Canada – Winnipeg Free Press

Conservative leader Erin O’Toole rises during question period on Dec. 8, 2021, in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Former Tory leader to Poilievre: forget the floor crossings, focus on policy

Sarah Ritchie and David Baxter, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Updated: 6:15 AM CDT

OTTAWA - The last Conservative leader to be ousted by his party says he's advised his replacement to forget the floor crossings and social media trends as speculation heats up over Pierre Poilievre's future at the party's helm.

"My advice to him has always been to put the country first and look at the long term," Erin O'Toole said in an interview on Tuesday.

"Forget about the short-term cycle of political machinations, floor crossings, what's trending on Twitter. None of that stuff really matters."

O'Toole was removed as Conservative leader in February 2022 after he lost to Justin Trudeau's Liberals in the September 2021 election — and after weeks of rumours that members of his own caucus were organizing against him.

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Carney says the U.S. can’t dictate the terms of trade talks ahead of CUSMA review

David Baxter, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

Carney says the U.S. can’t dictate the terms of trade talks ahead of CUSMA review

David Baxter, The Canadian Press 2 minute read 8:50 AM CDT

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Mark Carney says the United States won't dictate the terms of negotiations on the continental trade deal, but it will take time to reach an agreement.

Carney was responding to a Radio-Canada report citing officials who said Americans are imposing an "entry fee" on trade talks with Canada and are demanding concessions before negotiations begin.

Janice Charette, Canada's chief trade negotiator with the U.S., said on Tuesday Canada already has made significant concessions by dropping the digital services tax, issuing millions of dollars in refunds to tech companies and ending retaliatory tariffs.

A recent report from the Office of the United States Trade Representative cites some provinces not stocking American alcohol and high tariffs on some American dairy products as trade irritants with Canada.

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8:50 AM CDT

Prime Minister Mark Carney makes his way to Question Period on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Tuesday, April 21, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

B.C. tourists smile at Mexico pyramid. Behind them, a gunman, moments before killing

Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

B.C. tourists smile at Mexico pyramid. Behind them, a gunman, moments before killing

Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Updated: 6:17 AM CDT

It looks like a typical tourist photo, as British Columbia woman Barbara Welsh and her friends smile near the foot of the famous Pyramid of the Moon at the Teotihuacan site northeast of Mexico City on Monday.

But in the background, clambering the pyramid's stairs, a man in a checked shirt can be seen, carrying something in his right hand.

Moments later, he pulled out a gun and started shooting, sending people tumbling down the pyramid.

Officials have said they are working to understand the motive of the shooter, who reportedly planned the attack, played strange music, ranted about hating tourists and fired randomly.

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Updated: 6:17 AM CDT

Barbara Welsh, second from the right, pictured with a group of women from B.C., in front of the Teotihuacan Pyramids, in Mexico on Monday, April 20, 2026. The group posed for this picture moments before a gunman opened fire and killed a Canadian woman and hurt 13 other visitors at the site. The shooter can be seen at the top right of the stairs, in a checked shirt and dark pants. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout — Barbara Welsh (Mandatory Credit)

Expert says it’s time for Canada to amp up efforts to educate Americans on trade

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Preview

Expert says it’s time for Canada to amp up efforts to educate Americans on trade

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Updated: 6:17 AM CDT

HOUSTON - Piling his shopping bags into his vehicle's trunk outside a Houston grocery store last week, Texan Herman Moreno said he doesn't think Canada has any kind of trading relationship with Texas at all.

"Canada better straighten up, bro," he said. "If they want their money, they better straighten up."

Canada is actually the Lone Star State's second-largest trading partner. Many Texans like Moreno don't know anything about it.

Moreno proudly said he voted for U.S. President Donald Trump three times and he'd vote for him a fourth time if he could. He's a veteran who moved from Michigan to Texas three years ago to help raise a grandchild born with a disability.

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Updated: 6:17 AM CDT

People cheer as President Donald Trump speaks at the Port of Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

‘More bluster’: Poilievre, LeBlanc dismiss Lutnick’s comments on trade strategy

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

‘More bluster’: Poilievre, LeBlanc dismiss Lutnick’s comments on trade strategy

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 2:45 PM CDT

OTTAWA - Top Conservative and Liberal MPs are downplaying U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's comments dumping on Canada's strategy heading into major trade talks with the U.S. and Mexico.

But former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig insists that while Lutnick spoke crudely, he has a point about the risks posed by Ottawa's outreach to China amid the crucial trade talks.

Lutnick turned heads in Ottawa last week when he told a panel event it would be a bad strategy for Ottawa to wait out the clock to reach a good deal with the Donald Trump administration.

“That is like the worst strategy I’ve ever heard. They suck," Lutnick said on Friday, insisting the president views the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement as a bad deal that must be "reimagined."

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Updated: Yesterday at 2:45 PM CDT

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick speaks during a roundtable discussion with President Donald Trump on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

How ‘re-wilding’ can make Canada’s cityscapes more climate resilient and bee friendly

Jordan Omstead, The Canadian Press 8 minute read Preview

How ‘re-wilding’ can make Canada’s cityscapes more climate resilient and bee friendly

Jordan Omstead, The Canadian Press 8 minute read 3:00 AM CDT

TORONTO - The laneway beside Adam Barnes's house is, at first blush, unremarkable within Toronto's catalogue of backstreets: there are garages, a graffiti-tagged brick wall and a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire.

The curb used to be dominated by tree-of-heaven, an invasive plant that can quickly outcompete native species, says Barnes. But when the pandemic turned the laneway into a refuge of outdoor play for Barnes and his daughter, they wondered what other life might grow here too.

Along this concrete stretch, Barnes has helped to recover a number of native plants. Bees, butterflies and other pollinators — pushed to the brink by compounding extinction pressures — now seek out the laneway's abundance.

Extending between the barbed wire, a towering stalk of a cup plant can serve as overwintering insect habitat. Come summer, its daisy-like flower will attract bees and butterflies, and its cup-shaped leaves will act as nature's water cooler. In the fall, goldfinches will feed on its seed.

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3:00 AM CDT

Adam Barnes, founder of Rewilders Toronto, a community-based ecological initiative, tends to a planted pollinator garden in Toronto, on Thursday, April 16, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

In the news today: Mexico pyramid shooting, Canada-U.S. trade, Tips on buying a car

The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

In the news today: Mexico pyramid shooting, Canada-U.S. trade, Tips on buying a car

The Canadian Press 4 minute read 3:26 AM CDT

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed …

B.C. tourists smile at Mexico pyramid. Behind them, a gunman, moments before killing

A haunting photo of B.C. woman Barbara Welsh and her friends shows the moment leading up to a deadly shooting at a pyramid in Mexico that killed a fellow Canadian on Monday.

While it looks like a typical tourist photo, a man in a checked shirt can be seen in the background clambering up the stairs of the Pyramid of the Moon at the Teotihuacan site northeast of Mexico City, just before opening fire.

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3:26 AM CDT

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‘The day the music dies’: Organists pipe up to save historical instrument

Daniela Germano, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

‘The day the music dies’: Organists pipe up to save historical instrument

Daniela Germano, The Canadian Press 4 minute read 3:00 AM CDT

EDMONTON - Music from a pipe organ has filled a convocation hall at the University of Alberta for a century, but that may soon come to an end as the institution begins renovations that include removing the memorial instrument.

Marnie Giesbrecht, professor emerita and former organist at the Edmonton university, is part of a group of former faculty members and students trying to save the Casavant organ dedicated to those who lost their lives in both world wars.

She said she received notice earlier this month that doors to the Faculty of Arts' Convocation Hall would be locked April 30 for renovations to begin.

"It's quite concerning, this very, very short timeline," she said, adding that there was little consultation recently on the project.

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3:00 AM CDT

A Casavant pipe organ seen at the Convocation Hall at the University of Alberta in this undated photo. It was built in 1978 to replace one built in 1925 to honour students and faculty members who lost their lives in the First World War. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Marnie Giesbrecht (Mandatory Credit)

Senators call on Carney to restore antisemitism envoy, step up fight against hate

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Senators call on Carney to restore antisemitism envoy, step up fight against hate

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 3:17 PM CDT

OTTAWA - The Senate human rights committee is calling for more education, better digital literacy and a federal task force on hate to fight a spike in anti-Jewish hate crimes and acts of intimidation.

In a report tabled Tuesday, the committee is also asking Prime Minister Mark Carney's government to restore the antisemitism envoy role it scrapped in February.

"It is unacceptable to me and to our committee that a community of people should live in fear just because of who they are or what they believe in," committee chair Sen. Paulette Senior told a news conference on Parliament Hill.

The report follows a rise in gunfire, arson and vandalism attacks on synagogues and Jewish schools since October 2023, when Hamas militants attacked Israel, prompting Israel to bomb the Gaza Strip and triggering massive political shifts from Iran to Syria.

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Updated: Yesterday at 3:17 PM CDT

A police car remains parked outside Shaarei Shomayim synagogue in Toronto on Sunday, March 8, 2026. The synagogue was struck by gunfire overnight. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sammy Kogan

CPAC cancels two news programs, cites ‘accelerating revenue decline’

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

CPAC cancels two news programs, cites ‘accelerating revenue decline’

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 9:39 PM CDT

OTTAWA - CPAC, the Canadian service that provides direct coverage of political events, says declining revenues have led it to cancel two flagship programs, PrimeTime Politics and L’Essentiel.

It cited "accelerating revenue decline," an uncertain broadcasting landscape and delays in modernizing the broadcast system in a release announcing the cuts Tuesday.

The move comes shortly after the federal broadcast regulator increased CPAC's funding. President and CEO Christa Dickenson said that wasn't enough to make up the shortfall.

Dickenson said in an interview CPAC "did forecasting over and over and over again," both with the increase and without it, and "in order to be able to navigate the next couple of years, we came to the conclusion that this was inevitable and had to be done."

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Updated: Yesterday at 9:39 PM CDT

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is seen in the viewfinder of a television camera while speaking at a news conference in Calgary on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

MPs approve Annette Ryan as the next Parliamentary Budget Officer in House vote

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press 1 minute read Preview

MPs approve Annette Ryan as the next Parliamentary Budget Officer in House vote

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press 1 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 9:40 PM CDT

OTTAWA - Members of Parliament voted Tuesday to approve the appointment of Annette Ryan as Canada's next Parliamentary Budget Officer.

MPs approved her appointment in a 164 to 153 vote, with Bloc Québécois and Conservatives voting against her nomination.

Ryan, a longtime public servant and the current deputy director at Canada's financial intelligence agency, Fintrac, was named as cabinet's pick to lead the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer last month.

Ryan's testimony was clouded at times by MPs' focus on Jason Jacques, the former interim PBO whose term expired earlier this year.

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Updated: Yesterday at 9:40 PM CDT

Parliamentary Budget Officer nominee Annette Ryan appears before the Standing Committee on Finance in Ottawa, Monday, March 23, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Liberals move to take control of House committees now that they’ve secured majority

Sarah Ritchie and Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Liberals move to take control of House committees now that they’ve secured majority

Sarah Ritchie and Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 5:53 PM CDT

OTTAWA - The Liberals are moving to take control of House of Commons committees now that they've secured a majority government.

House leader Steven MacKinnon said in a social media post Tuesday that the Liberals will seek to change the standing orders, the rules that govern the Commons, to ensure they have the most votes on committees.

"Prime Minister Mark Carney and his government are determined to work constructively both in the House and in parliamentary committees," he said.

Majority governments traditionally hold a majority of seats on House committees.

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Updated: Yesterday at 5:53 PM CDT

Steven MacKinnon, government House leader, responds to a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, April 20, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

B.C. court hears Chinese police went ‘missing’ for hours during trip to Vancouver

Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Preview

B.C. court hears Chinese police went ‘missing’ for hours during trip to Vancouver

Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 7:17 PM CDT

VANCOUVER - British Columbia's Supreme Court heard Tuesday that three Chinese police officials went "missing" for six hours during an RCMP-escorted visit to Vancouver in 2018, setting off concerns they could be trying to illicitly repatriate someone.

The revelation came during testimony by RCMP Supt. Peter Tsui at the trial of William Majcher, a former RCMP officer who has pleaded not guilty to a security offence in relation to his alleged work for the Chinese government.

Tsui said he had helped facilitate the visit by the delegation from the Chinese Ministry of Public Security during his time as a liaison officer stationed in Beijing.

He said it involved 22 Chinese officials split between Toronto and Vancouver who were being "hosted" by Canadian police as they worked on "mutual files" related to market fraud, money laundering and "economic fugitives" over about nine days.

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Updated: Yesterday at 7:17 PM CDT

William Majcher is pictured outside B.C. Supreme Court, in Vancouver, where his trial got underway on Monday, April 20, 2026. Majcher, a former RCMP officer, has pleaded not guilty to a charge under Canada's Security of Information Act. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Brenna Owen

House ethics committee votes to question finance minister on Alto connection

Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

House ethics committee votes to question finance minister on Alto connection

Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 4:56 PM CDT

OTTAWA - Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne will appear before the House ethics committee next month to answer questions about his connection to the Alto high-speed rail project, after a lengthy Liberal filibuster.

Champagne recused himself from decisions about the project last September, a month after his partner, Anne-Marie Gaudet, became a vice-president at Alto.

The Crown corporation is responsible for the proposed $90-billion high-speed rail project between Toronto and Quebec City.

The conflict of interest and ethics commissioner, Konrad von Finckenstein, has told Champagne that he is not in a conflict of interest and that he would not need to implement an ethics screen. Champagne's office said he decided to recuse himself anyway.

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Updated: Yesterday at 4:56 PM CDT

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne speaks with reporters before cabinet on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

High-speed rail pitch draws high levels of support and opposition: poll

The Canadian Press, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

High-speed rail pitch draws high levels of support and opposition: poll

The Canadian Press, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 4:31 PM CDT

OTTAWA - A new poll suggests the proposed Alto high-speed railway project is both the most-supported and the most-opposed item on the federal government's list of major projects.

Probe Research surveyed 1,300 Canadians earlier this month and found 61 per cent of respondents supported the project, while 19 per cent opposed it to some degree.

The poll cannot be assigned a margin of error because it was conducted online.

The controversial project is projected to cost between $60 and $90 billion. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has called on Ottawa to drop it, calling it a "boondoggle."

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Updated: Yesterday at 4:31 PM CDT

Level crossing signals flash as a CN Rail train passes in Dartmouth, N.S. on Thursday, Nov. 25, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

B.C. guide gets $30,000 penalty for leading client on hunt outside licence area

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Preview

B.C. guide gets $30,000 penalty for leading client on hunt outside licence area

The Canadian Press 1 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 2:19 PM CDT

MCBRIDE - A British Columbia hunting guide has been ordered to pay more than $30,000 in penalties after admitting to taking a client outside of his designated hunt area.

The B.C. Conservation Officer Service says in a social media post that the offence took place in September 2022 near McBride, when the assistant hunting guide led a hunter to an area not authorized by the licence of his employer.

Authorities began their investigation after a complaint was made to the provincial poachers hotline.

The guide was charged with several violations, and he pleaded guilty last Wednesday in B.C. provincial court.

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Updated: Yesterday at 2:19 PM CDT

April 22, 2026

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