Provincial and Territorial Update – July 4, 2025
Provincial and Territorial Update: An overview of the Provincial Legislative and Territories Legislative Updates for the week of July 4, 2025. Written by Wes McLean.
New Brunswick
- Under New Brunswick rules, the public can be kept in the dark when their local officials face discipline — an approach far less open than one adopted next door in Nova Scotia. In Strait Shores, in eastern New Brunswick, a councillor was temporarily suspended after an investigation that was kept from the public and was later found to have violated due process. In the northern municipality of Heron Bay, which includes Dalhousie and Charlo, the council suspended Mayor Normand Pelletier and, as Radio-Canada reported, has refused to publicly say why.
- While a report on the New Brunswick economy is showing largely positive numbers, one economist warns the financial winds may have already shifted. The provincial government released its “2024 Economy in Review” on Wednesday. The report indicates the provincial economy grew by 1.8 per cent last year, slightly up from 1.7 per cent growth in 2023. In a statement on the province’s website, Finance Minister René Legacy said that while there was uncertainty, “these results are encouraging.” But Herb Emery, an economist at the University of New Brunswick, said any results may already be out of date.
- The People’s Alliance has once again de-registered as a political party — but this time, it’s for good. “It’s heartbreaking,” said Michelle Conroy, who was first elected as an MLA with the party in 2018. “It kind of brings up some old memories, and it pulls at the heartstrings.” The populist party on the right of the political spectrum folded and restarted in the past, and it recently attempted to rebuild under new leadership and a shifting view of what the right looks like in New Brunswick.
- N.B. opioid deaths involving fentanyl at all-time high, says Public Health. Naloxone distribution is also on the rise as harm reduction providers say more is needed to reverse overdoses. Fentanyl was detected in 57 per cent of opioid-related deaths in 2024, according to New Brunswick Public Health.
Nova Scotia
- Nova Scotia’s commanding RCMP officer says the Mounties are well positioned to take on a bigger role in the province, two years after a public inquiry identified serious failures in its response to the April 2020 mass shooting and called for major improvements. A subsequent review into policing was released last week, with the province indicating an expansion of the RCMP is included in its plans to modernize services. Some municipal leaders have questioned the direction, while Justice Minister Becky Druhan has insisted she is confident it is the correct path.
- The Nova Scotia government has wrapped up consultations that will help determine if it will allow alcohol to be sold in more places, including grocery and corner stores. It’s a move that Doctors Nova Scotia fears will cause significantly more harm than good. In June, 14 physicians who specialize in addiction medicine wrote an open letter to Finance Minister John Lohr, whose department is overseeing the process, saying alcohol already causes more than 500 deaths a year in Nova Scotia. Now, those doctors have the backing of the provincial organization that advocates for physicians.
- The Nova Scotia government is defending a $1.35-million housing program that resulted in 60 leases over roughly two years. A spokesperson with the Department of Growth and Development says the contract with the non-profit home-sharing platform Happipad was a success for the people who found a home. Initial results show the program wound up costing more than $22,000 per lease, prompting criticism from opposition parties who said the government has failed to help Nova Scotians find affordable homes.
- The CFIB report gives Nova Scotia an “A” grade overall — the top mark in the country — saying the province has shown leadership in removing trade barriers with other provinces. “I’m thrilled Nova Scotia is being recognized for making things better for businesses and workers, and I hope it continues to encourage other provinces and territories to join us and make free trade a reality, nationwide,” said Premier Tim Houston. “I won’t stop working in the best interests of hard-working Nova Scotians, and this government will continue to push to advance mutual recognition policies, cut red tape and make it easier for businesses and people to thrive in Nova Scotia.”
Prince Edward Island
- The province’s progress toward improving support for neurodiverse students in Prince Edward Island schools has been “exceedingly slow,” says a new report from the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate. The office provided recommendations to the province last summer aimed at removing barriers to learning for children who have complex educational support and behavioural needs. Ten months later, none of the five recommendations has been fully implemented, which is considered a negative outcome, said Marvin Bernstein, the province’s child and youth advocate.
- With the ferry service between eastern Prince Edward Island and northern Nova Scotia once again experiencing cancellations, this time because of the tides, the federal government confirms it plans to dredge Wood Islands Harbour earlier than planned. Northumberland Ferries Ltd. said this week that it would be operating on reduced sailings and limited vehicle capacity due to “unusually low tides.” Cardigan MP Kent MacDonald said the last time the area was dredged was in 2022.
- Realized net income for Canadian farmers — the difference between a farmer’s cash receipts and operating expenses, minus depreciation, plus income in kind — dropped by $3.3 billion nationwide to $9.4 billion in 2024, a decline of more than 25 per cent. This was the largest percentage decrease in realized net income since 2018. However, realized net income actually increased in P.E.I. and Nova Scotia. On the Island, it rose to $105.9 million, up 1.7 per cent from the previous year.
- Cancer patients who usually get treatment in Summerside will have to travel to P.E.I.’s capital over the next several days, while those who need a medical oncologist will need to go to Charlottetown until August. The oncology department at Summerside’s Prince County Hospital is short-staffed, said Health P.E.I., so patients receiving chemotherapy will be treated at Queen Elizabeth Hospital from now until July 10. The agency said in a statement that no treatment schedules have been interrupted because of the shortage, and that patients who require transportation and other support can pay upfront and apply to PCH for reimbursement.
Newfoundland and Labrador
- Students and staff at Newfoundland and Labrador’s only university have offered the administration suggestions to reduce costs, increase revenue and boost morale as the school looks to cut millions of dollars in spending. This week, the university published on its website a summary of the anonymous suggestions it had received, which include opening a school-run cafe as a source of revenue and reviewing some senior administration roles. The school solicited the feedback as it faces “urgent financial pressures,” according to its latest budget.
- Former Newfoundland and Labrador premier Andrew Furey has resigned from his role as the MHA for Humber-Gros Morne. Furey made the announcement on Thursday afternoon in a video posted on Facebook, along with his letter of resignation to Premier John Hogan. His resignation was effective as of noon. “It has been a complete honour and privilege to serve you in the House of Assembly. Today, I told the speaker that I’d be resigning as your member,” Furey said.
- Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services says it is sifting through about 20,000 pieces of returned mail sent to patients and suppliers that ended up unclaimed in community mailboxes for over a year instead. “We recognize that many of the letters that were sent out and returned back to us were intended for our patients and the recipients of our services,” Tina Edmonds, interim vice-president of quality and learning health systems at NLHS, told CBC News.
- Despite a lagging market for green hydrogen, the Newfoundland and Labrador government says it still plans to collect royalties from the province’s nascent renewable energy industry. Steve Crocker, minister of industry, energy and technology, says his department is keeping a close eye on developments in the industry and will come up with an appropriate royalty regime if any of the proposed wind-powered hydrogen operations pivot to focus exclusively on wind energy.
Quebec
- In Sept-Îles, Quebec Premier François Legault announced that the Quebec government, Hydro-Québec, and Aluminerie Alouette have reached a major agreement to supply electricity to the Sept-Îles plant, ensuring its stability beyond 2029. This agreement paves the way for a major $1.5 billion modernization project. The plant, which employs nearly 1,000 people, plays a key role in the North Shore economy.
- A subsidiary of a Norwegian energy company wants to build a liquefied natural gas export project in Quebec. Marinvest Energy Canada says there’s a strong business case for an LNG project in Quebec to export Canadian natural gas to Europe. The company is offering few details about the project, but an elected official in Quebec’s Côte-Nord region says it would be located in Baie-Comeau, along the north shore of the St. Lawrence River. Quebec Premier François Legault says members of his team have met with representatives of the company.
- The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) is the target of a United Nations (UN) report, which accuses Quebecers’ institutional investors of participating in the “economy of genocide” in Gaza. The Caisse invested $9.6 billion in companies allegedly profiting from the Israel-Hamas war to enrich themselves, alleges Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, in her report entitled “From the Economy of Occupation to the Economy of Genocide,” released Thursday.
- A recent Quebec government investigation into the climate at two Montreal junior colleges may have had a chilling effect on teachers, according to the director general of one of the schools. Benoit Morin says the months-long probe exacerbated tensions at Vanier College, which has been under scrutiny since last fall due to complaints that diverging perspectives on the Israel-Hamas war had created an unsafe atmosphere on campus. “I do think that the investigation raised questions that created an environment in which teachers may … doubt what they will be teaching,” he said in an interview. “And that in itself can affect the quantity and the quality of academic freedom that we see in our environment.”
Ontario
- Premier Doug Ford says Ontario will try to hit its climate change targets by 2030, despite internal documents suggesting the province is not on track to meet the emissions reduction goals. Ford was responding to a report from CBC News that shows the province is projected to miss a key climate change target by three megatonnes of emissions in 2030. The premier said Ontario is working hard to hit the mark and committing to nuclear energy as a way to help green the province’s electricity grid.
- Premier Doug Ford has been asking the federal government to drop the Digital Services Tax against the U.S. since last October, says Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli. It finally happened on June 29. The federal government had announced late Sunday that it was rescinding the Digital Services Tax, just two days after U.S. President Donald Trump issued an ultimatum. The tax was a sticking point between Canada and U.S. trade talks, and Trump stated in various interviews he was “terminating” all trade talks with Canada after it was announced that a Digital Services Tax would be levied at the end of June.
- Ontario’s provincial government has appointed supervisors to oversee four major school boards, including the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), amid escalating concerns about antisemitism and student safety. While the province cites fiscal mismanagement as the official reason, Ontario’s Ministry of Education also asserts the intervention will directly address rising antisemitism and create safer learning environments free from politics in Ontario schools.
- A community effort to keep a landfill out of Dresden was met with support on Thursday by the leader of the Ontario NDP. Marit Stiles backed the cause at a rally against the landfill and the provincial government’s passing of Bill 5. “This is a prime example of a government and a premier making another promise and commitment and breaking it,” Stiles told those at the rally in Dresden. Led by Stiles, a crowd of more than 100 people chanted “kill Bill 5,’ which paved the way for a long-dormant landfill to be revived without the need for an Environmental Assessment.
Manitoba
- Hundreds of Lynn Lake residents are being forced out of the northern Manitoba community, with wildfire activity once again threatening residents’ safety only two weeks after they were allowed to return home. The town issued a notice on its Facebook page at 10 p.m. Thursday night, saying a mandatory evacuation order would begin on Friday. An update earlier in the day said a fire about 20 kilometres southwest of Lynn Lake could damage the main transmission line servicing the community as early as Friday.
- The price of cannabis is rising in Manitoba after the province’s cannabis distributor slapped a higher markup on the products it sells to retailers — an added cost stores are passing down to consumers, in many cases. Retailers buy their cannabis products from Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries, the provincially owned distributor, which charges a markup as the wholesaler. That markup was nine per cent, but it increased to 11 per cent on June 1. In an April memo to stores announcing the price hike, the Crown corporation appeared to offer some consolation to retailers by promising to “explore” the idea of removing a rule that forces cannabis stores to cover their windows.
- The redevelopment of the former Hudson’s Bay Company building in downtown Winnipeg could get a $3.4-million funding boost from the city. A new report, to be considered by the council’s executive policy committee next week, calls for funding to make improvements above and below the sidewalks surrounding the building. The Southern Chiefs Organization is in the middle of a $310-million redevelopment of the old Hudson’s Bay Company building. It’s turning the nearly century-old building into a mixed-use development called Wehwehneh Bahgahkinahgohn.
- It’s been over 50 years since Brian Anderson was convicted of a murder he didn’t commit, almost two since his name was finally cleared and about 14 months since he sued in hopes of getting compensated for everything he lost — but after all that time, he says he’s still waiting for that compensation from all three levels of government. “They were quick to convict, but when it’s time to find it the other way around, [they’re] dragging their feet,” Anderson said in an interview with his daughter at their home in Selkirk, Man.
Saskatchewan
- The northwest Saskatchewan communities of Beauval and English River First Nation have issued mandatory evacuation orders in response to nearby wildfires. Beauval, a town located approximately 350 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon, announced on Thursday afternoon that the risk of heavy smoke and unpredictable wind patterns had forced it to upgrade a priority evacuation order to a mandatory one. A wildfire was about 10 kilometres from the town Thursday morning. The town said it didn’t believe there was an immediate threat of the fire approaching the town, but that heavy smoke is expected.
- Saskatchewan’s Official Opposition is slamming the government’s latest fiscal update, which shows the province posted a $249-million operating deficit to close out the 2024-25 fiscal year. “They failed to balance the budget and failed to properly address the real big challenges that Saskatchewan people face,” NDP finance critic Trent Wotherspoon said Wednesday. The Saskatchewan Party government’s 2024-25 public accounts show that after starting the fiscal year with a projected deficit of $273 million, the province closed out the period with a $24-million improvement from the budget.
- Saskatchewan’s Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) is investigating after an RCMP officer shot a man Sunday. Meadow Lake RCMP responded around 5:30 p.m. CST Sunday to a report of an adult male acting aggressively at a home on Flying Dust First Nation, according to an RCMP news release. Flying Dust First Nation is near Meadow Lake, about 250 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon. Two officers responded and found the man had a weapon, the release said. One of the RCMP officers shot the man. He was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. No further updates on his condition have been released.
- “As an agriculture producer, we know that the majority of what we produce here in Saskatchewan is exported,” said Bill Prybylski, the president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, which represents farmers across the province. “So anytime there’s any sort of disruptions in that trade, whether it be from tariffs or, or you know, supply chain disruptions or geopolitical issues, anytime there’s a disruption in that normal trade, we as producers feel the effects almost immediately.” Despite the move to rescind the digital services tax, Canada is still in active discussions with G7 allies to introduce an international tax, with Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne leading that work, the PMO said.
Alberta
- Two Independent MLAs expelled from the UCP are bidding to resurrect the old party brand of Peter Lougheed and Ralph Klein. Peter Guthrie and Scott Sinclair are petitioning to re-register the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta — the party that governed Alberta from 1971 to 2015 before it merged with the Wildrose Party to form the United Conservative Party late last decade.
- After Alberta Premier Danielle Smith unveiled a provincial policing service Wednesday, there are still many questions left unanswered. CTV public safety analyst Chris Lewis said he was “a little confused” by the premier’s announcement. “There are a lot of gaps to fill in that are really uncertain at this time,” said Lewis. Currently, sheriffs do court security and traffic enforcement while RCMP responds to homicides, fatal collisions, missing people and the lot. “How do you go from what they are to what they can do?” said Lewis. “Who do they report to? Who’s responsible for what they do?”
- Strychnine had long been the preferred pesticide for gopher control in Alberta — until the federal government began to phase out its use on Richardson’s ground squirrels in 2020 and then banned it outright in 2024. The Government of Alberta is now calling for the controversial poison to be unbanned by the Health Canada Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA). “Alberta’s farmers and ranchers are in crisis,” reads an open letter released through social media on June 27, signed by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, Agriculture Minister RJ Sigurdson and Minister of Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration Joseph Schow.
- The Building Industry and Land Development (BILD) Alberta Association is asking the Government of Alberta to review Canmore’s vacancy tax bylaw, citing concerns about the precedent it would establish, according to the provincial lobbying registry. The Town of Canmore passed a bylaw in August 2024 that divided residential properties into five sub-classes and allowed the administration to set different tax rates for primary residences, tourist homes and vacant properties. This is the first time a municipality has used its power to establish a higher tax bracket for vacant homes. In April, a Court of King’s Bench judge ruled the bylaw was valid after it was challenged by a group of individuals and real estate management companies.
British Columbia
- The Government of British Columbia is rolling out new measures aimed at making it faster and more affordable to build much-needed housing across the province, in a move designed to tackle ongoing challenges of high construction costs and interest rates. “We are committed to finding innovative and cost-effective solutions to build housing, so everyone has a fair chance to live in communities where they work and belong,” said Ravi Kahlon, B.C. minister of housing and municipal affairs, in a statement today. “These changes are about supporting housing development and easing the financial burden on builders and developers so they can get shovels in the ground faster to help unlock more homes for people in B.C.”
- Relatives of Canadians detained by ICE in the United States say they’re furious and frustrated by the treatment of their loved ones and the battles they’re having to fight for even the most basic information. Global Affairs Canada said it’s aware of roughly 55 Canadians in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, though it said that the numbers can fluctuate.
- A B.C. Supreme Court judge has reserved his decision following a three-day hearing that concluded Friday in which the city is seeking an order allowing it to close a downtown homeless encampment and remediate the site. The city’s lawyer, Jeffrey Locke, argued that supportive housing in Prince George now exceeds the requirements set out in a previous court decision that saw the encampment gain legal protection. The encampment on Lower Patricia Boulevard, known as Moccasin Flats, was first established in the spring of 2021 on city-owned land, on an empty dirt lot between an industrial yard and a steep hill leading to a residential neighbourhood.
- The B.C. government is expanding the province’s hate crimes unit within the RCMP, citing a surge in hate-motivated incidents across the province. Public Safety Minister Garry Begg announced more than $734,000 in new funding Friday to expand the B.C. RCMP hate crimes team. The unit, which previously had two officers, will grow to a team of eight with the addition of five new officers and an intelligence analyst.
Northwest Territories
- The N.W.T.’s environment minister says communication with the Alberta government has improved since a pair of oil spills several years ago. “The information sharing from that point forward has been really good,” Minister Jay Macdonald told reporters Friday afternoon. The news conference at the Explorer Hotel had been organized at the end of an annual meeting of environment ministers from around the country – a group called the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment – that had, this year, been held in Yellowknife. Rebecca Shulz, Alberta’s minister of environment and protected areas, was among those at the summit.
Yukon
- The federal and Yukon governments are putting more money toward reducing wildfire risk in the territory. Officials on Thursday announced $17 million for fuel break construction and other wildfire mitigation efforts around Whitehorse, Teslin and Haines Junction — communities “prone to aggressive wildfire behaviour,” according to a news release. Ottawa is providing $13.8 million from the federal Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund, and the Yukon government is chipping in $3.2 million.
Nunavut
- Nunavut’s information and privacy commissioner says there are systemic problems around the privacy of children in care. Commissioner Graham Steele released a report last week which found the territory’s assistant deputy minister of family wellness has been getting unauthorized access to some child protection files. The review came after Jane Bates, the territory’s representative for children and youth (RCYO), laid a privacy breach complaint against Family Services on March 6.