Alberta is looking to reduce the self-policing powers of elected public school boards and municipal councils. The changes are included in two bills put forward by Premier Danielle Smith's United Conservative government. In one bill, Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver proposes pulling local council's codes of conduct and also ending any related ongoing complaints or sanctions that aren't before the courts. McIver says in some cases, codes of conduct have been weaponized to silence dissent on municipal councils. In the second bill, Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides propo

An American man who abducted an Edmonton teen, took her over the U.S. border and subjected her to ``horrific sexual abuse'' has been given a 50-year prison sentence by a U.S. judge. The decision against Noah Madrano was meted in Portland, Ore., almost three years after the teen was located and Madrano was arrested by FBI agents at a hotel in the U.S. state. Earlier this year, the 43-year-old pleaded guilty to sexual abuse and kidnapping charges. The manhunt began in the summer of 2022 after the girl, then 13, failed to show up for class at her junior high school in Edmonton.

Tahawwur Rana, accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, is being extradited to India from the United States today by a joint team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). The extradition was approved by U.S. President Donald Trump during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States. Rana’s petition to halt the extradition, filed in the U.S. Supreme Court, was rejected on Monday. Rana, a childhood friend of David Headley, the mastermind behind the Mumbai attacks, was arrested by the FBI in 2009 and convicted in the U.S. for support

Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on American cars have taken effect today, potentially increasing the prices of American-made vehicles by up to 25 percent. According to Flavio Volpe, president of the Canadian Auto Parts Manufacturers Association, 60 percent of the cars purchased in Canada each year are imported from the United States. Volpe highlighted that Canada is one of the largest export markets for American-made cars, with an estimated 1.2 million vehicles imported from the United States annually. Under the rules of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), Canada has imposed a 2

Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim has been released from jail for the 13th time, despite continued opposition from Punjab’s Sikh organizations and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). This time, he has been granted a 21-day furlough. Ram Rahim’s close associate, Honeypreet, was present at Rohtak jail to receive him. After arriving in Sirsa, Ram Rahim addressed his followers through a video, stating, “I am once again present in the service of the devotees.” Reports indicate that he will participate in the 77th foundation day celebrations of the Dera, which was est

Health Minister Adriana LaGrange says Alberta's measles outbreak isn't dire enough for the province's top doctor for public health to address the public, despite mounting calls for the government to do more to stop the spread. Alberta has reported 43 cases of the highly infectious disease over the past month.The Edmonton Zone Medical Staff Association says the spread is a result of government inaction, especially around Alberta's low vaccination rates. The association is calling on the province to improve how it updates the public on the outbreak and develop a vaccination plan.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he wants to stop foreign buyers from purchasing homes in Canada. He says that if he becomes the leader, his government would fix current rules by stopping numbered companies and corporate representatives from buying homes. This ban wouldn’t apply to recreational properties like cottages and cabins. Singh also says an NDP government would tax profits made from selling a home within five years of buying it, unless it's someone’s main home. This is to prevent people from flipping houses for profit. Last year, the Liberals extended a ban on foreign homebuyers unt

British Columbia is ending a program that sent cancer patients to the United States for treatment, saying provincial wait times have improved enough that they no longer have to rely on clinics south of the border. A statement from the Ministry of Health says as of the end of February, about 93 per cent of patients are waiting less than four weeks to start their radiation treatment, an improvement from spring 2023, when that number was only 69 per cent. It says the national benchmark is 90 per cent. The province began funding as many as 50 radiation patients each week in May 2023 for treatment

The United States has imposed a hefty 104 percent tariff on Chinese imports, effective from 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday. This move follows a warning from US President Donald Trump on Monday, stating that if Beijing does not remove its retaliatory tariffs on American goods by Tuesday, existing tariffs on China would be raised further. At the same time, Trump’s press secretary, Caroline Leavitt, remarked during a press conference that the United States does not need other countries as much as other countries need the U.S. Leavitt also confirmed that 70 countries have reached out to negotiate a ta