Soda, juice, and other sugar-sweetened beverages will get cheaper on July 1
The sweet taste of tax relief is coming to Newfoundland and Labrador. The sugar-sweetened beverage tax has been a sticky issue in provincial politics. Now, government says the tax will be gone on July 1st.
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CBC
10 minutes ago
- CBC
Sask. auditor's latest report urges action on opioid crisis, transitional housing
The latest report from Saskatchewan's provincial auditor outlines concerns around the growing opioid crisis, transitional housing for victims in interpersonal violence and oversight of school divisions. Tara Clemett spoke about her findings at a news conference Tuesday. Clemett pointed to the rise in drug toxicity deaths across the province due to the prevalent use of substances like fentanyl. She said people trying to get into outpatient treatment programs including Opioid Agonist Therapy (OAT) and Rapid Access to Addictions Medicine (RAAM) — directly operated by the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) — are having to wait. According to a release from the Clemett's office, patients seeking treatment waited an average of four days in Kamsack, nearly five days in Saskatoon and just over a day in Regina. Good practice recommends clients wait no more than three days, the release added. "When we did our own testing, we did find Saskatoon and Kamsack are not necessarily hitting good practice in terms of someone coming to seek help from a prescriber and seeing them within three days," Clemett said. "The authority needs that information so it can make decisions and know where there might be gaps." Clemett also found Lloydminster and Estevan, which don't have OAT programs, saw local increases in drug toxicity deaths from 2022 to 2024 over previous periods. Clemett recommended that the SHA implement a centralized IT system and centralized standards to work toward more accessible treatment services. "Ultimately, you would hope that would have a positive impact when it does come to them being able to live," she said. School division safeguards Clemett also found financial discrepancies within the education system. She said 19 of 27 school divisions should have more financial safeguards in place, especially when it comes to journal entries and electronic fund transfers. Many schools across the province allow one person to oversee all financial records, increasing the chance for error or hidden information, Clemett said. "We would always want those to be independently reviewed and approved," she said. The report also pointed out that 14 independent religious schools in Saskatchewan do not require certified teachers. She questioned if students enrolled in these independent schools are getting an effective education. "From our perspective, in the event that the ministry is going to allow these schools to have teachers that aren't necessarily certified, they should be doing a better job of monitoring overall student achievement," Clemett said. Transitional housing Transitional housing for interpersonal violence victims was also top of mind for Clemett on Tuesday. Saskatchewan has one of the highest rates of intimate partner violence in the country, her report says. While there is transitional housing across the province, the funding varies from one house to the next. Clemett said the government has no substantial reasoning as to why one transition house may receive more funding than another. She referred to Regina and Swift Current, which each have funded transition houses with equal bed numbers, but funding differed by more than $200,000 in 2024–25. "There is a limited pot of money here in terms of what can go around, to some degree, to transition space," Clemett said. "So you just want to make sure that you're probably providing the money to the right facilities that really need the help, so that they can serve the people that are looking for safe shelter." The province's Opposition NDP also made its concerns about the auditor's findings known Tuesday. Meara Conway, NDP deputy House Leader and critic for rural and remote health, and ethics and democracy, reiterated the issues around interpersonal violence and lack of access to services in the midst of the province's opioid crisis. She said there is a lack of access to methadone, which increases the likelihood of opioid relapse and deters people from treatment. There is also a lack of information for the vulnerable when it comes to accessing treatment and shelters, Conway said. "We'll continue to see the drug crisis get worse because we have a government that has continuously politicized this crisis instead of roll up their sleeves, meet people where they're at and, you know, provide a range of services where and when people need them."
CTV News
14 minutes ago
- CTV News
Wildfires increase calls for national firefighting service
The yearly occurrence of large-scale wildfires in Canada has prompted calls for a national fire service. Genevieve Beauchemin on the idea's potential. An inflamed wildfire season is fuelling renewed calls for Canada to set up a new national approach to fight what has become a dreaded yearly occurrence, and some proponents say it could be set up within weeks. 'We would be the only G7 country still without a national fire administration,' Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs secretary Paul Boissoneault said. 'We have provided the government with a turnkey proposal to have a national fire administration up and running by the G7 meeting.' That meeting is now less than two weeks away in Kananaskis, Alta. For years, calls for a national fire service to battle Canada's wildfires have echoed across the country. As of now, provinces and territories have mutual sharing agreements. Sixty Quebec wildland firefighters landed in Manitoba for a 14-day mission to lend a hand as the wildfire season rages in the west. Quebec has also dispatched firebombers and fire management experts to Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan. 'All that, because it has been a quieter than average fire season in Quebec so far,' said Melanie Morin, spokesperson for SOPFEU, the province's agency in charge of fighting wildfires. The extra help came too late for the northern Saskatchewan community of Denare Beach. Several homes have been reduced to ash and rubble, including the one belonging to Kari Lentowicz. 'Where was our help?' asked Lentowicz. 'We need to have boots on the ground, to have resources pre-determined before disasters happen, so we know who is coming in to help.' Thompson Rivers University Professor Mike Flannigan has been calling for a national fire service to be put into place for nearly a decade. 'We are talking about a quick deploy, well-trained group of firefighters that can be moved proactively,' said Flannigan. 'When you ask for additional help from another province, it takes on average three days for that firefighter, that helicopter, that water bomber to get to the fire. Sometimes that is three days too late.' Others agree a new approach is necessary, but point specifically to a national fire administration. 'It would basically be that intersection of information, policy and resources being spread across nationally and ensuring that we have the people making the right decisions at the right time in place with the right resources,' said Boissoneault. Eleanor Olszewski, office of the Minister of Emergency Management, told CTV News in a statement that the top priority for the moment is to respond to the immediate wildfire threat. 'At the same time, this is a new government, and we are taking a comprehensive look at how to strengthen Canada's response to wildfires and other emergencies,' the statement continued. 'The Minister is prepared to consider any measure that enhances public safety.' Flannigan says critics have issued concerns about issues with jurisdiction, fighting wildfires is a provincial responsibility, and about the high cost of setting up a new approach. But he says Canada can't afford not to act in the face of the mounting threat of wildfires. 'If it avoids one disaster. One Jasper, one Lytton it will be worth it,' says Flannigan referring to devastating wildfires in Alberta and B.C. 'And unfortunately, there will be more in the future unless we change the way we do business.'
CTV News
14 minutes ago
- CTV News
RCMP says Saskatchewan commanding officer away, interim head in place
Assistant commissioner Rhonda Blackmore, commanding officer of the Saskatchewan RCMP, speaks during a news conference in Regina on Thursday, June 6, 2024. A report into how Mounties responded to a mass killing and manhunt in Saskatchewan has found some communication problems but nothing that significantly impacted the outcome. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Liam Richards REGINA — RCMP say Saskatchewan's commanding officer will be away for an undetermined period of time effective immediately. Mounties didn't provide details on Rhonda Blackmore's absence but say assistant commissioner Robin McNeil will serve as interim commanding officer. They say the decision won't affect front-line policing and that they have confidence in all officers in the province. Blackmore took command of the Saskatchewan RCMP in April 2021, after serving various posts across Canada for 30 years. She spent her first years as an officer in the Saskatchewan communities of Assiniboia, Regina and Buffalo Narrows. In 2022, she launched the RCMP's first unit aimed at recruiting Indigenous people to ensure Mounties represent the communities they serve. She was also the public face of the force after the mass killings on James Smith Cree Nation in 2022. -This report was first published by The Canadian Press on June 4, 2025.
