In the news today: labour code changes, ex-envoy on U.S. trade, MapQuest bucks Trump

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

Labour bill will test limits of Ottawa’s power to quash strikes: experts

Labour experts say the Liberal government is testing the limits of its powers to intervene in bargaining with proposed changes to the Canada Labour Code.

The Liberal government’s Bill C-39 proposes changing the language of Section 107 to explicitly state that the labour minister has the power to end a work stoppage when the national interest is at stake.

A spokesperson for the federal labour department says the changes are clarifying an existing power, but lawyers and labour scholars argue the proposed changes would stretch Ottawa’s authority.

Bethany Hastie of Queen’s University says the Supreme Court hasn’t yet ruled on whether preserving economic interests constitutes a reasonable limit on workers’ rights to strike.

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Businesses shouldn’t bet on return to normal Canada-U.S. relations: former ambassador

A former Canadian ambassador to the United States says businesses shouldn’t bet on the cross-border relationship going back to normal. 

Kirsten Hillman told the Global Business Forum in Banff, Alta., that she’s been surprised to hear so many business leaders say in recent weeks that they expect things to settle out eventually. 

She says Canadians have for decades taken for granted the deep economic integration between the two countries and touted it as a strength, but that message doesn’t resonate with President Donald Trump and his team.

She says Canadians have to “be able to count on our own resilience” and not assume close North American trade ties will always be on the table. 

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Report on Tumbler Ridge shooter’s ChatGPT conversations shocks B.C. attorney general

British Columbia’s attorney general says she’s shocked by an article describing alleged interactions between the Tumbler Ridge mass shooter and ChatGPT, in which the AI chatbot vividly describes the effectiveness of a shotgun in a classroom.

The report, in U.S.-based magazine Mother Jones, also says ChatGPT advised shooter 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar how to get around its own safeguards to obtain information about violent scenarios by framing the content as fictional.

Attorney General Niki Sharma says the details in the article, which does not describe its sources, are “shocking and, as a parent, they are worse” than she ever imagined.

She says on social media platform Bluesky that corporations urgently need mandatory and strict regulation to protect children.

OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company behind ChatGPT, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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A Montreal encampment shaped Quebec’s race, but survival is top priority

A homeless encampment in Montreal’s east end has become a flashpoint in Quebec’s election campaign, after police revealed someone brought a baby to the site — prompting outcry from all of Quebec’s party leaders.

About 200 tents line a grassy strip on Notre Dame Street, housing an estimated 180 people, many of whom say they are more worried about the coming cold weather than the Oct. 5 election.

The Quebec government estimated a little more than 12,000 people were living on the street in the province in 2025, with about 42 per cent in Montreal.

Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon has called the situation an embarrassment to society and pledged to make homelessness his top priority.

But residents such as Dan Dumont are skeptical, saying politicians are disconnected and demanding faster repairs to social housing.

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MapQuest GM goes where his app says: Lake Ontario

When MapQuest’s general manager Doug Berger woke up in Toronto this week, he knew he couldn’t leave without visiting one place — Lake Ontario.

The body of water recently made MapQuest the talk of the tech world and beyond when the company rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to rename it Lake America.

Berger says the decision not to follow suit was easy to make because renaming the lake didn’t make sense to his company’s staff.

MapQuest’s decision has since been paying off, as three million new users, including many Canadians, have downloaded the app since the executive order.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2026.