VANCOUVER – T. J. Lee knew the exact mindset the B.C. Lions defence needed against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

“Grit,” said the veteran defensive back. “Having a grit mentality. Taking the initiative to pick the ball off, being aggressive-minded. Studying film, working together and collaborating.”

Quarterback Nathan Rourke threw two touchdown passes and the B.C. defence forced several key turnovers for a 30-16 victory over the Roughriders on Sunday.

Lee and Stantley Thomas-Oliver both had interceptions. Defensive end Lorenzo Mauldin sacked ‘Riders quarterback Trevor Harris twice, while defensive tackle Casey Sayles also had a sack.

“Our biggest thing with the front seven was put pressure on (quarterback) Trevor Harris,” said Mauldin, who came out of retirement last month to join the Lions. “Be able to understand he likes to get the ball out quick, so we need to be able to collapse the pocket and make sure he doesn’t step up.

“If we do our job, everybody will come out with a win.”

Lions head coach Buck Pierce praised his defence for making big plays at the right time.

“One of the best things about them is they’re able to stay in the moment, refocus after a big play,” said Pierce. “To take the ball away like they did and continue to work. It’s a group that’s hungry to be great.”

Rourke finished the night completing 22 of 28 passes for 355 yards and one interception. He threw a 23-yard touchdown to Jevon Cottoy and a four-yard toss for a major to Keon Hatcher Sr.

Running back Zander Horvath also scored on a one-yard plunge. The touchdown was Horvath’s seventh in the last four games, with six of them coming on the ground.

Cottoy finished the night with six catches for 110 yards.

A crowd of 30,083 at BC Place Stadium watched the Lions win their fourth straight game to improve to 5-5 and move into a third-place tie with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the CFL’s West Division.

Sean Whyte kicked field goals of 25, 35 and 44 yards.

Rourke was happy with the win, lauded his defence, but was disappointed with his own play.

“Our defence is playing incredible,” said last year’s Most Outstanding Player and Most Outstanding Canadian. “I think we owe this one to them. I don’t particularly feel like I played the way I know I’m capable of playing. Our defence made a ton of great plays to keep us in it.

“That should have been a way higher scoring game than it was. I just feel like I’ve got to be better in this stretch.”

A brilliant catch by Stanley Berryhill set up one of the Lions touchdowns. Berryhill caught the ball between two Saskatchewan defenders, took a big hit, and still managed to turn the play into a 58-yard gain.

Harris completed 28 of 42 passes for 356 yards, one touchdown and the two picks. He connected with Dhel Duncan-Busby on a 32-yard scoring play in the fourth quarter.

Alex Hale hit on field goals of 47, 25 and 24 yards.

It was the second consecutive loss for the defending Grey Cup champion Roughriders, who remain in second place with a 6-4 record.

The Riders were their own worst enemy, giving up turnovers and taking costly penalties. Saskatchewan was flagged for seven penalties for 72 yards.

In the second quarter Saskatchewan was moving the ball on the possession after the Lions first touchdown when Harris looked for slotback KeeSean Johnson in the end zone. The pass was underthrown, allowing Lee to record his third interception of the year.

Later, Saskatchewan looked to have tied the game but a 49-yard pass and run to Quali Conley was called back due to an illegal block penalty.

On the next series Harris hit Johnny Johnson III for a 36-yard gain, but Lions defensive back Deontai Williams stripped the ball away.

Early in the third quarter the Riders thought they had recovered a fumbled punt for a touchdown, but the play was called back for a no-yards penalty. A few plays later a Saskatchewan interception as wiped out by an offside penalty.

“Turnovers hurt us,” said Saskatchewan head coach Corey Mace. “We took three costly penalties.

“We’ve just got to protect the football a little bit better on offence and continue to push to find ways to get it back for us.”

UP NEXT

Roughriders: Host the Toronto Argonauts on Saturday.

Lions: Visit the Ottawa Redblacks on Sunday, Aug. 30.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 23, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

The Curator independently decides what topics and products we feature. When you purchase an item through our links, we may earn a commission. Promotions and products are subject to availability and retailer terms.

Canadians will spend about $4.5 billion on back to school this year, roughly $600 to $750 per kid, which is a staggering number! 5 spots can spiral out of control at lightning speed if you don’t plan for them or contain them. But if they are, it makes the school year, the student, and the parents much more organized and calm. And the good news is, we can do this for under $30 per solution, and each one takes seconds to implement.

 

The Fridge Door

Lots of fridge doors across the country are doing eight jobs badly. Housing the hockey schedule, a permission slip from last spring, three flyers, old photos, and a collection of useless magnets. When everything is posted, nothing is visible, which is how a field trip form goes unsigned for two weeks when it’s been sitting in plain sight.

 

Here’s what to do: strip all it. Then put up one magnetic dry erase calendar with a six-week layout or, a one-week layout if you prefer, and make it the only thing on the door. This at-a-glance solution means you see the whole stretch at once. The rule that makes it work: if it is not on the board, it is not happening. Harsh, but it ends the “you never told me” argument permanently.[/product_listing]

 

This weekly dry-erase board offers a tall, spacious writing area, making it easy to map out tasks, appointments and to-dos for the week ahead.[/product_listing]

 

There are also higher-tech solutions to keeping dates organized that don’t involve the fridge, such as the Skylight Digital Calendar, which gets rave reviews (but does come at an investment).[/product_listing]

 

Or the analog versions that hearken back to the 80s and 90s sitting in a kitchen but worked oh-so-well: full-page, spiral-bound agenda books. [/product_listing]

 

You may also like:

Owala SmoothSip – $32.04

Yodo Playful Kids Lunch Box – $23.88

Herschel Classic Backpack – $80

 

Piles of Paper

School paper arrives daily, and without going through your kid’s backpack, it can add up into a frightening clump of permission slips, freshly graded assignments and tests for you to review, crumpled up inside.

 

To keep permission slips, forms, papers, projects, and everything in between organized, pick up an accordion folder for papers and art projects, get one 13-pocket accordion file per child, and label the pockets by subject for your child (e.g. science, math) as well as any tasks you need to do (e.g. Sign and Return, Pay For, Keep/File, Calendar, Review, etc). Take a moment to action the paper in there once a week and review anything with your kid/kids weekly, and you’ll stay on top of the school year with much more ease.[/product_listing]

 

All that Air Space in Lockers

A locker is essentially a tall, empty box, so everything amasses into a heap at the bottom, and the backpack becomes the roving storage system instead. That is how kids end up carrying the a ton of books and other things on their backs all year.

 

A 4-tier foldable locker shelf can sit in a locker and requires no tools – just less than a minute of time to put in place (zero installation required – it’s folding!). This is a brilliant way to keep books, lunches, tech, and shoes organized in an otherwise challenging space.[/product_listing]

 

You can also add a locker accessories kit with a magnetic whiteboard and mirror for the small stuff.[/product_listing]

 

This is not just about tidiness. The Canadian Chiropractic Association says a loaded backpack should be no more than 10% of your kid’s body weight. Do the math for your child! Weigh that bag sometime. You might be unpleasantly surprised.

 

Kids’ Routines 

The whole summer, schedules have been totally off. Then, a couple of days before school starts, it’s back to routines…and back to the arguing about bedtimes or an extra ten minutes to do this or that. Any parent knows this struggle.

 

The best way to get kids used to routines again is to use a visual timer. It has a 60-minute timer and lets you set how long you want a task to take. This shows your kids exactly how much time is left and they can watch it count down while they work. So you can set a homework timer for 20 minutes, or an eat breakfast timer, a get dressed timer, a tidy up timer…you get the idea. In fact, many adults love this timer as well![/product_listing]

 

Snacks

Packing lunch at 11 PM or 7 AM means making a lot of decisions when you have the least amount of energy.

 

Load a set of clear bins with adjustable dividers with pre-approved grab-and-go options and take that snack cupboard from a bunch of boxes buried on an efficient container stocked with their favourites for very simple lunch-making. After grocery shopping, pop the snacks into a defined section, and check before grocery shopping so you can see what to refill. My snack bin has been a big time saver for me when it comes to making lunches. [/product_listing]

 

You may also like:

Sunrise Alarm Clock – $43.66

Mini Desk Vacuum Cleaner – $32.99

Apple Magic Keyboard – $119

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

One of two regimental funerals took place on Saturday for Nicolae Serban.

He and his colleague, Ramandeep Kaur Maan, died in a crash at the start of August.

They were transporting an inmate, Keira Mooswa, from the Edmonton Institute for Women when the collision happened.

Moosa was also killed.

Roughly 200 people attended the funeral. Former co-workers, friends and dignitaries shared memories of Serban while honouring his name with kind words about his character.

The regimental funeral for Maan is set to be held on Sunday.

Katherine Ludwig has the full details in the video above.

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

A man who admitted to setting a fire inside the only full-service grocery store in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside earlier this year has received a two-year conditional sentence followed by two years of probation.

Victor Atkinson, 50, was originally charged with arson to inhabited property and theft in the March 30 fire at Nesters Market but pleaded guilty in June to the lesser charge of arson to property.

At a sentencing hearing Thursday, the court heard Atkinson, who was captured on surveillance and quickly identified by store management and police immediately after the fire, confessed to the crime.

Following his arrest at the nearby Gastown Hotel SRO, Atkinson told police he started the fire at Nesters in the Woodward’s building as a distraction tactic so he could continue shoplifting, which he does to support his drug use.

While acknowledging his guilty plea saved court time and considerable Crown and police resources, prosecutors said Atkinson posed an incredible danger to everyone else – just so he could shoplift.

In seeking a two-year jail sentence, prosecutor Tyler Maclean said Nesters Market was packed, with hundreds more people inside the apartments above it, and that the fire caused significant damage to the store and the community.

“The danger posed to anyone in the area was extreme and could have resulted in catastrophic loss of life,” Maclean told the court.

Also aggravating, said the Crown, are the 14 property crime offences on Atkinson’s record – almost all for shoplifting.

“By his own admission, he’s a serial shoplifter?” asked B.C. provincial court Judge David St. Pierre.

“Yes,” Maclean replied, “Mr. Atkinson isn’t shy about the fact he shoplifts to support his lifestyle.”

Defence counsel told the court his client had no malicious intent in his spontaneous decision to light a fire near a stack of toilet paper, and thought it would just “create some smoke.”

“It was a total one-off, it was not Mr. Atkinson’s intention whatsoever to do that,” lawyer Jordan Allingham told Global News. “It’s a really unfortunate series of events but it’s very unlikely that we’ll see Mr. Atkinson back before the courts with any sort of similar type of offending.”

Allingham said the biggest risk factor is his client’s substance misuse.

“His record is a product of shoplifting to support his addiction,” Allingham told the sentencing hearing.

Court heard Atkinson, who has been in custody since the March 30 incident, is on methadone and wants to return to his supportive housing at the Gastown Hotel, where Community Builders has a room for him at the end of the month.

No one was injured in the fire but Pattison Food Group said it caused more than $500,000 in damage, and forced Nesters to close for two weeks.

Maclean referenced a victim impact statement from store manager Denin Ulriksen, which detailed thousands of dollars in lost product, water and smoke damage, and included a plea for further action to address crime and hold people accountable.

Atkinson apologized in court to those affected, including tenants above Nesters, market management and the people inside at the time of the fire.

The incident he said, “gave me a little bit of a wake up.”

“I’m staying on methadone. I feel good. I want to continue on this road,” Atkinson told the judge.

In granting the defence’s request for a conditional sentence, St. Pierre described Atkinson as “one of the few candid folks we get coming through these courts” and said in the circumstances, it’s the most appropriate sentence.

“You are going to be held accountable for every decision you make from now on,” said the judge, adding he doesn’t want Atkinson to lose his supportive housing and hopes to dissuade him from thieving from people.

“He wants Mr. Atkinson to be a positive and contributing member of the community and if he’s not, he’s going to send him back to jail,” Allingham said outside court.

The Gastown Residents Association (GTA) said the sentence is not strong enough given there was a possibility of the fire spreading to the entire Woodward’s building.

“The actions … had the potential of being absolutely deadly,” GTA president Brian Davie said in an interview. “The courts had an opportunity here to send a message, which was you can’t light stores on fire, and they chose not to.”

Atkinson must abide by house arrest conditions for the first six months of his community sentence, followed by a curfew. He’s also been ordered to abstain from drugs and alcohol and not attend any Nesters stores in B.C.

“The fact that he’s now being returned back into Gastown is absolutely crazy,” said Davie.

Judge St. Pierre said he hopes Atkinson makes it, explaining he never gets to see people who are successful – only the failures.

When asked outside court if he thinks he’s going to make it, Atkinson replied, “Oh yeah.”

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

Ottawa police are investigating after officers found and seized more than 100 pills of various types from two parks over the weekend.

Police were first called to Blue Willow Park in Ottawa’s east end at about 11 a.m. on Saturday. An area resident reported that pills were scattered throughout the park on Longleaf Drive in a “suspicious manner.”

Upon arrival, police found pills of various sizes and colours near bushes and trees, on the grass, and even hidden inside acorns.

Then on Sunday, police say more suspicious pills were found at a park on Silverbirch Street.

In total, more than 100 pills were seized and are now being analyzed to determine their composition.

Parents, caregivers and pet owners visiting either park are urged to exercise caution and monitor children and animals while in the area.

The incidents have prompted police to remind residents that they should not touch or handle any suspicious substances found in public spaces. Anyone who finds pills or other unknown substances should leave them where they found them and contact police immediately.

Police are conducting searches in the area as the investigation is ongoing.

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

A strong system of thunderstorms in British Columbia has sparked new wildfires, with more than 7,000 lightning strikes within 24 hours between Saturday and Sunday.

B.C. Wildfire Service said on Sunday the province had experienced a subtropical weather system that brought high temperatures and widespread lightning.

“There were lightning-caused wildfires in all southern fire centres yesterday after more than 7,000 strikes were recorded,” the service said in its provincial situation report.

The service said many of the areas affected by lightning received a good amount of precipitation, however, which helped decrease fire behaviour and the likelihood of new starts.

While it did not specify how many were sparked by lightning, the service said 57 new fires had started in the last 24 hours. Another 15 were declared out during the same period.

There are 172 active wildfires in the province as of Sunday.

The province cautions that hot, dry and windy conditions are expected to return this week, which could increase the potential for fire activity. Conditions could also lead to holdover fires, which are lightning-caused fires where heat smoulders undetected until hotter, drier and windier conditions lead to more visible smoke.

Storm causes airport disruptions

Saturday’s storm didn’t just cause wildfires, it also caused disruptions for airports.

Flights at Vancouver International Airport were delayed for hours, and many arriving planes couldn’t taxi to their gates after landing.

“We were on the tarmac for four-and-a-half hours and there was very little to no information that was relayed to the pilot that was relayed to us, so they were struggling to get information from the airport authority,” said David Cooper, who had arrived from one flight.

In a statement to Global News, Vancouver International Airport said the duration of the storm meant flights could not depart from 9:30 p.m. Saturday until 2:55 a.m. Sunday.

The airport said as a result, officials activated its terminal response team and called in additional staff to support passengers.

“Although the weather has improved, some flights continue to be impacted today at YVR,” the statement said on Sunday. “We are working closely with our airport partners to support recovery of their schedule and get passengers on their way as quickly as possible.”

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

Premiers in Eastern Canada are once again calling on residents to buy local as Canada squares off against the United States in an escalating trade war.

Prince Edward Island Premier Rob Lantz issued a news release Sunday urging Islanders to seek out products produced in Canada and in their home province.

Lantz said every dollar spent on goods from Canada or P.E.I. supports the local people and businesses behind the product.

New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt made a similar plea on Saturday, saying businesses in her province will be hit with U.S. President Donald Trump’s new 50 per cent tariffs on some Canadian imports.

Holt called on New Brunswickers to double down on their efforts to buy local and support businesses in the province.

On Saturday, Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette said if each family in the province bought $25 worth of local products every week, roughly $3 billion would be injected back into the economy.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

Canadian businesses are bracing for more uncertainty as a new round of U.S. tariffs take effect following the collapse of trade talks between Canada and the United States.

President Donald Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of Canadian goods came into force Saturday after negotiators failed to reach an agreement before the deadline.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada was “walking away from a bad deal,” and vowed to respond with dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods.

For businesses caught in the middle of the trade war, attention is now turning to what the new tariffs will mean for costs, sales, jobs and what support will be available to help them weather the impact.

For Ela Onisto, who owns Wick’ed Fragrance House in Innisfill, Ont., the pressure is already being felt.

Onisto makes and sells small-batch natural candles, fragrances and decor. She tries to keep her supply chain as Canadian as possible, but says she is already paying more for some supplies while customers are spending less.

“It’s difficult because you need to determine where you’re going to add the cost… you don’t want to scare the customer; so as a small business owner, your margins go down,” Onisto said.

Sourcing ingredients in Canada doesn’t completely shield her business from the trade dispute, as some of her Canadian suppliers rely on the U.S. market.

“It’s a domino effect,” she said.

Candles are among the Canadian products facing new 50 per cent tariffs.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business says forty per cent of small exporters sell products included on the tariff list, and one-third of those businesses expect their sales to fall by 50 per cent or more.

Matthew Holmes, executive vice president and chief of public policy with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said businesses have already spent months dealing with unpredictable U.S. trade policy.

“In 2025, there were over 52 different changes to the American tariff and tax code. That’s more than one a week,” Holmes told Global News.

Holmes said that uncertainty has caused some businesses to freeze major investment decisions, delay hiring or hold off on launching new products.

While a “no deal” scenario was not what anyone wanted, Holmes said governments are responding appropriately by preparing support for affected businesses and workers.

“They are treating this like a crisis, and that is the appropriate response right now.”

For Geoff Stewart, founder and president of Alberta-based Rig Hand Craft Distillery, uncertainty surrounding U.S. tariffs has already changed how he does business.

Stewart said concerns over tariffs caused the company to close a packaging facility in Texas, which cost it contracts in that state, as well as in Arizona and Alaska.

Rig Hand has since turned more of its attention to the Canadian market and other countries, recently making its first shipments to Japan.

But Stewart says moving away from the U.S. is not an easy solution for Canadian distilleries that rely heavily on exports. His business also sources some materials from the United States, leaving it exposed to the effects of retaliatory tariffs.

However, Stewart says the bigger problem is not knowing what comes next.

“The idea that there’s no tariffs today, and then in three days there are tariffs, and then seven days later, it might come off, then four days later it might come back. We can’t run our businesses with that amount of uncertainty there,” Stewart said. “And so we just need to know what the path forward is.”

Ottawa has promised additional measures to support businesses and workers affected by the trade war, with Carney saying more details will be announced in the coming days.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has backed the federal government’s decision to walk away from the proposed deal, saying it would have been bad for Ontario’s auto, steel and manufacturing sectors.

Other premiers have also rallied behind Carney’s decision while calling for supports for industries and workers expected to feel the impact of the tariffs.

For small businesses like Onisto’s, the focus is on getting through the uncertainty, and appealing to Canadian consumers to continue to shop local.

“Support the small guys… we really depend on customers to support us,” she said.

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

A suspect involved in a shooting in a Northwest Territories community has been arrested after a shelter-in-place order was issued for several hours Saturday.

RCMP say they responded to a report of a shooting outside a local business in Fort Smith, N.W.T., at approximately 2:12 a.m. Aug. 22. The shooting is reported to have taken place on McDougal Road and left three people injured.

The male suspect fled the scene, prompting a shelter-in-place order to be issued shortly after. It was lifted Saturday afternoon.

Multiple RCMP units were deployed to help find the suspect.

At approximately 4:30 a.m. Sunday, police said the suspect was arrested without incident.

Charges are pending as an investigation is ongoing.

Anyone who was present during the altercation that occurred prior to the shooting is asked to visit the Fort Smith RCMP detachment between 1 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Monday to speak with an investigator. People who have already spoken with investigators are asked to still come in to provide a statement.

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

Quebec police are asking for the public’s help in locating to witnesses to an accident early Sunday morning in which a vehicle struck a teenage boy riding a moped.

The incident occurred in Les Cedres in the Montérégie region, south of Montreal. Police said a passing motorist found the injured 15-year-old and a damaged moped on the side of Route 338 between Chemin St-Féréol and Chemin St-Dominique shortly before 1 a.m..

The boy was hospitalized in serious condition. Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to contact the Surete du Quebec’s Vaudreuil-Dorion Major Crimes investigation team.

Police are also asking anyone who saw a vehicle with damage consistent with collision with a moped to call police.

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