Liberal Leader Mark Carney has said he will cap the size of the public service while Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has promised cuts. The two are currently neck-in-neck in the polls for the federal election.

With Hudson’s Bay liquidating all but six of its stores in Canada, items with their iconic HBC stripes are flying off the shelves. Emma Weller spoke with a Gatineau woman who has been collecting them for years.

The front-runners in the race to be Canada's next prime minister have to convince local voters to give them a seat in the House, and their ridings just happen to be side-by-side.

Anna-Ise Dutka-Stainbrook feels unsettled about voting, not yet having seen a party deliver a platform that she thinks will meaningfully address Canada's housing crisis for low-income renters.

Saelym DeGrandpré, a 23-year-old woman living in Ottawa, carves makeup brushes out of antlers. She says it's a way to connect with her culture and her ancestors.

On a day U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 25 per cent tariff on non-U.S.-made vehicles, Ontario autoworkers said it's the latest wave in what's been a storm of uncertainty for the Canadian industry, and more proof it needs government support. For Ontario autoworkers at GM's CAMI Assembly plant in Ingersoll, the help can't come soon enough.

Quebec nationalism and provincial issues like language, immigration and secularism often loom large in federal election campaigns, but Trump's tariffs and threat of making Canada the 51st state has reshaped the campaign so far across the province.

Despite frequent infrastructure problems, the project for a new regional hospital in Drummondville, Que., was not included in Quebec’s infrastructure plan as part of the province's budget tabled on Tuesday.

Calgary-born Lowell has already earned a Grammy nomination for co-writing Beyoncé's smash country hit Texas Hold 'Em. But to her, an elusive Juno nomination — only now possible with the ceremony's inaugural non-performing songwriting category — has almost meant more.

As of this week, the Canada Border Services Agency is taking steps that could help close what some experts call a loophole that has made it easier for thieves to disguise stolen vehicles. CBC Toronto has learned that as of Tuesday, CBSA began sharing some vehicle export data with CARFAX and Équité Association, and is exploring the possibility of sharing data with other stakeholders, too.  

Police in Nova Scotia are investigating after two elver fishing nets were stolen earlier this week.

The theft happened in Ingramport, according to Nova Scotia RCMP.

Police say they received a report around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday about two elver fishing nets that were taken sometime in the early morning hours.

The nets have an estimated value of $4,000.

As part of their investigation, police obtained images of a person or persons of interest and are asking for the public’s help to identify them.

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Earlier this month, Ottawa announced new regulations for the elver fishery in Nova Scotia, which include limiting catch and logging harvests on a smartphone app after several violent fishing seasons.

But Chief Bob Gloade of Millbrook First Nation penned a letter to the federal fisheries department, saying it won’t abide by federal rules that limit the lucrative catch.

Crowsnest Pass municipal council gave first reading March 11 to a property tax rates bylaw that proposes a one per cent mill rate increase.

According to chief administrative officer Patrick Thomas, the 2025 budget, approved by council in November 2024, has a municipal tax requirement of $12,048,252, which necessitated raising the mill rate.

The increase proposed in Bylaw 1216-2025, if approved through second and third readings, would generate an additional $1,485,075 in tax revenue.

“This comes from both growth and inflation,” Thomas said.

He recommended transferring this revenue to reserves to cover the upcoming capital project needs, including road repairs, water and sewer system maintenance, and facility upgrades.

“Currently, we are funding the reserves at about 30 per cent of our depreciation, which is causing a compelling backlog of projects and assets failing in the community,” he noted.

“This is anything from an increased number of potholes to sewer and facilities that are being depleted.”

With the additional funds, depreciation funding would increase to about 63 per cent.

“Still short, but a lot closer to at least maintaining the amount that’s depreciating each year,” Thomas noted.

He pointed out that a reduction in provincial funding has compounded the issue.

“Our provincial funding that we traditionally used to help fund capital projects was cut nearly in half over the last few years, and so it doesn’t contribute to a lot of external help with these projects,” he said.

To illustrate what the additional $1.5 million in tax revenue could fund, he said: “This would equate to 200 metres of a neighbourhood renewal with water, sewer and roadwork, or about half the cost of replacing the windows and doors at the MDM Community Centre.”

“It would also be approximately what the cost was last summer for one fire engine, and that cost has increased, so it would be most of a fire engine,” he added.

While councillors considered going forward with the first reading, they expressed concerns and indicated that the true debate would take place during the second and third readings.

Dean Ward and other councillors raised concerns about the impact of inflation on the community and how the proposed increase would affect taxpayers.

“If we maintain the mill rate with all this new assessment and inflation, I’m more concerned about the inflation than the new assessment,” Ward stated, emphasizing the need for further discussion to ensure the tax rate remains fair.

Coun. Glen Girhiny voiced concerns with the rising costs, particularly as the property market has inflated, saying, “It’s kind of really disheartening.”

Coun. Lisa Sygutek suggested that the administration bring back a more detailed graph comparing current assessments and the proposed mill rate to better understand the community’s changing financial landscape.

“We can say we raised it one per cent, but we can’t control assessment,” she said, stressing that the increasing property values must be addressed to avoid disproportionate tax burdens.

While the first reading passed, it was clear that council members were looking forward to a more in-depth discussion in subsequent readings, with a focus on how to balance the growing community, rising inflation, and the fairness of tax rates.

“I look forward to that debate after the first reading,” Sygutek said.

Following approval of the first reading, Ward put forward a motion requesting administration bring additional information when the bylaw returns for second reading.

He asked for a breakdown of total assessment, levy, mill rate and Alberta School Foundation Fund contributions for the years 2020 to 2025 on the same properties used at council’s May 28, 2024, meeting.

“People need to see what the province is forcing us to do,” he said.

Ward also requested projections for both the administration’s proposed tax rate and an alternative scenario reflecting a 9.1 per cent drop in the inflation rate.

Council carried the motion, and the requested information will be presented when the bylaw returns for second reading.

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