‘A collaborative future': City of Calgary, Blackfoot Confederacy sign historic agreement
A 'memorandum of understanding on communication and co-operation' has been signed by the City of Calgary and nations of the Blackfoot Confederacy.
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CBC
32 minutes ago
- CBC
Rob Lantz confirms he won't run for permanent leadership of P.E.I. Progressive Conservatives
Social Sharing Premier Rob Lantz says he won't seek the permanent leadership of P.E.I.'s Progressive Conservative Party, after previously saying people had been asking him to run for the position. The news came in a social media post Wednesday afternoon. "After much consideration, the best decision for Islanders and the PC Party is to continue my role as interim leader until the party selects a new permanent leader," the message said. "Until that time, I am dedicated to continuing to serve as premier." His office later confirmed to CBC News that the post was real and that Lantz will not run for the leadership. Lantz became P.E.I.'s premier on Feb. 21 as he took over the interim leadership of the party in the wake of Dennis King's sudden resignation from both roles in February. King went on to accept a federal appointment as Canada's ambassador to Ireland. Lantz had initially said he wasn't interested in the job permanently, telling CBC News: "I may very much enjoy doing this job and regret that I don't put myself forward for that permanent leadership." He released a statement in late May saying he would no longer rule out doing just that. "Many Islanders have approached me about reconsidering my stance on running for the leadership of the PC Party," he said in the statement. "I owe it to those who have been encouraging me to have a conversation with them and hear what they have to say — and that's what I am doing right now." WATCH | As P.E.I. PCs work on leadership convention plan, Premier Rob Lantz says he's being urged to run: As P.E.I. PCs work on leadership convention plan, Premier Rob Lantz says he's being urged to run 14 days ago Duration 2:31 The interim leader of Prince Edward Island's Progressive Conservative Party says he's not ruling out a run for the permanent leadership of his party. That's a change from a few months back. The PCs haven't set a date for their leadership convention yet, says party president Sydney Gallant (shown), but that isn't stopping the talk in Island political circles. CBC's Wayne Thibodeau has more. The latest message, on Wednesday, seems to indicate that Lantz has made up his mind for good. "I appreciate the support from those who encouraged me to reconsider my original position," it said. Until a new leader is chosen, it added, "The province needs someone focused on the day-to-day job of governing, with a seat at the national table, delivering on the priorities of Islanders, and I am committed to doing just that." Other candidates for post Montague-Kilmuir MLA Cory Deagle and Stratford lawyer Mark Ledwell have announced leadership bids, and the party's president, Sydney Gallant, has said a party search committee is actively recruiting candidates. No date has been announced for the leadership convention. That's partly because two byelections must be called by August at the latest in districts formerly held by King (Brackley-Hunter River) and former education and early years minister Natalie Jameson (Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park). The provincial Liberals are also without a permanent leader, with MLA Hal Perry holding the job on an interim basis. That party's leadership convention is scheduled for Oct. 4. P.E.I.'s Green Party chose a permanent leader this past weekend, with Borden-Kinkora MLA Matt MacFarlane receiving 507 votes to clinch the job. Former Green Party MLA Hannah Bell was the only other candidate, earning 147 votes. The New Democratic Party of Prince Edward Island, which does not hold any seats in the legislature, is led by Michelle Neil.
CTV News
40 minutes ago
- CTV News
N.L. minister resigns after new evidence surfaces of problems in 2021 vote
Newfoundland and Labrador cabinet minister John Abbott speaks to members of the media in St. John's on Wednesday June 11, 2025. Abbott says he will step down after a court case revealed new evidence of problems with the 2021 provincial election. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sarah Smellie ST. JOHN'S — A provincial Liberal cabinet minister in Newfoundland and Labrador says he will step down this summer, after a court challenge of the province's 2021 election unearthed evidence of voting irregularities in his district. John Abbott said Wednesday that rather than proceed with a costly trial that could end with a judge asking him to leave his seat, he'll do it himself. His decision will allow the court case to end, he said, adding, 'We won the election.' However, he admitted that there were enough credible witnesses who could have presented evidence of voting issues, potentially changing the result in his riding of St. John's East-Quidi Vidi, which he won by 53 votes. 'That could have happened,' he said. 'That is definitely a possibility, but we certainly do not know. But the facts of the matter is that when the ballots were counted back in the spring of 2021, I was the declared winner, and obviously I still am, until I vacate my seat.' Meanwhile, the Liberal government must call a provincial election this year to be held on or before Oct. 14. The 2021 provincial election in Newfoundland and Labrador was upended by a COVID-19 outbreak, prompting election officials to cancel all in-person voting and shift to mail-in ballots. The Liberals won a slim majority with a voter turnout of 51 per cent. Whymarrh Whitby, who lives in Abbott's district, says he never received a mail-in ballot. He launched a lawsuit in 2021, alleging flaws in the chaotic election denied him his right to vote. Whitby's lawsuit is co-signed by former provincial NDP leader Alison Coffin, who lost her seat in the district in 2021 to Abbott. The case had been lurching slowly through the court system for roughly four years, but Abbott said it began to pick up in the past six months, as it headed toward a trial set to begin Monday. That's when lawyers for the New Democrats 'came up with' new or more evidence of election irregularities, he said. Lawyers identified a group of voters who allege they had not received ballots, and a group who may have voted in the wrong district, Abbott said. Another may have used questionable identification to vote. 'We do not know whether that was true or not,' he said. 'And we would only know if we brought those potential witnesses in, those potential voters, into court.' There were roughly 140 witnesses who could have testified, he said. As he spoke to reporters, the provincial office of the chief electoral issued a release acknowledging there were 'errors' in the administration of some ballots in St. John's East-Quidi Vidi, 'as a result of the unprecedented actions taken to conduct the election amidst the pandemic and its associated public health restrictions.' The release was signed by Coffin, Whitby, Abbott and Travis Wooley, the acting chief electoral officer. At another press conference, Coffin told reporters that she was satisfied with the resolution of the lawsuit. 'I am satisfied that we will head into the next general election with a new vision of how elections should be run,' she said. 'This was a win for democracy.' Whitby said it felt good to see the provincial elections authority acknowledge there were problems, but he said the province needs a better system than the courts to ensure voters' rights are protected. 'Everyone has the right to vote,' he told reporters. 'And that should be something we don't take for granted.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2025. Sarah Smellie, The Canadian Press
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Green MLAs want quicker action on glyphosate report
Three and a half years after a report recommended tighter restrictions on glyphosate spraying, some lawmakers say the pace of implementation has been too slow. "It's clear that not a lot of work was done on it in that time," Green MLA Megan Mitton said. "There were some things completed and some things very recently completed, but I would have liked to see more progress." The report by the legislature's committee on climate change and environmental stewardship made a number of recommendations on the future of herbicide spraying in the province. It followed extensive hearings with scientists, foresters, Health Canada researchers, First Nations, industry and the public. The recommendations included larger setbacks from dwellings and watercourses, that N.B. Power phase out aerial glyphosate spraying and an analysis of potential alternatives. In an update to the committee, Christie Ward, the assistant deputy environment minister, said 11 of 20 recommendations have been "completed" to date, while the remaining nine are underway. Some MLAs pointed out, however, that what the department has implemented is not what the initial report actually recommended. "When you went through the recommendations of the committee that were unanimously adopted, you pointed to a number of those recommendations that were marked as completed, which were not implemented as recommended," David Coon told department staff Wednesday. "So essentially you rejected those recommendations." For example, the report called for setbacks from dwellings to increase to one kilometre from 500 metres. Ward said permits for aerial glyphosate spraying issued last year increased setbacks to 500 metres from 155 metres. Instead of the minimum 100-metre setback from watercourses recommended in the report, ground application requirements were moved to 30 metres from 15 metres, and aerial spraying requires a minimum distance of 65 metres. Ward said that the department has spent time trying to understand the intent of the committee's recommendations and to carry out the spirit of them, even those based on a misunderstanding of the regulations that already existed. "These recommendations are complex in some cases, many of them require rigorous scientific review, they also require a baseline of information, so you know where you're starting from and where you need to get to," she said. "There's been a lot of work done in the background to really understand all aspects of the pesticide program." But Mitton said she'd prefer a more direct answer from the department on whether the committee's recommendations have been followed. "When the auditor general has a report, there's a response from the department and then there's an update," she said. "I almost feel like we need a bit more of a formal process, or to bring them in more often, to keep that accountability going because I don't accept some of those answers as a checkmark." Environment Minister Gilles LePage backed up his staff, noting the report, which he helped prepare as an opposition member of the committee, did err at times in its understanding of existing regulations. However, LePage agreed with other comments over the pace of action on the report over the last few years. "In the past six years, I think there was a lack of work on that file, and that's why it's part of my mandate," he said. "I was part of the evolution of pesticides in this province, with the research on this committee, and I take it personally, and we are going to focus on pesticides even more than the previous government." LePage's mandate letter from Premier Susan Holt includes two mentions of herbicide spraying. One is to implement all recommendations from the committee's report. The other is to investigate alternatives to pesticide and herbicide use and "re-evaluate the safety of glyphosate with new and comprehensive data specific to New Brunswick." "We're looking daily and monthly on the impacts of how it's done," he said. "But don't forget, our regulations are very strong and very rigid for application and for use."
