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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
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
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
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is joined by local members of Parliament Harb Gill, obscured, and Chris Lewis during a press conference outside the Windsor Club in Windsor, Ont., on Friday, March 13, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dax Melmer

Poilievre pitches Canadian kindness on ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ podcast

David Baxter and Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Preview

Poilievre pitches Canadian kindness on ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ podcast

David Baxter and Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Friday, Mar. 20, 2026

OTTAWA - Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre laughed off a conspiracy theory about Justin Trudeau in the opening minutes of his 2.5-hour sit-down with podcaster Joe Rogan, where he made a case for Canadians being America's nice-guy neighbours.

While talking about his early interest in politics, Poilievre mentioned that he read a biography of Fidel Castro.

"Justin's dad!" Rogan interjected.

The Conservative leader shook his head and laughed, "No, no, not Justin's dad," adding later that it's "a hell of a (conspiracy theory). I don't think it's a true one though."

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Friday, Mar. 20, 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
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Cindy Lamoureux, Liberal MLA for Tyndall Park, and supporters of The Autism Strategy Act, meet in the Rotunda at the Manitoba Legislative Building Tuesday morning.
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Government votes down autism strategy bill proposed by Liberal MLA

Gabrielle Piché 3 minute read Preview
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Government votes down autism strategy bill proposed by Liberal MLA

Gabrielle Piché 3 minute read Tuesday, Mar. 17, 2026

Mark Jackson paused as he questioned when his daughter got her autism diagnosis — maybe one year, maybe two, from the first doctor referral.

“The wait times are not great,” he said.

He joined about two dozen people at the legislature Tuesday to show support for an autism strategy, as proposed by Liberal Cindy Lamoureux in a private member’s bill that was introduced Monday.

The strategy would make wait times for diagnosis and supports for autistic people and their families as top priorities.

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Tuesday, Mar. 17, 2026
The Supreme Court of Canada is shown in Ottawa, on Friday, Mar. 13, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
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Feds appealing use of Emergencies Act during ‘Freedom Convoy’ at Supreme Court

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview
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Feds appealing use of Emergencies Act during ‘Freedom Convoy’ at Supreme Court

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Friday, Apr. 24, 2026

OTTAWA - The federal government is appealing to the Supreme Court a lower court decision that found its use of the Emergencies Act four years ago during "Freedom Convoy" protests was unreasonable and led to the infringement of constitutional rights.

The government invoked the act to quell protests in the national capital and at key border points.

"Canada has sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada to review of the use of the Emergencies Act during the convoy protests and blockades that caused serious disruptions across the country," said Justice Minister Sean Fraser’s spokesperson Lola Dandybaeva.

"Our government remains committed to ensuring it has the tools needed to protect the safety and security of Canadians in the face of threats to public order and national security."

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Friday, Apr. 24, 2026
Director Ian Tuason, right, and actors Nina Kiri, front, and Adam DiMarco pose for photograph for the new movie
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How Canadian box-office hit ‘Undertone’ got to the screen without public funding

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Preview
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How Canadian box-office hit ‘Undertone’ got to the screen without public funding

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Thursday, Mar. 19, 2026

TORONTO - Personal grief, a potentially haunted house and a sound-driven sense of dread helped turn “Undertone” into one of the year’s most unexpected horror hits.

But the biggest twist? The director says he made the film with no government money after his previous work was rejected by Canada’s public film funders.

The Toronto-shot film opened to $9.3 million at the North American box office over the weekend — a scary good debut for a movie made on a $500,000 budget.

For director Ian Tuason, his debut feature’s unlikely path to the big screen is also a quiet critique of how Canadian films get financed.

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Thursday, Mar. 19, 2026