Reach

Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said he left Washington Wednesday with a sense that progress was made after a meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

"It was constructive in the sense it was an exchange of views that I think helped both us and the Americans understand the work we need to do to get, we hope, to an agreement," LeBlanc said in an interview with The Canadian Press after arriving in Montreal.

Investigators remained on the scene Thursday at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, one day after a shooter opened fire during a back-to-school Mass with students from the attached school, killing two children and injuring 17 others.

Church and school officials say the campus will remain closed while police complete their work and support services are put in place for students, staff and families.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on Wednesday accused the federal Liberals of allowing temporary foreign workers to take jobs away from young Canadians while youth unemployment is high.

"As our young people have a quarter-century high in their unemployment, Mark Carney this year is expected to bring in a record number of temporary foreign workers to take the jobs of Canadian youth," Poilievre said. 

Statistics Canada data shows unemployment for youth, aged 15 to 24, hit 14.6 per cent in July. This is the highest it's been since 2010, outside of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The guitarist of the Christian rock band Kutless, James Mead, is slowly healing after he had a stroke in July. 

"I want to take a moment to thank each and every one of you who has supported me and my family since my stroke on July 26th," says Kutless on social media. "Your generosity, kindness, and encouragement have meant the world to us - we truly wouldn't be where we are without you."

Mead has been on the road to recovery, which includes many new routines and exercises. 

John 6:29

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

---

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

A shooter opened fire during Mass on the third day of school at Annunciation Catholic School in Minnesota, killing two children and injuring several more. 

Students were sitting in the school's chapel when the assailant fired through the window and then officers say, the shooter committed suicide. 

Canada changed its BSE surveillance after lower global incidence of ‘mad cow disease’ led to international standards shift

Canada’s agency for food safety is encouraged with cattle industry response to a new, more farmer-friendly approach to BSE surveillance.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) updated national bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) surveillance program — put in place earlier this year to meet new international standards — has received 152 samples of risk material as of Aug. 11, it recently said.

Massive storm in southeastern Alberta causes significant damage to crops and reported deaths of livestock

The numbers are still coming in for the cost of the damage caused by a huge hail storm that hit various areas of Alberta Aug. 20.

The storm ripped its way through vast swaths of land from Cayley, Milo and Brooks to the Saskatchewan border, as well as Camrose to the Viking, Edberg, Sedgewick, and Hughenden areas.

Manitoba Agriculture released its latest weekly crop report on Tuesday, offering a snapshot of harvest progress and crop conditions across the province. Cereal crop specialist Anne Kirk, who is compiling the reports this month, says harvest operations are moving forward despite recent weather challenges.