Justice minister says he will review MAID committee testimony before making decision

OTTAWA - Justice Minister Sean Fraser says he will take time over the summer to review the work of a committee tasked with determining whether Canada is ready to allow people with mental illness access to medically assisted dying.

Committee co-chair Marcus Powlowski said last week the report would be presented to Parliament on Wednesday to ensure it's in the government's hands before the House of Commons takes its summer break.

Fraser said Tuesday he will consider more than the committee's conclusions and recommendations.

"Importantly to me, I'm also going to be reviewing the witness testimony upon which those recommendations were based," he said.

MPs urge action to undercut ‘manosphere’ by tackling anti-women ideology

OTTAWA - MPs are calling on the government to tackle the rise of antifeminist ideology by funding programs that undercut the "manosphere" of online influencers who blame women for men's problems.

The House of Commons status of women committee tabled a report Tuesday warning "antifeminist ideologies are becoming increasingly prominent in Canada and internationally."

The committee says boys and young men who are isolated or struggling to find their place in society are being presented with extreme content online that glorifies dominating and dehumanizing women and amplifies gender-based violence.

At a news conference on Parliament Hill, Conservative MP Dominique Vien, the committee's chair, told reporters witnesses who spoke to the committee struggled to identify a single reason for the rise in antifeminism.

Minister says ‘lost Canadians’ must prove link to Canada in each generation

OTTAWA - Immigration Minister Lena Diab says having a Canadian ancestor does not guarantee someone is eligible for Canadian citizenship.

Diab was pushed in question period Tuesday by Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner to state how many people got proof of citizenship under the new citizenship-by-descent law using inaccurate documents.

An unknown number of people who received citizenship certificates under the new law received letters from the federal government over the weekend demanding that they surrender them. A statement from the Immigration Department says "a limited number" of people received these letters.

A spokesperson from Diab's office later said "a few dozen" surrender letters have been issued.

Ottawa’s new surveillance pricing rules not likely to take effect before 2028

OTTAWA - The federal government wants to be "super careful" as it tackles surveillance pricing, Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon said after tabling the government's new privacy bill.

Under the plan outlined by Solomon, those rules on surveillance pricing are unlikely to be in place before 2028.

"It's very easy to say just ban using personal information to give personal pricing, because we have to be super careful that we don't want to penalize people who are members of a rewards program," Solomon said Monday in an interview with The Canadian Press.

The government introduced the bill Monday — its third attempt to update decades-old privacy laws covering the private sector.

Liberal government tables new First Nations drinking water legislation

New legislation tabled by the government on Tuesday will create a legislative framework to protect drinking water in First Nations communities, Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty said.

Man’s suicide raises concerns about sentencing of Indigenous offenders

The suicide of a young Indigenous man is raising questions about the province’s efforts at reconciliation in the justice system.

Ethan Wildcat was arrested in 2021 at age 19 following a gun incident at a Winnipeg home that resulted in no injuries. The first-time offender pleaded guilty in court and received a three-year prison sentence.

A formal Gladue report was not prepared for the sentencing.

“Our system isn’t working the way it’s supposed to,” said criminal defence lawyer and MLA Mark Wasyliw, noting Indigenous Manitobans make up 18 per cent of the general population and 82 per cent of those incarcerated.

Ebola stretches weakened global aid system

The WHO has declared the current outbreak an international public health emergency.

Gillingham, Santos get firsthand look at firefighter training program

For roughly 30 minutes, two city council members crouched inside a shipping container Monday afternoon, dressed in full firefighter gear to experience extreme heat, controlled flames and plumes of smoke.

Mayor Scott Gillingham and Coun. Vivian Santos (Point Douglas), chair of community services, volunteered to take part in Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service fire dynamics training to get a firsthand look at how emergency crews learn to battle blazes.

A few minutes after getting up close with real flames, his face still red and skin bearing the imprint of a helmet, the mayor said the experience was both remarkably hot and educational.

“It was pretty invigorating, for sure, but … what’s really good about this, for our crews, obviously, is this is known. This is a controlled environment … (It’s) less stressful for them because they know what they’re going into,” said Gillingham.

Division undertakes close to $1M in security upgrades after sex offender gets into two schools

Selfies are now standard protocol for all visitors to public schools in St. Vital.

Winnipeg musician brings love for the bus to new song with message to province

A new song released this week by John Samson Fellows comes with a clear call to action: “More buses, more routes, more accessible to everyone.”

The tune, titled 50/50 Funding, praises public transportation and calls on the provincial government to reinstate matching transit funding for Manitoba municipalities.

It was written in support of the Next Stop campaign led by Climate Action Team Manitoba and the Amalgamated Transit Union, which aims to restore the long-standing cost-sharing agreement scrapped by the former Progressive Conservative government in 2016.

Getting on board with a transit-improvement campaign was an easy decision for Samson Fellows.

CRTC gives Bell and Telus until Wednesday to drop fees or risk compliance actions

The CRTC has again issued warnings to Bell Canada and Telus Corp. over recently introduced fees the regulator says could be in violation of its new policy prohibiting telecoms from charging customers when they activate, change or cancel plans.

New First Nations water bill changes mention of ‘right’ to clean water access

OTTAWA - A new First Nations clean water bill set to be introduced by Prime Minister Mark Carney's government changes a provision in a previous bill that would have recognized First Nations have a human right to clean drinking water.

The Canadian Press has obtained a draft of the bill labelled "for consultation until June 11, 2026." It's not clear if any changes were made since the consultation period ended.

Some First Nations leaders had expected the bill to be introduced as early as Monday, but that didn't happen. It's now expected on Tuesday, and Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty is scheduled to hold a news conference.

The House of Commons is expected to rise by Friday for the summer break, which means the legislation likely won't be debated or voted on until the fall.

‘It’s all going to be OK’: Canada’s U.S. ambassador tries to ease CUSMA anxiety

TORONTO - Canada's ambassador to the United States is trying to lower the temperature around the Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement with the renewal date for the North American trade pact just a few weeks away.

"Everybody take a deep breath, relax, it's all going to be OK," Ambassador Mark Wiseman told a business crowd in Toronto on Monday.

Wiseman was interviewed by Darryl White, the Bank of Montreal's CEO and a member of the advisory council on Canada-U.S. relations, at the Canadian Club Toronto.

Looming in the background of Monday's talk was the Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement on trade, better known as CUSMA, which enters a renewal period starting July 1.

Shopify board fighting shareholder push to create AI policy

Shopify Inc. shareholders will vote Tuesday on whether the tech company should create an artificial intelligence policy.

Ottawa introduces privacy bill covering children’s data, right to request deletion

Proposed federal legislation would recognize privacy as a fundamental right of all Canadians and set higher standards for organizations when they manage children's data.

Rainy day fund, meet climate change costs

On May 28, Winnipeg city council voted 14-1 to move over $18 million into the city’s rainy day fund. That same week, Mayor Scott Gillingham said the city’s chief financial officer is considering lowering the minimum amount the fund must hold.

‘We’re doing a lot’: Manitoba Lt.-Gov., proud of reconciliation work being done

Reconciliation was a hot topic for Manitoba’s lieutenant-governor and her counterparts as they convened in Ottawa to meet Canada’s new Governor General.

Lt.-Gov. Anita Neville attended Gov. Gen. Louise Arbour’s swearing-in ceremony on Monday.

Both women represent the Crown — Neville at a provincial level, and Arbour federally.

“It was lovely to meet her,” Neville said, adding the two had met once before. “She was warm, she was welcoming.”

Weighing profits against transforming ‘beautiful country’ of wind-turbine proposal south of Brandon

A major wind-turbine project has been proposed for the Carroll area south of Brandon. Innergex Renewable Energy has made preliminary agreements with landowners on roughly 12,000 acres and is looking to install 30 to 35 turbines.

Community gardens, urban farms more than hobby spaces, report authors say

The City of Winnipeg is being urged to make several changes to keep community gardens and urban farms in place longer.