National News

Police will not be laying charges in a bus crash that killed 17 people in western Manitoba.

RCMP say they do not expect to be able to talk to the bus driver, who was severely injured in the crash.

And they say officers have found no explanation as to why he pulled into an intersection when it wasn't safe.

The bus, carrying seniors to a casino, collided with a semi-trailer while crossing the Trans-Canada Highway near the town of Carberry last June.

A historic defeat for the Liberals in a downtown Toronto byelection has put a glaring question mark on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's political future. 

Insiders warn the Conservative victory could be a sign portending a Tory blue wave when the rest of Canada goes to the polls.

Here's a look at the options Trudeau and the Liberals face as they enter a summer of soul-searching. 

Liberals look for a new saviour

Manitoba Mounties and a Crown prosecutor are set to provide an update today on an investigation into a bus crash that killed 17 people.

RCMP say the prosecutor is to discuss a decision about charges relating to the crash last June near Carberry, west of Winnipeg.

The bus, carrying seniors to a casino, collided with a semi-trailer while crossing the Trans-Canada Highway.

Police have said the truck had the right of way.

Police handed over their findings in January to the Crown's office, including forensic reports and interviews with witnesses and survivors.

Oh, rats.

Canada’s latest attempt to bring the Stanley Cup home died dramatically on the edge of the Everglades on Monday, leaving fans from Edmonton to Florida thrilled at the ride but crushed at the destination.

The Oilers fell one game short of a comeback for the ages, winning three in a row to tie the final series only to drop the deciding Game 7 to the Florida Panthers by a score of 2-1.

Canada's population of those 85 and older is expected to triple by 2073 to as many as 4.3 million people, an increase that will likely place new pressure on the country on several fronts, one demographer says.

Statistics Canada said in its projections released Monday that the country's population could reach a medium-growth forecast of 63 million by 2073 and at least 3.3 million will be over 85. 

The agency said the aging population and low birthrates mean that migration will be the key driver of Canada's growth for the foreseeable future. 

The Edmonton Oilers may not be on home ice when they try to clinch the Stanley Cup against the Florida Panthers on Monday night, but screams of support will resound across Canada from rinkside watch parties, bars, seniors homes and ordinary living rooms.

"We cheer them on every single game of the season," said Derrick DeMone, an Oilers fan in Sydney, N.S., who will be watching at home with his sons, aged 24, 14 and 12.

"I haven't felt like this since I was a young boy, I'll tell you that."

Edmonton Oilers fans crowd around Mary Loewen in a plaza outside the team's home arena during every playoffs game, asking to have their pictures taken with the superfan who's dressed as the Stanley Cup.

Loewen dons a sequined blazer, wears silver gloves and glasses, and covers her face in silver makeup. Then she puts on her "crown" which is meant to imitate the bowl of the famous trophy.

It has 3,500 sequins, and they were all put in by hand.

Before he launched a campaign that would see him take over as leader of Alberta’s New Democrats, Naheed Nenshi worried politics had become too polarized, too toxic for him.

But ultimately that was why the man known for espousing “politics in full sentences” decided he had to return.

“The players make the game. And if we abandon the game because it's so awful, then the game will get worse,” Nenshi said in an interview before winning the party’s leadership vote on the first ballot on Saturday.

“We need a new government very badly, and we're not a debating society.

Provinces are reaching out to Democrats and Republicans alike to make their case for co-operation, bolstering efforts by the federal government to ensure Canada is prepared for any outcome in the upcoming United States election.

"I see provinces and Team Canada both ramping up their efforts," said Laura Dawson, an expert on Canada-U.S. relations and the executive director of the Future Borders Coalition.

Former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi’s appeal to new members outside the traditional fold of the Alberta NDP has propelled him to the helm of the party.

Nenshi becomes the first from Calgary to lead the New Democrats, easily securing the win with 86 per cent of the vote on the first ballot of the party's biggest leadership contest.

The race was pegged as a battle between the NDP's ideological roots and political pragmatism in the traditionally conservative province.