Provincial and Territorial Update – February 14, 2026
An overview on Provincial and Territorial updates for the week of February 14, 2026. Written by Wes McLean.
New Brunswick
- District education councils are objecting to the prospect of school closures and budget cuts. The fifth suggestion on a list of cost-cutting ideas put out by the Holt government is to close underused buildings, such as schools with fewer than 100 students. Anglophone School District East has three schools that could be affected, said Dominic Vautour, the district council’s chair. They are Riverside-Albert, Havelock and Dorchester Consolidated.
- Regulatory hearings into N.B. Power’s proposed Tantramar gas and diesel plant turned a corner on Thursday, as the first expert witness speaking against the project testified before the Energy and Utilities Board. Toby Couture is a battery and renewable energy expert hired by the Conservation Council of New Brunswick to evaluate the controversial energy project. His pre-filed evidence argues that renewables backed by battery storage are a better option to fill power capacity needs than the gas-and-diesel-fuelled power plant proposed by N.B. Power.
- After initially raising questions about the plan, Premier Susan Holt has given her stamp of approval to a new company taking over New Brunswick’s virtual primary care system in April. Controversy erupted earlier this month after the province opted to have Luxembourg-based Foundever take over the virtual care system from eVisitNB, a Woodstock-based company. “I am still looking at this one and asking questions,” Holt said in a Facebook comment at the time. She told CBC News on Thursday that those questions have now been resolved.
- The Conservative MP who went public with his intent to refuse a pending parliamentary pay increase was called out by the party whip in front of his colleagues and heckled as he tried to defend his decision, CBC News has learned. In a letter to the House of Commons clerk that was made public Tuesday, New Brunswick Conservative MP Mike Dawson said he wanted his pay frozen because he couldn’t in good conscience accept an increase while many working people are struggling to get by.
Nova Scotia
- One of the co-chairs of the last two Progressive Conservative election campaigns is one of Nova Scotia’s newest judges. Justice Minister Scott Armstrong announced Friday that Cameron MacKeen, along with Christa MacKinnon and Jennifer MacLellan, are the latest appointments to the bench of the Nova Scotia provincial court.
- Nova Scotia’s premier has fired off a warning to the incoming CEO of the province’s private power utility, accusing the company of relying on an outdated business model that requires rate hikes for customers. Tim Houston shared the lengthy statement on his social media platforms Wednesday evening, urging the new executive of Nova Scotia Power to change course on its latest proposal to increase rates. Houston’s comments came after the utility announced earlier in the week that current board member Vivek Sood would become the new CEO on March 1.
- Civil servants in the Nova Scotia government who have arrangements to work from home have been told they must return to their offices or work sites. The Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union said the decision will affect more than 2,500 employees, many of whom have “shaped their lives” around remote work. Effective April 20, all unionized employees are expected to be in the office, according to a government memo issued Friday.
- Nova Scotia’s Opposition leader is taking aim at the government’s $1.4-billion deficit, which she says has been driven in part by spending not authorized by the legislature. Claudia Chender said Friday the Progressive Conservative took power with a surplus, “and now, for the first time in 30 years, the PC government has driven us to a historic deficit which has resulted in the first credit rating downgrade since 1993.” Earlier this month, credit rating agency S&P Global lowered its long-term and senior unsecured debt ratings on Nova Scotia from double-A-minus to A-plus, predicting that deficits over the next two years will increase the need to borrow money.
Prince Edward Island
- Workplace violence is a reality for many P.E.I. nurses, but accountability is rare, according to a survey conducted by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions. The survey, conducted last summer, found that 88 per cent of nurses on P.E.I. said they experienced workplace harassment in the previous year, with 36 per cent of those members reporting five or more incidents in that time frame. The survey also found that 51 per cent of the nurses surveyed did not report their most recent incidence of workplace violence.
- P.E.I. Premier Rob Lantz — newly sworn in as premier for the second time in less than a year — has shuffled his cabinet. Thursday’s cabinet shakeup came less than a week after Lantz won the permanent leadership of the province’s Progressive Conservative Party. Lantz renamed some portfolios, like making Gilles Arsenault the minister of economic development, trade and artificial intelligence, while Jill Burridge is now the minister of finance and affordability.
- Health P.E.I. says the province’s team-based patient medical homes have been successful, despite the number of Islanders on the provincial patient registry waiting to be assigned a primary care provider exceeding 33,000. During a legislative standing committee on Friday, MLAs questioned officials with the provincial health authority about the time it’s taking to lower that number. Health P.E.I. had set a goal to have fewer than 5,000 patients on the registry by 2027 — but officials said Friday there’s been some roadblocks along the way.
- Optimism is brewing among Prince Edward Island’s elected politicians that they’ll get the chance to do something most of them have never done before — attend a legislative sitting in Province House. But MLAs said they’ve been told that the upcoming spring sitting of the legislature in a couple of weeks will once again be held in the nearby Coles Building, not at the historic site of the 1864 Charlottetown Conference. Parks Canada is overseeing the renovations to Province House, which began in 2015 and has hit some snags along the way. At last count, the work has cost taxpayers nearly $140 million.
Newfoundland and Labrador
- Conception Bay North parents are welcoming the news that the province intends on rebuilding a school lost to a massive wildfire that swept through the region last summer. “We’re elated, the whole shore,” said Cabot Academy parent Susan Traverse-Delaney on CBC’s On The Go. “It’s just a good day for the North Shore.” In an interview with CBC’s St. John’s Morning show on Friday, Education Minister Paul Dinn said the province has “every intention of replacing the school.” The hold up? Dinn said they have to consider a few things first, including the school’s size, catchment areas, and enrollment numbers.
- Power has been restored to most customers as of around 6 p.m. Friday, after tens of thousands were plunged into darkness due to a trip on the Labrador-Island Link transmission line. According to Newfoundland Power’s outage center, there were multiple power outages late Friday afternoon across Newfoundland, including in St. John’s, Conception Bay South, Grand Falls-Windsor and Corner Brook. About 70,000 customers lost power altogether. As of 7:15 p.m. NT, that number was reduced to a little more than 2,700 — mostly in the St. John’s area.
- A political staffer in the office of Premier Tony Wakeham is earning $275,000 as a special advisor, and the province’s publicly funded health insurance program is paying the tab. What’s more, Dr. Desmond Whalen is contractually bound to work 28 hours per week in the premier’s office, and will also be able to bill the Medical Care Plan for any clinical and emergency room time he works outside of his political duties. Liberal Leader John Hogan blasted the government on Thursday for hiring a political staffer at an elevated rate of compensation, and using money intended for the health-care system to pay the salary.
- The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that Covid-19 travel restrictions imposed by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2020 were “reasonably justified” as infection numbers soared, lives were lost, and little was known about the virus. In a majority decision released Friday morning, the court acknowledged that the restrictions violated mobility rights under Section 6 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but found the violation justified under Section 1 of the Charter.
Quebec
- Bernard Drainville wants to ban non-citizens from voting on April 12 to elect the new leader of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), who will become the de facto premier of Quebec. “In my opinion, there is no question about it: you should have to be a citizen to be able to vote,” said the candidate to succeed François Legault on social media. At a press scrum at the National Assembly on Thursday, Economy Minister Samuel Poulin — who supports Bernard Drainville in the race — also called on the party to change the rules.
- Leadership candidate for the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), Christine Fréchette, is promising to revive the popular fast-track immigration program that her government recently terminated — the Programme de l’expérience québécoise, also known as the PEQ. Fréchette says if she’s elected to replace outgoing Premier François Legault, she would reopen the PEQ for two more years. Rival candidate Bernard Drainville has also pledged to introduce a grandfather clause for those already in the process.
- Montreal has become the latest Canadian city to put its name forward to become the global headquarters for the proposed International Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB). Quebec Premier François Legault and other government officials joined with Montreal business and political leaders on Friday to bolster the city’s candidacy to become the bank’s new home. “We shouldn’t be ashamed to say: Montreal is the place, the destination,” Legault said Friday, adding the Quebec government is ready to invest in such a project. “We are ready to calculate a contribution based on the economic benefits. We obviously expect (Prime Minister) Mark Carney to do the same.”
- The Quebec Liberals have acclaimed 46-year-old Charles Milliard as their new leader, thereby forgoing a second leadership race in less than one year. With no other candidate accepted by the party, the Liberals formally announced Milliard as the new leader shortly after Friday’s application deadline. “It’s an important moment for our party,” the Liberals said in a message posted on social media. “It’s a moment that engages us and brings us together and propels us into the future.” Milliard is a member of the Quebec order of pharmacists and was head of the Federation of Quebec Chambers of Commerce.
Ontario
- Abacus Data notes that Doug Ford and the Progressive Conservatives entered February in a weaker position than they held at the start of the year. The PCs remain ahead on vote intention, but their lead has narrowed considerably. Approval of the Ford government has fallen sharply. The desire for change remains elevated. And the Ontario Liberals, despite lacking a permanent leader following Bonnie Crombie’s resignation and the launch of a leadership race, have surged into a far more competitive position. For the first time in months, the political environment feels fluid.
- Crown Royal will remain on Ontario liquor store shelves, after its parent company agreed to $23 million in spending in the province, and Premier Doug Ford cancelled his plans for a boycott. Ford had been threatening for months to pull the product from the Liquor Control Board of Ontario after Diageo announced it was closing a Windsor-area Crown Royal bottling plant. The premier memorably kicked off his campaign against Diageo by slowly pouring out a bottle of Crown Royal onto the ground at a press conference. In recent weeks, though, the premier had softened his tone, saying he offered what he called an olive branch to the company. He urged them to support Ontario jobs in other ways since the Amherstburg closure will affect 200 jobs.
- Toronto students are sharing their takes after the Ontario government announced it would lift a seven-year tuition freeze and cut grants for post-secondary education. The Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security announced the funding changes on Thursday, saying the move is necessary for the “long-term sustainability” of schools amid financial pressure, especially after the federal government introduced caps to limit international student permits.
- Ontario Premier Doug Ford says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre may have secured the overwhelming support of his party in a recent leadership vote, but cautioned that elections are not won on the convention room floor. Poilievre secured 87 per cent of the delegates in Calgary last month at the party’s convention, pulling in more than what former prime minister Stephen Harper achieved at his own leadership review back in 2005. “You don’t win elections at conventions. You win elections across the country, so let’s see what happens if the prime minister decides to call an election,” Ford said on Tuesday.
Manitoba
- A northern Manitoba MLA will be taking time off to deal with health concerns, the NDP caucus says. The Pas-Kameesak MLA, Amanda Lathlin, is currently experiencing health complications, caucus chair Robert Loiselle said in a statement Friday. The statement did not provide details on the health complications. Lathlin was first elected to represent The Pas in a 2015 byelection. She won the newly created Pas-Kameesak riding for the NDP in 2019 and was re-elected in 2023. She’s a former band councillor for Opaskwayak Cree Nation.
- Manitoba’s funding system for Child and Family Services agencies is lagging behind the needs of Indigenous youth, says the Southern Chiefs’ Organization, which is pushing for a review of the model they blame for stagnated resources and limited prevention services. “Indigenous children in care are being underserved and discarded,” SCO Grand Chief Jerry Daniels told reporters at a news conference on Friday. “Our children deserve better, and the time for action is now.” In 2019, Manitoba’s government announced it would move to a “single envelope” model to provide funding to the province’s four CFS authorities.
- Former Winnipeg mayor Sam Katz says he was upset to hear that payments received by the city’s former CAO and later shared with him were characterized in court proceedings as a bribe. Katz testified Thursday at a public inquiry into the police headquarters project that unfolded during his time at city hall. “I take great offence. To me, the key thing in life is your reputation and your credibility,” Katz said during questioning by his lawyer Danny Gunn, at the end of the third day of what’s scheduled to be a months-long inquiry.
- A new report by University of Manitoba researchers suggests that some refugees and newcomers to the province have received vastly different levels of government support, depending on their circumstances, including their country of origin. “Realizing potential: Reflections on policy responses to displaced persons in Manitoba,” published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives on Wednesday, asked people who work in the resettlement sector about special immigration initiatives — both federal and provincial — for three displaced groups: Syrians, Afghans and Ukrainians.
Saskatchewan
- At a meeting on Friday, the Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC) called for changes to address what it calls systemic failures in contracted and privatized hospital security. The meeting was held in response to two recent incidents involving hospital security officers in Saskatchewan’s health-care system. In December, Brydon Lafaver was filmed being wheeled out of Victoria Hospital in Prince Albert by security officers and left in the snow during extreme winter conditions. Weeks later, in January, cancer patient Trevor Dubois died after an altercation with security at Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon.
- Students in the electronic systems engineering technology (ESET) program at Saskatchewan Polytechnic will now be able to complete their studies in Saskatoon after the school reversed an earlier plan that would have required them to relocate. In a statement on Friday, the institution said second-year students currently based in Saskatoon “will not be required to relocate to complete their studies.” Officials said details about where the program will be delivered are still being finalized.
- Neighbours of a proposed artificial intelligence data centre south of Regina have raised concerns about the facility’s water usage and noise pollution. Documents recently filed by a numbered company with the Rural Municipality of Sherwood indicate telecom giant Bell Canada plans to build a campus on approximately 65 hectares of land, with the data centre serving as “critical digital infrastructure for research, provincial AI enablement and federal/protected industries.”
- Hearings now underway in Saskatoon could decide the future of Canada’s biggest uranium mining project to date. NexGen Energy Ltd., a Canadian mining company, entered its second round of hearings for its Rook I mine proposal. Several Indigenous communities attended to hear about the proposed mine in the Athabasca Basin, about 150 km north of La Loche, close to the Alberta border. NexGen has been advocating for over a decade to make the Rook I mine initiative possible. “It’s got the ability to take Saskatchewan and Canada back to being the number one producer of nuclear,” NexGen Energy CEO Leigh Curyer told CBC.
Alberta
- Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she has not signed a petition currently gathering signatures for a referendum to withdraw the province from Confederation. Smith said at an unrelated announcement in Calgary on Thursday that she hasn’t signed any petitions. “I believe that a citizen-initiated process is meant for citizens, and so I’m watching all of the petition campaigns that are out there,” she said. “If any of them get the requisite number of signatures, then we’ll have to talk about prioritizing when we would have a referendum on them.”
- Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says “significant” deficits are in store for her province as it tries to grapple with low oil prices. The government’s new budget is set to be unveiled later this month, and Smith says it will be a “tough” one. The premier told RED FM Calgary this week that she has ruled out tax hikes and “deep” service cuts to avoid hurting Albertans, but said it means the province will need to run multiple deficits. “We’re still going to prioritize the things that matter to people [like] health care, education, and supports for the most vulnerable, as well as building infrastructure, but we can’t do it all,” she said.
- Almost 500 schools in Alberta will get newly created “complexity teams” to help educators navigate the academic and behavioural needs of its youngest students, Premier Danielle Smith announced Thursday. The province will allocate $143 million to deploy teams — made up of one teacher and two educational assistants — in 476 schools, said Smith. The teams will provide in-class assistance to teachers, such as helping students learn English, providing gifted students with more enrichment or managing disruptive students, according to a news release from the Alberta government.
- Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has embraced the role of “good cop” in Canada’s trade turmoil with the United States, but she’s not exactly playing nice with neighbouring U.S. state Montana amidst a brewing electricity dispute. Speaking on her call-in radio show this weekend, Smith dismissed claims that recent changes to Alberta’s electricity market unfairly limit imports of power from Montana, saying the regulations treat it the same as other jurisdictions. Smith said she wouldn’t let Montana-based companies cajole her into giving them special treatment under the guise of fairness.
British Columbia
- Prime Minister Mark Carney led federal, provincial and local leaders in praising the resilience and grace of Tumbler Ridge residents at a vigil in memory of the victims of Tuesday’s mass shooting in the B.C. community. The shooting, in which eight people were killed, including six children, has rocked the tight-knit community in northeast B.C., as well as the country as a whole. Partisan politics were put aside as federal leaders joined Friday’s vigil. Carney was joined by Gov. Gen. Mary Simon, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet and NDP interim Leader Don Davies, among others.
- Social media giant Meta is defending itself against allegations in a B.C. lawsuit that it knowingly exposed children to content that is harmful to their mental health. The lawsuit against the company that owns Facebook and Instagram. Procedural arguments in the case were heard in B.C. Supreme Court earlier this week. Meta denies the allegations in its response, arguing that the claim should be dismissed. None of the allegations have been proven in court.
- Communities, small and large, across B.C. and Canada have been expressing condolences and gestures of support this week, in the wake of the mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., that saw eight victims killed, including six children. While the grief is felt most immediately in the Peace region, the province and the country continues to mourn with the northeast B.C. town. In the West Kootenays, Village of Nakusp Mayor Tom Zeleznik spoke of the challenges of leadership in small communities during a time of extreme hardship and tragedy, expressing his condolences on social media on Feb. 11.
- Communities across B.C. are wondering what the future holds for wildfire prevention and preparedness, as the province runs out of funding for the FireSmart program. FireSmart B.C., is a program that teaches the public and communities about ways to mitigate the impact of wildfire near homes, and provides funding for things like retrofits and building upgrades to make them more resilient to fire. According to the Union of B.C. Municipalities, the province has provided more than $175 million for FireSmart since 2018. Only $25 million in funding for the program remains — money that will be divided up based on who needs it most.
Northwest Territories
- The federal government is set to help fund a new set of apartments at the site of a Yellowknife building complex that was destroyed in a 2018 fire. The federal government will give more than $24 million to the project. The territorial government is also contributing funds. Federal Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Rebecca Alty told reporters at the legislature on Friday the affordable housing complex to be built at the former Rockhill apartments site will have 64 units. She said the housing is intended for those at a risk of homelessness.
Yukon
- The territorial government’s decision to put the brakes on the establishment of a Yukon health authority is drawing strong reaction from those who helped create it. Stephen Mills, chair of the board of the authority, called it “uninformed.” “Yukoners who receive care and Yukoners who deliver that care truly deserve more than what is the status quo,” said Mills. “We have people falling through the cracks and without integrating that care and putting the patient in the centre of that care, we are losing a huge opportunity for transformation in the near future and the longer-term future.”
Nunavut
- The opening of Canada’s new consulate in Greenland is a win for Inuit on the world stage, say some Inuit leaders. More than 90 Nunavummiut were in Nuuk for last week’s event, joined by Gov. Gen. Mary Simon and Global Affairs Minister Anita Anand. “I was interviewed by Spanish TV,” said Paul Irngaut, acting president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. “That’s how much interest they had in Greenland and also in Inuit as a whole.” Irngaut said he expects global interest in Inuit issues to continue. The Inuit Circumpolar Council will host its general assembly in Iqaluit this year — the first time since 1993.