The prospect of an early election in British Columbia is receding after the government announced that legislation to suspend parts of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act will no longer be a confidence vote.
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Premier David Eby said last week that he was staking his government on the passage of the legislation, but NDP house leader Mike Farnworth says it won’t go before the legislature this week, and when it does it won’t be a confidence measure.
It has been 10 years since B.C. declared a public health emergency of the toxic drug crisis.
Since the emergency was declared, more than 18,000 people have died in B.C. from toxic drugs, with Indigenous people, men and people working in the trades being the most affected.
“This crisis is impacting our entire province, as well as Canada and North America, and has been filled with heartbreak, fear and grief for families, friends and colleagues,” B.C. Health Minister Josie Osborne said in a statement on Monday.
“Each person lost was once a child, someone with a story and a future, a life cut short and a loss that families and communities will carry forever.”
Osborne said the province has introduced programs and supportive housing to help those struggling with drug addiction and enable a quicker response to overdoses.
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“Together, these efforts alongside other factors, such as changes to the drug supply, have contributed to the declining number of deaths caused by toxic drugs from 2,315 in 2024 to 1,826 in 2025,” Osborne said.
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“The BC Centre for Disease Control regularly models the estimated number of death events averted due to harm reduction and opioid agonist treatment interventions. From January 2019 to October 2025, 49,560 death events, or 78 per cent of potential death events, were prevented with take-home naloxone (39,960), observed consumption sites (17,060) and opioid agonist treatment (23,520).”
Marking International Overdose Awareness Day in B.C.
B.C.’s provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, said in a statement that harm-reduction and overdose-prevention services, including overdose prevention sites, drug checking and access to alternative and unregulated drugs, are saving lives.
“Now more than ever, it is essential that we continue to enable access to these services,” she said.
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“At the same time, recovery looks different for everybody and there is no single approach that will end this crisis. Prevention and early intervention, harm reduction, medication-assisted treatment and other evidence-based treatment and recovery services and social supports must be available when people need and are ready for them.”
A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., on Saturday cleared the way for President Donald Trump to temporarily resume construction of his planned White House ballroom, granting a near-term win to the administration as it pushes forward with the nearly $400 million project.
The case stems from a lawsuit filed late last year by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which sought to block the construction. The group argued that the project violates multiple federal laws, including the Administrative Procedure Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, and charged that the plans amounted to executive overreach without required approval from Congress and federal planning bodies.
A lower court judge last month put the project on hold, triggering the administration’s appeal.
TRUMP ADMIN FIGHTS IN COURT TO KEEP WHITE HOUSE EAST WING DEMOLITION, $300M BALLROOM BUILD ON TRACK
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shows a rendering of the White House ballroom to reporters. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, in March issued a preliminary injunction blocking construction of the ballroom, finding the Trump administration likely lacked the legal authority to proceed without congressional approval. He said the government had not shown it had clear authorization to replace parts of the East Wing with a privately funded structure.
Leon’s order paused most construction work on the ballroom, though he allowed activity tied to White House security concerns, and briefly delayed enforcement of his ruling until mid-April, to give the administration time to appeal the case to a higher court.
The Trump administration quickly asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to intervene, arguing that the project is critical to the safety and security of the “president, his family, and White House staff.”
The 2-1 ruling from the circuit court did not immediately side with the Trump administration, but gave it temporary relief.
A majority of judges on the panel said the court needed more explanation from Leon before deciding whether construction should remain blocked.
Specifically, the judges asked Leon to clarify whether stopping the project would harm national security, as the Trump administration claims.
US APPEALS COURT HALTS TRUMP CONTEMPT PROBE ORDERED BY BOASBERG, FOR NOW
President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House. (Alex Brandon/AP)
The appeals court also paused Leon’s order through April 17, giving the Trump administration time to ask the Supreme Court for emergency intervention if it chooses.
For now, the case will return to the district court for further explanation.
Trump first announced plans for the 90,000-square-foot ballroom in July, initially estimating the cost at around $200 million. He has said the project would be funded “100% by me and some friends of mine.”
Lawyers for the administration have pushed back on the lawsuit, arguing the president has authority over White House construction decisions and that Congress does not need to approve the project.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ASKS SUPREME COURT TO REVIEW EL SALVADOR DEPORTATION FLIGHT CASE
The White House demolition process of the East Wing.(The Associated Press)
“No taxpayer dollars are being used for the funding of this beautiful, desperately needed, and completely secure … ballroom,” Justice Department lawyers said in court filings.
They added that past White House expansions, including the East and West Wings, did not require congressional involvement in their design or construction.
The National Trust, meanwhile, maintains the project cannot move forward without complying with federal law and proper review processes.
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The Justice Department declined to comment on the ongoing litigation or whether it plans to seek Supreme Court intervention.
Breanne Deppisch is a national politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI and other national news. She previously covered national politics at the Washington Examiner and The Washington Post, with additional bylines in Politico Magazine, the Colorado Gazette and others. You can send tips to Breanne at Breanne.Deppisch@fox.com, or follow her on X at @breanne_dep.
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., an embattled lawmaker facing a potential expulsion threat, is the target of an investigation by the House Ethics Committee, the panel announced Monday.
At least four women have accused the California Democrat of sexual misconduct, according to multiple reports. The House panel said it is investigating an allegation “that he may have engaged in sexual misconduct toward an employee working under his supervision.”
Swalwell suspended his gubernatorial campaign Sunday night amid widespread backlash following the sexual misconduct allegations.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., has vowed to introduce a resolution this week expelling Swalwell if he does not resign. Some Democrats have said they will support the measure.
A spokesperson for Swalwell did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Conservative member of Parliament Billy Morin says the Liberals are trying to get him to cross the floor, but he has no intention of leaving the Conservative caucus.
Speaking on a hot mic before a press conference on Parliament Hill, Morin asked journalists unprompted: “Do you want to run a story on floor crossing?”
When questioned if he would be the next floor crosser, he responded: “No, they’re trying to poach me.”
While Morin is not seen in the framing of the video recorded from the event, a Global News journalist was in the room and heard Morin speak with reporters.
Global News reached out to Morin’s office for comment but has not yet received a response.
Morin was elected to represent the riding of Edmonton Northwest as a Conservative in the last federal election. He also previously served as the Chief of Enoch Cree Nation.
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Canadians want floor-crossing MPs to face immediate byelections, new polls show
Five MPs have switched political teams to the Liberals in the past five months, including four Conservatives – and there is speculation that more could follow.
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A senior government source tells Global News there are many ongoing conversations between the Liberals and Conservatives to get even more Tories to join the Liberal tent. A Conservative MP also told Global News that they believe more floor crossers will leave the Conservative caucus for the Liberals.
The latest Conservative floor crosser, Marilyn Gladu, changed political stripes just five days ago.
Carney is focused on growing the Liberal tent. But at what cost?
Her switch to the government caucus was widely seen as the most shocking, given her history of supporting socially conservative stances, including restricting abortion, opposing a ban on conversion therapy and supporting the trucker convoy that took over Parliament Hill in 2022.
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Prime Minister Mark Carney defended her switch at the Liberal convention this past weekend and emphasized that she will vote according to his party’s values.
Carney’s government is currently one seat shy of a majority.
Three key by-elections Monday will determine his government’s mandate. Two Toronto-area ridings, University-Rosedale and Scarborough-Southwest, are widely seen as safe Liberal seats that were previously held by former cabinet ministers Chrystia Freeland and Bill Blair.
However, the Montreal-area riding of Terrebonne will be a tight race against the Bloc Québécois.
The Liberals won the seat in the last federal election by a single vote, which was ultimately overturned by the Supreme Court due to mail-in ballot errors.
The Ford government is backing down from its threat to abolish school board trustees in Ontario and will, instead, add limits to their spending, cap the largest boards at 12 members and change how the bureaucracy is managed.
The Putting Student Achievement First Act, tabled by Education Minister Paul Calandra on Monday, changes how school boards in Ontario are run — but leaves elected trustees in place at the public, Catholic and French boards.
“Ontario’s education system must remain focused on its core responsibility: student success,” Calandra said in a statement. “In some school boards, that focus has been lost, and students are paying the price.”
Under the new system, trustees will have less power over the finances of the school boards they run.
The role of elected trustees has been a focus for the minister since he took over the education file last year, sidelining them at eight separate boards and musing about how he could remove them altogether.
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At one point, Calandra said he could remove all English public board trustees in “one fell swoop” if he chose to.
The changes the government unveiled on Monday leave the existing system relatively untouched.
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Trustees will still be elected, but capped at a maximum of 12 per board, with five the minimum. The change, the government said, would only impact the Toronto District School Board, which currently has 22 elected trustees.
The honorarium for trustees will be limited to $10,000, with closer scrutiny of expenses. It would also ban school boards from paying certain fees for trustees to belong to certain organizations and for costs to attend “non-essential” conferences, and limit trustees’ discretionary expenses.
The proposed changes largely leave the role of trustees at French-language boards alone.
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New CEOs get major powers
Within the English and Catholic boards, the government is also changing how the bureaucracy operates.
If the legislation is passed, a new chief executive officer would be in charge of financial decisions, while the chief education officer would handle school decisions. The former would require a business qualification, and the latter would need to have some kind of teaching education.
They would replace the director of education, who is the head of the board’s bureaucracy under the current system.
The new CEO would be in charge of drafting and guiding the new budget through, although elected trustees could still request changes. Officials indicated, however, if trustees made changes the CEO did not approve of, he could push back.
If trustees aren’t able to agree on budgets under the proposed changes, the minister of education could intervene to decide.
A smartphone displays the MarineTraffic app showing numerous ship beacons near the Strait of Hormuz with a satellite view in the background, in Creteil, France, on April 8, 2026.
Samuel Boivin | Nurphoto | Getty Images
The U.S. on Monday said it began blocking ships from entering or exiting Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz, attempting to ratchet up pressure on Iran to reopen the key oil route after peace negotiations collapsed.
As the 10 a.m. ET deadline passed for the blockade to take effect, President Donald Trump warned Iran’s “fast attack ships” not to come near the U.S. forces enforcing the closure.
“If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED, using the same system of kill that we use against the drug dealers on boats at Sea,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “It is quick and brutal.”
A White House official confirmed to CNBC that the blockade has taken effect.
Trump had announced the blockade plan Sunday in a social media post slamming Iran for refusing to give up its nuclear ambitions and accusing Tehran of “WORLD EXTORTION” by continuing to throttle traffic through the strait.
The U.S. blockade, which was set to begin at 10 a.m. ET on Monday, applies to “any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said.
The U.S. Central Command later added the caveat that American forces “will not impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports.”
“The blockade will be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman,” CENTCOM specified.
U.S. stocks sank and oil prices surged ahead of the blockade.
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Trump said in his Truth Social post that other countries will “be involved” with the blockade. But some U.S. allies, including NATO members Britain and France, have already refused to join the effort.
Iranian officials have responded defiantly, warning the U.S. blockade will only drive global energy prices higher.
“Enjoy the current pump figures. With the so-called ‘blockade’, Soon you’ll be nostalgic for $4–$5 gas,” Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said in an X post Sunday.
A fragile U.S.-Iran ceasefire, while not officially scrapped, has been deeply frayed as each side has accused the other of violating the conditions of the truce.
The ceasefire was brokered last week, after Trump issued an ultimatum declaring Iran’s “whole civilization will die” if no deal was reached by Tuesday evening.
U.S. negotiators, including Vice President JD Vance, flew to Islamabad for weekend peace talks with Iran, raising hopes that a deal to end the war was at hand.
But Vance said early Sunday that the U.S. delegation would return home without a deal. After 21 hours of of negotiations, Iran still refused to agree not to seek or develop a nuclear weapon, Vance said.
This is developing news. Please check back for updates.
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A political analyst says British Columbia Premier David Eby faces a “moment of real peril” as legislators return to Victoria this week.
Eby has staked his government on plans to suspend sections of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act for up to three years.
The premier has told First Nations leaders in a recent meeting that he plans to introduce legislation to suspend the sections this week.
Stewart Prest from the University of British Columbia says he does not understand why the premier would risk his office on the issue, and that the plans make a promise by the Conservative Party of B.C. to repeal all of DRIPA more appealing.
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First Nation leaders have voiced opposition to Eby’s plans, and one of them — Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs — has said his wife, NDP legislature member Joan Phillip, won’t be voting for the suspension.
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The B.C. Greens have also signalled their opposition, but Prest says Eby’s government, with its single-seat majority, could still survive a confidence vote by courting the six Independents or finding other arrangements to avoid an election.
The premier has said government faces “very serious litigation risk” from a December court decision known as the Gitxaala ruling.
It says DRIPA should be “properly interpreted” to immediately incorporate the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into B.C. laws.
Eby said in a letter obtained by The Canadian Press that the ruling means every provincial law can be challenged for being inconsistent with the UN declaration.
Three key federal byelections are underway on Monday with Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal Party teetering on the edge of a majority in the House of Commons.
Just over half of Canadians want the federal Liberals to win enough seats in Monday’s byelections to give Carney a majority government, new polling suggests.
The Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News found that 53 per cent of Canadians want the Liberals to form a majority, while 47 per cent are opposed to the idea.
Terrebonne candidates expect a tight race leading up to April 13 federal byelection
The byelections on April 13 are taking place in the ridings of:
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The byelections follow a number of MP departures and controversial ballot counting.
If the Liberals win two of the three byelections, they will hold 173 seats, or 174 seats if they win all three byelections, which would let them pass legislation without needing to rely on the Speaker or on any other parties to support them.
Polls will open from 8:30 am local time to 8:30 pm local time for Scarborough Southwest and 9 am local time to 9 pm local time for University-Rosedale and Terrebonne, Elections Canada said.
Ontario’s jails are running vastly above capacity, according to new data, which shows the oversubscribed corrections system is in a worse place than it was just two years ago.
New documents obtained by Global News using freedom of information laws reveal Ontario’s correctional facilities are operating at an average of 130 per cent full, with just five of the 25 facilities on the list reporting less than 100 per cent occupancy.
The data — which refers to occupancy statistics from October 2025 — shows some parts of Ontario are struggling more than others.
The Sudbury Jail, for example, was at 165.7 per cent capacity, while the Milton-Vanier Centre for Women was at 164 per cent. Occupancy at the South West Detention Centre sat at 158.4 per cent
The Maplehurst Correctional Complex, with 1,525 inmates, was at 137 per cent.
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“The corrections facilities are in crisis today,” Ontario NDP MPP Krysten Wong-Tam told Global News. “It’s not a matter of whether or not we need to wait until they’re 200 per cent over capacity. We’re already at this breaking point.”
The institutions tracked hold people accused of a crime but not out on bail, as well as those serving sentences of two years less a day.
According to the documents, Ontario records the capacity of 25 separate institutions. One was operating at 77 per cent capacity — the only facility to report inmate totals lower than 91 per cent.
Eighty per cent of the institutions tracked were operating over capacity, many by massive margins.
The data shows a marked increase on September 2023, when figures obtained by The Canadian Press put province-wide capacity at 113 per cent. Two years later, Ontario’s jails are 15 per cent further over their planned capacity.
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Maplehurst, which is the subject of an investigation by the province’s Ombudsman, had 1,188 inmates in a facility designed for 887 back in 2023. As of 2025, the government listed its operational capacity at 1,112 — with 1,550-plus inmates crammed inside.
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The overcrowding at Ontario’s jails has partly contributed to a system where experts worry contraband, including drugs, “flows like gravy,” and lockdowns are increasingly regular.
The same data from The Canadian Press found that roughly 80 per cent of all inmates at Ontario’s jails were awaiting trial — and therefore innocent under the country’s legal system.
Howard Sapers, the executive director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, said Ontario’s jails have been “dangerously overcrowded” for decades.
“More than 70 out of every 100 people who are sleeping in an Ontario jail cell tonight haven’t been convicted of an offence,” he said. “This lays waste to the principle of the presumption of innocence. It also lays waste to the argument we have a catch and release system and that our bail is too lenient.”
A spokesperson for the solicitor general’s office did not address questions about how jail capacity continues to worsen, why the province was unprepared for new inmates or how many people are released early as a result of capacity issues.
“Across the province, we are adding over 1,400 new beds in corrections facilities, hiring 2,500 new staff and investing $3 billion to update corrections infrastructure to ensure dangerous criminals are never released due to a lack of space in adult correctional institutions,” they wrote, before referencing the former Liberal government’s pre-2018 policies.
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The province has added at least 267 new beds since 2018, yet capacity issues have still worsened.
“Our government continues to explore new ways to bring more capacity to our corrections facilities faster, and will be unveiling additional expansions in the coming months,” the spokesperson added.
The province is in the midst of a new infrastructure build, planning to add 1,000 new beds to its portfolio, including through modular buildings and conversions, to speed up the process.
Ontario Liberal MPP Karen McCrimmon said the system was in dire condition.
“After eight years, the out-of-touch Ford Conservative Government has left Ontario with a corrections system in crisis,” she wrote in a statement.
“This is what happens when a government gets its priorities wrong. Instead of strengthening essential public services, they’ve allowed the justice system to become dangerously overstretched.”
The government has faced growing questions about its correctional facilities, as it leans into tough-on-crime rhetoric and issues within the system grow.
A high-profile incident at Maplehurst, where inmates were stripped down to their boxer shorts and forced to sit on the floor facing the wall, with their wrists zip-tied together, drew particular attention.
Previously, the Toronto Star released security footage relating to the event, including correctional officers dressed in tactical gear patrolling as inmates sat on the floor.
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The ombudsman’s office said it had received 60 complaints about the incident, including from some directly involved. They also said several inmates have had their sentences reduced because of the incident.
The auditor general also previously found that some of Ontario’s jails are operating at 150 per cent capacity, pointing out that the majority of inmates are awaiting trial and have not been found guilty.
Last year, the ombudsman urgently called on the government to take action.
“Ontario’s correctional system is in urgent need of meaningful, systemic reform — not only to relieve pressure on overcrowded facilities and burned-out staff, but to realign the system with its rehabilitative purpose,” he wrote.
“This is a matter of public safety, human rights, and basic decency. We cannot afford to ignore it any longer.”
