National – Brandon Sun

The NDP leadership debate stage is photographed in Montreal on Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

NDP leadership candidates to square off in final debate

David Baxter, The Canadian Press 1 minute read 1:00 PM CST

OTTAWA - The five NDP leadership candidates are in the Vancouver area today for the second and final party-organized debate of the leadership race.

This English language debate follows a French language debate in Montreal late last year that was also held predominantly in English.

Dockworker union leader Rob Ashton, social worker Tanille Johnston, documentarian Avi Lewis, Alberta MP Heather McPherson and organic farmer Tony McQuail are competing for the leadership.

There will be no in-studio audience and veteran broadcast journalist Hannah Thibedeau will moderate the debate, which is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET.

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U.S. International Trade Commission launches CUSMA rules-of-origin auto investigation

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

U.S. International Trade Commission launches CUSMA rules-of-origin auto investigation

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Updated: 1:17 PM CST

WASHINGTON - The U.S. International Trade Commission has launched an investigation into rules-of-origin regulations for automobiles under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement on trade.

A news release on the commission's website says the investigation will analyze the regulations' "impact on the U.S. economy, effect on U.S. competitiveness, and relevancy considering recent technology changes."

It's the third investigation of the rules since the trilateral trade pact, widely known as CUSMA, was adopted during the first administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. The commission is required to conduct an investigation every two years until 2031.

The report on automobiles must be delivered to Trump and the Senate by July of next year.

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Updated: 1:17 PM CST

U.S. President Donald Trump listens during a tour of the Ford River Rogue complex on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Dearborn, Mich. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

City’s bond reduction derailed company’s bid, VP says

By Joyanne Pursaga 3 minute read Preview

City’s bond reduction derailed company’s bid, VP says

By Joyanne Pursaga 3 minute read Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026

WINNIPEG — The decision to reduce the construction bond for the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters project made it less feasible for some companies to compete for the work, one industry member says.

The national vice-president of PCL Construction testified his company bid on the initial construction management contract for the project in 2010, while appearing as a witness at a public inquiry into the headquarters project on Wednesday.

Sean Barnes said PCL later realized it couldn’t do the work by deadline after the city reduced the construction bond for $80 million of redevelopment work from $40 million to $25 million. That happened on Jan. 12, 2011, just six days before the deadline for bids on the contract, he noted.

“My first reaction was can we even attain this? …We learned that we couldn’t purchase this type of (bond),” said Barnes.

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Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026

Problems surrounding the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters project at 245 Smith St. have plagued the city for years. (Mikaela MacKenzie/Winnipeg Free Press files)

Winnipeg protest bylaw stalled after hundreds object

By Malak Abas 5 minute read Preview

Winnipeg protest bylaw stalled after hundreds object

By Malak Abas 5 minute read 2:01 AM CST

WINNIPEG — A bylaw that proposed a ban on “nuisance” protests within 100 metres of certain locations has been shelved indefinitely after intense public pushback and a protest that drew hundreds to city hall Tuesday.

City council’s executive policy committee heard from about 100 members of the public Tuesday, who gave speeches in opposition to the proposed Safe Access to Vulnerable Infrastructure bylaw. The proposal was drawn up to limit “nuisance” demonstrations and intimidation within 100 metres of schools, places of worship, libraries, cultural centres, hospitals and other locations.

The proposed bylaw would have prohibited any protest that blocked access to spaces for people or vehicles and used megaphones or voice amplifiers, with fines starting at $500 for a first offence, up to $5,000.

Coun. Evan Duncan (Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood), who put forward a motion calling on council to draft the bylaw in September, said on Monday that he changed his mind and would pull the proposal after receiving much public feedback.

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2:01 AM CST

A rally at Winnipeg city hall opposing a proposed bylaw restricting “nuisance demonstrations” before the city’s executive policy committee meeting on Tuesday. (Mikaela MacKenzie/Winnipeg Free Press)

Pneumonia hospitalizations rose dramatically last year, new CIHI data shows

Nicole Ireland, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Pneumonia hospitalizations rose dramatically last year, new CIHI data shows

Nicole Ireland, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Updated: 10:10 AM CST

TORONTO - The Canadian Institute for Health Information says pneumonia hospitalizations rose by almost one-third across Canada last year.

The data released Thursday shows kids between five and 17 years old were especially hard hit, with pneumonia hospitalizations more than doubling over the previous year.

Dr. Jesse Papenburg, an infectious disease specialist at Montreal Children's Hospital, says CIHI's numbers reflect what health-care workers already sensed — that the 2024-2025 respiratory illness season was unusually busy for pneumonia.

Papenburg says last year's very bad flu season was likely a major driver of the pneumonia surge.

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Updated: 10:10 AM CST

A sign for a hospital in Montreal, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

How three sisters honour mother’s legacy at Vancouver’s Lunar New Year parade

Nono Shen, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

How three sisters honour mother’s legacy at Vancouver’s Lunar New Year parade

Nono Shen, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Updated: 9:23 AM CST

VANCOUVER - The youngest dancer in this Sunday's Lunar New Year Parade in Vancouver is just four.

"Hopefully they remember (the routine)," chuckled parade producer Lisa Ho of the tiny dancer and his fellow performers.

She and her sisters, Anabel and Valerie Ho, know what the young dancer is going through.

For decades, their mother Maria Mimie Ho was the driving force behind the parade in Vancouver's Chinatown, and the sisters have been part of the show since they were babies, raised amid swirling silky sleeves and leaping lion dancers that go into one of Canada's biggest Chinese community events.

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Updated: 9:23 AM CST

Dancers cover up from the snow while performing during the annual Spring Festival Parade through Chinatown for the Lunar New Year in Vancouver, on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns

Tumbler Ridge victim’s mom says truck robbed, wounded daughter’s paddle board stolen

The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Tumbler Ridge victim’s mom says truck robbed, wounded daughter’s paddle board stolen

The Canadian Press 3 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 7:06 PM CST

VANCOUVER - The mother of 12-year-old Maya Gebala, who has been holding vigil at her bedside since she was gravely wounded in last week's school shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., says her daughter's paddle board has been stolen from her vehicle.

Cia Edmonds, who has been with Maya in BC Children's Hospital in Vancouver, says in social media post that someone stole the board from the back of her truck by slashing open the tonneau cover.

Edmonds has been providing regular updates on Maya, who is unconscious after being shot in the head on Feb. 10, says "life has been a bit heavy" since the attack.

Her post on Tuesday says that her faith is unwavering but it's "finally sunk in" that perhaps her daughter won't open her eyes any time soon.

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Updated: Yesterday at 7:06 PM CST

The memorial for the victims killed in a mass shooting, is seen in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

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Quebec father who drowned his children tells jury he has no memory of killings

Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Quebec father who drowned his children tells jury he has no memory of killings

Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 3:48 PM CST

MONTREAL - A Quebec man who drowned his two children in October 2022 in their family home near Montreal told a jury on Wednesday he doesn't have any memories from the day they died.

Kamaljit Arora was on the stand for a second consecutive day at his murder trial in Laval, Que., a suburb north of Montreal.

Arora has admitted to causing the deaths of the two children, but has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, the attempted murder of his older daughter Jasmine and the strangulation of his wife Rama Rani Arora.

A publication ban has been placed on the names of the two young victims.

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Updated: Yesterday at 3:48 PM CST

A police vehicle is shown outside a house in Laval, Que., Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022. Police near Montreal say two children are dead and a 46-year-old man is under arrest after officers made a grim discovery Monday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

B.C. budget delays care homes, hospital and cancer facility, student housing

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

B.C. budget delays care homes, hospital and cancer facility, student housing

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026

VICTORIA - British Columbia’s budget is hurting the young, the old and cancer patients alike as government construction undergoes what the government says is a “re-pacing” to address fiscal pressures.

There are delays to seven long-term care projects from Abbotsford to Fort St. John, as well as the second phase of Burnaby Hospital and Cancer Centre, and student housing at the University of Victoria.

Seniors Advocate Dan Levitt said Tuesday that the delays will put immediate pressure on the health-care system and make B.C. fall further behind on providing long-term care beds.

"It's going to put pressure on the hospitals, putting pressure on emergency rooms and on people spending too much time in acute care when they don't need that acute care bed," he said.

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Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026

B.C. Seniors Advocate Dan Levitt speaks at news conference at the B.C. legislature in Victoria, B.C., on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dirk Meissner

African Nova Scotian community, church leaders mourn Rev. Jesse Jackson

Lyndsay Armstrong, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Preview

African Nova Scotian community, church leaders mourn Rev. Jesse Jackson

Lyndsay Armstrong, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026

HALIFAX -

Rev. Jesse Jackson left a lasting impact on Nova Scotia, say leaders of the African Nova Scotian community, and was considered like an extended family member to those he met during a visit to the province in 2009.

Sherri Borden Colley, a longtime Halifax journalist, says getting to interview the prominent civil rights leader in person at the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia in Cherry Brook, N.S., nearly 17 years ago was one of the most significant moments of her career.

"That connection that we feel, because he was here, I would say he was like an extended family member — especially for our Black clergy who would have met him … so today we are grieving and we are mourning," Borden Colley said in an interview Tuesday.

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Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026

Jesse Jackson, a prominent American civil rights and political activist, chats with students during a visit to Cole Harbour District High School in Cole Harbour, N.S. on Monday, June 15, 2009. Jackson urged the students to have dignity and to take responsibility for their actions. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

Poilievre says he’s spoken with Jivani about U.S. trip and MP ‘speaks for himself’

Sarah Ritchie and Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Poilievre says he’s spoken with Jivani about U.S. trip and MP ‘speaks for himself’

Sarah Ritchie and Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026

OTTAWA - Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Tuesday Ontario MP Jamil Jivani does not speak for the party after Jivani told a right-wing U.S. news site that Canada is harming itself with an "anti-America hissy fit."

In a scrum with reporters, Poilievre was peppered with questions about Jivani's recent trip to Washington, D.C., and comments made to Breitbart News that Canadians would be "shooting ourselves in the foot if we continue this anti-America hissy-fit."

When asked if he agreed with Jivani's characterization, Poilievre said "no."

"Canadians are legitimately upset by the unjustifiable tariffs and the comments that the president has made," Poilievre said.

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Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre walks with new MP Jamil Jivani as he takes his place in the House of Commons before question period on Monday, April 8, 2024 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Amazon violated labour code with selective pay increase to B.C. workers, board finds

Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Amazon violated labour code with selective pay increase to B.C. workers, board finds

Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026

The B.C. Labour Relations Board has found online retail giant Amazon violated the province's labour code by giving workers at most of its facilities scheduled pay increases, but leaving out unionized warehouse employees in Delta, B.C.

The board ruled that Amazon must now give the same wage increase to workers at the Delta facility, which applies retroactively to the date of the increases given to workers at its non-union sites.

Gavin McGarrigle, Unifor's western regional director, said the latest ruling in the long-running dispute with Amazon is "good news" for the roughly 800 workers whose wages had been wrongfully frozen by the company.

The union said workers were given free Prime memberships and wage increases of between about $2 and just under $3 an hour, and the decision will likely cost Amazon more than $1 million.

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Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026

Security guards walk in the parking lot outside Amazon's YVR2 fulfilment centre, in Delta, B.C., on Friday, July 11, 2025. Unifor says the B.C. Labour Relations Board has awarded workers at the facility a retroactive wage increase after the company increased pay for workers at other facilities in the Lower Mainland, but excluded workers from the union-certified warehouse last year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Quebec auto board sorry for online platform boondoggle, aims to regain public trust

Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

Quebec auto board sorry for online platform boondoggle, aims to regain public trust

Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026

MONTREAL - Quebec's Treasury Board president said Tuesday the government will consider all legal and disciplinary recourse against those responsible in the automobile insurance board's botched rollout of its online platform.

France-Élaine Duranceau told a news conference Tuesday they will aim to hold people accountable for the lack of transparency and financial mismanagement.

That could include everyone from executives who oversaw the digital shift at the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec, and perhaps even the private firms that were hired to put the SAAQclic platform together.

"We are evaluating all possible legal recourse, both against individuals and firms that were involved in the work at the SAAQ," Duranceau told a news conference in Quebec City.

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Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026

Signage for the Societe de l'assurance automobile du Quebec (SAAQ) is photographed in Montreal on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov. The Canadian Press

Quebec police bust sophisticated forged documents operation, arrest three

Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

Quebec police bust sophisticated forged documents operation, arrest three

Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press 2 minute read Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026

MONTREAL - Quebec provincial police arrested three people on Tuesday in connection with what they described as a sophisticated counterfeit ID and credit card operation that officers had dismantled last year.

The force's economic crimes division said two men aged 34 and 42 were arrested in the Montreal suburbs of Repentigny and Laval, and face charges of production of counterfeit documents and identity theft. Later Tuesday, police announced that a third man, 27, was arrested in Montreal.

In March 2025, provincial police conducted a raid on an alleged clandestine document production lab on Chabanel Street in Montreal.

In an interview Tuesday, Sgt. Valérie Beauchamp said the forged documents from the lab were of "very high quality, making detection particularly difficult without specialized equipment."

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Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026

The Quebec provincial police badge is seen during an operation in Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

A B.C. budget few like, with job cuts, higher taxes and increased debt and deficit

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview

A B.C. budget few like, with job cuts, higher taxes and increased debt and deficit

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026

VICTORIA - No wonder British Columbia Finance Minister Brenda Bailey thought she was going to be "the least popular person in the province."

She tabled a budget Tuesday that boosts taxes, delays projects for the old, the young and cancer patients, while failing to rein in the deficit as previously pledged.

Instead, it brings in a record deficit of $13.3 billion.

"They definitely seemed to manage to piss off everybody," Marc Lee, senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, said.

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Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026

Finance Minister Brenda Bailey listens during an announcement about increasing the tax credit for game developers, at Electronic Arts in Burnaby, B.C., on Monday, July 7, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Ottawa faces calls to send essential fuel to Cuba as U.S. widens oil blockade

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Ottawa faces calls to send essential fuel to Cuba as U.S. widens oil blockade

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Mark Carney is facing mounting calls to speak out against the United States for widening its restrictions on fuel reaching Cuba, or to send aid to the country.

For more than a year, Global Affairs Canada has warned travellers of "shortages of basic necessities, including food, medicine and fuel" across most of Cuba. In January, the island lost its main source of fuel when the U.S. took control of Venezuela's oil reserves.

Canadian airlines have suspended flights to the island, citing fuel shortages, while carriers like Air France have added a refuel stop in nearby countries.

U.S. President Donald Trump has also threatened tariffs on any country selling or providing oil to Cuba, prompting the island to ration energy in recent days. The restrictions add to decades of American restrictions on goods and services in Cuba, an embargo that Canada has never replicated.

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Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026

February 19, 2026

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