Estevan

It was an action-packed afternoon at Affinity Place on Wednesday as students from across Estevan and area attended the second annual Hooky for Hockey event to watch the Estevan Bruins take on the Notre Dame Hounds.

The moon will be undergoing an eclipse later this week, with the southeast perfectly positioned to see the cosmic event. Unfortunately, the current forecast from Environment Canada is showing that the area will be seeing heavy cloud cover during the time that's supposed to happen.

That's expected to be best seen in the early morning hours, though with the heavy cloud cover there's no good time to catch the event.

A new poll suggests that 40 per cent of Canadians are worried about losing their jobs as many businesses scale back hiring plans in response to the trade war with the United States.

The Leger poll, which sampled more than 1,500 Canadian adults from March 7 to March 10, suggests that more than half of workers in Ontario were concerned about job security, the highest in the country, while just under one in four in Atlantic Canada said they were worried.

A major foreign-policy summit is underway in Quebec today, with the Liberals welcoming foreign ministers from the U.S., Europe and Japan.

The Group of Seven ministerial meeting is taking place in the Charlevoix region, just as Canada seeks support against damaging American tariffs.

The leaders are set to discuss the functioning of the G7 today, as well as geopolitical challenges ranging from Haiti to Sudan.

Ukraine is expected to loom large over the meetings, with Kyiv saying it would be willing to accept a ceasefire if Russia agrees to certain conditions.

The recent decision by the US administration to impose tariffs on Canadian and Mexican agri-food imports has raised concerns across North America.

Michael Harvey, Executive Director of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance (CAFTA), says the tariffs will negatively affect consumers and businesses in all three countries. 

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says the province is working on a plan that would help keep steelworkers employed in response to U.S. tariffs.

Moe didn't offer details on the plan Wednesday but told reporters the province would use the "strength of Saskatchewan's economy" to provide support.

"You will see what that may or may not mean in the days ahead," Moe said in Saskatoon. 

Southeast College is celebrating a student who achieved a national bursary as part of studying at Southeast College.

Southeast College’s Practical Nursing Second Year Student, Avva Padagdag received the Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) Paul and Gerri Charette Bursary, worth a total of $5,000.

Former educational assistant Stacey Duke has been found guilty on six counts of sexual exploitation. 

Duke was found guilty of two counts of exploiting teenagers for a sexual purpose, two counts of making explicit material available, and two counts of luring a child. The decision was made this morning at Court of Kings Bench in Regina.

The offences occurred in 2022 when Duke was employed as an educational assistant at Vibank Regional School. Both victims were 17 years old at the time of the offence.

The Bank of Canada lowered its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point on Wednesday as the tariff battle with the United States starts to weigh on the Canadian economy.

The policy rate stands at 2.75 per cent after the central bank’s seventh consecutive rate cut.

The move was widely expected by economists.

Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem said in prepared remarks Wednesday that signs of stability in inflation and momentum in the Canadian economy driven by previous rate cuts are at risk amid the trade war with the U.S.

Anyone looking for a break from chillier spring weather will be disappointed as the warm surge expected on Thursday has collapsed into more of the same just-above positives as today. The change injected a bit more calm in what was expected to be a rollercoaster week for weather.

Environment Canada Meteorologist Natalie Hasell talks about the change and why it was so drastic.