OTTAWA - The federal government plans to limit foreign steel imports and cut interprovincial rail freight rates in a bid to support Canada's steel industry threatened by damaging U.S. tariffs.

A government official not authorized to speak about details ahead of the public announcement told The Canadian Press that Prime Minister Mark Carney will announce new measures Wednesday.

The prime minister's public itinerary says Carney will announce "new measures to protect and transform Canadian strategic industries" in at 3:15 p.m. ET.

The official said the government plans to cut steel imports from countries where Canada does not have a free trade agreement from 50 per cent to 20 per cent of 2024 levels. That move aims to allow Canadian steel producers to fill the gap in the domestic market, opening up an estimated $854 million in domestic demand.

NEW WESTMINSTER - A proposed class-action lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court says the provincial and federal governments had "long-standing" knowledge that unresolved Indigenous land claims threatened the security of property ownership in Canada. 

The lawsuit filed this week in New Westminster, B.C., alleges the recent decision by the court recognizing the Cowichan Tribes' title over a swath of property in Richmond, B.C., has caused economic and ‘psychological harm" to members of the proposed class. 

One of the plaintiffs, Jasjeet Grewal, says in the lawsuit that he owns property in B.C. and claims title to the land is now uncertain because "all properties in British Columbia are now subject to claims of pre-existing Aboriginal title."

The other proposed representative plaintiff is John Doe, an unnamed Richmond property owner whose property is "directly located on the lands that was the subject matter of the Cowichan Tribes decision." 

HALIFAX - Canadian farmers plan to lobby the federal government to implement a guaranteed annual income and a cap on the profits of the major grocery store chains in the country. 

The lobbying plans were adopted as a part of nine resolutions approved by members of the National Farmers Union who met at an annual conference in Moncton, N.B., last week.

A number of the farmers spoke at the conference about how it is becoming more difficult for them to conduct business in Canada every year. 

David Thompson, executive director of the union, says over the last two decades, profits for small and mid-scale farmers have sunk, costs for equipment and inputs have risen, and the price of land is now unattainable for many farmers. 

MONTRÉAL - Quebec is beginning consultations at the provincial legislature on whether to revise its greenhouse gas emission reduction target.

The province committed to reducing its annual emissions by 37.5 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030 in the wake of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.

Environment Minister Bernard Drainville told the consultation the province is about halfway to the target, with a 19 per cent reduction over 1990 levels. 

But he says achieving the other half in five years presents a considerable challenge, adding that the province needs a target that considers the needs of both the environment and the economy. 

OTTAWA - A Federal Court judge says Amazon Canada should have hired "at least 100 lawyers" to go through more than two million documents, in order to meet court-ordered deadlines in an investigation into potentially anticompetitive conduct.

Federal Court Chief Justice Paul Crampton ruled this month to grant some extensions for document production to Amazon, but not others, finding that 100 lawyers could finish a review of the 2.25 million documents in 15 weeks.

He calculates that by working 10 hours a day, five days a week, and reviewing an average of 30 documents per hour, each lawyer would have to assess "no more than approximately 22,500 documents" each for the probe by the country's commissioner of competition.

The ruling says the company claimed it would be impossible to comply with 90-day and 120-day deadlines set by the court in July. 

QUÉBEC - Quebec's finance minister presented an economic update on Tuesday that offered modest savings to taxpayers, as he painted an optimistic picture of the province's finances heading into an election year.

Eric Girard's update includes decreases to payroll deductions for the provincial pension plan and parental insurance. The reductions, along with adjustments to how personal income taxes and social insurance benefits are indexed, are expected to represent an average gain of $182 per taxpayer in the 2026-27 fiscal year, he said.

The savings to taxpayers may be modest, but they will come "extremely quickly," he told reporters in Quebec City.

"January 2026, it's very soon. So it will arrive at an opportune moment," he said. 

Securing a guilty plea in a British Columbia money laundering case that dates back to 2019 involved undercover officers and multiple search warrants, and organized crime investigators say they hope an 18-month jail sentence handed down this month is the first of many. 

B.C.'s Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit said Monday that Alexandra Joie Chow's jail sentence is a "major milestone" in police efforts against organized crime in Canada.

"I would point out that there are very few investigations in B.C. that are done on money laundering, let alone making them actually to a courthouse," said Sgt. Sarbjit Sangha, spokeswoman for the unit which targets organized crime and gang activity.

The unit's illegal gaming investigative team started looking into suspected money laundering and loan sharking in 2019, and it's the first time in a decade that a money laundering investigation in B.C. has resulted in a jail sentence on a charge of laundering the proceeds of crime. 

MONTREAL - The deaths of two brothers struck by a light-rail train over the weekend has a community southwest of Montreal reeling.

Simon and Samuel Brochu, both of St-Rémi, Que., died after being struck by the automated train early Saturday morning near Brossard, Que.

Police said the collision occurred around 3 a.m. Saturday, when three young men attempted to use the tracks to cross to the other side of Highway 10 near the light rail's Du Quartier station in Brossard, just south of Montreal.

Mayor Sylvie Gagnon-Breton of St-Rémi, about 30 kilometres southwest of Montreal, said the loss of two young brothers has had a profound impact on the community. She offered condolences on behalf of the community and the city during a difficult time.