Author: The Canadian Post

Saskatchewan’s Opposition NDP argued on Jan. 26, 2026, that the province does not need its newly announced review of hospital security, because the provincial auditor had already identified the safety problems in December 2024 — even as metal detectors were being installed in some emergency rooms. ‘You already know what to do’ The Saskatchewan Party government under Premier Scott Moe announced the previous week that it would launch an independent, third-party review into hospital security while installing metal detectors in some emergency rooms — a response to growing concerns about violence in health-care facilities. The NDP says the province is…

Laurentian Bank of Canada said on Jan. 26, 2026, that the two leading proxy advisory firms, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis, both recommend shareholders vote in favour of the bank’s plan to sell its commercial operations to Fairstone Bank of Canada for $1.9 billion. The breakup of Laurentian takes shape The transaction is the centrepiece of a breakup of the Montreal-based bank, Canada’s ninth-largest. Fairstone Bank has agreed to acquire Laurentian’s commercial banking operations for $1.9 billion, or $40.50 per share, while National Bank of Canada is buying Laurentian’s retail and small and medium business segment for roughly…

Affordability and sovereignty were expected to dominate debate as Parliament reconvened on Jan. 26, 2026, after the holiday break, with opposition parties vowing to press Prime Minister Mark Carney to back up his Davos call for a new world order with concrete action on jobs and the cost of living. Carney returns from the world stage The struggle of Canadian families to make ends meet in a turbulent economy was set to be the key theme of the new sitting. Carney returned to the front bench of the House of Commons after travelling the globe to spur exports and drum…

A paraglider died after crashing into the side of Ha Ling Peak, a mountain near Canmore, Alta., just before noon on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, Alberta RCMP reported on Jan. 26; the man was pronounced dead at the scene, the death is not considered criminal, and investigators are awaiting autopsy results. ‘Somebody hit the side of the mountain’ RCMP Cpl. Gina Slaney said officers responded to a call about a paragliding accident near Ha Ling Peak, a popular mountain near the town of Canmore, just before noon on Jan. 18. The male paraglider was pronounced dead at the scene. “Somebody…

La Caisse, Quebec’s public pension fund manager formerly known as CDPQ, announced on Jan. 26, 2026, that it will sell a block of Cogeco Communications shares representing nearly 11 per cent of the company’s subordinate shares at $67.45 per share, for gross proceeds of about $229 million, while remaining the company’s largest holder of subordinate shares. A rebalancing, not an exit The Montreal-based fund said the transaction is linked to its periodic portfolio rebalancing. Even after the sale, La Caisse will remain the largest holder of subordinate shares in Cogeco Communications, which provides internet, mobile, TV and home phone services…

Kirsty Duncan, the former Liberal cabinet minister and five-time member of Parliament for Etobicoke North, died on Jan. 26, 2026, at the age of 59, after a years-long battle with cancer that she had spoken about publicly while continuing to serve in Parliament. ‘A life defined by kindness and service’ Prime Minister Mark Carney issued a statement of condolence the same day. “Today, I join Canadians in mourning the passing of the Honourable Kirsty Duncan,” he said. “Kirsty’s life was defined by kindness and service.” Carney recalled the career she had before politics. “Before public office, she was a teacher…

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security wrote to Hanover County, Va., in January 2026 saying it wants to purchase, occupy and rehabilitate a warehouse owned since 2022 by Jim Pattison Developments — the property arm of the Vancouver-based Jim Pattison Group — for use as an ICE “processing facility.” A letter to the county planners The department sent the letter to the Hanover County planning department the previous Wednesday, sharing its intent to “purchase, occupy and rehabilitate” the warehouse property in support of operations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Property records show Jim Pattison Developments has owned the building…

British Columbia issued an environmental assessment certificate on Jan. 26, 2026, to Eskay Creek Mining Ltd., a subsidiary of Skeena Gold+Silver, to restart gold and silver mining at the former Eskay Creek mine in Tahltan territory, following the first assessment in Canada guided by an Indigenous consent agreement. A consent-based first The province said its Environmental Assessment Office carried out a “collaborative assessment process” with the Tahltan Central Government (TCG), the first of its kind to be guided by a consent agreement — a milestone in government-to-government decision-making for major projects. Environment and Parks Minister Tamara Davidson and Mining and…

CIBC Capital Markets economist Andrew Grantham warned on Jan. 26, 2026, that Canada is showing less of a K-shaped split in consumer spending than the United States — and that this apparent equality may actually signal trouble, because it suggests lower-income households are dipping into savings to sustain their spending. Two countries, two patterns In the United States, Grantham said, high-income earners are driving most of the growth in consumer spending compared with middle- and lower-income earners, producing the diverging pattern economists call K-shaped: one arm of household finances rising, the other flat or falling. Canada looks different on the…

Economists widely expected the Bank of Canada to hold its policy interest rate at 2.25 per cent at its first decision of 2026 on Wednesday, Jan. 28, with financial markets pricing nearly a 90 per cent chance of a hold — and many forecasters expecting no change for the rest of the year. Take the Bank at its word The central bank held its policy rate steady at 2.25 per cent in December, coming off two consecutive quarter-point cuts in the second half of 2025. At that decision, Governor Tiff Macklem said the Bank believes monetary policy is at “about…