WINNIPEG – Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew is planning to go to Ottawa next week for a meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Kinew says it’s part of a plan the two men have to meet roughly every three months, primarily to discuss the possibility of a northern trade corridor through the Port of Churchill on Hudson Bay.

The project recently made a list of projects being considered as “transformative” by the federal government.

Studies are underway to gauge private-sector interest and examine the use of icebreakers to extend the port’s short shipping season.

Kinew says interim findings from those reports are promising, and private-sector companies in areas such as energy and critical minerals will put money down if the two levels of government move forward.

Manitoba has long touted Churchill, a town of 900 people on the shore of Hudson Bay, as a port with huge potential to ship goods via the Arctic Ocean to Europe and elsewhere.

The trade dispute with the United States, and growing calls to find new ways to ship energy from Western Canada, has renewed interest in the idea.

“We know that energy and critical minerals are the business opportunity here, and in order for that … to be the best chance that we have to grow our economy, we need icebreaking capacity in the north,” Kinew said Friday.

“There is a clear ability to keep Hudson Bay open to shipping lanes if we have the necessary icebreakers in the region, so this will be one of the points of discussion with the prime minister.”

A full trade corridor would require upgrades to the long rail line that crosses remote areas in northern Manitoba before arriving at Churchill. A pipeline has been floated as a possibility as well.

Kinew announced $51 million for improvements to the rail line last year and a new critical-minerals storage facility at the port.

The project would also require a Crown-Indigenous corporation to guide the work, which the province has yet to establish.

Kinew said his trip to Ottawa will also include meetings with the federal cabinet ministers. A delegation of Manitoba businesses is also set to meet with federal politicians.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 10, 2026

© 2026 The Canadian Press

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

The snowpack in the Okanagan is at its lowest level in at least four decades.

Newly released data from the B.C. River Forecast Centre shows a stark contrast across B.C. While northern and eastern regions are above normal, the Okanagan is sitting at just 58 per cent, a record low since tracking began in 1980.

“Of note in particular, the Okanagan had several very long-term stations at all-time record low measurements for April 1,” Jonathan Boyd, a hydrologist with the B.C. River Forecast Centre, said.

Since we’ve got a historical record of the snow basin indices, which start about 1980, it was the lowest snow basin index for the Okanagan at 58 per cent of normal and the previous was 1981 at 67 per cent. So in particular, the Okanagan is an area that highlights just how incredibly low it is this year compared to previous years.”

The chair of the Okanagan Basin Water Board says as drought fears ramp up, so too does planning as the region braces for what could be a very dry summer.

“Everybody’s talking about that,” said Blair Ireland with the Okanagan Basin Water Board.

“Every community is looking at how they’re going to put in water restrictions or what they’re going to do to address this drought.”

A limited water supply could significantly affect daily life and have wide-reaching impacts on agriculture, tourism and the environment.

“Typically, what snow acts as is, it’s like a savings account, and it’s something that essentially saves that moisture to be released later in the season,” Boyd said.

“And if we have it all right now, that might mean that we’re in a deficit once we get into the later spring in June, or into the summer.”

While a low snowpack is worrisome, it’s the amount of moisture in the coming weeks that will really be the deciding factor.

“Snowpack alone doesn’t necessarily guarantee drought one way or the other,” Boyd said. “The overarching weather conditions for the spring and the summer really are indicative of whether drought does or doesn’t occur.”

With spring’s potential to bring heavy rainfall, there is still a chance Mother Nature could help avert a drought disaster.

“I don’t own rain boots,” Ireland said.

“But I don’t care. I want to see it rain. I think we all do.”

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

BC Ferries is finding itself in a bit of a public relations pickle.

William Fraser and his family like to visit Vancouver Island and the 12-year-old loves to get a traditional White Spot burger on board.

“Legendary burger, no tomatoes, no cheese, extra pickle and fries with honey mustard for the fries,” William said.

The family was on the Queen of Cowichan on April 6. William ordered his usual, but the kitchen mixed up his order.

“So I opened the burger and I’m just like, ‘OK, well this has happened before. This is kind of annoying,'” William said.

“Like literally the last time I went on the ferry, this happened to me. And so I go back, I asked for some pickles.”

He said the staff apologized and gave him some apology pickles on a plate that he could take back to his table.

“As I’m walking past the cashier, the pay, I didn’t think I had to pay, because it’s just pickles. And they forgot to put pickles on my burger,” William said.

“So I go there, and the person’s like, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, you need to pay for those. And I’m so confused, because the last time this happened, I didn’t have to pay for the pickles. You shouldn’t have to pay for the pickles if they forgot the pickles on your burger.

“She said nobody gets free pickles on BC Ferries.”

Dad Greg Fraser said he came up to help his son and ended up paying $2.19 for the pickles.

“Mistakes happen,” Fraser said. “Not a problem. And I expected, you know, the outcome would be we’d get the pickle that he was looking for. He didn’t even make a big deal about the tomatoes. He just picked it off the burger. But really, you know, making sure that that first bite tastes the way it needs to.”

He said there was no discussion or debate and the cashier was really rigid in her stance.

“She literally just kind of stared at me and repeated the fact that nobody gets free pickles,” he added.

“You have to pay for these pickles. And I said, well, we don’t even need the full plate of it. Can we just take a pickle? No, it’s $2.19. And again, it would seem to be common sense, but nobody wants to argue over a pickle.”

Fraser ended up posting about the incident on social media, which exploded with thousands of views and hundreds of comments.

“I think it’s more of a commentary on a greater focus to customer service that they need to do so that they can do better next time,” he said.

Fraser said he did send BC Ferries an email first, explaining the situation, but immediately received an auto response asking him to write a letter and mail it to their Victoria office.

But now he said his inbox has been blowing up with people messaging him from across North America.

“Most people seem to just want to share their experience as a commiseration or feeling like, ‘Hey, I know what you’re going through,'” Fraser said.

“It’s been really surprising. And you know, almost a validation that as a passenger on BC Ferries, people want to be heard about what their experience is and be recognized that it didn’t go well and, you know, maybe they’ll do better next time.”

Fraser said BC Ferries has now reached out about the situation.

Jeff Groot, executive director of communications at BC Ferries, told Global News that it is unfortunate that the family had the situation they did.

“I think BC Ferries has a good place in the culture of British Columbia and White Spot is another one of those companies,” he said.

“We obviously place great value on being able to offer White Spot products on board and the pickles are a core part of the burger experience. And so I’m not surprised that it elicited a reaction that people had some feelings about it.”

Groot said they have reached out to the family to make it right.

“Whenever we have these kinds of questions come up about process and policy, we do follow-ups and make sure that the teams are all aware of standard process and policy and how they should be communicating there,” he said. “And so that’s not unusual for us to follow up in this case. And that’s what we’ve done.”

Groot said there are also many ways to contact BC Ferries, not just by physical mail, and that includes a callback or calling customer service directly.

Fraser said that while this story may seem frivolous, it clearly struck a nerve with people.

“This isn’t about the pickle,” he said.

“You know, it’s about a consistent experience that they’re delivering or rather failing to deliver.”

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

B.C. continues to lose jobs, the latest numbers show, as Statistics Canada reports that the province lost 19,000 jobs in March.

The unemployment rate is now 6.7 per cent, which is the highest in a decade, except for the height of the COVID pandemic.

So far this year, B.C. has lost nearly 36,000 jobs.

“We’ve had losses in wholesale trade, we’ve had transportation, warehousing, finance, insurance, a very broad base in terms of our economy right now, it seems, for some of those losses,” Bryan Yu, a chief economist with Central 1, told Global News.

There were, however, jobs gained in manufacturing, services and natural resources.

B.C.’s Minister of Jobs and Economic Growth said there are still things to celebrate.

“We’ve seen $2 billion in investment to B.C. in mining, we have $50 billion that is in final investment decision, Netflix just opened up a new studio in Vancouver, so we continue to see bright spots in the economy,” Ravi Kahlon said.

“But there are some sectors that are facing real challenges, and we’re going to have to continue to focus on them and find ways for them to continue to be able to survive during these challenging times.”

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

An Alberta judge has put up a roadblock on a petition drive to force a vote on the province quitting Canada.

Justice Shaina Leonard, in a written decision issued Friday afternoon, says Alberta separatism organizers can continue collecting signatures.

But she says Elections Alberta can’t verify those names or otherwise refer the matter to Premier Danielle Smith’s government until an overall decision is issued on the associated First Nations’ court challenge.

Lawyers for multiple First Nations are calling for Alberta’s citizen-initiated referendum process and a separatist group’s use of it to be halted, saying without due consultation it amounts to a treaty violation and is unconstitutional.

They were in court in Edmonton this week trying to get the petition drive stopped in the meantime.

Lawyers for the Alberta government argued against it by saying until the province acts on a referendum there is nothing it legally needs to consult on.

In her judgment, Leonard said there are serious issues at play and First Nations’ interests would be harmed if she didn’t issue a temporary pause before making a final decision in the next few weeks.

“The applicants have provided evidence of harm from lack of consultation and harm to treaty relationships,” Leonard wrote in the decision.

“To be clear, the court is not staying the collection of signatures; this decision has no impact whatsoever on the signature collection period or when that period expires (on May 2).

“Rather, the court is staying the next steps in the process.”

A group named Stay Free Alberta says it has already collected enough signatures to force a provincewide vote on leaving Canada, and Smith has promised if such a petition is verified, the issue will go on the ballot.

Stay Free Alberta needs close to 178,000 names and it said last week that it already surpassed that total.

The judge’s decision effectively stops Elections Alberta from taking steps to verify those names should Stay Free Alberta decide to submit them earlier, before the May 2 deadline.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

Community support organizations in Saskatoon say they are concerned about the uptick in demand for their services following the closure of the city’s only supervised consumption site.

On Thursday, Prairie Harm Reduction (PHR) announced it will cease all operations after discovering a financial shortfall of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The non-profit organization previously shut down its supervised consumption services in March. Now, its family support services and youth houses have shuttered, leaving other social service organizations in Saskatoon bracing for impact.

“There are a lot more people on the streets, and there are more people coming to the office,” said Shirley Isbister, president of the Central Urban Métis Federation Inc. (CUMFI).

Isbister says encampments have begun popping up outside her office and she is concerned about where people will turn when they need help.

“The people who were using the safe injection site, where are they going to go now? And who’s going to test the drugs?” she said.

It’s not only Isbister who is noticing the spike in demand during the short period when PHR reduced its offerings.

“We’ve had a real influx of people wondering if we do needle exchange, where people just knew that . But now I think people might be getting a little bit desperate,” said Don Meikle, executive director of EGADZ, a provider of youth and family programs and services.

PHR previously received provincial funding for its social services, but not its safe consumption site, which Saskatchewan’s health and addictions minister said will be re-allocated to other organizations in Saskatoon.

“We don’t know exactly who that is, but we’re working with the existing organizations to see what they can do to take on some of that work,” said Lori Carr in an interview with Global News on Friday.

But additional responsibilities may not be possible for organizations like EGADZ and CUMFI, which say they are already operating at capacity.

“We’re overrun with what we do in the community, so I know we’d never be able to do it,” said Isbister.

Meikle says taking on more responsibilities would mean staff would be overworked, potentially leading to burnout or to them not being able to provide services to the best of their abilities.

“If the last week has been any kind of indication of what it’s going to look like, we’re not going to be able to keep this going in the long term. It’s just not possible,” said Meikle.

But Meikle has not yet heard from the provincial government on whether EGADZ will be asked to take on more, and says it would also mean a potential reduction in services to keep up.

“We might have to start saying no to people that we can’t give diapers or formula. We might just start saying we don’t have any food for you, that we don’t have the ability to take you to your appointments.”

Funding is also a constraint, said Isbister, adding that her organization only receives so much in grants from Métis Nation–Saskatchewan.

Carr said there are 177 places across the city where people can get a take-home naloxone kit.

“So, you know, just ensuring those places are stocked up with those kits, cause there might be demand for them,” said Carr.

But Toby Esterby, chief operations officer for the Saskatoon Community Clinic, says he is already seeing big gaps.

“Our staff has seen an exponential increase in overdose responses in the community in the last 48 hours,” said Esterby.

Esterby added that the Saskatoon Fire Department has responded to over 100 overdose calls already in April.

Critics share concerns

The opposition is weighing in on what the closure means going forward.

Shadow Minister for Mental Health Betty Nippi-Albright says she is worried about people falling through the cracks.

“The many services provided were crucial to our response to the housing crisis, the drug crisis, and the mental health crisis,” Nippi-Albright said.

She says many who offer services like PHRs were already feeling overwhelmed and now must take on more.

“Many organizations are already at capacity, they’re struggling,” added Nippi-Albright.

The provincial government had allocated roughly $2.5 million for PHR’s outreach, child and family programming, and increased access to take-home naloxone kits.

Saskatoon Mayor Cynthia Block is also weighing in on the closure, releasing a statement Friday afternoon saying the closure marks a “significant change for our community,” adding that the absence of services may be felt more deeply over time.

“As a community, we recognize this transition will affect residents, partners, and systems across the city, and we remain focused on supporting people through this period of change,” Block said in the statement.

Health Canada said the facility’s exemption to operate supervised consumption expired on March 31 and would not be renewed until the organization could show it has its finances in order.

PHR’s board fired its executive director, Kayla DeMong, in late March, citing a significant financial shortfall and asked for donations at the time.

The board said the shortfall resulted from a 300 per cent increase in demand for services, and that they did not suspect theft or fraud, but rather made the move to avoid turning people away.

The board also said that more money was spent than revenues would allow.

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

A women’s shelter in northeast Edmonton has been forced to close its doors. The site was meant to be a temporary home for the Elizabeth Fry Society, and since they haven’t found a new one, they’ve been evicted.

The trailers at the former site for the society’s shelter are being loaded up and pulled away from the plot of land along Fort Road near the Belvedere LRT Station.

It comes after the City of Edmonton ended the society’s lease for its women’s shelter after more than two years.

In a memo to city council, city administration said the shelter’s lease was set to end on Nov. 30, 2025, but they extended it until March 31st to ensure there was shelter space throughout the winter.

The Elizabeth Fry Society requested another extension until July 31st, but with the society not yet securing a permanent shelter location, the city did not approve the extension.

The closure means the loss of around 100 shelter spaces in the city.

Global News reached out to the Elizabeth Fry Society for comment, but did not receive a reply.

Click the video above for more information.

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

The appeal against a woman behind the wheel when nine-year-old Baeleigh Maurice died in 2021 is being dismissed.

The 21-page decision issued Friday by the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal details a series of delays in the criminal prosecution of Taylor Kennedy, who was charged in 2022 with driving under the influence and impaired driving causing death.

This is the first time a person in Saskatchewan faced those charges over THC impairment.

Those delays derailed Kennedy’s 2024 trial when a judge ruled her case wasn’t prosecuted within 18 months of her charges being laid.

Overall, it took nearly 30 months to the end of Kennedy’s trial.

The Crown appealed that decision, saying the judge erred in how she calculated the delays caused by a COVID backlog in the prosecutor’s office.

Now, the Court of Appeal says they agree the judge didn’t make an accurate calculation, but the difference still wasn’t enough to reinstate Kennedy’s prosecution.

Baeleigh Maurice was killed in September 2021 while crossing 33rd Street on a scooter at a marked crosswalk.

Watch above for more on what the court had to say.

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

The non-profit organization representing 8,000 business and property owners in Vancouver’s downtown core, said it’s critical government addresses the challenges facing the city’s entertainment district.

“Downtowns matter and they are absolutely worth fighting for,” Downtown Van CEO Jane Talbot told Global News following the release of the 2026 State of Downtown report.

While Granville Street’s vacancy rate dropped to 24.9 per cent in January after hitting 29.4 per cent in 2025, it’s still higher than average and about one in four storefronts remain empty, according to Downtown Van.

The Business Improvement Association (BIA) data also shows that on average, 50 per cent of all service calls for its Downtown Vancouver Community Safety Team occur on Granville Street.

Calls increased across every category last year, with open drug use up 33 per cent and welfare checks rising by 26 per cent.

“Granville Street is the heart of our 90-block district and until we meaningfully address the challenges the street is facing, our entire district and, I would argue, our entire downtown core cannot realize its full potential,” Talbot said in an interview.

Talbot is optimistic the ‘Granville Street Pedestrian Zone’ during the FIFA World Cup will bring renewed energy to the corridor while supporting businesses that have worked hard to stay resilient through several challenging years.

Between June 11 and July 20, the entertainment district between Georgia and Davie Streets will be closed to vehicle traffic.

When Global News visited Granville Street Tuesday, several people could be seen smoking drugs as VPD officers walked the beat, stopping to speak with some individuals outside one of three problematic provincially-owned single-room occupancy (SRO) buildings.

“Right now, it’s fine,” said Rishab Chaudhary of Venom Convenience Store. “There used to be a lot (of street disorder), but now the cops, they are taking care of it.”

In June 2025, Vancouver mayor Ken Sim announced the province was planning to transition the supportive housing units in the 110-room Luugat or former Howard Johnson hotel, the 93-room St. Helen’s SRO at 1161 Granville Street and the 77-room Granville Villa at 1025 Granville Street – out of the city’s entertainment district.

The province is working with BC Housing to relocate all Luugat tenants and close the SRO at 1176 Granville Street by the end of June, the BC Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs confirmed Tuesday.

“They gave us a new place,” Luugat resident Kyle Vipond told Global News. “They told us we’d be moving like, a week ago and they told us today (Tuesday) there’d be movers.”

Vipond then said his girlfriend became ill and was admitted to hospital.

“The mould and everything in this building, it’s just a horrible place to live,” Vipond said of the Luugat.

The former Granville Strip hotel has seen thousands of police and fire calls and been the subject of numerous street disorder complaints since the province purchased it for $55 million in June 2020 and transformed it into supportive housing during COVID-19.

“Just walking through the halls makes you sick,” Vipond told Global News.

“We have to make sure the people who need the care are receiving it,” Talbot said.

While the province said 30 tenants have moved out of the Luugat as of April 7, 50 others remain.

It’s still unclear when residents of Granville Villa and the St. Helen’s Hotel will be relocated to subsidized and supportive housing outside of the Granville Entertainment District (GED).

“That’s not good enough, we need a timeline for all three,” Talbot told Global News.

B.C.’s Housing Minister was unavailable for an interview earlier this week.

In a statement, Christine Boyle’s ministry said, “We don’t have a timeline for when supportive housing operations will come to an end at St. Helens or Granville Villa, but will provide an update once timelines are established”.

The BC Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs said the province, BC Housing and the City of Vancouver are working together as part of a broader agreement that will replace the three SRO sites with approximately 280 self-contained units outside of the GED.

“I understand these things take time, but we need urgency on the street and communication from the province on this issue,” Talbot said in an interview.

When asked if the downtown core is ready for the FIFA World Cup in terms of the two-kilometre “beautification zone” or Controlled Area around BC Place stadium that is required under the host city agreement, Talbot said she understands there are no plans to displace any unhoused or vulnerable people.

“We’ve asked that question and we have been told that the street will not be changing – it’s an inclusive event and everyone is welcome,” Talbot told Global News. “And that’s the approach that we’re taking for the 39-day pedestrianization of the street, everyone is welcome.”

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