Old Man Winter won’t let go of it’s icy grip on Saskatchewan just yet. A storm system is expected to move across the province bringing significant snow to areas along the Yellowhead highway (#16) corridor.

As of Thursday morning Environment Canada declared snowfall warnings for several areas from border to border including North Battleford, Unity, Wilkie, Saskatoon, Watrous, Imperial, Davidson, Raymore, Kelliher, Melville, Yorkton, Canora, Kamsack, Fort Qu’Appelle, Grenfell, Kipling, and Moosomin areas. The highest snowfall amounts of 10 to 20 centimeters is expected along the the Yellowhead corridor from Saskatoon to Yorkton. The snow is expected to start Thursday morning along the Alberta/Saskatchewan border and move east across the province reaching the Manitoba/Saskatchewan border by Thursday night. Areas south of the Yellowhead will see lesser amounts of snow. The snow is expected to taper off by Friday.

Parts of west central Saskatchewan including Kindersley, Rosetown, Eston, Lucky lake, and Swift Current regions are under a freezing rain warning. The storm is expected to making driving challenging in the affected areas.

There was both joy and relief in being victorious for Sarah Mitton, who won her second consecutive women's shot put title at the world indoor track and field championships last weekend, with a top throw of 20.48 metres — 0.41 metres ahead of second place.

Story By:  John Cairns

REGINA – Premier Scott Moe has announced Saskatchewan will be the first carbon tax free province in Canada.

Moe made the announcement in a social media post that went out on the X platform on Wednesday afternoon. In his announcement he pointed to both major federal parties having announced plans to remove the carbon tax as reason for this decision.

“Saskatchewan is now a carbon tax-free province, the first carbon tax-free province in Canada. Now that the two major federal parties and their leaders have announced their plans for removing the carbon tax, Saskatchewan is taking the next step by reducing the industrial carbon tax rate charged in our province to zero to give our consumers a break and make our industries more competitive in this new tariff environment.

“So what does this mean for you? Well, the immediate effect is the removal of the carbon tax on your SaskPower bills, saving Saskatchewan families and small businesses hundreds of dollars a year. And in the longer term, it will reduce the cost of other consumer products that have the industrial carbon tax built right into their price.

“Saskatchewan is producing some of the most sustainable products in the world today. We want to create the environment to produce more of those sustainable products, to make our industries more competitive in the face of U.S. and Chinese tariffs, and to protect and create Canadian jobs right here in Saskatchewan.

“Making Saskatchewan a carbon tax-free province will do just that, and I would hope that all of the parties running in the federal election would agree with those objectives and allow the provinces to regulate in this area without imposing the federal backstop.”

You can watch the video on-line here:

https://x.com/PremierScottMoe/status/1905024611370054005

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante criticized the new Quebec budget presented by the CAQ government on Tuesday for its cuts to public transit funding. While praising the budgetary response to the U.S. trade war, and acknowledging the strain that that situation is putting on the province, Plante noted that reduced support for maintenance would be felt by public transit users in Montreal.

“This budget is a severe blow to the backbone of Montreal’s economic vitality: public transit. Significant cuts in funding for maintenance will hurt the Montreal metro.”

Plante also scolded the CAQ for cancelling a tram project that would have connected Lachine and downtown Montreal. By scrapping this project, the Quebec government now owes the City of Montreal $800-million — this is the amount of money that Montreal lent for a Quebec City tram project in 2019, a loan that was made on the promise that the province would fund Montreal’s Greater Southwest tram.

“We are very disappointed by the abandonment of the Greater Southwest tram project. The Quebec government gave us its word (about the realization of that project) in 2019, when it asked us to transfer $800-million to Quebec City to fund their tram.”

For our latest in news, please visit the News section.

The post Quebec budget: Valérie Plante calls out Legault government for cuts to public transit appeared first on Cult MTL.

"We all need to do better." Dozens of caribou have been wasted this winter road season. The killing of pregnant cows, vital to herd strength, is also a concern.

 The New Brunswick government has heeded concerns about the significant impact of dementia, by announcing plans to invest $2 million in a provincial dementia strategy. “These funds will be used to enhance the quality of life for people living with dementia and those that care for them,” Finance Minister René Legacy said in his budget speech on March 18, 2025. 

There are about 12,000 people in New Brunswick who have dementia, a number that is expected to double by 2050. Legacy said the strategy would contribute to dementia prevention and also enable people with the brain disorder to live at home for as long as safely possible.

Six years ago, New Brunswick held public consultations on the development of a provincial dementia strategy, though one never came to fruition, leaving stakeholders disappointed.

With the latest budget announcement, there is renewed hope that New Brunswick will finally join its Atlantic counterparts in having a dementia plan. Nova Scotia launched its first dementia strategy in 2014, though its three-year action plan has expired. In Prince Edward Island, the seniors action plan includes some general steps related to dementia, but there is no detailed strategy to improve dementia care. Newfoundland & Labrador’s dementia plan ends next year.

At the national level, the federal government launched a pan-Canadian dementia strategy in 2019, though it was the last to do so among G8 countries.

In developing a comprehensive plan, the New Brunswick government will be tasked with identifying priorities and allocating funds to improve dementia care and quality of life across the province. This is no easy task, with dementia having significant social, economic, health and legal impacts, not only for people with the disorder but also for their caregivers and families.

To help guide the strategy, the government should consider human dignity as the organizing principle. Dignity means that everyone, including everyone with dementia, has intrinsic worth, simply by virtue of being human.  

While most care interactions are positive, many people with dementia receive undignified treatment, leaving them prematurely stripped of their decision-making rights, left in soiled diapers, their physical and emotional pain ignored, and their reports of abuse not believed. 

Thankfully there is the political will to invest in positive change. Last year, for example, the federal government and New Brunswick signed the Aging with Dignity bi-lateral agreement to improve standards in long-term, home and community care. This fiscal year, the province will invest over $1.5 million to continue that work. 

In the forthcoming dementia strategy, preserving dignity should be more than an aspirational goal; it should be the fundamental guiding principle behind all actions.

“Every person, regardless of age, is entitled to live in dignity, free from discrimination and abuse,” said former Supreme Court of Canada chief justice Beverley McLachlin in a speech at the 2007 annual conference on elder law in Vancouver, B.C. 

With these words in mind, let’s hope the provincial government moves quickly on a strategy that takes meaningful steps to ensure dignified lives for all New Brunswickers with dementia.

Heather Campbell Pope

Heather Campbell Pope is founder of Dementia Justice Canada, a small nonprofit dedicated to safeguarding the rights and dignity of people with dementia. She lives in St. Stephen, N.B.

Tasha Dobni says she doesn’t feel safe calling the Moose Jaw, Sask., police anymore. That’s because the last time she called them for help after a former partner assaulted her, she ended up getting charged herself.

Here are opportunities to inform municipal decisions about recreation, parks, and more. Please only answer surveys from the municipality where you live.

• Engage and Play: Shaping Public Recreation — The City of Edmonton is working on a sports and recreation plan, which will affect decisions about programs, facilities, and budgeting. Residents are invited to share ideas and stories about local sports and recreation until March 28.
• Community Park in Rosenthal — The City of Edmonton proposed two design options for a community park being planned alongside a new public K-6 school in the Rosenthal neighbourhood. Residents can review the design options and take a survey until April 2.
• Holiday Display Feedback — Strathcona County is considering updating holiday décor in and around county facilities to be more inclusive. Residents can provide feedback on holiday displays by completing a survey before April 3.
• 2025 Winter Park Use Survey — The City of Edmonton is gathering feedback about how residents use river valley parks in the winter months. Results will help administration determine what opportunities to explore in the future. A survey will be open until April 7.

More input opportunities

• Until March 31: 2026 Budget Planning Survey (City of Leduc)
• Until April 15: Passenger Rail Master Plan Survey (Government of Alberta)
• Until April 18: Naturalization 2025 (City of Edmonton)
• Until April 21: Building a Safe and Inclusive Edmonton for the 2SLGBTQIA+ Community (City of Edmonton)
• Until April 25: Agricultural Workshop Interests — Leduc County
• Until April 30: Green Industries Questionnaire (City of Edmonton)

As city administration prepares a Downtown Action Plan, Puneeta McBryan, the executive director of the Edmonton Downtown Business Association, says the Downtown Core Patrol service that her organization contracts to Hiregood, a company that employs people with lived experience with being unhoused, needs more money.

The Downtown Action Plan goes to the city's Urban Planning Committee on May 13. It includes reviews of the Capital City Downtown Plan, the Downtown Vibrancy Strategy, the Downtown Investment Plan by a group of non-city entities, and more.

McBryan said she hopes it yields funding for the Downtown Core Patrol, a service that responds to safety issues downtown and tries to prevent problems before they happen.

"(The Downtown Core Patrol) was the result of years of conversations with our members and our board and the community about how many challenges we were having," McBryan told Taproot about the initial nighttime program that launched in November 2022. "We basically decided (that) emergency services are obviously not able to be out and about the way we need eyes and ears out on the streets overnight."

In 2024, what used to be called the Downtown Night Patrol & Outreach Services responded to 3,221 incidents, of which 1,088 were wellness checks. The other biggest numbers were for garbage (595), property trespassing and disturbance (550), and property vandalism (549). The patrol was initially staffed by one private security guard and one Hiregood team member. The City of Edmonton's Downtown Vibrancy Fund invested $400,000 to pilot the program from November 2022 to November 2023, while the EDBA spent approximately $100,000 that year on staff and "other expenses," McBryan said.

"(It) was made very clear to us from the Downtown Vibrancy team that it was not to be ongoing operational funding," McBryan said. "The pilot did everything we needed it to — to prove that there was value in us providing this service. We did learn a lot along the way. We didn't see a lot of value in the security guard component of it."

The EDBA got half of the $400,000 for its second year from the Downtown Vibrancy Fund. Roughly $80,000 of that went to a daytime patrol pilot that lasted from late October 2024 through January 2025. Those funds ran out at the end of 2024, so the EDBA now funds the core patrol out of its operating budget. The patrol is now made up of two units per night, from midnight to 8am, which comprise two Hiregood staff each.

"It really feels like the city should be paying for part of that," McBryan said, adding that the city has denied two applications by the business association to the Community Safety and Well-being Grant Program.

Hiregood is also no longer the subcontractor for Bee-Clean Building Maintenance, which hired a different subcontractor to run the washroom attendant program in 2024, the City of Edmonton told Taproot in an email.

Hiregood CEO Jodi Phelan said that boiled down to a salary dispute. "We were getting paid only $23.50 per person to do the work," Phelan told Taproot. "We have a lot of staff, and we were starting to lose money, so we couldn't maintain it. We're not a profit-driven business, but we have to be able to sustain what we do to keep doing what we do."

The City of Edmonton said it is at Bee-Clean's discretion to work with a subcontractor of its choosing. It added that recent policy changes "ensure that all contracts for services include a requirement to pay a living wage to all employees working in City facilities."

Work to review existing contracts and agreements to reflect the new policies is underway, the city added.

Phelan said she thinks downtown revitalization priorities could expand in a LinkedIn post when funding for OEG projects in the ICE District was in the news.

"Downtown Edmonton is at a turning point," she wrote. "With significant funds being allocated to revitalize the core, the focus should not only be on infrastructure and aesthetics but also on real, lasting solutions that address safety, cleanliness, and community well-being."

Few companies are not looking for further investment. Phelan said the reason Hiregood is a solid option for downtown is because so many of her staff have been unhoused, know what people in distress are going through, and instill feelings of safety.

"If you take someone who's on the street, who maybe causes a lot of the social disorder, we get them here, they start working, we mentor them, they're gainfully employed, they get housed, they have a peer group, and they're successful," Phelan told Taproot. "You have less vandalism, less police calls, less ambulance calls — what could be better than that?"

Phelan, who is also the CEO of Four Directions Financial, which offers banking and other services to people with barriers to financial services such as a lack of identification, expanded Hiregood to Calgary to operate a washroom attendant program for the city in 2023. The City of Calgary pays for this, and recently said the program will expand this year.

"(The difference between Edmonton and Calgary) has been like night and day, although I love Edmonton," Phelan said. "Buy Social Canada has really supported the City of Calgary on social procurement, which is critical in doing these kinds of things."

Phelan said she'd like Hiregood to operate washroom program in Edmonton again and receive more support for the patrol, although maybe it's time for a new project instead of the washroom program. She said her staff are "getting into security." (McBryan said she's found greater success with Hiregood than with any private security company.)

"I want to be able to do more here, because we are literally taking people who are in front of the whole mission, and we're getting them gainfully employed," Phelan said.

One thing Phelan would like to do is staff LRT stations with Hiregood employees. The city is considering a number of safety changes at LRT stations, including increased transit peace officer presence. Coun. Anne Stevenson said she would like to see a "holistic approach" to safety that includes more than just peace officers and private guards. Her idea sounds a lot like what Hiregood does.

"What I would love to see is what I would call a safety attendant," Stevenson told CBC. She said this role would be a "three-in-one combo" that would "be the best value for the investments we're making." The three parts would be helping people navigate the system, respond to disruptions, and do some light cleaning.

The EDBA also employs Hiregood for its Downtown Shine program, a litter-removal service that collected 1,451 bags full of trash in 2022. McBryan thinks Hiregood has the potential to do much more. If she had a blank cheque to offer the company, she would enlist it to run the province's Navigation and Support Centre, which aims to consolidate support services for people who are unhoused. One advocate told Taproot in 2024 that the centre has caused "abject misery" for its users.

"I think the province's intention with the navigation centre is bang on, frankly," McBryan said. "I think having a central facility that has all of the services that a person would need if they don't have a fixed address, if they're struggling from addiction, if they don't have ID, if they need to get on income support — all these different problems that people have, there should absolutely be one place that they could walk in and have all of those needs met. It's wild to me that that didn't exist before."

Documents released through a freedom of information request reveal that B.C.'s former energy minister was told last September that at least seven "large-scale hydrogen projects" were being cancelled or paused because of issues including electricity supply, high cost and transportation.

With health outcomes significantly worse in women, Alberta researchers are pleased to see the province declare March Women's Health Research Month

At Banff's annual summer job fair on Wednesday, businesses and applicants alike said immigration changes and staff housing have been at the top of their minds.

The NWT is recording fewer births and more deaths. It's losing hundreds of people a year to the south. These charts show how immigration changes that picture.

The St. John’s Regional Fire department responded to a call shortly before 1:00 a.m. Thursday after smoke was spotted coming from a vacant residence on Livingstone Street in downtown St. John’s. Police say the residence was extensively damaged, along with a second vacant attached unit. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

An interview with Dan Leger, author, retired journalist, and one of the 120 contributors to Get Fact.

The post Get Fact contributors look to set record straight on disinformation, misinformation appeared first on Halifax Examiner.

Some of the NWT's top young speed skaters are heading to Canada's youth championships. We sent a reporter to train with them.

Two Yellowknife daycares are launching a fundraising effort that involves adult artists finishing paintings started by children. One key ingredient is needed.

National Inuit women's non-profit Pauktuutit announced Nikki Komaksiutiksak as its new president and chief executive officer.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he’s in full support of retaliatory tariffs after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a new 25 per cent tariff Wednesday on cross-border auto trade. 

A new online tool is available to help Islanders easily find information about local sports and recreation facilities located across the province.    

The Sport and Recreation Facilities Map provides an easy way for people to explore a variety of options, offering quick access to detailed information with just a few clicks.

The map includes details about various facilities, from sports fields and community centers to gyms and outdoor spaces. People can find helpful information like facility names, addresses, and other key details to help plan their next activity or event.

The online tool is free and accessible on the provincial government website

PEI RCMP have charged three people as part of Project STEEL, an extensive nationwide operation led in part by the RCMP’s National Child Exploitation Crime Centre.  The project, which brought together 63 law enforcement partners across the country, targeted online child sexual exploitation.   The PEI RCMP Internet Child Exploitation Unit conducted three investigations and executed Search Warrants resulting in three people being charged with offences related to Child Pornography.  

This federal election is being described as the most consequential in modern Canadian history. The country is in a tariff and trade war with its closest ally, the United States, and President Donald Trump is threatening Canada’s sovereignty.

No wonder Canadians are feeling anxious and fearful. And in times of crisis, people tend to look extra hard for leaders they can trust.

Liberal Leader Mark Carney, a rookie in politics but an internationally respected economist, is enjoying a wave of momentum. Due to his stints as governor of the Bank of Canada during the 2008-09 financial crash and the Bank of England during Brexit, he’s well-qualified to manage economic roller-coasters. Can his impressive CV help calm the fears of Canadians?

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, on the other hand, has been connecting with supporters by giving voice to their worries about the economy, jobs, crime and the housing crisis. He’s made people feel heard, but he’s also been accused of building his brand appeal by stoking — rather than soothing — Canadians’ fears about the future.

Carney’s track record as a fixer could give him the edge now that the election campaign is in full swing and Canada’s fears are being amplified.

Liberals wildly unpopular

Before Justin Trudeau announced his plans to leave politics, the next federal election was shaping up to be a showdown between Trudeau and Poilievre, two career politicians with likeability problems and a palpable mutual resentment.

Each of them often used fear as a tool to warn Canadians about the dangers of electing the other. The mood in the country was sour.

In July 2024, an Abacus Data poll indicated only 23 per cent of Canadians felt the country was headed in the right direction. The affordability crisis was weighing on people, as 45 per cent of respondents reported having a hard time keeping up with daily expenses due to rising prices.

The long-standing consensus around the benefits of immigration was crumbling due to the lack of suitable housing for everyone.

Read more: Canada at a crossroads: Understanding the shifting sands of immigration attitudes

A third of Canadians also self-identified as “political orphans” who felt that none of the political parties truly represented them.

Most of the public was blaming the Liberals for the broad mismanagement of various important complex policy files, and the Conservatives were the largest beneficiaries of voter frustration. They looked like they had the next election in the bag.

Dramatically altered landscape

It’s now March 2025 and the political playing field looks wildly different. Though the aforementioned issues remain salient, Trudeau has resigned and Carney has erased the lead in public support that Poilievre and the Conservatives held not long ago.

Most polls suggest the parties are in a dead heat while others have Carney pulling ahead. In the hope of winning enough votes to form a majority government — in Carney’s own words, he’s asked the public for a “strong, positive mandate” — he is running on a platform aimed at the political centre to offer a home to those political orphans.

Carney’s pitching tax cuts, pipeline projects, reduced trade barriers between the provinces and balanced operational spending while running deficits for investments that would grow the economy. He’s done away with the unpopular consumer carbon tax.

Given that Carney is pulling the Liberals back to the centre, and that there is actually overlap between the Conservatives and the Liberals — both spent the first full day of the campaign promising income tax cuts — it seems the real choice in this election is about leadership rather than dramatically different policy platforms.

It’s no surprise that Carney’s unique professional experience elevates his bid to be prime minister in the current political climate. So far, he’s been a calm presence amid a volatile and developing storm. Despite Conservative efforts to try to diminish him, his credentials speak for themselves.

This helps him to build trust among voters. At any other time, his snippiness with the media when asked about his financial holdings might cost him some political capital, but in the current moment, he will likely be given a pass.

Read more: Can Mark Carney truly connect with Canadian voters? Canada will now find out

Poilievre no longer has Trudeau for a target

As British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan once explained, politics is about “events, dear boy, events.”

Much to the certain chagrin of Conservatives, the polls suggest this moment was custom-made for Carney.

Trump’s attacks and threats against Canadian sovereignty tee up Carney’s pitches for Canada’s economic independence perfectly. His campaign material basically writes itself, and his economic gravitas makes him a solid messenger.

Carney is both reassuring Canadians in this moment of anxiety as well as tapping into Canadian pride, in his own words and through celebrity proxies like comedian Mike Myers who are helping him reach audiences who tuned out Trudeau a long time ago.

This is not to count out Poilievre. With the Conservative base firmly behind him, he could be poised to form a government or keep Carney to a minority.

But the question on the ballot is no longer about Trudeau — it’s about who Canadians trust to lead them through a disruptive and unpredictable time.

Poilievre has been working tirelessly for years to position himself as the person for the job.

But the peculiar circumstances of the moment — and the fear and anxiety that Canadians are having trouble shaking amid Trump’s continuing threats — might drive many voters towards the non-politician whose track record as a fixer gives people the reassurance they are looking for.

Lori Turnbull does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

The City has announced a road closure in Swift Current for Thursday.

Starting at 9 a.m., 11th Avenue Northeast with be closed in the 800 block section. This is expected to last until 4:30 p.m.

This work is to do water line repairs. 

The City apologizes for any inconvenience this work may cause. 

On Friday afternoon the RNC and Memorial University’s School of Pharmacy will be hosting a community pill drop.

The public with unused or expired medications is invited to bring them to RNC Headquarters, in St. John’s. The pill drop will be set up between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.

The medications will be disposed of properly.

Accepted medications include; all types of prescriptions, vitamins, antibiotics, epi-pens and narcotics. They could be in the form of capsules and tablets, vials, creams and ointments, sachets, or bottles.

The Swift Current Fire Department is still waiting on the new firetruck that was ordered last year. 

Swift Current Fire Department Fire Chief Ryan Hunter confirmed that the build of the truck was progressing and that the chassis was officially being shipped off for the next stage of the build. 

"They will get a cabin chassis and then that gets sent on to another assembly plant and they build the cab to how your specifications of the city that you want," explained Hunter.  "Our cabin chassis is expected to land at the assembly plant sometime before this summer and then they will take approximately a year to build the box."

The Truck was ordered originally in 2023. However, due to a regulation change on emissions, the truck price was adjusted in 2024 for a total purchase cost of $1,558,000. Hunter says this price remains unchanged and is locked in. Tariffs should not affect the order.

"We have a signed agreement before the tariffs came in and there will be no price adjustment whatsoever," said Hunter. What the tender was back in 2024 is what we're going to be paying."

The truck will take two and a half years to build and will arrive in 2026. It is taking so long because there isn't a centralized location to assemble the vehicle. 

"It blows my mind that that truck takes that long to build," admitted Hunter. "But the other tender came in at 1,100 days to build it, and that's over three years." 

Once the truck arrives, it will be replacing the aging Engine Two at the Swift Current Fire Department.