The wife of an Alberta man gunned down in a roadside shooting east of Calgary shared an emotional hug with the prosecutor after a jury found two men guilty of second-degree murder Saturday.

Jurors deliberated for 14 hours before concluding Arthur Penner and Elijah Strawberry shot and killed Colin Hough, 45, an employee of Rocky View County, on Aug. 6, 2024 on a rural road.

“I love you,” Laurie Hough said to prosecutor Photini Popadatou as they embraced after the verdict.

Neither Penner or Strawberry seemed surprised at the court’s decisions, standing with their hands clasped in front of them as the verdicts were read.

Both men were also found guilty of two counts of armed robbery, including stealing Hough’s vehicle and attempting to take the vehicle of FortisAlberta surveyor Matthew Andres, who was shot through the arm at the same location.

Andres was approached by two men who were driving a vehicle that appeared to have a flat tire. One of the men shot him through the arm and then demanded his keys and pointed a gun at his head. Andres was able to flee and watched from a distance as the truck driven by the two accused was set on fire and Hough drove up to investigate.

He said Penner and Strawberry ran toward Hough’s vehicle and started firing at it. Hough was hit three times and was left on the road. His vehicle was stolen.

But Andres said the two men were masked and he wasn’t able to positively identify them as Penner and Strawberry.

The two men were originally charged with attempted murder as well, but Court of King’s Bench Justice Shane Parker withdrew the charge and acquitted them.

Strawberry and Penner will face a mandatory life sentence of 25 years. The jury was asked for recommendations on how long each man should have to serve before being eligible for parole.

The results ranged from the minimum of 10 years up to 25 years.

A sentencing date will be determined Oct. 16. Strawberry’s lawyer, Rebecca Snukul, has asked for a forensic mental assessment and a Gladue report for her client.

Penner’s lawyer, Alex Seaman, also requested a Gladue report, often used in sentencing Indigenous individuals.

It’s expected sentencing arguments won’t happen until November at the earliest.

The trial saw video footage from a nearby semi-trailer driver that captured Hough’s final minutes. It showed a figure moving across the intersection and collapsing in the middle of the road.
A .45-calibre bullet was found where he collapsed and a nine-millimetre shell casing was found near where Andres was wounded.

Hough’s vehicle was later found abandoned. Penner, 37, was arrested five days later and Strawberry, 29, was found after a month hiding in a residence on the O’Chiese First Nation.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

Kerry-Lynne Findlay has been voted the new leader of the BC Conservative Party.

In a tight race that came down to four rounds of voting, Findlay received 4,696.51 points, or 51 per cent of the vote, to win.

Caroline Elliott came a very close second with 49 per cent of the vote.

In a speech after her win, Findlay said that she wants “the generations now and to come to feel they can have a comfortable and happy life as British Columbians. Isn’t that what we all want?

“So what am I fighting for? I’m fighting for nothing less than the future of British Columbia. Our way of life. Mine is a grand vision of fundamental change.

Our homes, our individual rights, our properties are at stake. We need hope and prosperity. As Minister of National Revenue, I oversaw lower taxes, red tape cuts and a return to surplus from the worst recession since the 1930s. We can do this in British Columbia. Our province will become strong, good-paying jobs, modern infrastructure, resource, wealth and opportunity that has been blocked by the NDP.

“We can be a powerhouse in our nation, a powerhouse no longer denied by eastern and global elites, predatory foreign nations and our own constitution. NDP radical ideology has devastated property rights, backroom side agreements and the NDP’s economic vandalism has to end.”

In a statement released after Findlay’s win, the BC NDP said “The pro-Trump wing of the B.C. Conservatives has seized control of the party with Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s win, thanks in part to her racist attacks on her leadership opponents.

“Kerry-Lynne Findlay and her supporters in caucus have more in common with Donald Trump’s Republicans than they do with Canadian Conservatives,” said Jennifer Whiteside, MLA for New Westminster-Coquitlam. “Even B.C. Conservative MLAs say British Columbians should think twice before voting for her.”

The BC NDP said Findlay’s campaign included a direct racist attack on Peter Milobar, claiming he was in a conflict of interest on DRIPA because his wife and children are Indigenous.

“Milobar described her attack as “the worst side of politics possible” and said her victory would “give a lot of British Columbians pause for thought of whether they would actually vote for a party like this’,” the party said in the statement.

B.C. Premier David Eby did send out a congratulatory tweet after Findlay’s win.

https://x.com/Dave_Eby/status/2060906556024402064

There were five candidates for the leadership race: Iain Black, Caroline Elliott, Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Yuri Fulmer and Peter Milobar.

“It is a race that has been shaped very much about articulating opposition to the direction of the NDP, but also opposition between one another,” Stewart Prest, a political science professor at the University of British Columbia, said on Friday, after the vote closed.

More than 25,000 party members cast ballots in the race.

Online voting on a secret ballot started on May 23 and wrapped up on Friday morning. The ballot is a preferential or ranked ballot. Voters were asked to rank the candidates in order of their preference.

Each of B.C.’s 93 electoral districts has been allocated 100 points, or one point per ballot cast, if fewer than 100 ballots were cast in that district

Points were distributed among contestants proportionally based on first-choice votes within each district and the province-wide total.

If no candidate got more than 50 per cent of the province-wide points on the first ballot, the candidate with the lowest number of points is eliminated.

Their supporters second choice votes are then redistributed, and this continues until a candidate exceeds 50 per cent of the province-wide points.

“This contest is really less about which leader and whose ideas, but more about what kind of conservatism is going to follow from this,” David Black, an associate professor at Royal Roads University, told Global BC earlier on Saturday.

“What does the centre-right look like in B.C. amid deep kind of philosophical currents and a lot of turbulence within the conservative movement in general?”

Under John Rustad’s leadership, the party emerged from obscurity to come within about 30,000 votes of winning the 2024 provincial election.

Infighting fractured the caucus and reduced Conservative members in the legislature by five, and eventually led to Rustad’s expulsion in December.

Speaking at the leadership vote gathering on Saturday, interim leader Trevor Halford said, “Not too long ago, our opponents were writing us off. They said there was no path forward, and they said that our party was finished.

“Well, I think we broke a few hearts tonight. I can tell you, this party is just getting started.”

Halford also thanked Rustad for his hard work and dedication to the BC Conservative Party.

“I am confident because I know that whoever we elect as our new leader tonight will be the next premier of British Columbia,” Halford added.

-with files from The Canadian Press

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

TORONTO – Mario Anderson Jr. won’t be helping the Saskatchewan Roughriders defend their Grey Cup title.

The American running back was among 19 players released by Saskatchewan on Saturday as CFL teams made their final cuts ahead of the start of the 2026 regular season.

The five-foot-eight, 205-pound Anderson appeared in nine regular-season games with Saskatchewan last year. He ran for 134 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries (5.6-yard average) while adding four catches for 13 yards.

But Anderson finished his rookie CFL season on the one-game injured list for Saskatchewan’s 25-17 Grey Cup victory over the Montreal Alouettes.

He appeared in both pre-season games for Saskatchewan this spring when he ran 10 times for 65 yards while adding three catches for 18 yards.

CFL teams must get their active rosters down to 44 or 45 players, with a minimum of 21 being Canadian.

A maximum of 19 players, excluding quarterbacks, can be American with a minimum of one player from outside North America (global).

Canadian defensive lineman Benoit Marion was placed on the one-game injured list while offensive lineman Darius Bell and receiver Dylan Djete, also both Canadian, went on the six-game injured list.

Saskatchewan also placed 13 players on the practice roster, including global Tyron Vrede, who signed with the ‘Riders in February following five seasons with the Ottawa Redblacks.

The Riders begin their Grey Cup defence June 13 hosting the B.C. Lions.

The Montreal Alouettes also released 19 players, including quarterbacks James Morgan and Canadian Arnaud Desjardins.

Morgan appeared in 10 games last season with the CFL club, completing 55-of-93 passes for 547 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions. The six-foot-four, 229-pound quarterback from Green Bay, Wisc., also ran six times for 17 yards.

The six-foot-15, 215-pound Arnaud played collegiately at Laval and signed with Montreal on May 18. The Montreal native was the RSEQ’s most valuable player in 2024 and 2025.

The Alouettes also placed 13 players on their practice roster. Montreal kicks off the ’26 season Thursday on the road against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Receiver Jackson Tachinski’s bid to make the hometown Winnipeg Blue Bombers roster ended on a disappointing note as he was among 25 players released by the squad. The six-foot-four, 215-pound Tachinski played quarterback at Manitoba but was attempting to make the positional switch in the pro ranks.

He joined the Bombers earlier this month after being released by the Edmonton Elks. But a more surprising move was Winnipeg’s release of American offensive lineman Kendall Randolph, who started all 18 regular-season games last season.

Randolph spent two seasons with Winnipeg, starting 23-of-24 games. The six-foot-five, 306-pound offensive lineman played collegiately at Alabama and was a member of the Crimson Tide squad that beat Ohio State 52-24 in the ’21 American college championship game.

The Ottawa Redblacks released 16 players, including veteran American defensive lineman Dylan Wynn. The six-foot-one, 290-pound Wynn signed as a free agent following two seasons with Montreal.

Wynn, 32, also spent time in the CFL with Toronto (2017-19) and Hamilton (2019, 2021-23), winning a Grey Cup with the Argos as a rookie.

Ottawa placed 13 players on its practice roster. The Redblacks open their season Saturday hosting the Edmonton Elks.

Among the 20 players released by the Calgary Stampeders was receiver Kaylon Horton, who appeared in eight games last season, his first in the CFL. He had a catch for 21 yards but also returned 33 punts for 285 yards and had 19 kickoff returns for 446 yards.

American running back Deonta McMahon, who spent the previous three seasons with Toronto, was among 12 players to join Calgary’s practice roster. The Stampeders host Winnipeg on Friday night.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 30, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

A 27-year-old Toronto man is dead after a shooting in North York late Friday night, which police are saying is not believed to be targeted.

Toronto police say they were called to the area of Sheppard Avenue West and Magellan Drive at about 10:15 p.m. for reports of a shooting.

Officers found a man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds and began life-saving measures before he was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Police said the victim, identified as Hussein Elmi, 27, of Toronto, later died in hospital.

Speaking at a news conference Saturday, homicide investigators said it remains early in the investigation and have not ruled out any possible motives.

“I do not believe this was a targeted incident,” Sgt. Jason Davis said, adding it is too early to determine whether the shooting was gang-related.

Investigators said a dark-coloured vehicle pulled up before the shooting and the suspects were on foot when the incident occurred, with the victim just steps from his home.

“This gentleman was tragically almost home. I have no indication that he had any interaction with the suspects at this time,” Davis said.

Police are asking anyone with dashcam footage, surveillance video or other information to come forward.

“A 27-year-old man tragically lost his life last night and every little bit of information matters,” Davis said.

The family of the victim has been notified.

Davis said investigators are also aware of reports of gunshots in the area earlier this week and are looking into whether there is any connection.

“Our role right now is to find those responsible,” he said.

Officers remain highly visible in the area as the investigation continues and are asking anyone with dashcam footage, photos or videos to contact authorities.

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

Two Saskatchewan artists have put together a program that aims to tackle conversations about trauma and cultural sensitivity head-on.

The Community Arts Mentorship Program’s Trauma-Informed and Cultural Sensitivity Training (T.A.C.T.) session includes a broad range of lessons, from lectures to practices, that participants can include in their lives.

“We all know there’s something going on, so let’s just talk about it. And that’s what we try to do in these training courses,” co-founder Eliza Doyle said.

Recent data from Statistics Canada shows that nearly half of racialized Canadians faced racism and discrimination in the past five years.

Co-founders Doyle and Holly Yuzicapi launched their program, which is 12 hours long and takes place over two days, after seeing a need to help educate other artists to be more culturally sensitive and aware.

“Because we’re both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, our experiences and our perspective of the foundation of what we do in our work, we really need to share the message with others that there are really positive and healing opportunities in the arts,” Yuzicapi said.

The program has expanded to include other organizations.

“The shift that caused us to work more with organizations and different diverse groups was a public need,” Doyle said.

“People heard about it, and they said, ‘Oh, well, can my organization have training in this?’”

Prevention specialist and addictions counsellor Rend Teed brings decades of experience on the issue to his portion of the presentation.

“Most racism, most discrimination is really fear-based,” Teed said.

“Ultimately, what we’re trying to do is open up people’s minds, which reduces fear.”

At the end of Day 1 for this week’s program, one participant said he already felt a change in his perspective.

“There’s been a lot of talk and frankly, as there should be, a lot of talk in the past. But how do we move forward and how do we facilitate that healing with each other and within ourselves? And so that’s what I’m really excited to take away and grow from,” Andrew Bay said.

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

Environment Canada has issued rainfall warnings and a special weather statement for a swath of Alberta and British Columbia.

The weather agency says between 50 millimetres and 100 millimetres of rain is set to pour from Saturday until Wednesday from Fort McMurray in Alberta’s northeast to Lethbridge in the south.

It says water will likely pool on roads and locals should look out for washouts near rivers, creeks and culverts.

In B.C., the agency says in a special weather statement that up to 80 millimetres of rainfall will pour over the roughly next five days in the province’s southeastern Kootenay region.

“A potent Alberta low pressure system will bring moderate to heavy rain to southeastern B.C. this weekend and into early next week,” the Saturday statement said.

“Currently, there is still uncertainty associated with the exact track of this system, and rainfall amounts will vary greatly across southeastern B.C. …There is an elevated risk of flooding, landslides and washouts from heavy rain, and rain on snow in the mountains.”

The B.C. government says in a social media post that multiple communities in the region are under an evacuation alert.

“High water levels can pose a threat to life & safety. Impacted residents must be ready to leave on short notice,” the post said.

A number of rivers in the region as well as in surrounding areas are also under flood warnings and watches.

Back in Alberta, Premier Danielle Smith told her provincewide radio show on Saturday that her government is ready to help communities facing flood risk, which she says isn’t at the same level as it was in 2013.

Thousands of people across southern Alberta had to leave their homes and hundreds of buildings were affected due to significant flooding that year.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

After a challenging season, Montreal’s newest hockey champions are enjoying a walk in the park.

The Montreal Victoire are celebrating their first Professional Women’s Hockey League championship win with a parade downtown Saturday, capped off by speeches and music in the city’s main entertainment district.

At a park packed with thousands of cheering fans sporting the team’s maroon jerseys, the team strode on stage to thank their coaches and supporters, grooving to Celine Dion and Queen while sipping from beer cans and the Walter Cup itself.

Team captain Marie-Philip Poulin says she’s been feeling “so much love” from fans amid more than a week of festivities.

One of those fans, season ticket holder Paola Lara, says she’s followed the team with her niece since the league kicked off in 2024, drawn to the family-friendly atmosphere and spirit of acceptance and competition.

The Victoire defeated the Ottawa Charge 4-0 on May 20 to become the first PWHL Canadian team to win the Walter Cup.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

A fast-moving wildfire has triggered a mandatory evacuation order south of Shellbrook, Sask., as crews continue battling multiple active fires across the province.

An emergency alert issued to residents Saturday morning ordered people living from one mile west to five miles east of Shellbrook and south of Highway 3 to the RM of Shellbrook border to leave immediately.

Officials warned that the wildfire is moving northwest and urged people not to delay evacuation.

According to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency’s latest update Saturday afternoon, there are 11 active wildfires across the province, , although officials warn conditions could change rapidly.

Of those, six are not contained, three are contained, one is under ongoing assessment, and one is focused on protecting nearby values such as homes and infrastructure.

Saskatchewan’s Community Safety Minister Michael Weger said Saturday the fire had at one point come within roughly seven miles of Shellbrook and was moving north toward the community.

Weger said crews are confident they can prevent the wildfire from reaching the town itself as the fire moves out of heavily forested areas, but “there was some ash coming down in the community, so that’s leading to concerns about the power line coming into Shellbrook,” he said.

The concerns have since resulted in the evacuation of some individuals from the hospital and a care home.

Weger added that crews are attacking the fire from both the ground and the air, with water bombers, air tankers, and helicopters to support suppression efforts.

The fire, dubbed Lobstick, was first reported on Tuesday afternoon just after 3 p.m., with fire crews attending the scene shortly after, according to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency.

Officials confirmed the wildfire started from a lightning strike, after crews initially believed the blaze was caused by an ATV, according to the safety agency.

Residents in affected areas are being urged to closely monitor official updates as conditions can change rapidly.

The minister warned that people who ignore evacuation orders put themselves and emergency responders at risk.

“The SPSA’s number one priority is human life. If anyone becomes accounted for, crews must shift priorities from response and suppression efforts to protecting human life,” Weger said.

He also reminded residents not to return to evacuated areas until officials declare it safe to do so.

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

It’s a pivotal day for the British Columbia Conservative Party as the Opposition in the provincial legislature will announce its new leader.

The candidates, who had to pay more than $100,000 to join the race, were whittled down to five: former MLA Iain Black, commentator Caroline Elliott, former MP Kerry-Lynne Findlay, current MLA Peter Milobar and entrepreneur Yuri Fulmer.

Ballots were sent out earlier this month and about 26,000 verified members had until Friday to rank their candidates in a preferred vote, with the party’s executive director saying Thursday that 95 per cent had voted.

Under John Rustad’s leadership, the party emerged from obscurity to come within about 30,000 votes of winning the 2024 provincial election.

Infighting fractured the caucus and reduced Conservative members in the legislature by five, and eventually led to Rustad’s expulsion in December.

The new leader will be announced at the party’s leadership convention in Vancouver.

A sixth former Conservative, Hon Chan, was removed from the caucus this year after it emerged he had been charged with assault in a case of alleged intimate partner violence.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

One person died and a suspect was fatally wounded Friday in a police-involved shooting following a stabbing in Surrey, B.C., prompting parallel investigations by homicide investigators and the province’s police watchdog.

Officers responded to a report of an assault at a residential building in the 13300 block of Old Yale Road at about 1 p.m., according to a police release.

When officers arrived, they located a victim suffering from stab wounds. A second stabbing victim was later found  at a nearby park on Old Yale Road near King George Boulevard.

Despite emergency medical efforts by police and paramedics, one victim died at the scene. The second was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

A male suspect was located a short distance away.

“There was a confrontation with police that resulted in officers firing their service-issued duty pistols,” the release said.

The suspect was seriously injured and taken to hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

The Independent Investigations Office has launched an investigation into the police shooting, while the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) is investigating the fatal stabbing.

“There are two factors the IIO considers in every investigation at the beginning,” said Simon Drucker, media communications liaison for the IIO of B.C.

“One, if there has been an injury that meets the threshold of serious harm, as defined by the Police Act, or death. And two, if there is a connection between the serious harm and death or officer action or inaction,”

If both conditions are met, the investigation will continue and the chief civilian director will consider whether there are reasonable grounds to believe that an offence may have occurred.

Investigators are asking anyone who witnessed the incident or may have recorded video to come forward.

“We are hopeful that there will be several people that may have witnessed this. So if you were in the area, if you saw, perhaps recorded or otherwise witnessed the event, do give the IIO a call,” Drucker said.

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