People from Iran living in Edmonton say the temporary pause in fighting between their homeland, the United States and Israel doesn’t bring them much relief.
They believe the threat remains against their country and their loved ones still living there.
Simon Moslehi and his wife moved to Canada 14 years ago. All of their family is still in Iran. They say over the past few weeks, it’s been hard to contact their relatives, leaving them deeply concerned.
“We don’t even get to phone our families or know how they’re doing and how they’re feeling, and even if they’re in a safe location, even if they have their basic needs,” said Moslehi.
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On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran, and it’s already proving to be fragile.
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Local Iranians say the temporary pause in fighting doesn’t change much for them. They believe a leadership change is the only way to soothe fears.
“It kind of feels like instant relief at the time, but I want to make it very clear for the Iranian community, this is not something we celebrate as a solution,” said Reza Akbari, former president of the Iranian Heritage Society of Edmonton.
A local Saskatchewan business is being evicted from Midtown Mall. Handmade Saskatchewan says that they feel blindsided by the mall’s decision to pull their lease, giving them just 30 days to vacate the premises.
Handmade Saskatchewan is a local goods shop that collaborates with regional artisans to put their works up for sale at an accessible storefront. They operate in four locations across the Saskatoon and Regina areas.
Raylene Dirkson spoke on the behalf of Handmade Saskatchewan. She is the Saskatoon manager and works at the Lawson Heights Mall location.
“Unfortunately we were given our 30 days notice to vacate a couple of weeks ago. It was completely out of left field; we weren’t expecting it,” said Dirkson.
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“We’re trying to make do with the situation, but it’s definitely not something we were expecting.”
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It’s not just Handmade Saskatchewan that depends on their location. The local artisans who provide their goods are dependent on their sales through Handmade.
“We’re doing what we can to find all the vendors at Midtown a home, and ensure they can continue to make a living and sell their products,” said Dirkson.
The stock from the Midtown location will be moved to Lawson Heights mall.
Dirkson says that they were on a temporary lease with Midtown, giving the mall the ability to pull them with 30 days’ notice. She says they were in the process of seeking a longer lease.
“We’ve always had a very good relationship with Midtown Plaza. Nothing to do with finances or anything like that,” said Dirkson. “I was kind of flabbergasted.”
In a statement to Global News, a spokesperson on behalf of the mall stated that they were unable to comment on the situation, as they are unauthorized to comment on the behalf of tenants, or on the terms of their contracts.
Saskatchewan’s forecast for fire season suggests northern and central areas of the province have a better outlook than last year, but drought conditions in the southwest could pose problems.
Steve Roberts, vice-president of the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA), spoke with reporters on Wednesday.
The Water Security Agency’s spring runoff report, published last month, speaks of a worsening drought in southern Saskatchewan. Roberts said those conditions could increase the risk of a smoky summer, though other factors will also play a role.
“The severity of the 2026 wildfire season will be largely dependent on short-term weather trends,” he said.
“It is important to remember that while many areas may be susceptible to wildfire, fires don’t start without an ignition source. About half of all fires in this province are human-caused and are entirely preventable.”
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Weather-related fires do not typically start until July, when there are extended periods of extreme heat, followed by wind, tornadoes or thunderstorms fanning the flames, Roberts added.
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The SPSA is urging residents to follow any fire bans in place and take precautions to reduce wildfire risks.
“Heading into the 2026 season, the agency is more prepared than ever. Since last fall, our focus has been on prevention, planning, and proactive response measures,” Roberts said.
Twenty-one winter projects were completed, including fuel removal such as clearing trees. FireSmart programs visited and educated at-risk communities.
This winter also saw the hiring of new members of the seasonal response team, who are currently being trained. The agency also acquired some new equipment, including additional aircraft which will take flight later in the summer, or earlier if required, Roberts said.
Weather-wise, it remains unclear what exactly summer will look like, but the snowpack is favourable compared to last year’s, according to the agency’s VP.
Last year, the province saw more than 500 wildfires which altogether burned almost three million hectares of land and led to thousands facing evacuation orders.
There are no carryover fires at the moment, but Roberts cautioned underground blazes may go undetected until the snow melts.
Ginette Thomas went to St. Mary’s hospital on Wednesday for a routine doctor’s appointment, but what she experienced went far beyond that.
Within seconds, she was somewhere else entirely — inside a fully immersive virtual reality concert.
“It’s relaxing,” said Thomas. “It makes you let go of everything and go somewhere else.”
The virtual reality concert project aims to demonstrate the potential — and benefits — of musical intervention in a health-care environment.
Led by geriatrician and researcher, Dr. Julia Chabot, and featuring the work of internationally renowned Quebec pianist and composer Alexandra Stréliski, the project is meant to explore how immersive experiences and music can reduce stress, pain and improve emotional health.
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“We did a small pilot project with virtual reality concerts, before doing the one with Alexandra Stréliski, we did mini concerts to try it and see if it worked with our patients,” said Chabot. “And patients who received the virtual reality intervention as opposed to our control room reported less pain.
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The heart of the experience is music designed to emotionally move patients, both emotionally and physically, out of their surroundings.
“It transports you for 10-15 minutes and that’s really powerful, if you’re in a hospital room or if you’re in pain every day,” she said. “I think it can alleviate a little bit.”
Chatbot hopes the project is just the tip of the iceberg.
The goal is to expand the project throughout the entire hospital within the year and bring in more musicians, genres and, Chabot says, hopefully more hospitals.
“I can prescribe medications to patients but there’s nothing that I can give to patients that will have such an instant effect, that they’ll say ‘Wow, that made me feel really, really good,’” said Chabot.
Quebec’s immigration minister says he will fully collaborate with an investigation by the legislature’s ethics commissioner into whether he violated conflict of interest rules.
Jean-François Roberge is being investigated for allegedly sharing data produced by his department with the two Coalition Avenir Québec leadership candidates — Bernard Drainville and Christine Fréchette.
Drainville had boasted in a Journal de Montreal article and online that the Immigration Department had confirmed his policy would result in 18,000 temporary foreign workers being grandfathered into a fast-track residency program that had been closed.
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La Presse has reported that the analysis conducted by Roberge’s office indicated Fréchette’s plan would open permanent residency to between 123,00 and 126,800 immigrants.
The Liberals and Québec solidaire accused Roberge of violating the part of the ethic’s code that bars elected officials from disclosing information that is not generally available to the public to further the personal interests of themselves or others.
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In a statement to The Canadian Press, Roberge confirmed he was under investigation and planned to collaborate with the office of the ethics watchdog.
He did not say whether he shared the information with Drainville and Fréchette.
Drainville and Fréchette are squaring off in a race to replace outgoing Premier François Legault.
Voting is already underway and the winner is expected to be confirmed on April 12.
The City of Moncton has launched a pilot program to help businesses offset the costs associated with crime, including break-ins.
The program will offer money to help pay for damages and to improve security in order to prevent crime.
“There’s two streams. The first is rapid response, so for example somebody breaks a window, we replace the window. We cover 100 per cent of the cost up to to the insurance deductible,” said Patrick Richard, the executive director of the Downtown Moncton Centre-ville Inc., which partnered with the city on the project.
“The second stream is more prevention, so if someone wanted to install cameras or fencing or lighting, we cost-share 50 per cent with the property owner.”
The rapid response stream will have a $5,000 limit, while the second stream has a $10,000 limit.
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Moncton adding security cameras to downtown street
Richard says the downtown core represents 27 per cent of the city’s gross domestic product and this pilot project is a way to protect those revenue-generating businesses.
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However, some argue the funding just isn’t enough.
Jo-Anne Phillips, a business owner and member of the Enough is Enough Coalition, says business owners are frustrated with crime. The coalition has been vocal about the city’s property crime issue,
“Not that we don’t welcome an effort to sort of ease the pain, but it’s really missing the mark,” said Phillips.
“I mean, $5,000 per property is — even for my smaller properties — it’s hardly a drop in the bucket.”
She says she’s had first-hand experience with a break-in, and it’s not just about the money.
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“Ultimately it doesn’t change the fact that the property and the person and the business owner feels violated. It doesn’t that we felt unsafe and unprotected,” she said.
The coalition has been advocating for stricter bylaws and increased law enforcement visibility.
Moncton City Council is currently seeking public input on a crime reduction plan, a month ahead of the municipal election in May.
Plans have been unveiled for festivities across Canada as the country prepares to co-host the FIFA World Cup this summer
FIFA released the route Wednesday for Canada Celebrates, a tour that will make 38 stops in 34 cities from Halifax, N.S., to Whitehorse, Yukon, between June 1 and July 19.
Vancouver and Toronto are among the 16 cities across Canada, the United States and Mexico hosting games in this summer’s tournament.
The plan has long been to include the entire country in the excitement, said Victor Montagliani, FIFA vice president and CONCACAF president.
The first stop will be in Mount Pearl, Nfld., on June 1 when Canada faces Uzbekistan in a friendly in Edmonton, and the final events will take place in Brampton, Ont., and Niagara Falls, Ont., on July 19 when the championship game is held in East Rutherford, N.J.
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The tour will swing through every province and one territory, with FIFA saying in a release that it will bring “FIFA World Cup energy” within a two-hour drive of more than 75 per cent of Canadian residents.
“This really, I think, wraps up, sort of in a big hug, the diversity and the breadth and width of our country, because it will go close to coast to coast,” Montagliani said.
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“It’s a sort of a festivity of football, where you can go watch the game on the big screen, you can go interact and have games that are going to be there for families, there’ll be food, there’ll be music. So it’s a real festival of what football and the community really is. It’s a real Canadiana feeling in the end.”
Plans for a cross-country celebration were included as part of Canada’s bid to host World Cup games more than eight years ago. Montagliani said.
Now he believes Canada Celebrates can be a legacy for other host nations.
“I think it’s something we could give as Canadians to the World Cup moving forward, where it’s a project that could be used in future World Cups,” he said.
There are less than 70 days to go before the tournament kicks off in Mexico City and Guadalajara on June 11.
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Canada will play its first game against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Toronto on June 12 before finishing out the group stage in Vancouver with a tilts against Qatar on June 18 and Switzerland on June 24.
Toronto will host six games across the tournament while Vancouver stages another seven.
World Cup excitement is starting to build, Montagliani said. He’s seeing people on the streets wearing World Cup gear and recently returned from Mexico City where he took in the grand reopening of Estadio Azteca.
The reality of having the tournament on home soil will only grow over the coming months, he added.
“I’ve been around the game my whole life, and been around it internationally for 20 years. So these experiences I’ve had in other countries,” he said. “To have them in your own country is almost a bit of an out of body experience, because it’s something you thought could never happen.
“But to know that the work that’s been done by a lot of people in the last 20 years to get this country to be a World Cup country host, you know, I think a lot of people should take pride in that.”
There’s still work to be done getting both Toronto and Vancouver ready for the games.
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Construction continues at B.C. Place Stadium and BMO Field, which will be renamed Toronto Stadium during the tournament. Plans are being refined for fan events in both cities. Head coach Jesse Marsch continues to ready his team to play the tournament on home soil for the first time.
“The beauty about the World Cup, it’s about a country,” Montagliani said. “And I know that this country has always risen to the occasion in terms of big events, and this is going to be no different.”
A Toronto man has been charged with trafficking a firearm in connection to the sprawling police corruption investigation dubbed Project South.
Court records obtained by Global News show Dequon Lemonious, 27, was arrested by York Regional Police on March 19 and charged with a single count of firearms trafficking.
According to the documents, Lemonious is accused of offering to transfer a prohibited firearm sometime between April 16 and June 2, 2025, in Toronto and the surrounding region.
York Regional Police confirmed that the charge against Lemonious stems from information obtained through Project South.
“We cannot provide additional information, as it is part of an active and ongoing investigation,” Const. James Dickson said.
The records do not specify who the firearm was allegedly offered to, or how the accused fits into the broader investigation.
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Project South, a sweeping York police probe into organized crime, has already led to charges against seven active Toronto police officers, one retired constable, a correctional sergeant and 20 civilians.
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In total, more than 170 charges have been laid, none of which have been tested in court.
Toronto police officers arrested in corruption probe
Police have alleged the investigation uncovered corruption, including leaking sensitive information to organized crime and bribery.
At the centre of the probe is an alleged plot to murder a correctional officer in Ontario.
Investigators said suspects made multiple attempts over a 36-hour period to locate and kill the man at his York Region home, including incidents where masked individuals attended the property and allegedly rammed a police cruiser parked in the driveway.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said police would need to “earn back” public trust.
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At an unrelated news conference in March, Premier Doug Ford said he wanted to see those who target correctional officers harshly punished.
“If you want to attack one of our correctional services officers or police, you’re going to pay a real penalty — a real, real penalty,” he said.
– With files from Aaron D’Andrea, Isaac Callan and Colin D’Mello
Housing Minister Gregor Robertson’s office is backtracking on comments he made in an interview with Global News in which he had said that Ottawa is in negotiations with the provinces over cutting the GST on new build homes.
“We are in discussions with all of the provinces and territories about taking down the GST for one year on new home purchases,” Robertson said in an interview with Global News on Tuesday.
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After the interview was completed and Global News published an article quoting Robertson, his office reached out to Global News to say the minister’s comments were inaccurate.
“To provide a correction to the Minister’s comment: as per the legislation, Bill C-26, An Act to authorize certain payments to be made out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the purpose of improving housing supply, we are actually in talks on a variety of measures that will improve housing supply, not limited to a GST cut,” Robertson’s director of communications Mohammad Hussain told Global News.
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Last week, the federal and Ontario governments agreed to remove the 13 per cent sales tax on new homes in the province, valued up to $1 million for one year.
Both governments also agreed to split $8.8 billion over 10 years to pay for infrastructure in Ontario cities that cut development charges, which are municipal taxes levied to pay for things like sewers and roads to new subdivisions.
The police chief in Saint John, N.B., says complaints against him by several unionized officers are “disappointing and predictable.”
In a statement issued this morning, Chief Robert Bruce says most of the complaints made last summer were dismissed.
He says they were found to be “vexatious, frivolous and not made in good faith.”
Bruce says he took full responsibility for the few remaining allegations.
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He claims the police union used similar tactics to discredit police management and city officials before his arrival to the force.
The chief claims the complaints were timed to coincide with a challenging labour relations process last year.
“These attacks move us farther from the modern, responsive police force the residents of Saint John expect and deserve,” Bruce said in a statement.
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The Canadian Press has not yet reviewed the court file containing the allegations and the police association could not immediately be reached for comment.
Saint John Police members file harassment complaints against police chief
