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London, Ont., hospital accuses former CEO of failing to act on evidence of alleged $50-million contract fraud

London Health Sciences Centre alleges inflated contracts were steered to companies with ties to a former vice-president of the hospital network.

One of Ontario’s largest hospital corporations is taking the unusual step of suing its former chief executive and two senior administrators, alleging they failed to act properly when they were presented with evidence of a procurement fraud.

London Health Sciences Centre, which manages three hospitals and more than 15,000 employees, announced two lawsuits this week stemming from an investigation into an alleged $50-million fraud scheme. The hospital network alleges inflated contracts were steered to companies with ties to a former vice-president of London Health Sciences.

Residents of Quadeville, Ont., shocked to learn a human – and not an animal – may be behind injuries to eight-year-old girl

Police have charged a 17-year-old boy with attempted murder and sexual assault of an eight-year-old girl that police initially believed was an animal attack.

Up until two days ago, the residents of the tiny Ontario community of Quadeville had been on high alert. Some children were kept indoors, and parents were on the lookout for a possibly violent and unpredictable creature.

The fear stemmed from the discovery of a missing eight-year-old girl on June 24 who had been so savagely attacked, investigators warned residents that they believed it must have been an animal.

Trump threatens 35% tariffs on Canadian goods starting Aug. 1

U.S. President Donald Trump says the U.S. will impose 35 per cent tariffs on Canada starting Aug. 1 in a letter posted on his social media site Truth Social.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he would impose 35-per-cent tariffs on imports from Canada starting Aug 1, upping pressure on Ottawa as it seeks to secure a deal with the White House over the next week.

In a letter posted on his website Truth Social on Thursday evening, Mr. Trump said he would increase the tariffs that were imposed on Canada in March and currently stand at 25 per cent. Mr. Trump justified the levies as an effort to force Canada to do more to address U.S complaints about fentanyl trafficking and illegal migration.

Ten people hospitalized with measles in British Columbia as disease spreads

The B.C. Health Ministry says there have been 102 confirmed measles cases this year in province, with most involving people who were not fully immunized. 

Ten people are hospitalized with measles in British Columbia, with one active, contagious case as of July 8, the province’s Health Ministry said.

It said the infections are among 102 confirmed cases this year, with most involving people who were not fully immunized.

© Geoff Robins

A dose of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination awaits the next patient during a vaccine clinic at Southwestern Public Health in St. Thomas, Ont. on Tuesday, March 4, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Geoff Robins

Justin Bieber teases long-awaited seventh album on billboards with word ‘Swag’

Justin Bieber, pictured at the 2021 Met Gala in New York, teased his seventh album in a series of billboards and social media posts.

Justin Bieber is teasing his long-awaited seventh studio album – apparently called Swag – with a series of billboards and social media posts Thursday.

Billboards depicting Bieber were found by fans in Reykjavik, Iceland, and in Los Angeles with the word “Swag.” The singer also shared images of billboards on his official Instagram account that appeared to depict a track list that includes song names like All I Can Take, Walking Away, Dadz Love and Forgiveness.

Polaris Music Prize shortlist includes Mustafa, Nemahsis

Alt-pop singer Nemahsis arrives for the Juno Awards in Vancouver on March 30. She and Mustafa are among 10 acts shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize.

Contemporary folk-poet Mustafa, alt-pop singer Nemahsis and electronic experimentalist Marie Davidson are among the 10 acts shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize, which carries a slimmed-down cash reward this year.

Organizers say the best Canadian album winner will receive $30,000, down from $50,000, as various sponsors scale back financial contributions.

© ETHAN CAIRNS

Nemahsis arrives for the Juno Awards, in Vancouver, on Sunday, March 30, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns

Hydro-Québec suspends work at planned Labrador hydroelectric station because of protests

Protest signs in a supplied photo at the site of a tentatively planned hydroelectric development at Gull Island in Labrador on Wednesday.

Protesters have blockaded a Hydro-Québec work site at a proposed hydroelectric project in traditional Innu territory in Labrador, prompting the utility to suspend its operations in the area.

Jerome Jack was among the demonstrators gathered at the site at Gull Island on Thursday afternoon. Innu people in Labrador, he said, were not properly consulted by the Innu Nation nor Hydro-Québec about the proposed power plant.

Arctic shipping noise is silencing narwhals and shifting their movements, study finds

A pod of narwhals in 2005.

On the floe edge near Pond Inlet, in the northern part of Baffin Island, Nunavut, narwhal pods are migrating to open waters.

As landfast sea ice retreats and shifts to create passageways through open water, the ice-loving toothed whales journey into Eclipse Sound – the eastern Arctic entrance to the Northwest Passage – before venturing deeper into coastal inlets to forage for foods.

Cineplex reports $51.8-million in June box office revenue

Cineplex Inc. says its box office revenue for June totalled $51.8 million, marking the first quarter since 2019 that it topped $50 million in each month. The company says a steady stream of blockbuster titles, combined with strong demand for its premium formats drove sustained attendance and revenue growth throughout the quarter.

Alberta to ban books deemed sexually explicit from school libraries

Demetrios Nicolaides, Alberta's Minister of Education and Childcare, will require all school boards to create or update policies to restrict books the province deems sexually explicit.

Alberta has issued a ministerial order to restrict books from school libraries that the province believes are sexually explicit, instructing authorities to remove the material by October and prohibit students from accessing it.

Demetrios Nicolaides, Alberta’s Education and Childcare Minister, said Premier Danielle Smith’s government will require all school boards to create or update policies to meet the province’s new safeguards. Until now, he stressed, schools had “zero standards” to select appropriate content for libraries.

Manitoba wildfires prompt second declaration of provincewide state of emergency

A wildfire burns in northern Manitoba near Flin Flon.

Wildfires have burned through more than a million hectares of forest in Manitoba this year, prompting Premier Wab Kinew to declare a second provincewide state of emergency and call upon the military to help once again with thousands of evacuations from fly-in communities.

The province, which was under a state of emergency until late last month, made the latest declaration Thursday. More than 12,600 people across the province are now being told to leave their homes, many for the second time.

Cineplex reports $51.8-million in June box office revenue

Cineplex box office revenue for the second quarter totalled $158.5-million, up from $114.5-million last year.

Cineplex Inc. CGX-T says its box office revenue for June totalled $51.8-million, marking the first quarter since 2019 that it topped $50-million in each month.

The movie theatre company says a steady stream of blockbuster titles, combined with strong demand for its premium formats drove sustained attendance and revenue growth throughout the quarter.

From sea with love: Newfoundland couple’s message in a bottle found 13 years later on Irish shore

Brad and Anita Squires cast a message in a bottle out to sea on Bell Island in 2012 which was found Monday more than 3,000 kilometres away on a beach along the southwest coast of Ireland.

A romantic message in a bottle thrown from the cliffs of an island off Newfoundland nearly 13 years ago was found on a beach in Ireland this week – and the couple behind it are still in love.

Brad and Anita Squires had been dating for about a year when they decided to end a quiet September picnic on Bell Island in 2012 by casting a message out to sea.

Morning Update: Canada’s back-to-the-office push hits a wall

Good morning. Companies can’t seem to get the face time they want from their workers – more on that below, along with Donald Trump’s latest tariff threat and the generic Ozempic coming to Canada. But first:

Today’s headlines

© Cole Burston

It's quiet downtown.

Soldiers accused in Quebec extremist plot allegedly had night-vision gear prohibited for civilians

This RCMP handout photo shows an example of military equipment seized from four people, including active members of the Canadian Armed Forces, who are facing charges in connection with an alleged terrorist plot.

Some of the kinds of tactical gear that the RCMP alleges was in the hands of the soldiers arrested in Quebec is highly restricted and is generally inaccessible to individuals, experts say.

On Tuesday, the Mounties arrested and charged four men in connection with an alleged terrorist plot. Two are active non-commissioned army officers, one is a former soldier and the fourth a former cadet instructor.

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