Federal Conservatives are calling for Ottawa to drop the tax on gas and diesel fuel for the rest of this year.

The Tories say their plan would eliminate the Fuel Excise Tax at 10 cents per litre, the Clean Fuel Standard at seven cents per litre, and the Goods and Services Tax at eight cents per litre.

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Combined, they say the cuts would save Canadians 25 cents a litre.

After the year, the Conservatives say they would make the cut to the fuel standard tax permanent.

The party’s statement says Canadians are currently paying 20 per cent more than Americans are paying for gas. It notes that other countries have already taken action to lower gas prices by reducing fuel taxes, including Australia, Spain and Ireland.

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To pay for the tax relief, the Conservatives say they would cut what they call the Liberals’ “wasteful spending on the gun buyback, bureaucracy, consultants, foreign aid, and boondoggles.”

Calling Lakes Wellness Centre is planning to open in Fort Qu’Appelle, Sask., with the aim of allowing people to remove themselves from the struggles of everyday life and ground themselves.

Before the mental health facility opens its doors, there will be three phases to its programming. Phase 1 will begin with online treatment, which aims to help those who seek remote guidance, followed by referrals to the facility and ending with the facility opening in late summer.

The building will offer resources that aim to help staff treat addiction and mental health, including counselling, gym, yoga, massages and lectures, and is based in Fort Qu’Appelle to surround people with nature.

Steve Low, Calling Lakes Wellness chief operating officer, hopes people reach out to the organization and wants people who are struggling to know that there is always hope.

Sania Ali has more details in the video above.

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Air Canada has announced that CEO Michael Rousseau will retire by the end of this year’s third quarter on Monday morning.

The news comes after backlash from political leaders last week over Rousseau’s English-only video condolences after the deadly Air Canada crash at LaGuardia Airport that killed two of the airlines pilots, including one from Quebec.

“The Board has had a longstanding focus on CEO succession planning. Consistent with this priority, work has been underway for more than two years on a comprehensive internal development program for high potential executives,” Air Canada’s statement reads.

“An external global search was also commenced in January 2026 to identify potential additional candidates with the skills, and experience to lead Canada’s national airline, proudly headquartered in Montréal, Québec.”

Rousseau has been the CEO of Air Canada since February 2021.

Prime Minister Mark Carney had criticized Rousseau’s English-only crash condolences last week, saying he was “very disappointed.”

“It doesn’t matter the circumstances but particularly in these circumstances: a lack of judgment and a lack of compassion,” Carney told reporters on Thursday morning, speaking first in French before repeating the criticisms in English.

“We live in a bilingual country. Companies like Air Canada, particularly, have a responsibility to always communicate in both official languages, regardless of the situation.”

More to come.

 

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Sitting in the heart of Saskatoon’s downtown, Gather Local Market has always been a community staple, home to crafty small businesses with flair.

They’re welcoming a new anchor tenant to the building.

“When we gather, we invite people to stay longer. They spend more money, and we connect deeply — it’s impactful. It’s growth, and growth is beautiful,” said Discovery Saskatoon CEO Stephanie Pocha, welcoming the bar to the city.

Rebellion was started in Regina by Mark Heise and his business partners, where they have their own brewery. The success they found in the warehouse district has prompted them to expand to Saskatoon, driven by their passion for beer.

“Beer is meant to be social. That’s what so special about beer. It’s a gathering, you make friends, you sit at the bar,” said Heise.

Rebellion started in Regina in the warehouse district where their brewery is located. They’ve made the decision to expand to Saskatoon in the face of mounting pressures on the service industry.

“No money, living at home, no jobs, living at home, it’s expensive to go out, health concerns, changing habits, video games, just many overall — that drinking culture has changed so much when it comes to Gen Z,” said David Williams, an associate professor with the Edwards School of Business.

For Rebellion, finding the right location was key. With all the surrounding foot traffic and the community atmosphere, Williams says they may beat the trend.

“Good ambience, clustering of similar businesses, good vibe, part of the hipster part of town so it seems good,” said Williams

Rebellion is now open for customers at Gather Local Market.

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Alberta’s government has tabled legislation — Bill 21, the Interprovincial Trade Mutual Recognition Act — to ease regulations and barriers to more easily enable the sale of some goods from other provinces.

It’s part of a commitment Alberta made with its provincial and federal counterparts in signing an interprovincial free trade pact in November.

That trade accord, which is supposed to take effect this summer, would see provinces recognize each other’s regulations for most consumer and capital products to avoid duplicative inspections and requirements.

The agreement doesn’t apply to the sale of alcohol, cannabis, food, live animals, tobacco or plants, and it lets provinces maintain certain restrictions on items for health and safety reasons.

Alberta is keeping its own rules in place for several products, including pesticides, plumbing equipment and safety helmets.

Another Alberta exemption is for gift cards, which the province requires to have no expiry date. The province retains the right to add or remove items from the list of goods and they must still meet Alberta rules.

Jobs and Economy Minister Joseph Schow said that despite the limitations, he expects the new rules will have a major economic effect for the province.

“This is a great news story for small- and medium-sized businesses,” he said. “These are mom and pop shops, in some cases, where they don’t have a lot of staff, and the last thing they want to be dealing with is cumbersome regulation.”

He added that for years in Canada, it has sometimes been easier for businesses to sell products internationally rather than to other provinces.

Schow said by eliminating red tape, businesses will be able to expand and access new markets without having to bring on more staff, or hire lawyers or consultants to deal with regulations.

Heather Thomson at the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce said at the government news conference that having consistency across the country will open doors for businesses and allow them to scale up.

“This means more time spent on hiring, innovating and selling,” she said. “It gives Alberta businesses the competitive edge that they need to succeed, not just here, but across the entire country.”

Government officials told reporters before the bill was tabled that manufacturers in industries such as oil and gas, lumber and logging and fertilizer producers will likely see the most positive impact once the pact takes effect.

Provinces such as Ontario and British Columbia have already introduced similar pieces of legislation to implement the commitments in November’s agreement.

Alberta officials told reporters that the government purposely waited longer so it could study and learn from what other provinces did.

Thursday’s bill also sets out the process for future mutual recognition agreements between provinces to be implemented.

Schow didn’t provide specifics about what future deals he’d like to ink, noting only that the legislation allows the government to be nimble and make changes without reconvening the legislature as needed.

Opposition NDP jobs critic Rhiannon Hoyle said the legislation is good news for businesses and the economy, but she would have like to have seen it sooner, given long-standing business interest in seeing trade barriers removed.

— More to come…

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Select milk products sold through the Farmers, Natrel and Québon brands are being recalled due to a “possible presence of pieces of glass.”

The recalls were initially triggered by Agropur, Canada’s largest dairy co-operative, on Wednesday.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is currently conducting a “food safety investigation.”

The CFIA is also “verifying that industry is removing recalled products from the marketplace.”

The affected products include:

• Farmers 1% chocolate partly skimmed milk (2 L), sold in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
• Farmers 1% partly skimmed milk (2 L), sold in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
• Farmers 2% partly skimmed milk (2 L), sold in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
• Farmers 3.25% homogenized milk (2 L), sold in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
• Natrel 1% lactose-free chocolate partly skimmed milk (2 L), sold nationally
• Québon 2% chocolate partly skimmed milk (2 L), sold in Quebec

The recall warns consumers not to “consume, use, sell, serve or distribute recalled products,” and says they should be “thrown out or returned to the location where they were purchased.”

While the war in Iran has sent gasoline prices soaring around the world, there are growing concerns about how the spike in the cost of other fuels could also affect consumers and the broader economy.

In Canada, the average price of diesel has surged to nearly $2.30 per litre — more than 50 per cent higher than just three months ago.

“It’s unprecedented. We’ve never seen anything like this in the oil market or the refined products market and it’s getting worse,” said Calgary-based petroleum industry analyst Richard Masson.

“The tankers that left four weeks ago just before the war started are just starting to unload at their destinations,” he continued.

“It takes three to four weeks to get where they’re going, but over the last four weeks there have been no tankers leaving out of the Strait of Hormuz.

“So over the next few weeks, places that need those fuels aren’t going to be getting them.”

Masson said the refined products market is experiencing prices like $200 a barrel for diesel fuel.

“And more than that, countries like China have banned exports of refined products. So there are places like California, that depend on refined products coming from China because they’ve had many refineries shut down, who are now scrambling to find replacements for their diesel, for their gasoline.

“The whole global market right now is totally upset, and people are still trying to understand what it all means.”

Small business owners in Alberta are also waiting to see what happens, depending on how long the war drags on.

“Well, the price is going to affect freight and delivery, for sure,” said Ernie Tsu of the Alberta Hospitality Association, who is also owner of the Trolley 5 Brewpub in Calgary.

“We haven’t seen it come down yet from the major suppliers. I’m sure it’s going to,” said Tsu, who admits restaurant menu prices will need to increase if freight and delivery charges increase.

However, Tsu said a lot of restaurants are working with local farmers in an effort to keep transportation costs down and still provide excellent products and that helps “massively.”

Masson said if diesel prices get too high, it could cause the entire supply chain to break down.

“There’s two parts to that. One is the price gets higher for transportation because of the diesel cost and so that gets transmitted through to prices,” said Masson.

“The other is people just can’t get hold of the product physically and so they stop shipping things and so the supply chains start to break down.

“I’m seeing more and more talk about supply chains breaking down like happened during COVID.”

While the members of the International Energy Agency recently agreed to release hundreds of millions of oil from their strategic emergency reserves in an effort to combat a possible shortage of Middle East oil, Masson said it may not help prevent a shortage of diesel, because it’s not the right kind of oil.

“The Middle East produces kind of a medium-sour crude, and that crude goes into refineries and makes a larger proportion of diesel and a smaller proportion of gasoline.

“When that crude goes missing, it affects the diesel supply more and this is the challenge because not all crude oil is the same.”

While much of the oil produced in Canada is suitable for making diesel, Masson said most of the recent increase in U.S. production is lighter oil obtained through fracking, and is not suitable for making diesel.

“We have this real problem where not only is there a smaller supply of crude, but it’s not the right kinds of crude in the right refineries to keep production of things like diesel going at the rate we need — and of course, the economy depends on diesel,” said Masson.

“So we we have to find a way to adjust our consumption and the way we do that is by price. So the higher the price goes, more people will stop using it and only the best uses will happen.

“This is what’s going to happen over the coming weeks as this (crisis) deepens.”

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A new poll finds there is growing support for a proposal to lower an Old Age Security (OAS) threshold for some Canadians in order to help reduce the federal government’s deficit.

Seventy-three per cent of Canadians polled this month said they support such a move, which would effectively trim back Old Age Security from higher income tiers, according to Generation Squeeze’s research poll.

Although nearly three quarters of respondents said they supported this proposal, that was on the condition that the savings are used to eliminate seniors’ poverty and reduce living costs for younger generations, the polling found.

Old Age Security is one of the most costly contributors to Ottawa’s roughly $78 billion projected deficit, according to Generation Squeeze, a Canadian think tank advocacy group.

Generation Squeeze says by lowering the current income threshold for when OAS benefits begin to gradually phase out — for couples, from $185,000 down to $100,000 —  Ottawa could save up to $7 billion annually.

Old Age Security is a federal benefit available to Canadian seniors aged 65 and older, with certain monthly amounts paid based on income, age and residency.

However, it gives hundreds of dollars a month to seniors with household incomes over $100,000 per year, which has spurred increasing calls from advocates like Generation Squeeze to claw that back from higher income tiers.

Currently, the government of Canada lists those aged 65 to 74 as eligible to receive $742.31 maximum a month if their annual net world income is less than $148,451. Those aged 75 and above are eligible to receive $816.54 maximum a month if their annual net world income is less than $154,196.

The amounts depend on “age, income, and the number of years you have lived in Canada.”

That is in addition to money individuals are eligible for from the Canada Pension Plan, or from personal or employer retirement savings plans. Lower-income seniors can also get the Guaranteed Income Supplement.

Approximately six in 10 respondents said they would support lowering the threshold even further to $81,000 or less. By doing so, Generation Squeeze says the annual savings would rise to roughly $13 billion.

The Generation Squeeze opinion poll on OAS reform was conducted in partnership with Research Co. from March 12 to March 14, 2026, and about 1,000 Canadians participated.

Generation Squeeze said in a release that based on their findings, only four per cent of seniors are excluded from OAS because their incomes are too high.

By reducing the income threshold for OAS clawbacks as proposed, Generation Squeeze says the top-earning 20 per cent of seniors that receive the payments would see their benefits shrink, and by an average of $3,000 or less per person each year.

The Iran war is the latest curveball for Canadians trying to keep up with the higher cost of living as spiking oil prices have translated into rising costs at the gas pump. Businesses faced with these higher fuel costs are also being pressured and may have to raise prices charged to consumers as a result, including for groceries.

Prior to the war, U.S. tariffs and trade war uncertainty have led business owners to pause hiring plans, leading to a difficult job market in Canada.

The inflation spike since the pandemic combined with higher interest rates have pressured Canadians to cut spending wherever possible to make ends meet.

“Canadians have spoken – clearly and consistently. Prime Minister Mark Carney should use that support to fix and modernize the most expensive line in his budget – and deliver a once-in-a-generation improvement in affordability for young and old alike,” said Generation Squeeze.

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The federal minimum wage in Canada is set to go up.

The federal minimum wage will rise from the current $17.75 to $18.15 an hour, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) said Tuesday in a press release.

This will apply to all workers in federally regulated industries such as air transportation, banking, most federal Crown corporations, ports and telecommunication, among others.

The new minimum wage will represent a 21 per cent increase compared to 2021, the government said.

The federal minimum wage is indexed to inflation, which rose by 2.1 per cent in 2025.

“An employee should be paid at least the federal minimum wage. If the minimum wage of the province or territory where the employee usually works is higher than the federal minimum wage, the employer is to pay the higher minimum wage,” ESDC says on its website.

Starting April 1, all employers in federally regulated private sectors will be required to adjust their payrolls accordingly.

After April 1, Yukon ($18.51) and Nunavut ($19.75) will have minimum wages higher than the federal minimum wage, while British Columbia’s minimum wage is set to rise to $18.25 in June.

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When Ashutosh Pathak and his brother went to purchase a truck, they couldn’t have predicted the headache that would ensue.

Last fall, Pathak bought a Ford F-150 for just under $40,000 from Summit Ram in Ponoka, which is owned by Kaizen Automotive Group.

After driving it for a month, RCMP seized the vehicle and told Pathak it was stolen and the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) had been altered.

Pathak had no idea, despite going through the proper channels.

He said they checked the VIN and made a point to purchase a truck from a reputable dealership, as opposed to a private sale via Facebook Marketplace or an individual.

Pathak made a complaint to AMVIC — the Alberta Motor Vehicle Industry Council. Pathak said its investigation found the dealership didn’t know the vehicle was stolen and was not in the wrong.

He was told to go through insurance, but insurance told him because it wasn’t stolen from Pathak, his claim was not covered.

Pathak was told he could pursue legal action, but couldn’t afford to hire a lawyer.

The family was left with no truck, no $40,000 and no answers.

After five months of making payments on the loan he took out to buy the vehicle, Pathak turned to Global News.

Days after the story aired, Summit Ram made an arrangement to repay Pathak the nearly $40,000 price tag.

“We have been issued a check of the actual amount of what we paid for the truck. Now this matter is resolved,” Pathak said.

While he is happy to have his money back, he is frustrated with the long wait and the whole process.

“I think I am a whistleblower because since this news broke out to the Global News, I would (say) 99.9 per cent of people were just saying one thing: ‘This person should get his money back because he’s the victim,’” Pathak said.

“I understand maybe the Kaizen Group may go through the same process to retrieve the vehicle or retrieve the money, but as a consumer… my involvement should be very minimal in all these scenarios.”

The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams’ auto theft unit calls this a prolific problem, and it’s not just used vehicles targeted — new automobiles can also have their VINs tampered with.

ALERT auto crime unit Sgt. Brandon Crozier said the problem on the rise.

He said analysts have been working to identify number and it’s estimated since 2022, there 1,500 fraudulent vehicles that originated in Alberta.

“Re-VINs have always been a problem,” Crozier said.

“We’re seeing an increase, because there’s technology out there to assist these guys with the craft. VIN labels, you can buy them online. We have intercepted several shipments coming to people in Edmonton, and it’s a complete set of VINs for any vehicle.

“When you check those VIN labels, they’ve never been built.”

“Primarily, vehicles are stolen in Alberta and they’re usually relatively new or brand-new vehicles taken for the purpose of profit. That could either be exportation out of the country for profit or re-VINning them and introducing them back into the marketplace for sale to unsuspecting buyers,” Sgt. Crozier said.

Crozier said criminals will steal a vehicle, re-VIN and establish a paper trail so when they go to a register it, the vehicle appears to be insure in Alberta and has someone’s name attached to it.

In the case of used vehicles sold to a dealership, that means when staff run checks to make sure there’s no safety issues and it’s currently registered, the dealership will take that at face value.

“Once that vehicle lands with a citizen who bought it unsuspecting, it’s quite easy (for police) to find because they have their current address, and their proper name and everything on the registration,” Crozier said.

“Unfortunately, we are seizing more vehicles from unsuspecting victims than we are from the bad guys.”

Criminal rings are becoming more and more sophisticated every day, police say.

“This is a group who they will target certain vehicle makes, they will have expertise and the technology to revamp a vehicle and then they have people that can now start pushing those out into the marketplace,” Crozier said.

Crozier said there are things you can do protect yourself, whether you’re buying from a dealership or an individual:

• Meet with the buyer at their home or possibly a police station parking lot
• Take a friend as a second set of eyes
• Verify VIN labels are present and do not appear to be tampered with
• Check that the VIN on the door frame and the one in the windshield match
• Check the public CPIC website for stolen vehicles
• Get a Carfax vehicle history report. Look for red flags like colour change, mileage inconsistencies and if the service history and registration make sense
• Check the manufacture website to see if there are any outstanding safety recalls. Note: a fraudulent VIN will not be searchable
• Check for loans or liens against the VIN
• Google search the VIN

The Insurance Bureau of Canada’s Rob de Pruis said when you buy a vehicle, you have to remember buyer beware — it’s up to the consumer to explore the tools available to know the vehicle’s history.

“If you buy a vehicle, your insurance company will provide you that insurance in good faith, assuming all the information is correct,” de Pruis said.

“Your insurance policy is there to protect you from things like theft, but it must be stolen from you.

“Law enforcement repossessing a vehicle is not something the insurance policy covers.”

de Pruis said the onus is on the buyer to understand that vehicle.

“Your insurance policy doesn’t cover items that have been illegally acquired, even if you didn’t do so knowingly,” he said.

Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally said the situation Pathak went through is completely unacceptable.

“When an Albertan buys a vehicle from a licensed dealership, it should always be legally owned,” Nally said in a statement to Global News.

“I have met with the Alberta Motor Vehicle Industry Council to get answers on how this happened, and I expect them to take the necessary steps to strengthen oversight and prevent this from ever happening again.”

AMVIC said, in a statement, it is having ongoing meetings with the department officials to review and potentially strengthen protections for Albertans in the automotive industry.

“AMVIC will also continue to work closely with the RCMP and other police services regarding investigating and prosecuting fraudulent activities in the automotive sector.”

Kaizen Automotive Group owns over 20 dealerships, primarily in the Calgary area and in California. Global News reached out to Kaizen for comment on this story but as of publishing, had not received a response.

Earlier in March, the Calgary-based auto group released a statement saying it was aware of the situation and had been working with Pathak and AMVIC for months.

Kaizen said it was recently “given information” that the truck may have been fraudulently purchased in 2024 and that fraud was reported to the RCMP.

“It appears that the information was not uploaded into the RCMP database for stolen vehicles. Summit Ram at the time of sale completed a lien search and VIN verification and followed all standard precautions to confirm the vehicle was free and clear. All checks came back clean and verified,” the company said.

“We have been in contact with both law enforcement and the relevant financial institutions to better understand why the vehicle was seized from the home of the customer without providing any relevant information to the customer nor Summit Ram.”