Canada oh Canada

08/04/2026

Parking enforcement officers in Ottawa issued close to half a million tickets in 2025, nearly double the amount handed out five years ago, according to new numbers from the city.

The number of parking tickets jumped from 262,089 in 2021 to 452,202 tickets in 2024 and 489,617 in 2025, according to the data provided to CBC and Radio-Canada.

Those totals also include tickets issued by parking enforcement agencies on private properties, the city said.

The year-over-year increase can be attributed to factors like population growth, increased enforcement in school zones and a rise in service requests, according to Jake Gravelle, Ottawa's chief of bylaw and regulatory services.

The low number of tickets issued in 2021 also reflects changes to parking regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic, Gravelle said over email.

"Ottawa's running about a ticket every two-and-a-half years per citizen, which is overall a reasonable level when compared to other cities," said Pierre Barrieau, a lecturer in transportation planning at the Université du Québec à Montréal.

"Those numbers of tickets sort of fit. It's not overly zealous, it's not lax either for a city of the size."

07/28/2026

A TikTok star from Victoria, B.C., who used the platform to share her experiences living with young-onset Alzheimer’s disease has died.

Rebecca Luna ended her life using medical assistance in dying on Saturday afternoon. She was 49.

She died peacefully while “surrounded by loved ones,” reads a post on the family’s GoFundMe, which was set up to help cover end-of-life expenses.

Last week, Luna announced to her more than 95,000 social media followers that she had decided to move up the date of her MAID appointment.

“I’m living in a body that doesn’t feel comfortable, safe, good,” she said in a TikTok video. “It feels terrible, so the idea of waiting two weeks felt like too much.”

The internet personality said she made the decision during a recent visit with her palliative care doctor.

“She kept reminding me that this was my decision, this whole thing was my decision, this was when I get to prioritize myself, and I haven’t done that my whole life,” Luna said.

“She said, ‘When would you go if it was just your choice?’ And I said now.”

Using the handle WhereDidBecsGo, Luna built up her online following with candid discussions about her diagnosis and the complications Alzheimer’s brought to her life—with video titles such as “Dating while dying” and “Travelling with invisible disabilities.”

She also discussed her journey through sobriety. Facing the end, Luna said she was proud to have stayed off alcohol during the physically and emotionally difficult final months of her life.

“This is not what I want. I don’t want to be dying before I’m 50,” she said in her final video. “But I have had a good life.”

She ended her last public message with a call for her followers to love themselves, something she said it took her years of therapy to learn how to do herself.

“You can’t sit around and hope that you’re going to love yourself, you have to act your way into loving yourself—and that’s by speaking nicely to yourself,” Luna said.

“If I can do it, you can do it, too.”

07/15/2026

A former federal politician denies trafficking any fi****ms but acknowledges he illegally transferred three guns, after police seized hundreds of weapons from his western Manitoba home last week.

Inky Mark, 78, was charged with a dozen weapons-related offences after police took 439 guns from his home near the city of Dauphin during a July 7 search, RCMP said Monday. The items seized included an antique cannon and ammunition, according to police.

The charges include fi****ms trafficking, possession of a firearm with a tampered serial number and three counts of unsafe fi****ms storage, police said. More charges are possible as the investigation unfolds.

At least three of the fi****ms found inside Mark's home were illegally trafficked, police allege. One had a tampered serial number and hundreds were improperly stored, according to RCMP.

Speaking with CBC outside his home in Dauphin on Tuesday, Mark said he's been legally collecting fi****ms since the early 1970s, but admitted some of those weapons are now illegal to own due to gun law changes over the years.

"I'm a collector. I've been a registered collector since Day 1."

RCMP said Monday it may take several weeks for investigators to determine how many of the fi****ms were illegally possessed.

Mark is a former MP who represented the Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa riding. He was first elected to Parliament in 1997 and resigned his seat in 2010, after serving first with the Reform party, and later with the Canadian Alliance and finally as a Conservative.

He described his political views as anti-Liberal and pro-free speech, but said those views have nothing to do with his fi****ms collection.

Google Maps shows a sign that says "Trudeau confiscating all your guns" displayed near Mark's property in May 2024.

That sign, and several others seen in the Google Maps image, were not seen at the property on Tuesday.

Mark said in a 2012 letter to the Western Producer newspaper that "all fi****ms laws should be removed" from Canada's Criminal Code.

06/29/2026

06/29/2026

A lot of Quebec couples are living together, having kids, and building lives without ever getting married. What many of them may not realize is that a law already on the books has significantly changed their legal situation.

Since June 30, 2025, a law called the "parental union regime" has been in effect in Quebec, automatically applying to common-law couples who become parents. It gives unmarried partners many of the same protections as married couples when it comes to separation, property and inheritance, none of which existed before. The reform is part of Quebec's broader overhaul of family law, aimed at closing the legal gap between married and unmarried parents.

Here's what it means for couples across the province.

What is a parental union and who does it apply to?
If you and your partner are living together and had a child by birth or adoption on or after June 30, 2025, you were automatically placed under the new regime. This applies regardless of whether you are married, in a civil union, or simply living together.

For couples who already had children before that date, the law does not apply automatically. But you can still opt in by mutual agreement through a legal document signed before witnesses or a notary.

What rights do couples get?
The law introduces a concept called parental union patrimony, meaning certain family assets are shared equally if you separate or one partner dies. That includes the family home, household furniture and vehicles used by the family, even if they are officially owned by just one partner. Couples can choose to exclude certain assets or opt out of the regime entirely by signing a notarized agreement.

The law also introduces new protection for the family residence specifically. If a couple separates, a judge can allow the parent with custody of the children to remain in the home temporarily, even if the property legally belongs to the other partner.

What happens if the couple separates?
Before this law, common-law parents in Quebec had very little legal protection if they split up. That has changed. Parents who had a child after June 30, 2025 now have access to many of the same protections as married couples, including rules around who stays in the family home, how shared property gets divided, and the right to seek compensation if one partner earned significantly less while contributing to the other's financial success.

One important caveat: according to the Chambre des Notaires de Quebec, things like RRSPs, pensions and QPP earnings are not automatically divided under the new regime. Both partners would need to specifically include them in a notarial agreement for those to be covered.

What if you already have a child with your partner?
The law applies automatically only to births or adoptions after June 30, 2025. Existing common-law parents can voluntarily opt in through a notarized deed or a signed contract. And if you choose not to opt in now but have another child down the line, the regime will apply automatically from that point forward.

More information is available at educaloi.qc.ca.

06/21/2026

’s Opposition NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi says Premier Danielle Smith should fire her office’s executive director for posting a social media diatribe criticizing First Nations chiefs.

The senior aide, Bruce McAllister, said in his Thursday post that First Nations chiefs should fix their own communities instead of accusing the premier of treason over her fall separation referendum

He describes First Nations as entrenched in poverty, drugs and violence.

Nenshi, speaking in Calgary on Friday, said McAllister’s commentary echoes bullying behaviour from Smith and a pattern of disrespect from her United Conservatives.

Nenshi said when challenged, Smith lashes out at her opponents.

He said if the premier wants to send a message that she respects Albertans, she should start by firing McAllister.

“These are dog whistles,” says Nenshi. He described McAllister as Smith’s “number two guy,” with a history of showing contempt for those who disagree with him.

“His entire world is about making and keeping people angry.”

Nenshi questioned how the premier will succeed in her goal to build a bitumen pipeline to the West Coast when she has lost the confidence of chiefs across the province.

The Assembly of Treaty Chiefs, representing First Nations across Alberta, recently voted to ask the RCMP to look into whether the Oct. 19 referendum amounts to criminal treason by Smith and her United Conservative Party.

Albertans will be asked whether they want to remain in Canada or have a second, binding vote on leaving Confederation.

According to the Criminal Code, treason is narrowly defined. It includes sharing sensitive information “for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or defence of Canada” with another state, or the use of force or violence in order to overthrow a Canadian government.

The chiefs, earlier this week, said organizing the referendum is an intentional treaty violation and that Smith’s government is ignoring serious risks to Canada’s sovereignty.

Smith responded Wednesday, telling reporters that the chiefs should “check themselves” for such an inflammatory accusation.

“This kind of overwrought language has no place in a democracy,” she said.

In a statement Friday, Sam Blackett, a spokesperson for the premier, didn’t respond directly to Nenshi’s criticisms but pointed to the chief’s allegation.

“Accusing elected officials of treason is dangerous and unacceptable rhetoric that only fuels division. It must be rejected entirely,” he said.

“We want to work collaboratively on a government-to-government basis to make our communities stronger. When the treaty chiefs are ready to do that, we’ll look forward to it.”

McAllister’s post accused the chiefs of engaging in “childish nonsense” and said their misaligned priorities made him wonder if they’re taking orders from someone else.

He acknowledged he was courting controversy.

“I’ll probably take heat for saying these things but if we don’t, we continue to bury our heads in the sand and pretend they aren’t happening,” he wrote.

06/21/2026

06/19/2026

The executive director of Premier Danielle Smith’s office says that instead of criticizing her, First Nations chiefs should fix their own communities, describing them as entrenched in poverty, drugs and violence.

Bruce McAllister, in a post on social media Thursday, says the chiefs should focus on their own problems rather than having “the gall” to accuse the premier of treason over Alberta’s looming separation referendum.

McAllister accused the chiefs of engaging in “childish nonsense” and said their misaligned priorities make him wonder if they’re taking orders from someone else.

“People are sick and tired of hearing unrealistic demands from them,” McAllister writes.

“It might be tolerable if their communities were beacons of prosperity, safety, strong families and real accountability, but sadly, they’re anything but.”

He said they need to fix “heartbreaking” problems such as addictions and overdoses, housing, poverty, high unemployment, welfare, substandard schooling outcomes, high rates of children in care and domestic violence.

“Shouldn’t the priority be fixing these failures for their people?” said McAllister.

“I know we have a premier and government that care deeply about these serious issues and want to help fix them.”

McAllister acknowledged he was steering into controversy.

“I’ll probably take heat for saying these things but if we don’t, we continue to bury our heads in the sand and pretend they aren’t happening.”

The post comes after the Assembly of Treaty Chiefs, representing First Nations across Alberta, voted to ask RCMP to look into whether the Oct. 19 referendum amounts to criminal treason by Smith and her United Conservative Party.

The chiefs, earlier this week, said organizing the vote is an intentional treaty violation and that Smith’s government is ignoring serious risks to Canada’s sovereignty.

Smith responded to that Wednesday, telling reporters the chiefs should “check themselves” for such an inflammatory accusation.

Smith’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Anne Many Heads, CEO for the Treaty 7 First Nations Chiefs’ Association, said in an email that the Stoney Nakoda and Tsuut’ina Nation chiefs reserved comment when asked to respond to McAllister’s tweet. She said the chiefs support their earlier statement calling for Smith to be called to account for treason.

It’s not the first time accusations of treason have been thrown around in the separation debate.

In January, B.C. Premier David Eby said a meeting between an Alberta separatist group and the U.S. administration amounted to treason.

According to the Criminal Code, treason is narrowly defined. It includes sharing sensitive information “for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or defence of Canada” with another state, or the use of force or violence in order to overthrow a Canadian government.

Smith’s United Conservative government and the chiefs have been at odds in the separation debate, with First Nations winning a recent court decision to quash a separatist petition because the government neglected its duty to consult them.

On Oct. 19, Albertans will vote on whether to stay in Canada or whether it’s time to hold a second referendum on leaving Confederation.

Smith has championed the pro-Canada cause. She says she was obliged to call the vote in order to settle a debate reflected by hundreds of thousands of Albertans signing petitions for and against separation.

Critics call it a cynical tightrope walk by Smith to save her job by launching a referendum to assuage the separatist hardliners in her party while stumping for a united Canada in order to stay onside with the majority of voters.

McAllister has been the locus of controversy before.

Last fall, McAllister, while moderating a public meeting, urged a teen be spanked for demanding answers on a looming teachers strike. McAllister later apologized.

06/19/2026

The BC RCMP Counter Human Trafficking Unit (CHTU) has started a new anti-human trafficking education and awareness campaign called “I Dare You to See.”

The program is designed to help the public and frontline employees recognize the signs of human trafficking and act to help protect vulnerable individuals.

“Human trafficking remains one of the most underreported and misunderstood crimes in Canada. Victims are often hidden in plain sight, making community awareness and early intervention critical tools in identifying and disrupting trafficking activities,” says a statement from BC RCMP CHTU.

“I Dare You to See” focuses on increasing awareness within the hospitality and service sectors such as hotels, restaurants, and transportation providers.

The campaign includes posters and billboards to bring awareness to the common signs of human trafficking.

Specialty training for hospitality and service industry employees.

“Human trafficking thrives in secrecy,” said Insp. Lyndsay O’Ruairc, Officer in Charge of the BC RCMP Behavioural Sciences Group “By increasing awareness and equipping people with the knowledge to recognize warning signs, we can help identify victims sooner and connect them with the support they need.”

Police say that traffickers target vulnerable individuals through manipulation, intimidation, and exploitation.

“The hospitality and service industries are uniquely positioned to help identify potential victims because their employees interact with thousands of people every day,” said Insp. O’Ruairc. “A single observation, when reported appropriately, can make a significant difference in protecting someone from ongoing exploitation.”

Members of the public can access educational resources and the campaign’s web-based learning platform at dareyoutosee.com.

Personal and corporate training modules to spot and report human trafficking