Provincial and Territorial Update – September 4, 2026
An overview on Provincial and Territorial updates for the week of September 4, 2026. Written by Wes McLean.
New Brunswick
- New Brunswick’s new flirtation with natural gas is heating up even as the Holt government admits that the province is not on track to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions targets for 2050. The government quietly published its updated net-zero blueprint on Aug. 21, just days before Premier Susan Holt announced a review of the moratorium on shale gas development. “New Brunswick is expected to reach our 2030 emissions target but is not currently on track to achieve net zero emissions by 2050,” the net-zero blueprint says.
- The New Brunswick government has decided to keep its provincial veterinary laboratory, but field services for large animals will be taken up by Carleton AgriSolutions, a private company. The Hartland-based company, which provides agricultural products such as grain seeds, has no veterinarian experience but is hoping to have a service ready in the coming months, the province says.
- N.B. Power customers who still refuse a smart meter to be installed will be charged a new monthly fee starting Tuesday. In March, the utility said there were an estimated 17,000 customers who were refusing the meters. Officials said that they believed they could convince half of those customers to have the new meters installed. But on the eve of the deadline, there were still around 14,800 customers who had declined a smart meter as of Aug. 31.
- With the Government of New Brunswick investing $5 million to expand electric vehicle infrastructure, an EV advocate is praising the move but also says some of the money should be directed toward improving the reliability of existing infrastructure. “It’s not so much that there isn’t charging infrastructure,” said Tracy Miersch, president of electric vehicle advocacy non-profit New Brunswick EV, or VENBEV — the group’s bilingual acronym. As EV demand has grown, the network — in the past — faced criticism over charger availability for the public, port compatibility, and often lengthy wait times to be able to use a public charger.
Nova Scotia
- Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston wants the province’s Independent Energy System Operator to broaden the request for proposals to build new power plants to include “a proper and more fulsome assessment of different technologies.” So far, however, there’s no indication a change will happen. Speaking to reporters in Halifax after a cabinet meeting Thursday, Houston said he thinks IESO officials have been “too prescriptive” about the technology that would be used for one or two plants to be constructed in Pictou County as a backup power source and part of the province’s effort to close coal-fired power plants.
- Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it was Marco MacLeod’s own decision to step down from cabinet following backlash over “offensive” and “hurtful” language used in a past song. MacLeod submitted his resignation on Wednesday, two and a half weeks after Frank Magazine and allNovaScotia.com unearthed a song he made that included words such as “sluts,” “hoes” and “bitches.” The revelation drew criticisms from women’s groups and advocates.
- Nearly 8,000 applications denied for a home heating rebate this past winter would have met the criteria in years past, a CBC News analysis has found. Advocates say the situation shows Nova Scotians are struggling with the high cost of living and the government is not responding adequately. But the province says it gave what it could to the province’s most vulnerable.
- The CEO of the company in talks with the Nova Scotia government for onshore natural gas exploration says there’s not much left to finalize before reaching a deal. “We sure hope we’re close,” Michael Binnion said in an interview last week. “I think the main issue is just agreeing on details of a work plan.” Despite that, he says his Alberta-based outfit would prefer to avoid going where it is not wanted. Binnion’s company, Questerre Energy, announced last week it was in negotiations with the provincial government. Although those talks have been ongoing for several months, the company’s identity had previously been unknown.
Prince Edward Island
- Prince Edward Island Premier Rob Lantz shook up his executive council a bit Wednesday afternoon at Government House in Charlottetown. The Progressive Conservative government’s cabinet was sworn in during a ceremony at the lieutenant-governor’s residence. “Our government has been focused on the things that matter most to Islanders: making life more affordable, improving health care, strengthening our economy and making sure Prince Edward Island is ready for the future,” Lantz said after the ministers were duly sworn in.
- The P.E.I. government has signed off on nearly $31 million in extra spending for Health P.E.I., leaving Island Opposition parties with questions about transparency. Critics from the provincial Liberal and Green parties said they are looking for answers from government about the additional money, which was approved by cabinet via a special warrant. They’re calling on government for a long-term plan for health care in Prince Edward Island. P.E.I. Liberal Party health critic Gordon McNeilly said he was “blown away by the number” of the special warrant.
- Dan Kutcher has stepped down as mayor of Summerside and entered the race to become the next leader of the Prince Edward Island Liberal Party. Kutcher said Monday he has been approved as a leadership candidate and will seek to lead the party as it looks to rebuild following the resignation of former leader Robert Mitchell. Kutcher said he decided to run because he sees both a personal opportunity to continue in public service and a need for change in the province.
- A local animal advocacy group on Prince Edward Island is calling on the province to crack down on backyard breeders of companion animals like dogs and cats. The push comes after the European Parliament approved the European Union’s first standards covering the breeding, housing and tracing of cats and dogs. Karla Shalley is president of P.E.I. CARES — Companion Animal Rescue Education Society. The group is gathering signatures on a petition calling on the province to regulate companion animal breeding.
Newfoundland and Labrador
- The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have directed the case of an arrest in Sheshatshiu to the province’s police oversight agency, the Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT-NL), following criticism from members of the public over use of force. “We are not able to provide any additional information while that process is underway,” reads a statement from the police force issued Thursday, the day after a protest at the RCMP detachment in the Labrador First Nation community.
- U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra will be among the dignitaries heading to central Newfoundland this month to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The community of Gander has held a commemoration event every year since hosting thousands of stranded travellers after officials closed U.S. airspace and ground dozens of planes, said Mayor Percy Farwell. He said the event is about commemorating the nearly 3,000 people who were killed when hijackers slammed planes into the World Trade Center in New York and crashed into the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field.
- The town of Conception Bay South is warning residents of a scam impersonating the municipality over email, as Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador says phishing emails of this kind are all across the province. “Scammers are impersonating town representatives and circulating an attachment to make the email appear legitimate,” says a warning posted to the town of Conception Bay South’s website and social media channels.
- Nurses looking to get licensed in Canada will soon see a $210 increase in their national examination fee, and a nursing student hoping to work in Newfoundland and Labrador says he believes it will keep new nurses away from the profession. Nathan Ehigie, a fourth-year nursing student at Newfoundland and Labrador’s Centre for Nursing Studies, said he was shocked to learn of the increase. “It was surprising, especially considering we’re trying to retain more nurses,” Ehigie told CBC News Monday. “It’s almost like a surprise at every turn as I continue to move on in [my] career.”
Quebec
- Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette will not be ordering Élections Québec to mail voter information documents in English ahead of the Oct. 5 provincial election. Élections Québec announced on Tuesday it would be mailing voter information documents only in French to comply with the French Language Charter, also known as Bill 96. The law makes French the sole language of communication for public institutions.
- The leader of Quebec’s Liberal Party is taking aim at Premier Christine Fréchette’s refusal to mail voter information documents in English ahead of the Oct. 5 provincial election. “This is a decision that breaks with established tradition and unacceptably compromises the electoral participation of a portion of the population,” Charles Milliard wrote in a letter to Fréchette that he shared on X. He said the government’s decision not to reverse course constitutes “an unjustifiable attack on the electoral rights of English-speaking Quebecers” and contradicts Fréchette’s promise to establish a different tone in her party’s relationship with the province’s English-speaking community.
- The PQ remains in the lead among decided voters at 29% (-1), ahead of the CAQ at 24% (+1) and the PLQ at 22% (-1). The PCQ stands at 15% (-1) and Québec solidaire at 10% (+3). 42% of decided voters say their choice is not final and that they could still vote for another party. This proportion rises to 58% among Québec solidaire voters and 54% among CAQ voters. The tariffs imposed by the Donald Trump administration are considered one of the important issues in the campaign by 53% of Quebecers, while 10% consider them the most important issue. 66% of Quebecers remain in favour of imposing counter-tariffs on certain U.S. products imported into Canada, even when told that these measures could increase the price of some products in Canada.
- Federalism was top of mind for party leaders on Wednesday, the seventh day of the Quebec election campaign. Sovereigntist Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon found himself on the receiving end of quips from opponents following revelations he had donated multiple times to the Liberal Party of Canada between 2004 and 2008. Elections Canada records show St-Pierre Plamondon donated over $2,000 to the party in that time. In 2023, he donated $1,000 to the Bloc Québécois.
Ontario
- Little has changed at Queen’s Park after Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives and the Opposition New Democrats held on to their seats in three byelections Thursday. Progressive Conservative Jeff Beattie, a longtime Hamilton city councillor, won the riding of Hamilton East–Stoney Creek after capturing nearly 39 per cent of the vote over NDP candidate Monique Taylor’s 33 per cent. Conservative Susan Lahey won the riding of York–Simcoe with 49.8 per cent of the vote over Liberal Naomi Davison’s 38.8 per cent. In what was a two-way race in Scarborough Southwest between the Liberals and New Democrats, NDP’s Fatima Shaban emerged as the winner with more than 40 per cent of the vote.
- Ontario Premier Doug Ford says his quip about not inviting reporters to a news conference-style event was “a little bit of fun” that the “thin-skinned” media took too seriously. On Thursday, the premier’s office organized an announcement in Mississauga, Ont., styled to look like a news conference. Ford, alongside several Progressive Conservative MPPs and other local politicians, stood with construction workers behind a podium. Remarks from a number of politicians were live-streamed by the government to promote the event, before it wrapped up after about 20 minutes.
- The Ford government is going ahead with bike lane removal and reconfiguration on some of Toronto’s busiest roads, the province announced Tuesday. The provincial government will begin “restoring motor vehicle lanes” that were previously removed to make bike lanes on Bloor Street, Yonge Street, University Avenue, Queen’s Park, Queen’s Park Crescent, and Avenue Road, it said in a news release. The release says the province has also issued a request for proposals to “study and provide design options” for restoring vehicle lanes along some “sections” of Toronto’s busiest streets. These proposals would look into options for retaining or reconfiguring bike lanes, it says.
- Prime Minister Mark Carney says he plans to address safety issues on highways 11 and 17 with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, as well as highway modernization. Speaking on Thursday at a Thunder Bay news conference, Carney was asked about the federal government’s “appetite” for working with the Ford government to expand or twin the highway system in the north. “There are structural issues that are there,” Carney said.
Manitoba
- Manitoba cabinet minister Nahanni Fontaine has weighed in on Winnipeg’s mayoral race by taking to social media to remind voters that soon-to-be candidate Kevin Klein used to work for convicted sex offender Peter Nygard. Fontaine, who has served as families minister since the NDP was elected in 2023, posted a 55-second video on Facebook about Klein, a former city councillor and cabinet minister in the previous Progressive Conservative government.
- The maximum permitted rent increase for most residential properties in Manitoba has been set to three per cent in 2027. The provincial government said in a news release Thursday that tenants whose rent is going up on Jan. 1 must receive notice by Sept. 30. The rent increase guideline is calculated based on inflation and is capped within the Bank of Canada’s inflation control target range, which is currently between one and three per cent.
- The Canada-U.S. trade war has complicated Manitoba Hydro’s plan to buy gas turbines for its $3-billion Brandon generating station expansion from a manufacturer based in Massachusetts. Premier Wab Kinew is casting doubt on a Hydro reservation agreement to purchase three gas turbines from GE Vernova, a Cambridge, Mass., company spun off from General Electric to build gas and wind turbines. The agreement was made public in a document submitted to the Public Utilities Board in January as well as during public hearing testimony before the provincial energy regulator last week.
- Thousands of Manitoba’s lowest-income families will soon have access to free child care after the provincial government announced changes to its subsidy program on Wednesday. The province is eliminating child-care fees for more than 4,000 children from about 3,000 eligible families starting on Sept. 13, Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Tracy Schmidt said during a news conference at a Winnipeg daycare centre on Wednesday morning. “Free child care for these eligible families is an investment in Manitoba’s future and in Manitoba’s kids,” Schmidt said.
Saskatchewan
- Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) is moving forward with a 3.75 per cent rate increase in 2027, a move that was not endorsed in a report by the Saskatchewan Rate Review Panel earlier this year. The decision was announced by Minister Responsible for SGI Jeremy Harrison at a news conference in Saskatoon on Friday. The average annual increase for Saskatchewan vehicle owners in 2027 is expected to be about $39, or $3.25 a month, according to SGI. The decision comes after months of public feedback and reports were submitted to the seven-person review panel.
- A copper-zinc mine in northeast Saskatchewan that Ottawa has deemed a project of national importance is nearing commercial production. In a project update at an event in Saskatoon on Wednesday, Eldorado Gold said its McIlvenna Bay underground mine produced copper concentrate in June and zinc concentrate in July, with an eye on starting commercial production by the end of the third quarter of this year. Because of the critical minerals it will produce, the federal government listed the mine as a project of national importance and referred it to its Major Projects Office last year.
- When it signed Treaty 10 in 1907, Hatchet Lake Denesuline First Nation was promised about 260 hectares of land per family or 52 hectares per person, but that promise wasn’t upheld by the Crown. On Tuesday, the community about 700 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon announced it had reached a settlement with the governments of Saskatchewan and Canada to honour the promises spelled out 119 years ago. The band will receive $29.6 million and it can apply to add roughly 11,380 hectares of land to its reserve land base through the Saskatchewan Treaty Land Entitlement process.
- Saskatchewan people who responded to a provincial government mail-in survey overwhelmingly said they want limits on exposure to social media for people younger than 16. Mental Health and Addictions Minister Lori Carr said the province received more than 26,000 responses from the mailed postcards and 86.34 per cent expressed support for restrictions on social media for youth. Less than 14 per cent said they oppose such limits, but 68 per cent of those said they support requiring parental consent. The province plans to pass the survey results to the federal government, which is developing legislation to limit social media access for people under 16.
Alberta
- Alberta Premier Danielle Smith denied suggestions Tuesday that her upcoming trip to Tennessee could be sending the wrong message amid a trade war between Canada and its southern neighbour. “I hope no one’s surprised to hear that I believe it’s my job to continue reaching out at all levels to various influencers in the United States and get our message across that we have an incredible partnership,” Smith told reporters at an unrelated news conference in Calgary. “It’s an incredible economic partnership, trade partnership, defence partnership, and we want it to continue.”
- The governing United Conservative Party (UCP) remains ahead of the New Democratic Party (NDP) in Alberta’s provincial political scene, a new Research Co. poll has found. In the online survey of a representative sample of likely voters in Alberta, 46% of decided voters would support the UCP Candidate in their constituency while 43% would back the NDP. The Progressive Tory Party of Alberta is third with 5%, followed by the Republican Party of Alberta with 2% and the Wildrose Loyalty Coalition also with 2%. The race is close in the Calgary Metropolitan Area, where the UCP has a two-point edge over the NDP (46% to 44%). The New Democrats are three points ahead of the United Conservatives in the Edmonton Metropolitan Area (46% to 43%), while the governing party keeps the upper hand in the rest of the province (49% to 39%).
- Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has asked the federal government for “latitude” to implement the dual practice health care model, saying it will not hurt the public healthcare system. Smith told reporters at an unrelated press conference on Tuesday the province is currently working with the federal government to demonstrate that the new model does not contravene the Canada Health Act. “It’s not illegal to opt out of the health system and treat private patients, we’ve seen that in Quebec,” Smith said. “It’s an active discussion, as always, with the federal government on the terms under which they will fund our health care, but we’ve asked them to give us some latitude to implement this model.”
- The Alberta government has apologized after an updated version of Premier Danielle Smith’s statement commemorating the province’s 121st birthday was issued with the original statement’s reference to Indigenous peoples removed. “We recognize the Indigenous Peoples whose enduring connection to and stewardship of this land continues to shape Alberta,” reads the original statement, issued Tuesday at about 10 a.m. MT. The updated version, issued about an hour later, omits that reference. There are no references to Indigenous people in that version, which contains multiple other changes and additions.
British Columbia
- Five B.C. legislators who recently left the provincial Conservatives are joining forces to form a new political party, with plans to have it up and running when the legislature returns next month. Rosalyn Bird, Bruce Banman and Áʼa꞉líya Warbus announced Friday they are joining Peter Milobar and Ian Paton in the yet-to-be-named party. The five are among nine MLAs who have left the B.C. Conservative caucus in recent weeks under Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay. Milobar, who is serving as interim leader, told Global News that the group wants to create an option for voters who are dissatisfied with the governing NDP but don’t see themselves supporting the B.C. Conservatives.
- Delta South MLA Ian Paton says he was interviewed Wednesday by RCMP about his claim that he was offered a job in exchange for quitting so B.C. Conservative leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay could run in his seat. Paton said two RCMP officers interviewed him for about an hour at the force’s provincial headquarters in Surrey, asking him to go through what he says took place. “I got a feeling they were taking this very seriously,” said Paton. “But who knows where this will lead.” Paton, who is among nine MLAs to leave the B.C. Conservative party under Findlay’s leadership, has said he was offered an agricultural adviser role by Findlay’s chief of staff, Chris Delaney. Paton says the new job would have come with a salary to match what he currently makes as an MLA: $122,043.
- British Columbia New Democrats won’t court B.C. Conservative defectors, after nine legislators left the official Opposition caucus in the past three weeks, Premier David Eby said. Eby told an unrelated news conference Thursday that there was a “fairly significant gap” between the positions of his party and the defectors from Conservative Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s caucus. He said these ranged from Canada’s relationship with the United States and the Trump administration to positions on First Nations and the importance of the Human Rights Act. In July, Independent MLA Amelia Boultbee joined the NDP more than eight months after she left the Conservative caucus, but Eby said her values aligned with the NDP and the party got to know her over time.
- Errors including botched currency conversions led the British Columbia government to overstate its forecasted natural gas revenues by about $1.46 billion over five fiscal years, officials confirmed on Tuesday. Energy Minister Adrian Dix said the most significant error, a 44-cent overstatement in the forecasted per-gigajoule price of natural gas this fiscal year, was a “serious mistake.” But he said the errors affect the province’s forecasting, not its actual revenues, which can vary in a given year. Price fluctuations, including the spike and subsequent decline linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, have led the province to both underestimate and overestimate its revenues over the years, Dix said.
Northwest Territories
- As the details of potential ownership, procurement and economic benefits for the Arctic Energy Security Corridor (AESC) are still being developed, the GNWT would welcome the Deninu Kųę́ First Nation (DKFN) back to the negotiating table. “Whether and when to participate in a commercial opportunity is a decision for each Indigenous government,” stated Energy and Supply Chains Minister Caroline Wawzonek in an emailed response to questions from CKLB. “My understanding is that DKFN is not ruling out future participation, but is seeking assurances about potential future opportunities.
Yukon
- Whitehorse has appointed David Barrick as its new city manager after a months‑long national search that Mayor Kirk Cameron describes as “one of the most serious tasks” facing council. Barrick is being sworn in on Sept. 2 and is set to join councillors for a one‑and‑a‑half‑day retreat focused on how to advance council’s strategic priorities for the remainder of its term. Council appointed Barrick on Aug. 31 after hiring Leadership Source to run a recruitment process that reached candidates in the Yukon, Northwest Territories and across Canada. The new city manager previously held administrative roles in several Ontario municipalities.
Nunavut
- Nunavut MP Lori Idlout agreed she made an error in judgement after a report released Wednesday concluded that expenses she claimed in 2024 and 2025 constituted a conflict of interest. The purchases made by her member’s office constituted an error in judgement, Canada’s Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein found after his investigation into the incident, but he didn’t impose any sanctions against her, noting her errors were made in “good faith.” The expenses included four occasions when her staff bought gifts from Carvings Nunavut, a retail art gallery where she is the sole shareholder and director.