Brady Tkachuk’s first game back with the Ottawa Senators wasn’t an easy one.

The Senators captain returned to the nation’s capital riding the high of a gold medal with Team USA at the Olympics, but his on-ice performance hasn’t been the headline.

Earlier this week, Tkachuk was one of 20 American players who visited the White House and attended the State of the Union following an invitation from President Donald Trump.

But what many Canadian and Senators fans took issue with was an AI-doctored video shared by the White House that made it appear he was disparaging Canadians.

The altered clip, shared by the White House’s TikTok account, inserted fabricated audio of Tkachuk referring to Canadians as “maple syrup eating f—s,” with the expletive bleeped in the video. The video carries a note saying it “contains AI-generated media.”

“It’s clearly fake because it’s not my voice and not my lips moving,” Tkachuk said following the Senators morning skate. “I’m not in control of any of those accounts. … I know that those words would never come out of my mouth.”

The rest of the day didn’t get any easier for Tkachuk.

During the first TV timeout against the Detroit Red Wings the Senators showed video of all its players and staff who competed or worked at the Olympics, ending with Tkachuk and Jake Sanderson.

The display earned an equal amount of boos and cheers.

Tkachuk did earn the support of the home crowd when he opened the scoring with a power-play goal late in the first period.

The captain was once again in the middle of things midway through the second period.

Tkachuk was watching the play and when he went to turn up ice Simon Edvinsson stepped into him. Tkachuk’s own stick hit him in the face, dropping him to the ice.

Dylan Cozens jumped to his captain’s defence and both Edvinsson and Cozens were sent to the box.

“I just didn’t see him and just felt like he lowered his shoulder on me,” Tkachuk said.

Tkachuk returned to the ice before play resumed and skated to the penalty box to confront Edvinsson drawing a 10-minute misconduct.

“I didn’t know that was like an auto 10-minute,” admitted Tkachuk. “I was just expressing my frustration. I didn’t realize that would be a 10-minute.

Trending Now

• Canadians stranded in Puerto Vallarta after violence disrupts flights home to Edmonton

• Conservative MP searches for ‘antifa’ in federal government, Canadian Armed Forces

“Definitely wouldn’t have done it that way if I knew I was gonna get a 10-minute.”

Head coach Travis Green wasn’t a fan of how things played out.

“I don’t want him to be in the box for 10 minutes,” Green said. “You don’t see that call made very often.”

The Senators played a solid game but fell 2-1 in overtime, giving up a crucial two points to a division rival.

Ottawa (28-22-8) is now sit seven points back of the Boston Bruins for the final wild card in the Eastern Conference.

“I definitely felt that we deserved a better result,” said Tkachuk. “I thought we did a lot of great things (Thursday). Their goalie stood on his head and played a great game and just unfortunate we didn’t get the two points that we wanted.”

The Senators schedule doesn’t get any easier as they prepare for a five-game road trip. With the NHL trade deadline set for March 6, Ottawa doesn’t have much time to prove its a contender.

“We’ve got to worry about just our own destiny, our own game,” said Green. “We’re going to lose some games. We got a point out of (Thursday), probably should have got two. All you can do is play and play well.”

&copy 2026 The Canadian Press

The vehicle traffic around Montréal Trudeau International Airport has been a source of frustration in recent years, prompting passengers at times to haul their suitcases on foot along the roadway to avoid missing flights.

Now, Montreal’s airport authority is urging travellers to prepare for further traffic headaches as the busy spring break season lands amid a major airport revamp and the demolition of a parking garage.

Airport spokesperson Anne-Sophie Hamel says some 58,000 passengers are expected to travel through the airport each day over the next 10 days or so. And while that number is a little less than last year — due to the cancellation of flights to Cuba over fuel shortages — she said travellers will need to be patient.

“We are fully aware that it’s more difficult coming to the airport, so that’s why we’re … asking people really to prepare their trip,” she said in an interview Thursday.

The surge in traffic comes as the airport is demolishing a parking garage, resulting in thousands fewer parking spots and more cars in main drop-off zones.

Hamel says the airport has added two alternative pickup and drop-off areas with shuttle service to the terminal, and is urging travellers to reserve parking spots in advance and arrive at least three hours early for their flights.

While the airport has installed the extra drop-off zones as a mitigation measure, Hamel says the fundamental problem is that the airport’s infrastructure is at capacity. “Our main drop off was built for a number way less than the number of passengers that we receive every day and every year,” she said.

The airport will open new permanent drop-off zones by 2028 as part of a 10-year, $10-billion plan to increase passenger capacity and reconfigure the access points to the airport, she said.

Work includes a complete reconfiguration of the road network leading to the terminal and the demolition of the multi-level parking garage for a new, larger parking facility. The airport authority also plans to build a new building that will connect the terminal to the future light rail station, expected to be operational by 2027. It announced last June that it had negotiated a $1-billion loan from the Canada Infrastructure Bank to help finance construction.

Trending Now

• Liberals survive confidence vote as House passes budget implementation bill

• 95-year-old Canadian skier still on the slopes after eight decades

Hamel said the authority has wanted to renovate since before the COVID-19 pandemic, but, inconveniently, had to wait until passenger traffic picked up again to pay for it.

“It would have been ideal to have started to do this construction when we had nearly no passengers coming into Montreal-Trudeau, but we didn’t have the means to do that because we didn’t have passengers,” she explained. “That’s the way the Canadian airport model is built.”

As a result, the airport has to manage the major construction effort while operating a busy flight hub with people coming and going 24 hours a day. The saying “rebuilding the plane while flying” comes to mind, though Hamel prefers a different metaphor.

“Doing construction on an airport site is like welcoming 30 of your closest friends home while you’re in the midst of rebuilding your kitchen, your bathroom and you have a pipe that just leaked in your living room,” she said.

However, she said the future drop-off zones will have triple the capacity of the current ones, while the light-rail station and reconfigured road network should eventually put an end to the biggest traffic woes.

&copy 2026 The Canadian Press

The family of an Ontario man who died after calling 911 have been told they can’t lay out their concerns to officials overseeing local police.

For more than a year, Rick Buerger and Christine Stark have been fighting for answers about the death of their brother Ralph in the Niagara area.

Early on the morning of Aug. 30, 2024, Ralph called 911, apparently to ask for emergency help, unable to speak in a call that lasted 35 seconds.

The call did not trigger a wellness check from police or paramedics, and Ralph, 59, was found dead in the morning.

Since that day, Rick and Christine have been trying to work out why the police didn’t check on their brother They’ve requested investigations and are asking for changes to the system to stop a similar situation from ever occurring again.

The pair have found their quest for answers from Niagara Regional Police frustrating, feeling that barriers have been erected to slow them at every turn.

Police previously told the family they would have to use freedom of information laws to access a copy of the recording of the 911 call their brother made. After questions from Global News, the call was eventually released.

Police also refused to give the family a copy of an investigation into the incident that cleared the call operator and police of making a mistake when Ralph died.

The latest hurdle Rick says he faces is a refusal from the Niagara Police Service Board to allow him to share his story and the lessons he believes the force should learn.

The police service board governs the force, sets its budget and makes broad policy decisions that the chief and other senior officers then implement.

Rick, who lives abroad, flew back to Ontario to present to the board early this year. He said he wanted to share the details of his brother’s death, how the police had handled it and two policy changes to avoid it ever being repeated.

Specifically, he wants to see regular hearing tests for 911 operators and the mandatory introduction of noise-cancelling headsets.

“We were told during (a) meeting that 911 call takers don’t go through any hearing tests, only when they’re hired,” he explained. “I said, ‘Wow, they should go through periodic tests.’”

Rick added he’d been told by senior police call takers also don’t have noice cancelling headphones.

“It’s impossible not to have a noise cancelling with one earpiece. But they told us they don’t have, so that’s what I put in the deputation,” he said. “Now, they don’t want that heard … they don’t want to have it because they know they’re going to get in sh**.”

The board has refused to let him speak at a meeting, citing various other ongoing complaints he has about his brother’s death.

Trending Now

• 95-year-old Canadian skier still on the slopes after eight decades

• Liberals survive confidence vote as House passes budget implementation bill

Deb Reid, the executive director of the Niagara Police Service Board, told Global News the body had corresponded “extensively” with Rick and “clearly” explained why they cannot hear his concerns.

“The Board’s decision is not discretionary, nor is it intended to diminish his concerns,” Reid wrote. “It is based on the Board’s statutory obligations under the Community Safety and Policing Act.”

She said legislation requires complaints about police to be forwarded to other investigating bodies, meaning the events around Ralph’s death fall beyond the scope of the board.

Rick said he knew some parts of his presentation may need to be scrapped if they are seen to refer to ongoing investigations, but he would like to at least present on what he believes are urgent changes.

“They’re not even willing to do that,” he said.

Reid suggested that even if the presentation appears to deal with broader rules, it still links back to an active complaint.

“The resubmitted deputation request, although framed as policy, remains substantively connected to a matter under active external review,” she wrote.

Christine, Rick and Ralph sister, said the family had gone into the process hoping to make sure no one suffers the same tragedy they have.

“When we originally started this, I would have thought the police would have welcomed this because we were looking at trying to help them,” she said.

“We were trying to help them get policies in place, look at what the gaps were, what the areas of concern were, so this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

The battles they’ve spent almost two years fighting have tested her resolve.

“Has this soured me? It has, I’m not going to lie,” Christine added.

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

Days after violence erupted in Puerto Vallarta and disrupted travel plans for many Canadians, some families are still trying to find a way home.

That includes travellers attempting to return to Edmonton, who say they have been scrambling to secure flights since before the unrest began last Sunday.

The Wywrot family was scheduled to wrap up their vacation in the popular Mexican resort city and fly home to Edmonton on a WestJet flight Saturday.

“Before we were supposed to fly out we kept getting notifications that our flight kept getting delayed,” said Joselina Wywrot in an interview from Mexico.

The Wywrots, along with fellow passengers the Benson family, say the flight was eventually rescheduled for Sunday.

That same day, a military operation targeting a Mexican cartel leader sparked retaliation in the area, with reports of violence, road closures and airport disruptions.

“Violence happened, flights were cancelled, roads were closed, airports shut down and we’ve been stuck here ever since,” said John Wywrot.

Widespread airline cancellations included the rebooked flight both families were set to take. As of Thursday, they remained in Puerto Vallarta trying to get home.

WestJet has been providing hotel accommodations, but the families say the prolonged delay is taking a toll.

“People are running out of medication, kids are now missing school, there’s lost wages,” John Wywrot said.

Trending Now

• Best friends who played on Jasper hockey team remembered as ‘bright shining lights’

• Ontario man accused of assaulting alleged home intruder has charges withdrawn

Air passenger rights advocate Gabor Lukacs says federal regulations require airlines to rebook passengers on one of their own flights within 48 hours of a cancellation.

If that is not possible, he said, airlines must offer passengers the choice of a refund or rebooking on the next available flight with any carrier.

“If there was any flight out of Puerto Vallarta with seats available on it, then the passengers should have been in those seats,” Lukacs said.

In a statement, WestJet said it is “adding flights to accommodate returning guests.”

“As of Thursday, we have scheduled a total of 12 additional flights and are looking at options to add more depending on demand,” the airline said.

WestJet also said an agent booked the Wywrot family on a return flight for Friday over the phone. The family disputes that, saying they secured the booking themselves in an effort to end what they describe as an exasperating wait.

“It’s the unknown that’s frustrating,” said Sandra Benson.

British Columbians stuck in Mexico are expressing frustrations with the lack of communication and support from travel companies and airlines.

Lillian Alexus, a Qualicum Beach, B.C., resident, arrived in Puerto Vallarta on Feb. 8 and was due to fly home on Feb. 22.

“We had checked out of our resort on the 22nd and we were waiting in the lobby for the bus to take us to the airport when everything was shut down,” she told Global News.

“So then we had to see if we could get accommodation here. The message that we got from WestJet was that there was an issue, it wasn’t safe, shelter in place and we would hear from them. And we also were in contact with the Canadian government and they also said, you know, shelter in place and just wait.”

Cartel violence hit the popular tourist area of Puerto Vallarta on Sunday, cancelling flights in and out of the town.

Canadians were told to “shelter in place” after violence erupted over the killing of cartel leader and drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, better known as “El Mencho,” in a military raid.

Alexus said that all they have been doing is waiting.

She said they did get one email from WestJet that they could try to manage their trip on the website or the app, but she said it wasn’t working.

“We were in contact with our travel agent and she was on hold with WestJet for like five hours,” Alexus said.

“So we have tried phoning, we tried emailing.”

She said they are hearing nothing, but have finally booked a flight home on March 3.

“Our vehicle is parked at Comox, so we need to get back to Comox,” she added.

“We’ve had to extend our health insurance, we’ve had to get more prescription medications. It would just be really helpful to get some information, like are they working on it or have they forgotten about us? I have a booking number and I put that in and it doesn’t know, it says they don’t know what that is.”

Gábor Lukács, founder of Air Passenger Rights, told Global News that WestJet is not following the law.

“The law requires WestJet to rebook passengers on competitor airlines at its own dime in such situations,” he said.

“If the airline is unable to re-book a passenger on its own or partner airlines departing within 48 hours of the original departure time, they have to buy the passenger’s seat ticket on the next available flight of any carrier. And that means including competitors. That’s what the law says, that’s what WestJet has to do. The problem is that WestJet is flouting the law. WestJet treats the law as if it was just friendly recommendations.”

Lukács also said this situation could lend itself to a class action lawsuit.

“I think the only question is why WestJet feels that they can get away with it and the reason is because the federal government is not enforcing passengers’ rights,” he added.

“What we see here is not so much a failure in the drafting of the regulations as much as a failure of the government to enforce the law as written.”

The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) confirmed to Global News in a statement that it is investigating the recent flight disruptions.

“As per the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR), for flight delays or cancellations, airlines must try to minimize the impacts that they have on passengers and their travel,” the organization said. “They must always ensure that passengers can complete their itinerary as soon as possible.

Initially, the CTA said that “for large airlines and for situations outside their control, they must, at the passengers’ choice, refund any unused portion of the ticket or rebook them, free of charge, on their next available flight or on the next available flight of an airline with which they have a commercial agreement with from the passengers’ original airport within 48 hours after the departure time on their original ticket, or on a flight leaving another airport, if there is an option nearby, if they cannot book them on a flight leaving within 48 hours at the original airport.”

However, they later clarified their statement saying that “If airlines cannot book passengers on a flight leaving within 48 hours, they must rebook them on any flight by any airline, including at another airport, if there is an option nearby.”

It does not have to be an airline with which that airline has a commercial agreement.

Jonathan MacIntyre, from Kamloops, flew to Puerto Vallarta on WestJet on Feb. 16 and was due to fly home on Feb. 23.

He said they also haven’t had any communication from WestJet after hearing their flight was going to be rebooked, but then, nothing.

“We had no clue when we were going to be heading home,” MacIntyre said.

“So every time we had to extend our stay, we’re like, okay, are we staying one more night? And we just basically, every morning, our first step was go down to the hotel. Yep, we need to extend our stay. We have no plans to leave today. And then when you had breakfast, continue our day, wait to see what happens.”

He said he was able to find flights himself that would have suited him and his partner to get home, but they heard nothing about any availability from WestJet.

“They’re supposed to get you on the soonest flight possible on their carrier,” MacIntyre said. “And that’s the part that probably upsets me the most, because of all the flights that were there yesterday. The 48 hours is only if they use the competitors. And unfortunately for us, that ended at about 4:00 this evening. So they could have used the competitors tonight, but the fact they could’ve used their own yesterday and today and forever.”

He decided to take matters into his own hands and reached out to Lukács after getting nowhere with WestJet Vacations and Lukács gave him the information about the 48-hour window.

But when he called WestJet Vacations back with this information, he said he was told there were no available flights and they were not offered anything.

MacIntyre eventually booked flights home on WestJet, out of pocket, for $2,200.

“I’m also losing income right now,” he said. “I’m not working like I’m supposed to be. So I’m out of pocket, me, well, my partner is the one who paid for the flights, but me personally, I am going to be out of pocket almost $1,000 just in lost wages. That doesn’t include the fact that I potentially would have lost a concert that we had planned for this Saturday and a sporting event for Sunday that I’ve already paid for. So I would have been out of pocket over $1,500 most likely.”

MacIntyre said he also plans to take WestJet to the Civil Resolution Tribunal to get his money back.

“It’s completely bonkers because if I’m doing this and I’m a pretty tech-savvy guy and I know a lot of things to do, I can’t imagine what somebody else is going through right now,” he added.

“Somebody else in my situation might be sitting in an Airbnb, not an all-inclusive resort, with absolutely nothing that they can do other than sit on their hands, wait for the phone to ring, and WestJet to say, ‘Hey, get to the airport in the next two hours.’”

Lukács said MacIntyre did the right thing in this situation.

“When an airline fails to comply with its legal obligations to the passenger, the passenger is in a legal position to take things into their own hands,” he said.

“It’s important to first give the airline a chance to comply, and (MacIntyre) has done that. Once the airline failed to comply with its illegal obligations, you, as a passenger, can buy a ticket, incur expenses needed, come back to Canada, and then make WestJet pay for those expenses. Present the bill they received to WestJet; if they refuse to pay, take the airline to court.”

In a statement to Global News, WestJet said it has now scheduled 12 additional flights, aside from numerous scheduled daily flights, to Puerto Vallarta to help passengers return to Canada.

“Air-only guests can use our online Manage Trips tool and our call center to confirm new flights, or refunds if they prefer,” the airline said.

“Guests who booked via a travel agent may also contact their agent for assistance with rebooking or refunds. Guests travelling on Sunwing Vacations, WestJet Vacations or Vacances WestJet Quebec are also welcome to contact their vacation provider or travel agent for assistance.”

WestJet also said that if a passenger has not received communications from them by this point, it may be due to incorrect or missing contact details in their reservation and they recommend contacting WestJet, their vacation provider, or their travel agent to obtain a flight or a refund.

Alexus said the situation has left them frustrated.

“We’ve been very loyal to WestJet for years,” she said. “Like we have their credit card, we always fly WestJet… We’ve been ghosted. We just don’t hear anything.”

A WWE Hall of Fame ring belonging to the late British Bulldog was stolen during a break-in in Lloydminster on Wednesday on a Canadian Wrestling’s Elite (CWE) touring stop.

Harry Smith, better known as Davey Boy Smith Jr., said the ring was taken from his tour trailer sometime early in the morning before the crew left for Saskatoon.

“You know, there’s no value on it. It’s priceless and, you know, whoever stole it, they probably don’t know what they stole,” Smith said in an interview with Global News.

A representative for the family said the CWE wrestling promotion woke up Wednesday to find their trailer, also described as a ring truck, had been broken into with several items stolen.

Among the items reported missing were the British Bulldog WWE Hall of Fame ring, a gold chain and jewelry, and a CWE Tag Team Championship belt.

Smith said he had left the ring inside a bag in the trailer, only to find the bag gone in the morning.

“They had scattered through and grabbed whatever that they could and took off,” he said.

Smith said RCMP were called and began asking around and searching for the bag, and later received a tip that it had been located in an alleyway.

While the bag and some of his gear were recovered, the Hall of Fame ring remains missing.

“It’s a piece of history. It’s, you know. WWE Hall of Fame, 2020, 2021 when he got inducted. The actual value of the ring is worth a lot, but… it’s a sentimental value,” Smith said.

The original British Bulldog, Davey Boy Smith, Harry Smith’s father, was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame posthumously in 2020, nearly two decades after his death in 2002.

The ring represents both a professional honour and a family heirloom passed down to his son, according to the family’s spokesperson.

“It’s not the monetary value. But an honor from a father’s hard work that’s no longer with us, to a son working hard to carry that man’s legacy,” said Danny Duggan, CWE promoter.

Natalya Neidhart, a professional wrestler with WWE, shared a post about the theft with her 5.8 million followers, asking for help.

“If anyone has any information on this – please DM me. These are valuable items of my cousins @dbsmithjr and his late father’s ring gear,” she wrote.

“I’ll personally offer a US$5,000 reward if the items are returned. No questions asked,” her story further read.

Despite the loss, Smith said he continued performing when the tour stopped in Saskatoon later that day.

“Life gives you lemons, you make lemonade,” he said.

Anyone with information is being asked to contact Lloydminster RCMP.

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

An escape room north of Montreal has just been named the best in the entire world.

The Magnifico game at the Escaparium in Laval, Que., is an immersive experience, complete with multiple actors, intricate set designs and an emotional ending that regularly brings people to tears.

It’s now taken home top international honours for the second year in a row.

“The closest thing I could compare it to is a movie,” said Escaparium owner Jonathan Driscoll. “It’s everything you see in a movie. There’s special effects and timing, the actors need to time themselves with what’s happening to get that emotional hit.”

There were major moments of elation among the big team behind the experience when Magnifico was named the world’s best at the Top Escape Rooms Project Enthusiasts’ Choice Awards back in December.

Now fans of the art form are flocking there from all over the globe.

“We’ve had people from Mexico, Australia, we had a group from Kuwait,” said Magnifico actor Alexandre Deguire. Staff told Global News they’ve also had guests from Indonesia and New Zealand.

Driscoll said the story and creepy circus aesthetic was inspired by the movie The Greatest Showman. He also draws inspiration from major theme parks he visits.

He hires trained actors and members of improv troupes who can think on their feet, and quickly respond to what players say. Over 20 local actors work on Magnifico.

“It’s like they’re watching a play, but instead of being spectators, they’re in the play with us and they’re the main characters,” explained Magnifico actress Elycia Laporte.

Their work is not easy. The experience can be up to three hours long, but the actors say they adore their jobs.

“What I love is that every single circus is different. Every single group is different. You never know what is going to happen until it does,” said actor Nico-Max Eugene.

Some people get so wrapped up in the story, they’re in tears by the end.

“As humans we want to feel things and this is what this experience brings out compared to anything else out there,” said Driscoll.

The actors said when visitors cry, they know they’ve done their jobs exceptionally well.

“That’s one of the biggest compliments,” said Laporte.

Magnifico cost $1.4 million to build and it’s one of nine different experiences at the Escaparium. They also have the fifth, ninth, 36th, 78th and 79th best escape rooms in the world.

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

The mother of three siblings killed by a speeding and impaired teenage driver made a tearful plea for people to stop drinking and driving at a sentencing hearing for Ethan Lehouillier Thursday.

“Because of one selfish decision, three of my children are no longer here. They were so young,” said Jade Galve, who survived the May 18 crash, through tears.

“It has been so hard to cope with everything and the loss is unbearable. I can remember every single detail, especially holding my lifeless daughter in my arms, calling out for help. All we can do is keep the memory of Ramone, Jace and Maya alive.”

Court heard the family had been celebrating Victoria Day earlier that night, watching fireworks, and were on their way home when tragedy unfolded.

“Drinking and driving must stop. No one deserves this, especially my children. They deserved to live,” Galve, 35, said.

“I hope you remember the damage you’ve done and the lives you’ve taken.”

According to an agreed statement of facts, at around 12:30 a.m. on May 18, 2025, Lehouillier was exiting Highway 401 eastbound at Renforth Drive in a van and slammed into a northbound van that was sitting at a red light.

Six-year-old Maya Lavina, 13-year-old Jace Lavina and 15-year-old Ramone Lavina were all killed. The siblings’ brother, 10-year-old Avery Lavina, their mother and her boyfriend, 40-year-old Akash Paladugu, survived but were seriously injured.

According to the electronic data recorder in Lehouillier’s van, the teenager was driving 168 km/h five seconds prior to the collision, decreasing to 95 km/h one 10th of one second prior to the collision.

Lehouillier drove through the red light at Renforth and across the three southbound traffic lanes on Renforth, narrowly missing southbound vehicles. His vehicle then hit the median separating the northbound and southbound traffic lanes and launched into the air.

Lehouillier’s van struck the stationary van being driven by Paladugu with such extreme force that it caused Paladugu’s van to roll over.

It came to a rest upside-down on the raised traffic island east of Renforth. Lehouillier’s vehicle continued east past Renforth over the raised traffic island and came to rest upside down on the Highway 427 on-ramp.

He was arrested at the scene. According to the facts, his blood alcohol content at the time of the crash would have been 185 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood, or more than twice the legal limit.

On Dec. 15, Lehouillier pleaded guilty to three counts of impaired driving causing death and three counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm.

Galve said that she wakes up every day to be there for Avery, but she told court she wonders why the children were killed and not her.

“We will never understand why. We are currently seeking ongoing therapy to deal with the trauma that doesn’t seem to go away,” she said.

Paladugu, who spent five days in hospital after the crash, said he lives with constant guilt.

“My partner and I were doing what parents do, trusting that we would all arrive safely. I was driving and stopped at a red light, obeying all the rules of the Highway Traffic Act. I live with the unbearable reality that the kids were in my care when their lives were taken,” he said.

“I replay that day constantly, wishing I could protect them from something I couldn’t control. The guilt is heavy and relentless and a driver who survived and they did not.”

Maya was remembered as a little girl who wanted to be a big sister. Galve said her youngest child was a social butterfly with the funniest personality.

Trending Now

• Ontario man accused of assaulting alleged home intruder has charges withdrawn

• Missing North Carolina woman who vanished 24 years ago found ‘alive and well’

“The biggest little tattle-tale, she was very independent and never gave me a hard time. I miss my little partner in crime,” she added.

Galve remembered Jace as a smart, compassionate 13-year-old who knew when his mother was sad.

“He constantly thanked me for working so hard. I miss his goodnight kisses and ‘I love yous.’ Jace was the light of my soul” she said.

“Ramone, my eldest, loved volleyball, playing with PS5. He was well-liked at school. He worked hard.”

Assistant Crown attorney Jay Spare told the court that an appropriate sentence for Lehouillier would be in the upper end of the eight- to 10-year range.

Spare said a pre-sentence report found that Lehouillier suffers from a mild intellectual development disorder, moderate alcohol disorder and depressive anxiety disorder.

Spare added that Lehouillier told the author of the pre-sentence report that “he had seen videos on drunk driving and thought he would never do that” and “thought he shouldn’t be driving that night.”

Defence lawyer Christopher Avery told Ontario Court Justice Crosbie Kim Crosbie that this is “an absolutely appalling tragedy” and suggested a range for sentence of six to eight years, but said seven years would be appropriate.

Avery cited his client’s extreme level of remorse, the fact he didn’t even want to apply for bail, the lack of a criminal record including Highway Traffic Act offences and his youthfulness.

Avery told court Lehouillier has spent the last nine months at the Toronto South Detention Centre in a holding area where he’s only allowed out two hours a day. He explained that even protective custody is “too dangerous”.

Lehouillier was given a chance to address court before sentencing. He stood up and apologized to the Lavina family. “I can’t imagine your pain. So many people suffered because of me,” said the now 20-year-old.

“I am so ashamed,” said Lehouillier, vowing to do better. “I hope to be a voice so this will never happen to another innocent family again. This case is horrific and tragic but I’m sorry, this should never have happened.

A date for sentencing has yet to be set.

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

Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline Corp. says it has decided to proceed with two pipeline expansion projects in British Columbia and Alberta as it announced a dip in fourth-quarter earnings.

The energy infrastructure company says earnings for the final three months of 2025 were $489 million, or 78 cents per share, compared to $572 million, or 92 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue fell to $1.91 billion from $2.15 billion during the same 2024 quarter.

Get weekly money news

Get expert insights, Q&A on markets, housing, inflation, and personal finance information delivered to you every Saturday.

Pembina says the two pipeline expansions it has sanctioned represent a total investment of $425 million and are set to come into service next year.

One $310-million project would see a new 95-kilometre pipeline that would ship 120,000 barrels per day of natural gas liquids between Birch and Taylor, B.C.

The firm has also decided to go ahead with an initial phase of a new pipeline connecting Taylor to a pump station in Gordondale, Alta., at a cost of $115 million.

Story continues below advertisement

“This milestone reflects strong collaboration with both Indigenous and local communities built on trust and open engagement,” CEO Scott Burrows said in a news release Thursday.

“It also reflects strong engagement with the Government of British Columbia and the BC Energy Regulator, whose guidance and regulatory oversight have helped establish a clear and responsible path forward for this project and for sustainable development in the region in the future.”

The Bloc Québécois’ Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné will once again face off against Liberal Tatiana Auguste in the Montreal-area riding of Terrebonne after the Supreme Court of Canada recently invalidated last year’s result.

Elections Canada had declared Auguste the winner over Sinclair-Desgagné by a single vote following the April 28 federal election.

But Sinclair-Desgagné challenged the results after a supporter complained that she had tried to vote by mail using a special ballot that was never counted. She won her case at the top court on Feb. 13.

“The last few months have been particularly difficult. We had to fight hard for fundamental principles, for the principle of democracy and the principle that every vote counts,” Sinclair-Desgagné said.

Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet officially announced Sinclair-Desgagné as his candidate Thursday for the impending byelection, paying tribute to her tenacity.

“The fact that we are here today is due to the determination and relentless drive of Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné,” Blanchet told supporters gathered at a local hotel on Thursday.

The Liberals, for their part, officially nominated Auguste on Wednesday night in the Montreal-area riding.

Trending Now

• Missing North Carolina woman who vanished 24 years ago found ‘alive and well’

• Indian government no longer targeting Canadians, senior official says on eve of PM’s visit

The Liberal Party of Canada is three seats short of a majority government, and Terrebonne is one of three ridings up for a byelection in the coming months.

The other two byelections will take place in Liberal strongholds in the Toronto ridings of Scarborough Southwest and University—Rosedale. Prime Minister Mark Carney has not yet announced a date for the byelections.

Currently, the Liberals hold 169 seats, the Conservatives 141, the Bloc Québécois 22, the New Democrats seven, and the Greens one.

Sinclair-Desgagné acknowledged people across the country will be paying attention to what happens in the riding since it could decide whether Carney gets a majority in the House of Commons. But she said Terrebonne residents will also want to discuss local issues such as the high-speed rail project between Quebec City and Toronto, which will pass through the Quebec riding and likely involve expropriations.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 26, 2026.

&copy 2026 The Canadian Press