While it took the federal government more than a decade to come up with a plan for the future of the prime minister’s official residence, the online path to raise private money for 24 Sussex Dr. got off the ground within a single working day.

By midday Monday, the foundation running the government’s efforts to pass the hat around to support the renovation for the 35-room stone mansion had already added a donation path to its website .

The Rideau Hall Foundation did not immediately return calls Monday from National Post, but the Canadian Press reported that the site had already raised more than $100,000 towards the renovation project. The average donation, the report said, was about $257.

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the government’s intention Friday to launch an open competition for bids to renovate the historic home, which has been vacant for 11 years. The announcement ended a big part of the decade-old mystery about the future of the prime minister’s official residence, which had been plagued by an array of problems: heating and cooling, outdated wiring, asbestos, water damage, mould, rats, and more practical problems such as insufficient space for offices and events.

Carney said the foundation, a non-partisan charity that aims to support national programming in learning, leadership, and community building, would lead the fundraising effort and establish most of the rules for ethical questions.

When asked about the potential for the fundraising effort opening the government up to possible ethical or conflict breaches, Carney said it’s unlikely that corporate donations or those worth more than 10 per cent of the project’s value would be accepted.

The foundation’s website, however, does not yet appear to offer filters to prevent such donations, or at least easy ways around those principles. Another filter promised by Carney, that only Canadians can donate, presumably to eliminate the risk of foreign interference, appears to be relying on the honor system, asking donors to confirm that they’re “a Canadian citizen or a Canadian permanent resident.”

The site allows for donations, however, to be made in dozens of currencies, including American dollars, Russian rubles and Chinese yuan.

Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch, which advocates for democratic reform, said the process has not so far closed all the ethical loopholes, despite already being open for donations.

An individual corporate leader or a corporate-affiliated foundation, for example, could make a hefty donation, Conacher said, as a front for a business seeking influence or trying to curry favour. Only legislation would make the rules legally binding, he added.

Heritage advocates cheered last week’s announcement to renovate and perhaps expand the historic home, but some argued that the government should just pay the bill, instead of trying to raise money to help shrink the costs to taxpayers.

Built in the late 1860s by a lumber baron and MP, the home has been the prime minister’s official residence since 1951 and home to 10 Canadian leaders.

Carney and his predecessor Justin Trudeau instead lived at Rideau Cottage, across the road from 24 Sussex on the grounds of the Governor General’s residence at Rideau Hall.

The big remaining question is whether decision makers opt to complete a modest renovation that makes the building functional for future prime ministers, or whether it plans to create something more elaborate that serves as a national showpiece.

The past two Liberal governments have avoided making a decision about the property for a decade, presumably out of concern to be spending taxpayer dollars on their own leader, particularly during a housing crisis. Carney has emphasized that the restoration will be for future leaders, as the job will extend beyond his time in office.

But the eventual cost will likely present a political challenge. The specific plans chosen for the site will largely dictate the final bill, but it’s a near certainty that any plan will stretch well into the tens of millions of dollars. Five years ago, the National Capital Commission (NCC) said it would cost $36.6 million to restore 24 Sussex Drive to “good condition” and that price tag did not include any grand expansions or new buildings.

In addition to the living areas, the property also features an official guest house, a swimming pool and pool house, a detached garage, and security buildings and small gatehouses at the entrance for security screening.

National Post

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• Photos show inside dilapidated 24 Sussex, plus 5 things to know about PM's official residence

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OTTAWA — Opposition Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is changing up his roster of critics, as his MPs prepare to hit the summer barbecue circuit in what is his first major shuffle since returning to the House of Commons last year.

Poilievre’s office on Tuesday announced his “affordability team,” which saw key members of his caucus switch titles.

While his leadership team remains mostly in tact, with the party’s two deputy leaders staying put along with Opposition House Leader Andrew Scheer and the party’s whip, Chris Warkentin, the new roster sees longtime Ontario Conservative MP Michael Chong assume the critic responsibility for finance from foreign affairs.

Eric Duncan, who had previously served on Poilievre’s leadership team as question period coordinator, becomes the Conservatives’ new foreign affairs critic.

Other changes includes Calgary MP Shuv Majumdar, who takes on the role as the Conservative critic for Canada-U.S. relations. Ontario MP Shelby Kramp-Neuman, who had been placed in that role following last year’s election, has been named Poilievre’s Ontario advisor.

Arpan Khanna, who represents the Ontario riding of Oxford, will become the critic for justice. Ontario MP Larry Brock, who previously did the job, said in a statement that he decided to “step back for personal reasons.”

Leslyn Lewis, who twice ran for Conservative party leadership, including against Poilievre in 2022, has been named as the party’s critic for digital government and artificial intelligence. Shannon Stubbs, an Alberta MP, will become the infrastructure critic and main spokeswoman for issues surrounding the Ottawa-Alberta deal to see a new West Coast pipeline built.

Poilievre is also switching up his trade critics, with former diplomat and Calgary MP Stephanie Kusie taking on the international trade critic role from Ontario MP Adam Chambers, who becomes the Conservative critic for industry.

Raquel Dancho, a Manitoba MP who had been serving as the party’s industry critic will now move to health.

Carol Anstey, an MP from Newfoundland who is among the newly elected class of 2025, will take on the role as natural resources critic. Sandra Cobena, who has a background in finance and represents a key York region seat that the party picked up during last election, will become its treasury board critic.

Aaron Gunn, who won a seat for the party on Vancouver Island, will take over the ethics portfolio from Michael Barrett, who becomes the critic for veterans affairs. Roman Baber, who holds a rare Toronto seat for the Conservatives, will serve as its critic for civil liberties.

Tuesday’s shakeup represents the first time Poilievre has changed up his list of critics since winning a byelection last summer, which allowed him to return to the House of Commons, unlike in the immediate aftermath of the April 2025 election, where he lost his longtime Ottawa-area seat.

The changes by Poilievre come ahead of any possible cabinet shuffle by Carney, who has not made any significant adjustments to his cabinet since after last year’s election.

For months, Poilievre’s Conservatives have struggled against what successive polls suggest is a double-digit lead for the Carney Liberals in public opinion, with the surveys also suggesting the Conservative leader trails Carney on questions of preferred leader.

What Poilievre ought to do and whether he can regain ground have been key questions hanging over his leadership, which has been tested by four Conservative MPs defecting to the Liberals, beginning last fall.

Poilievre has stated he intends to remain on as party leader, pointing to the gains that the Conservatives made during last year’s election and the almost 88 per cent mandate he received at the party’s convention back in January.

Changing up his team in Parliament is one way Poilievre may be looking to show his efforts to switch things up. His inner circle has also seen some staffing changes, with Steve Outhouse, who will be managing the party’s next election campaign, becoming Poilievre’s chief of staff after Ian Todd, who had done the job since around 2022, announced his retirement.

National Post

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Canada’s Heritage Minister has called a new exhibit at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights about displaced Palestinians “regrettable” and “a failure,” adding it “should be rectified.”

In an interview this week with The Canadian Press, Marc Miller said the newly opened exhibit “Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present” features both errors and omissions in its presentation.

“There are some words in there that are regrettable,” he told the news organization. “Not identifying Hamas as a terrorist organization is, I think, a failure. And not clearly stating that, for example, Hamas intended to kill Jews is, I think, an unfortunate error in curation and should be rectified.”

Canada has listed Hamas as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code since November 2002 , making it a criminal offence to knowingly participate in or contribute to any activity by Hamas. The group was behind the October 7 attack on Israel in 2023, which killed some 1,200 civilians and soldiers.

Miller visited the Winnipeg museum last Thursday ahead of the exhibit’s opening on Saturday, and said he was troubled by how it portrayed the conflict that started that day.

“It isn’t up to me to speak to, or insert myself in, the curation of any particular exhibit,” he said. “But manifestly, you cannot deny the fact that this is an exhibit that is born in controversy — and perhaps some of it could have been avoided.”

The Nakba — Arabic for “catastrophe” — is the term used for the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war surrounding the creation of the State of Israel. The exhibit, which has been several years in the making, is slated to remain open until Nov. 30, 2028.

Jewish groups in Canada have already raised concerns over what they perceive as a one-sided narrative. In May, Shurat HaDin Israel Law Center announced it had sent a legal demand letter to the museum’s board of trustees and senior leadership.

“Publicly funded institutions have a responsibility to approach contested historical issues with fairness, balance, and intellectual integrity,” Shurat HaDin president Nitsana Darshan-Leitner said in a statement.

“A national human rights museum cannot become a platform for politicized narratives that risk contributing to division and misunderstanding, including here by erasing Jewish history, delegitimizing Jewish self-determination, or contributing to hostility against the Jewish community.”

In a statement released yesterday, Noah Shack, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs remarked: “The exhibit has broken trust between the Museum and Canadians. It is not only a failure of curation, but a failure of leadership.” He added: “Now that the exhibit is open, it is clear why museum staff and leadership went to such extraordinary lengths to prevent meaningful scrutiny by the Board of Trustees.”

Statement by Noah Shack, CEO, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs:

The controversial "Nakba" exhibit tells a distorted version of history that whitewashes the October 7th Hamas terrorist attacks, the second intifada, and the wars of annihilation against Israel. The exhibit has… https://t.co/HYyfcOx0Io pic.twitter.com/tk83QTW2xB

— CIJA (@CIJAinfo) June 29, 2026

Mark Berlin, the museum’s only Jewish trustee, resigned last week , saying he was not given a chance to view the exhibit in advance, and that the museum had not done an adequate job of consulting with mainstream Jewish groups.

Miller told The Canadian Press that the museum should have allowed its board to see the exhibit before it opened publicly.

“I’m surprised at some allegations that the board was not able to see the exhibit beforehand because that would, to me, seem like an error in governance,” he said, adding: “Any failure of curation is one that really should be directed to the board that does need to do its job.”

A spokesperson for the museum told National Post that Miller’s office has shared his concerns with the museum, and that they have been passed along to the curation team.

“By way of context, first, we have referred to Hamas’ October 7th attack as a terrorist attack on numerous occasions,” the spokesperson wrote. “Second, there is no doubt that the intent of the attack was to murder Jewish people. Our research indicates there were people of other nationalities and religious identities who were also murdered by Hamas on October 7th, which informed the use of the word ‘people’ in our exhibit text.”

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The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) recorded the highest level of complaints in the past three years in the fiscal year 2025-2026, with many service users receiving information that was incomplete, inaccurate, or unclear.

According to an annual report from the Office of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson (OTO), which looks at the activities of the OTO for the past year, the number of complaints about the CRA surged by 27 per cent year-over-year, with taxpayers experiencing persistent difficulties with processing delays, reaching an agent, average wait times and the Service Feedback Program, among other frustrations.

The total number of complaints received was 3,558, compared to 2,796 in 2024-2025.

The report also outlined the top five areas of concern. “The most prominent areas of concern that we heard about from complainants involved the information provided by contact centre agents,” the report reads. “Many taxpayers who succeeded in reaching the CRA reported receiving information that was incomplete, inaccurate, or unclear.”

It adds that others were “unable to access assistance due to excessive wait times or difficulties entering the call queue.”

This is not the first time that CRA contact centres have come under fire. In October 2025, the Auditor General of Canada released a report on the quality of service provided by contact centres. It found that the CRA’s responses to auditors’ questions about individual taxes (as opposed to benefits or business taxes) were accurate only 17 per cent of the time.

This report also noted that “only 9 per cent of the total performance evaluation score of an agent was based on accuracy and completeness, whereas 45 per cent was tied to schedule adherence and call handling time.”

Schedule adherence refers to how closely an agent followed their preset schedule, including logging in and out of their computer and notifying their supervisor if calls delayed their breaks.

On wait times, the new report notes that the CRA has a policy to redirect callers to its automated services when these exceed 30 minutes on average. From April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025, the CRA redirected approximately 8.6 million calls.

One anonymous service user who complained to the OTO said: “I keep calling the CRA’s main inquiry line but the message I get is that all agents are helping other callers and I can only use the automated FAQ service.”

The damning assessment comes several months after finance minister François-Philippe Champagne asked the CRA to put into effect a 100-day plan to strengthen service, improve access and reduce delays back in September 2025.

When the CRA announced the plan, it revealed that from June 30 to July 4, 2025, it only answered 35 per cent of unique callers, according to the latest OTO report.

Among the other top concerns were delays in processing income tax and benefit returns that exceeded the CRA’s published service standards. The report noted: “A major contributing factor was that the CRA was taking up to 50 weeks to process complex T1 adjustments, well above its service standard of 20 weeks.”

Earlier this month, the taxpayers’ ombudsperson, François Boileau, initiated an examination into delays for taxpayers making complex changes to their income tax returns (such as multiple years’ worth of returns, bankruptcies, and deceased taxpayer returns).

There were also allegations from taxpayers that the CRA did not adequately consider their individual circumstances when taking collection actions, while others indicated that they did not receive responses from the CRA’s Service Feedback Program within its published service standards.

Also among the top five areas of concern were issues with accessing CRA accounts. Complainants expressed frustration that it was difficult to regain access to accounts containing vital tax documents and correspondence after being locked out.

The report comes as numbers released by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat show that the CRA shed 3,725 workers over the past year — a factor that has been addressed by the OTO. The report recommends that the CRA more rapidly introduce automation of tasks to combat job cuts.

“The federal government wants to spend less on its operations to invest more in people and businesses. Therefore, the CRA needs to fast-track automation to not only deliver cost savings, but also ensure it is reducing delays to deliver the service taxpayers expect,” it says.

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government released its first budget last November, saying the federal public service would see “a decline of about 40,000” jobs by the end of the 2028-29 fiscal year.

Meanwhile, Boileau said in a statement accompanying the latest report: “For many taxpayers, their interactions with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) are not optional: they are necessary, serious and often urgent. When service falls short, the repercussions are clear.”

In a statement to National Post, a spokesperson for the CRA said: “The CRA has already taken concrete steps to improve services for Canadians. Following the launch of the 100-day Service Improvement Plan in September 2025, we have made progress to strengthen service, facilitate access, and reduce delays.

“We continue to build on that progress through ongoing service modernization, expanded digital options, process improvements, and automation. These efforts contributed to improved service outcomes during the 2026 tax filing season, including stronger telephone accessibility, increased use of self-service options, and reduced processing inventories. While these results are encouraging, we recognize that some areas continue to require improvement, and we remain focused on addressing those challenges.”

The statement went on to say that, despite workforce adjustments, “the affected positions did not impact direct services to Canadians.” It added: “The CRA is focused on using resources effectively while maintaining and improving service delivery for Canadians.”

“The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and the Office of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson share the same goal of ensuring Canadians receive fair, timely, and high-quality service. The CRA welcomes the recommendations in the Ombudsperson’s annual report as an opportunity to continue improving transparency and service delivery,” it said.

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Imagine being invited to an exclusive party with up to 200 strangers and not stressing about getting a single name wrong. And feeling the rush of repeatedly turning your head because you hear your moniker.

It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing and when I saw the invitation on social media, I knew I would regret it forever if I didn’t go. While much of Toronto was gripped by Pride or FIFA on Sunday, I dropped everything and flew from Ottawa for the giddy thrill of attending what had to be the first ever “Janice” party. The shindig was an apology from rapper Drake for dissing our name in his hit single Janice STFU from his album ICEMAN.

It was exclusively for first-name Janices, who were required to RSVP beforehand to a JSTFU email address and show government-issued photo ID at the door to be admitted into a sit-down, three-course lunch with bottomless bellinis and tens of thousands of dollars in door-prize money.

The Toronto fete drew Janices from near and far – including Vancouver. The trendy Cactus Club was packed with highly excited women who spanned generations, from boomers to Gen-Z.

The demographic spread was a surprise because nothing says mid-century like the name Janice. I was born in the 1960s, near the end of the name’s top-100 popularity, and I was expecting an age 60+ crowd. If anything, revellers skewed Gen-X and millennial, likely because they were more likely than older Janices to see an invite shared on social and come out for a party. The youngest one I met was Janice Thai, a 20-year-old nursing student at Toronto Metropolitan University who had never met another Janice her age.

The party’s host, however, was a no-show, so anyone who was actually offended by Janice STFU never heard a verbal apology from Drake, not even via video. Toronto was the only Canadian venue of five parties held Sunday – the others took place in Los Angeles, Houston, New York City and Miami.

Drake sent personal invitations to the Janices he knew in Toronto, saying “Hey Janice. Sorry we might have ruined your summer.” There were rumours, fuelled by organizers on site, that he’d planned to make amends in person in his home city. His absence prompted a bit of griping on a group WhatsApp chat created at the party.

“What’s an apology without hearing right from him,” asked one Janice.

“I thought for sure he would have treated his Toronto fans extra special by extending a personalized apology,” said another.

“It would have been nice to see you in person, but the peach bellinis helped ease the pain,” added a third.

Another irritant was that dozens of party hopefuls were turned away in line or at the door because they hadn’t RSVPed. Some complained the communication from Drake’s team was poor because it was not made clear on social media that registration was required.

It appears to be a mystery why Drake picked the name Janice and what it represents.

One often-cited theory from fans and critics is that Janice is a metaphor for the media and he wants them to butt out of his personal life. (As a former reporter and current journalism instructor, does that mean I have been double dissed?)

Billboard is among the media outlets that have reported that Janice comes from Tony Soprano’s manipulative and opportunistic sister from the legendary HBO TV series The Sopranos.

One thing’s for sure. For a name that demographers record as nosediving near the end of the 1960s, it’s having a moment. So thank you, Drake. I am not much of a fan, I am not offended and I got such a kick out of spending an afternoon with so many terrific Janices.

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Albertans are the least likely Canadians to put their province ahead of the country, even as Alberta heads to a fall referendum on separation, according to a new poll.

The Leger survey conducted for the Association for Canadian Studies (ACS) found 34 per cent of Albertans said they identify more strongly with their province or region than with Canada. In a similar ACS survey a year ago, the figure was 45 per cent. Alberta was the only region where it fell, and a majority (59 per cent) rejected the idea.

“I would have expected the opposite. I would expect Albertans to say they more strongly identify with their province or region than with Canada,” said Jack Jedwab, president and CEO of the Association for Canadian Studies. The result surprised him more than any other finding in the survey.

British Columbians were the most likely of any region to put their province first, at 66 per cent, up sharply from 35 per cent a year ago. Jedwab said identification with province or region climbed across the country over the past year everywhere but Alberta. The poll found that 60 per cent of Quebecers and 58 per cent of Atlantic Canadians identify more strongly with their province or region, followed by 53 per cent in Manitoba and Saskatchewan and 42 per cent in Ontario.

Jedwab said he sees the Alberta result as a reaction to the separation debate. “I think what we’re seeing in this survey is some kind of pushback, where people are saying, ‘No, we’re not, we are strongly attached to Canada,’” he said.

Alberta will not vote on separating in October, but on whether the province should “commence the legal process required under the Canadian Constitution to hold a binding provincial referendum on whether or not Alberta should separate from Canada.”

“It’s the referendum about the referendum,” Jedwab said.

Across the country, pride and provincial identity did not appear to compete. Pride in being Canadian held at 86 per cent, near the high end of what the ACS has tracked over the years, and stayed about as strong among the people who identify most with their region. “The vast majority of Canadians don’t see the two in contradiction,” said Jedwab. The friction with the United States that began last year has also pushed pride up, he said.

The poll found that 91 per cent of B.C. respondents are proud to be Canadian, tied with people in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. In Alberta, 88 per cent are proud Canadians, followed by Ontario (87 per cent), Atlantic Canada (83 per cent) and Quebec (81 per cent).

Pride also rose with age. Among Canadians 65 and older, 74 per cent strongly agreed they were proud to be Canadian, against 35 per cent of those aged 18 to 24, though overall agreement was similar across age groups (92 per cent for those over 65 strongly or somewhat agreed, compared to 82 per cent for the youngest cohort). “It’s like a fine wine, it grows with age,” said Jedwab.

Pride ran high among newcomers and Indigenous respondents as well. The poll found that 84 per cent of people born outside of Canada are proud to be Canadian, while 87 per cent of people born in Canada and 82 per cent of Indigenous respondents agreed.

The poll also found that French speakers were far more likely (69 per cent) than English speakers (39 per cent) to identify with their province over the country. Quebec votes Oct. 5, and Jedwab said the provincial party leading the polls there, the Parti Québécois, is advocating for separation.

The online survey of 1,518 Canadians was conducted June 5 to 7. A margin of error cannot be associated with a panel survey, but a probability sample of the same number of respondents would have a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

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Ask Rebecca is smart, honest advice to readers’ questions about life, family and relationships by columnist Rebecca Eckler. Got a question for Rebecca? Submit it anonymously on the form here. You can also send an email to NPadvice@postmedia.com.

Dear Rebecca,

I love my boyfriend, but he needs to get a job — what do I do? We are both 27 and have been together since we were 19. We share an apartment, a dog and many of the same interests and friends. I love the life we’ve built together. The only problem is that he doesn’t have a job. Since graduating, he’s bounced between a few different positions, but for the last two and a half years, he hasn’t really worked.

He still pays for his share of everything but is dipping into his savings to do so. While at home, he does cook and clean, which I appreciate, but my job doesn’t pay enough for me to be the breadwinner, let alone the sole income, which I’ve told him.

At this stage of my life, I’m ready for marriage and kids, and it’s starting to feel like I’m moving toward these goals without him. He tells me he wants to get married, but I’m afraid to take that step until he has a job.

He says he’s applying for jobs, but after two and a half years with nothing to show for it, I’m struggling to believe that he’s making a serious effort. I love him and don’t want to throw away an eight-year relationship, but I’m starting to wonder whether this is a sign that we’re no longer on the same path. I’m also afraid that my trust in his work ethic is now tainted.

How do I know whether to keep being patient or accept that this may never change?
— Frustrated Girlfriend

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Dear Frustrated Girlfriend,

Before we get into your boyfriend’s employment status, let’s talk about how you signed your letter. You didn’t sign it “Hopeful Girlfriend” or “Patient Girlfriend.” You signed it, Frustrated . That tells me you’ve been carrying this around for a while. And that kind of uncertainty is as exhausting as watching a flight get delayed over and over. It’s not the delay that’s exhausting; it’s not knowing whether you’ll ever take off.

If you don’t know whether anything is ever going to change and lose trust as a result, that’s a very lonely place to live. Trust me, I’ve lived there.

As someone who has been the breadwinner in more than one relationship, I can tell you money itself was rarely the problem. It was what the money represented. Was I carrying the load temporarily or indefinitely? Was my partner actively trying to get back on their feet or had I become the financial airbag? Worse, I quietly stopped feeling like I had a partner at all.

To be fair, your boyfriend doesn’t sound like a bad guy. He contributes financially. He cooks. He cleans. He isn’t lying on the couch playing video games 18 hours a day, smoking weed, demanding you support him. Those things matter. But so does the fact that he’s been unemployed for two and a half years.

At 27, careers take detours. People burn out. They realize they chose the wrong profession. There is no shame in changing careers at 27, 37 or even 57. But two and a half years is no longer a detour. It’s a lifestyle.

And that’s where resentment quietly moves in.

Financial resentment is one of the fastest-growing weeds in a relationship. It starts small. You tell yourself you’re being supportive, that it’s temporary, that they’re trying. Then one day you realize you’re keeping score. Who paid for dinner? The vacation? The hydro bill? Why are you suddenly the CEO, CFO and Head of Future Planning for a relationship that was supposed to have two adults in it?

The sentence that jumped out at me was, “I’m ready for marriage and kids, and it feels like I’m moving toward these goals without him.” Y ou aren’t asking whether he’ll get a job. You’re asking whether he’s capable of building the life you want beside you.

Unemployment itself usually isn’t what breaks relationships. Limbo does. Limbo is fun at weddings, but a terrible way to live your life.

Many women in your situation, at any age, aren’t asking for perfection. They’re asking for momentum. Like, “I’ve enrolled in school” or “I’m switching careers” or “I’m seeing a career counsellor. Those are plans. “Something will work out” — that’s a wish.

If I were sitting across from you over coffee, I’d tell you to stop talking about jobs and start talking about the future. The right thing to do is say, “I love you. I want a future with you. But I’m not comfortable getting married or having children until we’re both actively working toward that future. What does the next six months actually look like?” Notice that you’re asking for a plan, not a promise.

Maybe he’ll surprise you. Maybe he’ll tell you what’s really been going on. Maybe he’s been quietly drowning in anxiety or shame and didn’t know how to say it.

Or maybe he’ll give vague answers, change the subject or ask you to “just trust him.”

Love is important. Unfortunately, love doesn’t pay daycare fees, orthodontist bills, surprise vet visits on holiday weekends or the endless parade of expenses adulthood throws at us.

I wouldn’t walk away from an eight-year relationship without first having one honest conversation and giving him the opportunity to show — not tell — you that change is coming. After two and a half years, words have probably done all they can do.

And if nothing has changed six months from now, you’ll have your answer. Love deserves a chance. But it shouldn’t get unlimited extensions.

Love, Rebecca
Rebecca Eckler is an internationally bestselling author, founder of re:books publishing, Rivkah Books, and co-founder of CANREADS. She’s a professional oversharer and observer of human behaviour, and has spent decades writing about life’s messy twists. She has no formal qualifications for this, other than a lifetime of questionable decisions and excellent stories.

Have a question for Rebecca? Email NPadvice@postmedia.com or send your question anonymously by clicking here.

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.

OTTAWA — Russian cybercriminals managed to hack into a Quebec municipality’s water treatment plant systems and had the ability to wreak havoc on the crucial infrastructure before getting caught, according to Canada’s cyber spy agency.

In its latest annual report released Monday , the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) said that it detected over 3,200 cyber incidents affecting either federal government organizations or one of ten critical infrastructure sectors, such as energy, critical minerals and water.

In one particular case discussed in the report, the signals intelligence agency said it was advised last October that Russian hacktivist group NoName had broken into the Quebec water plant’s network and gained access to many crucial systems.

According to CSE, NoName claimed it had gained the “ability to covertly control pumps, chlorine dosing, pressure settings and monitoring/alerts systems.” The report does not identify the impacted Quebec municipality.

It’s one of the most specific examples the federal cyber agency has given of how foreign state-backed hackers are trying to break into Canadian critical infrastructure cyber systems. Their goals are often to either extort the systems’ owners or wield the breach as a ticking timebomb in the case of hostilities between that country and Canada.

It’s also the first time CSE — which has previously warned of foreign cyber attacks on Canadian water infrastructure — attributes the treatment plant breach to a Russian-backed group and identifies which province the system was located.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice , NoName is a cybercriminal group financially backed by the Russian government that frequently conducts operations against Russia’s foes. They frequently target North American water systems.

“State-sponsored actors are becoming more aggressive and are moving beyond traditional espionage to conduct more disruptive activities,” reads the report.

Interestingly, the annual report notes that it isn’t CSE that detected the breach. Rather, CSE’s Cyber Centre was notified by the Organization of American States’ cybersecurity coordination network of a claim by NoName of the breach. The cyber agency says it then worked with unnamed partners to mitigate the threat.

It also points to two main state cyber adversaries: Russia and China. The report emphasizes that both countries pose a growing threat in the Canadian Arctic, where challenges posed by adversaries go “beyond traditional military and cyber threats to include economic and influence-related activities that seek to shape access, infrastructure, and decision-making in the region.”

In its latest annual report, CSE says it deployed its extraordinary powers to conduct offensive and defensive cyber operations to undermine a network of fentanyl precursor traffickers and an unidentified foreign extremist group seeking to recruit Canadians.

In the first case, CSE revealed that it discovered “key” foreign cybercriminals were brokering the purchase and sale of chemicals used to synthesize opioids such as fentanyl. The spy agency collected foreign intelligence on the group before conducting an offensive cyber operation that “disrupted and diminished” the brokers’ work.

In the second case, the signals intelligence agency said it eavesdropped on a foreign extremist group that was spreading violent ideology and recruiting in Western countries, including Canada.

It then conducted another offensive cyber operation that “undermined the group’s credibility and limited their ability to radicalize and recruit new members.”

In a separate operation, CSE says its worked with its Five Eyes intelligence alliance partners to cyberattack an unnamed “notorious ransomware-as-a-service” cybercrime group and render its systems inoperable all the while deleting “a large amount of stolen data”.

The group was responsible for over 25 ransomware attacks — in which hackers lock a user out of their network or data and then demand a ransom to unlock it — in the transportation, healthcare, pharmaceutical and business sectors in Canada, CSE said.

Overall, the cyber defence agency says network vulnerabilities writ large are growing in number and in severity.

National Post

cnardi@postmedia.com

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OTTAWA — Alberta’s proposal for building a new million-barrel-a-day pipeline to the West Coast will be unveiled on Thursday, a spokesman for the premier confirmed.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Prime Minister Mark Carney agreed in May that the province’s United Conservative Party government would submit its application for a new pipeline to the federal Major Projects Office “ by July 1.”

“We will have a major announcement on July 2 to share new details about the Government of Alberta’s submission to the Major Projects Office for a new one-million-barrel-per-day oil pipeline to Canada’s West Coast,” spokesman Sam Blackett wrote in a statement on Monday, citing that July 1 was Canada Day.

Alberta’s push to build a new pipeline to the West Coast has been the centrepiece of a memorandum of understanding Smith and Carney agreed to last fall, as the pair looked to reset the Ottawa-Alberta relationship after years of acrimony over federal energy policies under former prime minister Justin Trudeau.

Since taking office, Carney has pledged to transform Canada into an “energy superpower,” with Smith advocating that a new pipeline to the West Coast would advance the federal goal of diversifying the country’s export capacity to Asian markets in the face of tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump. Her province is also facing a push to separate from Canada, with Smith looking at the pipeline deal as a way to demonstrate improved relations with Ottawa.

Two big questions looming over Alberta’s pipeline pitch are whether a private sector proponent will step forward to build it and the exact route a possible new pipeline would take, given the fierce backlash past projects have received from some local First Nations and environmental groups when proposed routes have run through British Columbia’s northwest coast, with nearby waters protected by an oil tanker moratorium.

Smith’s government is expected to hold a telephone townhall on Tuesday about its pipeline proposal with Indigenous communities, with a media notice saying it would be collecting information for further engagement.

Smith has signalled that a northern route would be the most advantageous in terms of port access and proximity to Asian markets.

B.C. Premier David Eby has said he is opposed to lifting the oil tanker ban and has panned Alberta’s pipeline proponent as so far lacking any private sector backer. Under the deal with Alberta, Carney’s government has said it is open to amending parts of the oil tanker ban.

Eby has argued that his province has a list of major projects with real investment backing that the Carney government ought to consider for fast-tracked approvals, with the premier saying his NDP government was negotiating its own memorandum of understanding with the federal government.

Under the deal with Alberta, Carney’s government has committed to working towards designating Smith’s pipeline proposal as a project in the “national interest” by October 2026, with the stated goal of providing it with the conditions necessary to begin construction by September 2027.

A federal official confirmed to reporters last week that designating a project to be in the “national interest” would not require it to have a private sector proponent. That designation would trigger the process that the Carney government ushered in last year to provide it with more upfront approvals in the hope of providing more certainty to industry and investors.

Carney has tied the construction of a possible new oil pipeline to the West Coast to a group of major oilsands companies agreeing to build a massive carbon capture and storage network meant to trap carbon emissions as a way to deal with the emissions from a new pipeline, an endeavour estimated to cost billions of dollars.

National Post

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The still-shuttered Gordie Howe International Bridge between Windsor, Ont., and Detroit is continuing to serve as a flashpoint in the U.S. elections, with a Republican Senatorial candidate saying only he can get the bridge to open, while also claiming “it was not a great deal for us” and that “we’ll never see any revenue from that thing.”

Mike Rogers is making a run for U.S. Senate in the 2026 election. A former FBI agent, he served in the Michigan State Senate from 1995 to 2001 and then spent 14 years as a Congressman for the state. A victory this year would make him the first Republican to capture a U.S. Senate seat in Michigan since 1994.

In a question-and-answer session with the Detroit News, the paper asked about a campaign video he had made saying that he could open the bridge: “What would you do to make this happen?

Rogers’ answer: “You need to elect Mike Rogers to the Senate. I’ll get it open.”

Democrats have already cost Michigan tens of thousands of auto jobs. Now, China is threatening to drive our auto industry off the road all together.

We have got to pump the brakes on China. pic.twitter.com/mBJGjDXpZU

— Mike Rogers (@MikeRogersForMI) June 16, 2026

He continued: “Out of the two senators we have there (in Washington), nobody can go and have a conversation with the White House because all they do is poke him (Donald Trump) in the eye. He’s going to be there for two years. This is an opportunity to send somebody back that understands what’s at risk.”

In a campaign ad posted to social media, he says while standing in front of the bridge: “Gordie was known as one of the toughest guys in hockey. And we need to be as tough at stopping Chinese cars coming over that bridge as Gordie Howe was on the ice.”

He goes on to talk about the loss of manufacturing jobs in Michigan, concluding: “Send me to Washington. I’ll get this bridge open, I’ll protect our auto jobs, and guess what, Michigan? We’re going to have a growing Michigan manufacturing.”

He told Detroit News: “When Canada was trying to allow a huge number of Chinese cars to be brought into Canada, they took the tariffs from 100 per cent down to 6 per cent, and I think they’ve upped their quota to 70,000 on all 100 per cent Chinese-made cars to be able to be brought into Canada.”

Canada’s annual quota of Chinese-made electric vehicles is in fact 49,000 at a tariff rate of 6.1% per cent but the plan is for that cap to reach 70,000 over five years.

Rogers continued: “My argument was, let’s use the bridge opening as an opportunity to stop Canada from hurting American automobile workers.”

That said, Rogers told a Detroit radio station this week that the critical span between Detroit and Windsor should remain closed for up to another six months if Canada does not acquiesce to Trump’s demands.

“If we have this bridge open two months, three months, six months later, and we win a significant concession from Canada about these Chinese cars, that’s significant for auto workers right here in the state in keeping their jobs. That’s worth having a little scuffle over.”

He concluded: “It is no money out of our pocket having that bridge closed for another six months.”

The seeming contradiction in timing was enough for Detroit Metro Times to run its coverage under the headline: “Mike Rogers wants the Gordie Howe bridge open except when he doesn’t.”

In his Q&A with Detroit News, Rogers also said of the bridge: “It was not a great deal for us. We’ll never see any revenue from that thing, from what people around the bridge tell me, for a long time. One hundred years, someone told me. Well, I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it’s breathtaking, that part.”

The government of Canada, which paid for construction of the bridge, expects to recoup its investment over the next 36 years, according to information from the U.S. Department of Transportation .

Much has been made of the role in the dispute by the Moroun family, which owns the existing Ambassador crossing and paid $1 million into a Trump fund prior to the president saying he wanted the bridge to remain closed. But Rogers said the issue for him is purely about Chinese electric vehicles and Michigan jobs, and that he hasn’t spoken to Matthew Moroun, head of the family.

“This is not about his bridge or their bridge.” he said. “I don’t care.”

Last week, in the wake of a planned opening on June 12 that was scuttled at the last minute, Democratic Senate hopeful Mallory McMorrow released a campaign ad which included “one message for the president: Open this damn bridge. And you’d better believe I approve this message.”

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