Provincial and Territorial Update – May 22, 2026
An overview on Provincial and Territorial updates for the week of May 22, 2026. Written by Wes McLean.
New Brunswick
- Starting this summer, ambulances in New Brunswick will be equipped with a “clot-buster” drug that can stop heart attacks or at least minimize their damage. The province announced on Thursday afternoon that it’s spending $2.5 million to equip advanced care paramedics with pre-hospital thrombolytics. “This is a tool that lets us deliver earlier care and treatment before a patient gets to the hospital. And it does save lives,” said Premier Susan Holt.
- The New Brunswick government has bought four new amphibious aircraft to better fight wildfires. The Air Tractor AT-802 Fire Boss aircraft was unveiled at an event on Tuesday. John Herron, the natural resources minister, said the new planes are necessary to protect New Brunswick homes and businesses. “Eighty-six per cent of the province is forested,” Herron said. “We need to make sure that we have this type of capacity to protect families, communities and also the sector.”
- Elections N.B. says there have been no changes to municipal election results following recounts of multiple tight races across New Brunswick. Local government elections took place across the province on May 11. Candidates had until May 21 to seek recounts in races with a margin of 25 votes or fewer. Karine Pitre, a spokesperson for Elections N.B., said in an email Friday that recounts by local returning officers have been completed in all but one race.
- Moncton’s new mental health court program is underway, giving an alternative to the traditional court system for people dealing with severe mental health or addiction issues. The court, which started on April 1, is modelled after other mental health court programs but with some key differences: the Moncton version is available for those struggling with addictions and also offers participants housing throughout the process. To participate in the program, participants must meet several qualifications and be referred by the Crown prosecutor in their case.
Nova Scotia
- Nova Scotia’s first call for bids for offshore wind licences has yet to open, but the province is already thinking about doing it again — and again and again. David MacGregor, associate deputy minister of the Energy Department, said annual calls are part of the provincial government’s strategy to support the fledgling industry as it takes shape.
- Nova Scotia’s premier says he’s concerned about the wait times some women are facing to get a mammogram. Some women in the Halifax area told CBC News this week that it’s unacceptable that they can’t get an appointment for more than 15 months. “I think the concerns and discussion around women’s health is appropriate, and I am concerned about that,” Tim Houston told reporters at a cabinet meeting on Thursday.
- Although no byelection date has been set for the new electoral district of Chéticamp-Margarees-Pleasant Bay, candidates for the three major parties are already road-testing their pitches to fill the 56th seat in the Nova Scotia Legislature. For Claude Bourgeois, the local business operator who’s running for the Progressive Conservatives, it’s that he can be a voice for his community at the government table. “I think if an idea is presented well, with good intentions and explained well to everyone, then I think I can get somewhere,” he said in a recent interview.
- Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston is preparing for a major bill to cover costs related to wage restraint legislation passed by a former Liberal government that a Supreme Court judge recently deemed unconstitutional. The government of former premier Stephen McNeil passed Bill 148, the Public Services Sustainability Act, more than 10 years ago to limit wage increases amid financial challenges.
Prince Edward Island
- A lawsuit filed against former P.E.I. premier Dennis King and two other civil servants has been dismissed by P.E.I. Supreme Court Justice John Mitchell. Island businessman Paul Maines filed the lawsuit in 2021, alleging King, as well as former civil servants Allan Campbell and Chris LeClair, were involved in a secret e-gaming proposal, and that King abused his powers as premier.
- Prince Edward Island is losing another doctor, adding nearly 1,400 people to the provincial patient registry. Following questions from Kensington-Malpeque MLA Matthew MacKay, Health and Wellness Minister Cory Deagle said in the P.E.I. legislature Wednesday that Dr. Ken White would be leaving his practice at the Kensington Health Centre.
- For the second time, a Green bill to eliminate sick notes on Prince Edward Island has been defeated. Under the Employment Standards Act, an employer can request a sick note if the employee is out for three consecutive days or more. The Green bill wanted that section removed. The Greens and Liberals voted for it, the PCs voted against it — the same fate their bill had in the spring sitting of 2024. It was Green Leader Matt MacFarlane’s bill, and he was joined for debate on it by Dr. Kay Dingwell, an emergency room physician at the Prince County Hospital.
- Families in the public gallery of the P.E.I. Legislature cried and embraced each other on Tuesday as MLAs stood up one after another and unanimously supported a bill to bring runaway children home. That emotion carried out into the halls, as Liberal MLA Carolyn Simpson celebrated and met with families who’ve been calling for this legislation. “I felt so overwhelmed for the families, for the children,” Simpson said, holding back tears. “We will protect children from dangers and harms with this [bill] in the future. We still have work to do behind the scenes to get there, but children on P.E.I. … will be safer.”
Newfoundland and Labrador
- Physicians are calling for a change to prevent patients from receiving tragic medical news alone, without compassionate support from a health-care provider. They say a new N.L. Health Services app called MyChart is allowing patients to see “catastrophic” medical results before their doctor does. “We have heard stories of one woman who found out at night when she was checking the results of an ultrasound, not expecting to hear anything concerning, that she had miscarried her pregnancy,” said Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association president Dr. Cynthia Slade.
- Former Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams said he felt great satisfaction when he read through the independent Churchill River review committee’s findings — but only as a concerned citizen. He said he read the memorandum of understanding again and again, and was astonished by how terrible the deal was. “So I’ve lived in it, and I’m delighted. I’ve got a feeling of relief here today,” Williams told CBC Radio’s On The Go on Wednesday.
- Newfoundland and Labrador politicians unanimously agreed to consider limiting social media use among youth. During a sitting in the House of Assembly on Thursday, Liberal Leader John Hogan introduced a private members’ resolution urging the provincial government to look at legislative and regulatory changes to restrict or prohibit access to social media for children under the age of 16.
- The Churchill Falls memorandum of understanding between Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec has “fundamental issues” that echo the long-reviled 1969 contract between the two provinces, according to a report from the PC government’s independent review committee released Tuesday. The review says the MOU does have financial benefits for Newfoundland and Labrador, but it also has major limitations — including restricted access to Churchill Falls power for Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro, “problematic” pricing and payment models, and the level of control afforded to Hydro-Québec.
Quebec
- The Quebec provincial election is less than five months away, and it is beginning to shape up to be a three-way race between the Parti Québécois (PQ), the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ), and the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), according to a new poll. The change is attributable to a nearly 10-point jump in voting intentions for the CAQ under the party’s new leader, Christine Fréchette. The Léger/Québecor poll, released on Wednesday, shows that the PQ is still leading the way. If an election were to be held today, the party, led by Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, would get 30 per cent of the vote.
- Elected officials in Quebec say they are confident the province and Newfoundland and Labrador will reach a mutually beneficial Churchill Falls deal. A report by a Newfoundland and Labrador government-appointed committee — published Tuesday — found that the memorandum of understanding (MOU) has “several fundamental issues” and that “in its current form [it] is not in the public interest.” N.L. Premier Tony Wakeham convened the review committee in December, promising that any eventual deal would be put to a public referendum.
- While on a mission in Paris, Premier Christine Fréchette was questioned by a French MP about the Programme de l’expérience québécoise (PEQ). The question was asked during a meeting between the Quebec Premier and the President of the French National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet. The program, considered a fast track to permanent residency for immigrants, was halted by Minister Jean-François Roberge in November 2025, sparking an outcry across the province.
- On a mission to Paris, Premier Christine Fréchette pitched Quebec as a “trusted partner” for France and Europe in the critical and strategic minerals sector. Fréchette took part in a roundtable on Monday with representatives of the French government and business leaders. The event was held at the Quebec delegation in Paris, where the premier highlighted Quebec’s “major assets” in critical minerals. “First, we have the resources in Quebec’s soil. So, a very important point: we have the largest share of Canadian critical and strategic minerals. A good portion of them. We have 28 in total,” she said.
Ontario
- Premier Doug Ford reacted Friday to a ruling by an Ontario Superior Court justice, calling it “the most ridiculous ruling I’ve ever seen.” The decision, which came down Thursday evening, states that the Region of Waterloo will not be allowed to remove residents living at an encampment in downtown Kitchener because doing so violates their Charter of Rights. The region hoped to clear the encampment before June to begin work on a massive transit hub project. Ford said he had talked to regional Chair Karen Redman and other local mayors Thursday night after the decision was released.
- Ontario’s transparency watchdog is confirming a week-long pause on all freedom of information requests, which lasted more than a week, has officially been lifted, as Premier Doug Ford says only “the media party” cares about transparency rules. Before the Victoria Day long weekend, senior civil servants who process access to information requests across the provincial government were told to pause their work while new guidance rules were written. The pause, confirmed to Global News by sources, hasn’t been formally announced or shared with the province’s transparency watchdog. There isn’t a timeline for resuming processing of transparency requests.
- The Toronto city council has voted against asking for a referendum on Premier Doug Ford’s plan to expand the island airport. Councillors voted 16-9 against a motion put forth by councillors Dianne Saxe and Josh Matlow, who wanted a question to be put on this fall’s municipal ballot asking Torontonians whether or not the city should “support and cooperate” with Ford’s plan to allow jets to land at Billy Bishop airport. During the debate, several councillors in favour of the motion expressed growing frustration with the Ford government, citing the Ontario Place redevelopment, the Science Centre’s closure, the appointment of administrators to school boards, and now the airport expansion.
- Ontario Premier Doug Ford said it would be a “disaster” if Alberta left Canada after Premier Danielle Smith announced a vote this fall on whether the province should hold a referendum on separation. “I’d never do it. Premier Smith knows how I feel. She wants to, I guess, protect her 30 per cent base. It’s not going to win, as far as I’m concerned,” Ford said at an unrelated news conference in Sault Ste. Marie on Friday. During a televised address Thursday night, Smith announced that Albertans will head to the polls Oct. 19 to vote on the matter.
Manitoba
- A member of the Manitoba Legislature is facing criticism for saying the farmer who killed Colten Boushie in a high-profile Saskatchewan case was a victim. Opposition Progressive Conservative member Josh Guenter made the comment while debating a resolution in the legislature about the rights of people to defend their homes with force if necessary. Eric Redhead, a member of the NDP government, accused Guenter of engaging in rhetoric that could lead to more deaths like that of Boushie, a Cree man shot a decade ago near Biggar, Sask.
- People in the Portage la Prairie, Man., area will have local access to breast cancer screening services when a new regional health centre opens next spring, the province said Friday. Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said about $1.3 million will go toward an expansion of the Portage Regional Health Centre for mammography equipment, training for technologists and hiring staff. The new health centre has been constructed, but its opening has been pushed back to next spring, the province said last month.
- Should Manitobans abandon the practice of changing their clocks twice a year? Only time — and a survey — will tell. The province launched that survey Wednesday, with Premier Wab Kinew encouraging the public in social media posts to weigh in on what has been an enduring debate across Canada for decades. The survey asks if Manitobans prefer to stay the course or choose a permanent time. If the latter, it asks whether the province should stay on standard time, which brings an earlier sunrise, or switch to daylight time and its later sunsets.
- A new advisory board has been created to “provide knowledge, advice and perspectives” to Manitoba Hydro on Indigenous reconciliation. The provincial Crown corporation announced the appointment of members to the new Indigenous advisory circle on Tuesday. It will be co-chaired by Robert Wavey, who has served as chief, councillor, CEO and senior negotiator with Fox Lake Cree Nation. He is also a former chair of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak and the Keewatin Tribal Council.
Saskatchewan
- Saskatchewan’s Opposition NDP says the provincial government’s decision to sell its ownership stake in Information Services Corporation (ISC) opens the door to massive fee hikes for Saskatchewan people and businesses, and there’s nothing stopping the new owners from selling to a foreign company. “This is a company who is going to be interested in what’s best for their investors, and that is increasing profits,” said Aleana Young, the NDP’s critic for the Crown Investments Corporation.
- An independent, third-party review of hospital safety and security in Saskatchewan is now underway, the provincial government announced on Thursday. The review will be performed by Buckingham Security Services Ltd., under the leadership of the company’s executive director, Clive Weighill. Weighill is a former Saskatoon police chief and has previously served as the province’s chief coroner. “Identifying supports to enhance security will benefit those within the system and the public alike,” Weighill said in a statement released by the provincial government.
- The recovery in parts of Saskatchewan affected by spring flooding will take time, according to the province’s public safety agency. Flooding happened in multiple places, from the Meadow Lake region in the northwest, through the Prince Albert area, into east-central Saskatchewan and as far south as the Yorkton region. In most areas, water flows have gone down, and levels are closer to normal. So far this spring, there have been 45 declarations of a local state of emergency and over 45 requests for disaster assistance.
- Upcoming changes to how subsidized child care is funded in Saskatchewan are prompting some providers to notify families that they can’t provide spaces for their children, particularly for young kids attending part-time or on a drop-in basis. Jennifer Blaedow operates Little Fawns Home Daycare, about 35 minutes northeast of the Battlefords. She has five licensed spaces and was serving seven children, but has already given notice to two of the families that she won’t have spots for them any longer.
Alberta
- Alberta will hold a referendum on whether the province should remain in Canada or move ahead with a second binding vote on separation, marking the first significant test of the country’s unity in decades. Thursday’s announcement by Premier Danielle Smith comes after a citizen-led petition calling for separation gathered more than 300,000 signatures early this year, and a separate petition advocating that Alberta stay gathered more than 400,000 signatures. A restive independence movement has been growing in the oil-rich province, built on a long-held sense that Alberta is overlooked by decision-makers in Ottawa.
- Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says separatists who are upset that a binding vote on quitting Canada has been put off should focus on the fall referendum rather than campaigning to force a review of her job. Smith announced Thursday that a question in the province’s Oct. 19 referendum will ask Albertans whether they want to remain in Canada or begin the process of holding a binding referendum on separation. Leaders of a separatist petition campaign to get a binding question on the ballot have called the move a betrayal. Jeff Rath, a lawyer for the petition group, has said he thinks many of Smith’s United Conservative Party members will call for a leadership review.
- The leader of Alberta’s NDP says the Danielle Smith government has started a fire it has “no idea” how to control, as the premier is expected to add a question on Alberta independence to the fall referendum ballot. In an interview with CTV Power Play on Thursday, Naheed Nenshi said he expects Smith will add a 10th question concerning Alberta’s status in Confederation to October’s referendum. That announcement, should it come, will be the culmination of a “very strange game” the premier has been playing with proponents of Alberta independence.
- Prime Minister Mark Carney championed the important contributions from Alberta a day after it was announced the province will hold a referendum on whether to remain in Canada. “Canada is working. We’re working in a spirit of cooperative federalism to make the country better. We’re renovating the country as we go, and Alberta being at the center of that is essential,” Carney said Friday on Parliament Hill, where renovations are ongoing. “Canada is the greatest country in the world, but it can be better… we’re working with Alberta on making it better,” he added, celebrating the “huge contributions of Albertans to this country in the past, in the present, in the future.”
British Columbia
- Prime Minister Mark Carney and British Columbia Premier David Eby have agreed to enter negotiations on B.C.’s economic priorities and Ottawa’s role in national development projects. Carney met with Eby in a closed-door meeting in Vancouver Wednesday, shortly after the prime minister spoke to B.C. business leaders at a separate event where he outlined prerequisites for a possible pipeline championed by Alberta.
- The B.C. government needs clarity from the Supreme Court of Canada on a landmark mineral rights claim, Premier David Eby says. But the lawyer representing the challenger says that they would have preferred the province respect the lower court’s decision. Eby said Thursday it is very good news that the High Court will hear its appeal of a ruling that found the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the provincial mineral claims regime are “inconsistent.” The B.C. Court of Appeal ruled in December that the provincial Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, or DRIPA, should be “properly interpreted” to incorporate the UN declaration into the laws of B.C. with immediate legal effect.
- A cloud of secrecy and alleged misconduct is hanging over the B.C. Conservative leadership race, just one day before members are set to vote on the party’s next leader. CJDC-TV News has learned the party is considering launching an internal investigation into leadership hopeful Kerry-Lynne Findlay. The development has prompted discussions among party insiders about holding an emergency meeting to address the situation, with some even weighing whether to remove Findlay, from the race altogether. The controversy stems from allegations tied to Findlay’s time as a Member of Parliament.
- As the spring legislative session in Victoria limps to its conclusion next week, the NDP government will be hoping for a summer reset after four months of being buffeted from all sides on Indigenous issues, the cancellation of numerous health-care projects and a $13.3 billion deficit burning a hole in government finances. Premier David Eby’s approval ratings are falling, according to some polls, and the B.C. Conservatives are openly running ads that assume the premier will be replaced before the next election, with specific focus on Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon and Attorney General Niki Sharma as possible successors.
Northwest Territories
- The data of around 1,700 N.W.T. teachers, educational staff, government employees, program participants and contractors may have been compromised in a data breach targeting the Canvas educational platform earlier this month, the territorial government has announced. Compromised information may include names, email addresses and enrollment or professional development training information, according to a news release issued Thursday. “No passwords were accessed or compromised,” the territory said in the news release.
Yukon
- As new financial documents reveal the potential total cost of cleaning up the Eagle Gold Mine failure, it’s still unknown whether the Yukon government is guaranteed to recoup the millions it loaned out. Earlier in May, PricewaterhouseCoopers released its prospective budget for the next season of work at the Eagle mine. As the receiver aims to sell the mine as soon as possible, it could represent the last few months that the mine sits in caretaker mode and relies on public funds to prop up the work.
Nunavut
- The federal government is shutting down its short-lived Nanisivik naval station on northern Baffin Island as a cost-cutting measure, and plans eventually to offload the property to another party. The Department of National Defence announced Thursday it has already started to transition the problem-plagued Nanisivik Naval Facility out of operations. The Arctic base, launched by the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, was once envisioned as a deep sea port and a pillar of Canada’s Arctic sovereignty.