Expert accused of ‘speculating without evidence’ at inquest into teen’s death

The lawyer for Winnipeg police told an inquest Friday that a use-of-force expert who weighed in on the fatal shooting of teenager Eishia Hudson, by calling the officer’s actions unjust, had made errors of his own.

Kimberly Carswell suggested during her cross-examination of Peter Rampat that he relied too heavily on video evidence of the incident and discounted witness statements in his report into the death of the 16-year-old from Berens River First Nation.

Hudson was shot dead after leading police on a high-speed pursuit that ended with her crashing a stolen Jeep on Lagimodiere Boulevard during the evening rush hour on April 8, 2020.

Rampat’s report determined Const. Kyle Pradinuk was not justified when he fired two bullets at Hudson, who began to reverse the Jeep as officers swarmed the vehicle.

Alberta oil pipeline is ‘more likely than not’ Carney says

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Mark Carney says a new oil pipeline out of Alberta is "more likely than not."

In his first sit-down interview with The Canadian Press since becoming prime minister more than a year ago, Carney said Friday that given the increased global demand for secure new sources of energy due to the war in Iran, and Canada's need to diversify to Asian markets, a new pipeline is "more probable than possible."

"It's all part of a bigger package. We're making progress on that bigger package," Carney said, referring to the memorandum of understanding his government signed with Alberta late last year.

"Part of our job is to figure out ways to make that work, to make it work that's combined with reducing the emissions associated with oil.

Census data does much more than determine population

The children of families who live in public housing in Tuxedo are more likely to graduate from high school, go to college or university, and less likely to need income assistance when they become adults than their counterparts who live just off Main Street in the North End.

How do we know this? The national census.

Officially known as the Census of Population, in the next few weeks, an estimated 41 million Canadians will receive this year’s census to fill in the boxes that reflect their lives. Most will receive the short form, which census officials say should take only five to 10 minutes to fill out. But 25 per cent of Canadians will receive the lengthier long-form census, which includes more demographic questions, and takes about a half-hour or so to complete, depending on the size of the household.

It’s only when the numbers are tallied that we will know exactly how many people there are in the country.

Feds to hike max fine for airlines abusing passenger protection regulations to $1M

OTTAWA - The federal government plans to quadruple to $1 million the maximum fine for airlines that repeatedly violate passengers' rights.

Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said fining airlines is a last resort but the current system isn't working.

The Canadian Transportation Agency, which handles passenger complaints, is facing a backlog of more than 97,000 cases.

"The system is broken. Decisions by the Canadian Transportation Agency can take years. This is not acceptable. Canadians deserve better," MacKinnon said Friday at a press conference in Ottawa.

Working the family farm set up top NHL draft prospect Carels for hockey success

It takes a village to raise a hockey player.

Carson Carels would be the first to tell you his just happens to include hundreds of cows, goats, peacocks, chickens and whatever else might be wandering the 2,000 acres of rolling hills in south-central Manitoba that he and his family call home.

The farm isn’t just where the 17-year-old lives. It’s where he was built.

“It has shaped who I am,” said Carson.

US military reaches deals with 7 tech companies to use their AI on classified systems

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon said Friday that it has reached deals with seven tech companies to use their artificial intelligence in its classified computer networks, allowing the military to tap into AI-powered capabilities to help it fight wars.

Google, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Nvidia, OpenAI, Reflection and SpaceX will provide their resources to help “augment warfighter decision-making in complex operational environments,” the Defense Department said.

Notably absent from the list is AI company Anthropic, after its public dispute and legal fight with the Trump administration over the ethics and safety of AI usage in war.

The Defense Department has been rapidly accelerating its use of AI in recent years. The technology can help the military reduce the time it takes to identify and strike targets on the battlefield, while aiding in the organization of weapons maintenance and supply lines, according to a report in March from the Brennan Center for Justice.

Innocuous critter or varmint to vanquish? Debating best approach to Richardson’s ground squirrel long a Prairie predicament

A peculiar debate brewed in the pages of Saskatchewan’s newspapers in 2001.

It did not concern post-9/11 security or squabbles over federal gun and environmental policies, though it did evoke other perennial Canadian political tensions.

It had to do with gophers.

Saskatchewan’s NDP government was choosing an animal to symbolize the province, and the suggestion of a gopher was driving some squirrelly.

Canada Soccer receiving $9.8M from Ottawa for national training centre project

OTTAWA - Canada Soccer's plan to build a national training centre has received a major funding boost.

The federal government announced Friday it will contribute $9.8 million from the new Build Communities Strong Fund for the planning, design and pre-construction of the proposed facility.

“The national training centre will be a multi-use, nationally significant sport and community infrastructure project, and will establish a permanent home for soccer in Canada," housing and infrastructure minister Gregor Robertson said at the announcement in Vancouver.

"The national training centre is envisioned as an integrated sport and community campus. Plans feature outdoor fields, a full-sized indoor pitch for year-round use, and high-performance training and sports science facilities.”

‘Denial of care’: Doctors worry about refugees as payment requirements take effect

TORONTO - Refugees now have to pay out of pocket for part of their drug prescriptions, mental health counselling, dental services, vision care and health equipment — including wheelchairs — as changes to a federal program take effect.

For decades, Canada's Interim Federal Health Program has provided complete health coverage to refugees and refugee claimants until they are eligible for provincial health plans and benefits.

But starting Friday, they must pay $4 for every prescription and 30 per cent of the cost of supplemental health products and services.

More than a dozen medical, nursing, social work and refugee organizations, including the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Paediatric Society, the Canadian Psychiatric Association and the Canadian Nurses Association, have warned that refugees can't afford those co-payments and their physical and mental health will suffer.

The blunt — and massive — cost of forest fires

It’s a total that’s bound to go up — because all of the costs aren’t clear yet, and even when they are, not every cost can be quantified.

RRC Polytech reduces program offerings, lays off 26 staff

RRC Polytech has announced it will let go 26 employees as it prepares to end some programs and suspend others.

The post-secondary institution blamed the reduction in international student enrolment and reduced English language-training funding as a result of federal changes to immigration policy.

“These changes, along with shifting domestic enrolment trends in some programs and increased program delivery costs, have had direct impacts on operations and financial stability at RRC Polytech,” said a news release issued Thursday.

“These impacts have both immediate and long-term financial implications that we must responsibly address.”

Healthy food subsidy might be on table over gas tax cut: Kinew

Premier Wab Kinew says he is still considering relief for Manitobans struggling with the high price of fuel but it may not be in the form of a gas tax holiday.

Captain Kennedy House reopens after $1.4-M upgrade

Manitobans will once again be able to enjoy tea and scones while taking in history — the tea room at the Captain Kennedy House has reopened after a 10-year absence.

The Heritage Tea Room is reopening after a $1.4-million restoration of the historic building on the Red River south of Lockport, Environment and Climate Change Minister Mike Moyes said Thursday.

Moyes said in a statement the building was restored and revitalized and will now offer visitors and area residents “a unique opportunity to experience the rich history of St. Andrews in a welcoming accessible environment.”

The stone house, a provincial heritage building, was built for Capt. William Kennedy, an Arctic explorer, Métis community leader, and Hudson’s Bay Company employee, in 1866.

Trump gives go-ahead to major new Canada-US oil pipeline

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — President Donald Trump granted a key approval Thursday for a major new oil pipeline from Canada into the U.S. that’s been dubbed “Keystone Light” over its similarities to a contentious project blocked by the Biden administration.

The three-foot-wide (1 meter) Bridger Pipeline Expansion would carry up to 550,000 barrels (87,400 cubic meters) of oil a day from Canada through Montana and Wyoming, where it would link with another pipeline.

The pipeline needs additional state and federal environmental approvals before construction, which company officials expect to start next year. Environmentalists hope to stop the project over worries that the pipeline could break and spill.

At peak volume, the 650-mile (1,050-kilometer) pipeline would move two-thirds as much oil as the better-known Keystone XL pipeline that got partially built before President Joe Biden, citing climate change, canceled its permit on the day he took office in 2021.

Liberals shut down committee debate on $6.6-billion IT project

OTTAWA - Opposition MPs say the Liberals used their new power as a majority government Thursday to shelve debate on calls for the government to provide documents about a $6.6 billion IT project that has gone far over budget.

While the project to modernize the systems the government uses to deliver benefits to Canadians, such as old age security, launched in 2017 with a $1.7 billion budget, the cost is now more than three times that sum.

Last week, the House of Commons human resources committee debated a Bloc Québécois motion to have the government produce documents about the project.

When the committee convened Thursday, the Liberals instead pushed forward with clause by clause consideration of an unrelated bill, without providing any notice to the rest of the committee of that plan.

Food fight: provincial government taking Sobeys to Municipal Board over property controls

The Manitoba government is taking aim at Sobeys Inc. in a bid to boost local competition.

The province said Thursday it would challenge contracts made by the Canadian grocery giant that prevent competitors from setting up shop nearby.

Manitoba will submit four cases for Municipal Board review, Premier Wab Kinew said. “When there’s more competition, there are better prices.”

Last year, the provincial government passed a law allowing for the removal of registered controls if the Municipal Board deems it in the public interest.

Business council’s new housing alliance, partners complete first ‘deeply affordable’ project

A unique Manitoba business-led enterprise created to invest in​ affordable housing has completed its first project, helping to launch a 23-unit building in Winnipeg’s inner city.

City offers real cost-of-living help while Ottawa, province pander for popularity

There’s no shortage of political enthusiasm these days for “cost-of-living relief.” Governments at every level are tripping over themselves to prove they feel your pain at the checkout counter and the gas pump. The problem isn’t the intent, it’s the execution.

Alberta voter info database shut down amidst probes of alleged data breach

EDMONTON - A database belonging to an Alberta separatist group was shut down Thursday as elections officials and Mounties probe an alleged voter-list privacy breach affecting up to three million Albertans.

“The RCMP has initiated an investigation and is working with other law enforcement partners in the province to determine if any offences have been committed,” Alberta’s Mounties said in a statement.

Earlier Thursday, Elections Alberta officials were in court where they argued for and were granted an injunction to have the group, called the Centurion Project, be ordered to take down the database.

Joey Redman, a lawyer for the elections agency, told Court of King's Bench Justice John Little that the information on the list, and therefore in the database, is "incredibly confidential."

Solar ranch in Tennessee aims to prove grazing cattle under the panels is a farmland win-win

CHRISTIANA, Tenn. (AP) — From a distance, the small solar farm in central Tennessee looks like others that now dot rural America, with row upon row of black panels absorbing the sun's rays to generate electricity.

But beneath these panels is lush pasture instead of gravel, enjoyed by a small herd of cattle that spends its days munching grass and resting in the shade.

Silicon Ranch, which owns the 40-acre farm in Christiana, outside of Nashville, believes cattle-grazing is the next frontier in so-called agrivoltaics, which mostly has involved growing crops or grazing sheep beneath the panels.

The solar company debuted the project this week and will spend the next year working to demonstrate to farmers that much larger cattle also can thrive at solar sites. If successful, advocates say, that could jump-start new projects to meet the soaring electricity demand driven by rapidly expanding data centers — without contributing climate-warming carbon emissions — and help cattle producers hold onto their land and livelihoods.

Toy company Spin Master bracing for rising production, shipping costs from war

TORONTO - The war in the Middle East will soon make your kid's favourite toys more expensive to produce and deliver to store shelves.

Spin Master Corp., the Toronto-based firm behind Paw Patrol, Gabby's Dollhouse and Ms. Rachel toys, said Thursday that a blockage of one of the region's key shipping routes is pushing up its freight, resin and packaging costs.

The impact has so far been minimal because the company had several contracts with suppliers that locked in commodity prices before the conflict began on Feb. 28.

But chief financial officer Jonathan Roiter said that will soon change.

Supreme Court hollows out a landmark law that had protected minority voting rights for 6 decades

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Lyndon B. Johnson knew the legislation he was about to sign was momentous, one that took courage for certain members of Congress to pass since the vote could cost them their seats.

To honor that, he took the unusual step of leaving the Oval Office and going to Capitol Hill for the signing ceremony. It was Aug. 6, 1965, five months after the “Bloody Sunday” attack on civil rights marchers in Selma, Alabama, gave momentum to the bill that became known as the Voting Rights Act.

In the six decades since, it became one of the most consequential laws in the nation's history, preventing discrimination against minorities at the ballot box and helping to elect thousands of Black and Hispanic representatives at all levels of government.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court knocked out a major pillar of the law that had protected against racial discrimination in voting and representation. It was a decision that came more than a decade after the court undermined another key tenet of the law and led to restrictive voting laws in a number of states. Voting and civil rights advocates were left fearful of what lies ahead for minority communities.

Young Canadians want AI companies to make their chatbots less addictive: report

OTTAWA - A new report focusing on the perspectives of young people says the government should order AI companies to take steps to curb the addictive aspects of their AI chatbots.

It’s one of a series of recommendations made by youth between the ages of 17 and 23 who took part in roundtables across the country.

Participants presented the report — published by McGill University’s Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy and Simon Fraser University's Dialogue on Technology Project — and its recommendations on Parliament Hill on Thursday.

Maddie Case, a youth fellow with the McGill centre, introduced the 25 young people who developed the chatbot recommendations.