Conservative MPs launch fundraiser for LGBTQ+ refugees

OTTAWA - Two Conservative MPs say leading a fundraising cruise for LGBTQ+ refugees is a tangible way for the party to advance the rights of gender and sexual minorities.

"We're all God's creatures and we're all loved, and we all deserve to be loved and we all deserve to feel safe and secure," Scott Aitchison told The Canadian Press.

"I believe that it's important for all of us to — not to preach that, but to demonstrate that."

Aitchison is MP for Parry Sound—Muskoka, a riding popular with Torontonians who own cottages.

Nova Scotia launches three-year plan to expand its $2.2-billion seafood industry

HALIFAX - The Nova Scotia government has announced a three-year strategy aimed at growing the province’s $2.2-billion seafood industry as it tries to cope with with rising costs, labour shortages and global trade challenges.

Provincial Fisheries Minister Kent Smith said Wednesday that $1.5 million will be set aside this year to establish an innovation hub for applied research.

As well, the strategy calls for expanding the aquaculture sector, providing support for product diversification and offering up to $4 million over three years to diversify markets, among other initiatives.

The strategy was developed with input from industry representatives, said Smith, who made the announcement at Sea Star Seafoods Ltd. in Clark’s Harbour, N.S., a lobster fishing community near the province's southwestern tip.

Hamilton data centre pause survives first council vote, exemption rejected

A proposed citywide moratorium on data centres in Hamilton survived its first test before city council on Wednesday, as local legislators rejected a bid to exempt smaller facilities.

Council voted 15-1 to advance the proposed moratorium, with a final vote expected at next month's council meeting.

The moratorium is framed as a chance for the city to develop guardrails around data centres powering the artificial intelligence boom.

The moratorium's sponsor, Coun. Nrinder Nann, said the plan would help ensure future data centre decisions prioritize public health, transparency and community-defined benefits over rapid industrial expansion.

Homes under $500,000 account for growing proportion of Ontario real estate: report

PICKERING - A new report says homes valued under $500,000 are taking up a bigger share of Ontario's real estate landscape, led by a shift in the condominium market.

New data released by the Municipal Property Assessment Corp. showed those lower-valued homes now account for nearly 24 per cent of Ontario's real estate market, up from 17 per cent in 2022.

Despite that improvement, which MPAC said signals "a rebalancing in the housing market," the report said the share of homes priced below $500,000 is still well below that of a decade ago when they made up 67 per cent.

"The past decade has reshaped Ontario's housing market, and while prices remain elevated, there have been corrections from peak conditions," said the organization's chief assessor and data officer Greg Martino in a news release.

Arctic roads, nuclear repository first to be designated as national interest projects

OTTAWA - Almost a year after the federal government's Bill C-5 was rushed through Parliament, Ottawa is finally looking to use its new powers to expedite projects deemed to be in the national interest.

At an announcement in Yellowknife on Wednesday, three federal ministers identified two Arctic roads and a nuclear waste repository in Ontario as the first three proposals the federal government intends to designate under the Building Canada Act — though construction of those projects is still years away.

They include the Grays Bay road and port project, the Mackenzie Valley highway project and the Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s geological repository. They need to go through a consultation process before the designation is confirmed, something Ottawa hopes to have done by the fall.

The nuclear waste storage facility — in the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation and Ignace area in Ontario — has been referred to the major projects office, federal officials said Wednesday. Grays Bay and the Mackenzie Valley highway were referred to the major projects office in March.

Hockey Night in Canada: A cultural tradition forever changed

When the puck drops this fall on the National Hockey League’s 2026-27 season, for the first time in nearly three-quarters of a century there will be no games available on CBC. Hockey Night in Canada, as Canadian sports fans have known it for generations, has ceased to be.

Daycare, community hub answer to church’s prayers

A dwindling congregation that owns a red brick church building in South Osborne has found a creative way to keep its doors open while meeting a vital need in the neighbourhood.

If all goes according to plan, the sanctuary of Churchill Park United Church will be echoing with the cries and laughter of children by next fall.

The $4.4-million construction project will transform the main floor of the church, at the corner of Beresford Avenue and Nassau Street, into a 112-space daycare centre, while the second floor will become a community hub with meeting space for congregants and other community groups.

A few years ago, the aging congregation — which averaged 30 or 40 people on a Sunday — came to the painful conclusion that they wouldn’t be able to keep managing their building much longer.

Plan to buy B.C. condos might be more about stabilizing sector than housing: expert

VICTORIA - A government plan to buy empty condominiums and turn them into affordable housing in British Columbia might be more about stabilizing the financial sector than housing, an urban planning expert says. 

Some have criticized the federal and B.C. government's plan to convert unsold condos in a plan that Prime Minister Mark Carney said would use "innovative financial tools" as the most efficient ways to increase housing supply.

Carney said last week that effectively "what you're doing is buying them at a price, spreading out the financing," but details, including whether the condos would ultimately be rented out or resold, would not be released until the fall.

Carney and B.C. Premier David Eby said the plan would involve converting 2,200 unsold condos as part of a larger housing plan worth $5 billion over the next decade.

A submarine economic boom is just around corner. So are the challenges.

OTTAWA - As Ottawa inches closer to deciding who will supply the navy's next fleet of submarines, both the benefits and challenges involved in replacing Canada's four rusting antiques are coming to the surface.

While the industrial benefits from the submarine project will start to flow once contract details are hammered out, experts say major questions still need to be answered about long-term maintenance and staffing of the complex war machines.

Both qualified bidders offered multiple partnerships with Canadian companies in their heated, high-stakes race for the multi-billion dollar contract to manufacture up to 12 submarines.

Secretary of State for Defence Procurement Stephen Fuhr said Monday Ottawa has been squarely focused on the economic benefits that would flow from either bid, since both of the boats on offer meet all the navy's requirements.

Fewer Canadians see U.S. as ‘reliable’ as global confidence in Washington sags: poll

WASHINGTON - Most Canadians continue to view the United States unfavourably as global confidence in the U.S. under President Donald Trump continues to slide.

That finding comes from new polling by the Pew Research Center which also suggests Trump is receiving mostly negative ratings from countries around the world.

"We observe that Canadians hold critical views of the U.S. across nearly every measure that we've surveyed," said Pew research associate Moira Fagan.

Fagan said "confidence in Trump" is "well below the international median," while "favourable views of the U.S." are "at or near a record low."

Nova Scotia failing to properly oversee addictions, mental health care, says auditor

HALIFAX - Nova Scotia's auditor general says the Office of Addictions and Mental Health has failed to provide effective oversight of mental health and addiction services and its staff were not aware of all provincially funded centres offering care.

In response to a rise in mental health needs during the COVID-19 pandemic, the government created the office with a dedicated minister in 2021. Five years later, auditor general Kim Adair said the office has insufficient oversight and responsibility for mental health and addiction services — despite its role in setting policy direction and care standards.

"We're concerned that five years in, some of these fundamental aspects which we would expect to be in place by now are not there," Adair told reporters Tuesday.

The audit found the province has spent close to $1 billion on mental health addiction services over the past three years; however, Adair found that the office did not set up standards for access to services to ensure consistent and equitable mental health and addictions care.

Several First Nations sign deal with Ottawa, Ontario to own part of a nuclear reactor

Several Ontario First Nations are set to become owners of a new nuclear reactor after striking a commercial partnership with the federal and provincial governments.

Ottawa tabs $21.6M for Sayisi Dene energy projects

A remote northern Manitoba community has solar panels stocked — and now, it’s creating the province’s first integrated renewable energy microgrid led by a First Nation.

MMF suing governments over hunting, fishing rights

The Manitoba Métis Federation has filed two lawsuits against the provincial and federal governments over where in the province its citizens have the right to hunt and fish.

In separate statements of claim filed in the Court of King’s Bench earlier this month, the federation seeks declarations from a judge that the Métis have harvesting rights in several regions of Manitoba, despite current restrictions there, and that those restrictions on Métis hunting and fishing have unjustifiably infringed on their Aboriginal rights under Section 35 of the Constitution.

“The Métis, the Red River Métis, without a doubt have Section 35 rights … equal, side by side with the First Nations and Inuit,” said MMF president David Chartrand in an interview.

One of the claims is over game hunting areas 5, 7 and 7A around Manigotagan and Grass River, north of The Pas, and areas 17A and 26 on the southeast of Lake Winnipeg.

Manitoba government unveils findings of grocery price study

On Monday, Finance Minister Adrien Sala unveiled a report and three new measures government is taking, including restoring a food basket tool to regularly measure the cost of food per region and introducing legislation to mandate unit pricing in grocery stores.

Ottawa reverses orders to surrender some ‘lost Canadian’ citizenship certificates

OTTAWA - Just one week after some "lost Canadians" were told to surrender their new citizenship certificates, a few received letters over the weekend confirming their citizenship claims are valid once again.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada spokesperson said Monday the department is now reviewing the roughly 4,100 citizenship by descent claims made under an amendment to the law that offers a path to citizenship for those with Canadian ancestors.

Citizenship certificates will not be suspended unless the review turns up a problem with a document already issued, the spokesperson said.

A statement the department issued last week said it is temporarily pausing the finalization of citizenship certificates related to the citizenship by descent amendment passed as Bill C-3.

Many hands feed many mouths at Siloam Mission

It takes many willing hands to prepare the quantities of food required to serve community members accessing Siloam Mission’s meal services.

One of these hands belong to Kishwar Mirza, a recently retired nurse who has been volunteering every Tuesday morning for the 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. breakfast shift in Siloam’s kitchen.

Led by Siloam Mission’s kitchen staff, Mirza and the volunteer crew — who number between 12 to 16 — prep 700 pieces of toast, 576 eggs, 150 pounds of fruit, 120 litres of soup and 80 pounds of meat daily for the approximately 600 people who turn up for breakfast, lunch and dinner at the Princess Street drop-in.

Breakfast is served from 9 to 10 a.m., plated up assembly-line style as community members queue to receive their food through the service window.

Thousands celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day

Drums and song filled Winnipeg’s downtown Sunday as thousands gathered at The Forks to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day and while festivities continued late into the evening, some in attendance said the event’s importance spans generations.

Braiding her daughter Sofia Ducharme’s hair in preparation for the Wáhkóhtowin Powwow — one of the day’s numerous celebrations — Alea Elliott said the powwow was one of the first for the 11-year-old. Watching his daughter get ready was Derek Ducharme, who is originally from the Waywayseecappo First Nation.

“It’s nice she gets to do this, because Derek didn’t get to learn about his culture,” said Alea, saying the family came into the city from Landmark.

Wearing a stunning jingle dress that shines in the summer sun, both Alea and Derek said they were proud to see their daughter participate in Sunday’s celebration, as Derek’s father was a victim of Canada’s colonial systems that separated Indigenous families from their children.

AI safety advocates say bill a good ‘first step’ on regulation, but more needed

The federal government’s proposed online safety legislation is a good start on regulating artificial intelligence chatbots — but more work will be needed to protect Canadians from their potential harms, a pair of advocates say.

Bill C-34, introduced earlier this month in the House of Commons, would regulate the companies behind AI chatbots by imposing on them a duty to act “responsibly.”

It includes measures to lower the risk of chatbots communicating harmful content and would put in place crisis intervention protocols for cases involving self-harm, suicide or violence.

Wyatt Tessari L’Allié, founder of Artificial Intelligence Governance and Safety Canada, said the bill’s effectiveness depends on how the details are worked out.

‘This is nuts’: The hard-fought race to build Canada’s next submarine fleet

From a massive ad blitz featuring Canadian broadcast icon Peter Mansbridge to a cabinet minister calling on shipbuilders to cough up a car plant, the brief race to replace Canada’s aging submarine fleet turned heads in more ways than one.

More than words: Military-Indigenous reconciliation event aims to build bridges between past and future

Bagpipes and traditional Indigenous drums played as one Saturday morning at the Canadian Forces Base in Winnipeg for the first Indigenous Reconciliation Gathering.

Ahead of National Indigenous Peoples Day Sunday, the Canadian Armed Forces hosted a full day of programming focused on bridging the gap between the military and Indigenous communities.

“What we really want to do is we want to move away from words,” said Lt. Col. Josh Van Tine. “There’s a lot of talk about reconciliation, but actions are harder to find, and we want to move beyond words and move to actions. We hope that people see we’re serious about it.”

The event is based on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 57th call to action, which is to provide education to public servants on the history of Indigenous people.

Happy feet: Students get outfitted with donated running shoes ahead of Manitoba Marathon

About 250 kids from remote and inner city communities were fitted for happy feet Saturday afternoon ahead of Sunday’s Manitoba Marathon events.

Zoe Yanke, 16, bused from her home community of Gillam to run in the Manitoba Marathon 10-kilometre race Sunday morning. She and about a dozen of her peers are participating in several of the events and were gifted a new pair of shoes ahead of race day through the Soles4Souls program.

The program hosts events across North America and donates shoes, socks and active wear to kids in need.

At the University of Manitoba’s student centre, not far from Sunday’s starting line, students trickled in by the busload and were met by a volunteer who fitted them for shoes. From there, a “runner” volunteer fetched a few options for them to try on for size, fit and style.