Canadian miner Vizsla Silver said on Monday workers who were abducted from the company’s project site in Concordia, Mexico, have been found dead.

Last month, the Vancouver-based company had reported that 10 of its workers were abducted from its Panuco project in Mexico.

The miner said it is awaiting confirmation from the Mexican authorities and will provide further updates.

Shares of the company were down 7.1 per cent in morning trading.

Mexican authorities said on Friday that at least one body matching the characteristics of one of 10 mine workers who were kidnapped from a mine in northern Sinaloa state late last month was found in a clandestine grave.

Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office said steps were being taken to confirm the victim’s identity and collect evidence from the grave in Concordia, where remains of several other bodies were found some 45 km (28 miles) east of the Pacific coast city of Mazatlan. Police were yet to formally identify any of the bodies.

0:46
Mexico would reject any unilateral US military action, president says

Family members interviewed by Reuters said some of the workers at the Vizsla Silver Corp mine who went missing had received threats from organized crime groups in the area including the Chapitos, a faction of the Sinaloa cartel led by the sons of ex-Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

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Security Minister Omar Garcia confirmed last month that the area where the miners went missing is under the control of the Chapitos. The silver mine has been closed since the kidnapping.

Authorities have yet to establish a reason as to why the group was kidnapped on January 23.

Jaime Lopez, the uncle of Pablo Osorio, a 26-year-old engineer and one of the men who went missing, said as the family was poor they would not be able to afford a ransom.

“We are devastated,” he said, adding he had not wanted his nephew to go to Concordia as it was dangerous, but it was the only place that had responded to his job applications when he finished his degree three years ago. “We are going to do everything in our power to find him.”

“We can’t believe it,” he said in tears after hearing of the mass grave. Lopez said he was awaiting news from the authorities to find out whether his nephew was among the remains found at the site.

Mexico’s government sent over 1,000 troops, including soldiers and elite marines, to the area this weekend to locate the missing miners. On Thursday, four suspects were arrested over the case.

Ontario’s inspector general of policing is launching a review of the province’s police services and boards amid accusations of corruption within Toronto police.

Ryan Teschner announced the probe at a news conference Monday, days after York Regional Police charged seven active Toronto police officers and one retired Toronto officer in their investigation, dubbed Project South, which looked into organized crime and corruption.

The allegations against those officers include bribery, obstruction of justice, drug trafficking, theft of personal property, breach of trust and the unauthorized access and distribution of confidential information.

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A day after those accusations sent shockwaves through the region, Peel Regional Police suspended three officers pending further investigation by York Regional Police.

“If there are vulnerabilities within the systems currently in place in Ontario’s policing sector, or in the standards that it must adhere to, it is essential that they are identified so meaningful, system-wide improvements can be made,” Teschner said.

“This provincewide inspection will be conducted under the authority of Ontario’s Community Safety and Policing Act, the province’s policing legislation, and it will focus on five defined areas with the ability to examine additional ones as the inspection unfolds.”

Teschner said those five areas are officer supervision and span of control, screening and vetting of officers, access to police databases and information systems, evidence and property management, and substance abuse and fitness for duty.

More to come.

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Hundreds of engineering students braced the bone-chilling cold over the weekend to race concrete sleds down a hill in London, Ont.

As part of the annual Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race, teams from about 20 universities across the country design and construct their own toboggans to send down a hill.

This year, the students gathered Saturday for the race at Boler Mountain. The last time a race was held at the mountain, located roughly two hours southwest of Toronto, was over a decade ago.

Owen Kirk, captain of the UBC Okanagan team, said it was a thrill to be part of the race. His 22-person team won the top prize of the year — the King of the Hill award.

“I love the competition, I love this spirit,” Kirk said. “It’s a lot of anticipation building up to it because, you know, you’ve spent the last 10 or 11 months designing and building this thing that you’re really hoping will make it down the hill.”

Kirk, who has taken part in the competition in previous years, said it’s always satisfying to see the toboggan take off after its first push, picking up momentum and finally making it down the hill.

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Each toboggan has concrete sliding surfaces, a safety roll cage and a mechanical steering and braking system and must weigh less than about 160 kilograms.

The game is divided into three parts — a drag race to judge for speed, a slalom race to judge the steering of the toboggan and a final race of winners from those brackets to determine the King of the Hill.

Abigail Young, captain of Western University’s team, which made it to the quarterfinals of the King of the Hill race, said her favourite part about it all was the camaraderie among the different teams.

Young said at one point, teams were even sharing their tools to help each other. One of her team’s welders stepped in to help another team so their toboggan could make it down the hill.

“When they won, it felt like you won, so overall everyone seemed like a winner, which was really fun,” Young said.

The prize for each of the awards will be announced by the corporate sponsor later, the GNCT rule book says.

“Winning King of the Hill for the first time at UBCO was such a joy and a great way to cap off my engineering degree,” Kirk said with a smile on his face.

&copy 2026 The Canadian Press

The Opposition Conservatives are calling on the federal Liberal government to reduce taxes on severance packages for laid-off General Motors workers in Ingersoll, Ont.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre penned a letter Sunday, co-signed by labour critic Kyle Seeback and local MP Arpan Khanna, addressed to Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne calling for an exemption to the withholding taxes that ding severance pay.

In a draft version of the letter seen by The Canadian Press, the Conservatives argue taxes on a big chunk of GM’s lump-sum severance payments could deprive out-of-work employees of “tens of thousands of dollars,” adding “insult to injury.”

The federal Tories said waiting until after tax season to recover funds is not a reasonable solution for workers who recently lost their regular paycheques and still need money for their mortgages and grocery bills.

“These men and women worked hard, played by the rules and built things this country depends on. The least your government can do is stop taking their money at the worst possible moment,” the letter said.

“That is why I am asking you to use your existing authority to reduce the amount of tax withheld on these payments for workers affected by the GM CAMI layoffs.”

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The letter comes just ahead of the start of tax-filing season and days after Carney unveiled his new strategy for the automotive sector.

GM announced last year it would end its BrightDrop electric-vehicle production at the CAMI Assembly plant in Ingersoll, citing weaker-than-expected market demand and a challenging regulatory environment in the U.S.

More than a thousand employees have been laid off.

3:35
Canada and Korea sign MOU on auto manufacturing

Meanwhile, GM’s Oshawa Assembly is shuttering one of three shifts, laying off some 500 employees in a move expected to affect upward of a thousand workers across the supply chain.

Unifor, the union representing the GM employees, has accused U.S. President Donald Trump of upending Ontario’s auto sector and hitting the Ingersoll GM plant on multiple fronts. Trump introduced 25 per cent tariffs on non-U.S. auto content and policies that upended the U.S. EV industry.

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a new automotive industrial strategy last Thursday, which he vowed would “drive investment” in the sector and set a “sovereign path” to reduce auto emissions.

The strategy would remove the EV sales mandate in exchange for stricter auto-emissions standards and re-introduce the EV rebate program.

It comes on the heels of a deal the prime minister made in Beijing, granting a set quota of Chinese EVs into the country at a minimal tariff rate. Carney has also said Ottawa has been in talks with Korean and Chinese investors interested in Canada’s auto sector.

The Conservatives dismissed Carney’s new auto strategy in their letter for being unhelpful to auto-sector workers who have been left reeling as their industry buckles.

“Canadians are still waiting for your government to deliver the trade deal with the United States you promised by July 21 (2025) and a clear plan to protect Canadian jobs,” the Conservative MPs wrote.

“Instead of presenting a serious plan to defend our auto workers, you’ve just announced a rebate that will subsidize American-made EVs.”

Canada is entering into talks this year over renewing the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, as the free-trade pact comes up for review among the signatories.

Carney said Thursday his objective remains getting all tariffs removed, but that is clearly not Trump’s objective, so Canada must “prepare for all possibilities.”

&copy 2026 The Canadian Press

Residents of Ville-Marie are being asked to boil water until advised otherwise, according to an advisory put in place Sunday afternoon.

According to the City of Montreal, the preventative boil water advisory affects the areas of Ile Sainte-Hélène, Ile Notre-Dame and the Habitat 67 site.

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The City says residents of all areas covered by the advisory must boil tap water for at least one minute before consuming it or using it to brush their teeth.

However, unboiled tap water can be used for personal hygiene and household purposes.

The advisory will remain in effect until further notice.

The city did not provide further information on what caused the advisory or when it was expected to end.

Officials are urging anyone who attended Ag Days or visited hotels and shops in Brandon, Man., last month to monitor for measles symptoms.

The agency says there was a suspected exposure during the event.

According to Manitoba Health, those who visited the event at Keystone Centre between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Jan. 20, 21 and 22 are asked to monitor themselves. Those who visited Jan. 20 are asked to monitor until Wednesday, while visitors on Jan. 21 monitor until Thursday and those at the event on Jan. 22 monitor until Friday.

Those who visited Ag Days’ Agriculture in the Classroom event at the Provincial Exhibition of the Manitoba Dome Building between Jan. 20 and 22, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., are asked to monitor themselves until later this week.

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Exposure notices have also been issued for those who visited the town of Winkler, Man.

Those notices involve anyone who visited the Stacked Pancake and Breakfast House on Feb. 1 from 9:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., as well as the Boundary Trails Health Centre public health office on Feb. 2 from 10:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. Anyone who visited the Boundary Trails Health Centre emergency department on Feb. 3 from 7 p.m. until 1:10 a.m. the next morning is also asked to monitor.

Manitoba Health says those who believe they may have been exposed should ensure they’re up to date on their measles vaccinations.

People who were born in 1970 or later and never received a measles vaccination and never had an infection are also asked to reduce exposure with others, especially anyone who has a weakened immune system, from the fifth day of exposure to the 21st day after their latest exposure.

Initial symptoms of measles can include a fever, runny nose, cough, drowsiness, irritability, and red eyes. Small white spots may also develop on the inside of the mouth or throat.

“Several days after the initial symptoms, a red blotchy rash appears on the face and progresses down the body,” Manitoba Health says in a release.

The symptoms typically present themselves within seven to 21 days after being exposed to the virus.

If symptoms develop, people who may have been exposed are asked to isolate at home and contact their health-care provider and advise them of the potential exposure.

The disease spreads through droplets in the air formed when coughing or sneezing, Manitoba Health adds.

—with a file from The Canadian Press

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More than 5,000 days after construction began in Toronto, the Crosstown LRT will finally begin carrying passengers along Eglinton Avenue.

Around 7:30 a.m. Sunday, the first train will start its journey westward from Kennedy Station in Scarborough, past connections to the Yonge/University subway line, to terminate at Mount Dennis Station in the west.

The train will leave the station without pomp or ceremony as part of a phased opening to the line, Toronto’s transit agency is trying to play down as a soft launch, managing expectations for the six-year delayed project.

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT was first pitched by former mayor David Miller as part of his Transit City vision in 2007 and, after being briefly dashed by his successor, Rob Ford, began construction in November 2011.

Construction on the line was led by provincial transit agency Metrolinx in a public-private partnership with a construction consortium. The two parties presided over a myriad of delays, legal cases and cost overruns.

By 2023, Metrolinx had given up on providing the public with an opening date, promising only that the public would get three months’ notice before the line opened. Ultimately, that didn’t happen.

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Metrolinx instead announced in December 2025 that it finally believed the project was complete and accepted it from the construction consortium, handing it to the TTC, which will run its timetables and operations.

Behind the scenes, the provincial transit agency aggressively campaigned to open the Crosstown before the end of 2025, but a more restrained approach from the TTC won out.

Its CEO privately pushed to open the line on Feb. 8, during a December meeting, but publicly refused to confirm the date. CEO Mandeep Lali finally announced the same opening date at a meeting on Tuesday, after Premier Doug Ford had told reporters that was when he expected the line to open.

Until the eleventh hour, Lali would not confirm Sunday’s opening date, complaining that unexplained activations of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT’s emergency brakes left him concerned the system was not ready.

Sometime in the week leading up to the opening, he said he was given a satisfactory explanation for the emergency brake incidents, and said he was ready to open the line.

Still, the TTC is framing the opening almost as a pilot. The agency said trains will initiate and terminate service earlier than intended and travel at slower speeds during a phased opening.

The line will operate from roughly 5:30 a.m. on weekdays and 7:30 a.m. on weekends. It will close at 11 p.m. daily.

“As part of the phased opening of Line 5, the TTC is advising customers that there will be no grand opening ceremony, formal event, or commemorative merchandise on Sunday at any location,” the transit agency wrote in a statement.

Despite the low-key nature of the launch, the TTC admitted it expected crowds to ride the line all day Sunday.

Premier Ford chided journalists for being “negative” about the long-delayed Crosstown ahead of its launch on Friday and urged Torontonians to celebrate the fact it has finally opened.

“You’re beating a dead horse here; we’ve been going through this for years, the same old questions,” he said. “Let’s celebrate a new line.”

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Health Canada is warning Canadians to check their medication after two lots of MAR-Amlodipine 5 mg tablets were recalled, as some bottles may contain the wrong drug.

Marcan Pharmaceuticals Inc. says certain bottles labelled as MAR-Amlodipine may contain midodrine 2.5 mg tablets, a medication used to treat low blood pressure.

Meanwhile, MAR-Amlodipine, the actual medication that is meant for the bottles, is prescribed to treat high blood pressure and chest pain.

Health Canada says taking midodrine instead of amlodipine could lead to serious health risks, including dangerously high blood pressure, dizziness, fainting, slow heartbeats and potential organ damage.

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Children may face a higher risk of harm if they take the incorrect medication.

The affected product is MAR-Amlodipine 5 mg, DIN 02371715, from lots 2472021 and 2472021A, with an expiry date of July 2027, according to the public advisory.

The correct amlodipine tablets are white to off-white, flat and eight-sided, with a line across the middle. One side is marked “210” and “5,” while the other side is blank.

The incorrect midodrine tablets are white, round and marked with “M2” on one side.

Health Canada is urging patients to immediately check their bottles and return them to a pharmacy if they contain any round tablets or if there is uncertainty about the contents.

Patients are advised not to take the round tablets.

Those experiencing symptoms such as dizziness, unusually high blood pressure or slow heartbeats are advised to contact a health-care professional or call 911.

Immediate medical attention is recommended for chest pain, sudden headaches, trouble speaking, or numbness or weakness.

Health Canada says it is monitoring the recall and the company’s investigation and will notify the public if additional risks are identified.

Consumers with questions can contact Marcan Pharmaceuticals Inc. directly, and health-care professionals are being asked to carefully check bottles before dispensing and report any issues.

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