Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed…
New major projects list has some Indigenous buy-in, Carney says OKs still needed
After an initial round of referrals to the new Major Projects Office that saw no Indigenous-led projects chosen, the second list of referrals includes some with Indigenous support, ownership or backing — including a liquefied natural gas project. The list of projects earmarked for fast-track approval includes the Crawford nickel mine in Ontario, the Ksi Lisims LNG project on B.C.’s northwest coast, and the North Coast Transmission Line to power projects in the region, including the Ksi Lisims LNG facility. Also up for fast-track consideration is a hydroelectric project in Iqaluit, the Nouveau Monde graphite mine in Quebec and the Sisson tungsten mine in New Brunswick. Speaking in Terrace, B.C., on Thursday, Prime Minister Mark Carney said these latest projects represent $56 billion in new investment.
Former immigration minister says Canada’s reputation on welcoming refugees is at risk
Former immigration minister Lloyd Axworthy says he believes Canada is putting its reputation as a welcoming place for refugees at risk. In an interview with The Canadian Press, Axworthy takes aim at recent federal policy, including the proposed border security bill that would give Ottawa new powers to limit who can claim asylum and to halt applications in what it calls “the public interest.” Axworthy is retiring after eight years as chair of the World Refugee and Migration Council. Axworthy says that refugee and asylum policy in Canada is being driven by “Trumpian” thinking. He says Canada should end its Safe Third Country Agreement with the U.S. — which says that people must claim asylum in whichever country they get to first, meaning they can’t leave the U.S. to seek refugee status in Canada.
Here’s what else we’re watching…
Eby under scrutiny at NDP convention
British Columbia Premier David Eby says he is looking for a “healthy majority” as he faces a leadership review at the provincial NDP convention, which starts today in Victoria. When delegates last met two years ago, Eby received 93.1 per cent support, but that was before the party squeaked out a win in last year’s election and then riled some First Nations and union members. University of B.C. political science lecturer Stewart Prest says he expects Eby to get “somewhat of an earful” from delegates after the “near-death experience” of the election. The provincial government passed two bills this year that fast-track some natural resources projects, which Robert Phillips of the First Nations Summit says has created a high sense of frustration because leaders weren’t consulted.
Montreal’s new mayor sworn in at city hall
Montreal can develop the ambition to become one of the world’s great metropolises, Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada said Thursday as she was formally sworn in during a ceremony at city hall. Martinez Ferrada, who arrived in Canada as a child refugee from Chile in 1980, takes over from outgoing mayor Valérie Plante, who did not seek a third term. She has said her No. 1 priority is homelessness, and on Thursday urged the other elected officials to join her in a “war effort” to tackle the problem. Martinez Ferrada led centrist party Ensemble Montréal to victory in the Nov. 2 election, bringing an end to eight years in power for left-leaning Projet Montréal. The former federal Liberal minister positioned herself as the candidate of change and the best person to tackle issues of homelessness and rising home prices.
Robot tech aims to help remote stroke patients
A team at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto says it has achieved a world first by doing a series of brain angiograms using a robot controlled remotely by a neurosurgeon. A brain angiogram is a diagnostic procedure where doctors place a catheter into an artery in the groin and thread it up to the brain, then inject contrast dye that shows any problems in the blood vessels on an X-ray. Normally, the doctor is beside the patient, moving the catheter manually. But Dr. Vitor Mendes Pereira was about six kilometres away when he remotely steered the robot moving the catheter up through the patient’s body up into the brain. Over the next year, the neurosurgeon and his team plan to do a clinical trial to treat stroke patients at the Sault Area Hospital in northern Ontario.
Reva, Simpson win Writers’ Trust Awards
Maria Reva didn’t expect her Ukraine-set satire “Endling” to win any awards — she didn’t even think she would finish writing it. That’s why, she said as she accepted the Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize on Thursday night, she didn’t write a speech and instead read an email she wrote to her editors earlier in the day. The book follows three women in Ukraine’s bridal tourism industry whose ill-conceived kidnapping scheme is interrupted by Russia’s invasion in 2022. Leanne Betasamosake Simpson won the $75,000 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction for her book “Theory of Water: Nishnaabe Maps to the Times Ahead,” which explores the lessons to be learned from the interconnectedness of water in its various forms.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2025.
The Canadian Press
