Four faculty groups at McGill University have launched a constitutional challenge of a Quebec bill that allows the provincial labour minister to terminate strikes.

The associations, which represent 500 academics, say the bill restricts the constitutional right to strike.

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A mysterious illness has killed billions of sea stars. Just yesterday, scientists shared how they’ve solved the case.

In the summer of 1910, 20-year-old Myra Ellison sent a letter home to her mother from the shores of Campbell Lake on Vancouver Island, where she was surrounded by a wilderness of old-growth forests and steep, snow-capped mountains.

“My boots are simply fine for walking,” she assured her mother.

Soon after Rachel Calvelli got married, she and her husband wanted to take six months off work and travel across North America.

At her job, Calvelli had two options for a sabbatical: two years of salary spread across 30 months and six months off, or four years of salary across five years and a year off.

Canada’s merchandise trade deficit widened in June to $5.9-billion as imports grew faster than exports due to a one-time high-value oil equipment import, data showed on Tuesday.

The deficit observed in June is the second highest on record after the deficit dipped to its largest in history in April to $7.6-billion.

Air Canada flight attendants are entering the final day of voting on whether to give a strike mandate to their union.

The vote, which began July 28 and closes today, comes after the Air Canada component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees concluded the conciliation process with no deal reached.

The union represents more than 10,000 flight attendants who have been in contract talks since the start of the year.

A stretch of northern Ontario remains under a special air quality statement today amid smoke from wildfires burning in parts of the country.

The special statement for southern parts of the province, including the Toronto area, lifted this morning as conditions there improved.

Good morning. Canada has started to deliver aid in Gaza, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refuses to agree to a ceasefire. More on that below, plus a look ahead on the trade file for the week and a look back at how science saved sick sea stars. Let’s get to it.

TOP STORY

The Canada Border Services Agency says it has arrested and charged three alleged smugglers after police in southern Quebec intercepted a truck carrying 44 foreign nationals in conditions an RCMP officer described as “horrific.” 

The agency said RCMP and Quebec provincial police intercepted the vehicle with dozens of people aboard near Stanstead, Que., overnight between Saturday to Sunday.

The rats took over James Klein’s backyard this spring.

He’d never had a rat problem in the more than two decades he’s lived in Montreal’s Snowdon neighbourhood. But now, when he watches TV in his family room, he sees them out of the corner of his eye, scurrying around outside the glass door leading onto his back deck.

Residents of several small communities in eastern Newfoundland were ordered Monday to leave their homes as two separate wildfires burned along the shores of Conception Bay.

On Monday, just before 2 p.m. local time, the provincial government issued evacuation orders for the two towns of Small Point–Adam’s Cove–Blackhead–Broad Cove and Kingston, which are spread along the west side of the huge bay.

Officials said a 150-hectare wildfire had come within one kilometre of Kingston.

Debbie Nightingale produced movies and television shows before a personal plot twist led her to become a goat farmer. Over time, her Ontario farm became a popular tourist attraction.

Ms. Nightingale, who has died at 71, was a prominent member of the Canadian film and television industry whose many credits included co-founding a documentary festival now known as Hot Docs.

A family that was caught in a shootout between Montreal police and an armed suspect last year is suing the city and members of the police force, alleging inhumane treatment that caused lasting trauma.

Houssam Abdallah and his family members say they’ve been living a nightmare since he and one of his sons were caught in crossfire outside their home one year ago.

A 32-year-old Nova Scotia woman who was reported missing from the Annapolis Valley has been found dead, RCMP said Monday.

Police say Kerstin Marie Wetter was last seen Sunday at a residence on Highway 10 in the community of Nictaux, N.S.

Sunflower sea stars were once everywhere along the Pacific coast. Big, colourful and many-armed, they could be spotted at low tide clinging to rocks as if painted there by Vincent van Gogh.

Then came a devastating sickness that turned healthy sea stars into mounds of decaying mush. Known as sea star wasting disease, the mysterious syndrome is estimated to have killed billions of the creatures since it emerged in 2013.

Quebec’s universal respiratory syncytial virus immunization program proved more than 85 per cent effective in reducing infant hospitalizations, emergency-room consultations and intensive-care admissions, according to a new study.

The province was the first in Canada to announce a publicly funded nirsevimab program for the 2024-25 RSV season. Ontario, Nunavut, Yukon and the Northwest Territories later followed suit.

It’s the sounds of the wildfire at Cameron Lake that alarm Colby Rex O’Neill the most.

The gunshot-like noise of trees exploding, followed by the earth-shaking crash as they fall. The thunderous clap as overheated boulders split, then roll down the hillside, splashing into the lake.

A Canadian hockey brand has pulled controversial clothing from its online store after a line of T-shirts and hoodies it sold was criticized for demeaning women and girls as sex objects.

HockeyBenders, a company that has become popular in rinks across the country and boasts a large following of kids and teenagers online, sold $35 T-shirts with the slogan “Barduzz, Gettin Huzz,” which it has pulled.

Hilary Weston, an Irish-Canadian businesswoman, philanthropist and writer who served as lieutenant-governor of Ontario, has died.

Ms. Weston’s family confirmed her passing at the age of 83 in a Sunday statement, which did not give a cause of death.

Winning her fourth gold medal of the world swim championship in Singapore, Toronto teenager Summer McIntosh is a stroke closer to becoming one of the most decorated swimmers in history.

But at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, she’s already a legend.

Bright colourful rides, skill-testing games with a stuffed animal prize, and copious amounts of sticky cotton candy are all hallmarks of the travelling carnival circuit, and are deeply rooted in the imagination of Quebeckers who’ve been able to experience them.

The travelling midways, which temporarily set up shop in shopping centre parking lots or wherever else they can find space, have been part of the Quebec landscape for decades.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will likely talk “over the next number of days” after the U.S. imposed a 35 per cent tariff on goods not covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, a Canadian official said on Sunday.

Dominic LeBlanc, the federal cabinet minister in charge of U.S.-Canada trade, also told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that he was “encouraged” by recent discussions and believed a deal to bring down tariffs remained an option.

Ottawa’s new trade minister says he’s looking to sign deals in South America, Southeast Asia, Africa and beyond – and to convince businesses to actually use the trade agreements Canada has already signed.

“My primary role as Canada’s top salesman is to be out there hustling, opening doors for businesses and accessing new markets,” Maninder Sidhu told The Canadian Press.

Quebec provincial police say four people are dead, including three children under the age of 10, following a car crash southeast of the provincial capital on Saturday.

Quebec provincial police say the victims include a 29-year-old man and three children all from the Chaudière-Appalaches region.

An Alberta man who spent more than three decades in prison for the death of an Edmonton woman has had his charge stayed, the group representing him announced.

Innocence Canada, a non-profit that advocates against wrongful convictions, said Roy Allan Sobotiak was to appear in court Friday to set a date for his new trial, but learned the Crown Prosecution Service stayed his second-degree murder charge.

Nearly 400 properties on Vancouver Island, as well as a provincial park, have been ordered evacuated due to a wildfire burning out of control.

The Regional District of Nanaimo expanded its evacuation order related to the fire burning on the north banks of Cameron Lake, about 60 kilometres from the City of Nanaimo.

Ninety-two-year-old Jean Mitchell has been active for as long as she can remember. She played sports while growing up in Saskatchewan – tennis, skating, volleyball – but admits that anything requiring hand-eye co-ordination was not where she shone.

Then she met her husband, an avid outdoorsman who believed the only way to handle a nine-to-five city job was to ditch corporate wear for outdoor gear as soon as the weekend hit. They enjoyed canoeing, overnight hiking and cross-country skiing during the nearly six decades spent together before he passed in 2014.

A man admitted in court Friday to being part of an arson extortion syndicate targeting South Asian home builders in Edmonton.

Manav Heer, wearing an orange jumpsuit, pleaded guilty to extortion, conspiring to commit extortion, attempting to cause fire to property and using an imitation firearm during an offence.

The chief executive of Canada Infrastructure Bank is defending a $1-billion loan to help BC Ferries buy four new ships from China, saying it will lead to improved service for ferry users.

Ehren Cory provided the perspective Friday during an appearance before the House of Commons transport and infrastructure committee, which was gathered to address the controversy over BC Ferries not buying the vessels from Canadian shipyards.

Harsh temperatures and heavy smoke have triggered heat warnings and air-quality alerts for large swaths of the country this weekend, as hundreds of wildfires remain uncontained in Western and Central Canada.

Higher-risk conditions are anticipated in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, prompting special bulletins from Environment and Climate Change Canada for dozens of cities and towns. Meteorologists expect dryness, heat and lower precipitation to create ripe weather conditions for intense fire behaviour.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said she has temporarily closed her constituency office in Oakville, Ont., after a number of incidents left staff feeling unsafe.

Ms. Anand did not specify the nature of the incidents, but said that she is working with security services to resolve the issue.

When a group of Canadian researchers evaluated B.C.’s universal coverage for contraceptives, they uncovered data they say warrants further study on how misinformation could be affecting use among younger women.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the team found a significant immediate bump in prescriptions per month across all age groups after the province made contraceptives free starting in April, 2023. But the researchers also saw “steep declines” both before and months after the policy was introduced, among women aged 20-29.

Canada’s decision to recognize Palestinian statehood is a grave mistake, for several reasons.

First, it rewards terrorism. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is wrong about many things, but he is right about that.

Vancouver paid just over $2-million in severance to 34 non-union employees since the new ABC party was elected in late 2022, putting it at the top of the list for severance payouts among British Columbia’s biggest cities since the last civic election.

But that figure, well above the average in Vancouver, is not routinely made available in the city’s financial statements. City watchers have decried the lack of transparency and say the turbulence is one consequence of new mayors and councils wanting to make a public show of big change.

Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said talks with the Americans will continue over the coming weeks, after the two sides failed to reach a deal by Friday, which would have averted the imposition of 35-per-cent tariffs on some Canadian goods.

But a new deal in the short term isn’t likely, Mr. LeBlanc said in an interview with The Globe and Mail on Friday from Washington. He said he’ll be speaking to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick next week, and the two will meet in person later in August.

Tens of thousands of lightning strikes across British Columbia since Wednesday have created “a very dynamic” wildfire situation, with more than half the current fires started since the storms.

Emelie Peacock, an information officer with the BC Wildfire Service, said a week of dry and hot weather combined with lightning led to many new fire starts.

Ottawa is insisting it hasn’t been allowing exports of lethal weapons to Israel – days after the release of a report that says Israeli customs data indicates Canadian arms are still being exported there regularly.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Friday items that the Israel Tax Authority identified in customs data as “bullets” were actually “paintball-style projectiles” that cannot be used in combat.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is investigating after a man died and two were injured in small airplane crash near the Ottawa International Airport on Thursday.

Ottawa paramedics said emergency crews responded to a wooded area near Riverside Drive and Hunt Club Road just before 6 p.m. after reports that the small plane crashed into trees.

Alberta regulations meant to keep old coal mines from polluting streams and lakes are failing, suggests a study by government scientists.

The study says high levels of numerous contaminants are having grave outcomes for aquatic life and their ecosystems.

Unionized workers at Canada Post are due to wind up voting on the Crown corporation’s latest contract Friday afternoon.

Voting is set to wrap up at 5 p.m., with results expected to be shared shortly after.

Good morning. The average person has access to more weather data than ever before, but when this flood of data consumes us, anxiety and misinformation tend to follow. More on that below, plus Canadian aid gets airdropped into Gaza, and new wildfire evacuations in B.C. But first:

Today’s headlines

• President Donald Trump raises tariffs on some Canadian goods to 35%
• Prime Minister Mark Carney’s policy shift on Palestinian statehood is met with cautious hope and criticism by Canadians
• The Weston family sought to avoid an auction in bid to buy the Hudson’s Bay charter

Twelve years ago, near some farmland northwest of Toronto, Adam Skinner was in the passenger seat of a Toyota Corolla, unknowingly heading straight into a tornado.

An amateur storm chaser, Mr. Skinner was using weather radar data on his phone to track the menacing clouds unleashing sheets of rain. The wind was so strong, the nearby highway sign started to wiggle and fold. But the radar had a five-minute delay, so it didn’t show the funnel cloud forming behind the rain.

A teen girl found guilty of manslaughter in a deadly swarming attack on a homeless Toronto man will spend 16 months under probation with up to a year in an intensive support and supervision program.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Philip Campbell sentenced the girl this afternoon to three years, the maximum available for manslaughter in a youth case, minus 20 months of credit for the time she previously spent in custody.

The Canadian government’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state in September reflects Ottawa’s deep frustration with the Israeli government and sends a strong message that it supports a two-state solution, but analysts say it likely will have little impact without U.S. support.

Prime Minister Mark Carney made the announcement on Wednesday, saying that Canada intends to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly. He said this is predicated on the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to important reforms, including president Mahmoud Abbas’s promise to hold general elections in 2026, in which Hamas could not take part, and the demilitarization of the Palestinian state.

Reem Sultan’s uncle was killed in Gaza last December, her aunt died of malnutrition in January. Her cousin’s family of six, including children, perished when their home was bombed in May. Another cousin who went to retrieve and bury their bodies died in an air strike, killed while grieving the dead.

In all, the resident of London, Ont., has lost 15 close relatives in the Middle East conflict, but a tally of extended family members reaches closer to 100. So while Ms. Sultan welcomes the news that Canada intends to recognize the state of Palestine, she says more is needed than just words.

Canada has joined 13 other countries, including the United States, Britain and France, to denounce what they describe as threatening Iranian state activity in Europe and North America.

Thursday’s statement does not detail specific incidents but speaks of attempts by Iranian intelligence “to kill, kidnap and harass” people.

At the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in October of 1992, the police created a barrier around Paul (Sparkle) Markle and a group of Toronto Blue Jays front office workers and players’ children and wives. It was Game 4 of the American League Championship Series and after Roberto Alomar slapped a ninth-inning, game-tying homer off A’s closer Dennis Eckersley, the fans, already rowdy, began sniffing for Canadian blood. The Jays eventually won in the 11th inning.

“The police said, ‘Stay in your seat until the crowd leaves,’ because we didn’t want to get rained on with popcorn and warm beer,” says Glen Wilkie, known as Hoop, Mr. Markle’s best friend of 67 years. As Mr. Wilkie relates, the Jays’ contingent did as the police advised, but the evening wasn’t over.

A truck hauling heavy machinery down a highway in British Columbia’s dry Okanagan region caught fire Wednesday, sparking a blaze in the nearby bush that has forced nearly a thousand people from their homes.

Patrick Van Minsel, Mayor of the District of Peachland, is among them.

For several years in the mid-2000s, I worked at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, where I managed a program for keen young musicians. I had met the virtuoso bassist Gary Karr earlier in my career. I doubted he would remember me, but knowing his dedication to music education I contacted him to ask if he and his partner, the pianist and harpsichordist Harmon Lewis, would host a musical evening for some of our students.

Their generosity was beyond what I could have hoped for. The visit to Gary and Harmon’s home in Saanich, B.C., became an annual event, eagerly anticipated by the students, and also their parents who competed for the opportunity to attend along with their kids. We brought the pizza, and we were given the run of the house: We were free to try out the harp that stood in the living room, admire the works of art on the walls, and discover their many academic certificates and awards that were given pride of place – hanging in the bathroom, above the toilet.