Trucking operation linked to fatality in Brandon shut down by Alberta government

The Alberta government has shut down Conquer Transport Inc., the trucking company linked to a crash near Brandon in which a 49-year-old woman, who had the right of way, was killed.

Devin Dreeshen, Alberta’s transport minister, said the province launched an investigation into Conquer Transport after one of its semi-trucks ran a stop sign on May 27, 2026 at Highway 110 at Richmond Avenue East.

The semi hit an SUV driven by Xiaoyun Zhang, a Chinese immigrant who worked at the nearby pork processing plant. She died at the scene and the truck driver, 35-year-old Brijpal Panwar, has been charged with dangerous driving causing death.

“Our investigative team went out and … saw numerous non-compliance issues, whether it was hours of service with their drivers not being recorded properly, vehicle maintenance and inspections being insufficient, their safety program also being insufficient.”

A measure of hope a decade after senseless death, injustice

Colten Boushie’s death and the trial of the man who killed him had an immense impact on Canadians, many of whom learned about the injustice Indigenous communities know all too well for the first time.

Can federal legislation effectively rein in social media’s opaque algorithms and deceptive design features?

In June, when Ottawa introduced Bill C-34, the Safe Social Media Act, one element — plans to block children under the age of 16 from certain social media platforms — dominated headlines and fuelled debates.

But this marks just one component of a complex, 92-page bill that would enact two separate pieces of legislation: the Digital Safety Act and the Digital Safety Commission of Canada Act.

The Free Press took a close look at the tabled bill, breaking down the changes it would make, if passed.

Heritage Minister Marc Miller, whose department is responsible for the file, told reporters in June the bill meant to ramp up Canada’s oversight of Big Tech.

Dairy farmers warn against concessions as U.S. tariff deadline looms

OTTAWA - Canadian dairy farmers are warning against any concessions involving their sector as trade talks intensify with the United States ahead of President Donald Trump's tariff deadline.

A new round of 50 per cent American tariffs on a range of Canadian goods is set to take effect on Aug. 19. Unlike most of Trump’s other tariffs, these would have no exemptions for goods that comply with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement on trade.

The supply management system that protects Canadian dairy has been cited by the U.S. as a key irritant in trade negotiations and Trump has complained repeatedly about the level of U.S. dairy farmers' access to Canada's market.

Dairy Farmers of Canada says it's urging the federal government not to offer any more concessions on dairy or supply management in talks with the United States.

Old military transport aircraft to get new lease on life as waterbombers

OTTAWA - The federal government said Friday it is selling 10 of its used CC-130H Hercules aircraft to B.C.-based aerospace company Coulson Aviation, which will convert them into firefighting aircraft.

They're part of a fleet of 12 retired by the Royal Canadian Air Force back in January. The remaining two Hercs will be put on public display at bases and museums.

Secretary of State for Defence Procurement Stephen Fuhr announced the conditional sale of the recently retired aircraft in Abbotsford, B.C., where an international air show is being held.

Fuhr called the sale a "gold standard" divestment project that will give the military assets a new lease on life.

Interim Indigenous languages commissioner says she’s participating in probe of office

OTTAWA - The interim commissioner of Indigenous languages says she knows her office has work to do on rebuilding trust with Indigenous communities, and she is participating fully in a government-ordered audit.

Candice St-Aubin, a former senior assistant deputy minister of strategic policy with Indigenous Services Canada, was appointed interim commissioner for a term of up to 90 days, or until a permanent commissioner is selected.

"Having seen the reporting coming in, my eyes were wide open. Financial stewardship is something that is ingrained in me, much like ethics and codes of conduct, but also managing people," St-Aubin told The Canadian Press during an interview in her downtown Ottawa office.

The Canadian Press reported earlier this year that half a dozen sources, including former employees, said the Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages was failing to move the needle on strengthening Indigenous languages and supporting research.

Court orders Instagram and Facebook’s Meta to pay $567M to address kids’ mental health online

A New Mexico court has ordered Instagram and Facebook parent company Meta to pay $567 million to address harms to young people from its platforms in the second phase of a landmark trial.

Judge Bryan Biedscheid said in a ruling late Thursday that the bulk of the money — $420 million — will be used for treatment services for young people. The rest will go toward awareness and prevention, screening services and other costs over the next five years.

The new penalty is in addition to the $375 million in civil penalties that jurors ordered against Meta in March after determining the company knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms. In the second phase, prosecutors asked the judge to impose fundamental changes at Meta aimed at reining in addictive features, improving age verification and preventing child sexual exploitation through default privacy settings and closer oversight.

The total amount Meta is responsible for — $942 million — is a small fraction of of its annual profit, which was about $60 billion in 2025. Investors seemed to shrug off the New Mexico ruling in after-hours trading Thursday, sending Meta’s stock down less than half a percent to $589.44.

Environment Canada upgrade expected to improve dangerous weather warnings after June storm alert barrage

A new Environment Canada system that will better pinpoint who receives warnings about dangerous incoming weather is coming just weeks after some Manitobans received more than 20 alerts in a matter of hours before and during a massive storm.

The upgraded system, set to launch Tuesday, will focus on targeting areas most affected by severe thunderstorms or tornadoes instead of sending region-wide alerts, using a model based on “free-form polygons,” which allows meteorologists to specifically outline the area where a storm is headed.

“People in Canada will receive more precise severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings faster,” Samantha Bayard, a spokesperson for Environment and Climate Change Canada, said in an email Thursday.

“This will give everyone the information they need to act quickly and stay safe.”

Nova Scotian children under 14 will soon be banned from e-bikes

HALIFAX - Nova Scotia’s public works minister says the province plans to ban children under 14 from riding electric bikes this fall.

Fred Tilley says the age restriction is part of a slate of changes that will be made to the province’s Traffic Safety Act.

The minister says technology is allowing e-scooters and e-bikes to move much faster than before.

The province first restricted children under 14 from using e-scooters back in 2022.

PM says Ottawa is ‘loyal’ to supply management system protecting dairy sector

CHICOUTIMI - Prime Minister Mark Carney says his government is "loyal" to the supply management system protecting Canada's dairy sector and is pointing to the Liberals' choice of candidate in an upcoming byelection as proof of that commitment.

Supply management has been cited by the U.S. as a key irritant in trade negotiations and President Donald Trump has complained repeatedly about the level of U.S. dairy farmers' access to Canada's market.

Taking questions from reporters Thursday after touring an aluminum facility in Saguenay, Que., Carney said the Liberals' choice of former dairy producer Daniel Gobeil to run in the Chicoutimi-Le Fjord byelection shows the government is "loyal" to supply management.

"I've been clear since the start of my campaign for the Liberal leadership … because I believe in supply management. It's important to stabilize prices for Canadian consumers and protect a way of life for small farms," Carney said in French.

Clearing the deck and filling the seats at City Hall

The winds of change are always blowing at Winnipeg’s city hall, but with a civic election looming this fall, the gusts through the council chamber at 510 Main St. seem particularly strong.

With slightly less than three months until voters head to the polls, no less than five incumbent councillors have declared they will not stand for re-election.

Combine that with the possibility that one or more other members of the 15-member body could lose their bids for re-election, and what becomes apparent is that the makeup of Winnipeg’s municipal decision-making assembly will have changed dramatically when the new council is sworn in.

The five veteran councillors who have opted not to seek another term are Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry), Markus Chambers (St. Norbert–Seine River), John Orlikow (River Heights-Fort Garry), Janice Lukes (Waverley West) and Brian Mayes (St. Vital).

Manitoba Hydro’s $3 billion fossil fuel bet

Manitoba Hydro plans to spend $3 billion to build three new fossil fuel power generation turbines in 2030. This big bet on fossil fuel generation would be a big mistake for both the planet and Manitoban’s pocketbooks.

Government overrides school board in ‘mature minor’ controversy

The Manitoba government has vetoed the Steinbach school board’s plan to override common law by making parents the ultimate authority on all student health issues.

Since Hanover School Division trustees approved a motion to disregard the category of “mature minors” just over two months ago, there has been widespread debate.

Trustees unanimously voted to stop honouring the mature minor doctrine — in which teenagers 16 and older are automatically assumed to have the maturity to make medical decisions for themselves — at the end of the 2025-26 school year.

“We would just encourage the Hanover School Division to do what they do best, which is providing high-level, quality education for the kids in their community,” Education Minister Tracy Schmidt said in an interview on Tuesday about her July 22 directive to the board to repeal its motion.

Ottawa awards Telesat $2.3B Arctic military satellite contract

OTTAWA - A Canadian telecommunications firm has signed a deal with the federal government worth $2.3 billion to provide high-speed satellite communications to the Canadian Armed Forces in the Arctic.

The federal Defence Investment Agency and Telesat LEO announced the deal on Monday. The contract is meant to secure broadband coverage in remote northern locations for a range of Canadian military activities, including Norad.

This is the largest contract ever for the Ottawa-based Telesat, which has been in operation for about 60 years. It's expected to give the company's network growth plans a major boost.

Telesat CEO Dan Goldberg said the contract will allow his firm to increase the size of its planned low-Earth orbit satellite network by about 44 per cent by adding another 69 satellites.

Years after the pandemic, MPs are divided on hybrid Parliament rules

OTTAWA - During the pandemic, members of Parliament began voting and attending committee meetings from home. Six years later, Parliamentarians are divided over whether those hybrid rules should remain in place.

In March 2020, the House of Commons adopted a motion allowing the health and finance committees to meet virtually. Four months later, the first House of Commons sitting took place in hybrid format, with some members attending the Commons chamber in person and others dialing in by video conference.

Today, it's common for members of Parliament to cast votes on their phones during announcements, or even while they're out to dinner.

At the U.S.-Canada Summit in June, AI Minister Evan Solomon paused a discussion to vote from his phone.

Duelling symbols: Alberta and Canada flags creating division ahead of referendum

EDMONTON -

Sarah Batchelor says it started a few weeks ago when a large blue flag bearing Alberta's shield of arms appeared on her neighbour's window in Airdrie, a city north of Calgary.

The 49-year-old music teacher, who has lived in the province for most of her life, says she would not have been bothered if her neighbour put it up a couple of years ago.

But now it irks her because of its widespread use by separatists.

Some Canadians tell Carney Ottawa’s spelling protocol should lean British

OTTAWA - It seems some Canadians feel quite at home with the federal government's preference for British spelling.

Messages to Prime Minister Mark Carney on the matter indicate several correspondents see the affectation as a way of countering U.S. cultural dominance.

A flurry of emails to Carney followed news last December that promoters of Canadian English objected to the federal government's use of British spelling in official documents.

Dozens of pages of messages were released to The Canadian Press in response to an Access to Information request.

Helium demand balloons as Mideast supplies deflate: Can Canada meet the moment?

CALGARY - An unusual inquiry came recently to the Calgary office of Avanti Helium Corp., an explorer for the ultralight gas used for applications as wide-ranging as party balloons and space exploration.

It was a prospective customer from the Middle East, where a sizable share of the world's helium supply normally originates, reaching out to a provider half a world away.

"Well, that's interesting," Chris Bakker, Avanti's chief executive, recalled thinking. "I never thought I'd be shipping right in their backyard like that."

Turmoil in the oil and natural gas markets may have garnered the most headlines since the U.S. and Israel launched their war on Iran in late February, but the conflict has also upended helium supplies. Canada has raw resource in the ground to help fill the gap — but industry players say the government lacks the right policies and incentives for them to develop and sell it.

Making water safety a priority

The headlines persist.

Every summer, across Canada, people learn of drownings and deaths that could have been prevented if the people involved had taken water-safety precautions — learning to swim, supervising children, observing boating safety rules, wearing personal flotation devices (PFDs) or being cautious in and around fast-moving waters.

Also every summer, the Royal Lifesaving Society of Canada — which runs the Swim for Life program of swimming lessons across the country — designates the third week of July as National Drowning Prevention Week, as July is when Canadian water-incident rates peak.

The aim of Drowning Prevention Week is to promote water safety of all kinds — and the need is real. According to the Lifesaving Society, over 450 Canadians die annually in preventable water-related incidents. In Manitoba, there are 22 fatal drownings, on average, every year.

Chinese newcomers protest over delays in security screening clearance

Dozens of Chinese newcomers rallied outside Winnipeg’s federal immigration office Friday to protest what they describe as untenable delays to Canada’s security screening process.

The rally against Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada comes after a surge in immigration security screening requests created backlogs for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

Protesters said the resulting delays have left them in limbo as they try to obtain permanent residency.

“We just want transparency,” said Pakying Chau, 26, who travelled from Hong Kong to Winnipeg in 2018 to study agribusiness.

FCC chairman defends actions against ABC, says broadcasters must operate ‘in the public interest’

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr on Friday defended his agency’s recent actions against ABC, saying broadcasters have a duty to “operate in the public interest” and the FCC is merely trying to restore that standard.

Broadcasters like ABC, Carr said in an interview on the Fox Business Network, “struck a deal with the American people. You broadcasters get subsidized access, free access to a valuable public resource, the airwaves, worth billions of dollars. In exchange, you have to operate in the public interest.”

“Look, as a country, we should have a trusted, respected news media, and we’re not there,” Carr told anchor Maria Bartiromo. “So I hope more broadcasters return to their public interest obligations.”

The FCC has been pushing ABC