National News

High-ranking officials from the world's top economies are in Banff, Alta., this week for a three-day summit that will cover topics including the global economy, the war in Ukraine and artificial intelligence.

The meeting comes during a period of heightened instability as U.S. President Donald Trump continues his tariff-driven effort to bring industry to American soil, leading many countries to reconsider their trade relationships with the United States and other trading partners.

Canada Post says it has received strike notices from the union representing some 55,000 postal workers, with operations poised to shut down by the end of the week.

The Crown corporation says the union informed it that employees plan to hit the picket line starting Friday morning at midnight.

A work stoppage would affect millions of residents and businesses who typically receive more than two billion letters and roughly 300 million parcels a year via the service.

Prime Minister Mark Carney reaffirmed Canada's "steadfast and unwavering support" for Ukraine in his first meeting with the country's president on Saturday in Rome.

His meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy was one of several sitdowns with world leaders taking place in the Italian capital, where Carney — a devout Catholic — has travelled to attend the inaugural mass of Pope Leo XIV. The Prime Minister is making a concerted effort to meet with other G7 leaders ahead of the global summit Canada is hosting in Kananaskis, Alta., next month.

Prime Minister Mark Carney had a brief audience with Pope Leo XIV Sunday afternoon at the Vatican following the pontiff's inaugural mass in St. Peter's Square.

Carney was seated in the second row with his wife Diana for the mass, in a section amongst other world leaders and heads of state.

The prime minister, who is a devout Catholic, was one of the few world leaders to kneel during the blessing of the Eucharist, and was spotted at two instances taking a picture of the Pope on his phone to mark the occasion — before the mass started and after it had concluded. 

As the first Indigenous person ever to lead the federal department responsible for delivering services to First Nations, Inuit and Métis, Mandy Gull-Masty knows she has a daunting task ahead.

But the newly-appointed Indigenous services minister also knows what it's like to sit at both sides of the table — as a cabinet minister now and, until recently, as the grand chief of the political body representing 20,000 Cree people in northern Quebec.

A consequential report on Canada Post largely backs the Crown corporation's story about its flagging business, experts say, and bodes poorly for the union attempting to negotiate a better deal for the postal service's workers.

“If I was the union, I'm going to be very, very disappointed in this," said Marvin Ryder, associate professor of marketing and entrepreneurship at the DeGroote School of Business.

The sexual assault case of five hockey players faced another major upheaval Friday, abruptly converting from a jury to a judge alone in order to avoid a mistrial that would have rebooted the proceedings for a second time in less than a month.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia ruled to discharge the jury Friday over concerns about possible jury bias. The move came after a juror sent a note to the Carroccia indicating some members of the panel felt two of the defence lawyers were laughing at them as they came into court each day.

When a church in Toronto's west end was converted into affordable housing nearly 15 years ago, the group behind the project was already thinking ahead. 

Andrea Adams, the executive director of the non-profit developer St. Clare's, said she was "daydreaming" about what could be built on the yard next to the 20-unit building on Ossington Avenue. 

She was eventually introduced to Assembly Corp., a company that builds mass timber modular housing, around the same time that the city was looking for proposals for "shovel ready" affordable housing projects. 

Some outdoorsy Canadians are planning to build their tents with elbows up this summer as the season unofficially kicks off this long weekend.

Sally Turner says she and her husband plan to do their camping, canoeing and biking this year in Canadian national parks, including at Jasper National Park this weekend, because of the U.S. trade war and U.S. President Donald Trump's calls to make Canada a 51st state.

"I have, in the past, camped in the United States, but that's not going to happen in the near future," Turner said while shopping for camping gear in Edmonton.

Workers at Canada Post could be heading back to the picket lines in a matter of days — but a labour expert warns postal workers might find negotiating conditions far less favourable now than they were during their holiday job action.

Canada Post said late Tuesday it was hitting pause on negotiations with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers after days of talks between the parties bore little fruit.