Following a particularly dry October, the first major weather system of British Columbia’s storm season has left much of Vancouver Island and coastal areas drenched under more than 200 mm of rain.

As successive atmospheric rivers continue to make their way across the province, coastal communities are being warned of rising water levels, while damaging winds on the mainland are expected to bring widespread power outages.

Approximately 40,000 customers remained without power as of 8 a.m. Saturday, BC Hydro said in a news release. That is nearly half of the number that were without power at the peak of the storm Friday.

Prince George, Port Hardy, Courtenay and Qualicum were hit the hardest, the utility operator said.

But while restoration work continues, more storms are on the way. The next system is expected to bring strong winds to the south and central coasts, as well as Vancouver Island.

Southeasterly wind gusts could reach speeds of up to 90 km/h, according to Environment Canada.

“Friday’s storm caused significant damage, and we’re preparing for more challenging weather in the days ahead,” Whitney Deane, a spokesperson for BC Hydro, said in a news release. “Our crews and resources will be working around-the-clock to restore power and respond to new outages as quickly and safely as possible, and we’re encouraging customers to be prepared.”

High streamflow advisories cover most of the island as well as the South and Central Coast.

B.C.’s River Forecast Centre said waterways are rapidly rising in parts of northern and western Vancouver Island, with flows reaching two to five-year return levels on Friday.

Environment Canada has also issued a coastal flooding statement for much of the island’s west coast, saying elevated ocean levels combined with strong winds and waves could push waters above the highest astronomical tides.

It says minor flooding along low-lying shorelines is likely this weekend.

On Friday, the Village of Zeballos on the island issued an evacuation order due to the risk of landslides from the rain, warning others to be prepared to leave if needed.

A third storm expected to hit Monday may bring a more prolonged period of rainfall across B.C.’s coast through next week, Environment Canada said.

– With files from Global News’ Amy Judd and The Canadian Press

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

As the winter holiday season approaches, one of the most popular sunny destinations for Canadian travellers remains out of reach.

The United States’ oil blockade against Cuba triggered severe fuel shortages in the country and prompted Canadian airlines to indefinitely suspend flights to the island destination earlier this year.

Travel agents say Canadians looking to escape the cold weather this year will have to pay more than what they’re used to for affordable all-inclusive packages in Cuba.

Ashley Harold, a travel agent at Flight Centre Canada, said Mexico, Dominican Republic and several other Caribbean countries and territories such as Aruba, Barbados and Jamaica seem to be getting most of the diversions.

“There isn’t one new Cuba, if you will. Canadians, they’re really spreading their winter travel across a much wider mix of destinations and trip types,” she said in a recent interview.

“We’re also seeing some travellers consider Caribbean cruises or tours to still-warm places like Costa Rica or Peru.”

Domestic tourism is also gaining traction as some Canadians are choosing to visit “fantastic” winter destinations, from Alberta to the West Coast, she said.

“Folks, now more than ever, are wanting to explore their own backyard and keep their dollar within Canada,” she said.

Even though advance bookings have become a new normal after COVID-19, the lack of Cuban vacations has led Canadians to make reservations in other destinations much earlier for best pricing and choice, Harold said.

Cuba welcomed more than a million Canadians annually before the pandemic but that number has been steadily declining in recent years, with visits dropping to around 700,000 in 2025, according to Statistics Canada. The agency recorded 127,000 Canadian visits to Cuba in the first quarter of this year.

Those numbers dropped significantly after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed the oil blockade on Cuba early this year, and the Canadian government subsequently issued a travel advisory due to the shortage of medicine, food and fuel in the country. It still advises Canadians to avoid all non-essential travel to Cuba.

After airlines suspended flights and major hotel chains pulled out of Cuba, the country’s tourism industry and the local economy that heavily depended on it were further devastated. The country of around 11 million people is facing a humanitarian crisis caused by the latest sanctions and the decades-long U.S. trade embargo.

Cuba’s tourism market was dominated by Canadians who relished its affordable winter vacation options. Now, they need to spend hundreds of dollars more to explore other destinations or cut down the number of trips they are making each year, travel agents say.

John Wood, president of Durham Travel east of Toronto, said Cuba visitors are “value conscious” and want to travel as often as they can within their budgets.

Some of Durham Travel’s clients used to go to Cuba “three, four or five times a year … because they could go for a very reasonable price, get away and enjoy the sun and beautiful beaches,” he said in a recent interview.

“And now they can’t do that anymore.”

Wood said his travel agency’s sales to Cuba dropped from more than $389,000 last year to just $24,000 so far into 2026.

Meanwhile, travel sales for the Dominican Republic increased from about $1 million in 2025 to nearly 1.3 million so far this year, he said.

“The Dominican Republic appears to have absorbed most of the difference from Cuba,” he said, noting travellers’ concerns about crime and large seaweed blooms in Mexico.

At Flight Centre Canada, however, Mexico remains the top destination — even if it’s pricier, Harold said.

A seven-day package at a four-star resort in Varadero, Cuba with a flight from Toronto cost under $1,400 per person around the last holiday season, she said. Comparable trips to Mexico, Dominican Republic and Jamaica cost around $1,800 this year, according to Flight Centre data.

“So, for travellers that are used to Cuba pricing, there may need to be a reset in expectations before they start shopping,” Harold said.

But that means tourists can “get creative” with their vacation plans this holiday season, she said.

“I think this is a great opportunity for Canadians to branch out a little bit more with their travels and experience something new.”

© 2026 The Canadian Press

Canada’s aid sector is expressing dismay over the first federal budget in more than 15 years to make no mention of foreign aid, and is calling on Ottawa to outline its vision in an upcoming foreign policy review.

“The budget is largely silent on issues of international development co-operation and humanitarian action,” said Co-operation Canada head Kate Higgins, whose coalition includes most Canadian aid groups operating abroad.

She argued this is the wrong approach “at a time when the stakes around and the world are very high.”

The budget tabled Thursday by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government makes no mention of international assistance, foreign aid or international development.

The Canadian Press reviewed all budgets tabled since 2010 and found references to those terms in each of those documents.

Thursday’s budget mentions Ukraine only in reference to drone production. It mentions aid workers only in passing, in a section on an existing permit program for aid organizations operating in areas under the control of groups Ottawa lists as terrorist entities.

Higgins said the sector assumes Ottawa will stick with its plan announced last year to cut $2.7 billion in foreign aid over four years.

She and other advocates said they were relieved the government did not announce further cuts. She also said Ottawa should acknowledge the important role development funding plays in addressing crises abroad, such as the humanitarian plight of Palestinians in Gaza and the spread of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“International development co-operation addresses the very challenges that the government is seeking to prioritize around defence, around stability, around diplomacy, around economic partnerships, around trade diversification, around a rules-based order that upholds democracy and human rights,” Higgins said.

She said she hopes Ottawa offers more details of its plans for “international development assistance and humanitarian action” in a foreign policy review expected later this month.

In a news conference Friday, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said the foreign policy update will come in “in a matter of weeks” and will include “our approach on development.”

“Rest assured, development assistance is a priority for Global Affairs Canada. It is the reason why we have come forth with humanitarian assistance for Cuba, for Lebanon, for Gaza, for Sudan, among others, this year alone,” she said on Parliament Hill.

The budget’s lack of any mention of foreign aid came just days after the United Nations’ global head of humanitarian issues, Tom Fletcher, praised Canada as a “humanitarian superpower” for the world’s most vulnerable.

“I really hope that Canada continues to hold the line,” he said four days before the budget.

Results Canada, an anti-poverty advocacy group, posted a photo Thursday of a deflated balloon on social media shortly after the budget’s release. The group’s policy director Lindsay Sheridan said her team searched the document in vain for terms relevant to her sector.

“International assistance, foreign aid, vaccines, tuberculosis — just seeing what was in it. And then continuously nothing came up. There was nothing on famines, either. And so, we were just surprised,” she told a video conference with supporters on Thursday.

“We thought that this might be the moment where we would get a little bit more context, a little more understanding of maybe the direction we would be going.”

UNICEF Canada also expressed its disappointment in the budget. It said in a news release Ottawa should at least mention international development when it talks about its response to global threats and volatility.

“International assistance helps children survive and thrive while strengthening the health, education and protection systems on which peaceful, stable societies depend,” the group wrote.

The One Campaign, which advocates for African partnerships, says Ottawa should commit to spending $5.5 billion on development annually in the interest of “safeguarding global health and humanitarian investments that underpin long-term economic stability.”

The group also wrote in a news release that Ottawa should align its “development, trade and investment institutions to support co-ordinated, mutually beneficial partnerships with African countries.”

The House of Commons finance committee had urged Ottawa to use the budget to provide more transparency on where Canada’s aid dollars are going, and to focus funding on the world’s most vulnerable.

Critics have argued the Carney government should outline clearer priorities in aid spending, and spearhead initiatives with peer countries.

Sheridan cited the Harper government’s focus on maternal health and the Trudeau government’s work on providing education to children in conflict zones. Canada led both initiatives with support from G7 peers and global financing institutions.

“It seems like a missed opportunity to make a really well-rounded, robust strategy,” she said. “It seems confusing. Not even a mention.”

© 2026 The Canadian Press

Missile attacks struck across Ukraine on Saturday, wounding at least nine people, as Kyiv and Moscow prepared for new talks next week with the United States.

Negotiators from Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. are to meet on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, for talks aimed at ending the war. The new round of negotiations would be the fourth brokered by the Trump administration, the most recent having been in Geneva in February.

Western governments backing the peace initiative are seeking a new formula to break the impasse while acknowledging that territorial and security questions remain unresolved.

The Russian missiles that hit overnight across the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, damaged homes and commercial properties, triggering new power and water outages, national and city authorities said.

Kateryna Korniichuk, 64, was at home with her granddaughter when an attack hit.

“The first blast wave threw us against that wall and then against the other wall, because we were in the corridor. It’s very hard. No sleep, no peace — nothing. The children aren’t sleeping, and neither are we,” she told The Associated Press. “I’m old, I can handle it, but what have the children done wrong?”

Strikes also prompted officials to close Kyiv’s 816-meter-long (892-yard-long) Northern Bridge, a major route connecting the city with large residential areas on the east bank of the Dnipro River.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that work was already underway to repair the city’s Northern Bridge and that water pressure in Kyiv had been stabilized. Earlier Saturday, he had described the city’s energy situation as “extremely difficult, affecting the city’s heating and water supply systems.”

In a statement Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was preparing for trilateral talks by “launching ballistic missiles at Ukraine’s critical infrastructure.”

The Ukrainian leader said that Russia fired 36 ballistic missiles at Kyiv and the surrounding region overnight. The barrage also involved 172 drones over Kyiv and 12 other regions, wounding nine people, including a child, he said.

“When Russia tries to plunge Kyiv — a city of millions — and the entire country into a blackout, Ukraine must not be left to face this alone,” Zelenskyy said. He urged greater U.S. support and attention from Congress, calling for bipartisan backing for Ukraine and stronger sanctions on Russia.

Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said Saturday’s missile attacks damaged networks that carry electricity from nuclear power plants to Kyiv and central regions, as well as multiple other power facilities. It said outages were most widespread in the Kyiv and central Zhytomyr regions, as well as in the eastern regions of Kharkiv, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk.

The outages were separate from scheduled rolling blackouts imposed to protect the grid, which remain in effect across much of Ukraine.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense confirmed Saturday that it had targeted the Northern Bridge, saying that it facilitated the transport of weaponry, military hardware and specialist equipment for Ukraine’s armed forces.

It also said that it had targeted an industrial facility in the capital producing Flamingo missiles, as well as a power station, an electrical substation, and a plant producing ammunition, explosives and gunpowder in the wider Kyiv region. It also confirmed striking an electrical substation in the Zhytomyr region.

Meanwhile, in southern Ukraine, a recovery operation continued into its sixth day in the village of Komyshuvakha, devastated on Monday when multiple Russian guided bombs slammed into a former school and nearby shelter as residents waited for humanitarian aid.

Emergency services said they had recovered nine more bodies in the previous 24 hours, bringing the death toll early Saturday morning to 55. Dozens of people remain missing.

Village resident Mykola Krasnov, 72, said he was still looking for his wife but had heard no word from rescuers.

“She went to get humanitarian aid, and a three-ton bomb was dropped there. Where is she?” he said. “She didn’t come home, and they didn’t find her body there. She isn’t in the morgue, and she isn’t here alive.”

The village of Komyshuvakha is located near the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region.

A Ukrainian attack killed one person in Russia’s Belgorod region when a drone hit a private home in the town of Grayvoron, local officials said Saturday.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense said its forces shot down 411 Ukrainian drones overnight over 10 Russian regions, including Belgorod. Drones were also destroyed over the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and the Black and Azov Seas, it said.

The head of Russia’s southwestern Saratov region, Gov. Roman Busargin, wrote on social media that a drone attack damaged “civilian infrastructure” and several residential buildings in the area. Russian media outlets later reported that the Saratov Oil Refinery had been hit and shared images of plumes of smoke over the city.

The head of Russia’s Oryol region, Gov. Andrey Klychkov, also said Saturday that a Ukrainian attack had damaged commercial warehouse and production sites in the regional capital, as cited by state media.
Russian media outlets reported that a Ukrainian attack sparked a blaze at Oryol’s Proton-Electrotex plant, which produces components for military equipment.
___
Dmytro Zhyhinas and Dan Bashakov in Kyiv, Ukraine, Vasilisa Stepanenko in Komyshuvakha, Ukraine, and Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, contributed to this report.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

Airstrikes hit homes in a village near Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, on Saturday, killing at least 25 people and wounding 30 others, mostly women and children, a spokesman for Yemen’s Houthi-run Health Ministry said.

Speaking to The Associated Press, Anees Alasbahi accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out the strikes on al-Shariya. The AP could not independently verify the claims, and Saudi Arabia’s Information Ministry did not immediately reply to an AP request for comment.

The toll reflected the rapid worsening of Yemen’s civil war, where a yearslong truce fell apart over the summer. Fighting has escalated between the Iranian-backed Houthis — who control Sanaa, the north and the west of the country — and their Saudi-backed opponents based in the south and east.

On Friday, an airstrike in a market in southern Yemen killed at least 30 people, according to Houthi officials. The Houthis and Yemen’s Saudi-backed military each blamed the other for that strike.

Footage from Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV of the aftermath of Saturday’s strikes showed staff carrying limp bodies of multiple young children out of ambulances at a local hospital. One little girl’s head had been cleaved open. Other children lay on stretchers, bloodied and bandaged as staff tended to them.

Footage from the farming village — located in Houthi-ruled territory about 15 kilometers (10 miles) northeast of Sanaa — showed the rubble of destroyed houses and dust filling the air as people hid in nearby agricultural fields.

Alasbahi told Al-Masirah at least 25 people were killed, up from a toll of 22 he gave earlier to the AP. He told the channel that civilians were still buried under the rubble of houses hit in the strikes, and that subsequent strikes targeted emergency workers as they tried to pull survivors out of the wreckage.

Footage showed one wounded man covered in dust and wearing a first responder’s orange vest being helped out of an ambulance.

The renewal of fighting has raised fears that Yemen will be dragged back into the horrors of a civil war that has dragged on for more than a decade and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.

The war began when the Houthis stormed out of the north in 2014 and seized the capital, driving out the internationally recognized government. Saudi Arabia assembled a coalition backing the government, waging a yearslong campaign of air bombardment that brought it international condemnation over civilian deaths.

The war has killed at least 150,000 people, according to the U.N., along with widespread deaths from hunger and disease outbreaks. The lines of control in the country changed little for years, and a truce was reached in 2022.

The relative quiet, however, collapsed over the summer when the Houthis launched new offensives in response, they said, to Saudi Arabia’s continued blockade of their territory. The rebels made a lightning advance capturing much of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and strategic islands in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. At the same time, they have stepped up strikes on Saudi Arabia, targeting oil and military infrastructure and shipping in the Red Sea.

Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition has said it has been carrying out airstrikes in Houthi-held territory, targeting the rebels’ military infrastructure. The heaviest ground fighting has centered around Taiz, a strategic, government-held southern city that the Houthis have now encircled, worsening an already dire humanitarian situation among civilians. Residents are struggling to secure drinking water and food supplies as the Houthis restrict movement into the city.
___
Abou AlJoud reported from Beirut.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is praising Prime Minister Mark Carney’s latest federal budget, calling it one of the best in recent years.

Speaking at a panel event on the province’s economic future in Saskatoon on Friday, Moe said he’s optimistic about several budget promises he believes will benefit businesses and communities.

“I would say it’s probably the best budget we’ve had in a decade, but that isn’t saying much,” Moe said, adding Canada likely has “the strongest prime minister” in the last decade or two.

“I’m not standing up here stumping for the Liberal Party or anything like that, but I do appreciate when good non-partisan work is being done.”

Moe has spoken openly about having a more collaborative relationship with Carney than with former prime minister Justin Trudeau, with whom he often clashed over policies such as the federal carbon tax.

Moe pointed to a new exemption for up to $15 million in capital gains from eligible investments in Canadian companies. He called Ottawa’s 10-year plan to end homelessness a “bold commitment” and said he plans to work with the federal government on that goal.

Saskatchewan’s finance minister says the province will work with the federal government on the newly announced productivity mega deduction, which will allow companies to write off certain capital expenses upfront.

Jim Reiter says he expects it to cost Saskatchewan’s treasury around $400 million a year, but says it will be worth it.

“We’re happy to participate. We think it’s going to be a big incentive for business,” Reiter told reporters after the panel.
On the budget’s shortcomings, Moe said he had hoped for more infrastructure funding, particularly for municipalities, and plans to keep working with Ottawa on shared funding commitments.

“I met with a number of federal ministers on trying to work together to put together a long-term infrastructure funding program that might be a third federal, third provincial, third municipal. We don’t have that yet,” he said.

Saskatchewan resources in limelight

Another major Saskatchewan request, giving helium the same tax treatment as oil and gas, was addressed in the budget.

The province’s energy and resource minister said helium companies are looking to build Saskatchewan’s first liquefiers in the Swift Current, Sask., area in as little as two years.

Pam Schwann, president of the Saskatchewan Mining Association, said the budget is good news for mineral exploration and production. She noted that a five-year extension of the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit and the Critical Minerals Exploration Tax Credit gives junior exploration companies more long-term security as they seek financing.

Schwann said the budget also reaffirms Canada’s support for the province’s mineral industry, particularly as it advances its nuclear strategy.

“For Saskatchewan in particular, that’s very exciting. All the way from our upstream exploration and production into supplier opportunities, and then ultimately into supporting nuclear reactor development for our own power in Saskatchewan,” Schwann told Global News in an interview.

However, Schwann says the budget lacked other commitments, such as investment in trade-enabling infrastructure, reforms to the Impact Assessment Act to reduce red tape around project approvals and securing zinc as a federal critical mineral, which would significantly help the province’s McIlvenna Bay project, which is producing copper and zinc and listed as a project of national importance by the federal government last year.

“We were looking for federal recognition in terms of a more narrowed focus on critical minerals and we didn’t see that. So that was a little disappointing, not just for production in Saskatchewan, but also for refining of zinc elsewhere in Canada as well,” Schwann said.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Montreal police Chief Fady Dagher has put transparency at the centre of his public response to a months-long misconduct scandal that has rocked the force and raised broader questions about public trust and accountability, as the force investigates allegations of racism, discrimination, criminal misconduct and the mistreatment of vulnerable people.

He has appeared before reporters, on television and in radio interviews while promising consequences for officers found to have committed wrongdoing. This week, the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) took its most significant action yet, announcing at once the unprecedented firing of seven officers.

But researchers and community advocates interviewed by Global News say the firings and Dagher’s public visibility raise fundamental questions about the force’s response. They argue that making misconduct public and punishing individual officers does not necessarily address the conditions that allowed it to occur, while some are also questioning how the SPVM is managing its message as the scandal unfolds.

“There’s transparency, which they’re great at as part of their PR, but then there’s also accountability, which I think they skirt around,” said Daniele-Jocelyne Otou, executive director of Montreal’s Black Healing Centre and co-founder of New Room.

Ricardo Lamour, a community worker, human rights advocate and former fellow of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights program in Geneva, was more pointed in his criticism.

“For me, it’s a push to control the narrative at all costs,” Lamour said.

He said the response should be viewed in the context of Dagher’s public image as a chief who has emphasized his proximity to Montreal communities.

“The proximity brand is cracking,” he said. He believes the chief and the mayor are now presenting what he described as a shared narrative of “a reforming chief against a resistant culture.”

The criticism comes after the SPVM announced Monday that seven officers had been fired over allegations involving racism, discrimination and the mistreatment of vulnerable people. Five were based at Station 39 in Montreal North and two were from Station 21 downtown.

Dagher called it an “unprecedented and historic” day, and said the seven officers, both men and women, had turned in their guns and badges.

“Some people say there are never any consequences at the SPVM. Today we are announcing exceptional measures,” he said. Dagher said the cases involve about one per cent of the force and praised the work of the other 99 per cent of officers. He also said the “culture of silence” within the SPVM had been broken.

Others have described the dismissals as a significant step.

Sonia Para Jordan of Action Plan Against Intimate Partner Violence called the firings a good start.

“This is a big step forward and sets a precedent of more definitive consequence to misconduct from police officers,” she said, adding she hopes criminal charges will be laid.

For Otou, however, the firings do not by themselves answer questions about whether broader problems within the force are being addressed.

“Announcing that seven officers have been fired is not in and of itself evidence that the underlying institutional conditions that allow the misconducts to occur in the first place have changed or are being dealt with,” she said.

The allegations involving Montreal police first surfaced earlier this year. Police began investigating a patrol team in Montreal North in March after receiving internal complaints about alleged racism and criminal misconduct. Those allegations included reports that officers cut the hair of racialized citizens and kept it as trophies. The team was later dismantled.

At Station 21 in downtown Montreal, separate allegations emerged involving the mistreatment of people experiencing homelessness, including one claim that an officer urinated on an unhoused person.

Police also announced last week that an officer could face criminal charges after allegedly concealing evidence related to a 2025 domestic violence case. Other allegations that have surfaced in recent months include an officer who allegedly posed for photographs mocking suspects under arrest in humiliating positions.

Dagher said Monday the cases have been submitted to the Crown prosecutor’s office. Prosecutors will determine whether criminal charges should be laid.

‘Controlling the conditions of the conversation’

The way the SPVM has announced major developments has also drawn criticism.

Several news conferences throughout the scandal have been called on short notice, often late in the day and just before the weekend. The first, back in June, was announced just over an hour before it was held at 9 p.m. on a Friday.

Asked about the abrupt scheduling, the SPVM told Global News, “In certain situations that are exceptional in nature or of particular importance, the Montreal police service may call a media availability on short notice in order to quickly communicate information that is in the public interest.”

Ted Rutland, an associate professor at Concordia University whose research focuses on policing and public security in Canadian cities, said the immediacy makes it more difficult for journalists and others to prepare.

“It seems to me that the way that these press conferences are called late, that makes it very hard for journalists to prepare their questions and very hard to get responses from organizations,” he said.

Rutland said he believes it fits within “an overall public relations and communication strategy that seeks to control how we talk about the problems that we see with the police department.”

Otou raised a similar concern. “When an institution announces a press conference an hour before it happens, on a Friday, it influences who has the opportunity to prepare and participate,” she said.

“It really dictates and controls the conditions of the conversation.”

Otou said the timing can affect whether journalists have time to independently investigate and verify information, challenge what is being presented and seek perspectives beyond the institution’s own framing.

Anne-Marie Livingstone, an assistant professor of sociology at McMaster University, whose research includes racism in policing, said she agrees with criticism of the SPVM’s response.

Livingstone said her research has found a lack of political will to address racism in policing across Canada and described police unions and rank-and-file officers as major opponents to change.

She characterized the SPVM leadership’s approach as a public relations and “damage control” strategy aimed at satisfying public concerns without alienating the union and rank-and-file officers.

Police union challenges dismissals

The Montreal police union, La Fraternité des policiers et policières de Montréal (FPPM), also referred to as the Montreal Police Brotherhood, said this week it intends to challenge the seven dismissals.

Union president Yves Francoeur said in a message to members this week that the officers’ alleged actions, if substantiated, would profoundly violate police values.

But he said the administrative process used to fire them was unprecedented and raised “fundamental questions of law.”

“This is a method that’s entirely unprecedented in our history of labour relations, which has never been used and does not appear anywhere,” Francoeur wrote Tuesday. “This approach appears to us to be clearly non-compliant and could prove harmful in the future.”

Francoeur said the union “will defend the rule of law, and will take appropriate measures to do so.”

The police union did not respond to a request for additional comment.

Dagher said Monday that Montreal police consulted city lawyers before revoking the officers’ accreditation and security clearances through what he described as an administrative dismissal.

He acknowledged the officers could contest their dismissals and seek reinstatement. If they return, he said, the force would refer them to its disciplinary committee.

Dagher said immediate action was necessary to maintain public trust.

For Otou, however, rebuilding that trust requires more than managing how an institution presents itself publicly.

“If anything, it reinforces the lack of trust because the emphasis is placed on their image as opposed to addressing the actual root of the problem.”

Calls for broader accountability

Lamour said he believes the public also needs more information about police misconduct, including the names of the dismissed officers.

“There’s been a slow erosion of the information we need when it comes to police misconduct,” he said, referencing past documented incidents of racism in policing and cases of police brutality in Montreal.

He also called for outside oversight when public trust in local authorities has been seriously damaged.

“There should be some form of state oversight when there’s such a rupture of the trust that people have in regards to police,” Lamour said.

Alain Babineau, a McGill jurist, retired RCMP staff sergeant and Red Coalition racial profiling director, told Global News earlier this week that he welcomed Dagher’s efforts to address racist behaviour, but believes accountability should extend further up the ranks.

“I want to see more,” Babineau said. “I want to see some sergeants, some inspector, lieutenant, and if need be, some assistant commissioner or assistant director that takes the fall for this.”

Babineau also criticized Dagher for using part of Monday’s news conference to praise officers who were not implicated. “It was not the time to give the good cops flowers. It was a time to hit on the head of the bad cops and to also reassure the community,” he said.

Questions turn to City Hall

Questions about accountability have also extended beyond the SPVM to Montreal City Hall.

Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada said Monday the SPVM had taken “an unprecedented step to rebuild public trust.” “No one is above the rules,” she said. “This work is demanding and necessary, and it must continue.”

Rutland, however, said focusing primarily on Dagher risks overlooking the responsibility of the municipal government that oversees the police service.

“Fady Dagher is not a problematic police chief. The problem is not him.”

“Our mayor has continually asked whether she has confidence in the police chief or not, but she’s not asked, ‘What are you gonna do about this police force that is harming people?’” he said.

“To what extent is this responsibility and how going to take up those responsibilities?”

Rutland said he believes the problem is broader and includes successive municipal administrations that have relied on police to address public safety issues.

When Global News asked the mayor’s office to respond to Rutland’s criticism about the city’s accountability, it said it would not provide further comment.

Quebec’s newly minted internal security minister Guy Lapointe Jr. said the allegations against Montreal police officers are extremely troubling and unacceptable.

“This is not the kind of behaviour that can be tolerated under any circumstances by police officers, who must have the public’s trust,” said Lapointe. “The premier has given me a very clear mandate: to work on the public’s sense of security.”

For Otou, the question now is whether the consequences announced by the SPVM will be accompanied by changes that go beyond the seven officers who were fired.

“If they don’t have anybody who’s holding them accountable, then how are we supposed to trust that actual systemic change is being done internally?” she said.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

The biggest songs. The hottest stars. The stories behind the songs.

Every week, American Country Countdown with Ryan Fox counts down the Top 30 songs in Country music, featuring exclusive artist interviews, songwriter insights, and the latest news from Nashville.

Catch American Country Countdown with Ryan Fox every Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon on CISN Country 103.9 Edmonton and Country 105 Calgary.

Morgan Wallen is making Billboard Country Airplay history with “Been By Now,” his 23rd career No. 1 and fourth of 2026. He’s now the first artist to score at least four Country Airplay No. 1 hits in three consecutive years, following five in 2024 and four in 2025. Wallen also reached 23 No. 1s faster than any other artist in the chart’s 36-year history.

Released July 24, “Been By Now” was written by Morgan Wallen, Charlie Handsome, John Byron, Blake Pendergrass, Rocky Block and Taylor Phillips, with production by Joey Moi. Morgan first teased the song on Instagram in June before sharing a stripped-down piano performance in July. The song tells the story of a relationship caught between moving on and wondering what might have been.

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Morgan Wallen is also heading into the 60th Annual CMA Awards with two nominations, both for Musical Event of the Year. He’s recognized for “I Can’t Love You Anymore” with Ella Langley and “McArthur” alongside HARDY, Eric Church and Tim McGraw. The awards take place November 18 at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, with Lainey Wilson hosting.

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Morgan Wallen is bringing his Sand in My Boots Festival back to Gulf Shores, Alabama, May 21–23, 2027. The three-day event features Morgan alongside Kings of Leon and Ella Langley, with performances from Kygo, Nelly, Florida, Gavin Adcock, Koe Wetzel, Cole Swindell and more.

Speaking about the festival’s return, Morgan said:

“One thing I’m looking forward to the most about bringing Sand In My Boots Festival back is being able to have new concepts on stage and trying to elevate the experience overall for the fans, myself and other artists on the bill. I think it’s going to be really top-notch and we’re going to try to do it even better this time.”

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Morgan says “Been By Now” came together quickly after co-writer Charlie Handsome played an instrumental he’d been working on. Speaking on Morgan Wallen Radio on SiriusXM, he recalled:

“We wrote the song really fast.”

Morgan describes the song as bittersweet, with an upbeat sound that contrasts with the sadness of its message.

Watch the official lyric video for Morgan Wallen’s “Been By Now” below.

 

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

CALGARY – The scoring rampage continues for Cutter Gauthier.

The NHL’s hottest sniper extended his goal streak to five games Friday by scoring the game-winner as the Anaheim Ducks beat the Calgary Flames 5-3.

“Just keeping it simple and shooting the puck,” said the 22-year-old left-winger. “The more times you shoot the puck, the odds of it going in are more in your favour, so keep it pretty simple. Shoot it.”

Gauthier became the seventh player in the last 30 years to record 10 goals over a five-game span. The last player to do it was Auston Matthews (2023-24). The others were Connor McDavid (2022-23), Mika Zibanejad (2019-20), Patrik Laine (2018-19), Filip Forsberg (2016-17) and Pavel Bure (2000-01).

“He just knows where to go and the puck finds him a little bit,” said Ducks coach Joel Quenneville. “He doesn’t need much of an opportunity to score, but he’s got a great shot. When he gets hot, they find a way.”

Gauthier followed up a two-goal game against Buffalo on Oct. 29 with a hat trick at home against Ottawa last Sunday. He put up another three-goal game in Vancouver on Tuesday as the Ducks opened a Western Canada road trip.

He also scored on Thursday in Edmonton. After notching 41 goals in his sophomore season a year ago, Gauthier has 12 goals this season in 16 games.

“I’m not really surprised,” said teammate Leo Carlsson. “He’s just a goal-scoring machine. Every time he gets in those opportunities, he’s going to score.”

Down 3-2 after 40 minutes, Carlsson tied it 55 seconds into the third on the power play.

It remained that way until Gauthier scored the winning goal with 1:34 left in the period on a one-timer from the top of the faceoff circle. He was set up with a cross-ice pass by Mikael Granlund.

“They changed and Jackson (Lacombe) made a great heads-up play to give us an odd-man rush,’ Gauthier said. “(Beckett Sennecke) made a nice pass to draw some coverage and (Granlund) had the seam pass and made my job pretty easy.”

The Ducks have earned four straight victories with Gauthier notching the game-winner in three of them.

Anaheim, as a team, has been filling the net lately. The Ducks are the first team since Mario Lemieux and the 1991-92 Penguins to record five goals in seven consecutive games.

Keeping the puck out of the net has been the issue for Anaheim. Calgary scored three times on 11 shots for an early 3-1 lead.

Quenneville replaced goaltender Lukas Dostal with Ville Husso to begin the second period and he kept the Flames off the scoresheet the rest of the night.

“I didn’t like the way we were playing across the board. So it was one of those nights where (you say), ‘Hey, let’s go, change it up,'” said Quenneville.

Only tested 10 times, Husso’s biggest stop was a pad save to thwart Matt Coronato, who was left alone in front on a power play midway through the second.

A goal would have made it 4-1. Instead, the Ducks got a goal from Tristan Luneau 13 seconds after Calgary’s power play ended and the comeback was on.

“He came in, made two big saves for us, real big, right off the bat,” said Quenneville. “He looked square, confident, and settled.”

Several Ducks extended their scoring streaks.

Carlsson, who also had an assist, has points in seven straight games (4-11-15). LaCombe, who had an assist, has a nine-game point streak (0-13-13).

Lunueau extended his point streak to seven games (3-7-10). Sennecke, who had two assists, has nine points (2-7-9) over his last three games.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

CALGARY – Cutter Gauthier extended his goal streak to five games with the game-winner on Friday night as the Anaheim Ducks came back for a 5-3 victory over the Calgary Flames.

Jeff Malott, Tristan Luneau, Leo Carlsson and Nikita Nesterenko, into an empty net, also scored for Anaheim (9-7-1), which has won four straight. Beckett Sennecke and Mikael Granlund had two assists each.

William Stromgren, Joel Hanley and Joel Farabee scored for Calgary (7-9-1). Morgan Frost and Zayne Parekh each had a pair of assists as the Flames’ five-game home winning streak ended.

Goaltender Lukas Dostal got the start for Anaheim, but was chased after giving up three goals on 11 shots in the first period.

Ville Husso, who gave up seven goals in his last appearance, came on in relief and stopped all 10 shots he faced. He improved to 2-3-0.

Dustin Wolf, making his third straight start, had 24 stops and fell to 3-5-1.

The Flames took a 3-2 lead to the third period, but when Matt Coronato was sent off for delay of game 17 seconds in, Anaheim’s red-hot power play took advantage with Carlsson tying it at 0:55 with his sixth goal.

Carlsson, who also had an assist, extended his point streak to seven games.

Gauthier’s game-winner came at 18:26 as he one-timed a pass from Granlund. It was his 12th goal of the season and 10th goal of his five-game streak.

TAKEAWAYS

Ducks: Jackson LaCombe had an assist to extend his point streak to nine games (0-13-13), which is the longest in franchise history for a defenceman. He passed Scott Niedermayer (2006-07) and Oleg Tverdovsky (1999-00) on the Ducks’ all-time list.

Flames: It was Hanley’s first game since Oct. 3. He was inserted into the lineup when Kevin Bahl (lower body) was a late scratch. Joel Farabee scored in his fifth straight home game, the first to do that since Elias Lindholm scored in seven straight games at the Saddledome in 2021-22.

KEY MOMENT

Halfway through the second period with the Flames on a power play, Husso stuck out his pad to rob Matt Coronato from in close.

KEY STAT

In the past five games, Anaheim’s power play has gone 13 for 23. Ranked 23rd on the man advantage last season, the Ducks entered the night at No. 2 in the NHL.

UP NEXT

Ducks: Play host to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday.

Flames: Will entertain the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press