A man is in life-threatening condition after being stabbed inside the emergency department waiting room at Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton on Friday evening.
Edmonton Police Service said officers who were already at the hospital saw two men fighting around 6:15 p.m. and intervened.
A 42-year-old man suffered serious, life-threatening injuries and was treated at the hospital.
Police said the other man was found with three-edged weapons, who has since been charged.
In a statement posted to social media, Matt Jones, minister of Hospital and Surgical Health in Alberta, said police and hospital staff quickly de-escalated the “unsettling” situation.
Get weekly health news
Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.
“Their actions helped ensure the safety of those present and provided timely care to the victim,” he said.
“We recognize that incidents like this are unsettling. No one, patients, staff or physicians, should feel unsafe in our hospitals.”
Story continues below advertisement
Sarah Hoffman, the Opposition NDP health critic, said in a post on X that about 50 people, including doctors, nurses and other patients, witnessed the attack, and called the incident terrifying.
“Tonight, a patient was stabbed while waiting for care in the Royal Alex emergency waiting room. About 50 people witnessed the attack … from doctors to nurses to other patients. It was violent and terrifying,” she wrote.
Hoffman said the incident comes weeks after the Opposition called on the United Conservative government to address pressures in emergency departments.
“Over a month ago, we called on the UCP to debate the state of emergency department care in our hospitals and do something about it,” she wrote.
“To the patients and staff who witnessed this: you deserve better. To the patient who was attacked: you should be safe in our hospitals.”
Police have not released further details about the suspect.
As the four Artemis II astronauts prepare for their historic flyby of the moon on Monday, Roberta Bondar, Canada’s first female astronaut, says this mission signals a leap in developments for future space travel.
Speaking with Global News, Bondar said the mission will push humans farther into deep space than they have travelled in decades, exposing the crew to conditions not experienced since the Apollo era.
The mission, known as Artemis II, will send four astronauts around the moon before returning to Earth on April 10, 2026.
The crew, made up of three Americans and one Canadian, will travel a total of more than 400,000 kilometres from Earth — farther than any human has travelled before — and then loop behind the moon and return home.
“People liken this to Apollo 8, but they were much closer,” she said. “This flyby will be about 4,000 miles out (from the moon), so they’ll be exposed to the background radiation of space and subjected to any solar wind or solar storms.”
Story continues below advertisement
Bondar said that distance will give the astronauts a rare vantage point, both scientifically and visually.
Get breaking National news
Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won’t miss a trending story.
“They are really out there in deep space, where we haven’t been before,” she said. “They are going to be looking at the dark moon differently and take pictures of the sun in ways we have not been able to see because human beings have not been there.”
The crew has recently passed a new milestone of being closer to the moon than to Earth in their deep space journey.
“The Earth is quite small and the moon is definitely getting bigger,” pilot Victor Glover said from space.
Beyond the visuals, the mission is also a test of how the human body responds to space flight over longer distances.
“They look pretty good actually,” Bondar said of the crew. “They do have these smartwatches on now that will be looking at aspects of their physiology, their sleep cycle and some of the stresses they will face.”
That data will help researchers better understand how to prepare astronauts for future missions deeper into space.
Bondar also pointed to well-documented physical changes astronauts experience in orbit, including what is often referred to as “bird leg syndrome.”
Story continues below advertisement
“Your body gets rid of about two litres of blood volume through the kidneys,” she said. “In space, you don’t need as much, whereas on Earth you need about five litres because gravity pulls blood into your legs.”
She said Artemis II is part of a broader effort to refine how humans and technology work together in space.
“They’re trying to look at ways of making these kinds of missions not just smarter, but safer.”
“These early flights are all about trying to understand the technology,” she added. “These are really early days and about learning to make things smarter for the next flight, and the next flight.”
The Artemis II crew is expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean following its lunar flyby, marking a key milestone in NASA’s plan to return humans to the moon and eventually travel to Mars.
Live updates can be followed on NASA’s official website, including a stream of the Orion’s journey through space.
The U.S. military on Saturday searched for a missing pilot shot down over a remote area in Iran, while President Donald Trump remained silent on the incident but reminded Tehran of his Monday deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz: “48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them.”
The U.S. warplane, identified by Iran as a F-15E Strike Eagle, was one of two attacked on Friday, with one service member rescued. Iran has promised a reward for whoever turns in the missing pilot. It’s the first time the United States lost aircraft in Iranian territory during the war, now in its sixth week, which could further pressure Trump to end the fighting.
Iran’s joint military command on Saturday claimed it also struck two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters the day before, but The Associated Press could not independently verify that.
The war began with joint U.S.-Israel strikes on Feb. 28 and has killed thousands, shaken global markets, cut off key shipping routes and spiked fuel prices. It shows no signs of slowing as Iran responds with attacks across the region.
Story continues below advertisement
Trump earlier in the week said in a national address that the U.S. has “beaten and completely decimated Iran.” The U.S. and Israel boasted that Iran’s air defenses were obliterated.
But on Saturday, an apparent Iranian drone damaged the headquarters of U.S. technology company Oracle in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Both sides have threatened, and hit, civilian targets and infrastructure in the war.
The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said that an airstrike hit near its Bushehr nuclear facility, killing a security guard and damaging a support building. It’s the fourth time the facility was targeted. The head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, said that 198 workers were being evacuated.
Iran signals willingness to join talks
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Tahir Andrabi, told the AP that his government’s efforts to broker a ceasefire are “right on track.” Last week, Pakistan said that it would soon host talks between the U.S. and Iran.
Get breaking National news
Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won’t miss a trending story.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said that they “have never refused to go to Islamabad.”
Mediators from Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt are working to bring the U.S. and Iran to the negotiating table, according to two regional officials. They said that they were working on bridging the gap between the two sides’ demands to stop the war and reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz.
Story continues below advertisement
The proposed compromise includes a cessation of hostilities to allow a diplomatic settlement, according to a regional official involved in the efforts and a Gulf diplomat briefed on the matter. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door diplomacy.
Iran hunts for ‘enemy pilot’
The search for the U.S. pilot focused on a mountainous region in Iran’s southwestern province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad.
Neither the White House nor the Pentagon released information, but in an email from the Pentagon, obtained by the AP, the military said that it received notification of “an aircraft being shot down” in the Middle East, without further details.
A U.S. crew member was rescued. But the Pentagon notified the U.S. House Armed Services Committee that the status of a second service member wasn’t known.
In a telephone interview with NBC News, Trump said that what happened wouldn’t affect negotiations with Iran.
Separately, Iranian state media said a U.S. A-10 attack aircraft crashed in the Persian Gulf after being struck by Iran’s defense forces. A U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military situation said that it wasn’t clear if the aircraft crashed or was shot down. The crew’s status was not immediately known.
An anchor on a channel affiliated with Iranian state television urged residents to hand over any “enemy pilot” to police, a first in the war. Iran previously made claims about shooting down piloted aircraft that turned out not to be true.
Story continues below advertisement
Oracle’s offices hit in Dubai
The Dubai headquarters of Oracle was hit after Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened the firm. Footage verified by the AP outside the U.A.E. showed a large hole in the building’s southwestern corner.
The sheikhdom’s Dubai Media Office, which speaks for its government, noted a “minor incident caused by debris from an aerial interception that fell on the facade,” saying there were no injuries.
Oracle Corp., based in Austin, Texas, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Guard has accused some large U.S. tech companies of being involved in “terrorist espionage” operations against the Islamic Republic and called them legitimate targets. Amazon Web Services facilities in the UAE and Bahrain were hit in earlier drone strikes.
Iran’s veiled threat to disrupt second waterway
Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, issued a veiled threat late Friday to disrupt traffic through a second strategic waterway in the region, the Bab-el-Mandeb.
The strait, 32 kilometers (20 miles) wide, links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. More than a tenth of seaborne global oil and a quarter of container ships pass through it.
“What share of global oil, LNG, wheat, rice, and fertilizer shipments transits the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait?” Qalibaf wrote, referring to liquefied natural gas. “Which countries and companies account for the highest transit volumes through the strait?”
Story continues below advertisement
More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran since the war began.
In Gulf Arab states and the occupied West Bank, more than two dozen people have died, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel and 13 U.S. service members have been killed. In Lebanon, more than 1,400 people have been killed and there have been more than 1 million displaced people. Ten Israeli soldiers have died there.
Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad; Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia; and Konstantin Toropin, Seung Min Kim, Will Weissert, Michelle L. Price, Lisa Mascaro and Ben Finley in Washington, contributed to this report.
The event is a staple in Saskatoon, dating back to 1957, when the Draggins Car Club met for the first time. Since then, Draggins has grown into a giant two-day show celebrating all things auto.
Get breaking National news
Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won’t miss a trending story.
“We got multiple different halls, lots of different cars and it is just a good environment to walk around, come right up to the cars get to talk to the owners.” says Riely McLellan, the owner of High Noon Racing.
The show has somerthing for everyone — from modern all-terrain vehicles and motorcycles to vintage cars. It’s a draw that keeps specialty car owners and fans alike coming back each year.
“Everybody likes seeing something that’s crazy that you don’t get to see,” McLessan says. “This is something you will never see on the street — you will only ever see it on the track or at a car show like this.”
Story continues below advertisement
Watch the video above to see the cars that filled Prairieland Park this weekend.
A nationwide food recall has been issued over possible listeria contamination affecting cheese products, prepared foods and meal kits sold across Canada.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said in a release that numerous products are being pulled from shelves due to the risk of Listeria monocytogenes contamination.
The recall includes a wide range of cheese products distributed nationally, as well as certain salads and meal kits containing cheese ingredients.
Get breaking National news
Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won’t miss a trending story.
Officials say the affected items span multiple brands and product types, including shredded cheeses, soft cheeses and ready-to-eat foods such as salads and prepared kits.
A recall involving cheese ingredients used in HelloFresh meal kits has also been expanded.
Consumers are being urged to check their homes for any recalled items and not to consume, serve, sell or distribute them.
Story continues below advertisement
A full list of affected products is available on the CFIA website.
Food contaminated with listeria may not appear spoiled but can still cause illness.
Symptoms can include vomiting, nausea, persistent fever, muscle aches and severe headaches.
Health officials say pregnant women, older adults and people with weakened immune systems are at higher risk of serious complications.
Canadian Astronaut Jeremy Hansen connected with Earth from deep space today in a historic first for the Canadian Space Agency, as part of a live question-and-answer session during the Artemis II mission.
The virtual event featured Hansen speaking live from aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft, approximately three days into the 10-day lunar flyby mission.
The event, hosted by CSA President Lisa Campbell, marked the first in a series of planned space-to-Earth communications during the mission.
Hansen shared his impressions of the journey so far and provided insight into daily life aboard the spacecraft as it travels beyond low Earth orbit.
Get breaking National news
Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won’t miss a trending story.
He was asked what the most shocking thing about his journey was so far, and responded by saying, “Riding the rocket for us has just been extraordinary, and we have all these simulations, but it felt so different for us in real life.” he continued by saying, “the views of the Earth and the crescent Earth is really incredible.”
Story continues below advertisement
The April 1 launch is the first crewed mission to circle the moon in more than 50 years and includes a four-person international crew, with NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch.
When asked what the team is looking to focus on when they go around the backside of the Moon, Hansen said, “Something scientists have added for us is we’re going to see an eclipse of the sun behind the moon, which would be pretty neat.”
His participation is a milestone for Canada, as he is serving as mission specialist for Artemis II, becoming the first Canadian astronaut to venture into deep space.
Hansen, when asked about a message he would have to young Canadians watching him, said, “It’s important that you find what you’re passionate about, but that you share those passions with others because you’re gonna find that they’re going to help you achieve them.”
The CSA says additional live events with Hansen are planned for later in the mission, including tomorrow morning, offering Canadians multiple opportunities to hear directly from orbit as the spacecraft continues its journey around the moon and back to Earth.
Thousands of kilometres from Earth, in an aluminum foil envelope, 2,600 Canadian seeds are on a voyage through outer space — along with the Artemis II crew.
“Looks a little bit like five aluminum ravioli stuck together, is what I’ve been telling people,” National Tree Seed Centre coordinator Darren Derbowka said.
The seeds include lodgepole pine, eastern white cedar, red maple, white birch and eastern white pine.
But they won’t be used to start a moon forest, or even for research. Instead, their purpose is much closer to home.
Get daily National news
Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories.
“Right now, 25 per cent of Canada’s native trees are imperiled or threatened in some way. So this project is really to sort of build that awareness around the importance of seed,” Derbowka said.
The National Tree Seed Centre, located in Fredericton, has over 13,000 seed collections of more than 250 species of trees and shrubs.
Story continues below advertisement
Derbowka said that conservation work is becoming more important as a result of climate change — and he hopes Artemis II will bring light to the important work happening on Earth.
“There’s already one planet in this solar system that needs terraforming and we are standing on it,” he said.
The seeds aren’t the only Canadian representation on board. Astronaut and London, Ont., resident Jeremy Hansen is on his way to making history as the first Canadian to fly around the moon. And University of New Brunswick faculty and students are tracking the spacecraft, Orion, as part of a volunteer program with NASA.
“It’s contributing a little piece of Canada onto a really important space exploration mission, and so the opportunity to do that is a once-in-a-lifetime chance,” Derbowka said.
The restaurant business has weathered its fair share of troubles since the pandemic and labour shortages continues to be a main point of concern for the province’s hospitality industry.
“Restaurants are struggling with both input costs going up and of course the affordability crunch that the customers are feeling themselves,” said Mona Pinder, executive director of the Alberta Hospitality Association.
Which makes a new piece of legislation tabled in the Alberta legislature this week feel like another challenge for an already strained industry that relies on people from all walks of life to operate.
Bill 26, or the Immigration Oversight Act, would target employers who want to take advantage of foreign workers.
The bill would mean the creation of a public registry, and require employers and immigration consultation to be licensed.
Story continues below advertisement
Joseph Schow, Alberta’s immigration minister, said the bill is about protecting workers who come to the province to earn a living and to accurately address the needs of the current labour market.
“It is clear that in some instances, we have become over-reliant on temporary foreign workers,” Schow said at a news conference Wednesday.
He said the current system favours hiring foreign nationals for some jobs, bypassing young Canadians.
“As a result, some of the jobs that usually would’ve gone to Albertans as entry-level positions are now going to temporary workers.”
Schow said the legislation is about Alberta taking more control over immigration to fill jobs where needed and is “absolutely not” about restricting the number of temporary foreign workers coming to the province.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith promises referendum over immigration, Constitution changes
According to provincial statistics there are 271,024 non-permanent residents in Alberta. About 60 per cent of those hold work permits and six per cent hold work and study permits as of Jan. 1.
Story continues below advertisement
Those numbers have all decreased compared with the same time last year. The number of non-permanent residents fell by almost 26,000.
Get weekly money news
Get expert insights, Q&A on markets, housing, inflation, and personal finance information delivered to you every Saturday.
National advocacy group Restaurants Canada said in Alberta, foodservice is a $16-billion industry that employs 155,000 people, including 63,000 youth, who represent more than 40 per cent of workers.
Pinder said restaurants in some rural areas do not have the workforce to run at full capacity, especially with youth workers.
Restaurants Canada agreed, noting youths often have limited schedule availability due to school and other commitments and are concentrated in urban areas close to higher education institutions.
“You can’t operate a kitchen without a trained chef or maintain a 24/7 rest stop if no one is willing to work overnight,” Kelly Higginson, president and CEO of Restaurants Canada, said in a statement.
Restaurants Canada said temporary foreign workers make up three per cent of the foodservice workforce but are critical, particularly for skilled roles like chefs and cooks, for overnight shifts and in rural regions where there are not enough workers.
This is why businesses look to temporary foreign workers, even though that process can be expensive, Pinder said, adding Alberta’s bill duplicates rules already in place at the federal level.
“Alberta is kind of known for looking at red tape reduction,” Pinder said.
Story continues below advertisement
“This doesn’t really feel like reducing red tape.”
While the process will effectively duplicate the work already being done by Ottawa, Schow said it’s necessary to prioritize and address Alberta’s unique labour market needs, particularly in agriculture and manufacturing.
Canada’s temporary foreign worker program a ‘breeding ground’ for contemporary slavery: UN report
Government officials said the plan is to publish the registry of employers who are approved to hire foreign workers. The bill will also establish a licensing system for immigration consultants and foreign worker recruiters to crack down on those who take advantage of vulnerable newcomers.
A new system for complaints and enforcement will be handled by Schow’s ministry. It aims to target those who charge money for job offers, misrepresent employment conditions, take illegal pay deductions or keep workers’ documents like passports.
Government officials said the regulatory framework proposed Wednesday is similar to existing legislation in Saskatchewan and British Columbia but will allow for different investigative powers.
Story continues below advertisement
Penalties will include fines, suspensions and bans from recruiting or hiring foreign nationals.
The legislation sets maximum fines of up to $1 million for individuals or $1.5 million for corporations. In severe cases, courts can imprison someone who violates the rules for up to a year.
Alberta push to suspend temporary foreign worker program concerning for food industry
Moshe Lander, an economist with Concordia University, says it is hard to gauge how the new measures would impact the economy, since the province is continuing to develop the bill’s regulations.
“If we’re going to have an economic analysis of what are the benefits and costs and what does this mean, and try and come up with a dollar amount, it’s almost impossible to do when we can’t model what we can’t see,” Lander said.
Cracking down on fraudulent activity and ensuring the protection of workers is important in maintaining the integrity of the TFW program, Restaurants Canada noted.
Story continues below advertisement
It and the Alberta Hospitality Association hope to see the provincial government instead scale up programs that have already seen success, like the Alberta Youth Employment Incentive.
The bill is currently tabled before the legislature. Schow said if passed, implementation could be seen as early as 2027.
A 21-year-old man has been charged following a traffic stop that led to a breakthrough in an ongoing extortion investigation involving members of Calgary’s South Asian community, according to police.
The Calgary Police Service said officers pulled over a vehicle on March 7 in the city’s northeast and quickly identified it as matching one linked to an extortion-related shooting days earlier, on March 4, in the 8000 block of Saddleridge Drive N.E.
The vehicle was seized and officers worked with investigators at the scene to document evidence and continue gathering information over the following weeks.
The evidence, combined with information gathered from previous incidents, helped investigators identify links between suspects, vehicles and a series of extortion-related shootings.
Nearly a month after the initial traffic stop, police charged Jaskaran Singh, 21, of Calgary, with discharging a firearm with intent and said his arrest was connected to the ongoing South Asian extortion investigation.
Story continues below advertisement
“This is a significant win for our investigators and for the community,” Supt. Jeff Bell said, adding that police will continue to pursue those responsible.
Police said Singh’s arrest marked the second this week connected to the extortion series. On April 1, police said Rana Cheema, 45, was charged with extortion and uttering threats.
Feds detail ‘follow-the-money’ plan to combat fraud, extortion in Canada
Extortions by South Asians against members of their own cultural community began to make headlines in Western Canada two years ago.
Get daily National news
Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories.
Since then, police in Alberta and B.C. have been working with other law enforcement agencies to more effectively investigate crimes occurring across multiple jurisdictions.
The extortions have resulted in dozens of threats, shootings and other crimes against members of the South Asian community in both Edmonton and Calgary, and have stoked fear in the community about who could be targeted next.
Story continues below advertisement
Last month, police in Edmonton said investigators found criminal networks are recruiting newly-arrived young South Asian newcomers, like foreign students and workers, to help extort or commit petty crimes.
Edmonton extortion fears remain: ‘People are still out there’
As of March 12, the CBSA has opened 372 immigration investigations, issued 70 removal orders and removed 35 people from Canada
Authorities in Calgary say there have been 41 extortion attempts in that city since January 2025, including 18 shootings at homes, businesses and vehicles, though no injuries have been reported.
Victims have also been receiving threats through international phone calls and social media platforms. Calgary police describe the investigation into the extortion allegations as complex and are asking for additional victims to come forward.
Police urge anyone who is targeted by extortion attempts, which typically involve threats or demands to make payment using messaging platforms like WhatsApp, to take the following steps:
Story continues below advertisement
Do not respond to the threatening communication
Preserve evidence by taking screenshots of incoming calls or messages
Contact police immediately
If you are concerned for your immediate safety, find a safe place to stay, such as a friend or family member’s home, until police can reach you
Investigators say the work is ongoing and more arrests are expected.
Northeast Calgary shooting likely tied to extortion, police say
With files from Ken MacGillivray and Karen Bartko, Global News
