a 77-page submission to the office of U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer outlining obstacles the American sector is facing around the globe. That includes six pages on Canada, where all but two provinces have mostly taken American alcohol off the shelves in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Among other complaints, the distillers take issue with the preferential markup the Nova Scotia Liquor Corp. offers to local spirits. They say Nova Scotian rum, whisky and other liquors are marked up between 50-80 per cent depending on how they’re bottled, while all imported products are marked up by 160 per cent.

The U.S. distillers claim the markups are inconsistent with World Trade Organization rules as well as the United States-Mexico-Canada free-trade agreement.

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Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025

‘Act one is over,’ says MP who defeated Poilievre in last election

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

‘Act one is over,’ says MP who defeated Poilievre in last election

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025

OTTAWA - Liberal MP Bruce Fanjoy has a square glass case in his office that holds a spray-painted pair of sneakers he wore while campaigning for the federal election.

He calls it his "Stanley Cup."

Fanjoy became the MP for the Ottawa-area riding of Carleton in the last election after defeating Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who had held the riding more than two decades.

"I think people in Carleton are excited about what happened," Fanjoy said. "Even if people didn't vote for me, they're curious to meet me."

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Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025

Liberal MP for Carleton Bruce Fanjoy rises in the House of Commons, Wednesday, May 28, 2025 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Vancouver Island MP Aaron Gunn won’t run for leadership of B.C. Conservatives

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Vancouver Island MP Aaron Gunn won’t run for leadership of B.C. Conservatives

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025

VICTORIA - Vancouver Island MP Aaron Gunn said he won't run for the leadership of the Conservative Party of B.C. because he doesn't want to risk giving the federal Liberals a majority government.

Gunn said Wednesday that his departure could "upend the balance of power in Ottawa" and leaving would be too great a risk as Prime Minister Mark Carney continues to pursue a "deliberate and transparent strategy to bribe or otherwise convince morally bankrupt MPs" to cross the floor.

He doesn't want give some media and the federal Liberals an opportunity to "spin" his departure as a "loss of confidence" or "worse, a betrayal" in the leadership of federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, he said.

The decision will ripple across the political landscape of British Columbia, where provincial Conservatives are searching for a new leader and some stability after a year of turmoil.

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Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025

Conservative MP Aaron Gunn asks a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Manitobans among those sickened by E. coli outbreak linked to Pillsbury brand Pizza Pops

Hannah Alberga, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

Manitobans among those sickened by E. coli outbreak linked to Pillsbury brand Pizza Pops

Hannah Alberga, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 12:15 PM CST

The Public Health Agency of Canada is reporting a fifth hospitalization in an E. coli outbreak linked to recalled Pillsbury brand Pizza Pops.

The federal agency says 23 people got sick with the bacterial illness in seven provinces after eating or handling certain flavours of the frozen snack between early October and late November.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency recalled several pepperoni and bacon Pizza Pops on Sunday due to an E. coli contamination that is under investigation.

The outbreak has now reached Alberta, Ontario, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador.

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Updated: Yesterday at 12:15 PM CST

December 27, 2025

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