New Brunswick woman sues OpenAI, alleging ChatGPT led to daughter’s death

FREDERICTON - When 24-year-old Alice Carrier told ChatGPT that she had to die to stop the pain she was feeling, the chatbot allegedly appeared to agree.

"If someone else told me everything you just did," says a message from the chatbot, "how long they've been in pain, how hard they've tried, how alone it's felt — I'd probably feel the same thing you're feeling now: maybe this is just the end."

By the next day, Carrier, who lived in Montreal, was dead.

Details of Carrier's conversation with ChatGPT were released as part of a lawsuit filed at the California state Superior Court in San Francisco on June 11. Kristie Carrier alleges in the lawsuit that OpenAI, the company behind the chatbot, and its chief executive, Sam Altman, are responsible for her daughter's death, last year on July 2.

What Elon Musk’s trillion means in real terms

NEW YORK (AP) — Catapulted by the market debut of his rocket company SpaceX, Elon Musk is now the world's first trillionaire.

That level of wealth, all owned by just one person, was once unfathomable. Before Friday, the trillion-dollar mark was reserved for measures like the GDP (or staggering debt ) of a handful of major economies — and, in the last decade alone, the value of some of the biggest companies to ever trade on the stock market.

Musk's new title arrives amid a wider acceleration for the richest of the rich. Year after year, his former (although now very distant) billionaires club has reaped a growing number of members — from tech titans to celebrities. All the while, more and more people worldwide are struggling to pay their everyday bills. Many have decried the arrival of the first trillionaire as the latest and most alarming example of that wealth gap.

The number “one trillion” is hard in itself for the human mind to comprehend. One trillion dollars is a thousand times greater than $1 billion. And a million times more than $1 million.

Supreme Court rules New Brunswick lieutenant-governor must be bilingual

OTTAWA - The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that the lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick must be able to perform their functions in both official languages.

In a 6-3 decision released Friday, the court said appointing a lieutenant-governor who can't communicate in both official languages violates the section of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms stating that English and French have equal status in New Brunswick — the only officially bilingual province in Canada.

"This equality cannot be preserved when the position of lieutenant-governor of the province, a unipersonal and highly symbolic institution, is held by a unilingual person," the decision read.

The Acadian Society of New Brunswick had challenged the appointment of Brenda Murphy as lieutenant-governor in 2019 by then-prime minister Justin Trudeau on the grounds that she did not speak French. The society argued Murphy's nomination violated the right to communicate with and receive services from the government in either official language.

HBC charter goes on display at Manitoba Museum

After months of petitions, legal scrutiny and political pressure, the 1670 Hudson’s Bay Company Royal Charter has formally arrived at the Manitoba Museum, marked by a ceremony including many notable Canadian and Indigenous political leaders.

“It’s with a profound sense of gratitude and humility that I stand before you today as we recognize the gifting of the HBC Royal Charter, together with our consortium partners,” said Dorota Blumczynska, CEO of the Manitoba Museum.

“Today marks an opportunity that is not to redefine the past, but to better understand it, and to help us use it to build a more just and inclusive future.”

The 356-year-old document, which not only birthed HBC, but effectively laid a foundation for colonial Canada itself, attracted new controversies in the last year or so. After years of bleeding at the bottom line, HBC announced in March 2025 that it would begin liquidating its stores across the country and selling off its assets to pay off creditors.

City looking into expanding 30 km/h zones in residential areas, on regional streets

Winnipeg city council’s public works committee has directed staff to study whether to expand its 30 km/h school zone speed limit to additional residential streets, or even busy regional roads.

Tesla loses bid for urgent judicial review of Manitoba’s EV rebate

Tesla’s Canadian subsidiary will have to wait longer for its day in a Manitoba court.

Manitoba makes Polaris long list

Four Manitoban artists — Begonia, Boy Golden, JayWood and Propagandhi — have a shot at becoming the first local musicians to win the prestigious Polaris Music Prize after earning a spot on the award’s official long list of 40 notable albums released last year.

With a 10 per cent chance at netting the $30,000 award, Manitoba is well-represented, trailing only Ontario (13 nominees) and Quebec (12). Of the 40 records that made the long list, 10 will be selected for the prize’s short list, which will be announced July 9.

The long list for the prize — presented annually to the Canadian album of the year, based solely on artistic merit — was announced Thursday in Toronto during the NXNE music festival.

In total, 202 albums were submitted for consideration by the 205-member national jury of critics and broadcasters.

Designated encampment debate returns to city hall

A city councillor is renewing efforts to identify potential locations for designated encampment sites following an Ontario court decision that could impact how homeless people are relocated in Winnipeg.

The motion, introduced by Coun. Cindy Gilroy is scheduled to go before the executive policy committee next week. It calls on the public service to examine multiple locations across Winnipeg that could be considered suitable to host encampments.

Speaking to the Free Press on Thursday, Gilroy said a recent court decision in southern Ontario has renewed the case for designated encampment sites in Winnipeg. Last month, a judge barred the Region of Waterloo from clearing an encampment in Kitchener, Ont., unless alternative housing options were made available to those living there.

“The laws are changing so dramatically,” the chair of the community safety committee said, adding she’s unsure if the city is prepared for a similar legal challenge in Winnipeg.

Canada Post moves to convert nearly half a million more homes to community mailboxes

Canada Post is rolling out the latest phase of its transition from door-to-door delivery to community mailboxes, selecting more than three dozen communities that will undergo the conversion starting next year.

Spanning seven provinces and 37 communities from Halifax to Victoria, the change will see an additional 485,000 addresses move to a more centralized mode of mail delivery.

Those homes come on top of the 136,000 addresses in 13 communities already selected for conversion late this year or in early 2027.

Switching the four million addresses that still enjoy doorstep delivery to community mailboxes within about five years marks a key pillar in Canada Post's plan to overhaul its business model in the face of declining letter mail and mounting financial losses.

City’s encampment bylaw not intended to end homelessness, but it’s making a difference

When Winnipeg city council approved restrictions on homeless encampments near schools, daycares, parks, recreation centres and seniors housing, critics warned it would simply push vulnerable people from one location to another without solving the underlying problem.