Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, has clarified her name yet again.

She wants to be called “Meg,” according to media reports from Australia , where she and Prince Harry have been on a four-day visit that the British press has dubbed a “ faux-royal” tour . Their first trip to the country, back in 2018, was an actual royal tour.

This time, they are attending mostly private events with high ticket prices, The Guardian reported.

Throughout the first day, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were asked how they should be addressed.

Meghan said she should just be called “Meg.”

According to The Telegraph , the couple visited Melbourne on April 14. When asked how they preferred to be addressed, Harry shrugged his shoulders and replied, “However you like.”

Meghan suggested, “Call me Meg.”

The shift comes just over a year after Meghan announced she didn’t want to be known as Meghan Markle anymore. She made it clear during an episode of her cooking and lifestyle show on Netflix, then again in interviews with Drew Barrymore and People magazine.

“It’s so funny, too, that you keep saying Meghan Markle, you know I’m Sussex now. You have kids and you go, no, I share my name with my children,” Meghan told Mindy Kaling in the Netflix episode.

Prince Harry and Meghan received the titles the Duke and Duchess of Sussex from Queen Elizabeth II when they were wed back in 2018.

After the wedding, Markle’s maiden name was often used to identify her in the media, similar to Catherine, Princess of Wales, who was known as the Duchess of Cambridge before King Charles III’s accession , and often referred to as Kate Middleton.

Prince Harry and Meghan were allowed to keep their titles when they stepped down as royals in 2020 but they were told to stop developing their “SussexRoyal” brand and cease in marketing themselves as such, or otherwise profit from their titles. They are no longer addressed as his or her royal highness (HRH).

Still, there is no impediment to using their titles as a last name, as other royals do.

Now, it appears the duchess wishes to be called Meg Sussex.

• Meghan Markle wants the world to know her name is actually Meghan Sussex now
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The Air Canada flight attendant who survived the crash of an Air Canada jet at LaGuardia Airport in New York last month has spoken out on the GoFundMe page set up by her family.

Solange Tremblay was working as a flight attendant on Air Canada Express Flight 8646 on the evening of March 22 when it struck a fire truck that had driven onto the runway as it was landing.

The captain and first officer, Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther, were killed as the front of the jet crumpled. The impact injured 37 passengers, both flight attendants, and both occupants of the truck.

Tremblay was in a jump seat behind the cockpit door, which was ejected from the aircraft and found over 100 metres away from the wreckage. She was conscious throughout and sustained severe injuries including two shattered legs requiring multiple surgeries where metal plates were needed to repair the damage.

She also sustained a fractured spine, and required skin graphs to repair flesh lost on her legs while sliding down the tarmac. She received a blood transfusion due to complications from her first surgery.

Tremblay’s daughter Sarah Lépine and her cousin Johannes Verbeek set up a GoFundMe page to support her recovery. Tremblay recently added a personal note to the page, and an update on her recovery.

“I want to thank each and everyone of you from the bottom of my heart for your love, support, your kind words from all around the world,” she wrote on April 5. “I am speechless, without words, and so full of gratitude for your help, and so grateful to still be alive.”

She added that her “spine is fine” and that she has a third surgery on her right leg coming up soon.

“I am slowly recovering and have a lot of support from my employer, my family, and friends near and far,” she added. “I still have a very long journey ahead of me to recover physically and mentally, but I am strong, positive and ready to do so.”

She signed off: “Salut tout le monde!” (Goodbye/good wishes everyone)

The page has a goal of $300,000. As of April 14, the total raised stood at almost $250,000 from more than 3,800 donations, including several anonymous donations of more than $1,000 apiece.

• Air Canada flight attendant ejected from plane and found strapped in jump seat, survives crash: daughter confirms
• Air Canada flight attendant 'conscious' while being ejected from plane during LaGuardia crash: daughter

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OTTAWA — No general election, no imminent cabinet shuffle, and greater control over Parliamentary committees to prevent opposition MPs from “showboating” with talk of “cats and dogs.”

Those are some of the commitments Prime Minister Mark Carney made about how he planned to wield his newfound majority government after the Liberals secured seats in three Ontario and Quebec byelections on Monday.

Carney spoke to reporters from Parliament’s West Block the day after the byelections, which capped a historic jump from a Liberal minority government to a majority. That was largely due to the addition of five opposition MPs — four Conservatives and one NDP — who broke ranks to join the prime minister’s party in recent months.

Carney dismissed the notion that he could call a general election anytime soon to deflect criticism that he had built his majority on “dirty backroom deals,” as has charged Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.

“I am not considering calling an election,” Carney said flatly. He emphasized that in Canada’s Westminster democracy, voters choose MPs, not parties, and that elected officials are free to decide which political stripe best represents their constituents’ interests.

“I think, very clearly Canadians want government to govern, to take action on immediate concerns,” he added.

But Poilievre, apparently inspired by Peter Parker’s fictional Uncle Ben, warned that with “absolute power comes absolute responsibility.”

“They will actually have to get things done. They will have to do so without blaming others, and they will have to start now,” Poilievre told the House of Commons Tuesday afternoon.

He argued that the Liberals had given themselves sweeping powers at the beginning of their mandate and yet failed to use any of them to approve major projects or address cost-of-living issues.

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet made the same argument when asked to explain why his party failed to retain the Montreal-area riding of Terrebonne in the byelection Monday evening.

“T here seems to be no alternative about who is to negotiate with Donald Trump. So, (voters) want to give some support to the guy who said he could fix it, even if, so far, he has fixed nothing,” Blanchet said.

During his press conference announcing a summer reprieve of the 10 cent fuel excise tax, Carney also squashed rumours that he is considering a cabinet shuffle before the summer recess to replace poorly performing ministers with fresh political blood.

“It’s not in my plans,” Carney said in French. “I have the opportunity of having a very capable cabinet and there is a lot to do.”

The prime minister reserved his strongest comments for House of Commons committees, which have been a thorn in his minority government’s legislative agenda.

Committees are important because they are a requisite step for most legislation, but they are also the place where opposition parties have the most procedural levers to delay or amend government legislation.

That was on full display during debate on the Liberals’ controversial Bill C-9 targeting hate symbols, where Conservatives filibustered the bill for hours in opposition to a Liberal-Bloc Québécois deal that removed the religious exemption from some hate speech laws.

Carney suggested that he aimed to rewrite committee composition quickly to give the Liberals a majority there to remove some of those levers from opposition members.

He accused opposition parties of “showboating” on committees, a comment that is sure to raise the ire of Conservative and Bloc MPs.

“We’ve had a variety of issues over the course of the Parliament where things have taken longer than they necessarily would, where debates have been more performative,” Carney said.

“There is a difference between real testimony, real substance, getting to issues, debating aspects of law…. and showboating,” he added. “We’re going to have less of that.”

To illustrate his point, Carney pointed to comments by Conservative MP Andrew Lawton during committee debate on Bill C-9 during which Lawton discussed his preference for puppies while his wife preferred cats.

In a statement to National Post, Lawton countered that his discussion of pet preferences was in fact on topic.

“My point on cats and dogs was simple: free speech is necessary to protect debate on controversial issues, otherwise our society is relegated to expressing only harmless opinions about pets. Liberal attempts to twist my words in this less than 12-second clip are nothing more than an attempt to re-write history,” he said.

National Post

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OTTAWA — Newly minted NDP leader Avi Lewis is sounding the alarm on what he calls a “creepy new tactic” corporations are using to rip-off consumers. 

Lewis is calling on the Liberals to prohibit businesses from using personal data to charge customers different prices for the same product, a practice he calls “surveillance pricing.”

He said on Monday that corporations south of the border are already using copious amounts of personal data, mined from places like search engines and social media feeds, to price gouge and warned that Canadians (literally) can’t afford to be complacent about the looming threat to their wallets.

“There are Canadian (artificial intelligence) companies right now that are actively offering their services to large retailers to help them maximize revenue through individualized algorithmic pricing,” warned Lewis. “We can’t wait until we inhabit a dystopian retail landscape where every individual is their own target market, profiled and surveilled without their knowledge and consent.”

An NDP motion to stop surveillance pricing is expected to be tabled in the House of Commons this week. Manitoba’s NDP government has already introduced a bill that would prohibit businesses from using personalized algorithmic pricing to increase what they charge specific consumers.

Here’s what you need to know about surveillance pricing and what, if any, threat it poses to Canadian consumers.

What’s ‘surveillance’ pricing?

Surveillance pricing, sometimes called personalized algorithmic pricing, is a form of dynamic pricing where companies use personal data to set prices as close as possible to the amount a customer is willing to pay.

Such pricing has long been used in various sectors. For example, most of us pay a personalized rate for car insurance based on our individual driver histories. However, the rapid rise of digital data collection and AI tools has raised concerns about the sorts of data companies are mining and how instantaneously they’re able to adjust prices.

App-based platforms may use especially intimate personal information to set prices. For instance, a ride-sharing app could technically charge more for a ride if it knows the consumer’s phone is running low on batteries, surmising they’re desperate to hail a ride before their phone dies.

Competition policy expert Vass Bednar told National Post that surveillance pricing is as much an ethical and privacy concern as it is an economic one.

“It may not be a huge variance between what you pay and what I pay, but it’s more the principle of whether businesses should be doing this sort of thing,” said Bednar.

How widespread is it?

A study released by the Federal Trade Commission last year found that U.S.-based companies were using a “wide range of personal data” to set individualized consumer prices. The study identified at least 250 vendors, ranging from grocery stores to apparel retailers, that were working with firms selling personalized algorithmic pricing tools.

A fall 2025 investigation by watchdog group Consumer Reports into shopping app Instacart found that prices for the same order of groceries varied by as much as 23 per cent from one customer to the next. The report preceded an FTC probe and led Instacart to end its use of AI to set dynamic pricing.

The practice isn’t as well studied in Canada but anyone who’s tried booking a flight online will likely have seen a personalized price. Bednar said there’s evidence that airlines use up to 1,000 data points to determine the price of each plane ticket.

“A dream of mine is to be able to board a flight and see how much everyone around me has paid for their seat,” joked Bednar.

Would a ban lower prices?

Mike von Massow, a professor of agricultural economics at Guelph University, said that a ban on surveillance pricing is unlikely to make much of a dent on the price of groceries and other everyday essentials.

“Groceries are something we buy all the time, so the average consumer has a good idea of how much two litres of milk or a dozens eggs should cost,” said von Massow.

“It doesn’t make much sense, from a business perspective, to try to upcharge certain customers and risk losing them to a competitor,” he added.

Von Massow said that the staples consumers buy at grocery stores, such as milk, bread and meat, tend to be “loss leaders” designed to get them inside the store and, if anything, the shift to a digital marketplace has shifted power back to the buyer.

“The traditional model was to put the staples at the back of the store, in the hopes that consumers would grab some impulse items on their way to get them,” said von Massow. “It’s obviously harder to do that when people are buying groceries on an app.”

Efforts to incorporate algorithmic pricing into the food service industry have similarly failed due to consumer price sensitivity. One recent example is Wendy’s disastrous 2024 experiment with dynamic pricing .

Could a ban inadvertently raise prices?

Van Massow says this is a more likely scenario.

“Depending on how it’s worded, a ban on personalized algorithmic prices could end up eliminating things like customer loyalty programs,” said van Massow.

Van Massow said that such a ban could also threaten online booking sites that use algorithms to match users with the lowest possible prices.

What’s the alternative?

Another option is to increase transparency surrounding the use of algorithmic pricing.

South of the border, 33 states and Washington, D.C. have introduced dynamic price disclosure laws requiring retailers to inform consumers when real-time data or artificial intelligence are used to set prices. Some states have also introduced consumer protection measures limiting the use of certain personal information in setting individualized prices.

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar has proposed federal legislation that would require businesses to disclose algorithmic pricing and give regulators the power to audit these algorithms in cases of suspected consumer protection violations.

Bednar said that existing federal laws, such as the Privacy Act and Competition Act, could be updated to make algorithmic pricing more transparent and ward off its predatory use.

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For years, Canadians have heard of major problems with 24 Sussex Drive, and for years, successive governments have opted not to deal with those major issues.

The problems have been so bad that two prime ministers now have chosen to live at an entirely separate residence.

National Post reporter Simon Tuck joins me to disuccuss the problems with the prime minister’s residence, why repairs have been put off for so long, and how much it could cost for an extreme home makeover.

Background reading: Future of 24 Sussex Drive: While the government dithers, here are some ideas to fix it

Subscribe to 10/3 on your favourite podcast app

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The rabbi and director of the Yorkville Jewish Centre in Toronto says the centre will rebuild its menorah “bigger and brighter” after someone knocked it to the ground on Friday.

“We are looking into one that we can have bolted into the ground,” Meir Dubrawsky told National Post by phone. “Most importantly, the message of putting it back up is that we will not cower and we will not ever succumb to darkness.”

He added: “The message, I think, one of the most fundamental messages in Judaism, is that light will always overcome darkness, and good will always overcome evil, and we can never succumb to it.”

In broad daylight, shamelessly and deliberately.

Canada, Yom Hashoah 2026.

“Never again”? Are you serious? https://t.co/CMgTK31WZr

— Iddo Moed (@MoedIddo) April 14, 2026

A 22-second-clip posted to the centre’s Instagram page on Monday shows a man in a grey toque and a dark hooded coat and light-coloured pants walking past the menorah, which was in front of a window. The man pauses for a moment before pulling the menorah down. It hits an electrical pole and breaks on the sidewalk as he walks on.

Dubrawsky said the video has been shared with Toronto police, who are investigating. He added that after the post went up, a passerby who heard the noise and took pictures shared them with the centre, and that those have also been forwarded to police. They may help identify the man, whose face is not visible in the video.

The incident drew comments from abroad, including a post on X by ILTV Israel News , and a comment from Iddo Moed, Israel’s ambassador to Canada, who remarked: “In broad daylight, shamelessly and deliberately. Canada, Yom Hashoah 2026. “Never again”? Are you serious?”

Yom Hashoah is a day for Holocaust remembrance , first observed by Canada in 1999. Established by the Israeli parliament in 1951, it marks the anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising, and this year falls on April 14.

This is not the first time the centre has been the victim of an attack. Last September , someone threw eggs at the building while shouting “kill you all!”

Dubrawsky said the centre had debated whether to leave the menorah in place after Hanukkah, the traditional time for its use. But he said that after the antisemitic attack on Bondi Beach in Australia last December, it was decided to keep it up.

“We also knew that we would be more of a recognized spot and location, but we still made the decision to do so, because the menorah should never be anything but a symbol of light and goodness and positivity.”

He added: “And throughout a very cold and dark winter, we have found, and we’ve heard from others, that the menorah was a great source of light for them.”

The menorah was damaged beyond repair. Dubrawsky said a new one will cost US$6,000 to US$7,000. People from within and outside the Jewish community have already reached forward with donations, and the group Canadian Women Against Antisemitism has announced a fundraising event . Anyone wanting to donate can also reach out to yorkvillejewishcentre.com/donate .

Dubrawsky shared a video with National Post that showed two passersby several minutes after the attack stopping to put the menorah back up.

“I found that very, very empowering,” he said. “She looked like she was struggling to lift it up, but she didn’t leave until it was lifted up, albeit broken, but still, she lifted it up regardless.”

• Aedan O'Connor: I fled Toronto’s antisemitism for a life of Jewish pride in Miami
• Jesse Kline: Israel-haters have largely failed to persuade Canadians, according to new poll

A former university professor who became a contentious figure for questioning claims about the existence of Indigenous unmarked graves says the outcome of her ongoing court battle will set a crucial precedent for academic freedom in Canada.  

Frances Widdowson, who launched a legal challenge against University of Lethbridge (UL) in July 2023, had her arguments heard by a Court of King’s Bench judge on Friday. Widdowson, a former Mount Royal University professor, is arguing that the University of Lethbridge restricted her right to free speech when it cancelled her talk in February 2023.

Blackfoot First Nation protesters and other demonstrators pressured the university to cancel the event, and then-president Michael Mahon consented to their calls amid what the school describes as security concerns. Widdowson — who has prompted similar protests at two other Canadian universities — said the cancellation mirrors a worrying trend of campuses restricting precisely the sorts of open debates they are meant to encourage. 

“People need to take this seriously, because universities are incredibly important institutions in a democratic society,” Widdowson said. “They let knowledge be disseminated, they’re important in the training of professionals, and are also a bulwark against authoritarianism. All of those functions now are under threat, because you have institutions like the University of Lethbridge, which is not academic at all anymore and has been completely captured by Indigenization activists.” 

Court hearings have focused on whether the university had an obligation to protect free speech in the face of the alleged “very real harms” of hosting the event, according to a legal brief filed to the court by Widdowson’s lawyer, Glenn Blackett. Following Friday’s hearings, a ruling is expected in the coming months.

Widdowson has attracted opposition primarily for work in which she has doubted the claims put forward about Indigenous unmarked graves in Canada, with a focus on Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc, previously known as the Kamloops Indian Band, which has claimed that 215 “missing children” are buried in unmarked graves on the site of a former residential school. 

Nearly five years after the initial claim, however, the First Nation has not exhumed the remains of any children. In a February update, the First Nation said its investigation using ground-penetrating radar is ongoing. Widdowson has made a point of emphasizing this current lack of evidence, including in a 2025 YouTube documentary called “What Remains: Aftermath of the Kamloops Mass Grave Deception.” (A 2021 Assembly of First Nations resolution referred to the Kamloops claims as an example of “burial sites or mass graves.”)

Widdowson said it was an “open question” whether any children were secretly buried on the Kamloops residential site, but said that those allegations need to be properly scrutinized and supported. The graves are regularly cited as evidence of Canada’s alleged genocide against First Nations. 

“Claims should be asserted on the basis of reason, evidence and logic, not the basis of a prescribed doctrine,” she said. 

The planned February 2023 event was about how “wokeism” was undermining academic freedom. Widdowson agreed to the talk on the invitation of Paul Viminitz, a professor who the university later fired in 2024. (Viminitz was previously a party to Widdowson’s Court of King’s challenge, and Jonah Pickle, a former student, is currently an applicant). 

Widdowson has since called on the Alberta government to intervene in her case against University of Lethbridge due to her claims about the threats to academic freedoms at stake, but the government has thus far declined. 

Elizabeth Harper, spokesperson for Advanced Education Minister Myles McDougall, said the province’s universities are obligated to report on their free speech policies, adding that “the University of Lethbridge has been asked to review their policies to ensure that they support free speech.”

Matthew Woodley, a lawyer at Reynolds Mirth Richards & Farmer LLP who is representing the University of Lethbridge, was occupied with separate court proceedings on Monday and was unable to schedule an interview, according to his assistant.

In a statement, University of Lethbridge spokesperson Trevor Kenney said that the same week of the cancelled talk in February 2023, Widdowson led two other lectures at the university that passed without incident. 

“The University cancelled a room booking for an event involving Frances Widdowson as the result of concerns relating to possible harms raised by members of the University community, including safety risks,” Kenney said. 

On May 27, 2021, the Kamloops Indian Band, or Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc, claimed that it had located the remains of 215 children — “some as young as three years old” — in an apple orchard at a former residential school site. The claims were based on the results of ground-penetrating radar, which is capable of detecting ground disturbances but does not confirm the presence of bodily remains. 

The next month, the Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan said it had found potentially 751 potential unmarked graves at a cemetery near the former Merieval Indian Residential School. (The Cowessess chief emphasized at the time that they were not mass graves, but unmarked ones.) 

Some cities including Victoria cancelled their Canada Day celebrations that year, and The Canadian Press named the Kamloops “unmarked graves discovery” as its newsmaker of the year. 

Widdowson said that until the evidence of graves are verified, it is intellectually unhealthy to assert that they do. That is also true for Canada’s First Nations, she said, who deserve to have their many struggles addressed on a foundation of truth. 

“If we don’t have the truth, we will not be able to figure out the best way to organize society,” she said. “That’s what’s happened to Aboriginal people now, is that they’re being fed a whole bunch of falsehoods which are making it impossible for Aboriginal people to thrive and live full lives in modern society. 

In December 2021, Mount Royal University, Widdowson’s former employer, terminated her over allegations that a series of tweets she had posted were a form of harassment. In 2024, an arbitrator found that Widdowson’s dismissal was unwarranted and that, despite her controversial views, there had “ never been a complaint about the quality or ethics of her scholarship.”

• The fired prof who has become the standard bearer for free thought in Canada
• FIRST READING: Tkʼemlúps blames feds, church, 'spiritual protocols' for why it hasn't exhumed graves

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Canada has once again ranked higher than the U.S. in a global report on women’s safety.

The Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Index , which is produced by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, in collaboration with the Peace Research Institute Oslo and supported by the Government of Norway, ranks 181 countries on women’s well-being.

The ranking is based on 13 indicators spanning women’s inclusion, justice, and security, and generates scores from 0 (worst) to 1 (best).

In the 2025/26 WPS Index, Canada ranks 16th, up from 17th in 2023/24, with a score of 0.885.

Canada stands out for women’s financial inclusion and the absence of legal discrimination against women, ranking first in the developed-country group on the latter measure.

However, Canada ranks lowest in its group for women’s cellphone use, measured as the percentage of women aged 15 and older who report having a mobile phone for personal calls.

The report notes that “cellphone use is increasingly recognized as core to people’s opportunities to be informed about and participate in the economy, society, and politics.”

The United States has also improved its standing since the 2023/24 index, rising six places from 37th to 31st.

It ranks higher than Canada for women’s mean years of schooling, women’s cellphone use and access to justice, but falls behind on indicators including women’s employment, financial inclusion and maternal mortality — the latter of which it ranks worst for among developed countries group.

The U.S. also ranks worse than Canada on intimate partner violence, measured as the percentage of ever-partnered women who experienced physical or sexual violence committed by an intimate partner in the 12 months prior to data collection.

The rate in the U.S. is 6 per cent, compared to Canada’s 2.6 per cent.

This is despite recent data pointing to rising domestic violence in Canada.

Data from Statistics Canada , released in October 2025, showed police-reported domestic violence remained at record levels in 2024, unchanged from 2023 after years of gradual increases.

The rate of intimate partner violence among victims aged 12 and older rose 14 percent between 2018 and 2024.

Among the provinces, Saskatchewan recorded the highest rates of both family violence (737 victims per 100,000 people) and intimate partner violence (714 victims per 100,000 people).

Rates were lowest in Ontario, with 237 victims of family violence and 278 victims of intimate partner violence per 100,000 population.

Women and girls remained overrepresented among victims of both types of police-reported violence, and were 2.1 times more likely to be victims of family violence and 3.5 times more likely to be victims of intimate partner violence than men.

In recent years, provinces and municipalities across Canada have declared intimate partner violence an epidemic.

In 2023, Toronto mayor Olivia Chow declared an epidemic in the city , joining other municipalities across Ontario including Ottawa, Peel Region, Halton Region and Renfrew County.

In September 2024, the Nova Scotia Government passed Bill 482, declaring intimate partner violence an epidemic, while New Brunswick declared gender-based violence an epidemic in 2025.

In Saskatchewan, which has the highest rates of intimate partner violence in the country, the NDP Opposition has been calling for the province to declare an epidemic for some time.

• Chris Selley: Do women deserve to feel safe on our streets, or don't they?
• Canada falls in world happiness ranking, now lowest it's ever been

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 — On the first day of his majority government, Prime Minister Mark Carney ripped part of a page from Pierre Poilievre’s policy book, announcing a summer reprieve on the federal gas excise tax.

On Tuesday morning, Carney promised to pause the application of the federal excise tax on consumer and aviation fuels from April 20 to Labour Day on Sept. 7, saying that should reduce gas prices by $0.10 per litre and diesel by $0.04 per litre.

Carney pointed the finger at the war with Iran as the reason why he was announcing the measure that is expected to cost $2.4 billion.

“Fuel prices have increased sharply around the world, including right here in Canada, so we’re taking more action to help build that bridge over short term pressure,” Carney said.

He said the measure was temporary and geared towards a period of the year when Canadians tend to travel more by road vehicle or plane.

His announcement reprises part of a policy demand by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and the House of Commons is debating on Tuesday a Conservative motion reiterating that call. Poilievre told MPs that Conservatives were calling on the government to eliminate all taxes applying to gas and to apply it until the end of the year, going farther than the government’s proposal.

“It is true the prime minister and the Liberals would not have done anything were it not for the leadership of the Conservatives in fighting for affordability,” Poilievre said. “And it is true that imitation is the highest form of flattery.”

On Tuesday, Carney denied that his announcement was inspired by Poilievre but promised that he was open to hearing policy ideas from anywhere.

“We’re open to ideas from anyone, certainly any deputies, ideas that could come from the Senate, and above all, ideas from Canadians, from stakeholders and others,” Carney said.

Carney announced the new measure hours after the Liberals won three byelections that vaulted their seat count to 174 and secured them a majority government.

During the announcement, Carney said he did not intend to call an election and promised to govern “humility” and “determination.”

“I think, very clearly Canadians want government to govern, to take action on immediate concerns such as today, which is what we’re doing on affordability,” he said.

More to come .

National Post

cnardi@postmedia.com

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It’s a Season 2 bonus episode! There are layers within layers to the outlandish stories of Rob Ford, but one of the most bizarre is that of the “crack video” showing the late Toronto mayor smoking cocaine in a seedy suburban basement. The gangbanger who filmed it tried selling it in hopes of getting out of Toronto’s thug life, but set off a circus that engulfed a city. It put police, gangsters and the mayor’s minions in hot pursuit of a tape everyone wanted, but everyone connected to would eventually suffer for.

This is episode 6 of season 2 of Canada Did What? For previous episodes and seasons please subscribe below.

Subscribe to Canada Did What? on your favourite podcast app.

— — —

Canada Did What? Season 2, Episode 6 (bonus episode), unedited transcript

Archival clip of Ford Nation TV show.

Host, Tristin Hopper: That’s a clip from the short-lived Canadian TV program Ford Nation. And when I say short-lived there was precisely one episode ever aired on TV, and then five web-only episodes.

Most of the show is like this: It’s just two guys in front of a crinkled photograph of the Toronto skyline going on about … not much really.

They read fan mail. They talk about how there’s a lot of Canadians in Los Angeles. Here’s their thoughts on actor Kevin Spacey…

Archival clip of Ford Nation TV show.

Hopper: So with hindsight, it may be hard to believe that one of the hosts of Ford Nation is currently one of the most powerful figures in the entire country.

Doug Ford – he’s the guy with the strong opinions on Kevin Spacey – is currently serving his third majority term as premier of Ontario, Canada’s richest and most populous province. At the time this podcast goes to air, Doug Ford has won majorities in three consecutive provincial elections – something nobody else has done in Ontario since the 1950s.

And Rob Ford – the guy who likes veal – was at the time arguably the most well-known Canadian in the world.

Michael Buble? Celine Dion? Justin Bieber? Yeah, people might have known their names, but they weren’t generating fevered conversation on every single world continent all at once.

In 2013, he was the most-searched Canadian term on Google.

The Australian media called him the Falstaffian mayor of Toronto; Falstaff being a Shakespearian character known for his immense bulk and corrupt morals. The New Yorker called him the “rotund, wayward mayor of Toronto.”

He’s one of the extremely few Canadian politicians to ever be parodied on Saturday Night Live.

Clip of SNL impression of Ford.

A side note, actor Bobby Moynihan apparently couldn’t do a Rob Ford impression, so he just went with a Minnesota accent.

He was the subject of a feature film: Run This Town, which came out in 2019. For some reason, Rob Ford is played by the rail-thin English actor Damian Lewis, so he had to wear an awful lot of makeup.

Archival clip of Run This Town.

Hopper: Anyways, back to the short-lived show Ford Nation, whose tagline makes reference to Rob Ford’s international fame. It reads “Get to know the Mayor that the whole world is talking about.”

Why was the whole world talking about him? They never say this in the show, but while serving as mayor of Canada’s largest city, Rob Ford admitted to smoking crack in a garage somewhere … and then said that this sort of thing happened all the time.

I’m Tristin Hopper and this is Canada Did What?! And today, we’re looking into the saga of one of the most well-known Canadian politicians of all time; the one Canadian elected official who’s entered the global zeitgeist more than any other: Rob Ford, the so-called “crack mayor” of Toronto.

But the Rob Ford story is so outrageous that there’s all these others intersecting layers of outrageousness that never really got the attention they deserved because they were all overwhelmed by the basic, background level of outrageousness that surrounded Rob Ford at all times.

You probably already knew that Rob Ford admitted to smoking crack in November 2013, setting off one of the most dramatic political flameouts in Canadian history.

Archival clip of Ford admitting he smoked crack.

But what you probably didn’t know was the absolutely bananas behind-the-scenes story of how all of this was the work of a single Somalian gang member who had just been trying to scare up enough money to start a new life in Alberta.

Instead, he summoned an unholy rain of fire and trouble that burned him way more than it ever burned Rob Ford.

Because if you’re making a movie about the Rob Ford crack scandal, I’d argue your protagonist isn’t Rob Ford. It’s the 27-year-old criminal who captured the video, thought he had hit the jackpot, only for events to quickly spiral out of his control.

But first, let’s meet His Worship, Mayor Robert Bruce Ford.

Archival clip of several of Rob Ford’s outrageous comments.

Hopper: One of the most surreal things about Toronto under mayor Ford was that, pretty regularly, he would show up in some completely random place blitzed on some unknown substance.

For instance, say it’s a Monday night in the summer of 2014, and you’re having a beer at Sullie Gorman’s, a cheap strip mall tavern in the westernmost fringes of Toronto. Suddenly, an extremely inebriated Rob Ford charges in and delivers an extended soliloquy about all his enemies, darkest thoughts and workplace crushes.

Clip of Ford ranting.

Hopper: A tape was leaked to the Toronto Sun. He refers to one guy as a dumb effing wop and an effing dagger, two ethnic slurs for Italians and asks, sorry, is that racist? Then he says he’s going to knock his effing teeth out. He also says of city council or Karen Stintz that he wants to quote jam her unquote, but she don’t want it, adding, I’m so sorry, I forgot there was a woman in the house.

Or maybe it’s the spring of 2012. Ford, who is quite overweight, has launched a public pledge to lose weight. It’s called the Mayor Ford Cut the Waist Challenge. He even has a weekly weigh-in in front of reporters.

Anyway, you’re sitting at a Toronto KFC when Ford, clad in his mayor clothes, comes in and buys a giant bag of fried chicken, all while fellow patrons yell at him “aren’t you supposed to be on a diet?”

Or, my personal favourite; Rob Ford shows up drunk at a Greek diner known as Steak Queen and proceeds to go on an extended rant delivered in Jamaican patois.

Clip of Ford ranting.

Hopper: Raasclot and bumbaclot are both Jamaican expletives. The other Jamaican term in there is “cha.” It’s sort of like a Jamaican equivalent of “feh.”

And here’s the part we’ve never really been able to explain: Ford’s patois is pretty good. I was the night reporter at the National Post at the time, and I got in touch with a Jamaican patois expert in Jamaica who was amazed how closely the Toronto mayor had nailed the dialect. And we never ever heard him speaking patois ever again; it’s just this one time at the Steak Queen.

You can see why Rob Ford made international headlines so readily in the mid-2010s: He was outrageous. You never knew what he was going to do, where he was going to show up and what he was going to say.

Here’s Ford in 2013 responding to allegations that he offered to perform oral sex on a female staffer.

Clip of Ford denying he wants to perform oral sex on Olivia Gondek.

Hopper: I’m not going to pretend that random, intemperate behaviour hasn’t been a feature of Canadian politics since the beginning. Canada’s first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald was known to go on days-long benders where nobody actually knew where he was. When he was in London negotiating the final terms of Canada’s creation, alcohol was likely a factor in an incident where he lit himself on fire.

But Rob Ford was the first to do stuff like this in the camera phone era. Thus, every time he showed up in some random place and started spouting off about which city councillor he thought was hottest, there was video evidence of it. Video evidence that was soon showing up in social media feeds all around the world.

Ford obviously wasn’t like most politicians, even though his dad was a former member of the Ontario legislature.

Rob Ford was actually one of the first examples of something that’s now quite common in western democracies populist anti-establishment protest candidate. The kind of guy you vote for because you hate the system and you want someone to go in and rough it up a bit.

Archival clip of Donald Trump talking about draining the swamp.

And Rob Ford was very much a rough-things-up kind of guy, but unlike other populace in that mould, Rob Ford was also remarkably genuine. He gave all Torontonians his personal phone number, and so was constantly taking random phone calls from constituents, as in you’d see the mayor of Toronto answering his cell phone, and it was an old lady asking for a pothole to be filled or whatever, and he promised he’d get someone right on it, and then he did.

Now, there’s a whole bunch of reasons why this is a terrible idea for the chief executive of the city of more than 2 million people, but you can’t deny that it wasn’t charming. Between that, the various random drunken appearances, the weird public access style cable show that we opened the podcast with.

Rob Ford ran one of the largest cities in North America, like he was the mayor of a small town in Newfoundland or something. Everyone in Toronto, Canada, and eventually the world New Ford as an unpretentious man of the people there. Who also shows up wasted in random places, often in front of cameras, and sometimes committing crimes.

And that’s where the real main character of this story comes in. A guy named Mohamed Siad, a gang member affiliated with the Dixon City Bloods, AKA, the Dixon Goonies that were infamous in the Etobicoke area of Toronto for running drugs and guns. Siad went by the alias Gully, and he’s the guy who takes a video on his phone of Rob Ford high in a basement, smoking crack cocaine in February, 2013 with this event, then unleashing a months-long firestorm on everyone involved in the city of Toronto as a whole.

That’s because Siad decided to do it so he could sell the video so he could get some money to move out of Toronto and settle in Alberta. When it came out that he was offering this explosive video evidence, he had every media organization in Canada running around chasing the story, Toronto City Hall, turning itself inside out over the allegations, and it began the clock ticking on a scandal that would end Rob Ford’s political career.

Siad called up the Toronto Star and the gossip website, Gawker, which no longer exists. He met with reporters from each of them under very cinematic circumstances. He would call them, tell them he had something they would be interested in. He would meet reporters at a prearranged location, usher them into the back of a car, show them the cell phone video and then say the incriminating evidence could be theirs for six figures.

The actual amount would change, but the price quoted to Gawker was $200,000. We know this because Gawker started a Kickstarter page to raise the money. They called it “Crack starter.” It actually succeeded in raising more than that.

Eventually, by that time, it was too late. Here’s this episode’s guest, Joe Warmington, a reporter and columnist for the Toronto Sun. He had a special relationship with Ford, shall we say, at particularly dark periods. Warmington was sometimes the only reporter Ford would be willing to talk to. And also, as you’ll hear, when people tried to get in touch with Ford during all this, they often started by going through Warmington.

Guest, Joe Warmington: I got a call from the guy and I used to know his name, but he was from Gawker. And he’s one of the guys that saw the video and he called me within five minutes of this coming out. And he said that he was, he had the video he wanted to, or he had, he’d seen the video and he wanted the Toronto Sun to get, get involved with him and they’d get the video and then they would share it with Gawker.

But the decision was made right there that first night. We weren’t going to pay for video and we stayed with that all the way through. but you know, again, we also decided to not report what he had seen. I think that if we’d reported what he’d seen. But we didn’t know him. We didn’t know if it was true. You know, he called us. It was a tricky situation where we didn’t get a chance to meet him. again, we weren’t 100 % sure if any of this was legal.

Hopper: The video was from three months before. It was taken on the eve of Family Day, one of the more uncreatively named Canadian statutory holidays.

And the setting is a small home in the same neighbourhood of Etobicoke where Ford had grown up, and where he still lived at the time he was mayor. Ford had long been friends with the home’s, owners, the Basso family, and went to high school with Fabio Basso.

Members of the Basso family had some connections to the criminal underworld. There were three adult siblings in the home, one of whom worked at Ford’s family label making business, and two of them had criminal records. Neighbours called this bungalow the drug house. Now we don’t exactly know why Ford had gone there.

It’s the second day of a three day long weekend, and either Ford went there in search of drugs or he’s there anyway, visiting friends when the opportunity for some drugs comes up. Either way, it’s 7:00 PM on the Sunday before family Day and the Mayor of Toronto is smoking a bowl of crack in the basement of the Basso family’s home, surrounded by various criminal and criminal aligned operators, some of whom had apparently just delivered the crack.

Warmington: He reminds me of some of the celebrity people that I’ve known over the years when they disappear on you, you know, you know them, you talk to them on the phone and then they disappear. And you read in the news that they’re either dead, charged or in rehab or the loss of marriages, all those things are some of them. And I’d lost track of him. You I always had his phone number. He didn’t always call me. I mean, I would call him sometimes to get the stories. Sometimes he would call me or call me back. But I saw him spiral downhill.

Hopper: As this is all going down. Siad whips out his smartphone and pretends to be texting while surreptitiously recording a video.

Siad had just recorded a scene almost as good as catching a UFO or a Sasquatch on film. He had footage of a major political figure, smoking crack with gang members inside a drug house, and he immediately grasped the gravity of the image he had captured. We know because he recorded a selfie video soon after where you can see him bursting with excitement over the video.

Clip of Siad bragging about the video.

Hopper: There’s a John Steinbeck story called The Pearl that you probably had to read if you went to a Canadian high school.

It’s about a Mexican pearl diver who finds a giant pearl of untold value only to have his life ruined by the unwanted attention it brings upon him. What followed for Siad was effectively that, except instead of a pearl of life-changing beauty, it’s a grainy cell phone video of a Canadian mirror doing illicit drugs.

And what followed was nothing but pain and tragedy. Not just for Rob Ford. Basically everyone in that garage that night very quickly had bad things happen to them. Usually as a direct result of Ed’s video. The crack video became like a curse. If you were there when it was taken, you seemed destined to suffer some grave destiny to chin up interest.

In the video, Siad released a photograph to the press showing Ford posing with three men outside the Basso family’s garage, one of whom is giving the middle finger to the camera. Within a month of that photo being taken, two of those men, Anthony Smith and Muhammad Kadak would be shot outside a nightclub as apparent retaliation for an unrelated robbery.

The year before Smith was killed, the guy linked to the shooting Hanad Muhammad was also in the video. He was eventually arrested in Alberta for the crime, although the charges against him were later stayed at the end of the day.

Warmington: Rob Ford was the mayor of Toronto and he put himself in a position to be manipulated by organized criminals that were involved in all kinds of things here, whether it’s crack cocaine or murder.

Hopper: The Basso family themselves would have to contend with a pipe-wielding maniac who stormed into their home looking for the crack video, or information about who had it. We don’t know why he wanted the video, but his pipe antics put Fabio Basso in the hospital.

Ford’s driver, Sandro Lisi, would later be brought up on extortion charges – eventually dropped – that he had gone on a personal and not tremendously above-board mission to recover the tape before it could see the light of day.

All of this happens to coincide with a Toronto Police dragnet known as Project Traveller, which is targeting Siad’s gang, the Dixon City Bloods.

And other members of the Dixon City Bloods start to conclude that all of this unwanted police attention might be because one of their own had started shopping around an embarrassing video of the mayor.

But the Bloods might have had another reason for not liking what Siad was up to. It seems that where the gang members came from, everyone just plain kind of liked Rob Ford and didn’t want to see him exploited this way.

At the height of the controversy, national post reporter, Megan O’Toole went to a dingy, bullet scarred Toronto apartment where the crack video had reportedly been stored, at least for a time. It was in a low income apartment complex where Rob Ford had occasionally been spotted hanging out, and the people in the neighborhood said they really liked the mayor.

We don’t like Rob Ford getting screwed. One man in the unit told her. We wanted to help him. 85% of young Somalis are very upset about these guys. With the video, he even detailed a plan to recruit a local Rob Ford lookalike named Slurpee and record an obviously fake crack video and release it to the press in an attempt to discredit the real one.

Officers working Project Traveler would end up raiding this unit and would end up arresting many of the key players in the Rob Ford Crack video saga. Amazingly, the National Post was able to get a hold of this Rob Ford lookalike named Slurpee, who said rather sagely that he thought it was best not to get involved in an elaborate video fraud perpetrated by gangsters.

So to sum up Siad’s situation as he’s trying to sell this explosive video. At a certain point, he has a pipe wielding maniac after him trying to get his hands on it, he has Rob Ford’s very devoted driver, Sandro Lici, also hunting him down to grab the video away from him. He has many of his fellow gang members after him trying to put a stop to a scheme, and now he’s got the Toronto Police on the case trying to get it to build an extortion case and as part of their investigation into the Dixon City Bloods.

We’ve never actually heard Mohamed Siad’s side of this chaotic story, but we do know it didn’t end well for him. When Gawker tried getting him the money it had raised from its crack starter, it couldn’t find him anymore. He’d gone to ground Gawker’s editor said he was probably frightened in skittish.

That’s a pretty good guess. So who finally found Mohamed Siad? The police, of course, he was swept up and arrayed linked to their project traveler gang investigation, and charged with multiple counts of trafficking, cocaine, and firearms. They also arrested a lot of his fellow gang members, which they probably blamed him for, so then things got even worse for him.

While he’s in custody waiting for trial, he’s reportedly stabbed by his fellow gangsters who are in jail with him and the police were the ones who finally got their hands on science’s video. He never got to sell it, and the cops didn’t even release it, at least not for a long time. Wouldn’t be seen until years later after all the dust had settled.

In October, 2013, Siad goes to jail for eight years on the drug dealing and gun charges. So in exchange for a get rich quick scheme that upended Toronto politics and made a Canadian mayor, one of the world’s most well-known municipal officials, Mohamed Siad got nothing turned much of the Toronto criminal world against him, and ultimately got thrown in prison and stabbed.

Meanwhile, from Rob Ford’s perspective, you could argue that this whole saga actually turned out a lot better than could have. Because while Rob Ford may have been a figure of fun, it was not fun to be Rob Ford. It’s not that Ford liked to party or have a few jars after work. He obviously had a really bad addiction problem on seemingly everything, drinking drugs, junk food.

Here’s a really telling example. In 2014, Ford was a guest on the web series Coffee Run with a Canadian music producer, dead mouse. The videos have dead mouse. Take guests out for coffee and then they chat on route. Ford’s coffee order was five espresso shots at once. If you gave that much caffeine to say a Mormon teenager, it would put them in the hospital.

But Ford pounds it back like it’s nothing. This was during a period when he was supposedly clean, and pounding back industrial quantities of either sugar or caffeine is classic recovering addict behaviour.

And where Rob Ford’s antics get much less funny is when you remember who’s being hurt by them, and who could have been hurt by them.

He appears to have driven drunk rather routinely in his 6,000 pound black Cadillac Escalade.

The book Mayor Rob Ford: Uncontrollable, written by Ford’s former chief of staff, details multiple incidents in which the Toronto Police stopped Rob Ford’s car while he was driving home impaired … and then rather than charging him with impaired driving they simply drove him the rest of the way.

That same book included an incident where a mayoral staffer, Chris Fickel, was being driven around by Ford when the mayor stopped and chugged a 12-ounce bottle of vodka before continuing on his way.

Which, to be clear, is the equivalent of drinking two six-packs of beer all at once.

Ford had two young children, and they were definitely privy to their dad’s drunken behaviour and wild, unpredictable mood swings.

In one particularly notorious incident, also detailed in the book Mayor Rob Ford: Uncontrollable, a badly intoxicated Ford dragged his children to the Garrison Ball, an annual black-tie dinner to celebrate members of the Canadian military.

Ford arrived two hours late and so inebriated he was incoherent. When staffers tried to block him from entering he flew into a violent rage – at one point threatening to “drop” his chief of staff with a punch. His children were present for all of it, running circles around him.

And obviously there were the drugs.

As the Ford saga came unwound. There were stories about his alleged use of cocaine, marijuana, hash, and crack. Now if you talk to people who have recovered from severe alcoholism or drug addiction, they’ll often describe a bottom a point where the harms from one’s addiction becomes so egregious that it drives them to seek treatment.

Your wife leaves you, you lose your job, you lose custody of your children. Sometimes that bottom is fatal, so you never get a chance to turn it around. So when you can get a bottom without any major criminal or physiological consequences, it’s a win. And for Ford, that bottom turned out to be. The humiliation of publicly admitting a drug problem to basically the entire English speaking world, and then being systematically stripped of almost everything that had ever given his life, meaning and purpose.

Ford never resigned over this. He just saw most of his staff resign in protest, and then Toronto City Council stripped him of most of his mayoral powers. He got to remain there, but he couldn’t do anything, but he didn’t overdose or go out in a flaming drunk driving car wreck.

This was all, just a few years before fentanyl began heavily contaminating the drug supply and killing unsuspecting users. So he dodged that bullet, and remarkably his wife and family stuck with him through it all, including his always loyal brother Doug. So the public political humiliation was it, and it was the impetus to him getting clean, which was good because as it turns out, Ford didn’t have much time left to live after all

In September, 2014, apparently clean and sober and just as he was getting ready to prepare a re-election bid for Mayor Ford was diagnosed with cancer. The way four dealt with his cancer was very much on brand with why voters had been attracted to him in the first place.

When Canadian politicians get cancer or any other serious illness, the usual inclination is to be very guarded on the details.

That’s what NDP Leader Jack Layton did around this time. A fellow Torontonian, Layton was diagnosed with cancer in 2010, but that’s basically all we know. Layton made one public appearance where he was visibly emaciated, and then no updates until one day his family just announced he had died. We don’t even know the type of cancer that killed him.

But Ford’s cancer was an ugly, full-colour affair in which no detail was spared.

You shouldn’t be embarrassed by cancer, but this was a particularly embarrassing cancer to get. It was fat cancer, as in: The tumour develops in your body’s cellulite. And in Ford, the tumour was in his abdomen and his butt. He got an extremely rare cancer that develops in buttock cellulite.

Ford could have just said he had a “long illness,” but didn’t hold back on anything. He authorized the leader of his medical team, Zane Cohen, to deliver a press conference before the world’s media detailing exactly where the cancer was and how likely it was to kill him.

To this day, he remains the one name most associated with “pleomorphic liposarcoma,” aggressive cancer of the fat cells.

In October 2015, when Ford had just five months left to live, he stood in front of a press scrum on the sidewalk outside Toronto’s Mt. Sinai hospital, said cancer had spread to his bladder and just openly detailed how awful he felt and how he figured this was it.

Clip of Ford talking about diagnosis.

Ford even got into detail about how he’d discovered the new tumour: He couldn’t pee. Here’s a quote: “I’d basically have to find a washroom, get one of my staff … and a five minute pee would turn into a literal half-hour pee because I’d have to sit there and wait and wait and wait.”

There’s not really any inspiring message. He’s just a human detailing how much cancer sucks, how he wishes he didn’t have it, and how sad it is that he has to die now.

Warmington: I remember when we all walked over to the hospital on University Avenue in Toronto, I was walking over there and I saw satellite trucks. I’d never seen in Toronto more satellite trucks — there’s like 100 of them — from everywhere, Mexico, all kinds of the U.S. I saw Buffalo and Cleveland and Detroit. You know, I couldn’t believe it. So I walked in and it was just packed in this hospital and they were announcing that he had cancer. And I got to tell you that, you know, that really showed like how big he’d become.

Hopper: Nobody, with the exception of a few journalists and police officers, ever saw the Rob Ford crack video while the scandal was playing out.

In an age when we assume that we can basically see anything, this was one of the last examples of knowing that something existed, but not being allowed to see it.

You name it – a plane crash, leaked nude photos, footage of some horrifying crime. All of these things can be all over your social media feed within seconds of hitting the internet.

But for multiple months in the spring and summer of 2013, seemingly the entire world looked to Canada over the intrigue of an alleged piece of tape that nobody could see, and whose existence was not even a certainty.

When it finally came out in 2016, what’s remarkable is that it didn’t really get all that much traction. It was 70 seconds of video over which literal blood had been shed, which had attracted world attention unlike anything else out of Canada and for which hundreds of strangers had put up a collective $200,000 for the privilege of seeing it.

Millions gloried in videos of Rob Ford making an ass of himself, and this was supposed to be the apex. But when it finally came out, there were very few who could watch it and feel anything other than pity or embarrassment.

Ford was dead, the “shock value” of a mayor smoking crack had long worn off and, well, people smoking crack is not a pretty sight.

Warmington: Crack is not something you can try once and you can’t just try it twice either. It’s like, okay, I tried it once. maybe I’ll try it one more time. Cause it was so, you know, potent.

But you can’t stop there. And that’s what we saw with them. That’s why it was an important story too, is that we got to see what that drug does. It’s destroyed so many people in Toronto, across the U.S. as well, and other parts of the world.

Hopper: It’s Ford in a dingy garage, so drunk and high he can barely talk, it’s a Sunday night and instead of being a few blocks away with his wife and kids, he’s here, listening to Elena Basso sitting off-camera and praising him for being a family man.

Excerpt of Elena Basso with Rob Ford on the crack tape.

Hopper: Here’s one Reddit comment from the time that kind of sums it all up: “I thought this would be funny, I’ve never been more wrong in my life. This is hard to watch. I really wish this came out when he was still Mayor so he could have been forced to resign and taken to get the help that he needed.”

As for Mohamed Siad, the guy who unleashed so much havoc with his video? He hasn’t been heard from since.

• A Canadian boy genius turns to international villainy: Canada Did What? podcast
• The Charter was a huge mistake: Canada Did What? podcast

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.

A Manitoba judge discounted the sentence for a Métis mechanic who drove a man to a beating by fellow street gang members that left the victim with a fractured skull, a brain bleed and cranial swelling that required he be airlifted to Winnipeg for an extensive hospital stay.

Mackenzie Arthur Mollard’s Métis status, as well as the fact that he took Aaron Pronteau to hospital after the April 25, 2024 beating in Thompson, played into the sentencing decision in Manitoba provincial court.

“While I am satisfied that the offender’s Gladue factors, his decision to convey his victim to the hospital and his positive post-offence conduct do reduce his moral culpability; I must not lose sight of the fact that the offender’s conduct intentionally facilitated a planned, premeditated gang attack that resulted in his victim’s suffering life threatening injuries,” Associate Chief Judge Geoffrey H. Bayly wrote in a recent decision.

“In my view, ordinarily, a sentence in the range of five to seven years might have been appropriate. However, considering the sentence imposed on the co-accused and coupled with this offender’s reduced moral culpability, I am satisfied that a sentence of 30 months’ imprisonment can achieve principles of denunciation and deterrence. This sentence while acknowledging the severity of the harm caused by gang violence, will still provide Mr. Mollard with the opportunity to continue his vocational training and mental health progress within the correctional system.”

Gladue principles were set out in a Supreme Court of Canada decision over a quarter century back and indicate sentencing judges must consider the unique circumstances of Indigenous offenders, as well as systemic issues like the impact of residential schools, to address the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in Canada’s prisons.

Mollard, 23, pleaded guilty to the aggravated assault, which members of his gang referred to as a “d-boarding.”

“On the night in question, Mr. Mollard was involved at the periphery of a street-gang operating out of Thompson, Manitoba. At the time, he was 21 years of age and was experiencing a profound personal collapse characterized by homelessness and a severe addiction to crack cocaine,” Bayly said in the March 27 decision.

The court heard Kenneth Paynter — whom a judge sentenced to four years behind bars for his role in the beating — instructed Mollard to pick up Lawrence Moose, and Pronteau.

“The offender agreed to drive these two to Paynter’s address in Thompson, Manitoba,” said the decision.

Mollard “knew, as he had been told, that the group’s intent was to commit a significant assault on the victim.”

Mollard stayed for the assault and police found a photo of a severely beaten Pronteau on his mobile phone.

Mollard “left the residence at some point prior to the end of the assault but then returned when summoned by Paynter and was given the direction to ‘get rid’ of the victim,” said the judge.

While Mollard was trying to remove Pronteau, Moose “angry and armed with a knife,” advanced on Mollard, saying he wanted to kill Pronteau.

“After leaving the scene with the victim, the offender later contacted Paynter looking for drugs and affirmation, asking him, ‘how’d I do bro on my first d-board?’”

Mollard didn’t “personally inflict any physical injury” on Pronteau, said the judge.

“When he was ordered by his co-accused to ‘get rid’ of the victim, a directive synonymous with lethal intent, Mr. Mollard chose to defy those orders at great personal risk. He chose to transport the victim to the hospital to obtain medical assistance for him. This decision likely saved the victim’s life and for purposes of this sentencing, it is conduct that represents a critical moral departure from the criminal enterprise surrounding him.”

Pronteau’s assault took place during a period in Mollard’s life “that was marked by severe drug addiction and a significant decline in his mental health,” according to the author of his Gladue report.

“As his mental health deteriorated, he began to self‑medicate with alcohol and later cocaine. He told the report writer that he experienced ‘instant relief’ from crack cocaine, but his escalating use quickly led to homelessness, unemployment, and a profound sense of isolation. He acknowledged that at the time of the offence he was at the lowest point in his life.”

Since his arrest, Mollard’s “circumstances have changed markedly. He has achieved over a year of sobriety, reconnected with his family, secured stable employment, and become actively involved in his community. He holds a Level I Red Seal in Heavy Duty Mechanics and is employed full‑time with a municipal government, where he is described as a ‘stellar employee.’ He also volunteers as a firefighter.”

Mollard “was assessed as a low risk to reoffend,” said the decision.

“The Gladue report and the five letters of reference filed by the defence consistently portray him as accountable, resilient, and receptive to rehabilitation. They note that the offence occurred during a period when he had become estranged from his otherwise supportive family due to addiction and a toxic relationship. Since re‑establishing these family connections, he has taken on primary responsibility for his grandfather’s care, providing medical assistance, transportation, and companionship following the recent passing of his grandmother. Supervisors, family members, and community references describe him as responsible, kind‑hearted, and dedicated to a pro‑social life.”

Mollard apologized “and expressed his remorse” for his actions, said the decision. “He accepted responsibility for his actions, stating that while he cannot change the past, he is committed to building a healthier future.”

The Crown sought a 30‑month prison sentence. Mollard’s lawyer argued for house arrest.

“The assault occurred within the context of a ‘d-boarding’ a premeditated act of gang-sanctioned violence intended to inflict serious bodily harm. Mr. Mollard’s involvement was driven by his active participation in the illicit drug trade to sustain his addiction to crack cocaine. Furthermore, the offence took place in Thompson, Manitoba, a community where such violence and the accessibility of cocaine pose a persistent threat to public safety,” said the judge.

“His initial attempt to deceive investigators by fabricating a story about finding the victim on a sidewalk also weighs against him, as it reflects a choice to prioritize gang-enforced silence over the administration of justice.”

Bayly also pointed to “several mitigating factors, perhaps the most compelling is Mr. Mollard’s decision to defy a direct order to ‘get rid’ of the victim, choosing instead to transport the victim to a hospital to receive medical attention. This act of moral courage, performed after he himself had been intimidated by a gang member, distinguishes his culpability from that of his co-accused.”

The judge stressed “Mollard’s high rehabilitative potential” and recommended “that his correctional plan include therapeutic counselling to address intergenerational and personal trauma. Given his work history, supporting his continued vocational training would ensure his successful reintegration into the community.”

• Prison sentence cut in half for man who identifies as Métis
• Indigenous Ontario killer swaps life sentence for one at ‘the very low end of the range’

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.

The continued conflict in Iran is driving oil prices higher, with those increases now reflected at gas pumps across Canada.

At the same time, the prospect of Chinese-made EVs entering the Canadian market is prompting more consumers to consider investing in an electric vehicle.

In fact, a survey by Rates.ca , which was conducted between February 27 and March 2, right as the conflict in Iran began, found that 30 per cent of Canadians are open to buying an EV.

Meanwhile, search volume for electric vehicle models on the Rates.ca insurance quoter has climbed, with EV interest rising by 40 per cent in March compared to the same time last year.

However, cost remains the biggest barrier. The survey found that 59 per cent of Canadians interested in buying an EV cited purchase price as their primary concern.

Erik Johnson, vice president and senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, told Rates.ca that EVs typically cost upwards of $50,000 in Canada.

Meanwhile, 2025 research from Driving.ca found the cheapest new car in Canada was the Nissan Versa, with a base price of $20,798, while the cheapest EV in Canada was the Nissan Leaf, with a base price of $41,748.

However, that may soon change.

In January 2026, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a trade deal allowing an initial 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles into the Canadian market, lowering a 100 per cent tariff on imports, imposed in 2024, to six per cent.

Chinese EVs can cost $10,000 to $15,000 less than comparable models currently popular in Canada.

For example, BYD, a Chinese manufacturing company that surpassed Tesla as the world’s top EV seller last year, previously launched its Dolphin Surf model in Europe for the equivalent of US$26,100 .

The Canadian auto market officially opened to Chinese-made electric vehicles on March 1, and BYD has signalled plans to open 20 dealerships nationwide this year.

Starting in 2027, 10 per cent of the EVs from China must be “affordable,” with an import price of $35,000 or less. This quota will increase to 50 per cent by 2030.

However, none of the electric vehicles entering Canada in 2026 will be required to meet this threshold, meaning it may take time before lower-cost models become widely available.

Not everyone is happy about the introduction of Chinese EVs. Ontario Premier Doug Ford previously called on Canadians to boycott Chinese-made vehicles.

In an X post, he said: “Make no mistake: China now has a foothold in the Canadian market and will use it to their full advantage at the expense of Canadian workers.”

Still, the Rates.ca survey found 56 per cent of respondents who were either unsure or interested in purchasing an EV would consider a Chinese-built model.

There are also incentives encouraging consumers to buy Canadian-made EVs.

The Electric Vehicle Affordability Program (EVAP), introduced by the federal government in February 2026, offers rebates of up to $5,000 for battery-electric and fuel cell electric vehicles, and up to $2,500 for plug-in hybrid vehicles.

EVAP eligibility is capped at $50,000, unless the vehicle is Canadian‑built.

Make no mistake: China now has a foothold in the Canadian market and will use it to their full advantage at the expense of Canadian workers.

The federal government is inviting a flood of cheap made-in-China electric vehicles without any real guarantee of equal or immediate…

— Doug Ford (@fordnation) January 16, 2026

Meanwhile, fuel prices have reached a national average of more than $1.70 per litre this month , compared to $1.56/L last month and $1.29/L last year.

Some estimates suggest that EVs save drivers $350 per month in fuel costs, including a recent report by Clean Energy Canada .

The report, published on April 9, added that the combination of rising fuel prices with EVAP incentives has widened the cost-of-ownership gap between EVs and gas-powered vehicles.

It said: “Back in January, for example, the Chevy Equinox EV would have saved drivers $22,000 compared to the gas Chevy Equinox over 10 years of ownership. But with the new incentive and March 20 gas prices, savings have now increased to $34,000 — a $12,000 difference.”

On April 8, the federal government announced nearly $11 million in funding to expand charging infrastructure across the country, in a further attempt to encourage more Canadians to adopt electric vehicles.

• What to know about the rise of Chinese EVs as Canada opens the way for imports
• As tariffs ease, an increasing number of Canadians would buy an EV made in China: poll

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OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney has secured a majority government after three byelection wins.

Going into Monday night, the Liberals held 171 seats in the House of Commons and needed to win only one of the three byelections to have a slim majority. Liberal wins in the University-Rosedale, Scarborough Southwest and Terrebonne byelections bring the party’s seat count to 174.

The Liberals were heavy favourites in the two Toronto ridings which were won handily by former cabinet ministers in the 2025 election. Former finance minister Chrystia Freeland and former defence minister Bill Blair both announced their resignations earlier this year, leaving the two seats vacant.

The Quebec riding of Terrebonne was also up for grabs after the Supreme Court of Canada annulled the 2025 election result due to a ballot processing error.

Liberal candidate Tatiana Auguste, who was named the MP for Terrebonne until a court decision nullified the result in February, triumphed again in the riding in another close race against Bloc Québécois candidate Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné.

Auguste received 48.4 per cent of the popular vote, with 22,445 votes, while Sinclair-Desgagné got 46.8 per cent, or 21,714 votes.

At 1 a.m. on Tuesday morning, the Liberals declared victory in all three byelection, calling it “a decisive moment for Canada.”

Liberal MPs told reporters on Monday that a majority government would help them deal with an increasingly unruly world.

“All I can say is, when you’re dealing with global uncertainty, certainty helps,” said Liberal MP Taleeb Noormohamed on Monday.

The 174 seats allow the party to pass legislation without relying on the Speaker or support from the opposition parties and could allow the Liberals to reconfigure parliamentary committees to give themselves majority control, leaving opposition MPs with less ability to slow the government’s legislative agenda.

Liberal candidate Danielle Martin won against Conservative candidate Donald Hodgson in the University—Rosedale riding, while Liberal candidate Doly Begum beat out Conservative candidate Diana Filipova for the Scarborough Southwest seat.

“As of tonight Mark Carney and our entire incredible Liberal team have earned an even more powerful mandate to continue building a better Canada,” said Martin, following her victory. “This is not a mandate to be quiet, it is not a mandate to take our time, it is a mandate to get to work.”

Begum, who served as the former deputy leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party, resigned from provincial politics after being recruited by the federal Liberal party to run in Blair’s old riding.

“Tonight we celebrate something so powerful, not just this incredible campaign, but a community coming together, putting aside their differences, to choose hope, compassion and progress,” said Begum, during her victory speech in front of supporters.

Since the 2025 election, the Liberals have courted five MPs to cross the floor, with longtime Ontario Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu being the latest to cross last week.

The Liberals have not had a majority government since 2019. This is also the first time in Parliament’s history that a majority government was secured through a combination of floor-crossers and byelections.

In a statement on Monday evening, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Carney did not win his majority through a general election or through byelections, but instead “ through backroom deals with politicians who betrayed the people who voted for them.”

“ Liberals expect Canadians to give up, get complacent and go away, so Carney can have total power without any accountability,” said Poilievre, in a post on X. “That will not happen. Our country and its people are worth fighting for.”

Speculation continues that Liberals are courting more floor-crossers from the opposition parties. Earlier Monday, Conservative MP Billy Morin told reporters gathered for a press conference in Ottawa that the Liberals were trying to “poach me.”

Late Monday, Carney congratulated both candidates on their wins. The prime minister is expected to make an announcement on affordability at 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday in Ottawa.

National Post, with files from Stephanie Taylor and Josefine Lukaszek

• The Liberals have their majority. Here's how Carney can use it
• Carney tells Liberals that 'unity does not mean uniformity' in closing convention speech

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 — Nearly one year after the spring election that led to the election of his minority government, Prime Minister Mark Carney now has his majority.

Now what?

Monday evening’s byelection results — with the Liberals retaining two Toronto-area seats   — coupled with the stunning floor-crossing of Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu to Carney’s ranks last week, pushed the Liberals solidly into majority government territory. Another byelection on Monday, in Quebec’s Terrebonne riding, could add to the Liberal margin if the party can fend of a fierce challenge from the Bloc Québécois.

The Liberals will likely spend the next few weeks fleshing out their parliamentary plans for their newfound majority. But here are some likely changes to come in the House of Commons.

Negotiating with oppositions is no longer required to pass legislation

Now, before people get a bee in their bonnet, note that we chose our words carefully. A majority government isn’t required to negotiate opposition support for legislation before passing it.

A majority gives a government a lot more control over its legislative agenda and, if it decides to resort to closure or time allocation motions, the debate calendar in the House of Commons.

But that doesn’t mean negotiating with opposition parties is not recommended or shouldn’t happen anymore. Particularly when a government has a razor thin majority, meaning less than handful of MPs either missing a vote or opposing a bill could kill it.

Furthermore, having a majority in the House of Commons doesn’t mean you have a majority in the court of public opinion, and opposition parties have all sorts of levers they can pull to pressure the government if they disagree with legislation.

Committee composition

This is likely what the Liberals look forward to changing the most: the number of seats assigned to each party in powerful Commons committees.

Committees are important to a government because they are a requisite step for most legislation, and also the place where opposition parties have the most procedural levers to delay or amend government legislation.

After an election, committees must be stood up to reflect the composition of the House of Commons (a minority Liberal government at the time) in what is called the “standing orders.” Now that the Liberals have a majority, they will likely move to amend the standing orders to reflect the new composition of the House in committee and give themselves a majority there too.

Expect a fierce fight from opposition parties though. The question might then become: do the Liberals deploy the controversial “guillotine” that is closure , a procedural tool that allows them to abruptly end debate and put a motion to a vote?

What about prorogation?

Only if the Liberals love pain. There are a number of reasons why proroguing isn’t the panacea that some commentators and media reports have suggested in recent weeks.

First of all, since committee composition was set up in the standing orders to last the entirety of this parliament (which lasts until the next election), prorogation would have no effect on them. The House of Commons would eventually resume sitting, a new parliamentary session would start, but that part of the standing orders wouldn’t change.

Second of all, it would erase the slate of legislation the Liberals still have on the table, including their criminal reform Bill C-16 and C-22, the long-awaited redux of their failed attempt last year to update the lawful access regime for law enforcement.

Third, and most importantly, it would oblige the Liberals to face a confidence vote on the new Speech from the Throne that is required upon resumption of the House of Commons. They may have a majority, but it’s a very slim one, meaning all it takes is a couple MPs to miss or be unable to vote and the government could unintentionally lose the vote and be sent back to the polls.

Basically, a lot of potential pain for an outcome that isn’t guaranteed to be better than the current situation.

Carney also seems to agree. Here’s what he said in late March when asked about a media report suggesting prorogation after Monday’s byelections.

“Absolutely not. It has never even entered my thinking, the possibility of that,” Carney told reporters on March 31.

“So, I couldn’t have been more surprised to see suggestion that that was under consideration.”

What about the senate? Does anything change there?

Absolutely not.

And since former Liberal leader Justin Trudeau kicked out senators from his caucus in 2014 and changed the appointment process to a “merit-based, non-partisan” system, keep an eye out for possible drama between the newly-majority Liberal government and the proudly-independent Senate in the coming months.

National Post

cnardi@postmedia.com

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OTTAWA —  A former Conservative cabinet minister who is no stranger to floor-crossings says Pierre Poilievre ought to “double his efforts” in the wake of a fourth member crossing the floor to join the Liberals — a move that now leaves him more exposed. 

Peter MacKay, a co-founder of the Conservative party after having led the former Progressive Conservatives before it merged with the Canadian Alliance to birth the modern party, offered harsh words for those behind the practice, calling it “morally repulsive.”

Still, he says, “it’s a body blow” for the federal Conservatives.

“Some might even call it a torpedo into the side of the Conservative party and, certainly, the captain of the ship, Pierre Poilievre is, you know, is more vulnerable now than ever,” he told National Post in a recent interview.

The act of switching political parties has marked modern Canadian politics more than once, with MacKay having a front row seat to some of the biggest. After helping merge the country’s two political parties, MacKay criticized his former MP Scott Brison for defecting to Paul Martin’s Liberals shortly after in 2003.

Two years later, Belinda Stronach, whom MacKay had been dating at the time, made a stunning defection from the Conservatives to the Liberals that ensured the minority Martin government’s survival.

He was also in Parliament when the former Progressive Conservatives under Joe Clark struck a deal with disaffected Canadian Alliance MPs who broke off from their party over concerns with their leader at the time, Stockwell Day.

“I’ve seen it all before,” MacKay said, adding it “doesn’t make it any more palatable.”

On Monday, Edmonton Conservative MP Billy Morin told reporters gathered for a press conference that the Liberals were trying to “poach me.” Global News shared a clip of the interaction on social media, where Morin can be heard laughing and making the comments off-camera. National Post was also in the room when it occurred.

“I am proud to be apart of a Strong Opposition — something Canadians are owed,” Morin later posted to social media.

“Instead of being 1/8 voices being used in a shameless Liberal power grab that degrades democracy. I am proud of the support I receive by our Leader (and) Conservative caucus. I stand by my constituents.”

Other Conservative MPs on Parliament Hill said the party remained united behind Poilievre.

But Marilyn Gladu’s surprising defection from Poilievre last week brings Prime Minister Mark Carney within a one-seat striking distance of forming a majority government. Chris d’Entremont, Michal Ma and Matt Jeneroux each individually crossed from the Conservatives to the Liberals earlier, same with Nunavut MP Lori Idlout, who defected from the New Democrats.

Carney is widely expected to cross that 172-majority threshold on Monday when results roll in from a pair of byelection races in Toronto in two longtime Liberal seats.

The Liberals are also hoping to capture a seat just outside of Montreal that it won by a razor-thin one-vote margin during last year’s federal election, but the Supreme Court overturned the result in February, sending parties back to the hustings.

Historically held by the Bloc Quebecois, that seat is expected to be a tight race between the two parties.

As voters go to the polls in the three byelections on Monday, speculation swirls about more floor-crossings to come, as cabinet ministers say Liberals remain in talks with MPs from other parties.

“I don’t know what lies ahead, especially if more people cross,” MacKay told National Post late Friday.

Speaking to reporters, Ontario MP Michael Barrett pointed to the 87 per cent of support delegates at the party’s convention in late January gave Poilievre in his leadership review.

“I expect that Mr. Poilievre will continue to enjoy the confidence of Conservatives.”

Asked whether Poilievre’s leadership is weakened, MacKay pointed to former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper whom he says recovered from it when it happened to him in opposition.

As for how the current leader could do the same, the former cabinet minister said “hard work and perseverance,” and for Poilievre to “double his efforts.”

“It’s a real stinging sensation,” he said of floor-crossings. “It’s tough.”

The loss of a fourth MP came as Poilievre makes efforts to strike a more collaborative tone with the Liberals in Parliament, who have accused his party of employing tactics that gum up the progress of bills.

The Conservative leader, who has been sharing more from his personal life, also recently travelled to Europe and the U.S., sitting down with the Joe Rogan podcast in Austin, Texas.

The party billed that podcast appearance and his recent travels as showcasing his ability to stand up for Canadian interests abroad.

It also is running a new set of ads that show more of Poilievre on the world stage, while also reinforcing to Canadians that Conservatives remained concerned about the cost-of-living, particularly when it comes to grocery prices.

MacKay praised Poilievre’s efforts over recent weeks, saying his shift in tone has been “very apparent.”

He suggested doing “more of what he has been doing and ingratiating himself to a broader Canadian electorate” is what those in the caucus “wants to see.”

National Post

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OTTAWA — The senior government official who was found last week to have broken federal conflict-of-interest rules resisted numerous opportunities Monday to express regret, instead telling a parliamentary committee that she had “genuine intentions” in supporting the government’s diversity goals.

Christiane Fox, now the deputy minister at the Department of National Defence, was found by an ethics commissioner report to have broken hiring rules when she helped an unqualified person she knows get a job in 2023 while she was the top public servant at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

Appearing Monday before the Public Accounts Committee on another matter, Fox responded to opposition MPs more than once by saying that she acknowledges the ethics commissioner’s report, will reflect on its findings, and that she’s always made workplace diversity a priority. “The actions in this particular context I have to reflect on.”

When opposition MPs asked her if she had regrets or if she made a mistake, however, Fox told MPs that IRCC had “systemic barriers” and some officials who resisted diversity policies.

Conservative Ned Kuruc, one of the MPs who asked Fox about the matter, said after the committee proceedings that he was surprised Fox wouldn’t acknowledge that she made a mistake.

Kuruc, who represents the Ontario riding of Hamilton East-Stoney Creek, also questioned if this hiring was an outlier or part of a broader problem in the public service, saying that it’s particularly unfair if an unqualified person gets a government job when thousands of public servants are set to lose their jobs over the coming months.

“It’s not fair to people who are qualified.”

According to the report by Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein, Fox used her position as deputy minister to get a job for someone she knew, Björn Charles, even though he lacked government experience or a background that fit the position. Fox was advised by department officials that Charles was not qualified, von Finckenstein found, but Fox still helped Charles get preferential treatment by helping him meet with departmental officials, provided him with updates about the hiring process, gave him internal information, and later pushed that he get a higher job classification.

Fox maintained throughout the investigation that her role in the hiring process was appropriate, while the ethics commissioner “did not find these claims credible.”

Fox doubled down Monday on that view, downplaying her relationship with Charles, a gym manager whom she knew from university and through basketball circles. She told MPs that Charles, also a distant relative of Fox’s husband, had experience in client services, something the government needed more of.

Fox, considered a rising star within the public service for more than two decades, wrote to DND employees late last week to say that she helped Charles, who is black, to advance the government’s diversity goals as part of “a clear mandate to lead a large-scale cultural and organizational change.”

Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch, a group that advocates for democratic reform, said the government’s conflict-of-interest rules for employees include penalties such as being fired, but not for ethics violations for cabinet ministers, deputy ministers and other senior officials.

Conacher said it’s one of the loopholes that make the ethics rules ineffective, an issue now being reviewed by a parliamentary committee.

Fox and other DND officials joined Auditor General Karen Hogan in appearing before the committee Monday to discuss the auditor general’s report last fall that found that some of Canadian armed forces personnel’s living quarters lacked basics such as safe drinking water and functioning toilets.

National Post

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U.S. President Donald Trump says a now-deleted image posted to Truth Social, which appeared to portray the president as Jesus Christ, was actually meant to show him as a doctor.

Speaking to reporters outside the White House, he said: “I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor, and had to do with Red Cross. There’s a Red Cross worker there, which we support. And only the fake news could come up with that one.”

The post was removed on Monday, one day after Trump shared the AI-generated image, after it sparked widespread backlash.

Right-wing Christian commentator Brilyn Hollyhand, who previously served as co-chair of the Republican National Committee Youth Advisory Council, called the image “gross blasphemy.”

Riley Gaines, a former collegiate swimmer and a vocal supporter of Trump’s efforts to ban trans athletes from women’s sports, said in an X post: “Why? Seriously, I cannot understand why he’d post this. Is he looking for a response? Does he actually think this?”

She added: “God shall not be mocked.”

In the image, the president appears dressed in red and white robes as he cures a man with his healing hand. The American flag is shown over his shoulder.

Trump and the White House have previously shared AI-generated images, including one that showed the president dressed as the pope.

The recent post comes after Trump said that he is “not a big fan” of Pope Leo XIV.

“He’s a very liberal person, and he’s a man that doesn’t believe in stopping crime,” he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

The U.S. President later doubled down on his comments with a post on Truth Social, saying: “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”

“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.”

The remarks followed Pope Leo’s recent appeal for global leaders to end the war in the Middle East.

“Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war!” he told worshippers at St Peter’s Basilica on Saturday.

While aboard his plane to Algiers on Monday, the pontiff told reporters he has “no fear” of the Trump administration.

“I have no fear of the Trump administration or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do, what the church is here to do,” he said.

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A Quebec judge has accused the provincial prosecutor of admitting to “regularly” proposing absolute discharges or lenient sentences specifically for non-Canadians convicted of crimes because they risk deportation, thereby artificially creating an “unnecessary” two-tier sentencing system.

“This practice is so widespread that to deny that the prosecutor’s approach currently has the effect of creating a separate sentencing regime between Canadian citizens and individuals governed by the IRPA (Immigration and Refugee Protection Act) is tantamount to denying the daily reality of the criminal and penal division of the Court of Quebec in the judicial district of Montreal,” Court of Quebec judge Antoine Piché wrote in recent sentencing decision that involved a request for a shorter sentence.

The matter has caught the attention of Quebec politicians, including Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette, who said it raises “important questions” and invited the directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales (DPCP) to “take the necessary reprimands if this turned out to be true,” according to La Presse .

Bernard Drainville, who lost the leadership to Christine Fréchette on Sunday, called the possibility “very worrying and even infuriating.”

“If ‘candy’ sentences are recommended to prevent non-permanent immigrants from being deported, that’s unacceptable,” he wrote in French on X.

“Sentences must reflect the gravity of the crimes committed. At all times. Without exception. Period.”

But Patrick Michel, Quebec’s director of criminal and penal prosecutions, disavowed the claim and the existence of a “parallel justice system.”

“I want to be very clear,” he wrote in a statement . “There is no practice at the Montreal courthouse of requesting the imposition of sentences that are not fair and proportionate to the seriousness of the offence committed by a non-citizen and to their degree of responsibility.”

Piché’s criticism of the alleged DPCP tactic arose in the case of Guzman Bladimir-Castillo, a 23-year-old permanent resident originally from the Dominican Republic who stole an SUV and led police on a more than 30-minute high-speed pursuit reaching speeds over 200 km/h before hitting a building and overturning the vehicle in May 2024.

He pleaded guilty to charges of theft over $5,000 and dangerous driving last August, setting the stage for sentencing hearings, which concluded in March.

Bladimir-Castillo’s counsel sought a conditional discharge with two years of probation and 240 hours of community service. The Crown, meanwhile, said nine months was “appropriate,” but “considering the potential impact such a prison sentence” could have Bladimir-Castillo’s immigration status, it proposed a sentence of six months less one day. His own counsel made a similar argument on his behalf, but Piché said they failed to explain how a criminal record would affect his permanent resident status.

Under the IRPA, any person found guilty of an offence under federal law and sentenced to more than six months shall be deemed inadmissible to Canada, which can lead to a removal order and deportation.

But as highlighted by Piché, deportation isn’t automatic and there are multiple procedures to follow before a removal order is issued and enforced.

He said it’s not the judge’s responsibility “to rule indirectly on the merits of a removal order, especially when the evidence of the accused’s situation in this regard is incomplete.”

More to the point, he noted that Bladimir-Castillo himself “does not appear to be giving his immigration case the attention it deserves” since he was unsure when he obtained permanent resident status and told the court he hasn’t renewed his residency card.

“The Court is therefore not adequately informed of the accused’s situation to determine the actual risks he faces,” he wrote.

Piché said the DPCP’s alleged practice, which he said some of his colleagues have also noticed, is problematic for two reasons.

Firstly, it doesn’t align with the Supreme Court of Canada’s “teachings” that indirect consequences of a criminal sentence on immigration proceedings should not lead to the establishment of a unique sentencing system.

Secondly, he said it circumvents the intent of Canada’s immigration legislation, thereby “inviting criminal courts to do the same” despite them having “no jurisdiction over immigration matter.”

The present case is an eloquent example of the distinct regime that is being created: if Mr. Bladmir-Castillo were a Canadian citizen, the prosecutor specifically indicates that he would have suggested a prison sentence of 9 months, but since he is a permanent resident, he suggests 6 months less one day, in order to avoid the proceedings provided for in paragraph 36(1)(a) of the IRPA being undertaken by the competent authorities.”

He also expressed concern that the two-tier system “exacerbates pre-existing social tensions and may be misused.”

Piché added that the DPCP developed the alleged strategy “on the fly” or by misinterpreting case law, not out of any “malicious intent” to circumvent the legislation.

In his statement refuting the allegations, Michel said judges sometimes take immigration status into account, despite the prosecution arguing it can’t influence sentencing.

“Consequently, it is surprising to read the court’s statements which appear to be based on observations drawn from the experience of other cases which are not identified and whose validity we cannot question or verify,” he wrote.

The Montreal-Laval-Longueuil Defence Lawyers Association and the Quebec Association of Defence Lawyers accused Drainville and Jolin-Barrette of “legal demagoguery,” per La Presse.

“It is deplorable and concerning to read such remarks, which oversimplify a complex legal issue in order to gain an advantage in the public sphere, at the expense of serious reflection on the fundamental principles of sentencing,” they wrote.

Meanwhile, MP and deputy leader Pascal Paradis said on X that the Parti Québécois wants the DPCP to “shed light on this practice and, if necessary, put an end to it.”

As for Bladimir-Castillo, he was served a 12-month sentence, but he needn’t worry about deportation as Piché ordered house arrest over incarceration and only those under custodial sentences of more than six months are inadmissible under the IRPA.

• New Brunswick judge reduces man's sentence so he won't get deported from Canada
• No parallel justice system for immigrants, says Quebec judge in criminal harassment case

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OTTAWA — Newly minted NDP leader Avi Lewis says he has concerns about Liberals’ high-speed rail megaproject but isn’t necessarily against the project itself.

Lewis said on Monday that he was skeptical about the public-private structure of the project, a joint venture between federal Crown corporation Alto and Cadence, a private consortium that includes Air Canada and AtkinsRéalis (formerly SNC-Lavalin).

“When it comes to the Alto project, I don’t think the problem is high-speed rail itself, I think it’s the formulation of the project, it’s the structure of it,” Lewis told reporters during his first press conference on Parliament Hill since becoming NDP leader in late March.

“We know that public-private partnerships are opaque by design, it’s impossible to have transparency when you have private partners, they’re usually overbudget and they usually take way longer than projected,” said Lewis.

“And when you have the profits of a private partner to take into account, it’s just obvious that the project is going to be more expensive over time,” he added.

Lewis said he felt that large-scale transportation projects should be done under full public ownership.

When pressed to clarify his position, Lewis said he was “not against” the project in French.

The proposed electrified high-speed passenger rail line, connecting about 1,000 kilometres between Toronto and Quebec City, would be the biggest megaproject ever undertaken in Canada, with an initial cost estimate of $60 billion to $90 billion.

The project is not without its critics, including on the left. Some NDP pundits have framed it as a class issue , noting that it stands to benefit an elite clientele of well-off riders who live in major urban centres while imposing costs on the more sparsely populated communities along its path.

Lewis voiced some of these concerns on Mondays.

“When it comes to the controversies around (Alto), the route has to be navigated carefully and the (affected) communities have an absolute right to be consulted thoroughly and heard,” said Lewis. “If necessary, compensation has to be part of the formula.”

Lewis campaigned on a promise to rapidly scale up high-speed rail and other forms of clean transportation across Canada, as part of a Green New Deal to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs in low-carbon sectors.

“Imagine it… Luxurious and affordable high-speed rail that makes flying to neighboring provinces a waste of time and money,” reads one line from Lewis’s platform.

And, while he stressed that he still supports high-speed rail philosophically, he was notably hesitant to give a full-throated endorsement to a project that’s quickly become a political football.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre circulated an open letter in late March calling on the Liberals to cancel the Alto project , calling it a “boondoggle” that would require the expropriation of “thousands of acres” of private property across Ontario and Quebec.

The Bloc Québécois has also raised the issue of land expropriations in Quebec and has sought to make Alto’s high-speed rail project the ballot-box issue of Monday’s byelection in Terrebonne.

Former NDP strategist Jordan Leichnitz told National Post that more modest, targeted investments in public transportation could give policymakers more bang for their buck than the Alto megaproject.

“I find it shocking the amount of money they are willing to pour into (Alto) while they are cutting general transit funding by billions,” said Leichnitz.

“I get that bus service in Sault Ste. Marie(, Ont.) isn’t sexy, but that’s what working people need,” she added.

National Post
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Last fall, months before he resigned, Quebec Premier François Legault was asked in an interview with Cogeco whether there was someone else who could breathe new life into his party, the Coalition Avenir Québec, which had been dwindling in the polls since 2023.

“My minister of the economy, Christine Fréchette, has extraordinary potential,” he said.

Legault said Fréchette didn’t have the same experience he has in crafting business deals but added “she learns very fast.” He, however, fell short of endorsing her as a successor.

On Sunday, Fréchette became leader of the CAQ and will become de facto Quebec’s new premier.

In both roles, she comes second. She is the CAQ’s second leader — Legault having served in the role since he founded the party in 2011 — while she will serve as Quebec’s second female premier — after the Parti Québécois’ Pauline Marois who served from 2012 to 2014.

Fréchette, 56, only has a few months to bask in her new role before she takes on the daunting task of facing an electorate that is determined on turning the page after the CAQ’s two majority governments since 2018 and has now decided it wants to open a new chapter.

A Léger poll issued before the end of the leadership race showed the CAQ had fallen to 9 per cent in vote intentions province-wide — the worst result for the party since its creation, according to Philippe J. Fournier, founder of the polling aggregator website Qc125.

“Obviously, the polls are not great. They haven’t been great for a while, and that’s okay,” said Quebec’s Minister of International Relations Christopher Skeete in a recent interview.

Skeete was one of many CAQ caucus members to support Fréchette in the leadership race. He said he is “very eager” to have her take the reins as premier because he believes she will bring in a different kind of government and a different kind of leadership.

“Right now, given how crazy the world is, having someone as deliberately thoughtful, I think, is completely the right casting. I think people want stability,” he said.

“They want someone who’s not going to be fireworks for the sake of fireworks, but that can give off fireworks when it’s necessary, and I think that is exactly the kind of premier we’re going to get,” he added.

The question remains: is Fréchette doomed to the same destiny as Kim Campbell, who famously took the reins of her party and became prime minister for a few months before electing only two Progressive Conservative MPs after the 1993 federal election? Or worse?

Thierry Giasson, a professor of political science at Laval University, said the dire situation the CAQ finds itself in, months away from an election, would explain why many prominent women inside the party opted to skip their turn and to not seek the party leadership.

“I don’t think we’re seen this in the last 30 years in Canada and in Quebec,” he said.

However, he pointed out that Campbell and Fréchette are two very different people. While Campbell was outspoken, blunt and had a sense for drama, people who know Fréchette say she is studious, thoughtful and considers all avenues before coming to a decision.

Fréchette may have only joined the CAQ in 2022, but her political path spans decades.

In the 90s, she was involved in the student movement with key actors who would end up shaping the CAQ — among whom were Martin Koskinen, who served as Legault’s chief of staff, and Pascal Mailhot, a political advisor in Legault’s first mandate.

Mailhot, who was until recently the Quebec government representative in Ottawa, remembers Fréchette always had her head buried in thick reports whenever he came to visit the Montreal apartment she was sharing with her then-boyfriend François Rebello.

“She was reading reports with her yellow highlighter, while we were chatting and drinking beer,” said Mailhot. “She has always been very studious. That’s the memory I have of her.”

With an academic background in business and international relations, after working in different ministries, Fréchette worked for the Montreal Center for International Studies (CÉRIUM) with a focus on U.S. and Mexico and became a media commentator in Quebec.

Fréchette had already crossed paths with Jean-François Lisée at CÉRIUM and on media panels and went on to serve as his deputy chief of staff when he became minister of international relations in Pauline Marois’ PQ minority government from 2012 to 2014.

Fréchette ultimately quit in 2014 because of then-PQ minister Bernard Drainville’s Quebec Charter of Values which she could not support. As luck would have it, the former PQ staffer would end up beating Drainville for the leadership of the CAQ only 12 years later.

Lisée, her former boss, wrote a column in Le Devoir in which he called Fréchette “Mrs. No-Waves” because she flees controversy and has an aversion for disorder in general.

But Lisée agreed that her propensity to not make waves could be her greatest asset.

Mailhot said he recruited Fréchette to run for the CAQ in 2022. Because she had served as president and director general of the East Montreal Chamber of Commerce, there was talk of her running in Anjou, but the CAQ opted for a safer seat on the Montreal South Shore.

Legault tasked his recruit with the prickly file of immigration, where she oversaw the closure of Roxham Road and negotiated the hefty sum of $750 million from Ottawa to compensate Quebec for costs associated with asylum seekers between 2021 and 2023.

At the time, the deal caught the attention of B.C. Premier David Eby, who denounced a double standard between Quebec and Western Canada.

Fréchette also successfully pushed Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government to reimpose a visa on Mexican nationals visiting Canada.

But Fréchette truly rose to the occasion in 2024 when she was tasked by Legault to replace at a moment’s notice Quebec’s “superminister” of the economy, innovation and energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, just as Northvolt was pulling back its battery megafactory in Quebec.

While Fréchette was sent to clean up the mess of her predecessor, she ended up earning the respect of the business community, who said she was attentive and in control.

Away from the spotlights, without really people noticing, Skeete said she managed to recenter the mission of Investment Quebec so there is a little less emphasis on foreign investment and more focus on small and medium-sized businesses based in Quebec.

“Well, those are her fingerprints on the file,” said Skeete.

Fréchette now has the seemingly impossible task of turning things around for the CAQ.

The provincial election is expected to take place in October. Fréchette will be facing her three main opponents — the PQ’s Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, the Liberal Party’s Charles Milliard and the Conservative Party of Quebec’s Éric Duhaime — all men.

Skeete thinks the new premier brings with her the ability “to just get things done.”

“The proof is in the pudding. We really have to just stop with these grandiose discourses, stop with these grandiose ideals, and just make it work. And I think that’s where Quebecers are, and that’s exactly the kind of thinking that Christine brings,” he said.

Skeete said that Fréchette has not dropped any file she has taken on in her career, even the toughest ones, and has “always risen to the occasion that’s been presented to her.”

“I would expect nothing less in October.”

National Post
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A new poll has revealed a “deep divide” among Canadians’ attitudes to Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID).

The online survey, conducted by ResearchCo. , found that 41 per cent of Canadians think health-care professionals should be able to decline providing MAID services if they have a moral or faith-based objection.

Forty-two per cent of respondents disagree, while the remaining 17 per cent said they weren’t sure.

That figure is up five points from a similar survey conducted by ResearchCo. in November 2022 .

“On a regional basis, opposition to moral or faith-based objections in physician-assisted death cases is highest in Alberta (47 per cent), followed by Atlantic Canada (45 per cent), Quebec (44 per cent), Ontario (41 per cent), British Columbia (also 41 per cent) and Saskatchewan and Manitoba (36 per cent),” ResearchCo. said in a news release.

“Opposition is higher among Canadians aged 55 and over (45 per cent) than among their counterparts aged 35 to 54 (42 per cent) and aged 18 to 34 (39 per cent).”

Several provincial regulatory authorities have issued guidelines requiring medical practitioners who are unwilling or unable to provide MAID to refer patients to other institutions or providers.

In Ontario, for example, physicians and nurse practitioners who object to providing MAID must refer patients “in a timely manner” to another provider.

Gabrielle Peters , a disabled writer and policy analyst, said in an interview with National Post: “The idea of intentionally killing somebody is something that many people object to, and so I think this is a pretty fundamental right that we should be preserving in our society.

“I already feel that physicians are disempowered by the limitations of government, the way funding is structured, or the way their services are structured. And I can’t imagine what happens if we start saying you have no choice and no say in this very large decision.”

The federal government says provincial and territorial governments are responsible for determining how MAID can take place.

Doctors are not legally compelled to provide or help provide MAID, and neither are religious-run institutions. And many institutions, such as Providence Health Care in B.C., do not provide it.

In some cases, this means patients must be transferred to another facility.

However, Dying with Dignity, a charity focused on end-of-life care, says such transfers can harm patients with fragile health.

But Peters noted that this is not an anomaly in Canadian health care.

“There are people in northern communities, in rural communities and farming communities that have to travel great distances, far away from their family, in order to get appropriate health care.”

Even in major cities, patients may be moved between hospitals depending on available equipment or appointment capacity.

Peters added, “You also have to look at other people there. For me, as a patient, I don’t want a doctor coming to care for me who has just injected a lethal substance into somebody else. I don’t want that in my proximity when I am fighting to stay alive.”

The ResearchCo. survey, which was conducted online across a representative national sample of 1,001 adults in Canada, follows recent debate over expanding MAID eligibility.

At a March 24 parliamentary committee, Jocelyn Downie, a professor emeritus in the Faculties of Law and Medicine at Dalhousie University, argued that Canada must legalize assisted suicide for the mentally ill, lest those same patients commit suicide.

The poll also examined views on conscientious objection in other areas of care.

Support for allowing doctors to refuse abortion services on religious grounds was lower, at 38 per cent, while 48 per cent opposed the idea — rising to 51 per cent among women.

A majority of Canadians (57 per cent) oppose allowing health-care providers to refuse care to LGBTQ2+ individuals on religious grounds.

“More than half of Conservative Party voters in the 2025 federal election (53 per cent) would permit moral or faith-based objections in health-care delivery,” said Mario Canseco, president of Research Co.

“The proportion drops to 36 per cent among Liberal Party voters and to 34 per cent among New Democratic Party (NDP) voters.”

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The number of Canadians diagnosed with or dying from cancer will remain at “high levels” in 2026, and while survival rates are improving for several cancers, worrying trends are emerging for others, according to a new report.

Overall, the projected estimates “underscore the substantial impact cancer will continue to pose in Canada” in 2026, researchers report in this week’s issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Nearly half the population, 42 per cent of all people in Canada, is expected to be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives, the authors report.

An estimated 254,100 people will be diagnosed with cancer and 87,900 will die from cancer in 2026 alone.

Here are five key trends to know.

Pancreatic cancer is increasing and projected to be third leading cause of cancer deaths

Lung, breast, prostate and colorectal cancer are expected to remain the most diagnosed cancers, accounting for nearly half (47 per cent) of all new cases diagnosed this year.

Pancreatic cancer is expected to be the third most common cancer killer, behind lung and colorectal cancer.

“Since the early 2000s, the incidence of pancreatic cancer has been moderately increasing while no progress has been made in reducing mortality rates,” the researchers report.

“Pancreatic cancer is expected to remain the third leading cause of cancer-related death in 2026, with a similar number of males (3,400) and females (3,100) expected to die from the disease.”

Excess body size has been linked to a higher risk of pancreatic cancer. According to Statistics Canada, 49 per cent of adults in Canada have a waist circumference — and abdominal fatness — that hikes their risk for pancreatic and other cancers.

New cases of colorectal cancer are declining

Overall, incidence and death rates for colorectal cancer — one of the most common cancers among both women and men — continue to fall, likely due to increased screening efforts (colonoscopies and stool sample testing) that began in the early 2000s. Since then, the incidence rates have dropped by 32 per cent in men and 29 per cent in women owing to “the removal of pre-cancer lesions and earlier diagnoses” as well as improved treatments, the team reports.

“These reductions have occurred despite jurisdictions not achieving their screening targets.” There is also concern that people under 50 are increasingly being diagnosed with colorectal cancer.

More women are expected to be diagnosed with lung cancers than men

Lung cancer, the deadliest of all cancers for both sexes, is expected to claim 19,300 Canadian lives in 2026.

“On its own lung cancer is expected to account for 1 in 5 cancer-related deaths in 2026,” the researchers report.

While lung cancer rates and deaths have historically been higher among males than females, the sex differences “have been converging over the last 40 years,” with the rates declining for a longer time among men, and only more recently among women. This year, more females than males are expected to be diagnosed with lung cancers.

What ’ s more, “a higher proportion of lung cancers among females are not explained by tobacco consumption,” which suggests other factors are at play and need to be addressed, the authors wrote.

According to Statistics Canada, exposure to radon — a radioactive gas people can’t see, smell or taste — is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in Canada, and the leading cause in non-smokers. About one in five people living in Canada live in dwellings with radon levels at or above the current guideline, according to a national radon survey.

A growing and aging population means more people diagnosed with or dying from cancer

Canada’s population grew by about 9.5 per cent between 2020 and 2025, primarily due to immigration, “and continues to age, with a record percentage (19.5 per cent) of people aged 65 and older in 2025,” the authors wrote. Cancer risk rises with age.

Meanwhile, cancer remains the leading cause of death in Canada, accounting for 26 per cent of all deaths in 2023. It’s also the leading cause of premature death, particularly for females, and among several “concerning trends” is the rise in cases expected for uterine and cervical cancer.

After decades of decline, the rate of cervical cancer has plateaued “well above the World Health Organization’s elimination target” of fewer than four cases per 100,000 females and has increased among younger women. Cervical cancer is almost always caused by HPV, the human papillomavirus,  for which there is a vaccine, making cervical cancer among the most preventable cancers.

The death rate for uterine cancer has been increasing since the mid-2000s and is expected to be 53 per cent higher this year than it was in 2005.

Risks include rising rates of obesity and women having fewer or no children, or delaying childbirth until later in life.

Overall, men are more likely to develop or die from cancer than women.

Five-year survival has improved for many cancers, even cancers diagnosed at late stages

While the overall incidence rates (591.4 cancers per 100,000 population) and deaths (200 per 100,000) are expected to decrease from 2025 rates, “the total number of cancer cases and deaths are expected to remain at high levels,” given Canada’s growing and greying population, the researchers wrote.

Still, advances in treatments like immunotherapies and targeted therapies means several cancers are now treated with a realistic shot at a cure “where only a decade ago, outcomes were poor.”

That means “a rapidly growing population of people living with and surviving cancer.”

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It is not, to be clear, a cure for cancer. But a wide-ranging study has made a link between marriage and the disease. The bottom line : People who have never been married show a higher risk of cancer than those who are or have ever been married.

Researchers at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine looked at cancer diagnoses in more than four million adults across 12 U.S. states, representing a population of over 100 million. They focused on cancers diagnosed after the age of 30 between 2015 and 2022.

They simplified a wealth of marital statuses into two broad groups: Ever been married and never been married. The “ever” camp included currently married, divorced and widowed individuals, as well as same-sex couples. The “never” group included those who lived with a partner but were not legally married. Roughly one fifth of the group fell into the never-married cohort.

Among never-married men, cancer rates were found to be 68 per cent higher than those who have ever been married. For women, the difference was even greater, with an increase of 83 per cent in those who have never been married.

Breaking the numbers down by age showed that older married adults were more likely to benefit from this trend, “suggesting that differences associated with marital status may accumulate over the life course,” the researchers wrote.

“In contrast, smaller (incidence rates) among adults ages 30 to 54 years likely reflect selection processes, whereby individuals with more favourable baseline health, behaviours, or resources are more likely to marry,” they added.

There were racial differences as well. Never-married Black men had the highest incidence of cancer among all groups. However, among ever-married men, Black men had even lower rates than White men.

Not every type of cancer showed the same difference. Researchers looked at incidents of anal cancer in men and cervical cancer in women, two types closely linked to infection with the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus or HPV.

They found that never-married men had more than five times the rate compared with ever-married men. Never‑married women had almost three times the rate compared with ever-married women.

Reasons for the disparity in the different groups is probably a mix of society and biology. On the former front, being married may increase the chance of being reminded by a spouse to attend medical appointments, or could result in more stable healthcare and insurance.

Meanwhile, a higher rate of endometrial and ovarian cancers in never‑married women could be the result of  lower rates of childbearing in that group. Pregnancy and childbirth alter hormone exposure in ways that can reduce risk, as other research  has shown .

“Marital status is often treated as a background demographic variable,” the researchers noted. “Yet, our findings suggest that it may function as a social exposure that captures dimensions of cancer risk not fully explained by race, age, or socioeconomic status.”

They added: “It may serve both as a marker of cumulative social advantage and as a multifactorial exposure encompassing behavioural, psychosocial, and healthcare-related factors, such as sexual behaviour, parity, tobacco and alcohol use, diet, and engagement with preventive care.”

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OTTAWA — When Robert Colvile, the head of an influential right-leaning British think-tank, introduced Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre before a speech in London last month, he couldn’t help but draw a line between the fate of Canadian and British Conservative parties.

“We did not just ask Pierre to deliver this lecture purely because… everyone in Britain has started paying a lot more attention to Canadian politics recently, and in particular, to the way in which an insurgent populist right-wing party called ‘Reform’ rose up to challenge the establishment Conservative party in the wake of landslide election defeat,” Colvile told the crowd of roughly 100 attendees waiting to hear Poilievre deliver the annual Margaret Thatcher lecture in early March.

It turns out, ask any Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) MP who has met with their U.K. counterpart recently, and they’ll tell you about a barrage of questions about how Stephen Harper managed to “Unite the Right” over 20 years ago and pull Canadian conservatives out of over a decade of political wilderness.

“People kept trying to mention it” to Poilievre during his three-day trip to the U.K., Colvile told National Post in an interview in mid-March.

Poilievre, who met with various U.K. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and other members of her caucus during his trip, conceded as much in an interview to National Post towards the end of foray into Europe.

But as for solutions, he said that it’s up to British conservatives to figure out their own issues.

“We didn’t talk about it a lot. I wanted to make clear that the situation in Canada and the United Kingdom could be vastly different. So, I just don’t think I’m in the position to advise them on how they move forward in that,” he said.

But despite Poilievre’s reticence to give advice, U.K. Tories and conservatives writ large keep asking CPC members for advice when they meet, multiple caucus members confirmed to National Post.

That’s because, as Colvile half-joked in early March, of the uncanny resemblance between the right-wing split until 2003 of Canada’s Reform Party and the Progressive Conservatives and the current British political landscape.

In 2018, unhappy with the U.K. Conservative Party and wanting to push for Britain’s exit from the European Union, Nigel Farage co-founded Reform UK (originally the Brexit Party).

During and after Brexit, Reform outflanked the U.K. Tories on the right, fiercely criticizing the Conservative government for its COVID-19 lockdowns and then pushing for stronger limits of public spending, taxation and immigration.

By the 2024 general election, Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government was deeply unpopular while Farage’s Reform party was on the upswing. Ultimately, the Tories got shellacked at the polls, suffering their worst ever defeat and dropping from 365 seats to 121 on July 4.

While Kier Starmer’s Labour Party formed government, Farage’s Reform won the third-highest vote percentage (14.3 per cent) and five seats, a record for the fledgling party.

Fast forward to early April and U.K. polls suggest Farage’s Reform is the most popular party in the country while the once-dominant Tories fight for second place with Labour and the Greens.

As Colvile said in early March, a populist Reform Party is challenging the establishment right-wing party after the latter suffered its worst ever electoral defeat.

If it sounds a lot like the 16-year-long schism between Canadian right-wing parties after Preston Manning founded the Reform party in 1987 that contributed heavily to Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservatives’ historic defeat in the 1993 federal election, that’s what U.K. Tories think too.

And they want to learn from Canadian conservatives’ experience over three decades ago.

“As it became increasingly clear that the (U.K.) Conservatives who were heading for an absolute thumping (in 2024), Canada did become the sort of touchstone,” said Colvile, director of the influential Centre for Policy Studies think-tank.

“In political circles, it had become the sort of the benchmark for the absolute humiliation of a traditional centre-right governing party.”

Farage has never hidden the fact that he is inspired by his Canadian predecessors’ experience. During Reform UK’s annual conference in October, he invited former (Canadian) Reform leader Preston Manning to speak and waxed poetic about his counterpart’s political legacy.

“Nigel, I carried the torch for Reform in Canada, I now hand that torch over to you and wish you and your people every success,” Manning replied to Farage, according to the Globe and Mail.

As British Tories lick their wounds from the electoral defeat while Reform continues to lead in the polls, Colvile says many of them are hoping to avoid their Canadian cousins’ decade of political desert wandering before they reunite.

“The Canadian example at the heart of it. I think everyone who be honestly depressed if it takes as long as it did for the Canadians for the centre-right to reunited in the U.K.,” he said.

According to Tim Bale, a politics professor and longtime British conservative watcher, the parallels between the split in British right-wing parties and Canadian ones in the 1990s is also geographical.

“A merger between two parties can make sense if each partner is electorally strong in parts of the country where the other is weak. That was very much the case in Canada, and is — albeit to a lesser extent — true in Britain right now,” Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, said in an email.

But any serious talks between British Reform and Conservative members to reunite like the Canadian PC and Reform members did under Stephen Harper are likely hampered by Farage’s continuing polling success.

As Bale puts it, a key issue around a merger is “who absorbs who?”, something neither the upstart Reform or historic Conservative Party are likely to relent on.

“It would surprise me if it happens that soon,” said Bale. “Neither party wants to be the one that’s obviously taken on as a charity case by the latter. And, in the Tories’ case, there’s hundreds of years of history during which they were the most successful party in the democratic world: admitting that’s over is a tough call.”

That issue was front-and-centre in the response from one U.K. Conservative MP to National Post when asked if his party was entertaining the possibility of reuniting the right under one big tent.

“No, I don’t think we need to. I think that we are united in the right within the Conservative Party. If people want to stand behind a leader that will unite the right in the UK, they need to vote for Kemi Badenoch to be the next prime minister of the UK,” said Conservative MP and shadow secretary of state for Scotland Andrew Bowie.

“You would say that, wouldn’t you?,” National Post responded.

“I would say that!,” Bowie said, bursting into laughter.

National Post

cnardi@postmedia.com

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MONTREAL – Prime Minister Mark Carney’s message to his party is that differences are a strength, as the Liberals stand on the cusp of a majority government in the House of Commons, with help from floor crossers from other political parties.

“Canada’s founding insight is that unity does not require uniformity,” he said during a closing speech at the Liberal national convention in Montreal on Saturday afternoon.

“Pragmatic decisions that have become a moral conviction — that our differences are a strength to be nurtured, not a risk to be managed.”

Carney’s government has attracted five floor crossers from opposition parties in recent months, Lori Idlout from the NDP, and four Conservatives including Chris d’Entremont, Michael Ma, Matt Jeneroux and more recently, Marilyn Gladu.

Gladu’s addition to the Liberal party caused some stir and surprise among some of the more progressive members of caucus, given her policy track record as a social conservative on issues like abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.

Carney told reporters that Gladu will vote with the government on those social issues.

Carney’s speech also pointed to past Liberal prime ministers like Wilfrid Laurier, Louis St. Laurent, Lester Pearson, Pierre Trudeau, Jean Chretien, Paul Martin and Justin Trudeau, who were all strong unifiers in their own way.

“And so, when each generation has chosen to widen the circle,” he said. “We Liberals stand in that tradition.”

The trade war with the United States also loomed large over Carney’s remarks, with the prime minister pointing to his government’s economic agenda.

Carney said a strong economy is essential to his party’s mission of building a just society.

The prime minister was met with a standing applause when he said that a just society is anchored in a woman’s right to choose and allowing people to love who they want to love.

The speech highlighted his government’s defence industrial strategy, military spending, infrastructure investments, major projects office and efforts to diversify international trade.

The convention wraps up as Liberal delegates spent Saturday morning debating and voting on several non-binding policy resolutions.

Two resolutions related to setting age restrictions on social media and artificial chat bots were adopted, following debate.

Grassroots members of the party also debated a resolution on restricting use of the notwithstanding clause, by invoking disallowance on any provincial legislation that proactively invokes the clause before court challenges are exhausted.

Justice Minister Sean Fraser has already shut down any prospect of using disallowance.

Notably, Public Works and Procurement Minister and Québec Lieutenant Joël Lightbound as well as Quebec MP Patricia Lattanzio took the mic during the plenary session to voice their opposition to the resolution, which was ultimately defeated.

The general mood at this weekend’s convention was one of optimism and excitement, given the party’s prospect of holding a majority government again.

The Liberals currently hold 171 seats in the House of Commons, but with three byelections scheduled for Monday, the party is expected to gain a slim majority.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has accused Carney of gaining a majority through “dirty backroom deals.”

Speaking to the thousands of Liberal members and delegates waiving Canadian flags and signs donning his name, Carney echoed the message during his speech in Davos back in January, while also taking aim at those who are “still in denial” of a changing world.

“This is not the time for politics as usual,” he said. “If we stand still during this rupture, we will surrender our future to others.”

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Kevin Cramer, the plain-spoken U.S. senator from North Dakota, is nothing if not a steadfast supporter of President Donald Trump.

He was among the first elected Republicans to endorse the president in his 2016 run for the White House and once even likened voting against Trump’s policies to cheating on a spouse.

“I know Donald Trump really quite well. I really do, and I love him very much,” the senator told the National Post in a recent interview. “I love him at a personal level.”

But in at least one prominent way, he has consistently pushed back on the commander-in-chief he so admires. As Trump slapped a succession of crushing tariffs on Canada, while musing about economically coercing and annexing this country, Cramer has called for stronger relations – economically, militarily and culturally – and developed close, affectionate ties with Canada’s representatives.

Amongst other gestures, he introduced a resolution in the Senate that could almost have been written by staff down the street at the Canadian embassy. It talks of an “indispensable economic and security partnership” and says the prosperity of both nations is supported by a “mutually beneficial economic relationship.”

Cramer, 65, attributes his views to the extensive trade between North Dakota and neighbouring Canadian provinces, and to personal ties that include a childhood spent crossing the border like it barely existed. He says his closeness to Trump – whom he telephones regularly – is actually what makes it possible for him to get the president’s ear on the Canada question.

“I’ve earned some of that (political) capital by being an ardent supporter of his,” he says. “It means when you disagree, you have a little more … street cred. And to me, the U.S.-Canada relationship is worth spending some of that on.

“I do talk to him and I give him my opinion. He generally gets mad at me and then we move on.”

At the same time, Cramer does not give Canada a universal pass. He says Canadians need to be less emotional about the president’s barbs and that an “insufferable” Justin Trudeau helped inform Trump’s antagonistic approach to this country. Current Prime Minister Mark Carney is a much better fit, he says.

But at a time when it often seems the ruling party in America – at least as embodied by the administration – is at war with Canada, Cramer offers an unlikely counterpoint.

“He is indeed a true friend of Canada,” said Kirsten Hillman, who was ambassador to the U.S. until she retired from the foreign service in February. “He has been extremely helpful to us …making points to the president in ways that resonate with the president.”

Cramer in turn says “I love Kirsten,” and showed his fondness for the diplomat by having a special American flag flown in her honour over the Capitol building, then taken down and presented to her as a parting gift.

Their bond was strengthened in part by her own youth, when she spent summers at her grandparents’ farm near Goodlands, Man., about 10 kilometres from the North Dakota border, and sometimes crossed into the state to get pizza.

“I told the president once ‘You know, this idea of Canada as a 51st state is really dumb,’ “ Cramer says. “But I said ‘I would take Saskatchewan and Manitoba and Alberta as three states. They’re practically us, you know.’ ”

Hillman, now a distinguished fellow at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs, said the senator is one of many Republican members of Congress who would like to see a friendlier approach to Canada. A resolution calling for the tariffs to be rescinded was supported by four GOP senators – Rand Paul, Susan Collins, Mitch McConnell, and Lisa Murkowski (though not Cramer). But he stands out as the lawmaker who is closest to Trump, said the ex-ambassador.

A former tourism and economic development director in the North Dakota state government, Cramer grew up at a time when the northern border was almost a formality. The family would drive the short distance to Killarney Lake in Manitoba, merely waving to customs officers on both sides in lieu of showing passports, he says. He has an uncle who lives in Revelstoke, B.C., and Canadian cousins.

Cramer was elected to the House of Representatives on his third try in 2010, then ran successfully for a Senate seat in 2018.

He’s without question a “hard-core” conservative, says Mark Jendrysik, a political science professor at the University of North Dakota who once had Cramer talk to his class. The senator has opposed abortion and same-sex marriage and wrote the energy platform for Trump’s 2016 campaign that favoured more oil production and downplayed climate-change science. His politics are in keeping with the general leanings of the state, one of the few where Trump’s approval ratings have stayed over 50 per cent, said Jendrysik.

But at the same time he’s not one of the “culture-war flame throwers” who have a tight grip on the North Dakota Republican Party, the type of people who call Democrats communists and tout Trump as the greatest president in American history, the professor said.

Still, his loyalty to Trump – and the views of North Dakotans who realize their economy relies heavily on Canada – makes it possible for him to oppose the White House’s protectionist policies, said Jendrysik.

“He has absolutely no worry about re-election, to put it bluntly, so he can afford this small break from Trumpian orthodoxy, because local people think he’s defending their local interests.”

Those interests are fairly clear. North Dakota’s exports to Canada – mostly oil but also farm machinery and agricultural goods – have ranged from $4 billion to $6 billion annually in recent years, 70-80 per cent of its total exports. Cramer said that trade is by design deeply intertwined, each side playing to its strengths.

“A hog crosses the border multiple times before it becomes bacon,” he says, evoking the kind of international connectivity often cited by the auto industry.

Trump has taken a very different view of the economic relationship. Though much of what is sold back and forth moves tariff-free for now under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico free-trade agreement – and his first wave of duties was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court – Canadian automobiles, steel, aluminum and lumber still face punishing tariffs. Meanwhile, Trump is eager to see more goods produced in America and has said “we don’t need anything” from Canada. He recently threatened to impose 50-per-cent tariffs and block certification on imported Canadian aircraft because a regulator here was taking too long to approve new American jets, and said he might block a new bridge between Detroit and Windsor paid for by Canada.

Trump has talked repeatedly about making this country a U.S. state – calling both Carney and Trudeau “governor” – and when asked if he would use military force to do so, said he’d opt for “economic force.”

Cramer says Trump is frustrated by the fact Canada is rich in minerals and resources and “we don’t have more access to those things.”

But he also blames some of the president’s apparent attitudes toward Canada on the fact his first counterpart here was the “insufferable” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The senator cites his own encounter with Trudeau at a Canadian embassy reception a couple of years ago.

Having written a letter encouraging Ottawa to boost defence spending, he broached the topic with the prime minister, suggesting Canada could reach the NATO-endorsed goal of spending two per cent of GDP on the military by selling uranium to the U.S. for use in nuclear weapons.

“He quickly jumped to, ‘Oh, we never will allow our uranium to be used for weapons.’ And I’m like, ‘I’m trying to help you here. I’m trying to give you an off ramp, if you will,’ ” the senator recalls. “He’s a pacifist, and he’s fine with the United States being the guardian over the skies of the Arctic, but it seems irresponsible to me.

“I only had one conversation with him, and I thought ‘This is hopeless.’ ”

Canada has in fact just reached the two-per-cent threshold and Carney has promised to raise defence spending to five per cent of GDP by 2035, while agreeing to buy into Trump’s Golden Dome missile-defence plan. Cramer is a booster of the current prime minister – “a charming guy, but he’s also very smart and eloquent and he’s a finance guy, for crying out loud” – and says increased defence spending is a key way to Trump’s heart.

Ultimately, though, how the bi-national relationship winds up could be determined by a review of the North American free trade accord just getting underway.

Cramer says he hopes it results in “minor changes, not an overhaul.” Hillman says it’s too soon to predict how the talks would end, but said one bright spot are comments this week by Jamieson Grier – the U.S. trade representative – that the deal has “load-bearing pillars” that work well. She notes that the agreement covers not just tariffs but a whole host of other matters, from customs procedures to intellectual property rules

“If (CUSMA) didn’t exist … we would have to recreate it again.”

Meanwhile, Cramer jokingly suggests Canadians could get under Trump’s skin, not by spurning U.S. travel, but by buying up Florida property around the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate and raising Canadian flags there. He has some more controversial advice, too, as polls indicate Canadian opinions about America are at a historic low.

“Canadians seem to be so personally hurt over Donald Trump’s, you know, playing with them over the 51st state issue. And I have found it odd,” he said. “My advice would be ‘Get over yourselves, don’t be so sensitive, because you look just a little bit weak.’ ”

• Polls show Americans dislike Canada more than ever, and that's bad news for the trade war
• Majority of Canadians insulted while U.S. ambassador calls 51st state rhetoric a compliment: poll

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Elected a year ago, the Mark Carney government made housing a priority and rolled out a $13-billion plan with a goal of building 500,000 houses a year for the next decade.

Yet there is one house no one in the government seems willing to touch or even talk about. Just over two kilometres from Parliament Hill, at 24 Sussex Drive, the official residence of the prime minister sits unoccupied and uninhabitable, more than 10 years after the last head of government lived there — and after millions were spent on its festering problems.

Instead, Prime Minister Carney and his family live across the street at Rideau Cottage, a backup, two-storey building on the grounds of Rideau Hall, residence of the Governor General. Justin Trudeau also occupied Rideau Cottage for nearly a decade as prime minister, having never moved into his childhood home.

24 Sussex, which sits on a 2.1-hectare property overlooking the Ottawa River, has been out of commission since the end of the Stephen Harper years and shows little sign of returning to functionality anytime soon. The 35-room, 12,000-square-foot residence has suffered over the years from outdated wiring, heating and plumbing problems, asbestos, water damage, mould and rats.

“What does it say about us as a country that our prime minister’s house is a ruin?” said Toon Dreessen, president of Architects DCA in Ottawa.

“It’s kind of silly — disgraceful, really,” said Robert Martin of Robertson Martin Architects. “Canadians deserve better.”

Initially called Gorffwysfa (Welsh for “The Place of Peace”) when it was built in 1867-68, 24 Sussex has been home to nine prime ministers since 1951 (Kim Campbell and John Turner didn’t live there). It is a Classified Federal Heritage Building.  

Pretty much everybody seems to agree that the neglect must stop. About 70 per cent of Canadians polled by the Angus Reid Institute in 2023 said the government should pay for an official residence for the prime minister. But reactions were more mixed on what the actual solution should be to the current dilemma. Decision-making has been paralyzed.

What’s the holdup?

Politics, of course, and political optics. The building’s fate does not appear to be among the current government’s priorities. “It’s not a problem to resolve today, this month or even by the end of the year. But we should examine it during the course of the mandate,” Carney told reporters in French last year, adding that multiple ideas on how to renew 24 Sussex have been put forward by former prime ministers.

And it was only in his last days as prime minister that Trudeau appeared to pay the problem any attention. He set a January 2026 goal to create an advisory committee of eminent Canadians to make recommendations. It’s unknown what happened to that initiative. The Privy Council Office (PCO), which provides advice to the prime minister and cabinet, did not agree to an interview request about this initiative.

In 2023, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said a new leader’s residence was at the bottom of his list of priorities. “We don’t need a new home for the prime minister. We need a new home for working-class Canadians,” he said.

As with most political footballs, government officials are much quicker to throw than to catch.

The office of Joel Lightbound, the cabinet minister responsible for public works projects such as 24 Sussex, passed National Post’s queries about the property to department spokespeople, who said the National Capital Commission (NCC) should respond. Official residences such as the prime minister’s residence are managed by the NCC , but it does not get the last word.

In an interview with the Ottawa Citizen last fall , NCC CEO Tobi Nussbaum said, “We’ve been very clear that the decision on where the prime minister’s residence is, is not the NCC’s decision to make. It is the government of Canada. We are working closely with them developing a solution for the prime minister’s residence.”

He added: “I am probably more optimistic now than I have been in the six-and-a-half years I have been on the job that we can find a solution to this issue, working with them.”

NCC spokesperson Valérie Dufour wrote in an email to National Post that “the NCC continues to work closely” with government partners and that the “PCO would be better placed to answer more specific questions.”

Pierre-Alain Bujold, a spokesman for the PCO, said “work is ongoing” at 24 Sussex, but no final decisions about its future have been made.

Heritage Ottawa, a not-for-profit group that champions the city’s history and cultural places, wrote to Trudeau back in 2019 to recommend that he take steps on 24 Sussex, starting with a new committee led by a non-partisan chair. Neither the government nor Heritage Ottawa responded to Post queries about whether such a committee was formed.

But Heritage Ottawa again made the case in a letter to Carney last fall, recommending a full rehabilitation of 24 Sussex, ideally as the prime minister’s residence. Its second choice is that the residence be fully restored and used for another public purpose.

In the letter, Katherine Spencer-Ross, president of Heritage Ottawa, wrote that 24 Sussex is one of a suite of buildings designed in the Gothic Revival style erected around Confederation, along with Earnscliffe, home to John A. Macdonald, and the Parliament Buildings.

Canada is the only G7 country, she said, that has no legislative protection for “federally recognized places.”

“Let this project stand as an example of our respect for Canada’s heritage.”

Is the site at 24 Sussex even feasible?

A real estate agent unconcerned about complex politics might tout 24 Sussex for its “location, location, location.” Perched atop a cliff, it overlooks the Ottawa River yet is close to the action on Parliament Hill.

“It’s a spectacular site,” said Martin, whose Ottawa architectural firm helped make Rideau Cottage workable as a temporary residence for the prime minister.

The 24 Sussex property includes the main residence, a 12,000-square-foot stone mansion built in the 1860s. In addition to the living areas for prime ministers and their families, there’s an official guest house on the grounds, a swimming pool and pool house, security buildings and small gatehouses at the entrance for security screening. Bordered by security fencing and barriers, the grounds also include a detached garage and areas for small outside events.

In his memoirs, former prime minister Brian Mulroney said of 24 Sussex, “(F)or me and those who preceded and followed me, the official residence was anything but restful. Lacking central air, the home was cooled during stifling Ottawa summers by noisy air-conditioning units placed in windows. In the winter, family and guests often found themselves shivering in the 34-room limestone home. Former prime minister Paul Martin summed it up neatly during his own period as a tenant: ‘Too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer.’”

It’s one of the most modest official leaders’ residences in the G7. By comparison, most are well-fortified, high-security buildings with limited public access, and are used as both a home and an official workplace.

The White House in Washington, D.C., for example, is more than four times as large at 55,000 square feet, with six floors, 132 rooms and three elevators. But it’s also an important government office building with more than 1,000 regular employees in and around the residence.

In London, 10 Downing Street, home of the British prime minister, is an estimated 25,000 square feet. A web of interconnected structures, officially known as 10, 11 and 12 Downing, comprise about 100 rooms. It’s about twice the size of its Canadian counterpart.

Leaders’ homes in Spain, France and Germany are at least 75,000 square feet each. The Quirinal Palace in Rome, home to President Sergio Mattarella, is easily the largest in Europe. A former papal residence, the palace is also used for government offices, state functions, ceremonies and receptions.

Even the State House Nairobi, official residence of Kenya’s prime minister, at more than 20,000 square feet, is much larger than 24 Sussex. That’s about the same size as official leaders’ residences in Reykjavik, Iceland, and Attard, Malta — two of the smallest in Europe — and Tokyo, Japan.

What about security?

Neither 24 Sussex nor the PM’s temporary residence at Rideau Cottage were built for 21st-century security concerns.

According to a CBC report , a government memo written last summer listed security challenges at Rideau Cottage, including its proximity to the larger governor general’s residence and a number of other homes. The house doesn’t have the infrastructure or space for security offices, secure meeting offices or safe rooms, and Rideau Cottage’s grounds include a number of areas with public access, while offering minimal security infrastructure, such as secure entrances, secure vehicle access and security parking.

Security concerns are not just theoretical .

In the early morning hours of Nov. 5, 1995, a man named André Dallaire snuck onto the property at 24 Sussex, broke a window, then slipped into the prime minister’s residence. Brandishing a knife, he wandered around the residence until he was spotted by Aline Chrétien, the prime minister’s wife. The Chrétiens locked their bedroom door, called police and the intruder was arrested. Dallaire, who later said he was hearing voices in his head, was found not criminally responsible due to a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. The incident triggered some security improvements at the prime minister’s residence.

On July 2, 2020, an armed man named Corey Hurren drove onto the grounds at Rideau Hall. He was arrested by the RCMP without further incident.

In a statement to the Post, RCMP spokesperson Marie-Eve Breton said the federal police force is providing recommendations to the government on the security needs at 24 Sussex but can’t provide details because “this issue is still being considered,” and the force doesn’t want to compromise security.

But key security issues for any site would include an ability to access the site, space at the site to fit the necessary safeguards, and lines of sight to and from the site, Breton said.

She added the RCMP have been “actively collaborating” with the National Capital Commission, Public Services and Procurement Canada, and the Privy Council Office to determine a future direction for the PM’s official residence.

The RCMP has not been informed whether the government has made a decision on what to do about the prime minister’s residence, the statement said.

So, what are the options?

With little apparent decision-making coming from the government, National Post asked several architects for their visions on what 24 Sussex could be and estimated costs. There are three basic options: a major renovation of the existing buildings; tear down and build fresh on the same site; or build something new on a different site altogether.

Architects estimate that, depending on specifications, the bill for this type of major project could be anywhere between $40 million and $100 million.

D’Arcy Jones, principal of D’Arcy Jones Architects, who has worked on many high-end renovations, said the estimates he’s heard over the years always seem to be multiples above what he’d consider market rates for such jobs. The Vancouver architect acknowledges his past projects didn’t include much investment in security, a necessary part of a leader’s residence, but that the estimates still seem way over market.

If the bill comes anywhere close to $100 million, Jones said, “I don’t know what you’re spending it on.”

Major renovation

In a June 2021 report, the NCC deemed both the main residence at 24 Sussex and the caretaker’s house at 10 Sussex to be in “critical condition.” The report estimated it would cost $36.6 million for “deferred maintenance” alone to restore the main residence to “optimal condition.” That figure included dealing with the residence’s hazardous materials, replacing older mechanical and electrical systems and construction of universally accessible entrances and washrooms, but would not get the building up to meeting new building codes or legislative requirements.

Two years later, $4.3 million was spent on abatement and decommissioning work, including the removal of asbestos and removal and cataloguing of heritage items such as doors and mouldings. The work was completed in the summer of 2024.

Some architects familiar with the site agree that a sensible plan would involve a major renovation to the existing residence while adding space and functionality through a new, adjacent structure or wing.

The reno could include elements such as a physical division between the family residence and any additional, business-oriented wing or structure. “We need a home that can accommodate a family,” said Dreessen, from Architects DCA.

Or, it could be a family residence with office space, places for children to live and play, accommodations for visiting family members, and a dining area large enough for a dozen or so.

It would certainly have to include basic upgrades, such as air conditioning, wheelchair accessibility and visitors’ quarters. It could offer a business wing or adjacent structure with enough dining space for a small state dinner, a commercial-grade kitchen and a wine cellar.

Office spaces for a small cohort of staff, and space for small meetings, should also be part of the plan.

Ottawa’s Trace Architectures, a firm that has been involved with 24 Sussex on and off for a couple of decades, suggests that the main building should be rehabilitated as the prime minister’s residence, and a second building or wing be constructed for other official events and security. The two, said partner Mark Brandt, could be connected by an underground tunnel.

Chris Warden, another partner at Trace, said redesigning a large residence to be dual-purpose carries more challenges architecturally than might be expected. The two parts of the property would need to look cohesive, he said, even though one would function as a residence while the other has business and diplomatic functions.

“It’s an incredibly difficult job,” said Warden. “You want to give the prime minister the best possible place.”

Dreessen offers a different view, saying that 24 Sussex undoubtedly needs to be renovated, but that it doesn’t necessarily need to have a new large space for business or large state dinners. The site could simply remain a residence, with larger state dinners and other professional gatherings held elsewhere, such as one of the nearby national museums. “Do that someplace else.”

Dreessen’s own vision includes a “deep-energy” retrofit so that the buildings create more energy than they use, and more public access to the grounds.

This type of renovation, he said, could be done for about $35 million.

He suggests a multistage design proposal, with the first stage to generate broad ideas, followed by at least one more wave to flush out the best designs.

One thing seems clear, according to the architects: prices to repair or rebuild are only going to go up, largely because of inflation and further degradation of the property.

Former prime ministers Harper and Chrétien reportedly offered to try to raise private money to help reduce the reno’s financial burden on taxpayers, but nothing came of it.

Tear down and rebuild on same site

There are clear advantages to keeping the prime minister’s residence at 24 Sussex: the site’s proximity to Parliament Hill, Rideau Hall and other key political sites in Ottawa, for example. There’s also the property’s security advantages, with one side facing a steep drop to the Ottawa River and a large setback from the road.

The property is located on a diplomatic corridor, and neighbours include the French Embassy, the South African High Commission and a plethora of other diplomatic offices and residences.

Demolishing the existing home and starting again, despite the abatement work done in recent years, would allow a broader range of options, proponents say. The downside is the loss of an important heritage site.

Some of the historical artifacts, stones and other materials at the existing home could be reused or just kept as heritage pieces. Key questions under this model would include whether the home and reception areas would be distinct buildings and what to do with the indoor pool.

Samantha Schneider, of Ottawa-based Simmonds Architecture, said her firm responded to a local magazine’s request almost a decade ago to offer designs for a rebuild at 24 Sussex. Her submission emphasized the use of stone, wood and other materials from the Canadian landscape, which she said would fit well on that property. “It’s a beautiful site.”

Some architects’ suggestions are more expansive, suggesting a “campus” model that would include multiple buildings, such as a reception pavilion, guest houses, even a small conference centre.

One concept, from D’Arcy Jones Architects, visualizes the residence as a representation of the Canadian landscape, with a single-storey building embedded in the terrain with carved shapes representing forests, mountains, waterways and prairie fields.

Architecture students from Carleton University also developed design ideas a few years ago that reflect Indigenous symbolism and history. Those ideas included a “wampum” model — a horizontal addition with lots of skylights and glass for natural light — and an “intertwined” model that made heavy use of curved and wooden ceilings.

“Do something great,” said Martin, whose firm has been involved in rehab work at 24 Sussex.

Build something new, somewhere else

A third option would be to find a new site for the prime minister’s home and start from scratch.

One option reportedly considered was a new, wooded location in Rockcliffe Park. The neighbourhood, not far from the current residence, is known for its affluence and large, traditional-looking homes. It’s not known for offering vacant lots of the size required for a new prime minister’s residence. And Rockcliffe Park might present greater security challenges than does 24 Sussex.

One of the existing homes in that neighbourhood is Stornoway, the official residence of the Opposition leader. Dreessen said it’s not necessary to have an official residence for the Opposition leader and that converting that home to the prime minister’s residence should at least be on the table.

There is also the possibility of renovating or starting from scratch at Rideau Cottage, where Carney and his family now live. But Rideau Cottage is far from perfect. Aside from the security concerns, the size of the residence is similar to 24 Sussex. It’s a two-storey home with 22 rooms and about 10,000 square feet.

In her letter to Carney last October, Spencer-Ross at Heritage Ottawa wrote that she understands the concerns of those who say the rehabilitation of 24 Sussex “sends the wrong message” during a housing crisis. “But is it not also a wrong message that an otherwise sound structure is sent to landfill? That it continues to lie vacant? That a nationally significant property is allowed to fall into ruin?

“24 Sussex is not just any home. It is a nationally significant place that belongs to all Canadians, not to a prime minister nor to any political party.”

24 Sussex Drive, at a glance 

1867-68: Lumber baron and politician Joseph Merrill Currier builds “Gorffwysfa” (Welsh for “Place of Rest”) in the Gothic Revival style, intending to evoke the Parliament Buildings.  

1870: Currier adds a ballroom; the home at 24 Sussex is soon seen as a major social hub in the capital.  

1902: The building passes to William Cameron Edwards.  

1943: The federal government tries to expropriate 24 Sussex, since it controls most of the other land along the Ottawa River. Then-owner Sen. Gordon C. Edwards fights the move and proceedings drag on until 1946 when the government finally gains possession.

1949: The government decides the site will house future prime ministers. Over the next two years, major changes are made, such as demolishing the tower on the western side, stripping away the Victorian ornament, and expanding the building’s size, including a larger kitchen wing.  The ballroom is replaced by an outdoor terrace. Several rooms are reconfigured to overlook the river instead of the street.

1951: Prime Minister Louis St-Laurent moves in — “the last thing (he) wanted to do,” according to the National Capital Commission. H e insists on paying rent.  

1975: With Pierre Elliott Trudeau in office, the site receives its biggest renovation up to that time: a new indoor swimming pool and pool house, funded by private donors. The pool building is connected to the main house by underground tunnel.

1985: Prime Minister Brian  Mulroney undertakes renovations to 24 Sussex and the residence at Harrington Lake, for which the Progressive Conservative Party spends $308,000. The incident is dubbed “Gucci-gate,” because it includes, among other things, expanded closets for 100 pairs of shoes.  

1986: The  Prime Minister’s Residence is designated a Classified Federal Heritage Building because, according to the federal government, “of its direct association with six prime ministers of Canada, its status as a nationally known landmark, and because of the impact of the house and its grounds on the character of the area.”

1995: On Nov. 5, a man sneaks onto the property and slips inside the residence with a knife. He is spotted by Aline Chrétien, wife of Prime Minister Jean Chretien. The Chrétiens call police and the man is arrested. A security overhaul follows.  

2008: Auditor general  Sheila Fraser reports that renovations are desperately needed to fix cracked windows, outdated wiring, inadequate plumbing and other problems. The work is estimated at $10 million.  

2015: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau opts to move with his family into Rideau Cottage on the grounds of Rideau Hall, in order to allow upgrades or other work on 24 Sussex.

2021:  In a June report, the National Capital Commission says both the main residence at 24 Sussex and the caretaker’s house are in “critical condition.” The report estimates it will cost $36.6 million to restore the main residence to proper condition.  

2022-23: At a cost of $4.3 million, 24 Sussex is closed and stripped to remove asbestos, pests and antiquated elements. The government, however, still does not make a decision on what to do with the now-decommissioned building.  

2025: Prime Minister Mark Carney moves into Rideau Cottage.  

2026: No government offices involved in determining the fate of 24 Sussex are willing to comment on the status of the residence or the plan, if any, to move forward.  

Main photo: 24 Sussex Drive in August 2007, when it was home to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his family. Mike Carroccetto/Postmedia News

Canadian travellers will continue to face travel challenges such as increased fares and cancelled overseas flights as the world copes with the disruptions caused by Iran’s blockade of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

Even if the war comes to a close with a negotiated settlement this weekend , the experts say the oil shortage shock will reverberate for months while supply chains restart and destroyed oil infrastructure is repaired.

For Canada, however, the challenge won’t be supply. Foremost, it will be price. “A return trip between Montreal and Toronto has jumped from $700 to $1,000. A 45-minute flight,” John Gradek, an aviation industry specialist and lecturer at McGill University in Montreal told National Post on Friday.

Dan McTeague, a gas prices analyst and president of Canadians for Affordable Energy , told the Post on Friday that he has  “never seen a month like this. Not in my time, compared to any other energy crisis we’ve seen in the past.”

The increase in “pricing is reflecting the massive shortfall that we have in jet fuel,” he says. He’s hoping “there will be some kind of resolution this weekend, but I think we’re a little beyond the point of no return.”

Here in Canada, says Gradek, we refine about 85 per cent of the oil we use. “We have seven refineries. Only about 15 per cent of our oil comes through the east coast from the U.S., as well as Rotterdam and Trinidad.”

However, with twenty per cent of the world’s fuel stuck behind the Strait of Hormuz, he says, the worldwide fuel shortage is already driving up prices, as high as $200 a barrel. That will drive up costs.

But it will soon be more about availability, than ability to pay.

As fuel shortages hit airports in Europe and Asia, he says Canadian airlines will struggle to refuel and return. He predicts increasing flight cancellations.

Canadian airlines, especially international carriers such as Air Canada, WestJet and Air Transit will soon have to contend with shortages in European and Asian airports, Gradek says.

“The availability of fuel in Europe is going to be a big issue,” he says, specifically for return flights. “It’s not what you can pay. You’re not going to be able to buy,” says Gradek.

He points to one example in northern Italy, BP Italia . “The company has already declared a fuel shortage. It has told airlines that for flights operating under three hours from Milan, there won’t be enough fuel. Those flights will be cancelled.”

He predicts the airports in London, Heathrow and Gatwick, will be next. Last month, the Financial Times reported that President Donald Trump telling the U.K and European allies who haven’t been supportive of the U.S. war on Iran to “go get (their) own oil” and buy more jet fuel from the U.S.

Asia may be worse off, according to Gradek. “They are days away from running out of imported fuel. Viet Nam Airways has parked 20 per cent of its fleet. The country is rationing fuel.”

The crisis in Asia derives from countries in that continent getting all their jet fuel from the Middle East. But, says Gradek, “the last tanker from the Strait of Hormuz (bound for Asia) left on Feb. 26. It’s a seven-week journey and will arrive in early April. When it runs out, that will be it.”

Jet fuel is produced in the in the Middle East, says McTeague. He points to Qatar, which “has the single largest facility in the world, and it’s been offline now, five weeks. It’s a declared force majure after drone strikes affected its production. So, this is kind of a long wave. We won’t just be talking higher prices. Around the world, the real issue is a supply shock. Supply shocks aren’t like demand shocks, you know. Demand came back after COVID. Everything was fine.”

With tankers taking several weeks to reach their destinations and oil infrastructure destroyed by the war, says McTeague, “’normal’ cannot be rectified for several months, and it’s in that context that I’m not surprised to see jet fuel being rationed. We know in other countries around the world, other petroleum products are being rationed as well.

“We were told this is just an ‘excursion’ of a couple weeks and be over. It’s now a couple of months, or getting into the second month, and there doesn’t appear to be any sign, at least until this weekend, of its ending. But the damage is literally done, and markets are going to reflect that going forward.”

Like Gradek, he expects the impact on Canadian airlines and their passengers to go beyond the recently announced surcharges. “I would expect that for Canadians, more than the inconvenience of fuel surcharges, longer distance destinations outside of North America, may be a little bit more challenging, if not impossible.”

McTeague takes a strong stance about Canada providing oil to the world in the kind of scenario the world is facing. “We have one of the largest supplies of these resources that the world desperately needs today.”

However, he says, “Canada can’t furnish it… Not without demanding that any pipeline be decarbonized. No other nation in the world would be that insane to make that kind of suggestion about its resources. But it gets a pass here in Canada.”

He realizes that may not be a popular opinion in Canada but notes he was a Liberal MP for 18 years. Now he questions the true cost of pursuing the net-zero policy when when affordability is such a prevalent issue, rather than “worrying about changes in the weather.”

Meanwhile, like Gradek, he expects European airlines to seek out Canadian jet fuel.

“You’ve got a huge lineup of people that want to buy from North America … I’m flying from Frankfurt, Germany to Toronto. I left this morning. I come here tonight, rather than worrying about not being able to get fuel in Germany. I’m going to be able to get it in Canada. And some of those planes can take a lot more than what they need to make a one-way flight so they might get enough for at least a flight and a half.”

• Energy crisis from Iran war worse than 1973, ​1979 and 2022 crises combined: International Energy Agency
• Europe weeks away from jet-fuel shortage, airport group says

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.

The European Union’s long-awaited Entry/Exit System (EES) has now come into full effect across 29 countries.

The system began a phased rollout in October 2025 and, as of April 10, is fully operational.

The EES applies to non-EU nationals (including Canadians) who are travelling for short stays of up to 90 days within any 180-day period in one or more countries in the Schengen Area.

The Schengen Area is a border-free zone in Europe that allows free movement among EU member states (with the exception of Ireland and Cyprus) as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

The Schengen Area doesn’t include the U.K., which has its own system called the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA).

The EES replaces the manual stamping of passports at border crossings. Instead, biometric data, such as fingerprints and facial images, will be collected at the point of entry and stored for three years.

Borders are likely to have self-service kiosks where passengers can submit this information before proceeding to a border officer, who may ask additional questions about accommodation and return tickets, for example.

The system is free to use, and travellers are not required to pre-register.

On future trips to the Schengen Area, visitors will not be required to resubmit their biometrics. Instead, passport control officers will verify previously recorded fingerprints and photos.

Children under 12 do not need to provide their fingerprints, but must still have their faces scanned.

The European Union says the new system makes it easier to identify those who overstay or are using fake passports, as well as shortening wait times by replacing time-consuming manual checks.

However, some travellers have experienced long waits at the border as a result of the EES rollout.

Thousands have been denied entry to the Schengen Area for reasons including expired or fraudulent documents, and almost 700 individuals have been identified as “a security threat” since the phasing-in of the new system, according to the European Commission .

Meanwhile, the Airports Council International (ACI), which represents more than 600 airports, reported that border control processing times increased by up to 70 per cent at airports where EES checks were already in place.

It also said wait times have reached as long as three hours during peak periods.

Previously, border control authorities were able to suspend the EES process during peak travel times, but as of today, this will no longer be permitted.

This means travellers should plan for longer wait times at European airports in the coming months as the system beds in.

The EES comes into effect amid the news that Europe is weeks away from a jet fuel shortage , as a result of the conflict in Iran , which would trigger further disruptions to airports and airlines.

Meanwhile, Europe is not the only region that collects biometric data from visitors.

Similar systems are also in place in the U.S., Australia, Singapore, Japan and even in Canada, where fingerprints and facial photos are collected for visitors who apply for temporary residence, permanent residence, refugee or asylum status, or to extend a stay in Canada — unless from a visa-exempt country.

• What is biometric data and what countries require travellers to give it?
• Here's the best time to book a flight as rising fuel costs push Canadian airfares higher

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MONTREAL — The Liberal party is calling itself a “big tent” party, but progressives say they would like to see their values upheld.

“It was a very important moment in time, in 2015 when Justin Trudeau said that this party is a pro-choice party, and people who run for us must be pro-choice, or at the very least be committed to upholding those values,” said Liberal MP Karina Gould.

“And I heard the prime minister say that he believes that as well, and so I’m going to hold him to that, and I’m going to hold anybody who joins our party to that as well,” she added.

More than 4,500 Liberals have gathered in Montreal for their national convention this weekend.

Prime Minister Mark Carney made his rounds on the convention’s fifth floor on Friday, shaking hands and talking to party members.

Carney’s “big tent” now includes social conservative Marilyn Gladu, who announced her decision to join the Liberals on Wednesday. During her decade as a Conservative MP representing the Ontario riding of Sarnia—Lambton–Bkejwanong, Gladu was one of the Liberals’ fiercest critics both publicly and within her own caucus.

She also called for a renewed debate on abortion and opposed a sweeping Liberal ban on conversion therapy.

Carney said Gladu will vote with the Liberal government on issues concerning a woman’s right to choose, same-sex marriage and conversion therapy.

“To be very honest with you, I was surprised, like many of my colleagues,” said Liberal MP Steven Guilbeault, on Gladu’s addition to the caucus.

“The Liberal Party is obviously bigger than one person,” he added. “We’re not changing the Liberal party; we’re not changing our values.”

A notable fighter against climate change, Guilbeault quit Carney’s cabinet in November after the government signed an energy deal with Alberta. The agreement paves the way for a potential pipeline to the West Coast, although the final details of that agreement ran past the initial April 1 deadline.

The Quebec MP said he recalls Gladu “scream at me on a number of occasions on things like climate change.”

“She’s now joining the party who believes that climate is an issue, and who is still putting in place measures to fight climate change,” he said.

Former British Columbia Premier Christy Clark said she ran a coalition party and found that she often got a better outcome with more voices at the table.

“I think there are more risks to having an ideological, narrow focus party where everybody always has to toe the line,” she said. “It’s healthier to have a broad array of voices inside a caucus where a leader is forced to compromise sometimes, and those voices are the voices of their constituents.”

When asked if she would consider running federally, she said “you never know.”

Three byelections are set to take place on Monday. Two Toronto byelections in the ridings of Scarborough Southwest and University—Rosedale, which were previously held by Bill Blair and Chrystia Freeland, are heavily favoured towards the Liberals.

The third byelection will be held in Terrebonne, Que., where the Liberals won by one vote against the Bloc Québécois, before the results were nullified by the Supreme Court of Canada.

Laura D’Angelo, national strategy and public affairs vice-president at Enterprise Canada and former adviser to Trudeau, said the majority Carney will likely get on Monday is a slim one, which will still pose challenges.

“A slim majority is really hard,” she said. “It’s actually not that different than a minority situation, except instead of negotiating with a House leader in the House of Commons, you’re negotiating with your individual caucus members, and that can be much more challenging.”

But speculation about more floor crossers from the Conservative party persists at the convention.

Recent floor-crosser Chris d’Entremont said there are number of his former colleagues that are unhappy with the direction of the Conservative party.

One Liberal source speaking on background said they wouldn’t be surprised if there is another defection to the Liberals announced before the end of the weekend.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand took the convention stage on Friday and said her party is inclusive and “everyone has a place in this large tent.”

Joining her onstage was Liberal MP Matt Jeneroux, who crossed the floor from the Conservatives in February.

He said he has not looked back since joining the Liberals, noting he has “slept well every night.”

National Post

• Gladu says her floor-crossing is the ‘best thing for my riding, for the country and for myself’
• Gladu backed petition this year for automatic byelections when MPs cross the floor

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A Nigerian man convicted of breaching a no-contact order with his former partner has convinced a New Brunswick judge to grant him a conditional discharge to avoid deportation.

Adebowale Adekoya, 33, appealed his sentence of 12 months of probation to the Court of King’s Bench.

“After considering the collateral immigration consequences of the conviction imposed by the trial judge, and the nature of the offense, I conclude that a conditional discharge would be in Mr. Adekoya’s best interest and would not be contrary to the public interest,” Justice Mario J. Lanteigne wrote in a recent decision.

Police charged Adekoya on Jan. 8, 2025 with assaulting his former partner.

“Consequent to this, Mr. Adekoya was placed on a Release Order with a condition to have no contact with Ms. Shavontae Myers,” Lanteigne said in his March 26 decision.

Ten days after he was charged with assault, police charged Adekoya with disobeying that court order and obstructing justice.

“Shortly after having agreed to the conditions of the Release Order, Mr. Adekoya arrived at Ms. Myers residence and told her that he wanted to retrieve his personal items,” said the decision.

The lease was still under his name, and the lock hadn’t been changed.

Adekoya stayed at her home for a week, during which the court heard he “drank and attempted repeatedly to convince Ms. Myers to drop all the charges.”

During that time, she worked remotely “while attempting to prevent an escalation of the situation,” said the decision.

One of her family members eventually informed police he was staying at her place.

After police arrested him for breaking the no-contact order, Adekoya was jailed between Jan. 23, 2025 and June 23, 2025.

While he was in custody, the assault charge against Adekoya was dismissed and the obstruction charge was withdrawn.

Last July, the trial judge sentenced him to a year of probation.

“I think that’s a very – very harsh sentencing,” Adekoya said at the time. “Considering it’s the first time I’m in contact with the system.”

He asked the trial judge for a conditional discharge. “You ruined my life for real,” Adekoya said.

The trial judge refused. “Under the circumstances I don’t think it would be in the public interest to grant a discharge for the domestic violence matter.”

The Canada Border Services Agency subsequently ordered Adekoya’s deportation.

“The Deportation Order now states that he is no longer admissible to remain in Canada consequent to the conviction against him,” Lanteigne said.

Adekoya studied at New Brunswick Community College and obtained a post-graduation work permit in 2024.

“He made new friends and found stable employment as a junior business analyst with a local company,” Lanteigne said. “Mr. Adekoya has no family in Nigeria and left his country because of the lack of employment.”

A criminal conviction “would have significant adverse repercussions for Mr. Adekoya,” his lawyer said.

“If Mr. Adekoya is deported, he will be returning to a country where he has not resided since his 20s, where he has no family nor friends. This will, according to his counsel, undermine all the years he invested in developing roots in Canada. Being deported would also most likely prevent Mr. Adekoya from visiting his mother and brother in the State of New York. Finally, the Nigerian economy would not be able to offer Mr. Adekoya with an equivalent salary and employment that the Canadian economy can offer.”

The Crown argued a conditional discharge “would be excessively lenient.”

Instead, the Crown recommended Adekoya be sentenced to 30 days in custody, which should be “considered served.”

The trial judge was misinformed by Adekoya’s lawyer that his client held both Canadian and U.S. passports, said the decision.

“The mere fact that the trial judge was misinformed and misled is sufficient to conclude that this Court must consider the collateral immigration consequences as a relevant factor to account for in determining what is the appropriate sentence,” Lanteigne said.

Adekoya is a first-time offender, said the judge. “He states having completed a bachelor’s degree in political science in Nigeria from the University of Lagos in 2015 and a master’s degree in international business management in 2020 in Germany at the University of Bonn-Rhein-Sieg. After which he continued his studies at the New Brunswick Community College where he obtained a diploma in IT Business Analysis in June 2024.”

Adekoya spent 158 days in custody, Lanteigne said.

“I believe that Mr. Adekoya has been sufficiently deterred and that a conviction is not necessary to meet the objective of deterrence and rehabilitation,” said the judge.

“One of the most adverse collateral consequences of the sentence imposed on Mr. Adekoya is the imminent risk of deportation. This constitutes a significant adverse repercussion on Mr. Adekoya. As a collateral consequence of the sentence imposed, Mr. Adekoya is likely to be deported to Nigeria and experience significant social and economic hardship.”

The judge pointed out Adekoya had obtained a diploma and employment in New Brunswick. “These personal achievements will all be jeopardized if he is to be subject to these significant adverse repercussions.”

It’s in the public interest that “someone like Mr. Adekoya be able to pursue his goals in this country where he has chosen to contribute socially and economically,” Lanteigne said.

“Mr. Adekoya has spent many years pursuing post-secondary education and wishes to find employment in his field of expertise. This can only be a benefit to society.”

• Indian man avoids ‘immigration consequences’ after spying on women using bathroom at his Ontario home
• No parallel justice system for immigrants, says Quebec judge in criminal harassment case

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.

A transgender inmate serving time for violent sexual assaults against women is pushing to switch to a female facility.

Amanda Joy Cooper has been incarcerated since 2001 and holds a dangerous offender designation, Correctional Service Canada confirmed to National Post. Cooper recently had gender surgery and wants to transfer from a men’s maximum security facility in Ontario to a women’s prison, CBC News reported .

“Her message to us and her message to the court is: ‘I’m a woman with a vagina in a men’s prison. You think I’m safe here?'” said Cooper’s lawyer Jessica Rose from PATH Legal in Nova Scotia to CBC.

“From our perspective, Amanda’s gender identity and her genitals align. She is physically a woman, she identifies as a woman,” Rose told the publication. “She is post-gender confirmation affirmation surgery at top and bottom. So from our perspective, there’s no legal basis for CSC to be maintaining her in a men’s prison, regardless of whatever security or safety considerations they may be relying on.”

The Federal Court in Halifax will hear the case on Tuesday. Rose told CBC she would ask a judge to transfer Cooper before a full judicial review.

At a sentencing hearing in 2001, the court heard how Cooper assaulted victims, including a girl as young as 12, only days after being released from prison for similar offenses. Cooper’s actions were “so severe” that even while Cooper was in prison, psychiatrist Dr. Louis Morissette said he had to stand between Cooper and female workers, the Montreal Gazette reported at the time.

Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) told National Post it has received 129 requests from natal males seeking placement or transfer in a women’s institution since 2017. Of these, 35 were approved, 72 were denied and 22 were withdrawn.

As of October 2025, there were 90 transgender women incarcerated in CSC institutions: 73 (or 81 per cent) were housed in men’s institutions and 17 (or 19 cent) in women’s institutions.

Although gender diverse inmates only make up roughly 1 per cent of all federal inmates, according to CSC, it’s become a controversial issue over the years. Advocacy groups that stand with transgender inmates say that those who identify as women are especially vulnerable and are not safe in male prisons. Advocates against say that transferring biological males to female prisons can put incarcerated women at risk of harassment, assault or worse.

One inmate who goes by the name Megan told LGBTQ2S+ magazine Xtra that her experience in a male federal prison in Canada was “terrifying.” She was born male but said she knew she was a woman since she was 10 years old. She filed three requests to transfer to a female institution, but was denied. Just before she received gender-confirming surgery, a request was finally approved. It brought her relief, as she feared “the threat of rape would have been constant” had she stayed in a male institution.

Heather Mason, a former inmate, was incarcerated at Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ont. in 2017. She is a founding member of Canadian Women’s Sex-Based Rights (CAWSBAR), a group that says its goal is preserving the rights and protections of women and girls. Transgender inmates were transferred there while she was serving her sentence.

“I know how it feels to be incarcerated with a violent sexual offender, because I’ve been incarcerated with them. It’s scary. You’re always on guard,” Mason told National Post.

In 2019, she heard the story of a woman with “an extensive history of childhood trauma and sexual abuse” who said she was groomed and harassed by a transgender inmate placed in the same unit, also at Grand Valley. That’s when Mason said she realized “nobody was going to speak up and support us women, and that I couldn’t stay silent.”

She connected with more women who had faced similar issues. In 2021, she wrote to the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, pleading for change after what she described as “fallout of the Bill C-16 gender identity legislation.”

The 2017 bill amended the Canadian Human Rights Act to prevent discrimination based on gender identity or expression. After it became law, Correctional Services Canada passed the Commissioner’s Directive 100 , which came into effect in 2022 and allows for the placement of transgender inmates into male or female institutions based on gender identity or expression.

There are 8 individuals who received gender affirming surgery residing in women’s institutions as of October 2025. There are 72 individuals who have not received surgery but identify as transgender women residing in men’s institutions.

The CSC said it redacts numbers under five “to mitigate the risk of privacy breaches, given how low the numbers are.” Therefore, the agency was unable to provide data for individuals who received gender‑affirming surgery residing in men’s institutions or those born male who did not receive surgery residing in women’s institutions.

Chris Fleury, a constitutional lawyer at Charter Advocates Canada, said placing trans inmates in female institutions “creates enormous risk and harm for female inmates.” He said he’s heard from many women who have suffered a wide range of harms.

“At the one end of the spectrum would be the most serious, things like sexual assault. At the other end of the spectrum things like harassment and sexual harassment and this sort of thing, but they are potentially exposed to that sort of behaviour on the part of a trans inmate,” he told National Post. “And it’s behaviour that we just don’t see from female inmates.”

Fleury was one of the lawyers retained by CAWSBAR to file a lawsuit challenging the federal government, alleging that the directive infringes on the rights of female inmates. Preliminary motions are expected to begin next month.

Although it’s not a new issue, Fleury said that it has become more prominent since 2017 when Bill C-16 was passed.

“It sort of reverses the onus and says that an inmate will be placed according to their gender identity or expression, unless there are overriding health and safety concerns,” he said.

A CSC report published in 2022 found that over 80 per cent of gender diverse offenders with sexual offence histories were transgender women. “Sexual offending indicators showed that the majority of these offences were committed while living as their biological sex, and that the highest proportion of victims were children or female,” the report said.

Many years prior to transitioning, while living as a man under a different name, Cooper was found guilty of committing sexual assaults in 1998, according to court documents.

Cooper was described by Judge Claude Provost as a person suffering “from a sadistic paraphilia” who tended to attack adult women to “control and master” at the same time as wanting to have “sexual contact with them.” Provost said Cooper exhibited this behaviour since adolescence and was a dangerous offender.

The Montreal Gazette reported in 2001 that Cooper had even assaulted women during a previous stint in prison, including a guard.

At a sentencing hearing, a psychiatrist told the court that Cooper could not stop attacking women. It started with an 11-year-old girl that Cooper molested at a gym.

Three days after serving a previous sentence, Cooper grabbed a 12-year-old girl in a mall parking lot and told her: “I’ll rape you,” according to the Gazette. Cooper attacked a 53-year-old woman who was getting out of her car two days later. Only an hour after that, in the same location, Cooper grabbed a woman, told her to remove her clothes and pulled down her own pants.

A 2017 affidavit filed in court and obtained by CBC revealed that Cooper was assessed for gender dysphoria and in 2010 started identifying as a woman. Cooper complained of being bullied.

Conversely, records obtained by the outlet showed apprehension on the part of CSC to allow Cooper to transfer. Cooper had been “increasingly verbally abusive” toward female staff, a parole officer said in an affidavit from September 2025, according to CBC. Cooper was also prohibited from having contact with certain female staff.

“Overall, CSC believes that the applicant’s gender identity, hormone treatments, and gender affirming surgery have in no way mitigated her risk to reoffend,” the affidavit said, CBC reported.

Mason said she is against any biological male transferring to a female institution. A lot of incarcerated women are dealing with “depression, anxiety, other mental health problems, and they can’t cope,” she said. Many have pasts that include domestic violence and sexual assault. She said the presence of transgender women can be traumatic while inmates try to work through their programs in prison.

“The easiest solution is to use the empty pods, ranges and wings in men’s prisons and create a gender diverse range where they can tailor it to support the unique needs of those men that identify as women, and they would still have access to all the amenities the prison has, and they’re kept separate from the men,” she said.

“That way, their needs are taken care of, their safety is taken care of, and the needs of women are taken care of, and the safety of women is taken care of.”

• FIRST READING: The Canadians being punished by the state for not believing in gender ideology
• Amy Hamm: Misgendering case an absurd waste of time and resources

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OTTAWA — The senior government official who was found this week to have broken federal conflict-of-interest rules by helping an unqualified person she knew get a management job in her department wrote to staff Friday to say that she did so to advance the government’s diversity goals.

Christiane Fox, the deputy minister of national defence, wrote to employees to say that her department at the time, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), had “a clear mandate to lead a large-scale cultural and organizational change.”

Fox said in the note to staff that she acknowledged this week’s findings from the conflict of interest and ethics commissioner but explained that she was trying in 2023 to advance “diversity and inclusion across the public service.” She said she was trying to bring in “outside perspectives” and strengthen the performance of underperforming groups.

Fox has been a rising star in the public service for more than two decades and was seen by some as a candidate to be a future clerk of the Privy Council, the top job in the federal bureaucracy.

Fox knew the man she helped get a job, Björn Charles, because her husband was one of his coaches while Charles played basketball at Carleton University between 2001 and 2004. According to a report released this week by Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein, Fox and her family also attended the GoodLife gym where Charles had worked as a manager before he was hired into government.

Charles told the ethics commissioner’s office that he and Fox’s husband are also distant relatives, although Fox said she was not aware of that.

“My efforts were focussed on advancing diversity and inclusion across the public service, an objective explicitly set for deputy ministers,” she explained to staff.

According to the ethics commissioner’s report, Fox “used her position as deputy minister to give Mr. Charles preferential treatment, by ensuring he met with departmental officials quickly, seeking updates about his hiring, giving him internal information and pushing for a higher job classification.”

Von Finckenstein found that Charles had no experience in government or in dealing with access to information requests, the subject matter that he was being hired to work on. Departmental officials had advised Fox that Charles was not qualified, the commissioner found.

The report also states that some IRCC officials were struggling to understand Fox’s insistence on Charles landing a job. One official texted “holy geez, tell her to lay off with this guy already,” the report said, while at least one other senior staff referred to him as “the DM’s friend.”

When Charles had “performance issues” in his job, the report found, Fox then helped him get another job in 2024 at the Privy Council Office (PCO), where she had started working as the deputy clerk.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Charles now works as an access-to-information analyst at PCO.

Fox maintained that her role in the hiring process involving Charles was appropriate, although the ethics commissioner “did not find these claims credible.”

Ian Stedman, a government ethics specialist who previously worked for Ontario’s Integrity Commissioner, said he finds it hard to believe Fox’s justification of diversity to explain her actions.

“That’s a convenient way of trying to explain away a bad choice,” said Stedman, also an associate professor at York University in Toronto. “It’s a convenient narrative.”

Fox has since been shuffled by Prime Minister Mark Carney to deputy minister at DND. The department, which has received a massive influx of new money following the sovereignty threats from U.S. President Donald Trump, has about 28,000 civilian staff and 94,000 military personnel.

Among her many accomplishments in recent years, Fox, while head of the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC), sat on a deputy ministers’ task team on values and ethics in 2023.

National Post

• Carney defends minister's connection to rail project as Tories call for investigation
• Carney's chief of staff draws rebuke for comparing prime minister's ethics screen to Nigel Wright

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Four men are under arrest in Maine for trying to cross illegally from Canada into the United States, after they were spotted by a pair of maple sugar employees on their way to work.

According to an an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Bangor, Maine, and obtained by National Post, the four men are Ali Mohammed Ali Abdullah, Hameed Mohammed Nagi, Ibrahim Ayyub Khan and Mohammed Sultan Saleh. Each faces one charge of entry without inspection. They all pleaded not guilty Tuesday and are being held without bail.

According to the affidavit, filed by Scott Hanton, a U.S. Border Patrol agent, the four men were spotted on the morning of Friday, April 3 by two maple sugar workers heading into Canada.

The four were walking south along the Golden Road, a 154-kilometre private road that stretches between the St. Zacharie Quebec/Maine border crossing and the town of Millinocket, Maine.

The maple sugar workers “reported that they had heard from a third man that two occupants of a gray Nissan automobile stopped on the Golden Road were asking passersby for fuel and Wi-Fi to contact people they were supposed to pick up,” Hanton wrote.

U.S. Border Patrol officers then headed south and “observed fresh footprints on the soft dirt of the road.” Near mile marker 87, they saw the four men trying to hide in vegetation at the side of the road, one of them “acting nervously.” They were taken into custody without incident, and said they were British citizens.

Hanton listened to audio recordings of interviews with the men, two of whom said they did not realize they were in the U.S. and had not meant to cross the border, adding they were “just on a hike.”

However, he wrote, the men’s cellphones contained searches made that day for “bangor from my location,” “boston from bangor” and “new york from boston” as well as “is st zacherie border crossing still used the one near quebec golden road.”

Additionally, a GoPro video was found in which one of the men says to the others: “I can confirm you are now on U.S. soil.”

Another then asks: “I’m on U.S. soil?” To which the first replies: “You are on U.S. soil,” adding, “Now we are in the U.S.,” and “We just made it, baby.” The video also shows a phone screen being held up with the GPS location displayed.

Hanton’s affidavit adds that the two occupants of the Nissan identified themselves as U.S. citizens, and were asked to step out of their car.

“The two complied and before the driver exited the vehicle, the (Customs and Border Protection) officer observed him reach under the driver’s seat. Observing this, the CBP officer checked under the seat and found a loaded 9mm handgun.”

The two men were then taken to a border patrol station “based on their involvement in a suspected alien smuggling event.” They have not been named.

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 — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre offered a defiant defence of his leadership of his party on Thursday, one day after losing a fourth MP to the Liberals in almost as many months. 

Marilyn Gladu’s stunning defection to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals has raised fresh questions about his grip on the Conservative caucus and suggestions that his leadership has been weakened in the wake of another MP leaving the party’s ranks.

Speaking in Richmond B.C., Poilievre dismissed any notion that the latest turn of events warrants reflection on his future.

“That reflection comes from the record-smashing 8.3 million Canadians who voted Conservative in the last election, and the 87 per cent of grassroots Conservatives who backed up my leadership less than 90 days ago to fight for an affordable, safe and strong Canada,” he told reporters.

“Our mandate and my leadership does not come from dirty backroom deals. It comes from the people of Canada.”

Amid swirling speculation that more Conservative MPs could leave the party’s ranks, Poilievre slammed the act of floor-crossing as betraying the will of voters, adding that he believed constituents of representatives who do so ought to be able to petition for a byelection .

That’s what voters in Gladu’s riding of Sarnia —Lambton—Bkejwanong ought to be able to do, he said. 

Poilievre also suggested his former MP had him to thank for her success in the last election, where she captured slightly more than 50 per cent of the vote, compared to the Liberal candidate, who garnered almost 40 per cent.

“In fact, and if I can be blunt, under my leadership, she had a massive increase in the Conservative vote in her riding.”

Dan Robertson, who during the party’s 2021 federal election campaign worked as its chief strategist, said a fourth defection undoubtably weakens Poilievre. 

“That can’t be hand-waved away,” he said.

He says the number of exits were reaching the point where questions needed to be asked regarding leadership, not the motives of the MPs who had left.

“You can dismiss one or two, but it’s much harder to dismiss, you know, four or five and possibly more.”

Gladu told the Sarnia Observer that she had been thinking about the move since last summer and characterized her decision as reflecting the feedback she says she has received from constituents who approve of Carney’s government, even among Conservatives.

She outlined to the newspaper how she hoped the move would lead to more government spending in the riding, saying she had observed through her more than decade in Parliament that those on the “g overnment benches tend to get more for their ridings and their projects.”

Chris d’Entremont, Michael Ma and Matt Jeneroux, the three former Conservative MPs who individually joined the Liberals in the past six months all pointed to Carney’s leadership and focus on the economy and getting more major infrastructure projects as reasons why they joined his caucus. Nunavut MP Lori Idlout also left the New Democrats for the Liberals back in March.

d’Entremont also told CTV News on Wednesday that he has “absolutely” fielded questions from some his former caucus colleagues who are “unhappy.”

Ginny Roth, who served as Poilievre’s communications director during his 2022 leadership campaign, suggested Gladu’s defection does not change much and chalked up concerns being expressed within Poilievre’s caucus, including by MPs who may worry about losing their seats as the Conservatives trail Carney’s Liberals in the recent public opinion polls, as “still just grumbling.”

“The circumstances right now are challenging for Conservatives. They would be under any leader, and there’s no other leader I can think of who would do a better job,” she said.

“And I think when push comes to shove, if you press the complainers on that, they have yet to mount any strong argument for an alternative leader or an alternative path.”

Not only would overriding the vote of confidence party members cast for Poilievre back in January raise concerns, Roth said Poilievre stands as the leader who can speak to the range of voters within the Conservative voter coalition, from Western Canada and those who are more right-wing, to fiscal and social conservatives.

If Poilievre plans on using the current defection to look inward, he is showing no signs of doing so, at least publicly.

Dimitri Soudas, who worked as a communications director for former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper, said that Poilievre in his remarks on Thursday appeared “calm, cool, collected and tone deaf.”

“He does not acknowledge the fact that he’s now lost four caucus members in six months, and the last one, albeit the fourth one, was also a true blue Conservative,” he said of Gladu.

Besides factors like the fact that the party is trailing Carney’s Liberals by double digits from before the 2025 election, where they had a massive lead in the polls over former prime minister Justin Trudeau before his exit, he said “caucus hemorrhaging is obviously a serious warning sign.”

He pointed to the recent email Poilievre’s policy director sent to parliamentary critics last week ahead of a potential shuffle asking to show the work they had done in their roles and to advise if they do not wish to continue in them, which was first reported by the Toronto Star.

“Don’t you pick up the phone, call your shadow cabinet members, check in how things are going?” Soudas said.

Robertson says as party leader, Poilievre has two roles to fill: leading the national party and its parliamentary caucus.

While he enjoys overwhelmingly support among its grassroots, that support must also come from his MPs.

“I do know that there’s been no caucus leader in my lifetime who survived the loss of even a fraction, the confidence of even a fraction of caucus.”

National Post

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OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney may be surprised by the blowback he’s getting over a recent photo-op friendly announcement in Gatineau Park.

Carney was in the jewel of the National Capital Region in late March to announce a new $3.8-billion initiative to more than double the amount of Canada’s protected land over the next four years, bringing it to roughly 3 million square kilometres, or 30 per cent of the country’s landmass. He also said his government would protect up to 700,000 square kilometres of ocean over the same timeframe.

It didn’t take long for chatter of a government “land lockup” to start online. The province of Alberta voiced its own discomfort with the federal conservation push this week, saying it crossed into provincial jurisdiction.

Here’s what you need to know about the prime minister’s plan to protect Canada’s biodiversity, and why it’s getting a surprising amount of flack.

Why 30 per cent of land?

The goal puts Canada in line with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework , announced in late 2022 at the end of the United Nations Biodiversity Conference in Montreal. The third target of the framework is to: “Ensure and enable that by 2030 at least 30 per cent of terrestrial and inland water areas, and of marine and coastal areas” are “effectively conserved and managed.” This target is often referred to as “30×30” in shorthand.

Canada is one of 196 countries that signed onto the framework in 2022. The Trump administration terminated the United States’ participation in early 2025.

What counts as “protected” land?

Protected lands may include geographically defined areas , such as national parks and wildlife preserves. A second category under the framework is “other effective area-based conservation measures” (OECMs). Examples of OECMs include designated greenspaces on military bases , protected watersheds around major metropolitan areas and Indigenous conservation zones.

Rachel Buxton, a biodiversity expert at Carleton University, says there’s still a lack of clarity over what qualifies as an OECM.

“The idea behind OECMs is that they’re mechanisms for land to be protected without having to be bought by the government and owned publicly,” said Buxton. “This can be effective but, in some global analyses, we’re seeing a lack of transparency around things like how we’re defining an OECM and whether they’re meeting certain thresholds of conservation.”

OECMs will account for about eight per cent , or 800,000 square kilometres, of the newly protected land.

Can protected land be privately owned and developed?

Yes, but private development may only take place on certain protected lands, with stringent restrictions in place to protect biodiversity. A small number of protected areas are so-called “working landscapes,” where farming, forestry and other resource-based work may take place. Some working landscapes are also OECMs.

A common type of working landscape is protected grassland where a limited number of cattle are permitted to graze. A more exotic example is British Columbia’s Salt Spring Island Natural Cemetery, Canada’s first 100 per cent eco-friendly burial cemetery open to the public. (A fully “green” burial ceremony can be yours for $4,800.)

What happens if Canada misses the 30×30 target?

Probably nothing. The last round of global biodiversity targets, set in 2010 in Aichi, Japan, didn’t meet a single goal by its 2020 deadline. Buxton estimates that most signatories met “not even one” of the 20 Aichi targets.

Why is 30×30 controversial?

Critics have raised concerns about the implications of 30×30 for both private property and Indigenous land rights. Survival International, a global NGO that campaigns for the rights of Indigenous peoples, has called the UN-led initiative  “the biggest land grab in history.”

Alberta has objected on jurisdictional grounds , expressing concerns that a doubling of federally protected land could threaten a “proven made-in-Alberta model” of land management. The province has also pointed out that land use is a clear area of provincial jurisdiction under Canada’s Constitution.

Buxton says that Canada’s nature strategy does a good job of addressing some of the concerns that have been raised with respect to Indigenous sovereignty.

“I think the thing that I like most about this nature strategy is the strong emphasis on Indigenous leadership,” said Buxton. “I think that has been a place where the Canadian contribution has been really strong.”

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Back in the mid-1990s, then Alberta Premier Ralph Klein embarked on a series of tax and spending cuts that laid the foundation for what would become known as the “Alberta advantage.”

Oil prices had collapsed the previous decade, and a series of deficits were cranking up the dial on the province’s debt servicing costs. To fend off a looming fiscal crisis, Klein cut government spending by 20 per cent in two years, scrapping numerous public programs and eliminating tens of thousands of civil service jobs. By 2001, his Progressive Conservative government had introduced what became its signature tax policy — a flat 10-per-cent rate applied equally to all incomes — and by 2006 it had slashed corporate taxes nearly five per cent.

Taken together, those policies would solidify Alberta’s small government identity, offering a competitive edge and philosophical conviction that governments continue to tout to this day. More than anything else, it was that low tax structure that put the “advantage” into Klein’s mantra, emphasizing the province’s other inherent benefits like business-friendly regulations and an abundance of natural resources.

More than 30 years after Klein’s reforms, however, the Alberta tax advantage has significantly eroded.

While the province remains Canada’s lowest-tax jurisdiction due to its absence of a provincial sales tax and lower corporate taxes, the gap is narrowing. Alberta ditched its flat tax in 2015, and income taxes for many middle-class earners are now higher in the province than in B.C. or Ontario. Compared with resource-rich U.S. states, which have been actively cutting taxes, the income tax slide is even more pronounced.

Since the Klein years, Alberta has increased insurance premium taxes, fuel taxes (from nine cents per litre to 13 cents), and numerous other levies that have inflated the cost of everyday goods. Property taxes were hiked sharply in each of the last two provincial budgets, another reversal of Klein-era policies.

“Alberta still has a tax advantage, but the gap has significantly shrunk,” said Tegan Hill, director of Alberta policy at the Fraser Institute, who has closely analyzed the shift.

The drift away from Alberta’s previous days of austerity are equally visible in its weakened fiscal position and ever-increasing spending.

On Feb. 26, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith posted a $9.4 billion budget deficit, driven by a $6 billion leap in spending that the premier blamed on higher public service costs associated with rapid immigration. (Another reason for the shortfall was lower-than expected oil prices, while a spike in crude prices following the Iran war could effectively wipe away the projected deficit if they persist.)

The province’s spending relative to other provinces has ballooned, particularly since 2015, which marked the beginning of the NDP government and later COVID-19 emergency funding programs. Alberta’s total expenses as a per cent of GDP was 12.8 per cent in 2014, 6.1 per cent less than Ontario and 12.8 per cent less than Quebec. By the 2026-27 budget, that spending had grown to 17.1 per cent, shrinking the gap to 1.3 per cent less than Ontario and 8.5 per cent less than Quebec.

Alberta’s narrowing advantage is most evident on taxes over the last 10 years, which voters can see for themselves by comparing data that Alberta and other provinces include in their budgets.

According to comparisons in Alberta’s 2026 budget, a two-income family with two children earning a combined $125,000 will pay $1,800 less in annual taxes in Alberta than the same household in British Columbia. Compared with the same household in Saskatchewan, they would pay $1,322 less. (The comparison includes income taxes as well as fuel taxes and provincial sales taxes, which Alberta doesn’t charge.)

While that shows Alberta maintaining an edge over other provinces, it’s almost half of the $3,535 advantage — adjusted for inflation — that existed in 2014 compared with B.C. households. In Saskatchewan, the difference is more than double, at $2,923 per household in 2014. A similar trend exists for households in Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba, and across lower-income brackets. (Similar comparisons in the B.C. government’s budget, which account for child benefit payments, suggest that B.C.’s overall tax burden is actually lower than Alberta’s for a family with a comparable $100,000 income.)

The gap widens significantly when comparing the highest income brackets. Where Alberta had a 16 per cent tax advantage over the average Canadian high-income earner in 2014, the difference is now between three and six per cent, Hill said.

The disparity is also evident in annual budget data: For two-income families making over $200,000, when compared with B.C. families, the tax advantage has fallen from a $4,728 in 2014-15 to $4,155 in 2026-27. When compared to Saskatchewan, the advantage dropped from $6,065 per household in 2014 to $5,794 in 2026, as with other provinces like Ontario.

When combining provincial and federal taxes, Alberta’s biggest earners (those earning more than $370,000 per year) pay 48 per cent tax on their income, higher than Saskatchewan’s 47.5 per cent. Ontario and British Columbia are both 53.5 per cent.

The difference with U.S. states is greater still: Where Alberta’s flat tax had previously made it the lowest-tax jurisdiction in North America for high earners, it is now far above Wyoming, Texas and Arkansas, where combined federal and state taxes total 37 per cent.

“When you take into account North America jurisdictions that Alberta is actually competing with, like other oil and gas jurisdictions, the advantage is significantly deteriorated, and in certain cases, like with personal income taxes, it’s just completely vanished,” Hill said.

It’s those higher income earners that tend to invest capital and drive economic growth, Hill said, meaning that increased tax burdens on those brackets tend to restrict growth.

Marisa Warner, spokesperson for Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner, said that Alberta maintains low income taxes supported by a strong job market and high wages.

“By keeping corporate and personal income taxes low, Alberta is building opportunities, supporting jobs, and putting more money back in people’s pockets,” she said in a statement to the National Post.

It was former Progressive Conservative leader Jim Prentice who first proposed eliminating Alberta’s flat tax system in his 2015 budget. Two months later, Rachel Notley’s NDP government ousted Prentice, and eventually introduced its own progressive tax system, raising the top rate from 10 per cent to 15 per cent. Notley also nudged corporate taxes up from 10 per cent to 12 per cent.

As with Klein, the Prentice and Notley governments were both facing a fiscal reckoning — this time, the 2014 oil market crash. Rather than cut spending to reign in finances, however, both favoured an approach that would systematically unwind the austerity of the Klein years.

After Notley, former premier Jason Kenney introduced a “Job Creation Tax Cut” that slashed corporate tax rates from 12 per cent to eight per cent, immediately restoring a significant advantage to the province. His government also floated a return to the flat income tax, but never enacted it. Smith, for her part, has promised not to raise taxes and last year reduced income taxes for people earning less than $60,000, from 10 per cent to eight per cent.

Hill said that such measures have only gone a small way toward restoring Alberta’s fiscal fortunes, however. Unlike others, Hill is resistant to introducing a provincial sales tax — a recommendation that economists dependably promote every time Alberta’s budget dips into the red.

“It’s a spending problem, not a tax problem,” she said. “If you’re looking at tax revenue as a share of the economy, Alberta is collecting more today than it has historically.”

Stockwell Day, who was serving as finance minister under Klein in the early 2000s, said the flat tax policy was based on the fundamental belief that taxes are a “necessary evil” that should burden citizens as little as possible, and should be applied equally to all people.

“Ralph Klein had great instincts, and he just said: ‘We have to stop expropriating money from people. We have to get it out of our heads that taxation is some kind of a divine power,’” Day said.

While current governments might share Klein’s attitudes in theory, they have neglected to reduce that tax burden in the face of volatile oil and gas royalties and rising program costs.

In her last budget, Smith’s government hiked its “education property tax,” which it expects will give it another $600 million in revenue. The City of Calgary claimed that was equal to a 21 per cent tax hike on a single-family home with a median value of $706,000, costing families an extra $338 per year.

Klein, by comparison, had cut property taxes 10 per cent. As the premier famously quipped at the time: “The only way taxes are going is down.”

• Canadians concerned about rising government deficits, believe middle-class will foot the bill: poll
• Danielle Smith's warning about major deficits in upcoming budget are the rule, not the exception, in Alberta

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OTTAWA — Three sidelined executives from component units of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) have filed an urgent appeal to an Ontario court to get their union memberships reinstated before next week so that they regain their jobs and their rights to run again in union elections.

According to a notice of application filed this week in Ontario Superior Court, the three sidelined union officials would need to be reinstated by April 14 in time to apply to be delegates — and therefore eligible to run for office — at a union convention in September.

The three sidelined component executives, whose suspensions have already expired, say PSAC is using delay tactics with the courts so that they won’t be reinstated in time to challenge the incumbents. They also argue that some PSAC executives are also trying to eliminate anyone seen as a critic or whistleblower.

”They’re going to do everything in their power so that I don’t ever get to attend (the convention),” said Eddy Bourque, one of the sidelined component executives, during an interview last month. “They’re blocking.”

In January, the court allotted about an hour to deal with the short-term elements of two of the three cases but a judge decided last month that the matter would take longer than that, a decision that triggered more delay and this week’s appeal. The urgent appeal of the third case was denied straight away in January, court documents say, despite the similarities of the three cases.

The component union executives argue that they have the right to return to their jobs and run again for office. There’s also a financial incentive for many in the union movement who can earn up to two or three times more while working in high-ranking union jobs compared to their government positions. Bourque, for example, said he made about $180,000 a year as CEIU president, more than twice what he made in the public service.

The sidelined union officials say the parent organization needs to follow the democratic principles it claims to support.

“(PSAC) can’t treat members like this,” said Sargy Chima, the suspended executive vice-president of the Canada Employment and Immigration Union (CEIU), during a recent interview. “It goes back to our democratic rights.”

PSAC, including national president Sharon DeSousa, chose not to comment.

Ottawa-based PSAC represents nearly 240,000 workers across Canada and in other countries who work for the federal government, universities, casinos, community services agencies, Aboriginal communities, airports, and the security sector among others. According to PSAC’s 2024 audited financial statements, the union had a total budget that year of 172.8-million, the vast majority of which ($164.4-million) was derived from membership dues.

The CEIU, one of 15 PSAC components, represents the majority of employees at a number of federal departments, including Service Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada and the Immigration and Refugee Board.

While there has long been friction between PSAC and some of its component unions, the recent history of these specific battles between the parent union and at least two of the sidelined component executives can be traced back to May 2023 when the component executives initially decided to support a campaign to vote against a tentative labour agreement reached between PSAC and the federal government.

PSAC responded to the ”no” campaign by suspending the component union bosses, even though they said they didn’t realize that they had broken a union rule by pushing back against the contract agreement. The “no” campaign was an effort to support union members who wanted to continue working from home.

As National Post reported in December, PSAC accused the pair of breaching the broader union’s constitution, court documents show, and later conducted investigations of their actions. The ensuing punishment included suspensions of their PSAC memberships for one and two years, which meant that they couldn’t do their union jobs.

In separate legal actions, Bourque and Chima accused PSAC of negligence and defamation and asked for compensation of more than $1 million apiece, and full reinstatement of their PSAC memberships and their jobs.

In the Bourque claim filed a month later, he accuses PSAC’s leadership of “abuse of power” for, among other things, announcing his suspension to members across the country and saying that members could be disciplined or dismissed if they communicated with him.

According to a statement of claim filed in June, Chima is accusing PSAC of “malicious, oppressive and high-handed behaviour.”

In the third case between PSAC and one of its component union executives, Alisha Kang, who was president of the Union of National Employees (UNE) until being effectively stripped of her role last fall, said in court documents that that she was set to expose “significant financial irregularities” and other union problems before being suspended.

Those irregularities, according to Kang’s claims, included a scheme involving union staff making “spurious or artificially substantiated” classification grievances, which were then settled informally by granting “general damages for human rights.”

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• Public sector union facing at least three lawsuits from executives it suspended
• Sidelined union executive sues PSAC, accusing bogus pay scheme

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Grocery prices are elevated, gas prices are high , job markets are cooling, and U.S. President Donald Trump is sticking to his tariff plans while the world eyes a shaky ceasefire with Iran.

The two-week truce this week between the U.S. and Iran has raised hopes and markets while lowering oil prices somewhat — Brent is now in the mid-US$90s per barrel, down from a conflict peak of $120 — but there are already signs that peace may not last: There are disagreements over Lebanon’s inclusion in the ceasefire, Israel is vowing to continue hitting Hezbollah, and Tehran has said continued hits on Lebanon render any negotiations pointless.

Collectively, the economic stress of the past year’s trade tensions, uncertainty, and now the risk of a Middle East war is hurting consumer confidence, and many economists are worried about a global economic slowdown.

“All roads now lead to higher prices and slower growth,” Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the IMF, said recently, noting that the degree of the shock will depend on whether the ceasefire holds.

Some economists are going so far as to point to a possible recession.

“Recession risks thus remain uncomfortably high, with close to even odds of a downturn in the coming year,” wrote Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, in a LinkedIn post this week. 

Zandi pointed to his team’s Vicious Cycle Index (VCI), an upgraded way of looking at the Sahm Rule, which adjusts unemployment for participation drops. The VCI, Zandi said, has signalled a U.S. recession since January 2026, and he warned against taking solace in March’s payroll employment gain.

“(That gain) comes after a big decline in February… ,” he explained, noting that “few jobs have been added since Liberation Day a year ago, and without health care, the economy would be losing jobs. And all of this before the economic fallout from the hostilities with Iran hits.”

Moody’s broader-gauge AI recession model, meanwhile, puts the odds at about 49 per cent that the U.S. will dip into a recession over the next 12 months. Goldman Sachs is at 30 per cent.

Following a renewed tariff push, rhetoric signalling that Trump sees the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement as “irrelevant,” and the oil price shock caused by the Iran war, it’s little surprise that Canadian consumer confidence is at an 11-month low. 

Just 15 per cent of Canadians believe there will be a stronger economy in six months, compared to 27 per cent a month ago. 

“When you have uncertainty, people will buy less, and they will not make big investments,” said Fen Hampson, a professor of international affairs at Carleton University.

“That’s when you kind of get into your so-called stagflation scenario.”

U.S. GDP growth decelerated last year to an annual rate of 2.1 per cent, down from 2.8 per cent in 2024. There was a -0.5 per cent contraction in the first quarter of 2025, but growth remained positive the rest of the year and is forecasted to be modestly positive in Q1 2026, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. 

Unemployment in the U.S. is at 4.3 per cent, down from 4.4 per cent in February, and the labour market added 178,000 jobs, mostly in healthcare, construction, and transportation. But the labour force participation rate fell to 61.9 per cent, and economists suggest that the fall in participation levels masks higher unemployment. 

Steve Hanke, professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University who served on former U.S. president Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisors, points out that job creation collapsed in the U.S. last year, dropping from claims of 2.2 million jobs to just 181,000, and manufacturing jobs plummeted by more than 100,000.

‘There was essentially no job growth, and if you look at tariffs, the damage they did was tremendous,” Hanke explained. “Trump promised to bring back manufacturing jobs. If you believed the spin, you would think manufacturing is booming.”

Things were already slowing down before the war in Iran, so it’s that much worse now, Hanke added. 

“The scenarios are all either bad or very, very bad. I’m on the very, very bad end of the spectrum,” he acknowledged. 

U.S. consumer confidence, meanwhile, rose slightly in March, according to Conference Board data, which focuses on jobs and the current economy, thanks to improved views of the job market and business conditions. But, at the same time, views about the future of the economy dimmed, with expectations falling into near-recession territory.

The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment survey, which looks at prices and pocketbook pressures, meanwhile, dropped sharply in March, hitting a low for the year amid the Iran war, which pushed gas prices north of US$4 a gallon.

“There’s a huge uncertainty with regard to where the war is going to go, where oil prices are going to go, and uncertainty is the enemy of confidence in the business community,” said Thomas Duesterberg, a trade expert and senior fellow at the Washington-based Hudson Institute, earlier this week.

“So you’re going to see investment remaining somewhat weak, and all of that portends slower growth, and if oil prices continue to be high, then the likelihood of recession in four, five, six months is elevated.”

Inu Manak, senior fellow for international trade at the Council on Foreign Relations, is also keeping an eye on Iran. 

“If (tensions) go on past June, I would be very worried,” she said. 

“Gas prices have been out of control … if people cannot plan their lives, that’s when you start to see sentiment really drop.”

Beyond oil prices is the risk of other global economies falling into recession.

“A potential recession depends on oil prices and for how long the rest of the world will enter a recession before the U.S. does,” said Andrew Hale, fellow at Washington-based Advancing American Freedom. “But major recessions in Europe and East Asia would hurt the U.S.”

Whatever economic pressure hits the U.S., Canada will feel it first and bear more of the brunt, economists warn.

Canada’s economy is far more trade-dependent, noted Hanke, with its imports and exports equaling two-thirds of its GDP, while trade only accounts for a quarter of U.S. GDP, he explained. 

“If the U.S. gets a sniffle,” he concluded, “Canada gets one hell of a cold or the flu.”

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MONTREAL — Floor-crosser MP Marilyn Gladu defended her move to the Liberals on Thursday evening, arguing the decision is what’s best for her riding, while also promising to vote with the party on social issues.

“This is actually the best thing for my riding, for the country and for myself,” she told reporters on the sidelines of the Liberal National Convention in Montreal.

“After 10 years and four elections, arguably even my strong Conservative supporters are saying to me, look we like you, you’ve worked hard, but we really need that support, we have infrastructure needs.”

Earlier Thursday, Prime Minister Mark Carney arrived to the convention with the latest addition to his caucus, as party faithful attending the conference shrugged at her past social conservative ideas.

When she announced her intention to cross the floor to the Liberals on Wednesday, Gladu promised to “continue bringing” her perspectives into the government tent, but Carney said the anti-abortion ex-Conservative MP will now vote according to Liberal social policies.

“The Liberal party always will support the right of women to choose, always and without question,” Carney told reporters Thursday morning.

“She will vote with the government if there are votes relating to any aspect of that issue, as well as the rights of Canadians to be their whole selves, to love who they love, and to fully enjoy their rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” he said of Gladu.

The prime minister’s comments come the day after Gladu, who over the last decade as an MP has expressed social conservative views such as calling for a renewed debate on abortion and opposing a sweeping Liberal ban on conversion therapy, defected to the Liberals , writing to her former Conservative colleagues that she was bringing her values to her new caucus.

“All of you know what I stand for, and know that I will continue bringing these perspectives inside the government tent, particularly in growing a strong economy at this important moment for Canada’s future,” she wrote to Tory MPs shortly after announcing her moving to the Liberals.

During her time as a Conservative, Gladu was one of the Liberals’ fiercest critics both publicly and within her own caucus. She also espoused a number of views that were criticized by the Liberals , such as supporting the 2022 Freedom Convoy, promoting the unproved use of drug Hydroxychloroquine instead of vaccines to combat COVID-19 and opposing the Liberals’ legalization of cannabis.

Speaking from Contrecoeur, Que. on Thursday, Carney responded to numerous questions about Gladu joining his caucus by insisting that it is Gladu who will now adopt Liberal positions, not the other way around.

“There has been no change in the values of the Liberal party,” he began in French. “We’ve ran on a clear platform, clear values, defending the Charters of Rights and Freedoms, defending the right of women to choose, defending same-sex marriage, anti-conversion therapy,” he added in English.

“The (MPs) who are joining the Liberal party at this critical time and supporting us… recognize those clear policy positions, those values, that’s where we will go, that’s what we will support, that’s where we will advance.”

Gladu confirmed she will vote with the Liberal government on social issues.

“I agree with what the prime minister said,” she told reporters. “I will vote with the government, I will protect the rights and freedoms of women, for people to be who they are and love who they love.”

What Gladu brings to the table for the Liberals, Carney argued, is two decades of business experience, technical knowledge as a chemical engineer and an ability to work with colleagues of all political stripes.

But when asked if there were certain positions that an opposition MP held that he would refuse to accept into his caucus, Carney demurred.

As recently as January, Gladu supported a former a Conservative colleague’s petition that called for automatic byelections when a member of Parliament defects to another party.

When asked if she would resign her seat and call a byelection, she said that would require a change to the Elections Act.

“I also said that in order for that to happen, the Elections Act has to be changed,” said Gladu. “And the Elections Act has to be changed to make sure that people have to either sit as independents or call a by election, that law has not been changed.

Gladu has represented the Ontario riding of Sarnia—Lambton–Bkejwanong since 2015 and won her seat handily in the 2025 election with 53.1 per cent of the popular vote.

The new Liberal MP took the convention stage Thursday evening where she was greeted by a warm applause by the audience. She said Carney is building a big tent coalition.

Carney is expected to attend the full three days of the Liberal convention, which will run until Saturday, when he will deliver a closing speech to party members.

The party said it was record-breaking year for attendance, with 4,500 Liberals expected to gather this weekend. Other floor crossers are also in attendance, including Matt Jeneroux, Michael Ma, Chris d’Entremont and Lori Idlout.

When asked about the latest addition to Carney’s caucus, convention attendees shrugged at Gladu’s social conservative ideas.

“I will judge her actions going forward, and I believe that all of us are able to evolve and mature and work towards greater issues,” said Aaron Stafford, who has been a Liberal member since 2019.

Pooja Sinha, who has been a party member for seven years and canvased for several candidates in the greater Greater Toronto Area, said her party can reflect differences that exist throughout the country.

“What I pride so much about Canada is also how we are so different, and yet we make this work,” she said. “We make Canada work, and that’s amazing, and that reflects in the party and the different views that it’s showing at the moment.”

The general mood of the convention is one of optimism. The party is flying high ahead of three byelections on Monday that will most likely give the Carney government a majority in the House of Commons.

Two Toronto byelections in the ridings of Scarborough Southwest and University—Rosedale, which were previously held by Bill Blair and Chrystia Freeland, are heavily favoured towards the Liberals.

The third byelection will be held in Terrebonne, Que., where the Liberals won by one vote against the Bloc Québécois, before the results were nullified by the Supreme Court of Canada.

Carney spent the early part of Thursday campaigning in Terrebonne with Liberal candidate Tatiana Auguste.

With Gladu’s crossing, the Liberals now hold 171 seats, one seat shy of a majority. The party needs two more seats to ensure a majority, because the Speaker of the House of Commons is a Liberal MP.

A Postmedia-Leger poll released last week puts approval of the Liberal government’s performance at 57 per cent, compared to 34 per cent who say they’re dissatisfied. Carney’s personal approval rating stands at 58 per cent, while 33 per cent said they disapprove of the prime minister.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was on the other side of the country on Thursday in British Columbia, where he defended his leadership after his party has lost four members of his caucus to the Liberals.

“Our mandate, and my leadership, does not come from dirty backroom deals,” he said, during a press conference in Richmond, B.C. “It comes from the people of Canada.”

Poilievre said constituents should be able to petition to force a byelection if their MP crosses the floor.

While a majority is expected, Liberal party members acknowledged that it will be a “razor thin” majority, unless Carney can secure more floor crossers.

“Because it’s not as easy, even though the Conservatives are and have been working with the Liberal government, time will tell,” said Sheila O’Gorman, longtime Liberal member.

National Post

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jgowling@postmedia.com

• Risks and rewards: Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu on her defection to the Liberals
• Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu crosses floor to Liberals

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The desire among Canadians to have children is increasing according to new study from Statistics Canada.

Leading this overall upward shift from 2021 to 2024 were Canadians without any current biological children, residents of Ontario and the Prairie provinces, women aged 15 to 24 and never-married Canadians, say the study’s authors Victoria Jordan and Maire Sinha.

Making plans for the future: Canadians’ intentions to have biological children ,” states that 64 per cent of Canadians aged 15 to 24 years want at least one child, or another one. That’s up from 53 per cent in 2021.

“Having a positive future outlook is linked to a higher likelihood of wanting biological children,” write the study’s authors. “In 2024, half (50 per cent) of people who always or often had a hopeful outlook wanted children in the future, compared with 36 per cent of people who rarely or never had a hopeful outlook on life.”

The authors note that in recent years, Canada’s fertility rate has been decreasing, reaching a record low of 1.25 children per woman in 2024. That meets the criteria of an “ultra-low” fertility country, they say. And it means that such a country could face challenges that come with aging populations such as strains on the labour force and pressure on the public health care and pension systems.

In part, the decline has been due to shifting fertility patterns since the 1960s, in particular, because women have been delaying having children till their 30s.

The COVID-19 pandemic was also hard on fertility, say Jordan and Sinha. Economic uncertainty, public health measures and issues related to social connections and relationships got in the way. In 2021, 41 per cent of Canadians wanted their own children in the future. Three years later, that percentage rose to 46 per cent.

In 2021, Quebec held the top position in Canada — with the greatest proportion of people wanting children compared with all other regions. By 2024, the share of people in Quebec wanting children remained high (47 per cent), but people in Ontario joined them in the top spot (48 per cent), up from 41 per cent in 2021.

Young people are leading the increase in plans to have biological children, Jordan and Sinha note. In 2021, just over half (53 per cent) of Canadians aged 15 to 24 reported that they intended to either have a child for the first time or have additional children. This figure increased by more than 10 percentage points to 64 per cent in 2024. The increase was exclusively due to an increase among young women, from 50 per cent in 2021 to 63 per cent in 2024.

Canadians aged 15 to 24 who reported that they plan to have children also intended to have the most children of any age group, at 2.4 intended children in 2024. People aged 25 to 34 who intended to have children wanted 2.0 children, while those aged 35 to 49 planned to have an average of 1.6 children.

Never-married people were consistently more likely than people in a married or common-law relationship to either want children for the first time or have additional children. They also planned to have more children than their married counterparts: 2.3 versus 1.8 children, respectively, in 2024.

• How to change Canada's baby bust into a baby boom
• Older, 70% white, plunging fertility and lost faith: Who Canada is now

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.

Tumbler Ridge shooting survivor Maya Gebala will be heading to Los Angeles for private rehabilitation care, according to social media post made Thursday by her mother.

“After many nights of research, questioning, and fear of the unknown, we decided to say yes to an opportunity for an aggressive approach to her rehabilitation through privatized health care,” Cia Edmonds wrote on Facebook.

“We are excited. As well as nervous, away from family and resources, an opportunity we couldn’t refuse. We wait for all the moving parts to line up and create a path to pursue. until then, we live somewhere in the middle.”

The family can’t move on the opportunity until Maya is able to handle a transfer from the B.C. Children’s Hospital.

Edmonds announced the rehabilitation plan in a previous Face book post on March 25.

She said that Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White contacted the family after Maya had been in intensive care for a week. He offered fully paid medical attention for Maya “in one of the world’s most top tier hospitals in LA California,” Edmonds wrote.

He also offered to pay for the family’s accommodations in Los Angeles.

The specific hospital was not named.

“Its incredible really … For anyone who watches UFC, they put my babes name in the ring. Super cool.”

At a UFC event in Houston on Feb. 21, there was an addition to the octagon, according to Cagesidepress.com. Maya’s name was emblazoned on one of the upper supports of the cage structure.

Edmonds posted a photo of a UFC match with Maya’s name in the background.

Edmonds noted in her May 25 Facebook post that the B.C. Childrens Hospital has an extensive brain trauma clinic and more resources. “However,” she wrote, “Maya hadn’t been stable enough to travel. Until now. Still tentative!”

Her hope for the family going forward is: “Stability and recovery.”

In Thursday’s post Edmonds wrote that her “hope is when we land in LA we will be able to build routine and relationships, that will hopefully feel normal(ish)? Until then, her and I stay in airbnbs, so she can have a room, and we can have breakfast together.. right now, this feels like the best i can do for her.”

She added: “A new chapter starts soon and we welcome it.”

Maya suffered significant brain damage after being shot by Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, during a mass shooting Feb. 10 in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., when six people were killed at a school and two others in a home.

The Vancouver Sun spoke with Dr. Judy Illes, University of B.C. medical ethicist with expertise in neurosciences, after the rehab plan announcement. While Iles said she couldn’t comment on specific hospitals in the U.S., Canada or elsewhere, she described the Canadian health-care system as “absolutely superb” and care for paediatric patients as “world-class.”

She said the U.S. has specialist doctors who have expertise for rare cases, but Canada’s neurosurgery and neurology care are “top-of-the-line” and equivalent to what’s available in other countries.

• Tumbler Ridge shooting survivor Maya Gebala given a 'brain holiday' by neurosurgeons, her father says
• Tumbler Ridge shooting survivor Maya Gebala moved from ICU to rehab, reports her father

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.

Analysis

Two months after it began, the controversial sexual assault case against auto parts magnate Frank Stronach is now in the hands of his judge.

Justice Anne Molloy of the Superior Court of Ontario retired Thursday afternoon with two pressing questions to answer based on the extensive evidence and arguments she has heard. She reflected to the court offhand about how difficult these reasons will be for her to write.

Did Stronach, 93, sexually assault three women more than 40 years ago, when he was about 50 and they were in their 20s, in similar fashion, by leading then from dinner to a private apartment and then abruptly initiating an unwanted sexual encounter?

And did police improperly coach his accusers in advance of their testimony here at Toronto’s main courthouse, indeed just a few days before the trial began, to such a degree that it tainted their testimony and violated Stronach’s fair trial rights?

If Judge Molloy’s answer to the second question is yes, it could almost force her to answer the first with no. In that case, as with much in this sordid proceeding that has already seen most original charges abandoned midtrial, it would mark a major failure for the Ontario Crown. It would mean that a sexual assault prosecution that brought the full weight of criminal justice and public scrutiny against a prominent and powerful man has been scandalously mishandled to the point of complete failure, regardless of the underlying facts.

If disgraced former CBC host Jian Ghomeshi’s 2016 acquittal on similar charges marked the beginning of the MeToo movement in Canada, Stronach’s possible acquittal would mark something like the end. Indeed, many of Stronach’s accusers came forward because they had learned of Ghomeshi’s charges, and court has already heard defence claims that the modern political imperative to “believe all women” caused police to unfairly invert Stronach’s presumption of innocence and investigate with “tunnel vision” on his guilt.

At issue on this final day of legal arguments were preparatory meetings between police and all seven original complainants, some of them mere days before trial. Stronach’s defence counsel Leora Shemesh said all seven of these interviews revealed new evidence, and this cannot possibly be coincidence, but rather must reflect that the women were “guided,” whether on purpose or not.

But police made no meaningful attempt to record these new statements, and as a result they have not been preserved or shared with the defence, as required by law. In some cases, one complainant revealed she had read details in the media of a different complainant’s story, details that would later turn up in the testimony of both. In other cases, new details emerged for the first time, such as one woman having regarded Stronach as a “fatherly figure.” Police asked the women about worrying inconsistencies and omissions that might trip them up under cross-examination. But rather than making a video and audio record of this crucial aspect of the investigation, all that remains for disclosure to the defence, Shemesh argued, are a few vague notes made by police that reflect simply what they took notice of, but not the context of any questioning.

The result, Shemesh said, is Frank Stronach has lost the opportunity to challenge those new memories.

“Valuable, critical pieces of disclosure are gone forever,” Shemesh said, not because they were accidentally lost or inadvertently destroyed, but because police decided not to capture them. The conduct was “unacceptably negligent,” she said, and it violated Stronach’s rights to make a full answer and defence to the charges against him.

One witness, for example, said in a preparatory meeting she had seen media coverage of another complainant’s story, but then denied it on the witness stand, and was only corrected when the Crown agreed to that fact despite their own witness’s testimony.

In another case, a complainant said in the preparatory meeting that she felt she should only be a witness, not a complainant, but because of the sketchy note taking, the defence is unable to challenge this in any detail, or to pursue this clear opportunity to impeach a prosecution witness with her own words.

“Surely Crown counsel must have said something about the difference between witness and complainant, or why do you feel that way?” Shemesh told Judge Molloy.

In another case, a witness appears to have been prepped to gloss over gaps in her memory by saying things such as “I would have …” rather than “I don’t remember.”

“It wouldn’t be a stretch to believe that this type of preparation occurred in every case,” Shemesh said.

The stakes on this “abuse of process” motion about coaching and tainting witnesses are slightly lower than they originally seemed.

When the trial began, this motion was to be an application for a judicial stay of all charges. That means that if it succeeded, all charges would be thrown out never to be prosecuted again, a drastic remedy reserved for the clearest cases of prosecutorial misconduct. A judicial stay is not a verdict of not guilty. It has been described in case law as a remedy that does not mean the accused is entitled to an acquittal, but rather that the Crown is disentitled to a conviction.

Judge Molloy agreed there was at least an air of reality to the claim of abuse of process, and that she would hear the arguments at the end of the trial proper.

Much has happened since then. A witness apologized for lying under oath, another had a full emotional meltdown on the witness stand. Both saw their charges abandoned. Some charges were abandoned by the Crown as having no reasonable prospect of conviction, others rejected by the judge herself who said she could not possibly convict on the evidence of another particularly troubling complainant. So now instead of 12 charges involving seven women, there are five charges and three women.

But on Thursday, defence counsel Shemesh said she was no longer seeking a judicial stay. Instead, she has “come to appreciate that the Crown was in the unenviable position of having to probe new memories (during trial) because the police did not.”

She no longer alleges gross negligence on the part of the Crown, rather that the manner in which police tried to capture evidence in the trial preparation meetings was careless and “unacceptably negligent.”

As a result, she is not asking Judge Molloy to stay the charges, but rather to make this finding of negligence and use it in her analysis of the credibility of each of the remaining three complainants.

It might be a distinction without much of a difference. Crown attorney David Tice, who has not prosecuted this case but appeared to argue this abuse of process motion, closed out the day. Before rising around 4 p.m., Judge Molloy said court will return on June 19 for a verdict or at least an update.

Regardless what happens in this trial, Stronach also faces a possible second prosecution in the future in York Region with similar charges, more recent allegations, and a similar defence strategy involving claims of collusion and witness tainting.

• Stronach had pattern with women that led to sex assault charges, Crown alleges in closing arguments
• Imperative to 'believe all women' turned Frank Stronach's case upside down, defence argues

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Artemis II is now on its way home, having broken the record for the farthest distance humans have flown from Earth by travelling around the far side of the moon.

Four astronauts are on board: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian Jeremy Hansen, and are expected to splash down off the coast of San Diego at approximately 8:07 p.m. on Friday, April 10.

Given the hazards involved, along with the years of training and expertise required to journey into space, it would be reasonable to assume Artemis II astronauts are exceptionally well compensated.

Yet, despite the global attention, the Artemis II astronauts are likely paid the same as many of their lower-profile colleagues.

Like most government roles, NASA salaries follow a standardized pay scale, previously reported to top out at about US$152,000.

The space agency’s website stated that the annual salary for astronauts in 2024 was approximately US$152,258. It added that the rate would be adjusted to reflect any increases in pay schedules, meaning this number may have gone up over the past two years.

That salary remains the same whether astronauts are on Earth or in space, and they do not get extra pay for overtime or for going on missions.

For some, this amount might sound modest, considering the Artemis II mission broke records and pushed the boundaries of human space exploration.

As Prime Minister Mark Carney acknowledged in a recent video call with the Artemis II crew, the mission carried significant risk.

“You said the other day that this mission is a risk for a good reason, which really struck me,” he told Hansen.

The astronaut replied: “Risk is necessary. But calculated risk, well-thought-out risk and risk that you balance with others.”

Jobs site Indeed lists average salaries for professions such as optometrists, software engineering managers and podiatrists in a similar range — roles that also demand extensive training, but not the same degree of personal risk as travelling more than 250,000 miles from Earth.

Canadian astronauts reportedly receive a similar salary, suggesting Jeremy Hansen earns roughly in line with his crewmates.

In 2023, the Canadian Space Agency revealed that the astronauts’ salaries range from $97,100 to $189,600.

The higher end of the scale is reserved for astronauts who have successfully completed a space mission.

Even from space, we can all agree that maple syrup belongs on pancakes.

Safe journey home to Colonel Jeremy Hansen and the entire Artemis II crew. pic.twitter.com/FqPD2FvsNr

— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) April 9, 2026

Artemis 2 marks Hansen’s first journey into space, and he is also the first Canadian to join a moon mission.

Carney highlighted the milestone during his call with the Artemis crew.

“Canadians are so proud of what you’re doing and the collaboration,” he said. “I’m thrilled. I’m absolutely thrilled to be speaking with you, Jeremy and the crew. We’ve all been watching and inspired by what you’re doing.”

The prime minister also probed Hansen on one burning issue: “A lot of Canadians just wanted one point of reassurance, that the preference is for maple syrup over Nutella on your pancakes in the morning.”

Carney was referring to a viral image of a jar of Nutella floating through the Orion space capsule, and his question had the crew in fits of laughter.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Carney said, also extending an invitation to visit Ottawa, the Canadian capital.

• Maple syrup or Nutella? Carney calls Canada's Artemis 2 astronaut Jeremy Hansen in space
• NASA releases picture of 'Earthset' shot by Artemis crew

An Indigenous B.C. man who shot his sleeping wife in the head after a 17-hour drinking binge has been sentenced to under seven years for her death.

The sentence is far below the Crown prosecutor’s request for 16 years and is partially the result of the judge finding the defendant’s Indigenous heritage a significant mitigating factor.

Brent McCook, 28, was convicted last June of manslaughter arising from the unlawful discharge of a firearm that struck and killed Rochelle Poole, the mother of their two young boys, on Jan. 24, 2023, in Kwadacha, a remote Tsek’ehne First Nations community in northern B.C.

Poole was also Indigenous.

McCook was initially charged with second-degree murder, but Supreme Court of B.C. Justice Sandra Sukstorf acquitted him of that charge following his trial last year because the Crown failed to prove he intended to kill Poole while in his drunken state.

She gave McCook a sentence of six years and nine months at his sentencing hearing in Prince George last month, but he has just two years less six days remaining on his sentence after receiving credit for time served.

In her recently published sentencing decision , Sukstorf said the Indigenous sentencing factors established in McCook’s Gladue report were “significant.”

“The record demonstrates that Mr. McCook’s life trajectory has been shaped by systemic and intergenerational forces, including early removal from his family, family disruption associated with the legacy of residential schools, and the normalization of alcohol misuse within his social environment,” the judge wrote.

“These factors provide important context for understanding his background and inform the Court’s assessment of proportionality and the appropriate balance between denunciation, deterrence, rehabilitation, and restraint.”

Established by the Supreme Court of Canada, the Gladue principles direct judges to account for Indigenous offenders’ specific backgrounds and the broader systemic factors that contribute to their over-representation in Canadian prisons.

The day before the shooting, McCook and Poole travelled 425 kilometres south to Mackenzie, where they spent more than $600 at the liquor store and began to consume their alcohol on the long drive home, where they continued drinking upon arrival, according to court documents from McCook’s trial.

Kwadacha is a dry community that prohibits the transportation and possession of alcohol on its lands.

The pair stayed up all night and drank into the following morning, during which time McCook “consumed extreme quantities of alcohol over many hours and became profoundly intoxicated,” the judge wrote.

Witnesses that day said they could tell McCook had been drinking and seemed off, but added that there didn’t seem to be any friction between the couple and “described their interactions as calm and affectionate.”

About mid-morning, after McCook and Poole had returned from a drive around town with two of his cousins, one of them, Jason McCook, heard shots fired from the defendant’s residence two doors away. He looked outside to see McCook standing next to his truck with a rifle in his hands.

When he approached, McCook fired a shot in his direction, missing, but prompting his cousin to flee inside his home, which was then hit with another bullet.

The local emergency response centre was alerted and, as people arrived, Jason McCook was eventually able to sneak up on his cousin, subdue him and wrestle the gun from his hands.

Multiple officers and witnesses all described the drunk man as “incoherent, erratic, confused, and severely impaired immediately before and after the offence.”

“It was like no one was home, like the lights were on but no one was there,” his cousin testified.

Poole, meanwhile, was seated in the front seat of the truck, thought to be in a deep sleep after a night of heavy drinking, and it wasn’t until after the RCMP arrived that her death was discovered.

When a police officer opened the passenger door to check on her, “he observed that Ms. Poole had a visible facial wound, and upon closer examination, he concluded that she was deceased.”

Police determined that McCook first fired the weapon toward the vehicle from inside the family home, with the bullet hitting Poole in the head.

A post-mortem toxicology report measured her blood alcohol concentration at 0.281 grams per 100 millilitres, “a level consistent with severe intoxication and significant cognitive and motor impairment.” The judge said Poole, found with alcohol still in her lap, was “likely asleep, unconscious, or otherwise incapacitated” at the time of her death.

Police also found no evidence of what occurred between when the truck was parked and the shots were fired, nor any evidence that McCook knew his wife was seated in the vehicle at the time he shot the gun.

They also couldn’t establish whether he could even see into the truck from inside the home.

“While the forensic evidence established the direction of fire, it did not demonstrate visibility into the vehicle, deliberate targeting, or purposeful aim at Ms. Poole,” the judge wrote.

Defence counsel was seeking a sentence of five years, which would have left McCook with virtually no time to serve. The Crown wanted 16 years and argued that the fatal incident occurred within “a broader pattern of intimate partner violence… rather than as an isolated event.”

Because those matters didn’t arise during McCook’s trial, the judge granted a Gardiner hearing, which requires them to hear evidence to resolve disputed facts, thereby ensuring aggravating factors are proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Two witnesses, both Poole’s cousins, testified that she’d made past remarks about him being abusive. One of them said Poole once said something to the “effect that if she ever died, Mr. McCook would be the one who killed her.”

Sukstorf found the witnesses credible and their testimonies sincere, but ruled Crown counsel hadn’t proven it beyond a reasonable doubt and therefore could not be used to increase the sentence.

“On the evidence before me, I am satisfied that the relationship between Ms. Poole and Mr. McCook was marked by alcohol-fuelled instability,” she wrote. “The fact that the offence was committed against an intimate partner remains highly relevant to the sentencing analysis. However, the Crown has not established that the offence itself was the culmination of a pattern of intimate partner violence.”

Despite the mitigating force of his Indigeneity, the judge said the sentence still had to reflect the seriousness of taking the life of an Indigenous woman and intimate partner.

Other mitigating factors that led the judge to a sentence at “the lower end of the applicable range” were McCook’s lack of criminal record before the shooting, his remorse in custody and during trial, his efforts to rehabilitate while in custody awaiting trial and sentencing and the Kwadacha reintegration plan upon his release.

• Bronwyn Eyre: The 'Gladue principle' has caused immense harm to Indigenous women
• NP View: Justice by skin colour

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.

More than 10 years after his transnational cocaine smuggling plot crumbled and seven years after his arrest for orchestrating it, Ali Lalji has lost his epic campaign to stay out of prison.

Lalji, 37, was part of a sensational case that revealed abuse of the Toronto headquarters of the youth-oriented Vice Media to recruit interns, models and musicians as drug mules to smuggle bricks of cocaine glued into the lining of their luggage when they flew to Australia.

While five recruited mules — four Canadians and one American — languished for years in an Australian prison after they were caught at Sydney airport with cocaine valued at $22 million, and while Lalji’s partner, a former Vice editor, spent years locked up in Ontario, Lalji remained free, courtesy of a keen legal strategy and logistical delays.

On Wednesday, he ran out of runway.

Lalji surrendered into custody Wednesday morning in anticipation of the decision by the Court of Appeal for Ontario. He would soon hear the verdict: Appeals of his conviction at his 2023 trial and of his punishment were dismissed, leaving him with a nine-year prison sentence.

The actual time he will remain behind bars was previously reduced somewhat by credit for the brief time he spent in pre-trial custody and a longer period while out on a $1 million bail to his parents’ home while awaiting the conclusion of the legal rigmarole.

Lalji’s lawyer, Ravin Pillay, declined to comment to National Post without first consulting his client. A response was not received prior to publishing deadline.

Lalji became embroiled in the large-scale cocaine plot through his time at Vice, where he worked in advertising for the once mighty media brand. That is where he befriended Vice’s music editor for Canada, Yaroslav Pastukhov, better known by his pen name Slava Pastuk.

The pair recruited young people into a drug smuggling scheme that sent couriers on free trips to Las Vegas, where they were given suitcases with bricks of cocaine hidden inside, which they then took as their luggage on a flight to Sydney, Australia.

Neither man was the brains of the operation, nor its boss. That was the work of B.C.-based men who arranged with a cartel to supply the drugs and jerry rig the luggage, but Pastukhov and Lalji proved to be capable recruiters, convincing sometimes reluctant young people to risk becoming international drug couriers.

Lalji and Pastukhov had both successfully made the same journey themselves, court heard, which proved to be a powerful sales pitch.

It is unknown how long the network had been running or how many couriers made the trek, but the wheels fell off when a group of mules arranged by Lalji and Pastukhov were caught in Australia in 2015 with 40 kilograms of cocaine. Five were arrested, convicted and imprisoned.

The secrets behind the cocaine plot were revealed in an investigative feature by National Post , including the shocking role of Vice’s music editor.

On Jan. 31, 2019, RCMP officers arrested and charged both men with conspiracy to import cocaine into Australia. Pastukhov pleaded guilty and was sentenced that same year.

Lalji, however, took a different tact, leaning on support and resources from his wealthy, globe-hopping family; from his first court appearance to his last, he was represented by top-tier lawyers, seemingly with a mandate to do whatever legal maneuvering they could muster, all while Lalji was free on bail.

Much of the evidence against Lalji at his trial came from the phones of the drug mules that had been seized in Australia — including text messages and recordings that one mule had secretly made of his recruitment meetings — and testimony by Pastukhov, who was called as a reluctant witness.

In late 2023, Justice Russell Silverstein released his guilty verdict against Lalji. Lalji was immediately released on bail pending an appeal.

Every six months since, his bail was renewed while his appeal was perfected, as the court refers to completed appeal documentation.

Three appeal court judges finally heard Lalji’s appeal this January. Lalji’s case was argued by Pillay and opposed by Crown prosecutors Maria Gaspar and Sarah Malik.

Pillay had argued the secret recordings should not have been accepted as evidence because they were not adequately authenticated.

Justice Jonathan Dawe, writing on behalf of the appeal panel, said it was open for the trial judge to accept the recordings because the contents on them inferred the time they were recorded when compared to other evidence, and Pastukhov confirmed some of the voices. There was also no evidence of tampering or fabrication.

Pillay also complained of the trial judge’s handling of Pastukhov’s inconsistent testimony, some of which seemed to help Lalji’s case and some hurt it.

Dawe said it was reasonable for the trial judge to reject most but not all of Pastukhov’s testimony in accordance with other evidence in the case, and to conclude Lalji knew the contraband being smuggled was cocaine, or he was willfully blind to that fact.

Pillay’s argument that Lalji was convicted of a different conspiracy than the one he was charged with was trickier for appeal judges to parse.

Evidence at Lalji’s trial showed that Lalji and Pastukhov jointly recruited and organized trips for two of the five mules who were busted, while Pastukhov, at his own trial, pleaded guilty to recruiting four of them.

Pillay argued that because the men were charged together on a single count of conspiracy, it needed to be the same plot for both accused. And since evidence did not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Lalji was a part of the larger conspiracy, he should have been acquitted, even if evidence showed he was part of a smaller conspiracy.

“I agree that some of the underlying planks Mr. Lalji relies on to construct this argument are sound,” Dawe wrote. Pillay was right that the accused in a jointly charged conspiracy needs to be part of the same conspiracy.

In this case, however, the court found the two had the same objective — recruiting mules to smuggle cocaine into Australia — and it was reasonable for the trial judge to conclude they were members of a single conspiracy even if Pastukhov knew more specifics than Lalji.

The evidence suggested Lalji was aware there were other moving parts to the plot. He did not think his two couriers were “a stand-alone criminal venture that was not part of a broader overarching conspiracy,” Dawe wrote.

Lalji also objected to his nine-year sentence.

Pillay argued there was not sufficient evidence that Lalji had made a smuggling trip prior to recruiting the others, but the appeal judges disagreed. Pillay also said the 40-kg size of the load carried by the five mules should not have been considered an “extremely aggravating” factor against Lalji, arguing the two mules Lalji recruited only carried 17.3 kg of cocaine.

The judges disagreed: “There was evidence supporting the inference that Mr. Lalji knew that he was participating in a very large-scale ongoing importing scheme, even if he did not know exactly how much contraband was being imported on this one occasion,” Dawe wrote.

And while evidence showed Pastukhov played a larger role, Pastukhov also quickly pleaded guilty while Lalji definitely did not, meaning the two factors balanced out to both men being given the same punishment.

• Email: ahumphreys@postmedia.com | Twitter: AD_Humphreys

• EXCLUSIVE: He grew up rich and joined the hottest media empire. Then came the cocaine mules
• How a former editor allegedly used Vice Canada to recruit drug mules for a global smuggling ring

Canadian maple syrup is cheaper in Australia than at some Canadian stores, to the immense frustration of some Canadians syrup fans.

A Reddit commentator recently pointed out that Canadian maple syrup is cheaper in grocery stores in Australia than on its home turf.

Posting in the subreddit r/loblawsisoutofcontrol , they wrote: “Canadian maple syrup cheaper in Australia than at Loblaws. 250 ml jar at Woolworths — $6.00 Australian (roughly CAD$5.85). Downsized 200 ml jar at Loblaws — $6.50.”

The user compared Woolworths 100% Canadian Maple Syrup with President’s Choice 100% Pure Maple Syrup — the cheapest option currently available at Loblaws.

The post quickly drew frustration from commenters.

Others pointed out that the Australian bottle contains 50 ml more syrup, and that the Australian dollar is weaker than the Canadian dollar.

A broader price check confirms that Loblaws is not the outlier. The Woolworths maple syrup undercuts the cheapest available options across leading Canadian grocery chains.

Woolworths 100% Canadian Maple Syrup is priced at AUD$2.40 per 100 ml (roughly $2.34).

Meanwhile, Irrésistible Amber Maple Syrup retails at $2.40 per 100 ml in Food Basics; 100% Pure Panache Maple Syrup is sold for $2.66 per 100 ml at FreshCo; President’s Choice 100% Pure Maple Syrup is priced at $2.75 per 100 ml in No Frills; and Acadian Maple Pure Maple Syrup retails at $2.80 per 100 ml in Sobeys.

National Post spoke to Sylvain Charlebois , director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University and co-host of The Food Professor Podcast, who explained: “The pricing really depends on the retailer. Some may decide to sell maple syrup as a loss leader, or sometimes the marketing board selling the maple syrup will settle on a deal that varies between countries.”

When it comes to Australia, Charlebois said: “Australia can ship very efficiently on the water — water is the most efficient way to transport products. For example, if you want to sell maple syrup in Alberta or even Manitoba, you could actually be seeing higher prices because you have to put it on a truck, and trucking tends to be more expensive than shipping on water.”

Still, some Reddit users were skeptical as to whether the Woolworth’s syrup is really 100% pure.

Many pointed to the controversy surrounding a maple syrup company based in Quebec, called Érablière Steve Bourdeau, which is currently the target of a class-action lawsuit.

The class-action request is based on revelations from Radio-Canada’s investigative program Enquête, which tested five cans of the maple syrup sold in grocery stores. All samples contained at least 50 per cent cane sugar .

Users said that this story left them suspicious of the Woolworth’s syrup.

But Charlebois explained: “Typically, when you have maple syrup overseas, you’re supposed to have some guarantees linked to the shipment, because the sale would go through the Strategic Reserve. And the Strategic Reserve in Quebec is heavily guarded and tested, so the maple syrup you would find in Australia is highly likely to be 100% maple syrup.”

Meanwhile, many commenters focused on ways to cut costs, suggesting that shoppers buy larger containers to lower the unit price.

Even from space, we can all agree that maple syrup belongs on pancakes.

Safe journey home to Colonel Jeremy Hansen and the entire Artemis II crew. pic.twitter.com/FqPD2FvsNr

— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) April 9, 2026

For example, a litre of Maple Crest 100% Pure Maple Syrup retails at $18.99 in Loblaws, working out at $1.90 per 100ml — significantly cheaper than smaller bottles.

The debate comes as food prices remain a major pressure point for Canadians, with the country home to the highest food inflation rate in the G7 at 7.3 per cent, according to a February report .

And yet, it’s unlikely consumers will be giving up on maple syrup, despite the controversial price point.

The sweet syrup is so beloved by Canadians that it was even the topic of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s conversation with Canadian astronaut and Artemis II crew member Jeremy Hansen, who is currently journeying back to earth following the record-breaking around to the moon.

On a video call with the crew, Carney asked: “A lot of Canadians just wanted one point of reassurance, that the preference is for maple syrup over Nutella on your pancakes in the morning.”

Hansen replied: “Absolutely, sir.”

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — A year after Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day,” when the U.S. president launched a slew of new tariffs on imports, fewer Americans seem to understand what it is they were being liberated from. 

According to a new Pew Research Center survey of 3,507 adults, conducted between March 23 and 29, 2026, fewer Americans now believe that both the U.S. and Canada benefit equally from their trading relationship, compared to last year. 

The majority of Americans, 37 per cent, still say the two countries see mutual benefits in trade, but that figure is down from 44 per cent last year, and 21 per cent said this year that Canada benefits more than the U.S., a drop from 26 per cent in 2025. 

The partisan divide holds, of course, as it does with nearly everything in Washington these days. 

Democrats are more likely to see trade between the U.S. and Canada as fair and balanced, while Republicans still see Canada as benefiting more overall. But the Republican figure has dropped significantly after spiking last year: In 2023, 20 per cent of Republicans saw Canada gaining more from the trade relationship, but that number soared to 46 per cent amid Trump’s tariff rhetoric last year. Now, it’s down to 36 per cent.

So, is Trump’s narrative over Canada “ripping off” the U.S. convincing fewer Americans now compared to a year ago, or is something else causing this shift?

“ It’s almost like a bit more of a return back to where they were several years ago,” said Inu Manak, senior fellow for international trade at the Council on Foreign Relations, about the Republican 10-percentage-point drop. 

“That suggests that perhaps they’re not as happy with some of the things that Trump is saying, threatening other countries that have been partners for a long time.”

But fewer Republicans see Mexico as benefiting more, too. So the shifts, Manak said, “could also be shaped by Republicans thinking that Trump’s getting a better deal now.”

Maria Smerkovich, the research associate at Pew involved in the study, said she and her colleagues cannot explain what’s driving the change in Republican sentiment.

But the biggest takeaway from the study, she said, was the growing uncertainty toward trade: A full quarter of Americans now say they are unsure whether either country benefits more from trade, up from 17% last year.

“Americans are just confused,” said Smerkovich. 

“They’re not sure what’s going on in these relationships, which countries benefit, if at all, from these relationships.”

This, she said, is likely related to media messaging and White House rhetoric about trade and who benefits from trade.

“We can’t speculate or say what exactly is driving these changes, but we do know that President Trump speaks about this very prominently,” she said, noting that “there is so much messaging that perhaps is contributing to the confusion.”

Still, for Canada, Americans are less confident that its northern neighbour is the main beneficiary of trade, and more uncertain overall, which could undercut the political potency of Trump’s tough-on-Canada argument. 

“Americans are less willing to accept the bill of goods that (Trump) sold them that all of their ills can be laid at the door of America’s trading partners, particularly its closest ones,” said Fen Hampson, a politics professor and foreign affairs specialist at Carleton University in Ottawa.

“(Trump’s) storyline is beginning to wear thin with Americans,” Hampson said. 

Andrew Hale, a fellow at Washington-based Advancing American Freedom, said Pew should have looked at more than a simple Democrat-versus-Republican split, noting that the most important bloc for Trump is white voters without college degrees and Independents. 

“ If you lose the majority of white males without university degrees, you’ve got a problem if you’re President Trump, because that has historically been a key constituency of his, irrespective of party affiliation.”

Hale said it was safest to see the Pew study and other polls as showing that tariff fatigue is real.

“People are not feeling that their situations are getting better,” he said. 

“The tariffs are hurting. They’re not helping.”

Manak also said Americans are tiring of tariffs. 

“Americans may not know how that works or what the mechanism is, but they hear about tariffs, and they think they’re a negative thing, for the most part, and therefore are blaming Trump and then all Republicans for keeping them in place,” she said.

But could changing public opinions push Trump to ease his approach to trade with Canada?

Manak believes Canada will have more leverage in trade talks after November’s midterm elections, especially if Democrats take the House, but other experts are skeptical that Trump will bow to voter sentiment before or after the election. 

“Unless there were a bigger shift in public opinion that’s more specific to Canada,” said Thomas Duesterberg, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Hudson Institute, “I wouldn’t think that those few results would really have that much of an impact.”

What could, he said, is the Court of International Trade, which will soon hear arguments about Trump’s Section 122 tariffs and the elimination of the de minimis exemption. Court limits on Trump’s authority to use tools like Sections 122, 232, and 301, Dusterberg said, matter more than voter sentiment.

Hampson and Hale also said Americans’ views were unlikely to alter Trump’s course.

“Nothing constrains Trump,” Hampson said. “Americans didn’t want a war with Iran, and they got one. He’s not restrained by public opinion.”

When asked whether public views could constrain Trump’s use of tariffs or alter his approach to this summer’s Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement talks, Hale was skeptical.

If stagflation sets in amid the trade tensions and slow U.S. job growth, thanks to the conflict with Iran, Hale suggested that Trump may be willing to pause or roll back tariffs – but only temporarily. 

“You may get some tariff relief, and then, after the midterms, he may ramp them up again. After the midterms, he’s got really nothing to lose. He can just go forward, full-steam ahead, and to hell with everyone else.”

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A woman from British Columbia is facing drug-smuggling charges in South Korea, but her family says she is the victim of a romance scam and had no idea that she was being used as a drug mule.

Spring Parks, 59, lives in Surrey, B.C., but left Canada at the end of January to meet a man who had wooed her online. He allegedly instructed her to stop in South Africa and collect a suitcase there before continuing on to South Korea.

But when she arrived at her destination, border guards found close to four kilograms of methamphetamine in her luggage. She was arrested and remains in custody.

South Korea’s Narcotics Control Act allows for the death penalty for drug smuggling. However, the country has had a moratorium on capital punishment since 1998. Even so, the law also allows for imprisonment with labour for an indefinite term. Prison sentences of 10 years or more are not uncommon .

Parks’ daughter Lorrene told National Post that the family only became aware of Spring’s plans when they got a text from her, the day after she left Vancouver.

“We had no idea she was leaving or going on a trip, which is unusual,” said Lorrene. “So, we didn’t really truly find out until the morning of Feb. 1, when we received a text message from my mom saying: ‘Hey, I’m in Korea. I’m being arrested as a drug mule. And I thought I was in love with somebody, but it was a lie.'”

“And then that was it. That was the last time we really had a direct message from my mom.”

The family has hired lawyers. “They’ve been talking to my mom and relaying messages to us,” Lorrene said.

Spring does not speak Korean and is also deaf. “Technically ASL is her first language,” her daughter added.

“Her spirits are OK. Not great, but OK,” lawyer Sean Hayes told CTV News . “She is in prison and it’s not a pleasant place to be anywhere.”

He added: “We genuinely believe that, No. 1, she doesn’t know what was in the packages (and) No. 2, that she was a victim here.”

Lorrene said her mother’s email correspondence showed her to be the victim of an unknown scammer who called himself Tyler.

“They’ve just disappeared,” she said. “We know that his account was based in Nigeria, and that’s why she went to South Africa to pick up the bag. But, yeah, the person is mysterious. Doesn’t actually exist.”

Lorrene learned that her mom had also fallen prey to the Tyler Hynes scam, sometimes called the Hallmark Romance Scam, in which someone pretends to be Canadian actor Tyler Hynes to bilk people out of money online.

A GoFundMe page has been set up by Lorrene and her sister Andrea Parks to help cover legal fees, ASL interpreter costs, ongoing support while Spring is in jail and help to rebuild her life when she returns home.

“We’ve had to vacate her residence and sell off her belongings to pay for representation,” the page says. “When she does eventually come home, she will no longer be coming home to the life she once knew.”

“It doesn’t feel real,” Lorrene said.

In an ironic twist, friends and acquaintances thought the GoFundMe might have been a scam.

“We had to reach out, let alone tell the story over and over, but also prove that it’s not a scam and we’re real,” she said.

Hayes told CTV that authorities in Korea are skeptical of Parks’ claim of innocence. “When they see this amount of drugs being brought in, they don’t believe the allegation that this was a scam,” he said. “But then when you look into the text messages and the communications going back and forth and you see how vulnerable she is. Even incredibly intelligent people get caught up in this.”

Lorrene is trying to remain optimistic. “It’s been definitely the hardest two months of our lives,” she said. “And we haven’t talked to my mom. We’ve only had brief messages, so that part is lonely and confusing.”

A spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada, told National Post that the government is aware of the detention of a Canadian citizen in South Korea and that consular officials are providing assistance and are in contact with local authorities.

“Due to privacy considerations, no further information can be disclosed,” she added.

National Post has reached out to Parks’ lawyer for further information.

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A former University of Manitoba law school dean found to have misspent more than $600,000 from publicly-funded university coffers and is wanted by Winnipeg police on a Canada-wide arrest warrant, has been disbarred from practising law in his native U.K.

Just over two years after the Law Society of Manitoba (LSM) disbarred Jonathan Black-Branch following an internal probe into his “professional misconduct,” a Bar and Standards Board (BSB) for England and Wales disciplinary tribunal said in February that he failed to report any of what occurred in Canada when he returned to England.

Citing and relying heavily on the LSM’s 2023 conduct hearing, the board said it decided banishment was the only possible sanction for Black-Branch’s “blatant and sustained dishonesty,” which it said risked undermining public trust and confidence in the legal profession.

In a statement to National Post, the Manitoba law society said BSB took appropriate action in response to Black-Branch’s transgressions in Canada and his lack of disclosure.

“To maintain confidence in the regulation of the legal profession, such conduct should result in significant consequences,” the LSM wrote.

BSB also fined him £2,670 (CAD$4,961), adding to the $36,000 penalty already levied by the LSM.

The University of Manitoba sued Black-Branch in 2024, and last year the Court of King’s Bench of Manitoba granted a summary judgment, ordering him to repay the school $679,269.98, as reported by the Penticton Herald . At the behest of other law faculty members, the school later asked police to investigate in 2023.

A spokesperson for the Winnipeg Police Service would only tell National Post that their investigation is ongoing and Black-Branch remains wanted for alleged fraud over $5,000.

The report from the 2023 LSM conduct hearing , which formed the basis for the school’s lawsuit and ultimately led the university to engage police, paints a detailed picture of the regulatory body’s proven civil charges against Black-Branch.

First called to his homeland’s Bar in 1998, he taught at the University of Oxford, then relocated to Canada to take on the leadership role at U of M’s Robson Hall in 2016, becoming chair and director of its privately endowed Marcel A. Desautels Centre for Private Enterprise and the Law the following year. That entity was his primary slush fund, according to affidavits filed during the LSM complaints committee investigation.

An internal audit of his transactions proved that he spent $518,723 on non-degree programs at Harvard and Yale universities between April 2017 and February 2020. More than $472,000 of the expenses were charged to Desautels, which violated the fund’s terms, the school’s conflict-of-interest policy, and “fundamental principles of integrity,” the three-member Manitoba law society discipline committee panel wrote.

While attending the Ivy League courses, he also billed the university over $8,300 for food and lodging, even though it was included in the tuition, they added.

LSM pointed out that expenses charged to the school by all other faculty members combined over the same period amounted to less than $19,000.

Moreover, the society said Black-Branch didn’t seek approval from the Provost to make such expenditures and explicitly routed them through an internal invoice program that essentially allowed him to approve his own expenses.

When staffers asked him about the expenditures, one was told to “stop asking questions and to just pay the amounts.”

“This is the behaviour of a person who was clearly attempting to avoid detection for improper spending,” the panel wrote in Black-Branch’s conduct hearing report.

Not long before his suspected malfeasance came to a head, thanks to whistleblowers who alerted university administration in 2020, he used the system to funnel $75,000 of Desautels funds to the International Society of Law and Nuclear Disarmament (ISLAND), an organization he founded and served as president of its board of trustees while at U of M, the panel wrote. It was the first of three planned annual payments.

Under testimony, one staffer said he instructed her to use Swiss bank accounts, according to The Canadian Press.

Black-Branch was also proven through the school’s audit and subsequent investigation to have spent $50,000 for membership and 201 meals at The Manitoba Club, the first and oldest private club in Western Canada, regularly claiming they were business meetings, despite it being found that he almost always dined alone based on restaurant records.

One local lawyer, whom he claimed had supped with him over university business on 15 occasions, filed an affidavit stating no such meetings ever took place. Another lawyer, whose name appeared on 45 invoices, testified that he dined with Black-Branch only six to eight times, none of which involved U of M or Desautels, and that he paid for the meals several times.

He also expensed close to $3,800 for meals at a board game cafe, which he documented as visits to “research startup ventures” on 44 of the 62 claims, per the LSM tribunal. Black-Branch ceased making any claims when the Provost challenged their validity.

“That the Member would have engaged in this misconduct to this extent, for this length of time, on this many occasions, in this many forms, and involving this many others in the processing of his improper claims is a particular concern,” and increases the seriousness of the allegations, the panel wrote in mid-December 2023.

The University, in a statement to National Post, said it immediately “ replenished the endowment fund via self-insurance.”

Having left Canada for England shortly after an abrupt resignation in spring 2020, Black-Branch never appeared before the LSM, not even virtually, though he did file repeated motions to have it adjourned based on mental health trouble. The LSM said no response ever came to repeated requests that he provide evidence to support that assertion.

He also didn’t appear at the BSB hearing, but his absence means he can request another at a later date.

Black-Branch’s arrest and financial restitution to the school are proving problematic because his precise whereabouts are unknown. According to CTV , his last known address was in Oxford, but court records from the civil suit indicate that he could be in Switzerland.

The University said efforts to recover its funds are “ongoing.”

“Accountability is very important to the university, and UM intends to pursue all available collection remedies to secure payment of the judgment,” the University wrote.

The school has also tightened oversight by adopting a formal fraud-reporting policin, requiring a financial-ethics course for staff and faculty and instituting quarterly audits of all deans’ expenses.

National Post has not been able to locate any contact information for Black-Branch.

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