Author: Silas Reed

By Justin Sibbet Global News Posted February 25, 2025 10:37 am 1 min read Descrease article font size Increase article font size Lethbridge librarians and booksellers are highlighting the importance of books, education and literature during Freedom to Read Week, which runs from Feb. 23 to March 1. “I think Freedom to Read Week is very important. It’s a time when we can recognize the access that we have to information is something that we need to be fighting for,” said Shannon McAlorum, a professional librarian with the University of Lethbridge. Get daily National news Get the day’s top news,…

Calgary community peace officers will temporarily fall under the command of the police service after a request from the provincial government to municipalities across Alberta in an effort to tackle the distribution of fentanyl. On Feb. 14, Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis sent a letter to cities, towns and police chiefs across the province, including Calgary and Edmonton, asking for deployment of community, bylaw and peace officers to be led by the police on a temporary basis.In that confidential letter, obtained by Global News, Ellis said the effects of fentanyl and illicit drug use have given rise to “serious health…

Descrease article font size Increase article font size Canadian lender Bank of Montreal BMO.TO on Tuesday reported a jump in first-quarter profit driven by strength in its capital markets business. Adjusted earnings from BMO’s capital markets business jumped 45% to C$591 million ($414.39 million) in the quarter.A revival in dealmaking activity has boosted the fees at banks that earn from underwriting stock and bonds sales as well from advising on deals.Meanwhile, BMO’s provision for credit losses jumped to C$1.01 billion in the quarter from C$627 million a year earlier. Rival lender Scotiabank BNS.TO on Tuesday also set aside bigger loan loss provisions.BMO’s adjusted net income…

A south Edmonton split-level with a brick facade and a spruce out front is the unlikely Canadian headquarters of the Indian conglomerate the Srivastava Group.Run by a New Delhi family, the company claims to have offices in Belgium, Switzerland and Canada, where it owns newspaper and oil and gas businesses.But Canadian national security officials have alleged the Srivastava Group and its senior executive have also been involved in more secretive activities.According to public records released to Global News, in 2009 India’s intelligence agencies “tasked” the Srivastava Group’s vice chair to influence Canadian politicians.Indian intelligence wanted Ankit Srivastava to identify “random…

Exchange Income Corp. has entered into an agreement to buy Canadian North for $205 million. The northern airline provides passenger and cargo service to 24 remote Canadian Arctic communities in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories through Ottawa and Edmonton, as well as dedicated charters in northern Alberta and B.C.EIC says Canadian North’s routes are “highly complementary” to those it already services.Its subsidiary Calm Air services the central region of Nunavut, while the company has no presence in the Northwest Territories.The company says the acquisition means it will be able to service all the regions in the Far North, and will…

A new-to-Penticton winter shelter model is so far proving successful. “This is our first year operating the temporary model instead of the emergency response, which was temperature threshold, and it’s been such a vast change in being able to stabilize people,” said Desiree Surowski, executive director of the Penticton Overdose Prevention Society, which operates the site.The temporary designation means, unlike previous years, the shelter is open all winter regardless of temperatures.“We opened Nov. 16 and we will stay opened until March 31,” Surowski told Global news. “It’s 24 hours. People don’t have to reapply for a bed very day.”Penticton city…

By Jason Pires Global News Posted February 24, 2025 9:48 pm 1 min read Descrease article font size Increase article font size Even in the winter, Nigerian-born Toyin K. Ajayi is blazing trails. He’s a big part of a tiny fraternity in Canada — there are not a lot of Black farmers in Canada.“Zero-point-two per cent,” Ajayi said.He is 100 per cent committed to not just farming, but providing affordable, culturally preferred food for Canada’s Black, African and Caribbean communities. 1:32 Honouring Black History Month Ajayi started before the COVID-19 pandemic. Story continues below advertisement But now with food insecurity concerns…

Ukrainians gathered outside Kelowna City Hall on Monday, just as they did three years ago. Maksym Maksvchuk, 17, recalled the day he was in military training when Russia launched a full-scale attack against Ukraine in Feb. 2022.“We were hiding in a big basement and we heard the rockets come through, maybe next in the next streets over,” said Maksvchuk. 1:47 Kelowna woman shares story of fleeing Ukraine on anniversary of war Since then, he, just like the more than 8 million other Ukrainians, have fled their home. Story continues below advertisement “When you hear that they see their house is…

A vigil will take place Monday night in Edmonton to mark the sombre three-year anniversary of Russia invading Ukraine, triggering a full-fledged war after years of escalating tensions between the two European nations. Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, in a major escalation of a conflict that began in 2014. The invasion is the largest and deadliest conflict in Europe since the Second World War, causing hundreds of thousands of military casualties and tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilian casualties.Since the invasion, an estimated 300,000 Ukrainians have fled to Canada as refugees. Of those, about 65,000 have settled in…

Canada’s big six banks are expected to build more credit loss provisions as they brace for uncertainty surrounding the U.S. tariff threat, analysts said, potentially weighing on first-quarter earnings and beyond. The banks have already been putting aside more funds to cover any souring loans due to continued high Canadian unemployment, which has fuelled investor concerns despite some more robust economic data recently. Also called provisions for credit losses, a rise in those funds dents profits for the banks.U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all non-energy Canadian imports starting in March means banks…