Ontario Provincial Police say they are now conducting Mandatory Alcohol Screening (MAS) during every traffic stop in the Greater Toronto Area as part of their "strongest measures" to keep impaired drivers off the road. According to the OPP, impaired driving collisions and charges are up nearly 30 per cent compared to the previous five-year average. Police noted that the GTA saw the highest increase in impaired-related collisions among OPP's regions. They expect this trend to continue...
Woodbridge resident Edwin Alvarado would have turned 51 today. Instead of celebrating his birthday, his grieving widow and children will be marking 570 days without their husband and father. On the evening of Oct. 9, 2022, Alvarado, a futsal referee, was one of three people shot at La Liga Sports Complex, near Finch Avenue West and Dufferin Street. He was rushed to the hospital, but died there a short time later. One of the other victims sustained life-threatening injuries, while the...
A woman convicted of scamming birth doulas by pretending to be pregnant has been charged again for allegedly falsely seeking support related to pregnancy and childbirth. In a news release on Wednesday, Hamilton police said the incidents occurred between April 17 and 18 and involved an undisclosed number of victims. Police launched an investigation on Monday, and as a result, Kaitlyn Grace Braun from Brantford was taken into custody on Tuesday. She is facing multiple charges, including...
Loblaw Cos. Ltd.'s new chief executive said he's “cautiously optimistic” that the company will be able to come to an agreement on the grocery code of conduct. “Where it's going to land, I'm of course not sure, but I'm more optimistic now than before that we can land an agreement on the code,” Per Bank told a conference call discussing Loblaw's first-quarter earnings Wednesday. The grocer has been one of two major holdouts on the code, which is intended to promote fair dealings in the...
Employees at Canada's two biggest railways have authorized a strike that could see thousands of workers walk off the job in three weeks if they are unable to reach new deals on contract demands. About 6,000 employees at Canadian National Railway Co. and 3,300 at Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. voted more than 97 per cent in favour of a strike mandate this week, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference said Wednesday. “After six months of negotiations with both companies, we are no closer to...
OTTAWA - Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem said he doesn't think the federal budget tabled last month will have much of an effect on inflation. Macklem was testifying at a Senate committee alongside senior deputy governor Carolyn Rogers on Wednesday following the central bank's latest interest rate announcement. The governor said the spending plan hasn't changed the federal government's fiscal track by much, since it's offset by higher revenues. “Since the government's net fiscal plan...
OTTAWA - More than 1,200 seniors have already visited a dentist and had their claims processed by the federal government's new dental care plan, the Liberals announced Wednesday. The first one million seniors who registered for the program received their benefits card and became eligible to make claims under the program on May 1. Citizens' Services Minister Terry Beech said the first patient was seen at 7:08 a.m. in Newfoundland and Labrador. He announced the opening of a web portal...
Pro-Palestinian activists who have pitched their tents on the McGill University campus scored a legal victory on Wednesday when a Quebec judge rejected a request for an injunction to stop their protest. Two students at the Montreal university had asked Quebec Superior Court to order protesters to move at least 100 metres from school buildings, saying their presence had created an environment of aggression and left them feeling unsafe. Justice Chantal Masse ruled Wednesday that the students...
Four protesters who unfurled keffiyehs inside Ontario's legislature and were subsequently kicked out have been banned from Queen's Park. Mariam Bebawy said she and three friends from York Centre 4 Palestine were given trespass notices last week from the Legislative Assembly of Ontario's sergeant-at-arms after they held out their keffiyehs and began chanting "free free Palestine" during question period. Bebawy's notice said she is prohibited from entering the premises of the main...
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives. Michael Bebee, 35, was arrested without incident by Charlottetown police at a business on Belvedere Avenue at around 7:20 p.m. on Tuesday, a news release notes. Bebee was wanted on a Canada-wide warrant in connection with the shooting death of Shamar Powell-Flowers near Danforth and Carlaw avenues in the early morning...
Ontario is exploring a new reduced electricity rate for providers of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in hopes of encouraging further growth in the sector. The government said the new rate, if approved, will become available by Jan. 1, 2026, with the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) starting consultations this month. Download our app to get alerts on your device Get the latest local updates right to your inbox The cut will be offered in areas where adoption of EV’s is on the slower...
Peel Regional Police's homicide unit is investigating after a man was fatally stabbed in Brampton on Wednesday morning. The incident happened in the area of Baycliffe Crescent and Crossbill Road, which is in the vicinity of Bovaird Drive West and Creditview Road. Speaking with the media at the scene, Const. Nikhil Chakravarthy said that police were called to a low-rise apartment building in the area shortly after 8:30 a.m. for reports of a disturbance. He said that officers at the scene...