Mount Pearl has announced that nominations are now open for the 35th annual Focus on Youth Awards.

The awards are an opportunity to showcase young individuals who have demonstrated excellence in arts, sports, volunteerism, science, and more.

Nominations will be accepted until April 4. Awards will be presented at the Glacier Arena on May 14

Awards are presented in the categories of Youth of the Year, Youth in Service Award, Youth Volunteer of the Year, Youth Athlete of the Year, Youth Sports Team of the Year, Youth Group of the Year, Performing Arts Recognition – Group, Performing Arts Recognition – Individual, Youth Visual Arts Award, Youth STEM Award, and Youth Literary Arts Award.

Canadians are gradually waking up to the importance of Arctic security and sovereignty, but the country’s political leaders still seem a bit groggy.

Three federal party leaders have come to Iqaluit since Feb. 10 to spell out their plans to protect Arctic security and sovereignty. But their plans still need some work before they’re fully formed.

The uncertain world we live in has pushed Canada’s Arctic to the top of the political agenda. An aggressive Russia, an influence-seeking China, and an unpredictable United States are forcing Canadian politicians to tackle Arctic issues head on.

The Macdonald-Laurier Institute think tank in Ottawa cautioned this week that Canada is “sleepwalking into Arctic irrelevance.”

In a commentary, researcher Alexander Dalziel called it “urgent” for Canadian leaders to “think Arctic” when developing defence and foreign policies.

“It is urgent because, to keep it stable and peaceful, status quo actions no longer are enough,” Dalziel wrote.

Ignoring the Arctic increases the likelihood of Canada’s adversaries attempting “destabilizing actions” there, he added.

You don’t need a crystal ball to see that the Arctic will play a big role in the 2025 federal election — whether that’s in the spring or in October.

Prime Minister Mark Carney ­— on the fifth day in his new job — popped into Iqaluit on Tuesday to spell out the Liberal government’s plan for the Arctic.

Amid the unravelling of the traditional Canada-U.S. relationship and the need to shore up ties with historical allies the United Kingdom and France, Carney made it a priority to signal where he stands on the Arctic. It includes an operational support hub in Nunavut and hundreds of millions of dollars to beef up a military presence in the North.

Six weeks ago, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was in Nunavut, promising to build a full-fledged military base in Iqaluit — Canadian Forces Base Iqaluit — if his party forms the government.

That base would be operational within two years of the Conservatives coming to power, he said. That seems like an ambitious target, considering sealift and construction season limitations in the North, as well as the demand for construction workers everywhere.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was in Iqaluit last weekend with his vision for defending Canada’s interests in the Arctic.

Singh cited the “dangerous times” we live in as the need to establish a military base in Iqaluit. Even the NDP — historically rooted in pacifism — promises to meet Canada’s NATO commitment of spending two per cent of its GDP defence … by 2032.

This sudden attention on defence risks overshadowing the ongoing challenges northerners deal with, including housing and the affordability of food. Not only do leaders need to “think Arctic” in terms of defence and foreign policies, they must not forget to “think Arctic” when it comes to domestic social and economic policies.

With an election call likely within days, Nunatsiaq News pledges to “think Arctic” in its coverage and give sovereignty and security the attention it deserves — and is demanding — during the campaign.

The federal Green Party says its deputy leader – Angela Davidson, known as Rainbow Eyes – will be the party's NWT candidate in the coming federal election.

A 45-year-old man was arrested and charged with trafficking in cocaine following a traffic stop on the province’s west coast.

RNC stopped the man’s vehicle on the South Shore Highway in Corner Brook on Thursday as part of an ongoing investigation.

Police say the driver was found in possession of approximately two ounces of cocaine.

He was arrested and released to appear on a charge of possession for the purpose of trafficking in cocaine.

RNC say further charges are possible as the investigation continues.

Celebrate a senior in your life or community today by nominating them for a Seniors of Distinction Award.

Nominations are now open for the 2025 Seniors of Distinction Awards, which honours and celebrates the many contributions and achievements of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. Whether it be enhancing their community, strengthening the local economy, or lending a helping hand to a neighbour or organization – seniors across the province enrich all aspects of Newfoundland and Labrador.

To be eligible, a senior must be:

• nominated by an individual or group
• 50 years of age or older
• a current or past resident of Newfoundland and Labrador

Nominations will be considered for individuals, for both voluntary and paid work, and posthumous awards may be given. Nominations from previous years can be reconsidered at the request of the nominator or nominee.

Please note, the deadline for submissions is Friday, May 9, 2025.

Nomination packages can be found here. Have a question on how to fill out a form or wondering what to include in your nomination? Please touch base by calling toll-free 1-888-494-2266.

Saint John is already expected to be Canada's hardest-hit city in the forthcoming trade war — in large part because of the oil industry's immense cross-border market.

Rob Frith had expected that the old tape labelled 'Beatles 60s demos' was a bootleg tape with poor sound quality. But when he and a friend played the tape late one night, they heard something special.

Saskatchewan's government is projecting a small surplus. But is that realistic given the trade wars with the U.S. and China? The political panel joined the morning edition to discuss the 2025 provincial budget and what the upcoming spring session will look like. This week's panel featured Regina Leader-Post columnist Murray Mandryk, Canadian Press reporter Jeremy Simes and Morning Edition host Adam Hunter.

Evo will bring extended hours, a food menu, new programming, and greater access. Queer historian Ron Byers said it’ll be the first of its kind for the city, and a far cry from Edmonton’s first gay bar.

Employees at Memorial University are calling on the provincial government to increase funding following news that MUN is facing a deficit of $8.9 million in their upcoming budget.

CUPE Local 1615 is calling for immediate action to protect the province’s only public university.   

A recent report from the Auditor General identified concerns in a 2014 audit in which recommendations were made to the Province to have a long term plan to address crumbling infrastructure.

CUPE says over ten years later, the same issues not only remain but are increasing in urgency.  

CUPE 1615 represents Administrative, Instructional, Technical, and Technical Support Staff at the St. John’s, Signal Hill, Grenfell, and Labrador campuses.

Folk on the Rocks star, Toronto artist and Cabin Radio playlist stalwart Skye Wallace played an acoustic set on Mornings at the Cabin. Listen here.

WASHINGTON (AP) — With massive job cuts, the National Weather Service is eliminating or reducing vital weather balloon launches in eight northern locations, which meteorologists and former agency leaders said will degrade the accuracy of forecasts just as severe weather season kicks in.

The normally twice-daily launches of weather balloons in about 100 locations provide information that forecasters and computer models use to figure out what the weather will be and how dangerous it can get, so cutting back is a mistake, said eight different scientists, meteorologists and former top officials at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — the weather service’s parent agency.

The balloons soar 100,000 feet in the air with sensors called radiosondes hanging about 20 feet below them that measure temperature, dew point, humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed and direction.

“The thing about weather balloons is that they give you information you can’t get any other way,” said D. James Baker, a former NOAA chief during the Clinton administration. He had to cut spending in the agency during his tenure but he said he refused to cut observations such as weather balloons. “It’s an absolutely essential piece of the forecasting system.”

University of Oklahoma environment professor Renee McPherson said, “This frankly is just dangerous.”

“Bad,” Ryan Maue, who was NOAA’s chief scientist at the end of President Donald Trump’s first term, wrote in an email. “We should not degrade our weather system by skipping balloon launches. Not only is this embarrassing for NOAA, the cessation of weather balloon launches will worsen America’s weather forecasts.”

Launches will be eliminated in Omaha, Nebraska, and Rapid City, South Dakota, “due to a lack of Weather Forecast Office (WFO) staffing,” the weather service said in a notice issued late Thursday. It also is cutting from twice daily to once daily launches i n Aberdeen, South Dakota; Grand Junction, Colorado; Green Bay, Wisconsin; Gaylord, Michigan; North Platte, Nebraska and Riverton, Wyoming.

The Trump administration and its Department of Government Efficiency fired hundreds, likely more than 1,000, NOAA workers earlier this year. The government then sent out letters telling probationary employees let go that they will get paid, but should not report to work.

Earlier this month, the agency had announced weather balloon cuts in Albany, New York and Gray, Maine, and in late February, it ended launches in Kotzebue, Alaska. That makes 11 announced sites with reduced or eliminated balloon observations, or about one out of nine launch locations which include part of the Pacific and Caribbean.

Among regularly reporting weather stations, NOAA had averaged about only one outage of balloon launches a day from 2021 to 2024, according to an Associated Press analysis of launch data.

Meteorologists Jeff Masters and Tomer Burg calculate that 14 of 83 U.S. balloon sites, or 17%, are doing partial or no launches. That includes two stations that aren’t launching because of a helium shortage and a third that is hindered because of coastal erosion.

“The more data we can feed into our weather models, the more accurate our forecasts, but I can’t speculate on the extent of future impacts,” weather service spokesperson Susan Buchanan said in an email.

University at Albany meteorology professor Kristen Corbosiero looked at the map of launches Friday and said “wow, that is an empty area … That’s not great.”

Corbosiero works in the building where the Albany weather service used to go to the roof to launch twice-daily weather balloons. It’s now down to one at night, which she said it is worrisome heading into severe weather season.

“For those of us east of the Rocky Mountains, this is probably the worst time of year,” said Oklahoma’s McPherson. “It’s the time of year that we have some of our largest tornado outbreaks, especially as we move into April and May.”

Former National Weather Service Director Elbert “Joe” Friday said the weather balloons get “the detailed lower atmospheric level of temperature and humidity that can determine whether the atmosphere is going to be hot enough to set off severe storms and how intense they might be.”

Satellites do a good job getting a big picture and ground measurements and radar show what’s happening on the ground, but the weather balloons provide the key middle part of the forecasting puzzle — the atmosphere — where so much weather brews, several meteorologists said.

All of the 10 announced reductions are in the northern part of the United States. That’s about where the jet stream — which is a river of air that moves weather systems across the globe — is this time of year, so not having as many observations is especially problematic, McPherson and Corbosiero said.

Weather balloons are also vital for helping forecast when and where it will rain, said Baker and another former NOAA chief, Rick Spinrad.

The weather agency has been launching balloons regularly since the 1930s. During World War II, weather balloon launches in the Arctic helped America win the air battle over Europe with better forecasts for planes, former weather chief Friday said.

It takes 90 minutes to an hour to fill a weather balloon with helium or hydrogen, get it fitted with a sensor, then ready it for launch making sure the radiosonde doesn’t drag on the ground, said Friday, who recalled launching a balloon in Nome, Alaska with 30 mph winds and windchill of about 30 degrees below zero.

Meteorologists then track the data for a couple hours before the balloon falls back to the ground for a total of about four of five hours work for one person, Friday said.

“It’s kind of fun to do,” Friday said on Friday.

—-

Data journalist Mary Katherine Wildeman contributed from Hartford, Connecticut.

___

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press

Police have charged four individuals- 50-year-old Trent Smith, 50-year-old Trevor Smith, 78-year-old Chesley Smith, each of Clarenville, and 54-year-old Shawn Avery of Hillview.

All four recently appeared in court to answer to several charges laid by the RCMP as part of a 2024 contraband tobacco investigation.

On March 2, 2024, Trent Smith was intercepted in a transport truck at the ferry terminal in North Sydney. He was found in possession of 760,000 contraband cigarettes, an estimated tax value of $250,000, approximately $30,000 cash and over 3,000 methamphetamine pills, all of which were destined for this province.

The next day, on March 3, police executed a search warrant at C&D Transport’s warehouse in Deep Bight and seized 1,518,000 contraband cigarettes with estimated tax value of over $493,000, a quantity of methamphetamine pills, cash, a 53-foot commercial trailer, and a 27-foot cargo trailer.

Following an examination of evidence obtained throughout this investigation, formal charges were laid by RCMP against Trent Smith, Trevor Smith, Chesley Smith and Shawn Avery, on Feb. 6, 2025.

Their next court date is scheduled to take place on April 24.

Summer-like temperatures descended on parts of the island yesterday in what was the first full day of spring.

According to Meteorologist Rodney Barney, Lark Harbour in the Bay of Islands was the hot spot at 19.5 degrees. St. Paul’s and Bay Roberts also reached the 19-degree mark, while at St. John’s International, it was 17.6 in the afternoon. That makes March 21st the earliest date ever for a 17-plus temperature at YYT, the previous being March 31st in 1962.

Last year, St. John’s #YYT didn’t see a temperature as warm as today’s 17.6°C until May 21.

Two months earlier this year. #nlwx

— Rodney Barney (@rcbstormpost) March 21, 2025

On the other side of the coin, parts of Labrador, including the Upper Lake Melville region, are in for a heavy snowfall today and tonight. 20-25 cm is in the offing.

Happy Valley-Goose Bay – Photo via NL 511

Like many postsecondary students, Charlotte Fowler is careful about how she spends her money.

Her books and clothes are bought locally, often from thrift stores. She takes a pass on the $6 baskets of blueberries. And as much as she’d like to get behind the Buy Local movement and avoid anything from the United States, she said spending extra isn’t something she can afford.

Members of an RCMP unit that helps to protect the prime minister and other public figures face a risk of burnout due to a heavy workload and limited resources, says a newly released internal evaluation report.

The Protective Behavioural Analysis Unit “has faced numerous challenges” since its inception in 2020 and program implementation remains “incomplete and inefficient,” says the report compiled by RCMP reviewers.

The RCMP logo is seen on a podium ahead of a news conference, in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Saturday, June 24, 2023. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld)

Manitoba RCMP are investigating a school bus collision that occurred on Friday morning in the RM of St. Clements.

Police received a report at approximately 8:25 a.m. that a school bus carrying 19 students, from Kindergarten to grade 12, veered off Dunning Road sometime between 7:20 and 8:20 a.m. The driver managed to regain control and continued the route.

Two students sustained minor injuries in the incident. Their ages have not been released. Police confirmed that alcohol was not a factor in the crash.

Red River North RCMP continues to investigate.

Look up #naturalbirthcontrol on Instagram and TikTok and you’ll find thousands of posts produced by young influencers encouraging women to ditch the pill and use other methods to avoid pregnancy – mainly by tracking their cycles on their cellphones.

In one TikTok video with 1.1 million views, a young woman describes taking her temperature each morning to determine whether she needs to use contraception that day: A red light on her oral fertility thermometer means yes, while a green light means she doesn’t need to.

Fish companies and the union have not been able to hammer out a mutually agreeable price for snow crab, so it’s on to an interventionist situation.

The FFAW and the Association of Seafood Producers rarely reach a deal without some type of third-party dispute resolution.

The fishing season is often delayed for one reason or another, but there’s an urgency to getting on the water as soon as possible this year because of the threat of a 25 per cent tariff on fish exports to the United States April 2.

Robert Peary was America’s most famous Arctic explorer.

He had a wife and two children in the U.S., but he also had two children in northern Greenland with a woman of the Inughuit named Aleqasina. She was in fact the wife of one of the ablest guides and hunters in the district, Piugaattuq.

Peary’s affair with Aleqasina probably began in 1896 when she was about 15 years old. She may have been married to Piugaattuq by that time, as it was customary for women to marry quite young, perhaps because there was a scarcity of women in the region.

By 1913, according to the diary of another explorer in the district, Aleqasina had four children – two girls fathered by Piugaattuq, and two boys, Saamik and Kaali, fathered by Robert Peary.

Piugaatuq apparently did not discourage his wife’s relationship with Peary, for whom he worked for much of the time. The explorer provided Piugaattuq with generous payment for his services: guns, ammunition, food and clothing, far in excess of what he paid the other hunters.

But that apparently was not enough for Peary. If Aleqasina was not available, someone else would suffice. Peary moved the Inughuit around northwestern Greenland and even Ellesmere Island like so many chattels. Sometimes whole families were moved, other times parts of families. 

Jerome Allen kept a private diary while on the Crocker Land Expedition, an expedition led by Peary’s young acolyte Donald Macmillan, after Peary had left the district for good.

Allen wrote in 1914, “Ahnadooah [probably Arnaluaq], Kudlukto’s wife, who is about 19 … has a baby which is a spoiled child. She was Peary’s wife pro-tem on his last trip [1908-1909], when she was but 14.”

Fourteen years old! Robert Peary was 52 at the time! 

This liaison was not a secret. Dr. Harrison Hunt, on the same expedition, wrote, “When Peary was last north, he took a younger woman on his trip, but when he returned he went off in the hills with his former wife [Aleqasina], and the result was the second son [Kaali].”

Hunt is correct on all except the date of the second son’s birth, for Kaali Peary’s birthdate is recorded as June 6, 1906. 

And there is other evidence.

Peary’s great rival as a polar explorer, Dr. Frederick Cook, was at Etah, a staging point for exploration in northern Greenland, in 1909 on his own alleged return from the North Pole. He questioned the Inughuit about what Peary had done there the previous year on his way farther north. 

In his notes, Cook wrote: “The Roosevelt [Peary’s ship] went northward with two young girls for P. cabin. Annodou and Evllie, both 13 years old, crying bitterly, were taken from their mothers and families, forced on the ship and taken north for the lust of him who seeks the pole … Illegitimate children are scattered among the tribe … and at least two should bear the name of Peary … Seeking to avoid a more liberal distribution of Peary offspring has thus taken two young girls of 13.”

The first girl mentioned, Annodou, is certainly the girl mentioned in Jerome Allen’s diary as Ahnadooah. But Cook claims she was even a year younger – only 13. 

And he suggests that Peary, concerned about creating even more offspring in the district, was purposely taking girls so young that they were unlikely to become pregnant!

Back in the U.S., later in 1909 and aware that the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, one of Peary’s many patrons, was about to honour Peary, Cook wrote to Dr. Franklin Hooper, director of that institution, to call Peary out for his wrong-doings and argue for “cleanliness in public life.”

“You are about to honour Peary,” he wrote.

“You invite our wives and daughters to come and do honor to a man under a cloud of indecency. We have a right to expect that the Brooklyn Institute, in its efforts to uplift man by the high aim of arts and science, gives us clean words from clean lips.

“Peary has used the most sacred of our institutions, the public schools, to gather subscriptions for this pretended effort of getting to the pole,” he went on.

“Part of this money thus taken from the hands of our innocent school children was used to promote an immorality that would put the White Slave Trade to shame. Can you put the veil of innocence on this?

“Later the ship Roosevelt was used as a harem. This ship was flying the American flag, was engaged in a mission for which the government was responsible, was equipped at public expense. Its leader drawing an unearned pay as a naval officer. I charge that this ship was used as a den to satisfy a craving which leads to moral rottenness.

“Here Americans are put to the shame of seeing the stars and stripes floating over an Arctic Hell. And, under the cover of wild people, beyond the reach of medical help, the flames of unmentionable diseases – diseases now sapping the life blood of the world’s last clean aborigines. Will you have our wives and daughters shake this man’s unclean hands?”

Cook’s protests were to no avail, and the planned honouring of Peary proceeded.

“Pedophile” was a word not used much in the early 1900s, but it seems an apt modern word to describe Peary’s actions at the time.

You be the judge: Was Robert Peary a pedophile?

Taissumani is an occasional column that recalls events of historical interest. Kenn Harper is a historian and writer who lived in the Arctic for over 50 years. He is the author of Give Me Winter, Give Me Dogs: Knud Rasmussen and the Fifth Thule Expedition, and Thou Shalt Do No Murder, among other books. Feedback? Send your comments and questions to [email protected].

Located on Buffalo Pound Lake, north of Moose Jaw, folks can find a unique learning environment. 

The Classroom on Ice is offered by the volunteers running the Moose Jaw Wildlife Federation, kids are able to learn about fish anatomy, their lifestyles, and perhaps most importantly, how to catch them.

Dale Hodgson, one of the volunteer teachers, has been helping educate children of all backgrounds on how to catch, release, and care for the fish in Buffalo Pound for over a decade. His mobile ice fishing shack allows him to venture to any body of water where a classroom has requested a lesson. He has ventured as far as Outlook, Saskatchewan in his quest to keep kids interested in ice fishing.

"We teach grades 5-6, and it's just an opportunity for the kids to come out and learn," said Hodgson.

In total, there are three classrooms. The first is the anatomy classroom. Kids learn how to dissect the fish, and about how everything in there works. 

Classroom two is all about water conservation. 

"What we do is we explain to the kids about taking care of our water supply," said Hodgson. "We show them about oxygen in the water, and how the fish need it."

Finally, the third and final classroom is Hodgson's ice fishing class. He shows kids how to drill holes safely, drilling each of them a spot to fish. He has a shack for them to warm up in, but otherwise shows them how to fish out in the open. He explains how the fishing rod works, how to use it, and how to handle the fish.

Hodgson says the best part of his job is showing kids how to catch fish. Teaching them how to set the hook safely, reeling them in, and watching as they hold up their catch for the first time is a rewarding experience each time.

"My kids have all grown up here, my grandkids have all grown up out here, and so this is my opportunity to be able to give back," said Hodgson. "To the kids that are out there that maybe don't have the opportunity to come out here and do the fishing. So it's a great program."

Many of the kids he teaches have never been ice fishing before. Be they from families that just don't ice fish themselves, or if they have recently come to Canada and have never had a frozen body of water to ice fish on, this is many kids first time catching anything on the ice. 

"One girl I remember, she'd never fished, but she wound up catching three fish," Hodgson said. "Well, she was strutting around like you would not believe. She was just like the princess of the lake. She was just tickled pink."

So long as these kids have permission, they are even allowed to bring the fish they catch home. 

"The other day we had a brand new student from the Philippines," recalled Hodgson. "He caught about a four-pound Jackfish. After we contacted his parents, he wound up taking the fish home. 

"I do believe they had it for supper."

If anyone is interested in getting their child involved or would like to set up an experience for their classroom, they can call the Moose Jaw Wild Life Federation at 306-693-4047.

A tourist outfit operator offering polar bear tours and luxury ecolodge accommodations in Churchill, Man., says the single cancellation it has received so far from a U.S. guest over border relations isn’t going to sway how he does business this coming season.

Adam Pauls, the CEO of Churchill Wild, said he doesn’t believe Americans will forgo their non-refundable deposits required for existing reservations over the worsening political relationship between Canada and the United States.

Canada's Rachel Homan topped South Korea's Gim Eun-ji 6-5 in an extra end on Saturday in the semifinals of the women's curling world championship in Uijeongbu, China.

The St. John’s International Airport is advising the public of a series of concerning break-ins on the public parking lots at the airport.

Authorities have been notified, and the airport has increased security presence and protocols. 

The public is asked to ensure vehicles are locked, valuables are removed, and keys are not left inside vehicles.

As we are all well aware now Mr. Trump has had an idea, he thinks that Canada should become America’s Cherished 51^st State.  Leaving aside for a moment the physical reaction to lose my lunch, let’s look at this cold and dispassionately.  Mr. Trump is suggesting a hostile takeover using economic force, and increasingly belligerent talk of annexation, this is not a coming together of willing partners.  Do we need to join a block to protect ourselves better?

Think about it if we were to join the US, we would be a junior partner that would be consumed by the US.  Our Healthcare, Language, culture and Education… out very identity would be under assault from day one.  We would have to accept their insane banking, gun laws, environmental laws, and crazy election system, just to name a few.  We would also affect them, adding a progressive population to their union would drag them significantly to the left especially if we add 9 – 13 states, not just one big one.  Our conservatives may seem pretty right wing at times but in the USA they would be Centrist Democrats.

On the other hand, by joining the EU we would be joining with a lot to offer and receive.  We would also be joining as more of a senior player in the block.  Canada would be the largest by land mass, we would be the 5^th largest in population and we would be tied for third with Italy in GDP.  Canada is a largely like-minded country to most of Europe, we have similar standards, institutions and ideals and we would add to the diversity of the EU and not have to give up our identity to join.  Canada would provide a strong economy, manufacturing and resource sector.  Canada would also offer significant critical minerals, natural resources and energy to the EU, and in saner times we would also be a bridge between Europe and the USA.  Canada would gain a massive new market that is far larger than the USA, that is more cooperative than any deals we have had with the USA.  This would be the kick in the backside Canada needs to get out of its complacency and grow as a people.  Also our healthcare, education, social services and language would be strengthened in the European union model and not put under threat by American intollerance.

This would not mean abandoning US trade entirely, we live right next to them it is unlikely to simply disappear, it would however give us many more options.

Ron Fischer

Fischer is a Facility Manager that lives in Moncton NB, has been in the Canadian Navy AB (ret) as an Oceanographic Operator, and has participated in the political process as the President of a Barrie-Innisfil EDA in days gone by.

Arab and Black people are overrepresented in police stops in Laval, Quebec’s third-largest city, adding to mounting evidence of widespread racial profiling by law enforcement in the province, according to data obtained by The Globe and Mail.

The data, which Laval police fought in court to avoid disclosing after receiving an access-to-information request, include nearly 10,000 police stops made between December, 2022, and January, 2025. Each entry lists the date and hour of a stop, along with the individual’s race.