Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is dismissing a report into last year’s wildfires around Jasper National Park after surveyed firefighters said the work of crews was impeded by the provincial government.

In a statement Friday, Ms. Smith played down findings from the report, which was commissioned by the municipality of Jasper, and examined perspectives from firefighters and other people involved in the effort against the wind-whipped conflagrations that devastated at least one-third of the buildings in the town.

Chevron CVX-N has scored a critical ruling in Paris that has given it the go-ahead for a $53 billion acquisition of Hess HES-N and access to one of the biggest oil finds of the decade.

Chevron said Friday that it completed its acquisition of Hess shortly after the ruling from the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris. Exxon XOM-N had challenged Chevron’s bid for Hess, one of three companies with access to the massive Stabroek Block oil field off the coast of Guyana.

An Alberta woman who filed a human rights complaint after being turned away at a clinic for an ultrasound says she hopes her recent win paves the way for better accommodations for disabled patients.

Stephanie Chipeur complained to the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal after the Calgary diagnostics clinic refused to schedule her for an appointment in 2021 unless she had a caretaker also attend to lift her from her wheelchair onto an exam table.

A surge in the number of orca sightings in Vancouver's waters is helping create a community of urban wildlife aficionados, who go online to track the whales and share their experiences. Experts say the long-term recovery of seals and sea lions after the end of widespread culls around 1970 is behind the rise in orca sightings.

Good morning. A new park that will be unveiled tomorrow in Toronto is an ambitious example of moving rivers to bring civic imagination to public spaces. More on that below, plus catching up on First Nation leaders meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Bill C-5 and Ukraine’s cabinet shuffle. But first:

Today’s headlines

• Documents used to assess asylum and deportation cases omit Trump’s edicts on gender, deportations and detention
• Hedge funds sort out winners and losers as Couche-Tard’s bid to buy 7-Eleven owner collapses
• The British government has announced plans to lower voting age to 16 in national elections

© Sammy Kogan

First Nations leaders have opposed both the federal government’s Bill C-5 and Ontario’s Bill 5, pieces of legislation that would allow the two governments extraordinary powers to ignore existing laws – including environmental regulations – to fast-track megaprojects such as mines or pipelines.

They say the two bills run roughshod over the constitutional requirement that governments consult First Nations about development on their traditional territories. A group of nine First Nations in Ontario launched a constitutional challenge this week of both Ontario’s and Canada’s bills.

On a sunny July afternoon, the Don River flowed into Toronto Harbour. Its banks were lined with lake sedge, switchgrass and Canada anemone. Paths and bridges laced through the landscape, which looked as if they had always been there.

In fact, this stretch of river and its surrounding lands − now known as Biidaasige Park − are entirely manufactured. They are not a work of nature but a feat of civic imagination.

They are the product of a $1.5-billion effort known as the Port Lands Flood Protection Project, which has redrawn the mouth of the Don and conjured vast new public spaces from what had long been a civic afterthought.

© Sammy Kogan

Funding for a nine-year-old girl who has an extremely rare neurodegenerative disease has been restored by the British Columbia government.

Health Minister Josie Osborne said Thursday that she has reinstated the funding for Charleigh Pollock for the drug Brineura, which costs about $1 million a year.

The commanding officer of the Cameron Highlanders, an Ottawa reservist unit, has been temporarily removed from his position in the aftermath of a controversy involving soldiers who are alleged to have posted racist comments and sexual images in a private Facebook group.

Army commander Lieutenant-General Michael Wright said in a statement released to media Thursday that he was taking steps to address the “inappropriate behaviour” of Canadian Army members involved in the “Blue Hackle Mafia” Facebook group.

A report into a wildfire that devastated the Rocky Mountain resort town of Jasper last summer says crews did their best but command and control was hampered by the Alberta government.

The report was commissioned by the town and surveyed participants and firefighters who battled the wind-whipped blaze that destroyed a third of buildings in the community located in Jasper National Park.

Alberta’s Auditor-General says the provincial government has not done the work to ensure daycares getting public funds use them to lower fees for parents or top up staff wages.

Doug Wylie, in a report released Thursday, says without proper verification, Alberta could be overcompensating operators with federal and provincial funds meant to lower the average cost of daycare to $10 per day.

“There is a risk that public funds may not be used as intended – leading to parents overpaying for child-care and educators being under-compensated,” the report says.

© JASON FRANSON

Canada and New Zealand have reached a “mutually satisfactory” resolution to a long-running dispute over access for dairy products, the federal government said in a statement on Thursday.

“This agreement, negotiated in close consultation with Canadian dairy stakeholders, will result in certain minor policy changes to Canada’s TRQ (tariff rate quotas) administration, and does not amend Canada’s market access commitments,” International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu and Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald said in a statement.

Via Rail says new collective agreements have been ratified with about 2,500 unionized workers. 

The agreements with Unifor’s council 4000 and Local 100 cover the period from the start of this year through to the end of 2027. 

Ontario’s police watchdog says it found no grounds to lay a criminal charge against a Thunder Bay officer who approved the cancellation of a domestic disturbance call hours before a woman was found dead in a home.

The Special Investigations Unit has released a report on its investigation into the death of 21-year-old Jenna Ostberg, who the agency said was found without vital signs in a closet in her boyfriend’s bedroom on Dec. 30, 2023. 

The number of confirmed measles cases in New Brunswick’s south-central region has more than doubled over the past 24 hours.

Public health officials say there are 13 confirmed cases of the contagious infection in Sussex, N.B., up from five on Wednesday.

Dr. Kimberley Barker, regional medical officer of health for Sussex, said earlier in the week she suspected there could be more cases because some infected people could simply stay home and not seek medical attention.

© Christian Chavez

Canada forward Olivia Smith has become the most expensive player in women's soccer history. Arsenal has signed her from Liverpool at a reported £1-million ($1.85-million). The 20-year-old from Whitby, Ont., has rapidly risen since developing in the U.S. college system.

The 17-year-old accused of the attack in Quadeville, Ont., of an eight-year-old girl, whose injuries were initially believed to have been caused by an animal, made a brief appearance in a Pembroke court on Thursday.

The accused, whose identity is protected under Ontario’s Youth Criminal Justice Act, has been charged with attempted murder and sexual assault with a weapon on a person under 16 years old.

The search of a Winnipeg-area landfill for the remains of two slain First Nations women has concluded with a new search soon set to begin at a different site for another victim.

The Manitoba government announced Thursday that crews finished looking last week through the Prairie Green landfill, just north of Winnipeg, for remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran. They were among four First Nations women murdered by serial killer Jeremy Skibicki in 2022.

Quebec restaurant owners can now charge a fee to people who make a reservation but don’t show up.

Under new rules in effect on Thursday, restaurants can charge up to $10 for each no-show.

An association representing Quebec restaurant owners has estimated that no-shows cost the average eatery about $49,000 per year.

© Graham Hughes

The Bank of Canada and most other federal Crown corporations will be looking to trim their budgets over the coming years alongside a wider government effort to cut costs.

A spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday that the central bank “intends to align with the spirit and objectives” of the Liberal government’s cost-cutting plans.

The day before the suspected hijacking of a light aircraft triggered a security scare at Vancouver’s airport this week, former commercial pilot Shaheer Cassim posted on social media that he was a “messenger of Allah” sent to save humanity from climate change.

A 39-year-old man with the same name has now been charged with hijacking, constituting terrorism, over the incident on Tuesday that saw Norad scramble F-15 fighter jets before the light plane safely landed.

© DARRYL DYCK

British Columbia’s cabinet has been reworked in what Premier David Eby says is a strategic shift in order to focus on jobs and the economy.

Former housing minister Ravi Kahlon takes over as minister responsible for jobs from Diana Gibson, who moves into the citizens’ services role previously held by George Chow.

A new analysis by the national housing agency estimates Canada could add 30,000 more housing starts annually by eliminating interprovincial trade barriers.

That would push the total number of annual housing starts close to 280,000 over time, which would represent a “meaningful step towards fixing Canada’s housing supply gap,” Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said in a report Thursday.

A landmark meeting between Mark Carney and First Nations leaders ended the way it began Thursday, with a divergence of views on display that signalled a long road ahead for the Prime Minister’s plan to fast-track major projects.

Some leaders emerged with a sense that Mr. Carney had listened thoughtfully to their points of view.

Police say a man is dead after a morning shooting at a Toronto mall parking lot.

Toronto police say they responded to a call just after 6 a.m. in the area of Highway 401 and Dufferin Street near Yorkdale Shopping Centre.

Good morning. Canada built a boatload of new condos that nobody wants to buy now – more on that below, along with Mark Carney’s hopes for a deal on softwood lumber and Genie Bouchard’s last tennis match. But first:

Today’s headlines

• Carney cracks down further on cheap steel imports in a bid to protect domestic mills
• A federal judge halts the deportation of a non-binary American because of Trump’s gender edicts
• 7-Eleven’s owner staves off a Canadian takeover, but its struggles remain as its shares fall

© Sammy Kogan

After receiving a warm welcome and widespread support just 24 hours earlier, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith faced a more vocally critical and frustrated crowd as she and her hand-picked panel members assembled in Edmonton for the second of a series of summer town halls.

“We sound like bratty children,” said Roberta Stasyk, a resident of Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., who was one of many speakers who showed up to voice their frustration.

A man charged with hijacking a light plane at Victoria International Airport and flying it to Vancouver had an “ideological motive to disrupt airspace” and seized control of the aircraft after threatening a flight instructor, RCMP said Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for the Public Prosecution Service of Canada said a charge of hijacking had been filed in Richmond, B.C., constituting a “terrorist activity” and a “terrorist offence” under two sections of the Criminal Code.

© DARRYL DYCK

Mounties say a pink blanket, found on a gravel road near the home of Jack and Lilly Sullivan on day one of the search for the missing Nova Scotia children, is one of a variety of seized items that is being forensically examined as part of an “intensive” and “deliberate” major crime investigation.

In an update Wednesday, the Northeast Nova RCMP Major Crime Unit said family confirmed the pink blanket belonged to Lilly, 6, who mysteriously disappeared along with her brother Jack, 4, from their home in Lansdowne more than two months ago.

Clement Virgo’s new psychological thriller and Rian Johnson’s latest Knives Out mystery will be among the world premieres lighting up the 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival.

Unionized Canada Post workers will get a chance to vote directly on the employer’s offers for a new collective agreement starting on Monday.

The Canada Industrial Relations Board will run the vote between July 21 and Aug. 1.

A teen girl accused of lighting a fellow high school student on fire last year will be tried by judge alone, a Saskatoon court heard Wednesday.

Saskatchewan Court of King’s Bench Justice Mona Dovell made the decision after it was requested by the girl’s lawyer.

Court also heard the girl plans to be assessed by a psychiatrist before a trial date is set.

© Liam Richards

The Montreal-Trudeau International Airport and surrounding area is set to undergo a $10-billion transformation over the next decade.

The airport authority for the greater Montreal area says it has negotiated a $1-billion loan from the Canada Infrastructure Bank to support its plan for the city’s main air hub.

Canadian tennis star Eugenie Bouchard, who climbed to No. 5 in the WTA rankings during a breakout 2014 season, will retire from the sport at this year’s National Bank Open in Montreal.

The Hamilton and District Labour Council is hoping to right a century-old grievance between the city it represents and the NHL.

The labour council demanded the NHL apologize on Wednesday for its treatment of players on the now-defunct Hamilton Tigers when they tried to engage in collective action during the 1924-25 season. Anthony Marco, the council’s president, said that when the Tigers went on strike to get better pay, they were engaging in a struggle that resonates to this day.

“We’ve got labour strife happening at a provincial level, at a federal level, at an international level, and this is a good reminder of the fact that 100 years ago, some of the basic things that these players were fighting for still exist today,” said Marco. “It’s a reflection, in my mind, on how gig work is going these days, that people are being expected to work without pay, our people are being expected to work with very little pay.”

The income gap between the country’s highest and lowest income households reached a record high in the first quarter of 2025, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.

The agency said the difference in the share of disposable income between households in the top 40 per cent of the income distribution and the bottom 40 per cent grew to 49 percentage points in the first three months of the year.

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts says a Pablo Picasso painting that was vandalized last month by climate activists is back on display.

An environmental activist with Last Generation Canada smeared washable paint on the 1901 painting The Hetaera on June 19.

The union representing Canada Revenue Agency employees is warning that Ottawa’s push for cost savings will disproportionately affect the employment of call centre workers, resulting in poorer service for Canadian taxpayers.

Since May, 2024, the CRA has reduced its work force by more than 10 per cent, shedding more than 8,000 jobs, many of which were contract workers at call centres across the country.

RCMP say they are running forensic analysis on items, including a pink blanket, found during their search for two children who went missing in northeastern Nova Scotia.

Six-year-old Lilly Sullivan and four-year-old Jack Sullivan disappeared on May 2 from their home in Lansdowne Station.

Prime Minister Mark Carney says securing a truce in the long-running Canada-U.S. softwood-lumber dispute is a top priority as Canadian producers brace for even heftier U.S. levies as early as September.

Mr. Carney said he hopes this could be part of an overall agreement to end the trade war with the United States – a deal he conceded earlier this week would likely not remove all of President Donald Trump’s tariffs from Canadian goods.

The wildfires that are flaring up across Canada again are one of the reasons public safety should be added to CBC/Radio-Canada’s mandate, a new report from a research centre at McGill University argues.

The report says other public media around the world are incorporating national emergency preparedness and crisis response into their role, and recommends that aspect of the CBC’s mandate be formalized and strengthened.

Ottawa is cracking down further on imports of foreign steel into Canada to help Canadian mills that have effectively been shut out of the U.S. market by President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Less than a month ago, the federal government announced that steelmakers from countries such as China and Turkey that don’t have free-trade agreements with Canada will face tariffs of 50 per cent if they ship volumes into Canada that go above 100 per cent of 2024 levels.

Toronto Blue Jays Vladimir Guerrero Junior and Alejandro Kirk were a part of Major League Baseball All-Star Game history at Truist Park. Tied 6-6 after nine innings, the National League beat the Jays and their fellow American League stars 4-3 in the first-ever home run swing-off.

The Giller Prize will be forced to shut down at the end of this year without federal funding, according to the Giller Foundation.

The annual $100,000 award for fiction, the richest in Canada, is in dire financial straits after its decades-long partnership with Bank of Nova Scotia ended prematurely earlier this year. The Globe and Mail has learned the Giller Foundation is in the process of appealing to the federal government for funds.

Three people were killed and two others seriously injured in a two-vehicle crash Tuesday evening in Pickering, Ont.

Ontario Provincial Police said Wednesday the head-on collision involving two SUVs occurred on Highway 7 at Concession Road 6 around 7 p.m.

The income gap between the country’s highest and lowest income households reached a record high in the first quarter of 2025, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.

The agency said the difference in the share of disposable income between households in the top 40 per cent of the income distribution and the bottom 40 per cent grew to 49 percentage points in the first three months of the year. 

The mayor of Brampton, Ont., says a threat against him and his family that prompted police protection and triggered an arrest was allegedly sent in an e-mail from an international server.

“They just said, ‘We’re going to come and kill you and your wife and your son,’” Mayor Patrick Brown told The Globe and Mail.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the annual pace of housing starts in June edged up 0.4 per cent compared to May.

The national housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts amounted to 283,734 units in June, up from 282,705 in May.

Cogeco Inc. CCA-T says its Canadian wireless launch is underway with the first group of customers already on the service.

The company says it plans to cover 12 Canadian markets in parts of Ontario and Quebec over the coming weeks.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and her hand-picked panel heard from several Albertans Tuesday who argued the only way to get the province a fair deal from Ottawa is to leave confederation.

The event in Red Deer was the first in a series of town halls to address public concerns with the federal government.