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Romana Didulo, self-proclaimed Queen of Canada, arrested by RCMP

Romana Didulo, the self-declared 'Queen of Canada' and a leading Canadian QAnon figure, speaks on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, in February, 2022.

The self-styled Queen of Canada and 15 of her followers were arrested Wednesday after a firearms complaint prompted a predawn raid on their rural Saskatchewan compound.

Dozens of RCMP officers, some wearing SWAT gear, executed a warrant at 4:30 a.m. on a decommissioned schoolhouse in Richmound, a hamlet of just over a hundred people near Alberta, RCMP Inspector Ashley St. Germaine told a press conference later in the day.

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Western Canada shrouded in smoke as hot, dry weather fuels new wildfires

Smoke from wildfires drift over Vancouver, B.C., on Wednesday.

Residents across Western Canada were urged to limit outdoor exposure on Wednesday as hot, dry weather stoked new and growing wildfires, blanketing dozens of communities with smoke from the West Coast to Saskatchewan.

About 3.5 million people in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley are advised to seek time in spaces with air filtration or air conditioning to avoid breathing fine particulate matter.

© Jimmy Jeong

Vlad Charvat and spouse Helena Charvat enjoy the last days of summer while smoke from wildfires drift over the city in Vancouver, B.C., on September 03, 2025. Jimmy Jeong/The Globe and Mail.
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RCMP arrest 16 at Saskatchewan conspiracy compound, including Romana Didulo

RCMP say 16 people, including self-proclaimed 'Queen of Canada' Romana Didulo, were arrested Sept. 3 in Richmound, Sask., at a former school occupied by followers of the 'Kingdom of Canada' group. Insp. Ashley St. Germaine says Mounties had learned that a person was in possession of a firearm at the property and an operations team was organized to execute a search warrant.

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Alberta chiefs say AFN has no mandate to decide fate of infrastructure projects

From left, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, Chief Abram Benedict, and Chief Francis Verreault-Paul listen as delegates speak at the AFN's national assembly in Winnipeg on Wednesday.

Several Indigenous leaders from Alberta are warning the Assembly of First Nations not to step on individual First Nations’ authority, treaty rights and jurisdiction to determine the outcome of national infrastructure projects.

In a letter dated Tuesday and addressed to chiefs attending the AFN’s national assembly, the Alberta chiefs say resolutions proposed by some of their colleagues present “significant risks” to their jurisdiction.

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Alberta law society disbars Calgary lawyers who had Manitoba judge followed

John Carpay, president of the Calgary-based Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, in 2012. Mr. Carpay and another lawyer have been disbarred by the Law Society of Alberta.

The Law Society of Alberta has disbarred lawyer John Carpay, a conservative legal activist and president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms who in 2021 helped arrange the undercover surveillance of a top Manitoba judge.

The Calgary-based Justice Centre helps fund an array of legal challenges across Canada, including this year’s Federal Court case against then-prime-minister Justin Trudeau’s prorogation of Parliament. The Justice Centre lost and an appeal is underway at the Federal Court of Appeal.

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Saskatchewan residents who refused to flee wildfire fought flames to save their homes and cabins

Lac La Ronge, Sask., during the Pisew wildfire. Some residents of nearby Wadin Bay, who disobeyed orders to evacuate, fled to the water several times over multiple days as they fought the fire.

Terry Holowach knew the fire was coming when dense smoke eclipsed the sunlight. It was an ominous sign of what was to come: Residents would soon battle the Pisew wildfire to save their homes, defying an order to evacuate.

Earlier that day in June, the regional government agency directed residents of Wadin Bay – a small cottage community on Lac La Ronge, around 400 kilometres north of Saskatoon – to leave the area because of the out-of-control wildfire. It was one among dozens of fires burning in the province, forcing evacuations and prompting officials to declare a state of emergency the week before.

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Ontario tow-truck drivers ousted by province’s rules ask Ford for appeal process

Longtime tow-truck drivers André Thibault, left, and Sean Ramsay both lost their tow-truck certificates under new rules imposed by the Ontario government.

André Thibault thought he had left his past behind him. After he was caught carrying cocaine back in 1999, Mr. Thibault pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and spent 16 months in jail.

After his release, he stayed out of trouble. He drove tow trucks for the next two decades, finding refuge in an industry that gave him a stable life, allowing him to support his son and aging mother, who live with him in his Ottawa home.

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Impresario Harvey Glatt brought fabled musical artists to Ottawa

Ottawa music impresario Harvey Glatt, who died on Aug. 20, at age 91, played an oversized role in turning the country’s sleepy capital city from a cultural desert into a musically vibrant place.

As a retailer, concert promoter, artist manager, label owner, record distributor and patron of the arts, Harvey Glatt enlivened Ottawa's music scene for decades.

The son of scrap metal merchants, he was a music fanatic who began reading music trade journals as a 13-year-old. In 1957, he co-founded the Treble Clef record store, a retail outlet devoted solely to music at a time when vinyl was typically sold in department stores or distributed by mail through record clubs. The initial shop grew to a chain of 15 locations, earning Mr. Glatt the unofficial title of Sam The Record Man of the Ottawa Valley.

Arnold Gosewich (left) and Harvey Glatt. Credit: Bill King Photography
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Homicide investigation launched after house fire in Richmond Hill leaves 11-year-old girl dead

Initial investigation indicates the fire at the house in Richmond Hill was an arson, York Region police say.

A suspected arson at a home in Richmond Hill, Ont., that left an 11-year-old girl dead and four others critically injured is now being investigated as a homicide, York Region police said Wednesday.

Police said they were called to the scene on Skywood Drive just before 3 a.m. on Monday after a report of a house fire. Four unconscious residents were found inside the home while a fifth was found outside, and all of them were taken to hospital in critical condition.

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Metro Vancouver issues air-quality warning as wildfire smoke envelopes large parts of B.C.

The heavy haze hanging over the Vancouver area is expected to last for a few days and people have been advised to avoid or limit outdoor activity.

The Metro Vancouver Regional District has issued an air-quality warning for the Lower Mainland as a dense shroud of wildfire smoke descends over large parts of British Columbia.

Environment Canada has expanded air-quality advisories to more than 30 locations including the Vancouver area and Fraser Valley, as well as most of the B.C. Interior and the northeast.

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Government workers’ strike continues in B.C., hobbling Surrey’s driver licensing services

B.C. public sector workers have been dealing with decades of wage stagnation and a spike in the cost of living.

The range of British Columbia public service staff that could potentially be impacted by job action that began this week is wide, from scientists and social workers to liquor and cannabis distribution and retail staff.

But a labour expert says the BC General Employees’ Union’s actions have so far been limited to allow for an “escalating strategy” to force the government’s hand in negotiations.

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Ontario doctor fined for breaching privacy rules to offer circumcision services

Dr. Omar Afandi used his electronic health record access privileges at Windsor Regional Hospital to look for parents of newborn boys to solicit their business, Ontario’s information and privacy commissioner wrote in a report.

Ontario’s information and privacy commissioner has ordered a Windsor doctor and his private clinic to pay thousands of dollars in fines for privacy breaches in a case she calls a “cautionary tale” for other health startups.

Commissioner Patricia Kosseim wrote in a recent decision that a doctor with privileges at Windsor Regional Hospital used his electronic health record access there to look for parents of newborn boys and contact them to offer circumcisions at a clinic he partly owns.

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Man killed in Vaughan home invasion remembered as a ‘hero’

Vaughan mayor Steven Del Duca, left, speaks during a press conference on Wednesday with Naeem Farooqi, the brother of Abdul Aleem Farooqi, who was killed in a home invasion on Aug. 31.

The brother of a man who was fatally shot in his Vaughan, Ont., home during a home invasion described him as “a hero who died defending his family,” as he and the city’s mayor called for changes to Canada’s criminal justice system.

Police said Wednesday that Abdul Aleem Farooqi, 46, died from gunshot wounds after at least three male suspects broke into his home around 1 a.m. on Aug. 31.

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The U.S. is no longer a safe harbour for domestic violence refugees, but crossing into Canada is often impossible

Claudia Ensuncho Martinez’s right forearm is tattooed with a feather, its spine formed by the white scar stretching from her wrist to elbow.

On a sweltering day last August, Ms. Ensuncho Martinez arrived at the Canadian border, fleeing the man who inflicted that scar. After the journey from Colombia by boat, by foot, by bus and by train, the Rainbow Bridge was a portal to a new life.

© Sara Stathas

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Quebec wants judge to declare Northvolt branch insolvent

The Quebec government says Northvolt owes more than $260-million on a government loan and wants to withdraw nearly $200-million from frozen accounts to pay down the debt.

The Quebec government wants a judge to declare insolvent the North American branch of Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt, as the province attempts to recoup some of its losses on a failed electric-vehicle battery project.

Documents filed in Quebec Superior Court on Tuesday say that Northvolt Batteries North America owes more than $260 million on a government loan that allowed the company to buy land near Montreal to build a $7-billion battery plant.

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First Nations leaders meet in Winnipeg to discuss major projects legislation

AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak has said the assembly this week would hear diverse opinions on the bill.

The countrywide push for major projects won’t happen without First Nations at the table, the Assembly of First Nations warned government and industry Wednesday, as its annual summer gathering began in Winnipeg.

“We can all agree on this: that progress cannot come at the cost of our rights, our treaties or our responsibilities to the land,” Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson told those gathered in Winnipeg.

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