A coalition of local organizations and housing advocates has issued a call to Calgary city council to find a replacement plan to deliver housing after the repeal of citywide rezoning.

The call came at a press conference outside city hall Monday with dozens of supporters of citywide rezoning across several organizations, including More Neighbours Calgary, Good Neighbour, Calgary Transit Riders, the University of Calgary Students’ Union and the Calgary Alliance for the Common Good.

“There are people working full time who cannot find a home,” More Neighbours co-founder Willem Klumpenhouwer said. “Repeal without replacement doesn’t pause that crisis, it makes it worse.”

Last week, council voted 12-3 in favour of repealing citywide rezoning after eight days of public hearings that saw more than 400 people address councillors on the issue.

The move will see 306,774 residential properties across the city redesignated back to their original low-density residential districts.

The policy, which took effect in August 2024 after being approved by the previous city council, changed the city’s base residential zoning to allow for more housing types on a single property, like duplexes, rowhomes and townhouses, without requiring a public hearing.

Citywide rezoning was one of 98 recommendations included in Home is Here, the city’s strategy to boost housing supply and affordability, amid concerns about impacts on community character, a lack of public input into redevelopment and increased density.

The coalition, however, said repeal will result in more expensive housing.

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“Without a solid plan to replace, development will regress and stagnate. Gains on supply and affordability will be lost,” Rev. Kersi Bird with the Calgary Alliance for Common Good said. “The issues at hand are not just about what communities look like, or how much parking is available, it’s about everybody having a place; about security, and dignity, and seeing a future in this city.”

The groups are accusing Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas of not keeping a campaign commitment to repeal and replace citywide rezoning with a new plan to entice densification and build more housing.

Klumpenhouwer said Farkas has broken his commitment to “gentle density” across the city during last fall’s election.

“Six months of silence is not a strategy, it’s not leadership,” he told reporters. “We need a timeline, we need a compromise, and we need it now.”

In response to the coalition’s calls, Farkas said council is committed to “decisive action” to address housing issues, but not just with zoning policy.

He pointed to council’s financial support of the chief housing office, as well as partnerships with non-profit housing providers, and efforts to make land available for subsidized housing.

“I have zero interest with replacing blanket rezoning with a new blanket rezoning,” Farkas told reporters. “I want to work legitimately with the community to be able to get this right, take the input that Calgarians are providing us, build the public will, and then deliver the housing Calgarians need.”

The repeal of citywide rezoning will take effect in August, but local developers told Global News the effects are already being felt in the industry.

Shameer Gaidhar with the Calgary Inner City Builders Association (CICBA) said developers will be limited to single-detached or semi-detached redevelopment in established neighbourhoods without requiring a zoning.

“When our members go out and build houses, they build two types of houses: a paper house and a brick-and-mortar house. The paper house can take up to seven months to develop, and the brick-and-mortar house can take another seven months,” Gaidhar said. “The chances of you getting a development permit by August is really slim so a lot of people said, ‘Nope, we’re waiting until a replacement plan comes down.’”

According to Ward 4 Coun. DJ Kelly, who voted in favour of repealing citywide rezoning, a replacement plan could take up to 18 months to complete following an overhaul to the city’s development plan as well as the zoning bylaw.

Kelly said he plans to bring forward a motion to boost the use of local area plans to help guide redevelopment in established communities as part of a replacement strategy.

“We have to get to work on increasing the amount of local area planning that we’re doing as a city in order to be able to codify exactly where that density belongs in our neighbourhoods,” he told reporters.

City councils have approved eight local area plans so far, with another three currently under development; the city’s goal is to complete 42 plans across the city.

According to Kelly, there are 25,000 fewer people living in Ward 4 since its historical population peak, and housing advocates are “not wrong” in their calls for a replacement to citywide rezoning.

“We need to bring more people back into the community in order to keep our schools open, in order to provide reliable transit. Those are things you need a population density to be able to do,” Kelly told reporters. “They’re definitely right in terms of this can’t be the end.”

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

Kevin Warsh’s wealth eclipses that of all recent Federal Reserve chairs, newly released financial disclosure forms show.

Warsh is President Donald Trump’s nominee to succeed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. His financial filings show that Warsh has holdings of approximately $131 million to $209 million, plus hundreds of millions in additional assets held by his wife, Jane Lauder.

That would make Warsh significantly richer than Powell, who, at the time of his 2018 confirmation, was thought to be the wealthiest Fed chair in history. Powell’s most recent filing, for 2025, shows wealth between $19 million and $75 million.

Warsh also disclosed $10 million in income from his work as an advisor to investor Stanley Druckenmiller, which Warsh has jokingly called his “day job.” He earned some $3 million in additional income from work at Stanford University, where he is a fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution, and for a handful of Wall Street firms.

Warsh’s filings detail roughly 1,800 individual assets. Many individual items are identified as being subject to “pre-existing confidentiality obligations” that prevent him from specifying the underlying assets.

Warsh in the filings pledges to divest these assets if confirmed.

His filings also indicate he will resign from board seats at UPS and South Korean retail giant Coupang, as well as his other jobs.

Lauder sits on the board of Estee Lauder, the cosmetics firm founded by her grandmother. Warsh’s filings detail tens of millions of assets in her name, but many are listed as simply “over $1,000,000.” Forbes estimates her wealth at $1.9 billion.

Not all past Fed chairs have been vastly wealthy. Earlier in his career, Warsh served a term as a Fed governor under then-Chair Ben Bernanke. When Bernanke stepped down from the Fed in 2014, his filings listed assets of, at most, $2.3 million — mostly in retirement funds.

Filing his financial disclosures puts Warsh one step closer to a Senate hearing. A prior plan to hold that hearing this week had to be delayed after a holdup with the paperwork. A hearing would take place next week at the earliest.

Warsh’s path to a full Senate vote is still unclear, however. Sen. Thom Tillis, R.-N.C., has said he will block final approval of Warsh’s candidacy until a federal criminal probe into Powell is resolved. Tillis is also a member of the Senate Banking Committee.

Warsh declined to comment.

The Liberals will return to the House of Commons with a majority government — its first since 2019 — after sweeping three byelections Monday night.

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government now has 174 seats in the House, and has become the first federal government in the nation’s history to switch from a minority to a majority between elections.

While the byelection victories in University–Rosedale, Scarborough Southwest and Terrebonne helped secured that achievement, Carney’s government has been aided by five opposition MPs who crossed the floor to the Liberals in recent months.

Once the Liberals’ new MPs are sworn into office, the government will have far greater control and reduce the chance of an early election. The next federal election doesn’t have to be called until 2029.

“Tonight, voters have placed their trust in the new government’s plan,” Carney said on social media after the results came in.

“We are building a stronger economy to make life more affordable, to create high-paying jobs, to take care of each other and to determine our own future.”

0:23
Conservative MP overheard on hot mic telling reporters that the Liberals are ‘…trying to poach me’

Under Carney, who was elected Liberal leader in March 2025 following the resignation of Justin Trudeau, the party was elected to a fourth straight government mandate last April with 169 seats, just shy of the 172 needed for a majority.

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Several Liberal MPs have retired since then, fluctuating the seat count. Two of those retirees, Chrystia Freeland and Bill Blair, prompted the byelections in their respective former ridings of University–Rosedale and Scarborough Southwest.

The byelection in Terrebonne was triggered after the Supreme Court of Canada nullified Tatiana Auguste’s one-vote win for the Liberals over incumbent Bloc Québécois MP Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné in the general election. The court sided with a Bloc challenge that highlighted a mail-in ballot processing error.

Auguste, Danielle Martin (University-Rosedale) and Dolly Begum (Scarborough Southwest) were the Liberal candidates who won their byelections Monday.

“The Carney Liberals did not win a majority government through a general election or today’s byelections,” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said in a social media statement.

“Instead, it was won through backroom deals with politicians who betrayed the people who voted for them.”

While Poilievre has warned against giving the Liberals “unchecked power” with a majority, political experts say there will still be ways to hold Carney and his government to account — both within and outside the Liberal caucus.

“Mr. Carney still has to keep that majority together, he still has to keep the votes within the Liberal caucus on his side,” Stewart Prest, a political science lecturer at the University of British Columbia, told Global News.

— with files from Sean Boynton, Uday Rana and The Canadian Press

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

Congressional Democrats want President Donald Trump out of the White House, but they are not on the same page about how or when to act.

More than five dozen Democrats have called for Trump’s impeachment, but that push is likely dead on arrival absent GOP support.

Others want Trump’s Cabinet and Vice President JD Vance to effectively usurp him by invoking the 25th Amendment, which has never been used to oust a sitting president in the nearly 60 years since the amendment was ratified.

FLASHBACK: DEMS WANT TO BOOT TRUMP WITH 25TH AMENDMENT, BUT REFUSED TO DO SO UNDER BIDEN

Representative Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, left, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, walk to speak to members of the media following a meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, Sept. 29, 2025. (Annabelle Gordon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Most Democrats aren’t admitting the political realities of either option, and their typically unified front is showing cracks as they debate how best to push back against the administration.

“I don’t think it is the best use of our time,” Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., said last week at a news conference when asked about impeachment. “Let us get into the majority, let us get a Senate majority and then hold this president to account.”

“All options should be on the table,” Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., a member of House Democratic leadership, said following Dean’s comments.

Top Democrats in both chambers are not in direct alignment, either.

TRUMP IRAN THREAT SPARKS CALLS FOR HIS OUSTER, BUT ONE DEM SAYS EFFORT ‘NOT REALISTIC’

President Donald Trump arrives to speak about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/Pool via AP Photo)

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has stopped short of calling for either impeachment or the 25th Amendment, instead pushing for another war powers resolution vote this week to rein in Trump’s authorities in Iran.

“Congress must reassert its authority, especially at this dangerous moment,” Schumer said. “No president, Democrat or Republican, should take this country to war alone — not now, not ever. Republicans will once again have the opportunity to join Democrats and end this reckless war of choice.”

Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has appeared to encourage removal conversations among House Democrats and touted a caucus-wide briefing on the 25th Amendment led by Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., last week.

“Shockingly, Donald Trump threatened to escalate his war of choice in a profane Easter Sunday rant and to eradicate an entire civilization,” Jeffries wrote in a “Dear Colleague” letter. “We will continue to unleash maximum pressure on Republicans to put patriotic duty over party loyalty and join Democrats in stopping the madness.”

The 25th Amendment has a much higher threshold for success than impeachment, given that it would require Vance, most of Trump’s Cabinet, and two-thirds of both chambers of Congress to align to remove Trump.

TRUMP’S THREAT TO END IRANIAN ‘CIVILIZATION’ SPARKS UPROAR ON CAPITOL HILL

WASHINGTON – DECEMBER 5: Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., arrives for the House Ways and Means Committee “Hearing with the IRS Whistleblowers: Hunter Biden Investigation Obstruction in Their Own Words” in the Longworth House Office Building on Tuesday, December 5, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc.)

Impeachment would have to start in the House, and it’s unlikely that formal proceedings against Trump would even begin under House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

But that hasn’t stopped Democrats from trying. Late last year, Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, forced votes on two articles of impeachment against Trump, and nearly two dozen Democrats joined Republicans to kill the effort.

Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., filed 13 articles of impeachment against Trump last week, citing the president’s military intervention in Venezuela, the deployment of National Guard troops to cities across the country, and his executive order to curtail birthright citizenship, among other charges.

It is unclear whether Larson, who is facing a heated primary challenge from a decades-younger opponent, will force a vote on his resolution.

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In the Senate, even fewer lawmakers are calling for drastic measures against Trump. Only a handful — including Sens. Andy Kim, D-N.J., Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore. — have called for impeachment or the 25th Amendment.

“I mean, he’s unfit for office,” Kim said. “I think the 25th Amendment, and if not, then impeachment.”

It’s also a desire that Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., contended was “not realistic right now, given his oddball Cabinet of sycophants and eccentrics.”

“We’re going to have to buckle down and win this the old-fashioned way,” Whitehouse said.

The Ford government’s decision to keep trustees in place long-term — albeit with limited powers — will not mean the end of supervision at eight Ontario school boards, the education minister says.

But, despite keeping direct control of some of the largest school boards in the province, Paul Calandra said people should run for election to take their place if and when he ends supervision at the boards.

If candidates decide not to run, the minister said Monday, he’ll select people to fill the vacancies.

“If people choose not to run for that position and want to wait until we return the supervised boards to trustees, that’s fine,” he said. “The ministry has the statutory powers to fill those vacancies.”

On Monday, Calandra unveiled his long-awaited education reforms, keeping trustees in place across public, Catholic and French boards, but limiting their pay, expenses and say over the board’s annual budget.

The education minister said the new changes would not lead to an immediate end to supervision, with government appointees still running eight boards, including Toronto public, Toronto Catholic, Ottawa-Carleton, Peel public and Dufferin-Peel Catholic.

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“Those boards will remain under supervision for as long as it takes to put them back on the right track,” Calandra told reporters.

Elections for new trustees will take place in October, with only Toronto public seeing a cut to the number of trustees sitting on its board.

Even for boards that are under supervision, ballots will be cast for trustees. Those who win elections at supervised jobs will not receive any pay or responsibility until the government decides to end supervision.

Jill Promoli, an elected school board trustee in the Peel District School Board, said over the course of the provincial takeover, elected officials have heard very little from the Minister of Education directly.

“I have had no communication from the Minister of Education, absolutely nothing. So there doesn’t seem to be any respect from this minister for the elected role of trustee,” Promoli said.

The PDSB trustee was first elected in 2022, at a time when her board was under supervision following investigations into racism and discrimination in early 2020.

“This is the funny thing, too, putting boards under supervision is not a new thing,” she said.

“The Peel District School Board was under supervision, but trustees were not out of their roles. They had a diminished role, but they were still there. They were still able to attend meetings. They were supporting their community. And so when I was elected, I was selected to a board under supervision.”

The changes Calandra has tabled will reduce trustee responsibility over key financial decisions, something he said would “potentially” pave the way to ending supervision.

“But, as I said, there’s a lot of challenges in each of the supervised boards, for a lot of different reasons, not just financially,” he added.

“One board that you saw trustee infighting — more than one board — where trustee infighting basically was costing millions of dollars, in other instances, they were ignoring conflict of interest issues. They’re under supervision for a number of reasons.”

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

Christine Fréchette, newly elected Coalition Avenir Québec leader and premier-designate, has a bit more than five months to revive her party before the provincial elections, and to define herself in a crowded political field.

Her election over the weekend to replace departing premier François Legault comes at a precarious moment for her party, which is deeply unpopular after back-to-back majority mandates. Polling aggregator Qc125 predicts the CAQ, which Legault had positioned as a right-leaning nationalist but federalist party, is on track to win zero seats on Oct. 5.

“I feel a bit nervous because it’s my first day in my new role as premier,” Fréchette told reporters upon her arrival on Monday at the premier’s office in Quebec City. “It’s a wonderful challenge, an immense challenge, and I feel truly moved to be entrusted with this responsibility.”

2:32
What’s next for Quebec with Fréchette at the helm?

First elected in 2022, Fréchette held the immigration and economy portfolios under Legault. The coming months will be decisive: she is already known to Quebecers but will need to quickly build a political program in contrast to the other parties that are way ahead in the polls, says political scientist Éric Bélanger. And she’ll need to define her leadership while distinguishing herself from Legault’s legacy, Bélanger, McGill professor and co-holder of research chair on democracy, social cohesion and shared values in Quebec, said in an interview Monday.

“She has to step out of his shadow,” he said.

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The challenge is compounded by increasing competition for votes — Fréchette will need to fend off attempts by the Parti Québécois and the Conservatives to court disaffected CAQ voters, Bélanger said.

Much of her campaign focused on economic issues — an area where Bélanger said she appears most comfortable — including reopening the debate around shale gas and hydraulic fracturing. “She presents herself as someone concerned about the economic situation, about affordability,” he said. “But also she wants to appear as someone reliable.”

That positioning could also make it harder for her to distinguish herself from Liberal Leader Charles Milliard, who is also emphasizing economic credibility.

During the leadership campaign, she seemed more shaky on nationalist ground compared to her leadership challenger, Bernard Drainville, whom she beat on Sunday with almost 58 per cent of the vote. Drainville had positioned himself as the best suited to defend Quebecers’ language and culture.

On Monday, PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon took to social media to address Quebec nationalists who may no longer see themselves in a party run by Fréchette. “To all nationalists who care deeply about defending Quebec values, your place is with the Parti Québécois.”

Meanwhile, Conservative Leader Eric Duhaime attacked the CAQ’s right flank, suggesting the party had borrowed much of his ideas, including on resource exploitation. “I’m extending a hand to all Quebecers who want to rethink the bureaucratic model and increase Quebec’s power within the Canadian Confederation.”

Bélanger also pointed to parallels with federal politics, suggesting Fréchette may be aiming to replicate the kind of party reset seen with Prime Minister Mark Carney, who helped revive the federal Liberals last year after taking over from an unpopular leader by emphasizing economic credibility.

”Will we see a ‘Fréchette effect’?” he asked.

But Bélanger cautioned that Quebec’s political landscape is fragmented, with multiple competitive parties, rather than a largely two-party dynamic between the Conservatives and Liberals at the federal level.

“If the CAQ comes back, it becomes a three-way race,” he said. “But the question is: where will those votes come from?”

Aggregator Qc125 puts the Liberals and PQ neck and neck, within the margin of error of most recent polls. The CAQ is fourth, behind the Conservatives.

Beyond strategy, those who have worked with Fréchette described someone known for her discipline and attention to detail. Stéphane Paquet, president and CEO of Montréal International, an agency focused on attracting foreign investment to the Montreal area — and Fréchette’s former employer — described her as ”studious.”

“She’s someone who knows her files, reads her briefings and comes back with good questions,” he said, adding that her work style reminded him of former Quebec premier Pauline Marois, whom he also worked with during his career. Marois is the only other woman to serve as Quebec premier, with the PQ from 2012-14.

For Paquet, Fréchette’s decision to enter politics reflects a broader motivation. “If you look at her path, she’s someone who wants to make a difference,” he said.

Jean-Denis Charest, who succeeded Fréchette as head of the Chambre de commerce de l’Est de Montréal, a business association that promotes economic development in the city’s east end, offered a similar assessment. She demonstrated a strong command of her files and ensured a smooth transition when she left the role, he said.

“She was very generous and had a real concern for continuity and the success of the organization,” he said, noting she remained available for advice even after her departure.

Fréchette served as president and CEO of the Chambre de commerce de l’Est de Montréal from 2016 until entering politics in 2022. Charest also pointed to her leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she oversaw the organization through a period of economic uncertainty for local businesses.

At the same time, he said he saw a side of her personality that is less visible publicly. “She has a dry sense of humour and a quick wit,” he said.

Fréchette is to be sworn as the second CAQ leader in the 15-year history of the party, before the Quebec legislature resumes early next month, but a date has not yet been officially set.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 13, 2026.

— With files from Thomas Laberge and Patrice Bergeron

Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., announced he was planning to resign from Congress following sexual misconduct allegations, leading top Senate Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., to praise the decision.

Meanwhile, Republicans are questioning how much top Democrats knew before the final ball dropped Monday with Swalwell’s resignation, which came just days after he suspended his California gubernatorial campaign.

Swalwell said Monday that he was “deeply sorry” to his family, staff and constituents for his “mistakes,” but stood headstrong in calling the sexual misconduct and abuse allegations against him “false.”

“I am aware of efforts to bring an immediate expulsion vote against me and other members,” Swalwell said in his announcement. “Expelling anyone from Congress without due process, within days of an allegation being made, is wrong. But, it’s also wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties. Therefore, I plan to resign my seat in Congress.”

SWALWELL CAMPAIGN SETS OFF ALARM BELLS AFTER ACCEPTING $25K DONATION FROM CCP-TIED LAWYER: ‘OUTRAGEOUS’

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, speaks during a Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, Jan. 14, 2025. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“It was a good decision,” added Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., when asked about Swalwell’s resignation. “You don’t have to be a rocket science to figure that out. It’s terrible – what has been alleged.”

Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., reportedly told CNN that he thought Swalwell made the right decision. 

Swalwell’s decision to resign keeps Democrats from having to vote on a contentious resolution to expel Swalwell, which was expected to happen if he had not resigned. 

“With a criminal investigation in the works, the move will avoid the need to answer questions immediately in an ethics investigation that might present legal dangers,” George Washington University professor and Fox News legal analyst Jonathan Turley pointed out. “Few defense attorneys would relish a client responding to an open-ended ethics investigation when the outcome seems likely expulsion.”

When asked whether she had requested Swalwell resign, Pelosi reportedly responded, “Oh, I think that was his decision. I think it’s a smart decision to make,” according to Politico reporter Riley Rogerson. 

Furthermore, when asked whether she had any previous idea about the sexual misconduct allegations, Pelosi responded, “none whatsoever,” Rogerson also noted. Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., a longtime friend and colleague of Arizona who faced heat for defending him, said minutes before Swalwell’s resignation that he “had no knowledge of the allegations of assault, harassment, and predatory behavior against Eric Swalwell.” 

‘USEFUL PUPPET’: ERIC SWALWELL IN THE HOT SEAT AFTER TRAVELING TO DOHA ON SEVERAL QATAR-SPONSORED TRIPS 

Warren, who ran against Swalwell during the pairs’ bids for the presidency, said she is “glad that [Swalwell] will be gone,” adding that “people who are in positions of power and authority over others need to be held accountable when they take advantage of that position.”

Within an hour after Swalwell’s announcement that he would resign, one of Swalwell’s colleagues in the House of Representatives, Rep. Tony Gonzalez, R-Texas, followed suit and resigned as well amid similar allegations of sexual improprieties. 

“There is a season for everything and God has a plan for us all. When Congress returns tomorrow, I will file my retirement from office. It has been my privilege to serve the great people of Texas,” Gonzales said.

Reps. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, and Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., have both been embroiled in sexual misconduct allegations from accusers. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc; Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images )

Gonzalez last month said he would not run for reelection, so it is uncertain what may change. If Gonzalez and Swalwell left tomorrow, the slim margin in the House between Republicans and Democrats would not change. 

Republican reactions to Swalwell’s resignation Monday mirrored the praise from Democrats. Republican frontrunner in the California gubernatorial race Steve Hilton also slammed “career politicians” for letting Swalwell “get away with it.” 

“Of course Eric Swalwell had to drop out of the California governor’s race. The question is, why was he ever in it, knowing he had all this going on?” Hilton told Fox News Digital. 

“First smart thing he’s done,” said Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who added that Gonzales “needs to follow his lead” right before he actually did.

“Eric, you did the right thing by resigning. However, don’t you dare say there weren’t grounds for your expulsion, because there absolutely were,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., said after Swalwell’s announcement he would be resigning. “He made the correct decision, but there still needs to be a full-fledged criminal investigation. Based on what I’m hearing, he may go to jail.”

Rep Swalwell plays basketball in pool during 2025 government shutdown. (Eric Swalwell via X)

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Other Republicans questioned how much Democrats knew before the allegations of sexual misconduct became public against Swalwell.

“The mainstream media doesn’t attack a Democrat unless it helps a separate Democrat. It’s axiomatic. The Swalwell episode proves that in technicolor,” John Ashbrook, a co-host of the “Ruthless” podcast told Fox News Digital. “If he wasn’t jeopardizing their party’s ability to hold the California Governor’s mansion, none of them would have said a word.”

“Eric Swalwell should’ve been removed from Congress long ago, yet Democrats rallied around him over and over even after it was shown he was compromised by a Chinese spy,” added Republican strategist Mark Bednar, who has worked for former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and current Transportation Secretary and former Congressman Sean Duffy. “The real questions for Democrats close to him are what did they know, when did they know it, and will they question then-Speaker Pelosi’s judgment regarding Swalwell’s committee assignments?”

Hilton echoed Bednar’s questions about how much top Democrats knew.

“Machine politicians and unions that endorsed Swalwell and threw money at him — they knew about his past. It was an open secret on Capitol Hill and Sacramento. Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, the teacher unions, SEIU  — they are all totally full of it with their fake outrage and condemnation,” Hilton told Fox News Digital. “California is ruled by a corrupt Democrat elite that is collapsing into chaos, sleaze and scandal. That’s why the Swalwell stand-ins that they send to run against me in the general election, whether it’s Katie Porter or Tom Steyer, will be no better.”

Alberta’s government is laying the legislative groundwork to let more people pay in order to bypass their doctor to get faster access to everything from CT scans to blood tests.

Primary Health Minister Adriana LaGrange introduced a Bill 29, the Health Statutes Amendment Act, 2026 on Monday that, if passed, will allow for rules to fast-track some medical tests without a referral from a health practitioner.

LaGrange said it’s the first step in a previously announced plan to expand privately delivered medical tests.

“This is about adding capacity, not replacing our public system,” LaGrange told reporters Monday before introducing the bill.

“It’s about giving Albertans more control over their health while maintaining the strong public health-care system that we all rely on.”

She said right now, too many Albertans are waiting too long for diagnostic testing.

“Early treatment is often simpler, more effective and less invasive, and it also leads to better outcomes for patients and less pressure on our health-care system,” she said.

LaGrange declined to say which specific medical tests may be included, or how the province may reimburse costs.

She said those details will be clarified in regulations that will be crafted in the coming months.

She confirmed that the government’s plan, announced in October, “hasn’t changed,” although the province may start with “just one or two things and then build on it.”

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In a video released in the fall, Premier Danielle Smith and LaGrange said reforms will permit Albertans to purchase any private diagnostic screening and testing service they wish.

2:09
Alberta introduces dual health-care system allowing more private options

“This includes MRIs, CT scans, full body scans, bloodwork — you name it,” said LaGrange in the video.

“Health professionals and medical organizations will be free to offer these services privately, and supplemental health benefit plans will be able to insure them,” she said.

She added that province aims to spur a flood of investment and health professionals into the province.

Smith said at the time if a privately purchased test identifies a new life-threatening condition, the government will reimburse the costs of that test.

2:16
Will Alberta’s public-private health approach reduce wait times? A deeper look into dual-model practice

On Monday, LaGrange stressed that medically necessary tests ordered by physicians will still be publicly covered and will always get priority across the province.

She said because people will be paying for tests, there will be a market for private providers to meet increased demands.

However, critics have said the plan risks dragging the province into a two-tiered system, siphoning critical staff from public hospitals and exacerbating lengthy wait times in the public system.

The province says current access to publicly funded preventive testing with no out-of-pocket payments requires referrals from a doctor, nurse practitioner, physiotherapist or dentist. Some private clinics and health facilities already provide preventive testing services, but most still require provider referrals.

There are also publicly funded self-referral screening programs delivered through private clinics, including for mammograms, with no out-of-pocket costs.

1:58
Alberta tables legislation to expand private health care

&copy 2026 The Canadian Press

Canada’s provinces and territories plan to create a single nationwide standard for workplace training that Ontario’s labour minister touts as a “one Canada, one standard” plan.

The plan will see the 13 jurisdictions work to harmonize training for working at heights and mobile lifts by Jan. 1, 2027.

The proposal was put forward by Minister David Piccini and endorsed by all provinces and territories, along with the federal Secretary of State for Labour John Zerucelli.

“I think it was a fundamental recognition that a certification earned anywhere should mean something everywhere and that provincial borders shouldn’t be provincial barriers,” Piccini told Global News in an interview on Monday.

The provinces and territories will also consult on training for hoisting and rigging, plus trenching and shoring, by the same date. In addition, work will be done on certifications for construction supervisors and entry-level workers by May 2027.

Due to retraining requirements, a construction project in need of 1,500 out-of-province workers could lead to as much as $270,000 in costs and about 10,500 hours in lost productivity, according to an Ontario government official, who spoke on background.

Piccini told Global News that factors like U.S. tariffs mean action must be taken amid the push for nation-building projects.

“We were really united in our shared commitment to nation build and to put forward a proposal of one Canada, one standard for health and safety harmonization,” Piccini said.

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Service Hospitality educating youth on workplace safety

Canada’s Building Trades Unions (CBTU) encouraged harmonization during Friday’s meeting, telling the ministers a “political momentum” was needed to ensure it happens quickly.

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“We all know that in the current economic and geopolitical context, Canada needs to build a more diverse, resilient and efficient economy. Governments, private and public sector organizations, and unions: we all bear part of the responsibility for driving this progress forward,” said CBTU executive director Sean Strickland.

Strickland went on to note Canada’s premiers had committed to advancing labour mobility by prioritizing health and safety standards in the construction industry by fall 2026.

Zerucelli told Global News that training for working at height and mobile elevating work platforms were chosen as the ones to harmonize first because of stakeholders, including the workers themselves.

“Everybody has different working-at-heights regulations, it’s something that people can gravitate to and it’s something that stakeholders themselves said would be a challenge,” Zerucelli said in an interview. “It was driven by workers about something that they were seeing, about the costs that were connected to construction companies, to unions, to workers.”

Harmonization does have its limits, according to the Canadian Construction Association, if underlying issues aren’t also tackled.

“While these efforts could result in some reduction in training costs for employers, those savings are likely to be eclipsed by the rising costs of construction materials and business operations as a result of domestic and international economic circumstances,” said Rodrigue Gilbert, president of the association, in an emailed statement.

He went on to say the industry is facing a shortage of approximately 108,000 workers over the next 10 years and urged the government to streamline entry into the sector.

Piccini said he recognizes some may be concerned the move could “weaken” standards, but said even these first steps move things forward.

“How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time,” he said.

The ministers will meet again in the fall in Nova Scotia and then in Saskatchewan in the spring to discuss the progress made.

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