National News

Labour talks between Air Canada and its pilots are approaching a midnight deadline, when either side could trigger the start of a shutdown for Canada's largest airline.

After more than 14 months of negotiations, starting Sunday the two sides will be in a position to provide 72-hour notice of a strike or lockout that could disrupt travel for the more than 100,000 passengers who fly the airline daily.

In the days leading up to the deadline, the two sides have said they remain far apart on the central question of pay.

Here's a look at some of this week's top news photos as selected by editors.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Ukraine should be allowed to strike deep inside Russia, regardless of Moscow threatening that this would draw Canada and its allies into direct war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that the NATO military alliance would draw itself into war if it allows Ukraine to use donated weapons to make long-range strikes inside Russia.

His comments come five weeks after Ukrainian forces stormed the border and put parts of Russian territory under foreign occupation for the first time since the Second World War.

After 45 days of evidence and legal arguments the criminal trial of "Freedom Convoy" organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber is finally at an end.

A verdict could be as much as six months away.

"I don’t know in this moment when I will be in a position to give my decision," Justice Heather Perkins-McVey said Friday.

She said "it's a little daunting," given the unusually great volume of evidence and legal questions associated with the case. 

Air Canada and business leaders are asking Ottawa to be ready to intervene in labour talks with its pilots as time is running out before a potential shutdown, but so far the government has said the two sides need to work things out. 

Airline spokesman Christophe Hennebelle said Thursday that Air Canada is committed to negotiations, but it faces wage demands from the Air Line Pilots Association that it can't meet. 

"The issue is that we are faced with unreasonable wage demands that ALPA refuses to moderate.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and members of his inner circle are slated to return to a federal inquiry into foreign interference in coming weeks.

A newly published provisional witness list for the next phase of the inquiry's public work indicates senior government bureaucrats and members of national security agencies will also testify.

Trudeau and key government officials took part in the commission's initial hearings earlier this year on allegations of foreign interference in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

A battle is heating up between Pierre Poilievre and Jagmeet Singh ahead of the return of the House of Commons next week, as the Conservatives challenge the NDP to help them bring down the government.

Singh said Wednesday he won't be taking advice from Poilievre, while sidestepping questions about whether the NDP would vote in favour of a non-confidence motion, as Poilievre challenged him to do.

Kamala Harris pushed back on Donald Trump's claims about immigration and abortion as the two leaders met face-to-face for the first time on a debate stage in Philadelphia Tuesday.

The matchup marked a pivotal moment during the final sprint of a close race for the White House and saw Trump and Harris lay out starkly different visions for the future of America. 

While it started with a handshake, the debate quickly saw the Democratic vice-president and Republican former president zero in on each other's records. 

New Democrats are huddling in Montreal to strategize a new path forward ahead of the fall parliamentary session — one that doesn't include the Liberals at their hips and ideally makes them a credible alternative to the Conservatives at the next election.

The three-day caucus retreat kicking off Tuesday comes less than a week after NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh announced the end of the supply-and-confidence agreement with the Liberals. 

It's also taking place in one of the two cities where the NDP is hoping to win a byelection on Sept. 16. 

The family of a 15-year-old girl who was lit on fire at a Saskatoon high school has asked people to wear purple Tuesday when classes resume. 

“It is her favourite colour,” the girl’s grandmother said in an interview.  

“It’s going to be a very long recovery, and we’ve put it out there just to let her know that people are thinking of her and praying for her.”

Students are to return to Evan Hardy Collegiate on Tuesday, where last week a witness said the girl had liquid from a black canister poured onto her head which was then lit on fire.