Premier Scott Moe says more air supports are coming to Saskatchewan to fight wildfires
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WATCH: As wildfires continue to burn across northern Saskatchewan, more help is on the way to support firefighters in battling the blazes.
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43 minutes ago
- CTV News
An N.L. man's remains have gone unclaimed for years. These two want to bring him home
Cousins Gord French and Pauline Yetman host a fundraiser to provide for a burial for the unclaimed body of a community member. The fundraiser on Saturday May 31, 2025 was held at Route 66, a pub and diner owned by Yetman in Carbonear. A second event is planned for later at French's premises. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Daly ST. JOHN'S — Two Newfoundland bar owners are raising money to help bury a man whose name is on a newly released list of 26 people who died in the province and were left unclaimed — some for more than three years. Gord French said he was confused and heartbroken to see Rendell Crane among the list of deceased people being kept in freezers in St. John's by Newfoundland and Labrador's health authority. The list published last week said Crane died in Harbour Grace, N.L., on Dec. 13, 2023. He was 72. 'He was a wonderful person,' French, the owner of Easton's 1602 Pub in Harbour Grace, said in an interview. 'You know a really good person, somebody who smiles and is just a sweetheart? That's Rendell Crane.' Crane's wife was buried in Harbour Grace in 2007, he said, and Rendell's name is on the gravestone in a cemetery in the heart of the small fishing community. French has teamed up with Pauline Yetman, who owns the Route 66 Diner and Pub in nearby Carbonear, N.L., to raise enough money to lay Crane to rest next to his wife. 'He is a member of our community,' Yetman said. 'He should be home.' Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services published the list online on May 28 after more than a year of media reports about the number of unclaimed bodies being kept in storage freezers at a hospital complex in St. John's. The list was published according to new legislation allowing the health authority to bury or cremate unclaimed remains if a search for someone to take responsibility them is unsuccessful. It contains names of 26 deceased people across the province who haven't been claimed, along with their age and the date and location of their death. All but three were older than 65. 'If you are a relative, friend, or someone who wishes to claim the remains, please contact us,' the web page says. The roster has triggered a kind of collective grief. Many have posted it to social media, prompting comments from people expressing shock and sadness that so many have been left alone in death. Bev Fraize was angry to see her friend since childhood, Suzanne Bennett, on the list. Fraize has been trying to claim and bury Bennett since her death in February at the age of 62. Officials had previously 'stonewalled' her because she is not Bennett's official next of kin, Fraize said. 'She always called me her sister,' Fraize said in an interview. 'I was listed as her next of kin at the hospital because I always got calls about her appointments.' Bennett was generous and kind, sometimes to a fault, Fraize said. 'She had it hard, but she always had a smile on her face.' Fraize had given up her efforts to claim her friend's remains, but resumed them 'immediately' after seeing Bennett's name on the list, she said. She emailed the health authority and someone responded saying officials would be in touch, she said. Ron Johnson, the health authority's chief operating officer, said officials will try to work with anyone who steps forward, including friends and community members. He would not comment on specific cases. 'The goal here is to work with them to help get these people a dignified burial,' Johnson told reporters in St. John's. He said he didn't know why so many people were left alone after they died. 'I don't know what's happening,' he said. 'This issue is happening all over the country, where there's more people being unclaimed.' On Saturday afternoon, people packed Yetman's pub to sing and play music at a fundraiser for Crane's burial. The event raised about $600, she said. French is hosting a fundraiser at his pub this week. She and French are in touch with members of Crane's family, who have begun the paperwork to claim his remains. The money raised at their pubs will go to Crane's family to help pay for a small service and burial, Yetman said. Any money left over will go to the local funeral home to help other families who need help to bury a loved one. 'No one should be in a morgue for two years,' Yetman said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 2, 2025. Sarah Smellie, The Canadian Press
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
‘Mission impossible': Why the Bank of Canada faces ‘risky' June rate decision
The Bank of Canada is set for an interest rate decision on Wednesday. Tiff Macklem, governor of the central bank, holds a press conference at the Bank of Canada in Ottawa on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick OTTAWA — OTTAWA — Few would confuse Hollywood action star Tom Cruise with Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem. But while Cruise rides a plane in tailspin to his latest box office smash, some economists say Macklem finds himself in his own high-stakes circumstances with the central bank's interest rate decision on Wednesday. Macklem's mission is to chart a path for interest rates that keeps Canada's economy afloat at a precarious moment without straying from its inflation-taming mandate. 'It really is mission impossible,' said Andrew DiCapua, principal economist at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. The latest data show price pressures could be building up again in Canada at the same time some economists warn of a tariff-induced slowdown on the horizon, pulling monetary policy in opposite directions. 'The bank really is in a difficult position here, but they really should be resuming rate cuts to get their interest rates lower to somewhere around two per cent, again, to cushion the Canadian economy for what's to come,' DiCapua argued. The Bank of Canada's policy rate stands at 2.75 per cent following a pause at the central bank's last decision in April, snapping a streak of seven consecutive cuts. Most economists expect the central bank will hold rates again on Wednesday. In April, Macklem said the Bank of Canada would pause issuing any formal forecasts and be less forward-looking than usual until it gained more certainty on how the economy would react to ever-shifting tariff threats. President Donald Trump threw a new wrench into the gears of global trade late Friday when he announced plans to double existing tariffs on steel and aluminum entering the United States to 50 per cent starting Wednesday. After Statistics Canada reported a surprisingly strong 2.2 per cent annualized rise in real gross domestic product for the first quarter on Friday, money markets were betting overwhelmingly in favour of another rate hold this week. BMO last week firmed up its call for another hold in response to the latest economic data, now projecting a cut to instead come in July. 'The key point here is that the GDP figures are sending no obvious distress signals so far in 2025,' BMO chief economist Doug Porter said in a note to clients. But the question for some economists isn't what the economy has done — it's what comes next. The Bank of Canada's own surveys of businesses published in early April showed sentiment was 'sharply' lower amid the tariff uncertainty, with many firms putting investment and hiring plans on hold. StatCan said the main reason Canada's economy was growing in the first quarter was because many businesses were trying to rush ahead of the tariffs, ramping up exports and stockpiling inventories. Macklem said at the G7 Finance Ministers' Summit in Kananaskis, Alta., last month that the Bank of Canada was expecting a run-up in economic activity in the first quarter, but that the months that follow 'will be quite a bit weaker.' 'They're really waiting for a shoe to drop, so to speak,' said DiCapua. There were early signs of economic pain in the April jobs figures released last month, with the trade-sensitive manufacturing sector contracting by roughly 31,000 positions and the unemployment rate rising two ticks to 6.9 per cent. A slowing economy usually takes the steam out of inflation as Canadians swap spending for saving, but April inflation data showed underlying price pressures were instead heating up. Cutting interest rates can encourage businesses and consumers to spend — mitigating an economic hit — but also risks fuelling inflationary pressures. 'Outside of the current situation that we're in, I would say that the Bank of Canada should be holding interest rates,' DiCapua said. 'But the data that we are seeing come in, especially through the labour market ... is going to move the Canadian economy into a very weak position that should keep prices at bay. So it's kind of a risky balance here.' Stephen Brown, deputy chief North America economist at Capital Economics, said he expects the central bank will deliver three more quarter-point cuts at every other decision to bring the policy rate down to two per cent before the end of the year. 'Our view at Capital Economics is that it's worth cutting again in June as insurance against those downside risks and try and protect the economy a bit,' he said. There are also 'psychological' reasons for a June cut, Brown argued. Should the Bank of Canada keep rates elevated, businesses and consumers may hold back even more on their spending decisions, which can become a self-fulfilling prophecy that weakens the economy. 'If the bank doesn't cut here, because they're still very concerned about inflation, that's telling businesses and consumers that the bank doesn't necessarily have their back,' Brown said. CIBC chief economist Avery Shenfeld is among those calling for a rate hold this week. He said he sees the case for an interest rate cut too, but doesn't think the Bank of Canada's June decision is its final reckoning. 'No one interest rate decision in isolation would ever be a fatal error one way or the other, but I think the clock will start to tick louder on getting some interest rate relief if the economy remains soft,' Shenfeld said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 2, 2025. Craig Lord, The Canadian Press
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Premiers huddle with Carney in Saskatoon to decide what major projects to prioritize
Prime Minister Mark Carney, front left, walks alongside Francois Legault, Premier of Quebec, as they are joined by first ministers as they arrives to take part in the First Minister Meeting at the National War Museum in Ottawa on Friday, March 21, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld SASKATOON — Canada's premiers are meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney in person for the first time since the federal election to pitch which major projects they think should get fast tracked. The recent campaign saw Carney vow to slash federal approval times on major infrastructure projects considered to be in the national interest to help make the country an 'energy superpower.' The full list of big industrial projects they're discussing is being kept secret, since they don't want to send a bad signal about anything that doesn't make the short list. But Ontario Premier Doug Ford says his pick is the Ring of Fire mining project in northern Ontario, while Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she wants to see the Port of Prince Rupert become a major trade corridor. The first ministers are also expected to discuss breaking down interprovincial trade barriers, which would make it easier to purchase Canadian-made goods from other provinces and territories. Many provinces, including Quebec and Ontario, are coming to the table with legislation already put forward that would eliminate some of these longstanding blocks to internal trade. With files from Rob Drinkwater in Edmonton This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 2, 2025. Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press
