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OECD criticizes Ottawa over ‘persistent delays’ in appointing new budget officer
An international economic group is criticizing the federal government over “persistent delays” in appointing new parliamentary budget officers, just as the current officer’s interim term is set to expire on Monday with no successor named. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, better known as the OECD, released its analysis of Canada’s parliamentary budget office…
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Port Moody to make BC Housing’s minimum unit sizes mandatory, tightening family-friendly housing rules
Developers building in Port Moody will now be forced to meet BC Housing’s 2026 guidelines for minimum units sizes. Council unanimously endorsed a major update to its Social Well-being Design Guidelines on Feb. 17, strengthening its family friendly units policy. Most of the discussion, which led to several significant amendments, focused on whether the city…
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Prosecutors charge Wisconsin legislator with misdemeanor after blowup over Hispanic resolution
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Prosecutors charged a Wisconsin legislator with disorderly conduct Wednesday in connection with a feud over who was involved with drafting resolutions honoring Hispanics last year. Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez, a Milwaukee Democrat, faces up to 90 days in jail if she’s convicted in Milwaukee County Circuit Court. Online court records didn’t list…
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Lawmakers question legality of Border Patrol license plate reader program
WASHINGTON (AP) — A number of Democratic lawmakers are questioning the legality of a U.S. Border Patrol predictive intelligence program that singles out and detains drivers for suspicious travel inside the country. Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts sent a letter Monday to Border Patrol’s parent agency calling the license plate reader program an “invasive surveillance…
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RCMP say body recovered after man fleeing officers entered river
The RCMP says a man’s body was recovered from the St. Croix River after he tried to swim away from police officers in St. Stephen. Officers say they approached the man, who had been wanted for an alleged breach of a community sentence order, last Saturday and he fled, later seen struggling in the river,…
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Officer broke pursuit policy in Hay River crash, review finds
A review into a police chase through Hay River that resulted in a bystander’s vehicle being hit has found an officer broke RCMP policy on pursuits. Nicolinea Minakis was driving her daughter to school at around 8 a.m. on January 21 when another vehicle crashed into the side of her pickup truck in the Northwest…
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A Seasonal Boost: United Way Invites Community to Join Holiday Helping Hand
The demand for support continues to rise across Halton and Hamilton as families face high living costs, food insecurity, and growing pressure on social services. These stresses can feel especially acute at this time of year, which is why programs like United Way Halton and Hamilton’s (UWHH) Holiday Helping Hand play a critical role in…
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Union leaders in Quebec denounce proposed labour law they say will unleash chaos
Union leaders from sectors across the province gathered in Quebec City on Sunday to decry a new bill they say could severely limit how unions are allowed to use dues collected from their members. Quebec Labour Minister Jean Boulet tabled the bill, which proposes dividing union dues into mandatory and optional ones. Under the proposed…
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Republicans hyped the Epstein files for years. Now Trump is under pressure to deliver
WASHINGTON (AP) — What began as a campaign-trail promise to release the Jeffrey Epstein files has become one of the most fraught tests of President Donald Trump’s second term — opening a rift in his political coalition and raising the stakes for an administration now under intense pressure to produce documents that may fall far…
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Solutions are slow to come for water crisis plaguing Quebec’s Nunavik region
Most Quebecers have only to twist a tap to get a seemingly endless source of clean water. The reality is completely different in the northern region of Nunavik, where the water supply system faces a host of problems, from bad weather to outdated equipment and labour shortages. Some would be inclined to blame a lack…
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Major N.L. healthcare report contains errors likely generated by A.I.
In the wake of a scandal involving fabricated sources found in the province’s Education Accord, The Independent has confirmed another major government-commissioned policy report contains false citations like generated by artificial intelligence, calling into question the credibility of policy papers involving the use of AI. Authored by global consulting firm Deloitte and published by the…