Sarah Balkenhol is deeply concerned about a new funding model and what it will mean for two of her four children on the autism spectrum.

“Regression is very common in autism,” Balkenhol said.  “There will be negative consequences for many families.”

The West Kelowna, B.C., mom says under the new “needs-based model,” therapy funding for her boys will drop by thousands of dollars, nearly two-thirds of what the boys currently receive.

“It’s going to be a choice between feeding my family or accessing therapy for my kids,” Balkenhol said.

The new model, Balkenhol said, will classify her two boys, aged two and five, as having only moderate needs, resulting in the reduced funding.

She also says they will qualify for less funding because they only have an autism diagnosis and nothing else.

“Your children are not disabled enough to receive funds,” she said, as she described learning of the significant reduction in funding. “Where I struggle with that is that we’ve done hours and hours of therapy to get to the point we are today.”

Brandi Neff is another concerned West Kelowna mother.

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“The biggest concern for me is just like losing the continuity of care,” Neff said.

Neff has three children on the spectrum and is also facing a loss of thousands in therapy dollars.

“The services we are receiving are helping. They’re giving gains,” Neff said. “To remove those services means those gains are going to stop.”

5:31
Clara Hughes to deliver keynote address at Children’s Autism Services annual conference

The province said it’s investing an unprecedented $475 million for the new model over three years to support children in need.

That will allow thousands more children with different kinds of needs, such as Down syndrome, to access funding for the very first time.

“This is really about strengthening the entire system,” said Jodie Wickens, the minister for children and family development.

Wickens did, however, acknowledge that revamping the system will mean reduced funding for some.

“We anticipate about 20 per cent of children currently receiving funding may see a reduction in their funding,” Wickens said. “That’s about 5,000 children in B.C.”

Balkenhol said every child with needs should have access to support but not at the expense of children who have come to rely on it for their well-being.

“We cannot be taking from Peter to feed Paul,” Balkenhol said. “Just because they’re saying that more children are going to be accessing support, that shouldn’t come with the children that currently access support reducing their support.”

Balkenhol said she can’t imagine looking at a child in need of therapy and saying, “‘We need to take that away. It’s not needed.’ It is needed.”

The new model will be phased in over three years.

2:03
Kelowna family donates house to charity

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A secondary inspection of a commercial truck has led to the seizure of more than 250 kilograms of methamphetamine at the Canada-U.S. border.

The Canada Border Services Agency says it referred a commercial truck to secondary inspection at the Blue Water Bridge port of entry on Feb. 4. The vehicle was arriving from the U.S.

A detector dog was brought in to assist. On examination of the trailer, border service officers detected 16 duffel bags containing suspected methamphetamine. The total weight of the narcotics was 266.4 kilograms, or more than 587 pounds, officials said.

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CBSA say a 29-year-old man from Woodstock, Ont., was arrested and has been transferred to the RCMP, along with the narcotics.

He has been charged by RCMP with importation of methamphetamine, as well as possession of the drug for the purpose of trafficking.

The case is now before the Ontario court of justice in Sarnia, Ont. The CBSA says charges are subject to validation by the court. The investigation is ongoing.

Border service officers say they have seized approximately 616 kg of methamphetamine coming from the U.S. since Jan. 1.

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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.”

1:02
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.

Montrealer Marianick Baril says she’s had eight flat tires since Christmas. Now, she plans her daily commute less on travel time and more by choosing the streets that have the fewest craters that threaten to send her vehicle back to the mechanic.

This winter has been particularly perilous for Baril and other Montreal drivers, with officials reporting 3,824 pothole-related complaints between Jan. 1-27, nearly five times the 796 logged over the same period last year.

”This isn’t normal,” said an exasperated Baril on the scarred, pockmarked roads that have forced her to spend about $3,500 since late December repairing her 2015 Honda Accord Touring.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. A specialized laboratory at a Montreal technology college is trying to help fix the city’s perennial asphalt problems. Its director, engineering Prof. Alan Carter, says he has solutions. The issue, he laments, is a lack of money and political will.

“There’s a question of responsibility that no one wants to take,” he said. “It’s understandable — we don’t have the money.”

Meanwhile, the city is quick to note that this season’s weather is partly to blame. Numerous freeze-thaw cycles, particularly in January, have taken their toll. Environment Canada has recorded at least 17 days this winter with temperatures fluctuating above and below zero.

“Water seeps into cracks, freezes, and expands, weakening the road surface,” says Carter, who leads the pavements and bituminous materials laboratory at École de technologie supérieure.

And while he recognizes that Montreal’s punishing winters do a number on infrastructure, he says the main reason for the city’s disastrous road network is insufficient maintenance. The city has delayed maintenance for so long it doesn’t have sufficient labour or money to properly fix the roads in a reasonable time, Carter said. Municipal and provincial government, he added, must start factoring in long-term upkeep when approving infrastructure projects.

“We build (roads), but without enough money for maintenance,” Carter said.

Another issue is the recipe behind the asphalt poured into city streets. Carter’s laboratory is developing mixes that he thinks can be better suited for Quebec winters, but he says his innovations aren’t making their way to the streets of Montreal.

1:58
Montreal woman says she’s lucky to be alive after hitting pothole

Using an accelerated loading track — a 12-metre-long, three-metre-wide, and 2.8-metre-deep road surface — his team simulates years of traffic in only months. “We’re trying to optimize the recipe. We need mixes that last as long as possible,” he said.

The laboratory is testing various levels of recycled asphalt pavement — or RAP. The Quebec government has a 20 per cent cap on recycled materials in its asphalt, but Carter is trying to see whether that can be increased without losing performance. He also thinks some less-used roads in Montreal can forgo asphalt altogether and instead be composed of gravel, which he says is cheaper and easier to maintain.

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But the Transport Department, he said, “doesn’t have any money, so the whole research and development side, and the modification of the standards, and the innovation side, they have almost no staff for that.”

Asked if the Transport Department collaborated with Carter’s laboratory, spokesperson Louis-André Bertrand told The Canadian Press in an email, “The department has its own pavement laboratory.” The department was not immediately available on Monday to respond to Carter’s accusations that it doesn’t properly budget for road maintenance.

A 2021 CAA-Québec report estimated that poor road conditions cost Quebec motorists $258 annually in vehicle repairs — more than double the national average.

Montreal maintains about 4,030 kilometres of roads, many showing signs of wear. The city’s auditor general has said that as of 2024, about 25 per cent of arterial roads were rated poor or very poor, and 37 per cent of local streets were in that category as of 2022. Montreal officials plan to spend about $684 million on roadwork in 2026 — roughly $82 million more than last year, including resurfacing and planning programs.

In 2025, the City of Montreal repaired 103,026 potholes through private-sector contracts, up sharply from 61,286 in 2024 and slightly higher than the 98,288 recorded in 2023. These figures exclude repairs carried out by borough governments.

Catherine Lavoie, CEO of a non-profit research centre on urban infrastructure in Montreal, said the deterioration reflects years of underinvestment in maintenance. “I have never seen roads in such poor condition …. It was clear that the previous city council had other priorities. Today, unfortunately, we are seeing the consequences of this.”

But Alan DeSousa, mayor of the Saint-Laurent borough and member of Ensemble Montréal — the party of recently elected Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada — said it would be “too easy to point the finger at the previous administration. I have a responsibility to find solutions.”

In a response to the accusations that the city has under-invested in road maintenance, Martinez Ferrada’s office said in a statement, ”We spare no effort to prevent potholes in the long term.”

From October 2024 to mid-January 2026, the city says it poured 19,310 metric tons of asphalt on Montreal streets. Carter says that’s enough to pave roughly 27 kilometres of a standard one-lane street, with a thickness of 10 centimetres. He says that’s a reasonable amount of asphalt for that time frame, but he insists it’s not the lack of asphalt that is causing Montreal’s problems.

1:45
Montreal pothole operation in full swing

Many Montreal streets are failing from the bottom up, he said, explaining that too many road foundations are “dead … but we keep plastering the cracks.” Roadways are built in layers: a structural base that provides strength and stability, topped by a thinner surface layer designed for traction and safety. Most repairs, Carter said, replace only that upper layer, leaving weakened foundations untouched — a temporary fix to a deeper, structural issue.

The challenge extends beyond Montreal. Nearly half of provincial pavements are rated poor or very poor, according to the Quebec government’s 2025—2035 infrastructure plan, and much of the network dates back more than 50 years.

The question now, Carter said, is whether governments will choose to invest more in preventive maintenance or continue paying the higher price of long-term neglect.

Baril, for her part, has stopped buying new tires. ‘’New tires are expensive. Now, I go to Facebook Marketplace.’’

Atlantic Canada is one of the best places in the world to construct offshore wind projects, says a new report, but the amount of energy the region could actually produce isn’t as much as some politicians have been projecting.

The report from engineering firm Stantec, commissioned by the federal government in partnership with the Atlantic provinces and local power companies, says there’s breathtaking wind speed in the region and massive development potential, but it’s not a matter of blanketing the ocean horizon with wind turbines. Limiting factors include ocean floor conditions, marine protected areas, ice issues, shipping lanes and existing fishing areas.

“There are quite a few constraints that need to be layered on top,” said Ericka Wicks, regional sector lead for energy transition and renewable energy at Stantec, said in a recent interview.

“And then the economic reality of it, right? So yes, (a turbine) could possibly be put in this location, but is that going to make economic sense because the transmission line, to get the power from the turbine itself to onshore, might be financially prohibitive?”

Stantec’s projections could take the wind out of the sails of an ambitious energy strategy proposed by Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston. The engineering firm estimates that the maximum renewable energy production capacity of the four provinces is far less than what the premier has proposed for his province’s Wind West project.

The first phase of Wind West is envisioned as a five Gigawatt development and officials have provided estimates ranging from 40 Gigawatts to 66 Gigawatts if future phases are completed.

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The Stantec report says Nova Scotia could generate just nine Gigawatts of power in its existing wind energy areas by 2050, first with fixed-bottom turbines in shallow waters, and eventually floating platforms in deeper areas.

At the high end, the Stantec report says all of Atlantic Canada will be able to generate up to 16.5 Gigawatts by 2050 if it produces electricity for all available markets, including powering a high-export hydrogen sector, selling to other provinces like Quebec and exporting electricity to the New England states.

It says about 2.5 Gigawatts, slightly more than what’s produced by Canadian power stations at Niagara Falls, could be constructed by 2050 if the region serves only its own power needs.

Nova Scotia’s Department of Energy, where Houston is also the energy minister, declined an interview request.

Wicks says the Stantec study focused heavily on constraints facing the sector, and that reduced the real-world potential compared to older studies and projections.

“Regardless of whether it’s 16.5 or 60 (Gigawatts), it’s still a massive number,” said Wicks.

Wicks says Nova Scotia’s offshore sector is the most advanced in the region. The province is pre-qualifying interested companies and is expected to issue a call for proposals this year. The government recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Massachusetts to share expertise and the pact could see Nova Scotian energy sold into the power-hungry state.

Newfoundland and Labrador’s offshore market would likely develop later, says the report. While it has the highest overall capacity in the region, its deep water and other constraining factors mean it would likely be able to bring four to five Gigawatts online by 2050. About two Gigawatts of the total could be installed earlier in shallow water. The province’s Department of Energy and Mines did not provide comment before deadline.

The Stantec report says each floating turbine would be estimated to cost between US$6,360 and US$11,295. This is about 47 per cent more than the fixed-bottom variety. The firm says the technology should get cheaper and more viable in the future.

Talk of offshore wind has been more muted in New Brunswick and P. E. I, but they still hold potential. The report says New Brunswick could develop two Gigawatts by 2050, while P. E. I. could likely contribute one Gigawatt.

Companies considering Wind West have said 2035 is probably the earliest Nova Scotia can expect turbines in the water. Wicks says that’s probably right as high-voltage direct current transmission equipment has a long lead time. She said clients submitting their orders now don’t expect delivery until the 2030s.

The study doesn’t factor in transmission lines, which will be a major cost. About a third of the $60 billion needed for the first phase of Wind West is planned for transmission.

“The technology is there to build the offshore wind platforms … but the transmission system is not nearly developed to the point where we need it to accommodate all the energy that the offshore wind could produce in the Atlantic region,” said Wicks.

The third phase of the $6-million study will dig into transmission infrastructure. It’s funded by Natural Resources Canada with partners including the four provincial governments, P.E.I.’s Maritime Electric, Nova Scotia Power, and non-profit Net-Zero Atlantic.

&copy 2026 The Canadian Press