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Censorship and cancel culture

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Air Canada Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft sit parked at Vancouver International Airport, in Richmond, B.C., on Monday, Aug. 18, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Air Canada CEO to step down later this year after backlash over lack of French

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press 7 minute read Preview

Air Canada CEO to step down later this year after backlash over lack of French

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press 7 minute read Friday, May. 1, 2026

MONTREAL - Air Canada chief executive Michael Rousseau will leave the company later this year after coming under fire last week for his failure to deliver a video condolence message in French following a plane crash that killed two Air Canada Express pilots.

Rousseau has told the board he will step down before October, the airline said Monday. He is expected to continue to lead Canada's largest carrier and serve on its board of directors until they part ways.

The announcement leaves Air Canada scrambling to find a replacement amid the challenge of soaring fuel prices and depressed cross-border travel, and follows a half-decade marked by both COVID-19 hurdles and profit wins under the watch of a CEO known more for his financial finesse than fine-tuned community relations.

Rousseau, 68, was widely criticized for his lack of French in the four-minute condolence video posted online that included only two words in the language — "bonjour" and "merci."

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Friday, May. 1, 2026
A man is silhouetted as buildings cast their shadows in front of the Peace tower on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
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Liberals dismiss call for law to ensure political fibs and flubs don’t eclipse facts

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview
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Liberals dismiss call for law to ensure political fibs and flubs don’t eclipse facts

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Friday, May. 1, 2026

OTTAWA - The Liberal government has dismissed a Toronto man's proposal to keep politicians honest in an age of misinformation, saying there are already several ways to fight falsehoods.

Federico Sanchez initiated an electronic petition to the House of Commons to propose legislation that would help correct the record when members of Parliament stray from the truth intentionally or simply because they are ill-informed.

Sanchez said he was "very upset" by the lack of federal interest in his pitch.

"It made me feel like they didn't take it seriously," he said in an interview. "If they don't think that there's a problem, then I think we're going to have a lot worse days ahead."

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Friday, May. 1, 2026
Vancouver Rise midfielder Quinn poses for a photo in Vancouver, on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

‘This is people’s lives’: Canadian soccer star Quinn continues trans advocacy

Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Preview

‘This is people’s lives’: Canadian soccer star Quinn continues trans advocacy

Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Thursday, Apr. 30, 2026

VANCOUVER -

A Canadian soccer star is speaking out about the need to make sports safe for trans athletes — and the world safer for trans people — as restrictive laws come into effect across North America.

“This is people's lives," said Quinn, a midfielder for the Vancouver Rise of the Northern Super League. "Like, this isn't something to take lightly."

It's been more than five years since Quinn, 30, publicly came out as nonbinary.

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Thursday, Apr. 30, 2026
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Youth Ambassador Advisory Squad (YAAS) members after releasing the YAAS youth-led report on experiences of children in and beyond government care, Thursday.
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Advocate’s report calls for urgent reform of child-welfare system

Scott Billeck 5 minute read Preview
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Advocate’s report calls for urgent reform of child-welfare system

Scott Billeck 5 minute read Thursday, Mar. 26, 2026

Cali Derksen was 14 when she threw a few things into a backpack and left home, fleeing weapons and threats of violence for what she believed would be a safer place.

Now 16, she said Child and Family Services did “good” by removing her from the home.

“But after they did that, I didn’t think much really came out of them,” she said Thursday at the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth office at 320 Donald St. “I had to call Kids Help line. I had to find solutions for myself in order to feel safe… because CFS wasn’t supporting me.”

Derksen’s experience is one of 17 shared in a new report calling for urgent reform of Manitoba’s child-welfare system. Youth in care say they are often left unsupported, unprepared and unheard.

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Thursday, Mar. 26, 2026
A sign directs a voter to a polling station in Calgary on Monday, April 28, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
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Election bill takes aim at deepfakes, long ballots, threats to nomination contests

Jim Bronskill and Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview
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Election bill takes aim at deepfakes, long ballots, threats to nomination contests

Jim Bronskill and Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Wednesday, Apr. 29, 2026

OTTAWA - The Liberal government is proposing new legislation to strengthen election integrity by banning digital deepfakes of candidates, cracking down on unduly long ballots and protecting nomination and leadership contests.

The bill, introduced Thursday, would extend existing election protections beyond the campaign period itself, making them effective year-round.

The government says this would include the extension of rules forbidding foreign people or organizations from improperly influencing someone's vote, as well as bans on offering or accepting bribes to influence a vote.

Government House leader Steven MacKinnon said the changes follow recommendations made by the chief electoral officer, the commissioner of elections and the public inquiry into foreign interference.

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Wednesday, Apr. 29, 2026

Respite care cuts will break strained system

Jennifer Anderson 5 minute read Wednesday, Mar. 25, 2026

When people hear the word “respite,” they often imagine a break — a little time off for parents caring for a child with disabilities.

For single-parent families like mine, respite is not a break.

It is survival.

My son was born with cerebral palsy and severe epilepsy. His seizures began when he was still a baby and escalated to the point where he was having multiple seizures an hour. Over the years he has required intensive care admissions, emergency interventions, and constant monitoring. He is nonverbal, requires a feeding tube for nutrition, and needs assistance with mobility and daily care.

People congregate outside the Supreme Court of Canada as the court hears appeals regarding Quebec’s secularism law (Bill 21) in Ottawa on Monday, March 23, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
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Lawyers for Quebec government tell Supreme Court that Bill 21 is legitimate

The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview
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Lawyers for Quebec government tell Supreme Court that Bill 21 is legitimate

The Canadian Press 4 minute read Wednesday, Mar. 25, 2026

OTTAWA - The Quebec government is urging the Supreme Court of Canada to uphold a controversial secularism law, arguing that the Constitution allows the province to override the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The case revolves around the law, adopted in 2019, that banned some public sector workers from wearing religious symbols on the job, including judges, police officers and teachers.

Quebec pre-emptively used its powers to override the Charter when it adopted the law, and the court challenge could have implications for how other provinces handle similar cases.

The federal and provincial governments can override the Charter if they invoke what is known as the notwithstanding clause of the Constitution.

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Wednesday, Mar. 25, 2026
Capital Pride Parade attendees representing the Ottawa Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) hold a large rainbow flag near Parliament Hill during the Capital Pride Parade in Ottawa, on Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby
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Pride festivals seek federal $3M as corporations pull back support amid DEI backlash

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview
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Pride festivals seek federal $3M as corporations pull back support amid DEI backlash

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Friday, Apr. 24, 2026

OTTAWA - Pride festivals are seeking $3 million annually from Ottawa to fill a funding gap left by corporations pulling back funding amid a backlash to diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

"We are seeing corporate sponsors pull back their investment into Pride. This can be for a multitude of reasons — DEI pullbacks, the tariffs," said Joseph Hoang, a director with Vancouver Pride.

"They are not coming to the table at the level that they used to be. This is why we are asking the federal government for this new funding."

He was speaking Tuesday on Parliament Hill, joined by other executives who are seeking $9 million over three years to help 200 festivals maintain their operations. They are asking for funding to pay artists and logistics costs, separate from rising security expenditures.

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Friday, Apr. 24, 2026

Lessons from school attendance

Ken Clark 4 minute read Monday, Mar. 23, 2026

The Free Press editorial Government data shows extent of truancy issue (March 16) notes that “More than 15,000 students were chronically absent in the 2023-2024 school year, a staggering number” which was also broken down by school division and Aboriginal status.

The Supreme Court of Canada is shown in Ottawa, on Friday, March 13, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Quebec’s Bill 21 lands in the Supreme Court, with notwithstanding clause in spotlight

Pierre Saint-Arnaud, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Preview

Quebec’s Bill 21 lands in the Supreme Court, with notwithstanding clause in spotlight

Pierre Saint-Arnaud, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Tuesday, Mar. 24, 2026

MONTREAL - A legal challenge to Quebec's secularism law, known as Bill 21, will be heard at the Supreme Court of Canada beginning Monday, and legal experts say whatever the eventual ruling, it will have a profound effect on constitutional law in Canada.

The highly anticipated high court challenge to Bill 21 has been years in the making, but legal debate is likely to focus primarily on Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the provision known as the “notwithstanding clause," which shields legislation from most court challenges over violations of fundamental rights.

François Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec government pre-emptively invoked the provision into the law passed in June 2019.

The Quebec law, known as Act respecting the laicity of the state, sets out the principles of secularism in the province. Among its most controversial measures is the prohibition of civil servants who are considered in positions of power — such as police officers, teachers and judges — from wearing religious symbols at work.

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Tuesday, Mar. 24, 2026