The bad news: One more normal weekend and then it’s Labour Day. The good news: We’re getting more interesting stuff for New Music Friday.

Singles

1. Bryan Adams, The Ballad of Terry Fox (Coady./Platoon/Bad Records)

I believe that Terry Fox was not only a hero but also the greatest athlete in Canadian history because of his guts, courage, and physical grit displayed during the Marathon of Hope. Put him on our money, already. This song from Canadian patriot Bryan Adams will appear in Run Terry Run, a documentary that will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

2. Criminal Hero, Don’t You Wanna Go (Independent)

Indie rock born in Toronto, hammered into shape in Detroit, and now based in Vancouver. The key person is songwriter and guitarist Rick Harkness. SPIN calls this record, Walk Through the Fire, “a refreshing blast of pure Detroit-powered punk rock from Canada in the spirit of The Stooges and the MC5.” That got my attention.

3. Featurette, Castles (Division 11)

Looking for a little upbeat shoegaze? Toronto’s Featurette has you covered. Fun fact: This video was shot during a heatwave when temperatures hit 39C, not counting the humidity. The things you will do for your art. The band recently had a good run through the UK, so here’s hoping they can keep up the momentum.

4. Queens of the Stone Age, Easy Street (Matador)

The first couple of songs from the upcoming QotSA album have been on the mellow side. The latest has been called “a starry-eyed psych track” that “embraces imperfection rather than polish.” Perfecth (yes, that’s spelled correctly) will be available on October 30. Anticipation is running pretty high. Google around for some of the fun videos Josh Homme has put out over the last couple of weeks.

5. Amy Winehouse, Tears Dry – Alternative Demo (Island Records)

It’s been twenty years since Amy released the awesome Back to Black album, so that means it’s time for a special reissue. Among the extras is a never-before-released stripped-down version of Tears Dry On Their Own. The reissue will appear October 23 (four days short of its 20th anniversary) and will feature many more demos, rare B-sides, as well as a live performance captured in Amsterdam.

Albums

1. Mike D, Thank You (Capitol)

One of the two remaining Beastie Boys has broken his silence with his first-ever solo album. It was made with help from his sons Skyler and Davis who reported pushed Dad into new areas and to try new things. His backing band, 5D, features musicians his kids met on the LA music scene. A tour stars Sunday in Boston.

2. Dinosaur Jr., There Near (Jagjaguwar)

J Mascis has been leading Dino Jr. since 1984. This is the band’s 13th album and first since 2021. Expect more slacker rock with great hooks from J, Murph, and Lou Barlow on songs that were recording largely in J’s basement. This will take you back to the 90s.

3. Everlast, Embers to Ashes (Martyrs Inc/Thirty Tigers)

It’s been a minute since the House of Pain man released a new record. Eight years, in fact. What we’ve got are 17 tracks of American roots rock made in Nashville filtered through his perspective and experience. That includes a divorce, the pandemic, and losing his house in the LA wildfires of 2018.

4. Interpol, This Mirror Weighs a Ton (Partisan)

The sharp-dressed members of Interpol have delivered a sharply good eighth album. It’s elegant (as you would expect) but things aren’t all that rosy lyric-wise (as you’d also expect). They remain one of the best examples of the NYC indie-rock revival of the early 00’s. Intersting stat: Half of the band’s 2.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify are under the age of 35. Their sense of doom resonates across generations.

5. The Linda Lindas, GOTTA GET OUT (Reprise)

The LA moppets (no one in the band legally allowed to buy alcohol yet) are already up to their third album, this one produced by the father of two of the bandmembers. Hayley Mills of Paramore is such a fan that she makes a guest appearance on the record. This single rocks really hard in a doomy way. It’s also very political. The kids are alright.

6. Mastodon, Marrow Deep (Loma Vista/Concord)

If you liked that Linda Lindas track, you’ll enjoy this slab of progressive sludge from the Atlanta masters of the genre. This is their ninth album and their first since the death of former guitarist Brent Hinds that horrible 2025 motorcycle accident. In fact, they started recording the album just a week after he died. Rolling Stones says this album may be there Shine on You Crazy Diamond, which is high praise indeed.

7. The Warning, Everything’s Falling (Lava/Republic)

Here are three sisters from Monterrey, Mexico, who rock really, really hard. The Villarreal Vélez women are up to their fifth album of alt-rock/alt-metal and have a worldwide fanbase ready to eat it up. As with The Linda Lindas, the future of rock is safe in the hands of women.

 

 

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

Here’s a little bit of music psychology. Studies on the power of opinion have found that you are more likely to say that you like a song if you know other people like it. Here’s a sample of one of those studies from Columbia University.

They found 14,000 individual people to sample downloads of 48 unknown songs, tracks no one in the study had ever heard before. And this is important: everyone could see what everyone else was downloading. When all the results were tallied up, there was broad agreement about which songs were best, and it seems that the quality of the music had nothing to do with it. It was all about what other people said they liked as they sought validation for their choices.

It’s a complete bandwagon effect, a herd mentality.  Weird, huh? But somehow, deep down inside, you probably knew that.

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

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that he said would have the U.S. refer to Lake Ontario as “Lake America” “effective immediately,” his latest shot at Canada after trade talks fell apart last week.

Trump, speaking in the Oval Office after signing the order, took the opportunity to once again criticize Canada’s trade policies and leadership but insisted he loves the country and that renaming Lake Ontario was not about sending a message.

The U.S. president equated the move to his order for the U.S. to call the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” last year — a move that has not been recognized by the rest of the world. Even U.S.-based Google has opted to put the “Gulf of America” name in parenthesis after the original name in Google Maps.

Experts have told Global News that Canada and the rest of the world are under no obligation to recognize Trump’s order, noting the name Lake Ontario appeared on maps more than a century before the U.S. declared independence and long before there was a province called Ontario.

More to come…

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

The Saskatchewan government is forecasting an $825-million deficit, inching slightly more into the red from 2026-27 budget projections in March.

Original budget projections put the province in an $819-million deficit.

The first quarter report says expenses are to cost $337 million more than expected, because of higher health-care costs and anticipation of flood-related costs and higher payouts for crop insurance claims.

Those expenses are somewhat beaten back by non-renewable resource revenue, which is largely behind the $331-million increase in expected revenue for the budget year.

The province says the rise in oil prices has been driven higher than expected because of war in the Middle East.

Finance Minister Jim Reiter is set to provide more details about the fiscal update in Saskatoon.

“While there continues to be uncertainty in the global economy, Saskatchewan’s strong economic fundamentals and fiscal position provide a solid foundation to meet the needs of Saskatchewan people and communities,” Reiter said in a statement Thursday.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

A tiny kitten found trapped in the bowels of heavy machinery by construction workers in Ohio is going viral after becoming the newest member of their crew.

The team at River Reach Construction in Barberton, a city about 80 kilometres south of Cleveland, discovered the orange kitten inside a Komatsu excavator last month when they heard its strained cries coming from the machine, so they launched a rescue mission and set the kitten free by removing the excavator’s bottom skid plate.

Footage of the rescue shows operating supervisor Chase Guello forcing the jammed metal element open, causing the kitten to fall out of the machine in dramatic fashion.

The video soon caught the attention of cat lovers online, racking up 5.8 million views and thousands of comments, including Komatsu, which encouraged the Ohio company to get in touch.

In a follow up post on River Reach Construction’s Instagram, Guello said the kitten — which they named Sue, after the machine she was found in — was taken to a pet rescue centre after an unsuccessful attempt to locate her mother, where she received the support she needed until she was big enough to rejoin her rescuers.

Sue spent several weeks in foster care before becoming an official “shop cat,” Guello said.

“We think Sue is ready for the job site!” the company wrote in an update earlier this month, alongside a carousel of pictures of Sue in her very own high-vis jacket and construction hat provided by Komatsu.

View this post on Instagram

When Sue isn’t clocking in on site, she’s home with River Reach’s shop mechanic, Jared, who Guello said lives on a farm and has extensive experience raising animals.

The company has shared several pictures and videos documenting Sue’s progress from rescue kitten to full-time construction crew member; one image shows her sitting beside a set of toy Komatsu excavators, and another video shows Sue playfully bouncing around on a couch and making friends with a spinner meant for the game Twister.

View this post on Instagram

In an update earlier this month, Guello said Sue was very happy and was spending time playing with Jared’s kids in a “nice friendly environment.”

Sue also received gifts from Columbus Equipment Company, which thanked the team at River Reach Construction for showing “compassion” in the heavy equipment world.

“We are glad Sue’s story has a happy ending,” the company wrote in a note Guello read aloud.

It’s been a big week in cat news. On Monday, a kitten from Wisconsin broke the Guinness World Record for the most toes on a cat after it was born with 29 appendages.

The kitten, a Maine Coon named Erebus Anomaly, overcame a serious case of pneumonia and a nearly fatal aspiration event shortly after he was born, but gained attention for the extra digits on Monday after his story aired on ABC’s World News Now.

Erebus followed in his dad’s slightly smaller footsteps; he was born with six toes on each paw, for a total of 24, and beat the previous world record by one toe, knocking a Canadian cat named Jake off the top spot, who had held the title since 2002, which was tied in June by a Michigan cat named Toby Henderson.

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

A small subset of private career colleges in Ontario has led explosive growth in the number of people receiving student financial assistance, new data shows, and the association representing the sector itself has raised concerns.

The number of students receiving grants and loans through the Ontario Student Assistance Program at a few of approximately 170 career colleges far outpaced growth at the rest, according to data obtained by The Canadian Press through a freedom-of-information request.

Some schools went from having fewer than 100 students receiving OSAP to several thousand in the span of a couple of years.

When it comes to the funding amounts, the total of provincial grants sent to students at just seven career colleges in 2024-25 was about $385 million.

While tuition at career colleges tends to be higher than at publicly funded colleges, that total equals the amount of provincial grants given to students at all of Ontario’s publicly funded colleges that year — and more than all Ontario university students.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government drastically cut student assistance grants earlier this year for students at universities and public colleges, while barring career college students from accessing grants, citing “unsustainable” OSAP costs.

A previous freedom-of-information request by The Canadian Press showed nearly all of the recent growth was among career college students, and the amount of OSAP going to university and college students was relatively flat.

But the new data further narrows that growth to a small number of schools.

Career Colleges Ontario, the organization advocating for the sector, said it could not comment on alleged behaviours of any particular school, but said that it has raised concerns with the government related to a small number of institutions.

“We continue to work constructively with ministry officials to identify possible remedies and next steps — especially where there may have been atypically large increases in the number of OSAP applications submitted that cannot be justified to the government’s satisfaction,” spokesperson Taylor Buck wrote in a statement.

“It is important to emphasize that indications of irregular conduct are incredibly rare among our members. Protecting the integrity of their work and that of the OSAP system is our highest priority.”

The data release comes after Ontario’s colleges and universities ministry disqualified students at five career colleges from receiving OSAP in the upcoming school year.

According to a court filing from three of the schools who are seeking to have the decision quashed, the concerns centred around asynchronous learning programs, in which students complete online coursework on their own schedule.

It is a style of learning that can appeal to mature students who work full time or have families, but the province alleged “compromised participation” in those asynchronous programs.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the province temporarily extended OSAP eligibility to students in online and/or asynchronous programs, then later made it permanent.

Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn’s office said that in addition to barring career college students from accessing OSAP grants, the province is preparing to take further steps.

“As we have already done in some cases, when serious concerns are identified, we will not hesitate to cut an institution off from OSAP entirely,” Quinn’s director of communications, Dayna Smockum, wrote in a statement.

“This fall, we will introduce additional legislative measures to curb out-of-control growth, strengthen accountability and ensure every public dollar is used responsibly and in the best interests of students.”

The Academy of Learning, whose multiple schools operate as franchises, and which has schools among those with the largest growth in OSAP recipients, said in a statement that its campuses tend to serve newcomers and people retraining for a second career, who can’t afford a four-year degree.

“Demographics have changed significantly and when that population grew, our enrolment grew with it,” the statement reads.

“Our institutions are operated with the utmost integrity. We have successfully placed thousands of graduates in quality jobs throughout the province, including in paramedic, IT and personal support worker roles.”

Four of the Academy of Learning locations were cut off from OSAP eligibility for this upcoming year.

The new data shows that the Bay Street location went from 996 students claiming OSAP in 2021-22 to 7,435 in 2024-25. In the latter year, the total Ontario grants given to those students was more than $108 million.

Academy of Learning’s Brampton East location, which along with the Bay location is challenging the OSAP eligibility suspension in court, saw growth of more than 1,300 per cent from 2021-22 to 2024-25 — from 289 students receiving OSAP to 4,260.

Those kinds of increases are outliers in OSAP usage growth, said Alex Usher, president of Higher Education Strategy Associates, a consulting firm providing strategic advice to post-secondary institutions and governments.

“Of course it’s not (normal),” he said, noting that in Alberta a private career college’s student financial aid usage may only increase by a maximum of 10 per cent per year.

“Other provinces know this is a problem. There’s no excuse for Ontario not understanding this.”

© 2026 The Canadian Press

The U.S. military is experiencing a “beyond critical” shortage of advanced missile interceptors in Europe largely driven by President Donald Trump’s war with Iran, a U.S. defense official in Europe and a NATO official told The Associated Press, raising concerns about vulnerabilities in NATO countries to a potential Russian attack.

The U.S. defense official said the most concerning shortfall involves Patriot missile interceptors, which can shoot down Russia’s high-speed ballistic missiles. The NATO official confirmed the low inventories of Patriots among American and NATO forces in Europe. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters.

In the event of a Russian ballistic missile assault on, for example, a military headquarters or power plant, NATO could be in a similar position to Patriot-starved Ukraine and be forced “to take punch after punch in the mouth,” the U.S. defense official said.

In Europe, the American military “definitely” does not have enough Patriots to stop any possible sustained ballistic missile attack and would have “very limited” capability to defend against a single ballistic missile strike or a stray Russian missile that goes off course, the U.S. official said.

It illustrates the cascading fallout from Trump’s decision to launch a war against Iran, a conflict that reaches the six-month mark on Friday. U.S. missile stocks in Europe have been moved to the Middle East, where U.S. and Gulf allies have fired off significant numbers of interceptors, including Patriots, to thwart Iran’s drones and missiles. Some of those attacks have killed and wounded American troops.

Though a Russian ballistic missile attack against NATO countries is not imminently expected, CIA Director John Ratcliffe went to Moscow this week to warn Russia not to attack, The Wall Street Journal reported. Trump played down the significance of the rare and secretive trip, saying it was “sort of semi-routine.”

European and NATO officials say Russia could be in a position to attack countries in the alliance by 2030. Patriot stockpiles are projected to rebound by then. In the meantime, Russia’s war in Ukraine could hinder its ability to carry out any missile attack on Europe as it would be a challenge for Moscow to fight an air war on two fronts.

The Patriot missile shortage is most acutely felt in Ukraine, where officials are begging for more air defense support and where previous U.S. transfers also have drawn down some supply. Kyiv says only U.S.-made Patriots can stop Russia’s advanced ballistic missiles, which increasingly are getting through Ukrainian defenses, including as part of a barrage overnight into Thursday.

The U.S. supplied hundreds of Patriot missiles to Ukraine over the course of the 4 1/2-year-long conflict, but the Iran war was the tipping point for shrinking inventories, said Ed Arnold, senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a military think tank in London.

The supply to Ukraine was planned for and reasonably measured, he said, whereas stocks in the Middle East have been unexpectedly and quickly drained, exposing supply chain constraints.

The U.S. military in Europe also is grappling with critical shortages of the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, a medium-range ballistic missile designed to strike behind enemy lines, the two officials said. But the overall munitions picture in Europe is less dire than on air defenses alone because some European militaries have their own offensive missiles, such as the Taurus and Storm Shadow, which are both long-range air-launched bunker-busting missiles.

U.S. Army Col. Martin O’Donnell, a senior NATO military spokesperson, said it is “simply not the case” that the number of Patriot missiles in Europe is beyond critical.

NATO, he said, is able to “block punches” and has enough air defense munitions available to defend itself as well as to donate to Ukraine.

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement Thursday that claims of U.S. munition shortages “are false.”

“We have everything required to strike at the time and place of the President’s choosing,” Parnell said. “Across multiple combatant commands, we have already executed successful operations while maintaining a deep, ready arsenal to defend our people and our interests.”

The dearth of Patriot interceptors in Europe would leave few alternatives for shooting down Russia’s more advanced ballistic missiles, which can be combined with swarms of inexpensive drones to overwhelm defenses, experts say.

Ukraine and some allies already use systems that can destroy slower-moving drones without expensive missiles. But ballistic missiles are a challenge because they dive steeply toward targets at more than five times the speed of sound, leaving little time to stop them.

The Patriot system tracks the missile, predicts its path and launches within minutes, all while carrying out complex calculations to ensure the interceptor finds its target. One Patriot battery can only cover a limited area: for example, a small military base but not a whole city.

One alternative could be France and Italy’s SAMP/T NG air defense system. France has promised to speed up the delivery of the system — the upgraded version of the current SAMP/T — to Ukraine, which the manufacturer says is better able to counter ballistics.

The new iteration, however, has not yet been battle tested and the current version of the SAMP/T has a smaller range than the Patriot.

While U.S. and European militaries have warships that can serve as mobile air defense, they may be too far from a target to protect it and could risk getting sunk.

Ukraine has received Patriots from American and European stockpiles since Russia’s 2022 invasion, with the U.S. providing about 600 of the interceptors during the Biden administration, said Mark Cancian, a retired Marine colonel who is now senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

But the greatest expenditure has been during the Iran conflict, which has used up 65% of U.S. Patriots, amounting to roughly 1,500 of the nation’s 2,330 interceptors, CSIS says. About 600 missiles, including those destined for Europe, should be made this year, with a production goal of 2,000 Patriot missiles a year set for 2030, Cancian said.

NATO says Europe’s first Patriot missile production facility is expected to open in Germany in September, with deliveries possibly beginning early next year. The first deliveries should go to countries that have already placed orders, including Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Spain, the U.S. defense official said.

But for now, that means some countries, such as Germany, have bought expensive Patriot systems but are in the “ridiculous” position of not having any ammunition to fire from them, said Arnold of the London think tank.

Germany’s defense ministry said it does not comment on stockpiles.

Moscow likely cannot carry out a sustained air assault on a NATO target while it launches almost nightly attacks on Ukraine, Arnold said.

Ukraine’s recent strikes into Russia also have exposed weaknesses in Russia’s air defenses, which could prompt Putin to think twice about provoking a retaliatory attack.

“The uncomfortable truth is possibly the best air defense that we have is Russian constraints,” Arnold said.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

Two legal organizations argue Ontario’s new rules requiring a cash deposit for bail encroach on federal jurisdiction and will make it harder for people to be released as they await trial.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Criminal Lawyers’ Association are challenging the constitutionality of Ontario’s new cash bail system in court Thursday.

The new rules, which took effect earlier this month, require people accused of a crime and granted bail to provide a cash security deposit within two days of their release.

Previously, they only had to forfeit the money if release conditions were breached and the court ordered payment.

The organizations leading the court challenge argue the change contradicts the Criminal Code, which they say explicitly directs courts to favour a promise to pay over a cash payment.

They argue the switch to a cash deposit will deter people from acting as sureties and effectively keep more people accused of a crime behind bars, particularly those with low or fixed incomes.

The two associations are asking the court to scrap the rules as unconstitutional and put them on hold while the case is decided.

Ontario Superior Court Justice William Chalmers, who is hearing the case, raised the possibility that the new rules may have unintended consequences, such as leading justices of the peace to release people without a monetary pledge.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

New industry estimates suggest powerful thunderstorms across Ontario and Quebec during the week of Canada Day caused $439 million in insured damage.

The damage estimates from Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. offer a snapshot of the insurance market in the aftermath of the storms, covering both property and vehicle claims.

The storms between June 30 and July 3 brought wind, hail, torrential rain and flash flooding to communities across Ontario and Quebec.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada says hard-hit Ottawa broke its daily rainfall record when it was drenched by 118 millimetres on July 1.

Streets and highways were inundated, and the insurance bureau says local officials reported more than 4,500 flooded basements.

The total economic toll is far higher because the estimates don’t capture uninsured property damage and other indirect losses.

“These storms underscore the need for greater investment in measures that reduce flood risk and better protect Canadians from future losses,” Maximilien Roy, vice-president with the Insurance Bureau of Canada, said in a news release.

Canada suffers about $9.2 billion in total losses every year from catastrophes, largely from wildfires and extreme weather, the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction estimated in a 2025 report. The losses, both insured and uninsured, have grown at about 9.4 per cent annually since the 1980s, outpacing population, GDP and construction spending, the report said.

Climate change, driven by fossil fuel pollution, is a major driver of those increases as storms grow more frequent and intense, experts say. Other factors include population growth in high-risk areas, higher reconstruction costs, aging sewer systems and more finished basements.

As insured damages soar, so too has the price tag Canadians pay for insurance. A recent Statistics Canada report found home and mortgage insurance premiums increased by 45 per cent across Canada between December 2019 and December 2025, more than double overall inflation.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

RCMP in New Brunswick say a man is dead after a gunfire exchange with police in Maltempec, N.B.

In a news release, the force says officers responded on Wednesday to a report of an armed man in mental distress at a home in the town, which is about 225 kilometres northeast of Fredericton.

The release says the man fired at the officers and refused to drop his weapon or co-operate with police.

It says officers shot at the man and then administered first aid, but he died at the scene.

The release does not provide information about his possible injuries or cause of death.

RCMP have asked the independent Serious Incident Response Team, or SIRT, to investigate.

© 2026 The Canadian Press