Famed Canadian sportscaster Don Cherry has been appointed to the Order of Ontario.

The provincial government unveiled Tuesday that Cherry, 92, and 29 others would be the 2025 recipients of the province’s highest civilian honour.

“A prominent Canadian hockey figure, Don Cherry is known for his influential coaching career, bold broadcasting style and decades of dedication to the sport,” a provincial statement reads.

“After coaching the Boston Bruins, he became a defining voice on Hockey Night in Canada through Coach’s Corner. Cherry is also recognized for extensive philanthropy, supporting the military and police, youth sports and animal welfare through Don Cherry’s Pet Rescue Foundation. He founded Rose Cherry’s Home for Kids and is a strong advocate for organ donation. In 2004, he was ranked the seventh-greatest Canadian in CBC’s The Greatest Canadian.”

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Don Cherry launches new podcast

For nearly 40 years, Cherry, who was born in Kingston, Ont., made his name on Coach’s Corner during Hockey Night in Canada, often wearing bold suits.

His run on the program came to an end in November 2019 after he delivered a televised rant about people not wearing poppies, seemingly aimed at immigrants.

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Cherry denied targeting new Canadians; Rogers Sportsnet president Bart Yabsley said Cherry “made divisive remarks that do not represent our values or what we stand for” when he announced his firing that month.

Shortly after, he went on to host the Don Cherry’s Grapevine Podcast with his son, producing 313 episodes in total. Its last episode was released on June 22, 2025, and Cherry’s son told The Canadian Press it was unlikely any new episodes would be produced.

Other Order of Ontario appointees announced Tuesday include Cameron Bailey, CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival, Nathan Leipciger, a Holocaust survivor and human rights advocate and Edward Rogers, executive chair of Rogers Communications, chair of the Toronto Blue Jays and chair of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.

— With files from The Canadian Press

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

The co-founder of a group that supports victims and their families after mass shootings says a top priority when bringing students back to school in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., is to make them feel safe again.

“No kid can learn in fear,” said Anita Busch, with the U.S.-based organization Victims First.

The British Columbia government has announced that a series of portable facilities will arrive throughout the week, so students at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School don’t have to learn in a place were six people were killed, five of them students.

A government statement says a date for the resumption of classes hasn’t been confirmed.

Chad Anderson, chair of the Peace River South school board, said in the statement that it would “use a compassionate, trauma-informed approach” to the resumption of classes.

Busch said her experience has shown that there will be fear around the return to school.

“Even going back to something that you can say is completely safe, it’s still going to be a lot of fear there.”

The B.C. government said 14 portables will begin arriving in Tumbler Ridge this week, and they’ll be placed on the grounds of the local elementary school.

“It is expected to take several days to set the units up for water and heating and to furnish them for returning students and staff, depending on weather conditions and other factors,” the statement said.

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Environment Canada posted a winter storm warning for the southern Peace region with up to 25 centimetres of snow by Tuesday and wind chills down to minus-40 through to Wednesday.

Busch, whose cousin was killed in the Aurora, Colo., theatre shooting and who has a family member who survived the Route 91 concert mass shooting in Las Vegas, said there should be counsellors available to support the students and teachers coming back.

“It’s all about putting the building blocks in place to make the kids and the educators feel safe,” she said.

“Whether it’s security, visible security, and also to have trauma counsellors there to help them.”

The government says counsellors will support staff and students in the safe transition to the new buildings and counselling will continue to be available afterward.

Busch said those at schools that have had shootings in the United States have made a variety of decisions on what to do with the buildings. Both Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida were demolished and rebuilt.

Those in charge of the Columbine High School site tore down the library where many of the victims were killed, and Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, was torn down and rebuilt at a different location.

Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, shot and killed her mother and half-brother at their home in Tumbler Ridge before going to the school and killing six people and then herself.

The current portables being moved to the elementary schools are single-wide, but the statement says double-wide trailers will be arriving in the coming weeks “and will serve Tumbler Ridge Secondary until community input, expert advice and future plans can be confirmed.”

Busch said the community should be involved in any decision around when and where to start school again.

“You have to talk to those directly impacted. You have to have an open forum that’s safe and let the voices rise and get input,” she said.

Any new school should be built with safety in mind and those measures need to be clearly visible so that students can see that the location is safer, she said.

Busch, who has assisted on 56 mass casualty events over 13 years, said people in Tumbler Ridge are still going to be fearful.

“Everything that people are feeling right now is a very normal reaction to an incredibly abnormal situation,” she said.

“So, not wanting to leave the house, being scared to go anywhere, having recurring thoughts (or) nightmares. This is what happens after a mass shooting. Don’t feel like you’re losing your mind. You’re not.”

&copy 2026 The Canadian Press

Last year, as AI data centre proponents competed for a portion of the limited 1,200 megawatts that would connect their projects to the provincial grid, one company secured 180 megawatts from the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) — then sold it to a buyer for $18 million.

Industry experts say it’s a result of the rapid push to build out AI data centres and power those energy-hungry facilities, with immense demand sparking a “gold rush” for electricity connections.

In November, Kalina Distributed Power, a Canadian subsidiary of Australian power company Kalina Power Ltd., announced it sold and transferred its 180-megawatt allocation to Greenlight Electricity Centre Limited “and its customer (a global data center developer and user).”

Greenlight is a joint venture between Pembina Pipeline and Kineticor planned for development northeast of Edmonton. Once complete, it will ultimately provide around 1,800 megawatts of power capacity.

Just days after the $18 million sale and megawatt transfer was completed, AESO announced it had allocated the 1,200 megawatts to two projects, one of which was allotted 970 megawatts — a project from Pembina Pipeline that could become a massive Meta AI data centre, according to The Logic.

Pung Toy, CEO and co-founder of Power Grid Specialists Corp., said in this new era of AI demand there’s a “gold rush” for electricity allotments to build out more data centres, leading to a unique sale such as this one.

“It’s unprecedented in any space, but since transmission capacity seems to be a commodity now — before it never used to be,” said Toy, who has helped oil and gas companies connect to the grid in his decades-long career. Now, he’s also working with AI data centre developers.

“The majority of the time when oil and gas companies [wanted] to connect, there was never a rush. You file your application with the AESO, you go through the studies and whatever they needed … if the study shows no concerns, they were granted that interconnection,” he said.

The demand for connection to the grid now is unprecedented. Currently, there are 42 large-load projects in AESO’s queue, requesting a total load of 21.1 gigawatts from the grid. 

For comparison, that’s nearly twice as much as the province’s entire power load during peak hours, or 15 times the electricity it takes to power Edmonton.

“I understand why the AESO is going through this allotment phase just to make sure the system doesn’t get overwhelmed. Normally oil and gas developments take a period of time. There’s not really a gold rush because these types of infrastructure [are] you know, $1-billion, $2-billion-type decisions, so they go through very, very methodically,” Toy explained.

“Whereas the AI centre space you can plug in a data centre within three years, it doesn’t take much to install these types of facilities.”

Sale was ‘transformative’ for Kalina, executive says

Developers that had already qualified for Phase 1 of AESO’s program were allowed to transfer their allotments amongst each other between June 30, 2025 and July 7, 2025. 

In that period, Kalina reported it received 180 megawatts for its large load projects, representing 15 per cent of the total 1,200 megawatts up for grabs. In its quarterly report, Kalina said its allotment was “disproportionately larger than others because its applications for load were integrated with applications for generation as well.”

While Kalina Power did not respond to CBC’s request for comment, in October, the company held a webinar in which it addressed the 180-megawatt sale.

“Clearly, these funds are utterly transformative of our cash position and balance sheet,” said Timothy Horgan, Kalina Power Limited’s executive director. 

“The change is from a company under pressure to make a deal to one that can confidently pursue the range of transactions, investments, and sales that will allow us to develop these projects and our portfolio in the way most accretive to all of our shareholders.”

Ross MacLachlan, Kalina’s managing director and CEO, said another colleague on the call would help the webinar audience understand: “What did we give away? Which is basically nothing … in return for something, which is fantastic.”

AESO confirmed to CBC News that developers did not have to pay a fee to qualify for an electricity allotment in Phase 1 of its Large Load Integration program. 

Developers only needed to present a letter of support from the municipality or county it planned to build its facility in, complete power flow studies and provide a provision of security for financial obligations that would be incurred if it was successful in securing a load contract.

Matthew Jenkins, executive director of Kalina’s Canadian subsidiary, said of the sale to Greenlight’s customer, “We believed it was really important to attract a major hyperscaler there, which is why we made the critical strategic decision to actually transfer those megawatts … at the end of the day that 180 megawatts wasn’t going to be of use to us.”

Kalina has five projects in the works in Alberta which would power up to 1,700 megawatts of data centre activity. None of those power projects require access to the provincial grid until 2029-2030, according to its June 2025 quarterly report.

Kineticor declined to comment on the sale. Pembina Pipeline and Meta did not respond to CBC’s request for comment.

AI boom driving resource scarcity

Sam Jenkins, managing partner at Punchcard Systems, an Edmonton-based technology consulting and development firm, said that by AESO introducing the temporary cap on data centre connections — to ensure grid reliability — it created a limited pool of connection capacity.

“When there’s resource scarcity, the market typically reacts to that in its own curious ways.”

Jenkins added that “from a digital economy perspective, what we’re seeing is a bit of a bottleneck as it relates to infrastructure. And we’ve seen those bottlenecks in other parts of the data centre ecosystem,” like chip production.

“AI growth is really no longer just constrained by the real estate where we’re going to build or the chips … It really is being constrained by how fast you can secure dependable, reliable power sources for interconnection.”

As for the long-speculated AI bubble burst, Toy said even if the promise of AI expansion ceases to be, those electricity allotments for data centres will still hold value.

“AI centres are the flavour of the day, but everything comes into balance. If the AI centres don’t materialize, guess what? That capacity will be put up for sale and some oil and gas company may snatch it up,” Toy said.

“To me, now it’s a commodity. Kalina has shown it’s a commodity.”

An Edmonton Public Schools program that sees police officers have a presence at its schools has mostly garnered praise from school and education staff after it returned to some schools last year. 

But not everyone is sold on the school resource officer (SRO) program’s efficacy.

This comes after an Edmonton Public School Board (EPSB) meeting last week, where a report was presented to school board trustees tracking the phased implementation of the SRO program.

It surveyed staff, students and family on their impressions and experiences with officers as the program was reintroduced. Many respondents said they felt officers had a positive impact on safety in schools, according to the report. 

The review also said that respondents who were students generally “appreciated the approachable, friendly and visible presence of the SRO.”

So far, officers have returned to 13 schools across Edmonton, according to the report.

The EPSB says seven more schools are getting SROs this month.

Roxie Kruse, an 18-year-old student at McNally High School, said while she hasn’t interacted with her SRO much, she feels more safe now knowing he’s there.

“I think it’s really good implementing this because there are a lot of dangers,” she said. “Our school is very close to downtown. So, you know, might not be the safest of areas, but it’s good that we have that.”

Student Sai’jana Vassell said McNally High School’s SRO has provided help in more areas than one. 

“He’s actually helped me a lot with cyberbullying, online bullying and other stuff that’s been going around,” she said.

“He’s just been a lot more helpful in the past year than the school’s ever had.”

At a school board meeting last week, principals and school staff echoed some of that praise, saying the presence of officers has left teachers with more time to focus on their work.

Program previously fraught with criticism

In 2020, the program was suspended after it came under scrutiny. Some members of the public said they had concerns about the effects policing had on marginalized students. 

Since then, multiple studies commissioned by the EPSB have found mixed conclusions on the effect school policing had on those students. 

A study from 2023 recommended more research and data collection on the matter.

Omar Yaqub, the executive director of Edmonton social services organization IslamicFamily, said he agrees with the conclusions of that study.

“We’ve seen some data come from [the EPSB] about SROs and challenges within that area, some improvements, but [there] maybe some foundational cleavages that we have to address,” he said. 

“Are we creating solutions that work for everybody? How are we making sure that all voices are heard in developing the solutions?”

Yaqub said for the revamped program to work, he believes officers need to work on their relationships with marginalized communities and youth.

“As we have larger schools [and] more complex challenges, we have to be ensuring that we’re investing adequately in community-based preventative solutions, not just intervention justice solutions,” he said.

Edmonton Public Schools Supt. Ron Thompson confirmed at the board meeting that officers are receiving training on trauma-informed practices and are working with racialized students and groups.

The EPSB will conduct a second evaluation based on findings that result from the SRO program being implemented in the seven additional schools this month.

Tens of thousands of people are being asked to turn up to Pitbull’s BST Hyde Park concert in bald caps to break a Guinness World Record.

In recent years, fans of Mr Worldwide – real name Armando Christian Pérez – have attended his concerts dressed exactly like him.

This primarily includes donning a bald cap to emulate his signature hairless style, as well as a pair of aviator sunglasses, and a white shirt with a leather jacket. Some even go so far as to grow a goatee, or even just draw one on.

Although no-one can quite pinpoint where the trend started, the singer himself has expressed his delight at seeing his fans commit to the costumes.

Now, the singer is encouraging those with tickets to his upcoming BST concert to make sure to attend dressed in his likeness.

Today it was announced that the gig will see an attempt made to break an official Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people wearing bald caps during his headlining show on Friday July 10.

The idea of a world record was first suggested by Radio 1 Breakfast host Greg James on air.

A long-time fan of the Cuban- American rapper and singer, James had previously called for the attempt to be made as soon as the show was announced last October.

Soon after, Pitbull got in touch with him to confirm he was keen to get involved.

‘Guinness Book of World Records, get ready for all the Bald-E’s that’ll be putting it down on July 10th at Hyde Park,’ he’s now declared.

‘Every time you put on that bald cap, you know you’re about to have the time of your lives. We appreciate the love, the commitment, and the support. More than anything, we just want to say thank you. Dale!’

However for those wishing to take part, the official record comes with all-important rules, being that ‘all participants must wear bald caps secured firmly on the head, with hair tucked under at the front and top (hair may hang from the back)’, and everyone must be together at the same time, as ‘all participants must be gathered together and in position simultaneously and remain so for a minimum of one minute’.

Ahead of the attempt, AEG Presents European Festivals director of talent Darcey Jackson said: ‘We’re so excited to host a [Mr] world [wide] record attempt at Pitbull’s show in BST Hyde Park – the highest number of people wearing baldcaps!

‘We’ve broken a few world records in the past, but this will really truly be the time of our lives. We cannot wait to welcome you all to Hyde Park for what will inevitably be an incredible show. Come one, come all, come bald.’

Meanwhile Guinness World Records adjudicator Will Munford said they were ‘looking forward’ to seeing the attempt play out.

‘What better way to be part of something amazing than coming together with other fans to celebrate your favourite artist. Best of luck to all of those taking part on the day!’ he added.

BST has a standard capacity of 65,000. Pitbull’s headline show will also see him joined by special guest Kesha, with several support acts to still be announced.

Other headliners for this year’s BST Hyde Park festival also include Garth Brooks, Lewis Capaldi, Maroon 5, and Mumford & Sons.

Last year, Pitbull played three nights at the O2 in London. Speaking to the BBC around that time, he said it made him ‘very, very happy’ to look into the crowds and see people dressed like him.

‘Every time I’m at a show, I let them know that when you put on a bald cap, I hope you’re ready to have the time of your lives – it feels deeper than just music,’ he said.

‘It’s the ultimate trophy to be able to go on stage and see all the hard work that you put into the music.

‘I’ve been in the game for 25 years and to see every demographic, everybody [dressing up] at the shows is priceless.’

Throughout his career, Pitbull has sold over 25 million studio albums and over 100 million singles worldwide.

Mr 305, as he is also known, came to the charts with collaborations with some of music’s biggest names in the noughties.

This included Ne-Yo, Kesha, Christina Aguilera, Usher, Enrique Iglesias, and Jennifer Lopez for some of his best-known hits including Timber, Give Me Everything, Hotel Room Service, and On the Floor.

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Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has ordered Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to remove Col. Dave Butler from his current job serving as chief of Army Public Affairs and chief advisor to Driscoll, who is currently in Geneva serving on the negotiating team to end the Ukraine war, Fox News has learned. 

Butler served as the head of public affairs for the Joint Chiefs when Gen. Mark Milley was chairman, and was slated to receive his first star. His name appeared for two years in a row on an Army list of 34 officers selected for promotion. 

That list has been held up by Hegseth for nearly four months because he reportedly has concerns about four to five officers selected by the Army board, but by law he cannot remove them from the list. Butler volunteered to take his name off the promotion list if it would help unlock the other promotions, according to an Army official.

Hegseth pressured the Army to fire Col. Dave Butler, right, pictured here with CNN anchor Pamela Brown, Fox has learned.  (Paul Morigi/Getty Images for General Catalyst Institute)

Driscoll, an Army veteran and close ally of Vice President JD Vance, attended Yale Law School with the vice president and has resisted Hegseth’s pressure to fire Butler for months because of his ongoing contributions to the transformation of the Army.

HEGSETH MOVES TO CENSURE SEN MARK KELLY, REVIEW HIS RETIREMENT RANK AND PAY OVER ‘SEDITIOUS VIDEO’

“We greatly appreciate COL Dave Butler’s lifetime of service in America’s Army and to our nation,” Driscoll said in a statement. “Dave has been an integral part of the Army’s transformation efforts and I sincerely wish him tremendous success in his upcoming retirement after 28 years of service.” 

Butler traveled with Driscoll to Ukraine in November 2025 to help jump-start negotiations.

The demand by Hegseth came Thursday, Fox News has learned.

Fox News has learned that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth ordered Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to remove Col. Dave Butler from his current job serving as chief of Army Public Affairs and chief advisor to Driscoll. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP)

Hegseth entered the Pentagon in 2025 and immediately began firing top officers or forcing them into early retirement without giving a reason or for cause: Adm. Lisa Franchetti, who was serving as Chief of Naval Operations, Gen. CQ Brown who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. James Mingus, who was serving as vice chief of the Army, Gen. Douglas A. Sims, director of the Joint Staff, Air Force Chief Gen. David Allvin, Gen. James Slife, vice chief of the Air Force, and Gen. Timothy Haugh, director of the National Security Agency, among others.

The unexplained firings have led to fear, uncertainty and an unwillingness to speak up among senior military leaders.

Driscoll, an Army veteran and close ally of Vice President JD Vance, attended Yale Law School with the Vice President and had resisted Hegseth’s pressure to fire Col. Butler for months because of his ongoing contributions to the transformation of the Army. (Cheriss May/Getty Images )

FIRED UNDER TRUMP, FORMER MILITARY OFFICERS LAUNCH DEMOCRATIC BIDS FOR CONGRESS

One of the Army’s best communicators, Butler served alongside the nation’s tiered special operations units on countless missions overseas attached to the Army’s Delta Force from 2010⁠– 2014. 

He served as the public affairs officer to Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, from 2015 to 2018. He worked as the public affairs officer for Gen. Scott Miller when he was Joint Special Operations Command commander from 2016 to 2018, and then, at Miller’s request, served in Afghanistan when Miller deployed there from 2018 to 2019.  

Butler served as the chief spokesman and director of communications for all U.S. and NATO forces during that time that Miller served as the top 4-star general in Afghanistan.

Driscoll is currently in Geneva serving on the negotiating team to end the Ukraine war.  (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

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A former 4-star commander who once commanded U.S. Special Operations said Butler was “the consummate professional, the most competent Public Affairs officer I have ever worked with and a gifted practitioner of strategic communications.”

During the Army’s 250th birthday celebrations in 2025, President Donald Trump recognized Butler by name for helping the Army chief to organize the parade in Washington, D.C.

Ontario’s finance minister is expressing concerns about the rate of health-care spending in the province, calling the current $91.5-billion budget both “unprecedented” and “unsustainable.”

When Peter Bethlenfalvy addressed the Mississauga Board of Trade in January, he outlined some of the issues that appear to be weighing on his mind as he crafts the upcoming budget set to be delivered in late March.

“We’re in unprecedented territory in terms of the concerns of people. People are scared, they’re worried, they are concerned,” Bethlenfalvy said of the current geopolitical and economic climate fuelled, in part, by U.S. President Donald Trump.

At the same time, Bethlenfalvy warned that the province was facing a “big headwind, on top of the uncertainty” that threatens to squeeze Ontario even further.

“The economic environment is slowing down, there’s just no question,” the minister said. “We’re growing at the slowest rate we’ve grown post-COVID.”

Adding to the GDP concerns, the finance minister pointed out that “flattening” population growth is another factor his department is closely watching as it decides how to allocate billions in spending.

“Eighty-five per cent of the spending in the budget is actually for social spending. About 15 per cent is for infrastructure and the economy,” Bethlenfalvy explained.

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“We have a slowing population and a slowing economic growth and a trajectory of social spending that’s been, frankly, unprecedented. So we’re going to have to manage that challenge.”

Later, during a fireside chat, the minister put it more clearly: “Our health-care spending is unsustainable. We just have to deal with reality that we can’t keep spending, particularly when our population is flattening.”

The comments come at a time when hospitals warned the government they are facing a billion-dollar structural deficit and are now preparing for “difficult decisions” unless the Ford government increases health-care funding in its upcoming budget.

The Ontario Hospital Association said health-care costs have risen by six per cent a year, largely due to a growing and aging population and inflation, forcing health-care institutions to erode their capital and borrow money to stay afloat.

Rob Cerjanec, a Liberal MPP from Ajax, said the finance minister’s comments are “incredibly concerning,” especially for residents who want assurances that health care will be available when needed.

“When we hear a minister of finance talking about health-care spending being unsustainable, I mean that could be the difference between life or death for somebody,” Cerjanec said.

“We have great pride in our public health-care system. We need to strengthen our public health-care system.”

Recently, Ontario’s financial accountability officer revealed that the province was projecting a “significantly slower pace” of health-care spending in the next few years compared with the previous three.

The 2025 budget projected that health-care spending would grow by an average rate of 0.7 per cent between 2025 and 2028.

By contrast, the health-care budget grew by 6.6 per cent on average between 2021 and 2024.

“Over the 34-year period from 1990-91 to 2023-24, health sector spending grew at an average annual rate of 5.0 per cent,” the budget watchdog notes. “If the Province’s health sector spending plan in the 2025 budget is achieved, it would be the slowest three-year growth rate since 1993-94 to 1996-97.”

When Global News asked the finance minister whether his “unsustainable” remark meant he was considering cutting spending, Bethlenfalvy rejected the notion.

“We’re not going to cut health-care spending,” the finance minister said, before adding that his goal is to deliver health spending in an “efficient, effective and innovative way.”

Bethlenfalvy said that includes focusing on reducing surgical wait times, easing hallway health care and expanding access to family doctors.

The minister added that the use of artificial intelligence to help physicians take notes and using tracking devices on gurneys and wheelchairs are examples of innovation to free up resources and stretch precious health-care dollars.

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