U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra is denying that donations from the family that owns the Ambassador Bridge are behind the delayed opening of the new Gordie Howe Bridge.

“Absolutely not,” Hoekstra said when asked by Global News whether the delay was tied to a US$1-million donation from billionaire Matthew Moroun — whose family owns the competing Ambassador Bridge — to Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc., in January.

“The bridge was not open when it was announced a couple of weeks ago by mutual agreement of the Canadian government and the U.S. government,” he said. “It has nothing to do with the Morouns.”

A planned ribbon-cutting event last month was cancelled at the request of the Americans, according to Prime Minister Mark Carney, who said there were “technical aspects” that were being worked through between Canada and the U.S.

The New York Times reported that Matthew Moroun met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick hours before Trump posted in February that he could block the bridge’s opening unless the U.S. was “compensated.”

Campaign finance records reviewed by Global News show members of the Moroun family also made 15 separate donations worth more than US$35,000 to Hoekstra during his final year in Congress, donations that Hoekstra said had no bearing on negotiations.

“The Morouns operate a significant business in the United States, and in the United States, companies involved in those kinds of businesses donate to all kinds of campaigns,” Hoekstra said. “I know that they donate to Republicans and Democrats.”

A White House official told Global News last month that Trump’s position on the bridge “has not changed,” despite outreach from Canadian government officials, including Carney.

The new Detroit-Windsor crossing remains closed despite the fact Canada has paid for the entire cost of the bridge and will share ownership with Michigan. Hoekstra believes that isn’t good enough.

“Americans are contributing significantly more than half of the revenue that will pay back however Canada financed this,” he said, adding it’s being “paid for from revenue coming from the Ambassador Bridge, which is 100 per cent an American-owned company.”

Despite his complaints, Hoekstra remains upbeat about the bridge’s future. “We can reach an agreement on this bridge that is not tied into the larger CUSMA negotiations,” he said. “I’m optimistic we open the bridge relatively soon.”

No guarantee CUSMA exemptions will remain

Hoekstra’s optimism fades when it comes to the ongoing trade negotiations and the renewal of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).

“There’s maybe been some progress, but not the significant amount of progress that says, ‘OK, we know exactly where we’re going, now let’s fill out the details,'” Hoekstra said.

Canada has yet to hold formal negotiations with the U.S., which has already had multiple sit-downs with its Mexican counterparts.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has routinely pointed to Canada having the best deal with the U.S. due to tariff exemptions on free trade products — something the ambassador would not guarantee will continue.

“I’m not in a position to guarantee anything. These decisions are made at the White House. They are made by the president,” Hoekstra said.

His comments come just days after the Trump administration declined to extend the trilateral pact with Canada and Mexico for a new 16-year term, citing what the U.S. calls “shortcomings” and “trade deficits.” Mexico and Canada both publicly pushed for a renewal.

U.S. President Donald Trump suggested last month that the U.S. is “better without” CUSMA, and that he’d even prefer to see it “terminated.”

When asked by Global News, Hoekstra would not say if the administration is considering ripping up the deal, which can be done by any party with six months’ formal notice.

“All options are on the table,” Hoekstra said. “ clearly is allowed for within the agreement.”

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

The union representing nurses in British Columbia says it will put up pickets around the province’s largest hospital starting next week as it escalates its strike.

BC Nurses’ Union says in a statement it will picket Vancouver General Hospital on Tuesday, five days after members voted in favour of a strike.

The union says it will maintain essential services to protect patient safety, but continue its provincewide refusal of all non-essential overtime hours and non-nursing duties.

Union president Adriane Gear says nurses don’t want to be on the picket line, but adds the provincial government can no longer ignore the demands of the health-care system.

The announcement from the union comes after 98.2 per cent of almost 51,000 nurses voted in favour of job actions and after 67 per cent members of rejected a tentative agreement.

Jim Gould, who is the union’s chief executive officer, says it’s up to the provincial government to come to the table with an offer that respects nurses.

“This government is not going to solve the nursing shortage without making serious improvements to nurses’ working conditions,” he says.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

HAMILTON – Wynton McManis will finally make his Hamilton Tiger-Cats debut.

The veteran middle linebacker will be in the lineup Sunday when Hamilton (2-1) hosts the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (1-2). McManis joined the Ticats in the off-season as a free agent following four seasons with the rival Toronto Argonauts but had been sidelined with a bone bruise in his knee.

He was listed behind Canadian Ryan Baker on the depth chart.

Baker performed well in McManis’s absence, registering 16 tackles. But Hamilton head coach Scott Milanovich said McManis, a three-time Grey Cup champion, has a penchant for delivering big plays at key times.

“(With) Wynton, there’s just an intangible there, an instinctive deal,” Milanovich said. “Bake is also instinctive … but he (McManis) always just has a knack for finding the ball, getting a big sack when you have to and getting an interception (and) he usually scores when he gets one.

“He’s a player I’ve always respected.”

McManis, 31, had 62 tackles, four sacks, two interceptions and a forced fumble in 13 regular-season games with Toronto last season. The six-foot, 220-pound American has 390 tackles, 52 special-teams tackles, 16 sacks, nine interceptions and four forced fumbles while scoring three defensive touchdowns in 100 career CFL regular-season games with Calgary (2017-19) and Toronto (2022-25).

All-star cornerback Jamal Peters also returns for Hamilton, which comes off a bye week. He suffered a head injury in the Ticats’ 37-27 road win over Winnipeg on June 11.

Winnipeg starter Zach Collaros threw for 421 yards with two TDs and an interception versus Hamilton. But the Bombers only rushed for 49 yards on 14 attempts as Canadian Brady Oliveira had 32 yards on eight carries.

Mllanovich doesn’t expect Winnipeg to test McManis on Sunday, especially through the air.

“I know better than to go at Wynton in the pass game,” Milanovich said. “I’ve tried it before and it hasn’t worked out well.

“I’m sure they’re going to try to run the football, that’s their MO. Depending on what the weather is going to look like Sunday, we’ll see (but) I’ve never been one to test (McManis) in the pass game.”

Ticats starter Bo Levi Mitchell was a tidy 19-of-24 passing for 287 yards and three TDs versus Winnipeg while former Bomber Keric Wheatfall had three catches for 102 yards. Larry Rountree III ran for 124 yards on 23 carries.

“I thought we didn’t tackle our best so that would be a good start,” Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea told reporters in Winnipeg this week regarding the first meeting with Hamilton. “Everybody wants to be a little tighter in coverage but I don’t think that was bad … once again offences are pretty hot right now.

“We’ve got to be maybe just another step closer a little more often and try to disrupt things a little bit more.”

Winnipeg comes in having lost two straight games while Hamilton has registered consecutive victories. The Ticats’ other win was a 41-27 decision over the B.C. Lions (0-3 entering action this week) but Milanovich puts no emphasis on either club’s early-season record.

“I have so much respect for their (Winnipeg’s) players, their coaches, their championship pedigree,” he said. “I think their record does not indicate who they potentially will be.

“All that stuff sorts out at the end of the season and usually the teams that you thought were going to be good that don’t become good have a bunch of injuries along the way. Only time will tell but I don’t look at either of those teams (Winnipeg, B.C.) as a below-average team.”

Hamilton centre Liam Dobson, who began his CFL career in Winnipeg (2022-24), said the Bombers will be looking to resume their winning ways.

“I know they’re a very well-coached group, I have a lot of respect for everyone in that building,” he said. “They’re going to come out and play super hard, play super physical because they want to get back into the win column.

“At the end of the day we have to match that energy. We have to be going out there and playing as physical, if not more physical, than they are.”

Mitchell has been stellar over Hamilton’s last two games, having completed 34-of-42 passes (80.9 per cent) for 572 yards with eight touchdowns and no interceptions. He’s had six completions of 30 or more yards and amassed perfect efficiency ratings of 158.3.

Mitchell is only the eighth CFL quarterback to post consecutive perfect ratings and first since Toronto’s Ricky Ray in 2013. Hamilton is 14-5 off a bye since ’18 and has won six of its last seven home matchups versus Winnipeg.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 4, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

As the United States celebrates 250 years of independence, Canada is marking the occasion with a series of symbolic gestures highlighting the countries’ long-standing friendship.

A joint military fly-past over Ottawa, messages from Prime Minister Mark Carney, and the gift of 250 maple trees are among the ways Canada is commemorating the milestone.

The Royal Canadian Air Force and the U.S. Air Force are set to conduct a ceremonial fly-past over the nation’s capital Saturday evening as part of Ottawa’s annual Fourth of July celebrations.

The flypast, expected around 6:30 p.m. ET, will feature two Canadian CF-18 Hornets flying alongside two U.S. F-35 Lightning II fighter jets.

The Defence Department said the demonstration reflects the close military partnership between the two countries through the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD.

In a statement, Carney said Canadians and Americans have “built our friendship and prosperity one generation at a time.”

“Together, we have raised a monument to peace that is an inspiration to the entire world,” he said.

As part of the celebrations, Niagara Falls will be illuminated in red, white and blue, while Canadian military vessels will join the Sail250 celebrations in Norfolk, Baltimore and New York City. The gift of the 250 trees will be planted in Washington, D.C., and across the 13 states that border Canada.

King Charles III also marked the anniversary, saying the U.S.-United Kingdom relationship has been built on “friendship, trust and a belief in liberty, the rule of law and the dignity of all people.”

“As we look ahead to the next 250 years, I have no doubt we will continue to defend our shared values,” the King wrote. “The connection between our peoples is one that I trust will only grow stronger with time.”

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

TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs signed defenceman Emil Andrae to a two-year contract worth a reported US$3.1 million on Saturday.

Andrae skated in 61 games for the Philadelphia Flyers last season, recording 13 points.

The 24-year-old Swede joined the Leafs last month in the trade that sent goalie Joseph Woll and defenceman Simon Benoit to the Flyers.

Selected in the second round, 54th overall, of the 2020 NHL Draft, Andrae has registered 20 points (three goals, 17 assists) in 107 games.

Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka has been active in reshaping the team’s roster since taking over in May.

The Leafs signed goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and several depth forwards, including Jack Roslovic, Colton Sissons and Teddy Blueger, when free agency opened on Wednesday.

Toronto also added talented winger Gavin McKenna with the first overall pick in this year’s NHL draft, signing him to a three-year entry-level deal on Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 4, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

This piece is one part of continuing coverage by Global News examining alleged Toronto police corruption. More stories about Project South are available here.

A web of Toronto’s highest-profile crime stories — from allegedly corrupt cops to major drug dealers and potential gun-for-hire networks – may all weave into Project South, according to detailed investigative theories from York Regional Police detectives based on call intercepts, listening devices and searches.

New documents chronicling evidence gathered by investigators in the massive police corruption probe lay out alleged relationships between key players in overlapping criminal investigations that stretch from Toronto to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States.

While the central thesis of the documents was broadly made public when police announced arrests in Project South back in February, the fresh pages offer a new level of detail.

They are being made public after a consortium of media companies, including Global News, requested that the court unseal hundreds of pages of evidence.

The Information to Obtain, or ITO, is written testimony that police must provide to a judge in order to obtain a search warrant. The contents are based solely on preliminary police observations.

Major parts of the documents remain under a publication ban that the media consortium is contesting.

The now partially unsealed ITO was put together by York Regional Police in February 2026 as detectives sought permission from a judge to carry out a slew of nighttime raids, searching vehicles and homes for electronic devices, cash and other documents.

They lay out how officers believe a plan to “cause serious harm or death” to a Toronto jail worker has links to former Olympian and alleged drug lord Ryan Wedding, potential gun-for-hire networks and allegedly corrupt officers with the Toronto Police Service.

None of the links drawn in the police documents has been proven. They are based on evidence, like phone intercepts or recording devices, which have not yet been heard and assessed by a judge or jury.

Project South, the title for a massive corruption investigation led by York Regional Police, started after officers began looking into a shooting at the suburban home of an Ontario correctional worker.

Speaking at a news conference in February, Deputy Chief Ryan Hogan said the probe began in June 2025 when investigators allege a conspiracy unfolded to murder a man who was working at an Ontario correctional institution.

Hogan said over a 36-hour period, several suspects went to the man’s home in York Region, at least three times, “we allege for the purpose of murdering him.” He said video surveillance shows masked and armed suspects went to the home, and at one point, rammed a police cruiser that was in the driveway.

Police concluded the incident had been targeting a jail worker at the Toronto South Detention Centre.

According to the documents, the guard told police he was unpopular with “most inmates” at the jail where he worked. He listed several people he thought could have a reason to harm him, including a man named Gurpreet Singh, who was being held at the facility awaiting extradition to the United States.

Singh was arrested on Oct. 16, 2024, and is wanted by both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration in the United States.

According to the ITO, Singh’s extradition order stems from allegations of “conspiracy and drug-related charges arising from an FBI and DEA investigation into Ryan Wedding’s international drug-trafficking.”

U.S. authorities have described Wedding as a “modern-day Pablo Escobar,” allegedly responsible for a trafficking empire netting more than $1 billion per year in illegal drug proceeds.

The police documents alleged Singh “had motive” to harm the correctional worker and “has connections” to three people who were allegedly involved in the attempted hit.

Singh has not been charged in Project South, and none of the allegations in the documents have been tested in court.

“The fact that Mr. Singh has not been charged with any offence in Canada more than four months after the execution of the warrants is the clearest response to the allegations contained in the information to obtain,” Brian Greenspan, Singh’s lawyer, wrote in an email to Global News.

Exactly how investigators allege Singh may be linked to some of the people charged under Project South remains under a publication ban.

As police looked into the alleged hit at the jail guard’s home in June last year, they started to piece together evidence.

The first clue came when investigators searched the jail guard’s licence plate to gather information about the victim for their probe.

According to the documents, a Ministry of Transportation database showed a Toronto police officer charged in Project South had searched the same licence plate at the end of the previous month.

The documents suggest Project South began to focus its attention on Singh as it developed, and how he could be related to the events in York Region.

Investigators started to look at another jail guard, Nishwant Dosanjh, who they believed had a relationship with Singh.

Police alleged she took a photograph of her colleague’s license plate in the correctional facility parking lot.

They theorized she then passed the image to Singh.

“The relationship between Dosanjh and Singh demonstrates both the opportunity and motive to facilitate access to sensitive information and contraband,” the ITO claimed.

“Subsequent investigative findings support that the licence plate information was disseminated through Singh’s associates, ultimately resulting in an unlawful database query,” the documents allege.

Dosanjh’s lawyer said her client “denies any allegations of criminal or professional misconduct and adamantly maintains her complete innocence.”

She added that Dosanh “co-operated fully” with the police investigation and was on paid leave since February when her lawyer said she made allegations against a colleague.

“Ms. Dosanjh was identified as a person of interest in the Project South investigation. She has cooperated fully with investigators, including by providing investigators with unfettered access to the contents of a cellular phone that was seized from her residence,” the statement continued.

“Ms. Dosanjh has not been charged criminally, and there is no indication criminal charges will ever be laid.”

The documents include a few scant references to a potential, alleged gun-for-hire network that may somehow be connected to Project South.

They include details of how one person charged with conspiracy to commit murder as part of Project South was allegedly involved in a “crime vehicle” text conversation, as well as a  “discussion about assembling a team for a job and firearms.”

The conversations and other details, which also allegedly involved the use of code names, are all covered by a publication ban.

Armed groups using encrypted messaging apps to organize criminal acts and get paid for them is a phenomenon Toronto police recently worried was on the rise in the city.

This year, Toronto police have alleged Signal is being used to order and organize shootings like one at the United States Consulate in March, along with others involving the waste collection company GFL or synagogues in Toronto.

“What we are dealing with in this case and in other unrelated incidents, including shootings at synagogues in Jewish schools, is a recurring and similar modus operandi: that is, criminals for hire,” Toronto police chief Myron Demkiw explained in June, after making arrests related to the United States Consulate shooting.

“Through encrypted messaging apps, young people are hired to carry out attacks against various targets. And in order to get paid, they’re required to film their attacks.”

The Project South records do not make any link between those shootings and their investigation, but appear to describe a similar setup.

— with files from The Canadian Press

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

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce married Friday night at Madison Square Garden, where actor Adam Sandler was the surprising officiant at a ceremony and Stevie Nicks performed among a crowd packed with stars of sports and entertainment. The deep secrecy that surrounded the buildup to the nuptials lifted when a marquee outside the Midtown Manhattan arena proclaimed “JUST&T MARRIED” once the deed was done.

The couple did not have bridesmaids or groomsmen, instead having Swift’s younger brother Austin Swift serve as her man of honor with Kelce’s big brother and podcast co-host Jason Kelce his best man, Swift’s publicist Tree Paine said in an email.

The bride and groom’s outfits came from Christian Dior Haute Couture and its designer Jonathan Anderson with shoes custom-made by Christian Louboutin. She wore Cartier jewelry.

An almost-royal wedding

The long anticipated union of sports and song brought hype to new heights at a venue made more for historic NBA games and bucket-list concerts. The Kansas City Chiefs’ superstar tight end and the music megastar married as fans and spectators gathered outside in blistering heat, eager to be part of the occasion, even though the event was almost entirely hidden.

Actors Bradley Cooper, Zoë Kravitz, Hugh Grant and Ethan Hawke; models Gigi Hadid and Karlie Kloss; comic Chris Rock; director Steven Spielberg; singer Camila Cabello and author Jenny Han were among the guests from the world of arts and entertainment. Kelce’s coach Andy Reid and Chiefs teammates including running back Kareem Hunt were among the sports figures in the arena, along with retired NFL superstar Tom Brady, Seattle Seahawks receiver and recent Super Bowl champ Cooper Kupp, New York Giants receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and ESPN personalities Joe Buck and Stephen A. Smith.

In a culture obsessed with famous couplings it may have been the apex celebrity wedding, with perhaps only royal unions getting more attention. Holding such a ceremony in a huge, iconic space that sits at the center of the U.S. media universe while keeping all the details secret made for a surreal scene, but it was a mix of hype and hush that is not out of character for Swift.

A shrouded ceremony headed by Happy Gilmore

An Associated Press camera outside the arena showed a long line of black SUVs dropping off wedding-goers in tuxedos and evening gowns, surrounded by New Yorkers in shorts and Swifties amassing for the occasion. Rain briefly cut the heat shortly after the marriage was announced.

There was a seemingly total lack of social media posts from guests once they had entered the arena, with phones apparently banned.

However, on Saturday, hosts of Good Morning America who had been invited to the wedding, confirmed that Nicks performed and described the space as “intimate.”

“As intimate as it could possibly be given it was Madison Square Garden. Really this garden inside the garden, just so beautiful,” said George Stephanopoulos. “It’s hard to imagine a place that big and a wedding with such stars could feel so personal and so intimate.”

Robin Roberts added that both Swift and Kelce wrote their own vows.

Weddings have been a constant subject in Swift’s songs since she was a teenager, and her actually walking the aisle for the first time at age 36 added to the drama. It was also the first marriage for the 36-year-old three-time Super Bowl champ Kelce, who could have been one of the jock characters in Swift’s early hits.

Sandler, star of “The Wedding Singer” and many other hit comedies, can’t have been high on anyone’s betting list for who would marry the couple, though he’s become an increasingly warm and paternal cultural figure with age. The email announcing the marriage described him as “a friend” of the couple. Kelce was one of the many athletes who appeared in “Happy Gilmore 2,” Sandler’s 2025 sequel to one of his first hits, and Sandler appeared last year on the Kelce brothers’ “New Heights” podcast.

Welcome to New York — Taylor’s version

The Swift-Kelce relationship has thrilled and fascinated millions around the world — particularly the Swifties, the pop star’s enormous and ardent fan base — ever since the pair first started dating in 2023 after he showed up at her Eras Tour concert at the Chiefs stadium.

Happy fans mixed with frazzled tourists outside the arena.

Lori Powers, who lives an hour north of Manhattan and rode the train in to be near the nuptials, said Swift’s “music is the soundtrack behind so many amazing moments in my life. Relationships, friends, like my husband and my kids.”

She stood outside the arena before the marriage was announced with her friend Cecily Hall.

“Just being here and witnessing all the energy and the excitement, it’s so much fun,” Hall said. “The combination of sports and music makes perfect sense as to why they’re at Madison Square Garden today.”

© 2026 The Canadian Press

A well-preserved Byzantine-era residential city in the western desert is one of two major archaeological finds announced by Egypt on Saturday.

The recent discoveries at the Dakhla Oasis and at the Marina el-Alamein archaeological site, near Alexandria, are the latest findings which the Egyptian government hopes will boost the country’s vital tourism sector, partially driven by antiquities sightseeing.

Along with the strategic Suez Canal, tourism is a major source of foreign currency in the cash-strapped country.

The Tourism and Antiquities Ministry said that the first discovery reveals details of daily life, urban development and economic activities in the Dakhla Oasis in the fourth century, when Egypt was part of the Byzantine empire.

The unearthed quarters included north-south thoroughfares intersected by east-west streets, forming open squares and public spaces, said Hisham el-Leithy, secretary general of the supreme council of antiquities.

A basilica church, dating back to the mid-fourth century, stands at the settlement’s head, overlooking its main streets, along with remains of two watchtowers to safeguard the outskirts, said Mahmoud Massoud, who chairs the archaeological mission.

The oasis, located in Egypt’s western province of New Valley in the western desert, is on UNESCO’s Tentative List, a step away from being added to the agency’s World Heritage List.

A heavily fortified structure with thick defensive walls, and many houses consisting of reception halls and vaulted roofs were found in the area, Massoud said.

Among them were the house of Tisous, identified as a church deacon and dating to the second half of the fourth century, which archaeologists believe served as a house church before the construction of the city’s basilica.

Archaeologists also uncovered bread ovens, kitchens and stone grinding tools that had been apparently used to produce food. Also found were well-preserved bronze coins bearing portraits of Byzantine emperors, Latin inscriptions and Christian symbols, alongside a group of gold coins dating to the reign of Roman emperor Constantius II, who ruled between 337 and 361, the ministry statement said.

Diaa Zahran, head of the Islamic, Coptic and Jewish Antiquities department, said they found a collection of about 200 pottery fragments which would have been used as writing material. The fragments, known as octraca, have inscriptions detailing commercial transactions, correspondence and other details of daily life, Zahran said.

Separately, archaeologists have found 18 ancient tombs in the Marina el-Alamein archaeological site, which is around 100 kilometers (62 miles) west of the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.

The findings included 11 rock-cut tombs, with an average depth of 8 meters, and seven surface limestone-built tombs, the ministry said. That has brought the total tombs found in the site to 48, ministry said.

In the site, archaeologists found pottery vessels, amphorae, lamps, plates, altars and limestone basins, it said.

Mission chief Eman Abdel-Khaliq said they found a 2.5-meter-long granite sarcophagus, with skeleton remains that were currently being studied. Close to the sarcophagus, they found the remains of a plaster sphinx statue, she said

Abdel-Khaliq said they also found 4 gold pieces placed inside the mouths of some of the deceased — known as “the golden tongue,” which had been a practice associated with funerary beliefs of that era.

Marina el-Alamein is an archaeological site close to the city of Alamein in Egypt’s Northern Coast. Unearthed in 1986, archaeologists believe that the site was the ancient Greco-Roman port city of Leukaspis on the Mediterranean, which was built in the second century and thrived until the fourth century, the ministry said.

Egypt’s tourism has started to recover after years of years of political turmoil and violence following the 2011 uprising, as well as the coronavirus pandemic.

A record 19 million tourists visited Egypt last year, a 21% increase from 2024, according to official figures. The first four months of 2026 saw 6.1 million tourists, compared with 5.7 million during the same period in 2025, the figures showed.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

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

Fire up the backyard and turn ordinary meals into something worth gathering around. A great BBQ isn’t just equipment. It’s the centrepiece of every warm-weather hangout. Whether you prefer the convenience of gas and propane or the rich, smoky flavour of charcoal, you’ll find standout BBQs from brands like Weber, Napoleon and more. From sleek modern designs to rugged classics built for weekend feasts, it’s all about choosing the one that fits your space, your style, and your appetite for great outdoor cooking.

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

OTTAWA – This was hardly the start Ryan Dinwiddie envisioned when he took over as head coach and general manager of the Ottawa Redblacks.

The two-time Grey Cup champion coach is facing an 0-4 record after a tough 27-22 loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday.

“No doubt we’re in quicksand,” admitted Dinwiddie. “It’s a long race, but we’re far behind … We’re in a tough spot right now but you know we gotta get a win, find a way to win, do the little things it takes to win and get some momentum going.”

Dinwiddie liked his team’s start after it jumped out to a 10-0 first quarter lead, but a few penalties and missed opportunities proved to be the difference.

“I mean, you can’t practice not taking penalties right?” said Dinwiddie. “It’s just beyond me some of the stuff we’ve done.”

Ottawa took six penalties for 37 yards, but it was the type and the time of the penalties that were frustrating to Dinwiddie. There was one taken on an offensive punt return, and a time-count violation on third and two while trying to draw the defence offside that forced them to settle for a field goal.

“I told those guys they’ve got to look in the mirror a little bit,” he said. “I can’t go out there and play for you and not take penalties. We preach it all the time.”

Ottawa managed to contain Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris to just 243 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

Redblacks’ QB Jake Maier finished 23-for-30 for 259 yards and one touchdown.

Despite being held to his lowest passing-yardage total of the season, Harris moved past Tom Clements into 12th on the CFL’s all-time passing list with 39,115 yards.

“I didn’t have my best game,” admitted Harris. “I wasn’t on my ‘A’ game in terms of how I’ve been playing this year, but you know when your team needs you to step up and make a play we’re able to kind of come up with a touchdown drive.”

Harris showed why he’s considered one of the league’s best early in the second quarter when he put together a 10-play drive that resulted in a 13-yard touchdown pass to Dhel Duncan-Busby to leave the Roughriders trailing 10-7.

The teams went on to exchange field goals and headed into the half tied 13-13.

A turning point in the game was a 101-yard Mathew Sexton punt return early in the third quarter that gave Saskatchewan its first lead of the game.

Ottawa started the half well but saw a drive halted when rookie receiver Cade McDonald was grounded on his way to a first down. Ottawa was forced to punt and Sexton capitalized.

“I don’t know what it is about this place, it’s hard to play, weird stuff happens,” said Roughriders head coach Corey Mace. “We responded when we needed to. As always tons to look at to get better, but we needed to get back to 1-0 this week and we did that.”

Things don’t get any easier for the Redblacks with a short turnaround before they face the Elks on Thursday in Edmonton.

There’s no denying players are starting to feel frustration with how the season has unfolded. For veterans like fullback Anthony Gosselin this is all too familiar, but he believes the Redblacks are better than their record indicates.

He believes Dinwiddie has assembled a solid roster and players needed time to learn a new system and to jell as a group and went as far as calling a Redblacks win in Edmonton.

“I call a win every week,” said Gosselin. “But this week we have to believe it. We’ve already played Edmonton, we know them a little better so I think we’re going there on a business trip, we’re going to win.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 3, 2026.

UP NEXT

Roughriders: Host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday, July 12.

Redblacks: Visit the Edmonton Elks on Thursday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 3, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press