Amanda Marshall is one of Canada’s most iconic and cherished voices, celebrated for her soulful sound, powerful songwriting, and an enduring place in the heart of Canadian music. For nearly four decades, she’s been giving Canadians songs to sing along to, connect with, and carry with them through life. Now, she’s back on the road, getting face-to-face with fans and sharing the songs that have meant so much to so many over the years.

See her with Tom Cochrane on the White Hot, Dark Horse tour November 6^th – 10^th and then on the Dirty 30 Tour November 12^th to December 16^th. Details can be found at  amandamarshall.com

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

With election day approaching, candidates in Kelowna-Mission and Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream are making their final pitches to voters, with public safety, healthcare, affordability and jobs among the key issues.

In Kelowna-Mission, Conservative candidate Gavin Dew is hoping to keep the riding in Conservative hands, pointing to healthcare and public safety as priorities.

“Conservatives are very committed to getting the 33,000 unused square feet of space at Kelowna General Hospital opened,” Dew said. “We’re very committed to mandatory care at Okanagan Correctional Centre.”

Dew is running against NDP candidate Miriam Rycroft, Green candidate Saoirse MacKinnon, and Abraham Nordine of OneBC.

BC NDP Leader David Eby said Tuesday that Conservatives have taken the region for granted, arguing they cannot assume voters will automatically support them.

“We have to work harder in this region; we need to earn every vote,” Eby said, while on a campaign stop in Kelowna.

Dew disputed that characterization, criticizing the local NDP campaign.

“It’s difficult for me to see the NDP as working extra hard in this region when my local candidate has yet to show her face in Kelowna,” he said.

Rycroft’s photo is absent from the NDP campaign website’s candidate biographies, and a drive through the riding did not turn up NDP election signs promoting her candidacy.

On the eve of the election, a regional campaign manager said Rycroft was unavailable for an interview.

In neighbouring Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream, NDP candidate Binny Boparai is hoping to make gains in a riding that has traditionally favoured Conservatives.

Boparai, a farmer and business owner, said she believes voters may be ready to consider a different party.

“I think people are ready to give a different party a shot because I’m the type of candidate that shows up and answers the tough questions,” she said.

Boparai identified the cost of living and job creation as key priorities, arguing that stronger regional economic growth could help address a range of concerns.

“If we have growth, economic growth in our region, that’s going to bring on good jobs and that solves a lot of the other underlying issues,” she said.

Conservative candidate Pavneet Singh, also a business owner, identified homelessness and the economy among the issues facing the riding.

Singh argued that expanding natural resource development could help create jobs and strengthen the provincial economy.

“LNG will be double and triple by 2035, and we have resources. People want to go to work, and we have to create jobs, and economy will be better once we do that,” Singh said.

Singh also urged voters to reject another NDP term, saying: “British Columbia cannot afford one more term of NDP.”

Green candidate Carter Mochinski and OneBC candidate Alexandra Wright are also running in Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream.

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

Alberta’s government says it has a suite of legislation coming this fall to protect Albertans, their pocketbooks and their personal information.

Speaking to reporters Friday, government house leader Joseph Schow said the province will soon table new bills to lower the cost of auto insurance and give Albertans new protection when it comes to their utility bills.

New consumer protection rules around ticket resales and used vehicles are also in the works, Schow said, as are stronger rules around the development of artificial intelligence data centres.

Alberta’s politicians are set to return to the legislature Tuesday just as Premier Danielle Smith’s government enters the final calendar year of its mandate.

The next general election is set for Oct. 18, 2027.

Schow said helping Albertans, not the looming election, is driving the legislative agenda. “Each of these initiatives I’ve laid out are addressing some of the very real concerns that we have heard from Albertans,” he said.

The legislature is also set to resume just over a week after Alberta’s historic referendum in which voters overwhelmingly supported keeping the province in Canada.

Voters also approved of the government taking action on a number of immigration reforms, though by slim margins. Smith has said the government would be proceeding with caution. Schow confirmed Friday that no legislation was coming on that topic until at least the spring.

Opposition NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said Smith’s government seems more concerned with “culture war” politics. He was referring to Schow saying the government had legislation coming that would ensure public sector hiring is “merit based.”

Schow said it was about boosting public confidence and trust in hiring decisions. Nenshi said it was a coded message against diversity hiring. “When they use ‘merit,’ that means don’t hire the ethnic people for these jobs (and) don’t hire women for these jobs,” Nenshi said.

The president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, which represents about 22,000 government employees, also called out the proposal, saying it sounded like a “thinly veiled act of institutionalized racism” meant to divide Albertans against each other.

“The government already ensures that only the best candidates are hired,” Sandra Azocar said in a statement.

“The government is looking for a scapegoat for a problem that does not exist.”

Nenshi also questioned why the government planned to bring in new rules for data centres after spending the last two years positioning Alberta as an ideal place for companies to build.

In July, Smith and tech giant Meta announced a $13-billion AI data centre project in Sturgeon County, just north of Edmonton. The project was quickly met by protests in the community. In a subsequent series of town hall meetings on data centres, hundreds of angry residents confronted Smith’s technology minister.

Nenshi said he thought the government was unprepared for the backlash and reiterated that the NDP has been calling for a pause on data centre development until a thorough policy framework is in place.

Schow said he couldn’t provide specifics but said the government had heard Albertans’ concerns about grid stability, power bills and water usage.

“We are not afraid of moving forward with new technologies, but we will do it in a reasonable, responsible manner,” he said.

Schow also confirmed the government will be taking action in other areas, such as: legislation around bike lanes; stiffer penalties for illegal dumping; new safeguards around voter information; standards for school report cards; and new rules on reporting incidents at daycare centres.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

Alberta’s government has announced new rules on when, how and what flags can be displayed at schools starting in 2027.

The government said in a news release Friday that the flags of Canada and Alberta must be flown outside schools during the school year.

“Let’s teach our children to celebrate our amazing country and province,” Premier Danielle Smith said in a social media post.

The new rules also permit some other flags — including the Franco-Albertan flag, municipal flags, flags related to sports teams and the Vatican City flag — to be displayed on school grounds.

Others, including First Nations and Métis Settlement flags, foreign national flags and the Royal Union Flag, can only be displayed on specified days or on official occasions and must not stay up for more than 14 consecutive days.

The government said no other flags can be displayed without permission from the province.

The rules say school boards can apply for exemptions but only for flags that don’t “constitute a political, social or ideological statement.”

Those flags must also meet other conditions, such as reflecting a school’s identity.

Asked whether the government was pre-emptively banning any flags, such as the Pride flag, Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said in an email that any requests from school boards would be handled on a case-by-case basis.

The rules also apply to websites and social media accounts, but not to individuals or personal items.

Both the Edmonton Public School Board and the Calgary Board of Education said they were reviewing the new rules.

Jason Schilling, the president of the provincial teachers union, said the government seemed to be creating an elaborate set of rules for a problem he doesn’t think exists.

“At a time when schools are struggling to meet increasingly complex student needs, adding another layer of bureaucracy is the last thing they need,” said Schilling, with the Alberta Teachers’ Association.

 

Schilling also questioned why sports team flags could be flown all year while First Nations flags were being restricted, saying Indigenous students and communities deserve recognition and respect year-round.

“The flags displayed in our schools can be important symbols of identity and belonging, and government policy should recognize that,” he said.

Nicolaides said in a statement that new policy was meant to provide a consistent approach to flags in schools, “while keeping the focus where it belongs: on student learning and success.”

The changes stem from a bill Smith’s government passed last year that seeks to remove “politics and ideology” from classrooms.

Opposition NDP education critic Amanda Chapman also criticized the rules Friday. She said Albertans want action on overcrowded classrooms, not flag policing.

“None of the (United Conservative Party’s) culture war nonsense helps a single student or teacher,” Chapman said in a statement.

The new rules begin Jan. 4, 2027. They apply to public, separate, francophone, charter and accredited independent schools.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

A U.S. immigration lawyer says his Canadian client died after failing to seek medical care over fears she would be detained and deported by U.S. authorities.

Paige Adamson, 61, died on Sunday in the U.S. enclave of Point Roberts, which is only accessible from Canada.

Lawyer Len Saunders said Adamson was injured and needed medical attention, but was afraid to cross through B.C. to Bellingham to seek medical care because the last time she returned to the U.S., she was interrogated and threatened with deportation.

“She was advised not to leave the U.S., because if she did leave and come back, she could be taken into custody and taken down to Tacoma,” Saunders said.

“So she was fearful of reentering Canada, then trying to return to the United States.”

Point Roberts does have a medical clinic, but it is not clear if Adamson sought medical attention there or if she could be treated there.

Saunders said Adamson had lived in the U.S. for 14 years and had a green card, but was expected to attend a deportation hearing next month.

He added that about six other Canadians living in Washington State are facing deportation.

There is no word on what caused Adamson’s death, but friends said she had fallen recently and died at home on Sunday.

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

A Vaughan man who was acquitted of murder in the death of his girlfriend’s friend in May but found guilty on firearms charges has been sentenced to six years in prison.

Harold Santana Simon sat quietly in the prisoner’s box as the family of Makayla Roxburgh-Carpino looked on, many of them wearing pins depicting Roxburgh-Carpino’s face with a purple ribbon attached.

After Superior Court Justice Suhail Akhtar delivered his sentence, dozens of family members got up and walked out of the courtroom, someone yelling, “You’re a coward, a woman abuser, a monster. Rot in hell.”

“While I confess that this verdict is in many ways very difficult to reconcile with the evidence, the jury verdict must be respected,” said Akhtar in his reasons, acknowledging that he too has trouble understanding the not guilty verdict.

On May 11, 2024, Simon entered an apartment on Northcliffe Boulevard near Eglinton Avenue West belonging to his girlfriend Sentoree Kamara without being invited. He entered using a key he had been given before.

Hours earlier, Simon had a dispute with Kamara believing she was seeing other men.

Roxburgh-Carpino was asleep in Kamara’s bed when Simon woke them both up and demanded that Roxburgh-Carpino leave the room. She refused.

There was a scuffle and a gun belonging to Simon was discharged during the incident.

The Crown alleged that Simon left the bedroom and he returned with a gun, placed it to Roxburgh-Carpino’s head and shot her.

Simon in his testimony at trial, said the shooting was an accident. He said Kamara had retrieved the gun that he had left in her apartment and pointed it at him. He sought to take the gun from her and said the firearm accidentally discharged killing Roxburgh-Carpino.

Simon at trial, admitted the gun belonged to him and said he brought it to the apartment on a prior occasion for self-protection. Simon testified he had told Kamara someone told him someone from the area wanted to kidnap and harm him.

Simon said Kamara had found the gun, which was fully loaded and cocked, and attempted to shoot him with it. He insisted the gun discharged only because he was trying to remove it from her hands.

Immediately after the shooting, Simon said he panicked and fled the scene, driving away and taking the gun with him before disposing of it in a cemetery near his house. He later returned to recover it, he said, so he could seek a lawyer about what to do next.

Simon was arrested in a high-risk takedown at a gas station near Orillia, around 8:30 p.m. on the evening Roxburgh-Carpino was shot.

Akhtar said that the 30-year-old who is classified as a foreign national and has no status in Canada, will likely be deported once he’s released from prison.

The judge said he rejected Simon’s assertion that he left the gun in Kamara’s apartment for self-protection saying “it makes no sense.”

Akhtar also found there was no real explanation for why he didn’t contact his lawyer, nor why he had the gun for nearly two years. The serial number of the gun was also defaced which Akhtar pointed out is an offence in itself.

At the sentencing hearing, 31 victim impact statements were filed including one from the mother of Roxburgh-Carpino who said the day her daughter’s life was taken away, was also the day parts of her were taken.

“It was Mother’s Day weekend. She loved celebrating all the mothers in the family because family meant everything to her. Instead, I spent Mother’s Day making funeral arrangements for my 20-year-old daughter,” said Sabrina Carpino.

The Crown had sought a sentence of 12 to 16 years in prison, consecutive sentences for the charges of possession of a loaded firearm and the unauthorized possession of a firearm in a vehicle. But Akhtar said a sentence in the double-digit range was not appropriate.

In handing down a six-year sentence, Akhtar said the possession of this firearm led to the death of Roxburgh-Carpino after Simon entered the apartment uninvited and found it aggravating that Simon left a loaded cocked gun in the apartment where a child was present.

Afterwards, Akhtar noted that he tried to get rid of it and conceal the evidence in a public place.

Simon has been in custody for nearly two and a half years. After credit for pre-sentence custody, the judge told court he has two years and four months left to serve.

He is also facing a lifetime prohibition order and a DNA order.

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

After serving 18 years on Saskatoon City Council Charlie Clark is now applying his passion for relationship building at the office of Saskatchewan’s treaty commissioner.

This week on Shaping Saskatchewan, Charlie Clark reflects on his time as Mayor and his new role as Treaty Relations Lead at the office of the Treaty Commissioner of Saskatchewan, where he is focusing on strengthening partnerships between municipalities and First Nations communities.

“In the last few years of my time in that role, I could really see in conversations I was having with other municipal leaders across Saskatchewan, first nations chiefs, and also across Canada, is that there’s a growing understanding of… if municipalities and first nations can work together, they could help solve and address some of the challenges that everybody is facing,” Clark said.

He believes those relationships and partnerships can play an important role in tackling a range of issues and challenges facing Saskatchewan, from infrastructure to homelessness.

“One of the biggest steps is, ‘how do you create the place and the ways for that dialogue to happen, and now I am doing that work,” said Chark.

Clark’s new role centers on creating opportunities for meaningful collaboration, with the goal of building stronger relationships between municipalities and First Nations communities across Saskatchewan.

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

New Brunswickers who use a virtual health-care app can now access a “conversational AI feature” for cardiac, surgical and maternity care.

Horizon Health says this means patients can type in questions like, “When can I remove my dressing” and “Is this symptom normal?”

“When patients have questions about their care, having access to reliable information is a key component of quality health care,” said Jennifer Sheils, VP of Strategy, Transformation and Chief Innovation Officer with Horizon Health, in a statement.

“This new feature allows them to ask questions and get sound information anytime, including outside of normal business hours when they may not be able to contact their care provider or team.”

The AI-driven feature is called Seamless Answers, which is part of the SeamlessMD app.

The app helps patients monitor their recovery after surgery, sends reminders and offers educational resources. It was created by a team in Toronto and is used by hospitals and health systems in North America, including the Nova Scotia Health Authority.

Horizon Health launched the app for its patients in 2023, and says 7,700 patients have signed up so far.

The app’s co-founder, Dr. Joshua Liu, says the artificial intelligence component allows the app to better help patients outside regular business hours.

“We know patients are asking questions at night or 3 in the morning when they can’t typically get those questions answered,” he told Global News.

“At least so far, it seems like we are filling that real vacuum, a real gap in what’s available for patients.”

Liu says the chatbot will only pull information from the education library within SeamlessMD.

“It’s not answering based on any information from the open internet. It’s only answering based upon the patient education that’s been approved by the health-care team,” he said.

“For example, if you are a patient who had heart surgery at Horizon, the answers you’re getting from Seamless Answers are based on only content the heart surgery team at Horizon has actually customized and approved for you.”

He says common questions may be about the side effects of a medication or when someone can drive after surgery.

He adds that there are limitations to what the AI can help with.

“If the patient said, ‘Hey I have a fever, what should I do about it?’ Typically the AI would say, ‘Actually, for something like that you should be speaking to your nurse,'” Liu said.

He says any data collected through these answers is being store securely and is not being used to train any other models.

Importance of AI literacy

Acadia University psychology professor, Daniel Lametti, who teaches a course on AI use, encourages users to use AI thoughtfully and keep limitations in mind.

“I think a lot of folks are going to the internet, going to Google, going to ChatGPT, going into Claude to ask medical questions, right? So in that sense, a tool like this, it makes sense in that you can provide it with doctor-vetted information that it then uses to generate responses,” he said.

“But we also have to think a little bit about how these AI systems work, right?”

He says “any AI system will once in a while produce errors,” and believes informed decision-making is important.

“If you’re using systems like this, it’s something you have to keep in mind. And this is where AI literacy, understanding how these tools work, is really important,” he said.

According to Horizon, Vitalité Health Network has also implemented Seamless Answers, making New Brunswick the first province in Atlantic Canada to offer this feature across all health-care regions.

— with files from Johnny James

© 2026 The Canadian Press

Halifax police have laid two more charges against a man following a bomb threat at the United States consulate in August.

Ali Assakereh, 54, was arrested Aug. 10 for allegedly placing a propane tank and flammable liquids in his car and parking it near the consulate in downtown Halifax.

Several streets in the downtown core were shut down until the vehicle and its contents could be safely approached and inspected. A bag that police considered suspicious was also found nearby.

Assakereh was charged the next day with uttering threats and public mischief.

On Aug. 19, he was also charged with threatening an internationally protected person under Section 424 of the Criminal Code of Canada. The Crown has said this charge is considered a terrorism offence, which allows it to pursue an increased penalty of up to life in prison.

In a Friday release, Halifax Regional Police said investigators have laid two additional criminal charges related to hoax terrorist activity.

Assakereh is scheduled to appear in court in November.

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

EDMONTON – Mike Babcock isn’t dwelling on his departure from Toronto as he prepares to face his former team for the first time Saturday.

Asked Friday about facing the Maple Leafs, the Edmonton Oilers coach made light of the years that have passed since his dismissal.

“You know, it’s about a hundred years ago, right?” Babcock said after practice. “So, you know, even the Beatles broke up, so you get on with it kind of thing.”

Babcock, in his first season with Edmonton, coached the Maple Leafs from 2015 until he was fired in November 2019 following a six-game losing streak.

Toronto reached the playoffs three times during his tenure but failed to advance beyond the first round, losing to Washington in 2017 and Boston in 2018 and 2019.

Babcock acknowledged those shortcomings but said he remains proud of his years in Toronto, particularly his role in developing young stars Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Morgan Rielly.

“We weren’t a veteran team, and in the end we didn’t get it done at playoff time, and so that’s why I got a new address,” he said.

Babcock praised the progress of his former players, including Matthews.

“It’s always great to see his progression in the league and how good a player he is,” Babcock said. “He scored four goals, I think his first game in the league, but he’s still come miles in that time.”

He also spoke of Nylander, recalling how the forward would spend hours interacting with children at team events.

“I’m proud of my time there. I loved my time there,” he said.

Matthews, meanwhile, credits Babcock with helping him understand the defensive side of the game early in his NHL career.

“I think there was a big focus on defensive stuff,” Matthews said after Toronto’s practice Friday. “A lot of video on guys like Zetterberg, Bergeron, Crosby, stuff like that.”

Matthews said he didn’t fully appreciate the importance of defensive positioning and awareness when he entered the league as a teenager.

“I feel like that’s kind of what he preached a lot, especially my first couple years,” he said.

Babcock’s return to the NHL has been a successful one so far.

His Oilers lead the Pacific Division with an 8-1-and-1 record, while the Leafs are riding a three-game winning streak and sit fourth in the Atlantic at 6-4-and-2.

Edmonton has won eight of its nine games since an opening-night overtime loss to Vancouver.

Oilers captain Connor McDavid said the team has responded well to Babcock’s coaching style, even when the message has been blunt.

“There’s been times where he’s given it to us, and we’ve needed that, and there’s been times where it’s been positive, too,” McDavid said Friday. “He just calls it how it is, and that’s obviously what we want.”

McDavid, who has 31 points through 10 games, said the Oilers are still adjusting to Babcock’s system with an eye toward the post-season.

“We’re trying to build a game that works not in October, but come April and May and June,” he said.

McDavid also expects a lively atmosphere Saturday when Toronto visits Rogers Place.

“Love when the Toronto fans show up in our building, and it’s loud, and you get both sides going,” he said. “It makes for a fun atmosphere and should be a fun game.”

Despite the strong start, Babcock said his focus remains on improving each day rather than worrying about expectations for the season.

“I’m just going to keep trying to get better and enjoy what I’m doing,” he said. “I think I’m in a phenomenal situation. I just get to have fun every day.”

ICE CHIPS: The Oilers placed netminder Devon Levi on Injured Reserve Friday with an undisclosed injury. The squad has called up goaltender Matt Tomkins from the AHL Bakersfield Condors under emergency conditions. Tristan Jarry will start in net against the Maple Leafs on Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press