Social Studies Grade 12

Please review each article prior to use: grade-level applicability and curricular alignment might not be obvious from the headline alone.

A BYD electric car is on display at the Essen Motor Show in Essen, Germany, on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)

Canada should ‘absolutely’ match Poland’s Chinese EV ban at military bases: expert

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Preview

Canada should ‘absolutely’ match Poland’s Chinese EV ban at military bases: expert

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Saturday, Mar. 21, 2026

OTTAWA - Intelligence and cybersecurity experts are warning the Liberal government about national security risks posed by allowing Chinese electric vehicles onto Canadian military bases.

Critics and some experts are even calling on Ottawa to ban the cars from Canadian Armed Forces bases and other sensitive sites due to onboard sensors they say could collect and transmit sensitive information to the Chinese government.

Their warning comes after Poland and Israel instituted similar bans  on EVs built by Chinese companies like BYD Auto over the past year — and as Conservative politicians in Canada raise the alarm over the threat of so-called "spy cars."

Dennis Molinaro, a counter-intelligence expert at Ontario Tech University and a former national security analyst, said the federal government should follow the example of Poland and Israel.

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Saturday, Mar. 21, 2026
GOFUNDME Jordyn Reimer, 24, was killed in 2022 after being hit by a speeding pickup truck travelling on a residential street in Transcona.

‘Wake up people’: mom says proposed drunk-driving law falls short

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Preview

‘Wake up people’: mom says proposed drunk-driving law falls short

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Friday, Mar. 20, 2026

The mother of a designated driver who was killed by an impaired driver says proposed legislation to prohibit school bus and semi drivers from having booze in their system doesn’t go far enough.

“Wake up people, it should be zero for everybody,” said Karen Reimer, whose daughter Jordyn Reimer, 24, was killed in 2022 after being hit by a pickup travelling at 108 kilometres an hour on a residential street in Transcona.

Under Bill 31 (The Highway Traffic Amendment Act), drivers of class 1 to 4 vehicles — including semi-truck and bus operators — would not be allowed to have any alcohol in their blood.

Reimer told a legislative committee Wednesday laws aren’t moving the needle when it comes to impaired driving deaths and injuries. The province had 13 impaired driving fatalities in 2025, the same number that it had a decade ago. Last year, there were 62 serious injuries, an increase from 60 in 2015, as reported by Manitoba Public Insurance.

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Friday, Mar. 20, 2026
joe raedle / getty images FILE A Canadian flag flies next to the American one at the Lewiston-Queenston border crossing bridge connecting Ontario and New York. A Canadian flag flies next to the American one at the Lewiston-Queenston border crossing bridge on Feb. 4, 2025, in Niagara Falls, Canada. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images/TNS)

More than 20 per cent of Manitobans think the U.S. could invade Canada in the next two years, poll conducted for the Free Press reveals

Tyler Searle 6 minute read Preview

More than 20 per cent of Manitobans think the U.S. could invade Canada in the next two years, poll conducted for the Free Press reveals

Tyler Searle 6 minute read Friday, Mar. 20, 2026

It has been more than two centuries since American troops crossed the international border in 1812 and invaded what was then the British colony of Canada — but that feeling of everlasting peace is fading.

Against the backdrop of the U.S. war with Iran, its forced removal of Venezuela’s president and President Donald Trump’s musing about annexing Greenland and making Canada the 51st state, some Manitobans are beginning to fear the spectre of armed conflict between this country and its neighbour to the south.

More than one out of five Manitobans believe an American invasion of Canada is possible in the next two years, according to a new Probe Research poll commissioned by the Free Press. Of those, 18 per cent of respondents said the prospect was somewhat likely, and four per cent felt it was very likely.

“The idea of the U.S. invading, for a long time, seemed preposterous. This certainly isn’t a question that we would’ve expected to ask people even a couple of years ago, but we wanted to understand with all of the things that have been happening in the last few months… if this is something that people think is a possibility,” said Curtis Brown, principal of Probe Research.

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Friday, Mar. 20, 2026
Gas and diesel prices at the Shell Gas Station at the Corral Centre in Brandon on Friday. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

Gas pains: soaring prices due to Mideast conflict could lead to energy turning point in Canada

Dan Lett 9 minute read Preview

Gas pains: soaring prices due to Mideast conflict could lead to energy turning point in Canada

Dan Lett 9 minute read Friday, Mar. 20, 2026

Veteran actor Billy Bob Thornton may seem like an unlikely source of wisdom about the world’s relentless dependence on oil. Then again, it would be hard to find a better, more poignant description of the global addiction than a diatribe he delivered in a recent episode of Landman, a melodrama set in the Texas oil industry.

Thornton’s character, Tommy Norris, a crisis manager for a large oil company, is walking through a wind turbine farm that generates electricity to power remote oil rigs. Norris notes that over a wind turbine’s 20-year lifespan, the “clean” energy it produces won’t offset the carbon emitted in the manufacturing of its components or its installation. The same economics, Norris says, can be applied to solar panels and batteries for electric vehicles.

Then, the punchline.

“Our whole lives depend on (oil). And hell, it’s in everything — that road we came in on, the wheels on every car ever made, including yours. It’s in tennis rackets and lipstick and refrigerators and antihistamines. Pretty much anything plastic: your cellphone case, artificial heart valves, any kind of clothing that’s not made with animal or plant fibers. Soap, f—king hand lotion, garbage bags, fishing boats. You name it, every f—king thing. And you know what the kicker is?

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Friday, Mar. 20, 2026
Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa., speaks at a campaign rally on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, in Newtown, Pa. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
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U.S. congressman introduces bill targeting Online Streaming Act

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview
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U.S. congressman introduces bill targeting Online Streaming Act

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Friday, Apr. 24, 2026

OTTAWA - A Republican congressman in Washington has introduced a new bill taking aim at Canada’s Online Streaming Act.

The bill would trigger an investigation of the streaming legislation by the Office of the United States Trade Representative, Rep. Lloyd Smucker's office said in a news release.

The statement said if the trade representative finds the implementation of the streaming bill discriminates against or burdens American commerce, the USTR would be directed to take “necessary retaliatory action.”

Under the Online Streaming Act, the federal broadcast regulator has ordered large foreign platforms to make a five per cent contribution toward Canadian content.

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Friday, Apr. 24, 2026
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS The River East School Division office at 589 Rock Street on Wednesday, March 18, 2026. For — story. Free Press 2026 MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS The River East School Division office at 589 Rock Street on Wednesday, March 18, 2026. For — story. Free Press 2026

Family says teen re-victimized by school’s lax response after reporting sexual assault

Jeff Hamilton 18 minute read Preview

Family says teen re-victimized by school’s lax response after reporting sexual assault

Jeff Hamilton 18 minute read Monday, Mar. 23, 2026

With its soft lighting and cosy couches, the classroom hangout at the River East-Transcona School Division high school is supposed to be a safe space for students to decompress.

But that changed one Monday in January.

That day, after the supervising teacher had left the room, a teenage girl says she was sitting on the floor with her back against a love seat when a much larger male student sat down on the cushion directly behind her, boxing her in between his knees.

She said he reached over and forced his hands beneath her shirt, grabbing her breasts for several minutes while she froze and did not speak or move.

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Monday, Mar. 23, 2026
FILE - Embers are blown off a burning tree as the Eaton Fire burns in Altadena, Calif., Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Nic Coury, File)

Records shattered as summer heat hits Southwest in March; ‘This is what climate change looks like’

Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Records shattered as summer heat hits Southwest in March; ‘This is what climate change looks like’

Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press 6 minute read Saturday, Mar. 21, 2026

WASHINGTON (AP) — The dangerous heat wave shattering March records all over the U.S. Southwest is more than just another extreme weather blip. It’s the latest next-level weather wildness that is occurring ever more frequently as Earth’s warming builds.

Experts said unprecedented and deadly weather extremes that sometimes strike at abnormal times and in unusual places are putting more people in danger. For example, the Southwest is used to coping with deadly heat, but not months ahead of schedule, including a 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44.4 degrees Celsius) reading in two Arizona communities on Friday that smashed the highest March temperature recorded in the U.S. Two places in Southern California also hit that same temperature. All four spots are clustered within about 50 miles (80.5 kilometers) of each other.

“This is what climate change looks like in real time: extremes pushing beyond the bounds we once thought possible,” said University of Victoria climate scientist Andrew Weaver. “What used to be unprecedented events are now recurring features of a warming world.”

March's heat would have been virtually impossible without human-caused climate change, according to a report Friday by World Weather Attribution, an international group of scientists who study the causes of extreme weather events.

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Saturday, Mar. 21, 2026
File A shopping cart with grocery products

Shopping bill is a good pre-emptive strike

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

Shopping bill is a good pre-emptive strike

Editorial 4 minute read Friday, Mar. 20, 2026

On the face of it, it looks like a solution desperately hunting for a problem.

But that’s sometimes the way proactive legislation looks.

As first salvos go, Manitoba’s Bill 49 should probably be viewed not an effort not to deal with an imaginary problem, but one being put in place to ensure that the problem doesn’t arrive.

What the bill does is to add individual pricing to the province’s collection of improper business practices.

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Friday, Mar. 20, 2026
FILE - Workers install lights on an
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Teenagers sue Musk’s xAI claiming image-generator made sexually explicit images of them as minors

Travis Loller, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview
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Teenagers sue Musk’s xAI claiming image-generator made sexually explicit images of them as minors

Travis Loller, The Associated Press 4 minute read Friday, Apr. 24, 2026

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Three teenagers in Tennessee sued Elon Musk's xAI this week, claiming the company's image-generation tools were used to morph real photos of them into explicitly sexual images.

The high school students, who are seeking to proceed under pseudonyms, filed the lawsuit in California, where xAI — Musk's artificial intelligence company — has its headquarters. They are seeking class-action status in order to represent what the lawsuit says are thousands of victims like themselves who either are minors or were minors when sexually explicit images of them were created.

According to the lawsuit, Jane Doe 1 was alerted anonymously in December that someone was distributing sexually explicit images of her on a social media website.

“At least five of these files, one video and four images, depicted her actual face and body in settings with which she was familiar, but morphed into sexually explicit poses," the lawsuit states. It claims the person distributing the images knew Doe and used xAI's image generation tools to turn real photos of her into sexually abusive ones. One of the images was taken from a homecoming photo. Another was taken from a high school yearbook.

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Friday, Apr. 24, 2026
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES The Fairmont Winnipeg hotel will be closed from July 1 until spring of 2027 while it undergoes a complete remodelling of all 340 guest rooms, the Fairmont Gold lounge, the top-floor indoor pool, gym and sauna.

Downtown mulls uncertain impact of Fairmont downtime

Malak Abas 4 minute read Preview

Downtown mulls uncertain impact of Fairmont downtime

Malak Abas 4 minute read Thursday, Mar. 19, 2026

As the Fairmont Winnipeg hotel prepares to close its doors this summer for a months-long renovation project, surrounding businesses say they’re waiting to see what the impact will be on Winnipeg’s downtown.

Any time Palomino Club owner Christian Stringer books an act outside of the province, he’ll set them up at the Fairmont — most recently, DJ Pauly D of Jersey Shore fame — and a chunk of his customer base is out-of-towners staying at the nearby hotel looking for a bit of fun.

“(The Fairmont) has always been the five-star (hotel) for us,” Stringer said Thursday.

He said he’s not sure how much the hotel closing from July until spring of 2027 will affect business. He worries it might complicate bringing in performers from outside of Canada — a practice he’s already had to cut back on as the Canadian dollar has made it harder to meet the asking price of U.S. acts.

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Thursday, Mar. 19, 2026
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Darryl Harrison, Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Advocacy with Winnipeg Construction Association talks to reporters during the City of Winnipeg EPC meeting. See Joyanne Pursaga story 211208 - Wednesday, December 08, 2021.

Construction groups miffed by new fee on public-sector projects

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Preview

Construction groups miffed by new fee on public-sector projects

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Thursday, Mar. 19, 2026

Three large construction associations in Manitoba say the cost of huge public projects will soar thanks to a new fee implemented by the province, and they want the auditor general to investigate it.

The fee is applied to projects covered by Manitoba Jobs Agreements, which launched last year to try to ensure more local workers and contractors benefit from big public-sector projects. Builders must pay 85 cents per hour, per worker.

The Winnipeg Construction Association, Manitoba Heavy Construction Association and the Construction Association of Rural Manitoba attacked the fee in a joint letter Thursday.

“The 85 cents per hour has nothing to do with wages of workers on site,” said Darryl Harrison, director of the Winnipeg association. “Every cent… (could) be spent in other ways that help the Manitoba taxpayer.

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Thursday, Mar. 19, 2026
Ruth Bonneville/Free Press Soprano Neema Bickersteth performs an aria from Treemonisha: A Musical Reimagining, a historic African-American opera that will open the Manitoba Opera season.
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Manitoba Opera season features reimagined Scott Joplin work and Puccini classic

Eva Wasney 5 minute read Preview
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Manitoba Opera season features reimagined Scott Joplin work and Puccini classic

Eva Wasney 5 minute read Thursday, Mar. 19, 2026

Manitoba Opera’s 54th season will feature a once-forgotten masterpiece and a returning classic.

The 2026-27 season opens with the local première of Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha: A Musical Reimagining (Nov. 21, 25, 27) and closes with Madama Butterfly (April 17, 21, 23, 2027), both performed at the Centennial Concert Hall.

Treemonisha was published in 1911 by Scott Joplin, the celebrated African-American pianist and composer often referred to as the King of Ragtime. Set during the Reconstruction era in the United States, the three-act opera focuses on the story of its title character, a young freedwoman, and fuses Western classical music with blues, gospel and ragtime.

The work proved too groundbreaking for the Euro-centric opera establishment and was produced for the first time in 1970, more than 50 years after Joplin’s death. The composer was awarded a Pulitzer Prize posthumously for his contributions to American music.

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Thursday, Mar. 19, 2026
Bill Voulgaris, president of the Winnipeg Pigeon Flyers club, said the breed’s intense desire to return home makes it extremely unlikely the birds would linger in neighbouring yards or properties or leave droppings in them. (Francisco Seco / The Associated Press files)

Residents pigeonhole hobbyist’s backyard aviary as health risk, nuisance

Joyanne Pursaga 4 minute read Preview

Residents pigeonhole hobbyist’s backyard aviary as health risk, nuisance

Joyanne Pursaga 4 minute read Thursday, Mar. 19, 2026

Some Winnipeg residents will flock to city hall next week, aiming to oppose a racing-pigeon aviary in their neighbourhood.

However, supporters of the practice say the birds should ruffle few feathers.

The city’s urban planning and design division approved the construction of a 3.9-square-metre (42-square-foot) structure to house racing pigeons in a Strathcona Street backyard.

“The relatively small structure is significantly smaller than a vehicle garage, and would not be out of character on the lot,” writes city planner Dylan Chyz-Lund, in a city report.

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Thursday, Mar. 19, 2026
The Meta logo is seen at the Vivatech show in Paris, France on Wednesday, June 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)
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Local TV stations ask regulator to force Meta to pay for posting some news content

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview
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Local TV stations ask regulator to force Meta to pay for posting some news content

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Friday, Apr. 24, 2026

OTTAWA - Some local and independent TV stations are asking the federal broadcast regulator to start a process to force Meta to pay for allowing some news content on Facebook and Instagram.

They say that despite Meta’s move in 2023 to pull news from its platforms in response to the Online News Act, some content remains available.

The Online News Act requires Meta and Google to compensate media outlets for displaying their content. While Meta pulled news from its platforms in response and has not been required to pay news outlets, Google has been making payments under the act.

In a submission to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the stations cite examples of online posts that included news content, such as text and screenshots of stories and video clips.

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Friday, Apr. 24, 2026
High school students from Japan use umbrellas to shield themselves from the rain while stopping to view the totem poles at Stanley Park, in Vancouver, on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Unusual atmospheric river will impact B.C. for days, even after it ends, says expert

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Unusual atmospheric river will impact B.C. for days, even after it ends, says expert

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Friday, Mar. 20, 2026

VANCOUVER - Emergency officials say residents stranded by an early morning mudslide in Coquitlam, B.C., on Thursday have been safely extracted by helicopter, but a meteorologist warns such slides remain a possibility as an atmospheric river continues to drench the province.

RCMP say they were called to a rural area near the Upper Coquitlam River just after 5:30 a.m. following reports of a mudslide north of the Upper Coquitlam River Park. Coquitlam Search and Rescue said in a social media post that its crews started to rescue residents, who were stranded on the north end of Pipeline Road, just before 10 a.m.

The post said all eight residents, two dogs and one cat living in the area were extracted by a helicopter by 2:45 p.m.

BC Hydro said the slide knocked down a power line, temporarily leaving some 5,000 people without power. The utility expected power to be restored to all affected customers late Thursday or early Friday, but noted crews were having difficulty accessing the damage due to the unstable ground.

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Friday, Mar. 20, 2026
A Tesla electric vehicle is seen leaving a Tesla showroom and service centre in Ottawa on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle
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Consumers favouring combustion engine cars as interest in EVs wanes: report

Ritika Dubey, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview
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Consumers favouring combustion engine cars as interest in EVs wanes: report

Ritika Dubey, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Friday, Apr. 24, 2026

TORONTO - A new report shows consumers are increasingly favouring internal combustion engine cars for their next car purchase rather than an electric vehicle.

The latest EY mobility consumer index for 2025 shows only seven per cent of those planning to buy a car in the next 24 months intended to buy an EV, down from 15 per cent in the previous report from 2024.

Meanwhile, 58 per cent said they preferred an internal combustion engine vehicle, up from 44 per cent in 2024.

The report, published on Thursday, found 30 per cent of Canadians hoping to buy a car soon are delaying or reconsidering an EV purchase in light of recent geopolitical issues.

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Friday, Apr. 24, 2026
Local youth skate with a large Canadian flag on the Rideau Canal to launch celebrations for the 60th Anniversary of the National Flag of Canada Day, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
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Canada drops down to 25th place in world happiness rankings: report

Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview
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Canada drops down to 25th place in world happiness rankings: report

Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Friday, Apr. 24, 2026

TORONTO - Canada's happiness ranking slipped again last year, continuing a decade-long trend that's seen the country plummet from the 5th happiest in the world in 2014 to 25th in 2026.

The annual World Happiness Report from the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford looked at how social media use might be affecting happiness on a population level, and found in some cases it was having an impact.

"There's probably no simple explanation as to why Canadians' view of happiness has been dropping. What this report suggests is that social media could be one part of this puzzle, but it doesn't seem like it's the full picture," said Felix Cheung, a happiness researcher at the University of Toronto, who reviewed two chapters in the report but did not write it.

Between 2023 and 2025, the timeframe the researchers used for this report, Canadians' life evaluations averaged at 6.741 out of 10. In Finland, the happiest country in the world for nine years running, the average was 7.764.

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Friday, Apr. 24, 2026
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Hydro built our past. What’s the future of energy?

5 minute read Thursday, Mar. 19, 2026

Manitoba has long told itself a comforting story about abundant clean electricity. For generations, hydroelectric power flowing through northern rivers has powered homes, farms and industry while giving the province one of the cleanest electricity systems in North America.

It remains a remarkable achievement. But climate change, rising electricity demand and growing affordability pressures are quietly rewriting that story.

Across Canada, provinces are beginning to rethink their electricity futures. Ontario is moving ahead with construction of what is expected to be the first grid-scale small modular reactor in the G7. Saskatchewan is preparing for potential deployment in the early 2030s. Meanwhile, proposals like StarCore’s concept near Pinawa are beginning to push the nuclear conversation into our public debate.

Manitoba itself has not made nuclear part of its near-term energy plan. Manitoba Hydro’s 2025 Integrated Resource Plan suggests the province could require new electricity supply by around 2030 as demand grows and existing capacity tightens.

Alberta Minister of Justice Mickey Amery announces proposed changes to several pieces of democratic process legislation, in Edmonton on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Alberta government moves to drastically reduce access to medically assisted dying

Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Alberta government moves to drastically reduce access to medically assisted dying

Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Thursday, Mar. 19, 2026

EDMONTON - Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's government took steps Wednesday to drastically restrict who's eligible for medical assistance in dying.

Smith’s United Conservative Party government introduced a bill that, if passed, would limit medical assistance in dying, better known as MAID, to those likely to die of natural causes within a year.

Those under 18 would still be prohibited regardless of condition, in line with current federal rules.

But Smith said Ottawa's framework is largely missing the mark.

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Thursday, Mar. 19, 2026
A cashier rings in purchases at a grocery store in North Vancouver on Sunday, March 22, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
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Most Canadians want to ban or regulate algorithmic pricing, poll shows

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview
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Most Canadians want to ban or regulate algorithmic pricing, poll shows

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Friday, Apr. 24, 2026

OTTAWA - Most Canadians want the government to ban or regulate the use of algorithms to set prices, a new poll suggests — with half of respondents saying the practice is unfair because it can result in people paying different prices for the same product.

The Abacus Data poll, which was conducted online and can't be assigned a margin of error, surveyed 1,931 Canadians on algorithmic pricing.

The poll defined algorithmic pricing as the adjustment of prices in real time based on such factors as who is buying, the time of day and browsing behaviour.

Algorithmic pricing is already established in sectors like travel but has been expanding into other markets, such as retail and rental housing. It could, for example, lead to a retailer charging different prices for diapers online, depending on what it can glean about a shopper's habits.

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Friday, Apr. 24, 2026
SUPPLIED Endayaan Omaa - NW corner
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Ottawa contributes $91M to 10-storey Naawi-Oodena apartment block

Tyler Searle 4 minute read Preview
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Ottawa contributes $91M to 10-storey Naawi-Oodena apartment block

Tyler Searle 4 minute read Wednesday, Mar. 18, 2026

The federal government has announced $91 million to support the development of a 10-storey apartment building that’s under construction at the former Kapyong Barracks site.

“This is an exciting day, but it really marks the doors opening for future with a lot more affordable homes for people who need them the most,” said federal Housing Minister Gregor Robertson.

The project — named Endayaan Omaa, meaning “home is here” in the Anishinaabemowin language — will create 260 housing units in southwest Winnipeg; 109 units will offer affordable rents below median market value.

It is part of the larger plan to transform the former military site into Canada’s largest urban reserve. The overall project, led by a consortium of seven Treaty One Nations and dubbed Naawi-Oodena, is expected to provide about 5,000 homes.

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Wednesday, Mar. 18, 2026
an image of Val Kilmer is seen during the in memoriam during the 32nd Annual Actor Awards on Sunday, March 1, 2026, at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
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An AI-rendered Val Kilmer will posthumously appear in a new film

Jake Coyle, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview
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An AI-rendered Val Kilmer will posthumously appear in a new film

Jake Coyle, The Associated Press 3 minute read Friday, Apr. 24, 2026

NEW YORK (AP) — A year after the actor's death, a generative AI version of Val Kilmer will co-star in an independent film, in one of the boldest uses yet of artificial intelligence in moviemaking.

First Line Films announced Wednesday that Kilmer has posthumously joined the cast of a film titled “As Deep as the Grave.” The producers said that, before his death, Kilmer had signed on to perform in the movie but was unable to because of his health.

Kilmer's estate gave permission for his digital replication, and is being compensated for it. Mercedes Kilmer, the actor's daughter, said the role resonated with her father.

“He always looked at emerging technologies with optimism as a tool to expand the possibilities of storytelling,” she said in a statement. “This spirit is something that we are all honoring within this specific film, of which he was an integral part.”

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Friday, Apr. 24, 2026
David Suzuki is pictured during an interview with The Canadian Press, in Montreal, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. The David Suzuki Foundation collaborated with a new immersive exhibit, called Root for Nature. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi
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David Suzuki is turning 90. Environmentalists may have ‘lost, big time,’ but he still has hope

Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview
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David Suzuki is turning 90. Environmentalists may have ‘lost, big time,’ but he still has hope

Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Sunday, Mar. 22, 2026

David Suzuki admits defeat — at least in some respects.

The geneticist-turned-environmentalist, who is days away from his 90th birthday, reflected on his legacy as he prepared to release his latest book, "Lessons from a Lifetime," which compiles photos and stories from his life, as well as testimonials written by those he inspired.

"To me, the important legacy that I want to tell my grandchildren is, look, I tried. I love you. I did the best I could for you. And I tried," he said on a video call last month.

"The measure of a person is not whether they succeeded — because we've lost, environmentalists have lost, big time — but that we tried."

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Sunday, Mar. 22, 2026
Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture Marc Miller rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby
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Culture minister says ‘serious conversation’ needed about AI systems and news media

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview
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Culture minister says ‘serious conversation’ needed about AI systems and news media

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Friday, Apr. 24, 2026

OTTAWA - Culture Minister Marc Miller says the government must have a serious conversation about AI systems’ use of news.

"Having the news cannibalized and regurgitated undermines the spirit of the use of that news in the first place and the purpose for which it's used and we have to have a serious conversation with the platforms that purport to use it including AI shops," Miller said.

Miller was asked whether the government is open to extending its Online News Act to AI companies. The Online News Act requires Meta and Google to compensate media outlets for displaying their content. Meta pulled news off its platforms in response, but Google has been making payments under the act.

He said it’s not a question about opening up the legislation but of making sure companies are acting responsibly.

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Friday, Apr. 24, 2026