The upcoming federal byelection in Battle River-Crowfoot has Jennifer Fossen in unknown territory. Fossen is the president of the Camrose & District Chamber of Commerce. In the April federal election, it held a candidate forum. Only one nominee showed up to speak to a half empty room. Three months later, Fossen is hosting another candidate forum, this time in a byelection race featuring Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, and the response is, well, off the hook. Fossen said phones at her office have been ringing constantly with people inquiring about the July 29 candidate debate. But all seats are booked and…

With the clock ticking on U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to boost tariffs on some Canadian exports to 35 per cent starting Aug. 1, Canada’s top trade negotiators are downplaying the likelihood of reaching a deal by that deadline. Dominic LeBlanc, minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, and Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., Kirsten Hillman, wrapped up two days of meetings with Republican senators. These included a brief sit-down between LeBlanc and Howard Lutnick, the U.S. secretary of commerce and Trump’s point man on tariffs.  “We’ve made progress, but we have a lot of work in front of us,” LeBlanc told reporters outside a Senate office building…

Four leading news organizations said Thursday their journalists in Gaza are facing the threat of starvation as the Israel-Hamas war grinds on, while top U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff was to meet with key negotiators from the Middle East for talks on the latest ceasefire proposal and the release of hostages. “We are desperately concerned for our journalists in Gaza, who are increasingly unable to feed themselves and their families,” said a joint statement by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Reuters and the BBC. “For many months, these independent journalists have been the world’s eyes and ears on the ground in…

North·New Mearns, who lives in Iqaluit, currently serves as senior director of Inuit relations for the Qikiqtani Inuit Association and has previously held senior positions with the government of Nunavut. Mearns’ appointment Thursday is the latest development in Canada’s new Arctic foreign policy CBC News · Posted: Jul 24, 2025 10:41 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago Virginia Mearns has been named Canada’s Arctic ambassador. She currently serves as senior director of Inuit relations at the Qikiqtani Inuit Association and has previously held senior positions with the government of Nunavut. (Virginia Mearns/Facebook) Prime Minister Mark Carney has named…

Alberta’s immigration minister says he’s concerned about the federal government’s plan this year to accept thousands of parents and grandparents of immigrants already in Canada. Joseph Schow responded Tuesday to a federal notice that Ottawa plans to take in 10,000 applications from those who have previously expressed interest in sponsoring family members. Schow took issue with the 10,000 figure. In a statement, Schow said provincial health-care systems, housing and social services don’t have the capacity and could be overwhelmed. Federal Immigration Minister Lena Diab’s office said the federal government’s actual countrywide target for approvals this year for the parent and…

There was a remarkably salient moment at a recent journalism conference in Seoul where participants from 50 countries debated climate change and its effect on both the literal and political landscape of the world. The consensus, albeit a rough one, was that the public — from Azerbaijan to Zaire — was exhausted by the issue. It was tough to get their attention and people increasingly tuned out, even though in some cases their homes had literally been blown away. As the matter was debated, the hills outside of the Journalists Association of Korea hall last spring were being ravaged by…

Prime Minister Mark Carney is meeting Inuit leaders Thursday in Inuvik, N.W.T., as he ramps up his outreach to Indigenous communities about his plan to fast-track major nation-building projects. Carney arrived on Wednesday, attending a community gathering before meeting with Inuit leadership from across northern Canada. Inuvik, one of Canada’s northernmost towns, is hosting the prime minister, several cabinet ministers and Inuit leaders for what’s known as the Inuit-Crown Partnership Committee on Thursday.  Carney and Natan Obed, the president of the national Inuit organization, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, are co-chairing the meeting, which is expected to have a heavy focus on the…

A $68-million project led by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) that was meant to revamp Canada’s outdated asylum system and enhance the integrity of the country’s borders was quietly shut down last year — an “unexpected” move for some in the government because it was only partly completed, internal documents show.  Now, some critics fear the outcomes that were achieved may be more harmful than beneficial for people seeking protection in Canada. IRCC’s “asylum interoperability project” began in 2019 and was supposed to wrap up by 2022. It came during a surge of asylum seekers entering Canada, putting pressure on an already struggling system that relied…

The Crown says it’s seeking an extraordinary sentence for an unprecedented crime, as court began hearing sentencing submissions Wednesday in the mischief case of Ottawa truck convoy leaders Tamara Lich and Chris Barber. Crown prosecutor Siobhain Wetscher asked Justice Heather Perkins-McVey to impose a prison sentence of seven years for Lich and eight years for Barber. But Barber’s lawyer called that “cruel and unusual punishment.” Instead, she argued her client should walk free with an absolute discharge. Barber was found guilty in April of mischief and counselling others to disobey a court order, while Lich was convicted of mischief alone. Wetscher admitted the…

The Canadian who died while in custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had several health concerns in the weeks leading up to his death, according to a report published on Wednesday. The report comes exactly a month after Johnny Noviello, 49, was found unresponsive at a federal detention centre in Miami. The day after Noviello was taken into ICE custody, he was diagnosed with a seizure disorder and hypertension. He was prescribed anticonvulsant and blood pressure medications, according to the report. Noviello had been in the U.S. since 1988 and became a lawful permanent resident in 1991. The Canadian citizen…