Residents of the town of Gibbons are voting on whether the municipality should remain an independent town or dissolve and become a hamlet within Sturgeon County. As Kabi Moulitharan explains, the vote follows months of debate over the town's financial future.
Residents in the town of Gibbons have had their say on whether they should remain a town or dissolve into a hamlet governed by Sturgeon Country and they have voted, by a large majority, to remain a town.
The results, announced Friday morning, show that 68.5 per cent of voters say they wish to remain a town.
In an interview with Global News, Coun. Ashley Morrison described the outcome as “heartwarming for all of us on council” and “a commitment by the community to place their confidence in us.”
The results of the vote are non-binding, but Morrison said she is hopeful the province’s minister of municipal affairs, Dani Williams, will honour them.
“He has indicated to us that he will respect the citizens’ decisions for the community and that he will stand behind us, so we are hoping that continues to be the case and that he will stand by his word,” said Morrison.
Councillor Ashley Morrison described the results of the vote as "heartwarming."
In February, council told residents it was at risk of insolvency.
The results of a review of the town’s finances, conducted by the provincial government, suggested residents could face a tax increase of between 30 and 42 per cent.
However, some members of council have pushed back, saying the figures were based on outdated information and have created unnecessary concern among residents.
Despite the results of the vote, the provincial government will have the final say.
FILE - A large asteroid is seen passing by the Earth in this 2013 computer generated artwork. An asteroid nearly two kilometres across is about to pass the Earth this weekend.
Getty Images
A large asteroid experts believe to be as big as three CN Towers stacked on top of each other is about to pass Earth this weekend at its nearest point since the 17th century, and will be visible from parts of Canada.
According to a statement provided by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the asteroid, named 1997 NC1, “will pass relatively close to Earth on June 27.”
The CSA says “this poses no risk.”
Asteroids, according to the CSA, are small rocky or metallic bodies that orbit the sun. They are considered a type of “minor planet,” meaning they contain a lot of the same elements that make up many planets in the solar system, but are not otherwise classified as a planet.
Most asteroids, the agency says, are found in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, and sizes can vary from less than 10 metres wide to the largest ever detected, named Vesta, which is over 500 kilometres wide.
Large asteroids impacting Earth “are quite rare,” the CSA says, adding: “When they do happen, these cosmic events can not only change a planet’s landscape – they can even cause mass extinctions.”
NASA also says 1997 NC1 has been designated as a “Potentially Hazardous Asteroid.”
A spokesperson for the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Toronto said the asteroid is believed to be up to 1,650 metres across.
For perspective, the CN Tower is about 550 metres high, meaning 1997 NC1 could be as much as three times that height measured across.
But how close will it get to Earth?
“The term ‘close’ is relative here,” astrophysicist Heidi White, at the University of Montreal’s Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets, says in a note.
White and the CSA say the 1997 NC1 asteroid will pass by Earth at a distance of between 2.5 million and 2.6 million kilometres, which is 6.5 to seven times farther than the moon is from the Earth.
“To put that scale into perspective, if the Earth were shrunk down to the size of an orange, the asteroid would still be passing 20 metres away,” White says.
White also says these types of events are “uncommon” as they occur about every five years.
NASA also says the 1997 NC1 asteroid won’t get this close to Earth again until the year 2133.
White says the 1997 NC1 asteroid will be visible from parts of Canada on June 27, when the sky is fully dark, but Canadians will likely need a small telescope to see it.
If Canadians want to look out for the asteroid in the night sky, White says they can look with their telescope for the Ophiuchus constellation, which is usually common to see during the summer from across southern Canada.
The asteroid can then be found within the constellation.
“Through a telescope, it will appear as a very faint point of light slowly moving against the background stars,” White says.
White says close pass-by events, like that of 1997 NC1, provide “valuable scientific opportunities.”
“Astronomers can use them to make detailed observations that help determine an asteroid’s size, shape, and composition, while also refining its orbit,” White says.
“In many ways, these pass by events are like a free reconnaissance mission, allowing us to study this lone traveler in much greater detail!”
FILE - Cannabis products shown at a retailer in Digby, N.S.
Ella MacDonald/Global News
The Tim Houston government has rolled out changes to the Cannabis Control Act this week, after they were passed during the spring sitting of the legislature.
After the federal government legalized recreational cannabis in 2018, the province brought in the Cannabis Control Act, which makes the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (NSLC) the exclusive legal retailer of cannabis in the province.
The new changes expand enforcement to allow peace officers, such as conservation officers, to enforce the act. It also increases fines, including up to $5,000 for purchasing cannabis anywhere other than the NSLC, and up to $50,000 for a business that sells cannabis illegally.
It is now also an offence for a landlord to allow a property to be used for the illegal sale of cannabis.
“It’s really important that we address a growing public health and safety issue, and that’s what the changes in the legislation are targeted to do,” Armstrong said Friday.
“The parallel black market that we’ve seen expand over the last year, particularly the last six months, is something we need to address,” Armstrong said.
But the new regulations have some Mi’kmaq advocates standing their ground.
“What we’re seeing in Nova Scotia is that now that we’re saying that there isn’t going to be a rolling over by the Mi’kmaq, they’re not going to surrender their economic rights,” said Tuma Wilson, the Micmac Rights Association’s legal counsel.
There have been multiple RCMP raids on cannabis storefronts since, and protests held against the province’s crackdown.
Armstrong says he’s had conversations with the chiefs since but ideally wants to see NSLC outlets brought into First Nations.
“We really encourage First Nations groups across the province to look at the opportunity to actually build legal cannabis sales with a safe supply where the profits and proceeds stay within the bands so they can use them for positive social programs,” Armstrong said.
Wilson takes issue with the idea, noting it violates the Mi’kmaq right to self-determination and trade, especially Article 4 of the 1749 Peace and Friendship Treaty.
“We’re going to see court time and money and resources wasted, we are going to police resources wasted and we’re going to taxpayer money wasted on economic genocide instead of trying to actually make this a better province for people to live in,” Wilson said.
However, the federal justice minister has said there are no reports of human trafficking linked to contraband cannabis.
As well, both Nova Scotia RCMP and Halifax Regional Police have said they are not aware of any fentanyl having been detected in cannabis taken from illegal storefronts.
President Donald Trump addresses the crowd as he departs after speaking at the Faith & Freedom Coalition's policy conference at the Washington Hilton, Friday, June 26, 2026, in Washington.
(AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump on Friday threatened a 100 per cent tax on imports from any country that imposes a tax on digital services from United States companies.
In a post on social media, Trump took aim at European countries that he said are discussing “imminent” implementation of taxes on American companies. The U.S. president has repeatedly sought to use tariffs as way to deter such taxes, but many countries are looking for revenues as their economies increasingly operate in digital realms that are dominated by American companies.
“Please let this statement serve to represent that any Country that imposes such a Tax will immediately be met with a 100 per cent TARIFF on any and all Goods sent to the United States of America,” Trump wrote.
He added that the new tax would supersede any previously negotiated trade deals. Trump said the penalty would apply to any country that moves forward with such a tax, but he singled out European nations in his post.
The move could lead to a larger showdown that could increase prices and hinder economic growth, possibly setting off a larger trade war if the 27-member European Union was compelled to retaliate.
“Unilateral measures targeting such legitimate policies are unjustified. If pursued, the EU will respond swiftly and decisively to defend its rights and regulatory autonomy,” said Olof Gill, a spokesperson for the European Commission on Friday.
He defended taxation on technology companies as “non-discriminatory” and applied equally to “all large companies, regardless of their origin.”
Trump has repeatedly pushed against foreign efforts to tax or regulate American tech giants. Last year, he threatened new tariffs on any country that moved to do so. A post from last August said that digital taxes and regulation “are all designed to harm, or discriminate against, American Technology.”
The threat comes ahead of Trump’s July 4 deadline for the European Union and the United States to start implementing a tariff deal that caps tariffs on most EU exports at 15 per cent.
The European Union in May finalized a trade deal with the United States that caps most tariffs on EU exports at 15 per cent. The deal followed months of debate within the EU after European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen tentatively struck the deal last year while visiting Trump’s golf course in Scotland.
Digital taxes were not part of the agreement and have remained a sticking point between the U.S. and the European bloc.
The U.S. government has previously conducted tariff investigations into digital services taxes under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. But it was unclear how Trump would carry out his threat and whether he would apply the tariffs broadly or initially target certain nations.
Britain, which is no longer part of the EU, has since 2020 levied a two per cent digital services tax on revenues earned by search engines, social media sites and online marketplaces that “derive value” from U.K. users.
The British government said in a policy document at the time that corporate tax rules for digital businesses had “led to a misalignment between the place where profits are taxed and the place where value is created.”
The U.K. tax includes thresholds, so mainly large international companies will pay it. The tax was designed to “ensure the large multinational businesses in-scope make a fair contribution to supporting vital public services,” the document said.
While world oil prices have plummeted in recent days to levels not seen since the start of the war in Iran, high gasoline prices persist in most Canadian cities.
Global News
An anticipated increase in oil supplies has pushed prices back to levels traders haven’t seen since before the war in Iran, but industry analysts predict markets could tighten again as demand and production return to normal.
When the war in Iran started and the Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed, many crudes were selling at record premiums, with the benchmark Brent crude hitting US$126.41 per barrel due to concerns over tight supplies.
However, on Friday, Brent futures for August were trading at around US$72 per barrel, its lowest level since the end of February.
“The mini tsunami currently seen following the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz has moved the market from missing barrels to choking on barrels, so the near-term focus will be squarely on this wall of barrels and how long it will take for it to be absorbed,” analyst Ole Hansen, of Danish investment bank Saxo Bank, told Reuters.
Iran is also set to boost oil sales following the signing of a 60-day interim deal with the U.S. aimed at ending the war.
Prior to the start of the conflict, about 20 per cent of the world’s supply of oil and liquefied natural gas flowed through the Strait of Hormuz.
The anticipated return of more Middle East oil has also caused discounts for European and West African grades to widen this week, along with Western Canada Select, which was trading at around US$100 per barrel in early April. On Friday, it was trading at under US$60 per barrel.
Despite the plummeting oil prices, it will take time to trickle down to lower gasoline prices for Canadians, according to Dan McTeague, president of Canadians for Affordable Energy.
“Average prices in Canada are ranging in the $1.57 to $1.58 vicinity. That’s a lot less than what we might have otherwise expected given the severe energy crisis caused by the US actions in the Persian Gulf,” said McTeague.
“But for the summer, we’re probably going to see a five to seven cent decrease to come (but) it will not be as cheap as last year when we were paying $1.35, $1.36.”
“Of course, with the federal government’s excise tax, removing 10 cents a liter plus HST or GST, depending on where you are in the country, it’s making things a little bit less difficult,” McTeague said.
Despite the recent decline in oil prices, McTeague said “the inventories (of oil) have been badly depleted during the past 115, 120 days of this war. So the fact the world is now short about 1.5 to 1.7 billion barrels, that will take months to recover.”
“We could get a bit of a surprise shock as soon as the futures market wakes up to the reality that short selling during a period of extreme tightness isn’t going to last,” McTeague added.
Abbotsford police have installed Black Cats around the city to help speeding enforcement and traffic habits.
Abbotsford police
Abbotsford police will be using a new tool to help catch speeders in the community.
Black Cat radar units are installed around the city to help identify ongoing speed patterns, police said.
The technology monitors and records passing vehicle speeds, the time of day something happens, traffic volumes and lane usage.
Police said this data will give officers “enforcement windows of drivers exceeding posted speed limits.”
One of the areas that was flagged was Simpson Road near Millwright Drive. Police said a concerned resident contacted them, saying drivers were speeding through this area at dangerously high speeds.
Abbotsford police’s Traffic Enforcement Unit deployed the Black Cat on this stretch and, between May 31 and June 6, approximately 28,000 vehicles were analyzed, with an average speed of 58 km/h in a posted 50 km/h zone.
More than 20 vehicles were recorded travelling at least 61 km/h and one vehicle was clocked travelling three times over the posted speed limit.
Based on this analysis, the Traffic Enforcement Unit launched Project Homer and over a two-day operation, nine vehicles were impounded for excessive speeding, with the average speed of these vehicles in excess of 113 km/h.
The highest speed reached 126 km/h in the 50 km/h zone.
Police said numerous violation tickets were issued.
So far in 2026, Abbotsford police say officers have removed 223 excessive speeders from local roadways.
Britain's King Charles III, wearing the Imperial State Crown and the Robe of State, processes through the Royal Gallery during the State Opening of Parliament at the Houses of Parliament, in London, on July 17, 2024.
HANNAH MCKAY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
King Charles III has become the first reigning monarch to reveal his personal tax bill, a move that comes amid a broader shift in how the British royal family manages and discloses its finances.
According to an official release by the Privy Purse, for the 2024-2025 tax year, Charles paid £12.9 million (CAD $24.19 million), placing him among the 100 highest taxpayers in the U.K., the BBC reported.
The King only pays taxes on his personal income, which is generated from his privately owned estates, Balmoral in Scotland and Sandringham on the east coast of England. Charles also paid capital gains taxes related to the sale of assets.
Prince William also revealed he paid £7.76 million (CAD $14.55 million) over the same period, the Associated Press reported.
In a statement accompanying the disclosure, the Keeper of the Privy Purse, James Chalmers, said, “In this and every aspect of his duty, His Majesty is guided by a singular purpose — to serve with constancy, devotion and unwavering resolve.”
“So, while much changes, our central principles remain: to deliver value for money and to support the Royal Family as they seek to help shape a better world, here in the United Kingdom, across the Commonwealth and beyond. A future in which tradition and modernity work hand-in-hand for the benefit of all,” he continued.
The release of the King’s personal tax bill included news that he and his wife, Queen Camilla, would not live at Buckingham Palace upon the completion of a 10-year, £369-million (USD $487 million) refurbishment, which the family says is part of a plan to increase public access to a building that has been a ceremonial pillar of the monarchy for almost two centuries.
About 700,000 people visit Buckingham Palace every year, according to Chalmers, with its 775 rooms — a selection of which are open to the public — providing everything from office space to lavish dining rooms as well as private apartments restricted to royal use.
The current renovations began in 2017 and included an overhaul of outdated plumbing, wiring, and heating systems, as well as an upgrade to the building so it could continue to house future monarchs.
King Charles and Queen Camilla have never lived together at Buckingham Palace, but it has been home to his predecessors and served as the institution’s administrative headquarters since the 1830s, when Queen Victoria designated it as the family’s principal seat.
Since 2003, their primary residence has been Clarence House, located about half a mile from the palace on the same Central London street.
Members of the Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, London, to view the flypast following the Trooping the Colour ceremony in central London, as King Charles III celebrates his official birthday. Saturday, June 13, 2026.
PA Photo.Aaron Chown/PA Wire
Royal officials stressed that the King and Queen Camilla would continue to work out of the palace, which they said would remain “the ceremonial and operational center” of the monarchy.
“It is and will remain Monarchy HQ, the crown jewel of our national buildings,” Chalmers said.
King Charles was under no obligation to publish his tax affairs, which, like those of any citizen, are strictly confidential. His decision to relinquish that right to privacy comes in the wake of dominating headlines over former Prince Andrew‘s alleged links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
It also underscores the idea that the monarchy is a public institution and its workings should be public, Craig Prescott, an expert on constitutional law and the monarchy at Royal Holloway, University of London, told the Associated Press.
“If they’re open and as transparent as possible, then the contrast with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor becomes all the greater,” he added.
Meanwhile, Prince William, who is first in line to the throne and entitled to income generated through the Duchy of Cornwall — a 130,000-acre estate set up in the 1300s to provide funds to the Prince of Wales — has recently moved to sell off a 600-acre farm on the property, with the duchy telling Global News it was in the process of “aligning and rebalancing our portfolio so that our places and assets deliver the greatest possible social and environmental impact.”
On Thursday, British media reported that Prince William would no longer pocket £1.5 million in annual income from rent charged on the now-defunct Dartmoor prison, which is on Duchy of Cornwall land, and that the money would be redistributed to support community regeneration projects.
WATCH ABOVE: Venezuela earthquakes — Canada announces $5 million in emergency aid relief
Canada currently has no plans to open an embassy in either Iran or Venezuela, Foreign Minister Anita Anand said a day after Prime Minister Mark Carney said a lack of diplomatic engagement with certain countries puts Canada at a “disadvantage.”
“We do not have plans to open an embassy in Iran or Venezuela at the current time,” Anand said.
While Ottawa is not looking to re-establish diplomatic relations with Iran, Carney said the lack of diplomatic presence puts Canada “at a disadvantage.”
“Engagement is not endorsement. Having an embassy, having consular services in a country does not mean we endorse the policies of that country,” Carney told reporters Thursday.
Commenting on the deadly earthquakes in Venezuela during a Thursday press conference, Carney said not having diplomats on the ground in Caracas makes it hard for Ottawa to offer help to Canadians.
“There are a series of countries with whom we have not seen eye to eye, to put it mildly, where we do not have representation.… Iran, Venezuela two examples; there are others,” he said.
The Canadian government is working with its staff in neighbouring Colombia to assist Canadians in Venezuela, Anand said.
“In terms of Venezuela, we are working with our mission in Bogota, Colombia, to ensure that the approximately 800 Canadians who are registered there have the support that they need,” she said.
While there were no plans to open an embassy in Iran or Venezuela, Anand said Ottawa was “always looking for ways in which we can serve Canadians.”
“We do want to always support Canadians in either of those jurisdictions or anywhere else in the world to the very best of our ability. And that requires us to have consular officials who can have the opportunity to offer that support,” she said.
Canada is looking to deepen economic, energy and defence ties with Turkey, Anand said on Friday.
Canada and Turkey have agreed to strengthen their strategic partnership based on four pillars, Anand said at a joint press conference with her Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in Ottawa on Friday.
“First, on trade and investment, we are advancing our economic relationship, including work towards a future Canada-Turkey free trade agreement,” Anand said, adding that two-way trade had already reached $4.3 billion last year and was on an “upward trajectory.”
Ottawa and Ankara are also exploring opportunities to deepen tourism and people-to-people ties, she added.
“Turkish Airlines will add additional weekly flights to Toronto and Montreal this summer, while Air Transat will launch direct flights between Montreal and Istanbul this fall,” she said.
The second “pillar” of the strategic partnership is energy and critical minerals, Anand said, adding that she and Fidan visited the nuclear generation plant in Darlington, Ont., on Thursday.
On Friday, she delivered a letter from Energy Minister Tim Hodgson to Turkish ministers expressing “Canada’s interest in expanding nuclear cooperation with Turkey.”
“Canada is a global leader in nuclear technology, and we see significant opportunities to work together to advance not only energy security but also economic growth and clean energy development,” Anand said.
Turkey and Canada are also looking to grow their defence and security relationship as members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
“Turkey is a valued NATO ally. This remains true today and will going forward,” she said, adding that Turkey is hosting the upcoming NATO summit in August.
WATCH: Wait times are getting longer in emergency departments, according to new data. Doctors are concerned for how this trend continues to affect patients, and experts say solutions must also come from outside hospitals. Health reporter Katherine Ward has more.
A recent report says one in 10 patients — equalling around 180,000 people — who were admitted to an emergency department in Canada spent more than 48 hours waiting for an inpatient bed in 2024-25.
In addition, about 1.5 million people spent more than 14 hours in emergency rooms during the same time span, a 28-per cent increase from 2018–2019.
The data released on Thursday by the Canadian Institute for Health Information highlighted that many emergency departments across Canada “are facing challenges with overcrowding, staffing shortages, and limited bed and stretcher capacity that have not kept pace with growing demand.”
The report says older adults and people with chronic conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure are often in the emergency department the longest.
“Longer waits for physician assessment are associated with potential risks, including worsening clinical condition, reduced timeliness of care and a greater likelihood of adverse events,” the report reads.
There were 16.1 million visits to emergency departments across Canada in 2024-25, according to CIHI. Twelve per cent of those visits resulted in hospital admission.
Cheryl Chui, director of health system analytics at CIHI, said that longer wait times “are really due to factors that are originating outside of emergency departments.”
“We’re seeing patients with more complex needs arriving in the emergency department as well as where we are seeing challenges moving patients through hospitals and into the next level of care when they’re ready to be discharged,” she said.
“So together, these pressures are contributing to longer wait times in the emergency departments, which means that improving emergency department wait times will involve looking at the entire health system.”
The report states that only age was associated with a longer wait time for a bed, as admission rates “increased with age, and older patients tended to wait longer.”
In addition, patients who could be discharged to long-term care homes, home care or rehab centres were found to be waiting an average of 24 days in hospital inpatient units.
“This likely reflects both bed availability and bed type. Younger patients are more often placed in the next available bed, while older patients with comorbidities or isolation requirements must wait for an appropriate bed, such as an isolation bed or a bed on a specialized unit.”
This is a sector of the health-care system that Dr.Michael Howlett, physician and former president of the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, believes needs fixing.
“Our population demographics are increasing in age. Our population, therefore, is aging. We’re seeing many more people with multiple health conditions, significant complicated health problems, and they take a lot more time, a lot of work, a lot of hospital care, and then they take that much more care when we try to get them back into the community,” he said.
“There needs to be much more emphasis on how we as a society are going to take care of our elderly frail.”
In addition, the report cites “ongoing staffing shortages” that have led to temporary closures of some emergency department sites, with patients in rural and remote areas in particular being affected. One in four hospitalizations among people living in rural/remote areas were found to have “a high or very high travel burden — a burden which increases with the level of care specialization.”
This is an area that Howlett does not see improving quickly.
“The number of positions available for specialist trained emergency positions is not increasing. So, some provinces have very few . Human resources then become an issue,” he said.
Chui also added that “tackling emergency department wait times is really a health system issue that extends beyond the emergency department and the hospital.”
“We see the symptoms of the pressures across the health system manifesting in longer emergency department wait times. But our data suggests that improvements will require system-wide coordinated action across multiple sectors, including primary care, hospital, home, and community care and long-term care.”
Kevin Cheveldayoff is listening to offers for Winnipeg Jets star netminder Connor Hellebuyck.
But the team’s general manager wouldn’t tell media on a pre-NHL draft video call Friday morning if the three-time Vezina Trophy winner has asked for a trade.
“Everybody is talking about ways to improve their team or different things like that,” Cheveldayoff said. “Certainly, as an organization we’re gonna listen.
“Everyone saw Helly’s press conference at the end of the year. He was passionate. Certainly in our exit meetings we had some frank conversations as well, but, again, what happens in those meetings certainly stays private.”
The Jets missed the playoffs last season (35-35-12) after capturing the Presidents’ Trophy for having the league’s top record in 2024-25 (56-22-4).
“What we did this year was unacceptable and no one wants to be a part of that,” Hellebuyck said in April. “Where do we go from here and what’s the next step?”
Hellebuyck has a full no-movement clause and five years left on a seven-year contract that carries an annual average value of US$8.5 million.
He won the 2025 Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player – only the eighth goaltender to win the award – and his third Vezina as top goalie.
This year, he finished 23-23-11 in 57 games with a 2.86 goals against average and an .895 save percentage.
But he did backstop the United States to an Olympic gold medal in a 2-1 overtime victory against Canada at this year’s Games. The Michigan product later received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from U.S. President Donald Trump for his performance in leading the team to its first gold since 1980.
Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff speaks to media during their NHL training camp session in Winnipeg, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025.
John Woods/The Canadian Press
Rumours have swirled recently that multiple teams are interested in acquiring the 33-year-old goaltender, whom the Jets selected in the 2012 draft (130th overall).
“At the end of the day, we both chose to sign a seven-year extension. He gave up some UFA years,” Cheveldayoff said of Hellebuyck.
“We had the desire to take a player into his high 30s and there’s risk on both sides. So again, as an organization you’re incumbent, it’s incumbent upon me to listen, and then that’s kind of what I’ve done up until this point.”
And what has he heard?
“Well, obviously, what I’ve been hearing hasn’t made me act. I guess the best answer is I’m still listening.”
Winnipeg holds the eighth overall pick heading into Friday night’s NHL draft.
Ad Choices
