The Alberta government says a longtime lawyer and recent provincial policy advisor has been tapped to head its new involuntary drug treatment system. Earlier this year, Premier Danielle Smith's government passed legislation to create the new system, which allows people to be forced into addiction treatment facilities without their consent. The legislation allows family members, health-care professionals, police or peace officers to apply for a treatment order from a provincial commission led by Jonathan Carlzon. The province says Carlzon has more than 20 years of experience as a lawy

The wildfire threat is worsening in northern Manitoba, prompting alerts and evacuations for at least two more communities. Garden Hill First Nation, with a population of about 3,000, is being threatened by fire. Eleanor Olszewski, the federal minister for emergency management, says Ottawa has approved Manitoba's request for armed forces support and evacuations in the Garden Hill area are underway. The Town of Snow Lake has also issued a mandatory evacuation order and is telling its 1,000 residents to stay with friends or family or at a shelter 600 kilometres south in Winnipeg. Mayor Ron Scott

Alberta's education minister is set to provide an update today on the development of new provincial rules for school library books. Demetrios Nicolaides announced in May that Alberta would be setting new standards for the books. He said the review came after his ministry became aware of four coming-of-age graphic novels in school libraries in Edmonton and Calgary. Nicolaides said each of the books contained inappropriate content, including graphic sexual material as well as depictions of molestation, drug and alcohol use. A government survey on the topic launched after Nicolaides' anno

Vancouver's city council has voted unanimously to reduce the speed limit on local streets to 30 kilometres per hour, down from the provincially mandated 50 kilometres per hour. The city says in a release that the vote "sets the stage" for the phased introduction of the new limit on residential streets without a centre line. It says new signage will be installed in 25 "neighbourhood slow zones" over the next three years, with other neighbourhoods being added later subject to budget allocations. The city says lowering the speed limit on local residential streets can reduce pedestrian fatality ra

The Quebec government says it won't accept new applications from residents who want to sponsortheir spouses, common-law partners or adult children for immigration until next year. The Immigration department says in a news release that it has reached its cap for sponsorship in those categories. As a result, the families of those immigrants would have to wait until June 25, 2026 to apply. The government announced last year that it would process a maximum of 13,000 family applications from immigrants seeking to reunite with relatives over the two-year period from June 2024 to 2026, after approvin

The $27.5-million Bear Creek Stadium in Surrey has officially opened. It has a seating capacity of 2,200. Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke said in a press release that once it receives Class 2 facility certification, Bear Creek Stadium will be able to host high-profile events such as the World Athletics Continental Tour and Challenger Series. The mayor said the stadium will attract other groups to host games there. “We’ve already had some people make inquiries,” she said. Locke said it will be a huge benefit to the city. Surrey will also have a 10,000-seat stadium, with construction expect

Alberta has the most measles cases in North America on a per-capita basis, worrying experts who say summer events could push case counts even higher. The province's former chief medical officer of health Dr.Mark Joffe says that's twice the rate of confirmed cases in Ontario. Ontario has been deemed Canada's epicentre of the outbreak in absolute case numbers, reporting 1,910 confirmed infections since its outbreak began in October, but with a population three times the size as Alberta. Alberta reported yesterday that 1,230 people have been infected with the highly contagious disea

One of two student pilots killed in a mid-air crash south of Steinbach, Man., has been identified as a man from India. The consulate general of India in Toronto, in a social media post, identifies the man as Sreehari Sukesh. The consulate office says it's in contact with the man's family, the pilot training school and local police. The crash happened Tuesday morning about 400 metres from a runway used by Harv's Air pilot school. Adam Penner, president of the company, has said the two pilots were in small single-engine Cessna planes and appeared to try to land at the same time.

Richmond RCMP has launched a new fraud awareness campaign to educate the public about investment scams, a growing threat that costs residents millions of dollars annually. At the center of the campaign is a newly released video that educates the public on how scammers operate and provides practical tips on how recognize their tactics to avoid falling victim. The video pulls from real examples, using engaging visuals and commentary from an officer on how to spot red flags. The video lists three common investment scam tactics: Scam Trick #1: They claim you’ll make big money with little or no r