National News

Josephine Sindani’s first memory of using a food bank is a happy one. 

She was eight years old and still adjusting to the shock of an Ottawa winter after recently moving from Halifax, where she and her mom arrived in Canada from Sudan about two years earlier. One day she saw her pregnant mother approaching their home, trudging through snow and carrying a “big bag of toys.”

Premier Scott Moe and the Saskatchewan Party won a fifth consecutive majority government Monday, losing in the big cities but retaining its iron grip on rural areas to secure victory.

Moe’s party was shut out by Carla Beck’s NDP in Regina and lost all but two seats in Saskatoon.

But it found enough support everywhere else to be elected in 35 seats in the 61-seat legislature, compared with 26 for the NDP.

"Thank you once again, Saskatchewan for placing your trust in our party, the Saskatchewan Party," Moe said as supporters in Shellbrook clapped and whooped.

The Bloc Québécois is poised to begin talks with other parties to bring down the minority Liberal government, which has not met its deadline to pass two key bills.

Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet set the deadline last month, putting the Liberals on notice that to avoid an election "before Christmas" they must adopt a pair of private member's bills.

One of the Bloc bills aimed at safeguarding supply management in trade negotiations has the support of the government and is being studied by the Senate.

Saskatchewan's provincial election is on Monday. The Saskatchewan Party, in government for the last 17 years, is hoping for a return to power, while the NDP is fighting to move out of the Opposition benches.

Here are some memorable quotes from politicians during the four-week campaign:

A veteran Ottawa journalist is firing back against what he says are "entirely false" claims by a former Conservative cabinet

Canada's long-held consensus on immigration is under threat but has not disappeared, the immigration minister said in an interview after announcing a major cut to the number of newcomers to Canada. 

On Thursday, Immigration Minister Marc Miller and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced plans to slash Canada's immigration targets by 20 per cent next year and admitted the Liberal government did not get the balance right after the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Friday that Canada strongly condemns a new surge of "horrifying violence" perpetrated by gangs in Haiti.

Gang violence has increased in the Caribbean nation in recent weeks and the UN says gangs now control 85 per cent of the capital city of Port-au-Prince.

Kenya is leading a multinational security mission to restore order after gangs drove out the former prime minister with targeted attacks earlier this year.

A transition council is now leading the nation, with the goal of holding elections next year.

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

A man uses an umbrella to shield himself from the rain while walking on the Stanley Park seawall across the water from downtown Vancouver, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

The federal government is slashing immigration targets to levels that will flatten population growth as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau admits the government did not get the balance right after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government had targeted bringing in 500,000 new permanent residents in both 2025 and 2026.

Next year's target will instead be 395,000 new permanent residents, and that will fall to 380,000 in 2026 and 365,000 in 2027.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he has no intention of stepping down as the leader of the Liberal party by next week. 

A letter signed by two dozen Liberal MPs asking Trudeau to step down was presented to the prime minister Wednesday at a tense caucus meeting in Ottawa.

The letter asked for him to let the caucus know by Oct. 28 what he decides to do.

Trudeau told MPs he would reflect on what was said, but when asked today if he would stay on as prime minister after that date he answered a definitive "yes."