National News

Indigenous groups in Canada say they want to see Pope Leo XIV continue the reconciliation work started by his predecessor, the late Pope Francis.

Francis was recognized as an ally of Canada's Indigenous Peoples and was known for advancing reconciliation efforts and apologizing — both in the Vatican and in Canada — for the Catholic Church's role in widespread abuses at residential schools.

His visit to Canada in 2022 was described as a "penitential pilgrimage" as Francis insisted on meeting with Indigenous survivors of residential schools and hearing their stories.

Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to unveil his new cabinet at Rideau Hall on Tuesday — and it's expected to be a slimmed-down front bench meant to signal a more businesses-minded approach to government.

Rideau Hall confirmed the timing of the swearing-in ceremony on Friday.

Marci Surkes of the government relations firm Compass Rose Group said Carney will seek to draw a sharp contrast between his government and that of former prime minister Justin Trudeau, and about one-third of the new cabinet could be new faces.

A British Columbia researcher in South Asian affairs said Thursday that concerns about the current India and Pakistan tensions are justified, given that the region has not seen conflicts this intense in more than 25 years. 

M.V. Ramana, professor at University of B.C.'s school of public policy and global affairs, said the last time there was a realistic risk of nuclear weapons being used was the conflict between the two sides in the Kargil region of Kashmir in 1999. 

A senior medical advisor with the Public Health Agency of Canada says the country could lose its measles elimination status if the highly contagious disease continues to spread into the fall.

Dr. Marina Salvadori warned of the possibility Thursday as cases in Ontario grew by nearly 200 infections, adding that would only occur if prolonged spread continued beyond mid-October 2025.

Veterans, diplomats, members of the Armed Forces and political leaders gathered Thursday at events across Canada commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe.

"Nearly every family knows somebody who suffered from the effect of war," said Fraser McKee, a 100-year-old veteran who helped to lay a wreath at the Toronto ceremony.

"This is to remember people that will have to go to war, as well as remembering those that went and didn’t come back."

A new pope has been elected following the death of Pope Francis. White smoke began billowing from the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel on Thursday, signalling the decision by the College of Cardinals.

A large crowd in the thousands erupted into cheers as the words “Habemus Papam” ("We have a pope") rang out in St. Peter's Square, about an hour after the smoke first poured out. The new pope then came out onto the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica and greeted the crowd.

As separatist discontent bubbles up anew in Alberta, experts say a vote to sever ties with Canada would pitch the country into unexplored territory on everything from money to First Nations and national parks.

“You’re in terra incognita. You’re off the map when we get to that stage of the proceedings,” said law professor Eric Adams.

“A lot of things are going to be broken on the way out the door.”

After the Second World War came to a close, Canada pulled itself away from Great Britain and planted itself firmly within a North American political and economic compact that generated prosperity for much of the western world for decades.

But as the world marks 80 years since the end of the war in Europe, an increasingly unstable geopolitical climate — and an administration in Washington bent on fighting a trade war with much of the world — has Canada looking back to the continent as a way to preserve peace and prosperity.

Senior federal officials have been looking quietly for ways to bring together Canadians who don't see eye to eye on the economy, immigration and social issues.

With a general election looming, officials prepared to meet last November to brainstorm solutions to the problem of social fragmentation, according to an internal presentation drafted by the Department of Canadian Heritage.

Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to brief Canada's premiers today following his seemingly successful first meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday.

Carney and Trump spent about two hours together at the White House, including about half an hour in front of the cameras in the Oval Office, and a private luncheon.

Both leaders were accompanied by senior members of their cabinets and their chiefs of staff.