Calgary lifts indoor water restrictions, outdoor ban remains after water main break
CALGARY (CP) – Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek says the city is no longer asking residents to restrict their indoor water use stemming from a major water main break.
Gondek says residents can resume the normal number of showers, toilet flushes and loads of laundry and dishes.
But a mandatory ban on outdoor water use, such as lawn-watering, remains in effect.
The city and surrounding municipalities have had water restrictions since June 5th, when a water main that supplies 60 per cent of the drinking water ruptured.
Crews have been scrambling to repair the breach ever since, and that work was further complicated when five more weak spots in the pipeline were discovered.
During that time Calgarians were asked to reduce water use by 25 per cent to keep enough in reserve for hospitals and firefighters — and Gondek says for the most part Calgarians met those targets.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to attend NATO leaders’ summit in Washington next week
OTTAWA (CP) – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is heading to Washington, D.C., next week to take part in the NATO leaders’ summit.
The 32 NATO allies are set to mark the alliance’s 75th anniversary in the same city where the initial treaty was signed.
The ongoing war in Ukraine is expected to take centre stage again this year.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg wants allies to contribute around $58 billion a year to a fund to help the war-torn country defend itself.
Trudeau will also likely face pressure from allies, including the American contingent, over the fact that Canada hasn’t presented a plan to meet its spending targets.
NATO countries have agreed to spend at least two per cent of their annual gross domestic product on defence, but Canada is falling far short of that figure.
Liberal MP suggests party needed stronger ground game in Toronto-St. Paul’s vote
OTTAWA (CP) – The co-chair of the Liberals’ Ontario campaign is suggesting the party’s candidate in the Toronto-St. Paul’s byelection needed more time to campaign before the vote.
The Liberals had held the seat for 30 years, recently under Carolyn Bennett, but the Conservatives won the seat last week by about 600 votes.
Karina Gould, who is the Liberal MP for Burlington, is in charge of finding candidates for the next federal election, which must happen before fall of 2025.
She says the lesson learned is that Leslie Church needed more time to get to know people in the riding.
Gould says it’s becoming tougher for Liberal candidates to campaign because people are seeking change from a government that’s been in power for nine years.
She says that means candidates need to have tougher and longer conversations with Canadians, and to make sure they can demonstrate that they’re listening.
Manitoba premier polling high after nine months, but experts say challenges lie ahead
By: Steve Lambert
WINNIPEG (CP) – Nine months after being elected, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew continues to enjoy a honeymoon with voters.
His NDP government has enacted many promises the party made during last year’s election campaign, and opposition parties are working to rebuild after losing leaders and legislature seats.
But challenges lie ahead, experts say, as the government tries to enact other pledges — such as keeping grocery prices affordable — and follow through on a fiscal plan that could require tight restraint.
Recent opinion polls suggest NDP support has grown since the party took 34 of the 57 legislature seats in the Oct. 3 election.
The party also added a seat last month when it won a byelection in the Tuxedo constituency — a high-income part of Winnipeg that had been a Progressive Conservative stronghold since its creation in 1979.
Concern raised as Quebec slashes number family reunification applications
MONTREAL (CP) – A group representing Quebecers waiting to sponsor family members living abroad says the province is acting in bad faith by slashing the number of family reunification applications it will accept.
Laurianne Lachapelle of Quebec Réunifié says the decision will cause yet more stress and delays for Quebec families who already wait far longer than other Canadians to bring over relatives.
Quebec announced last week it will process a maximum of 13,000 family reunification applications over the next two years, after approving more than 16,500 in 2022 and more than 10,000 in the first six months of 2023.
A spokesman for Immigration Minister Christine Fréchette says the government wants to ensure that the number of approved files doesn’t exceed the province’s immigration cap.
While Ottawa has final approval, applicants who want to bring spouses or other family members to Quebec must first obtain a selection certificate from the province.
Lachapelle, who has been waiting for two years to bring her Guatemalan husband to Quebec, says she’s worried the cuts will result in the federal government deeming applications incomplete and closing them, forcing people to start over again.
