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Report finds construction company got $42M in excess claims on Winnipeg police HQ
Inquiry finds Winnipeg was overcharged on cop HQ
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Steve Lambert
The commissioner of a public inquiry into the development of Winnipeg's police headquarters has found that the city was overcharged and overpaid tens of millions to the lead construction company.
Garth Smorang wrote in his final report he is satisfied the evidence presented during the inquiry, which began earlier this year, suggests Caspian Construction received approximately $42 million for excess claims, while another $1.3 million was paid to an employee of a consulting firm for project costs but was diverted elsewhere.
The inquiry is examining the city's development of a headquarters for the Winnipeg Police Service, which ran more than $70 million over budget by the time it was completed in 2016.
Smorang says had the city not been overcharged, the project's final costs would have fallen well within the total that was approved by council in 2011.
The purchase and renovation of the former Canada Post building was the subject of an RCMP investigation into fraud, but no charges were laid.
A judge in a civil court case, launched by the city, found in 2022 that Phil Sheegl, the city's former chief administrative officer, accepted a bribe from the owner of Caspian.
Sheegl had said the money was for an unrelated real estate transaction in Arizona, in which the contractor bought equity and the proceeds were split with former Mayor Sam Katz, who was a co-investor in the property.
Katz told the inquiry that he should have disclosed the sale.
He said the money he received had no influence on his votes on the project, and he was hurt by the description of the land sale as a bribe.
Smorang issued 25 recommendations relating to procurement policies and how the city handles major projects, including improving the city's request for proposals on large-scale projects.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2026.
By Brittany Hobson | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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News publishers launch copyright suit against AI company Anthropic in Ontario
Canadian news publishers sue Anthropic
A coalition of news publishers that includes Canada’s largest newspapers is suing the AI company Anthropic in an Ontario court.
Postmedia, Torstar, The Globe and Mail and The Canadian Press say Anthropic infringed on their copyright by using their content to develop its large language AI model Claude.
"Anthropic has capitalized on the commercial success of its AI models, building an expansive suite of services, and raised significant capital — all without obtaining a valid licence from any of the News Media Companies," says the statement of claim.
"In doing so, Anthropic has been substantially and unjustly enriched to the detriment of the News Media Companies."
The lawsuit, filed on Oct. 6, was first reported by the news site Cartt.ca. Anthropic has not responded to a request for comment. The allegations have not been proven in court.
The statement of claim says Anthropic breached the news media websites’ terms of service and circumvented technological protection measures they put in place to restrict copying of their content.
The claim says the news outlets "are responsible for generating a significant portion of Canada’s journalistic content — from daily print broadsheets to round-the-clock digital news coverage," and collectively have millions of readers.
"To obtain content for ingestion into its models and services, Anthropic deliberately 'scrapes' (i.e. accesses and copies) enormous amounts of text data from the internet and from the Plaintiffs’ Websites," the claim says.
The news outlets say Anthropic then uses that content, without authorization or consent, to develop its AI models. It says Anthropic also scrapes content on an ongoing basis in response to user prompts.
"Notwithstanding concerns raised by several content creators across various industries, including through numerous other lawsuits and public criticism, Anthropic has done nothing to curtail its unlawful behaviour," the statement of claim says.
The same companies also launched, alongside CBC/Radio-Canada, a lawsuit against OpenAI in 2024. That case has yet to be settled.
News publishers have been pushing the federal government to take a stand on how AI systems use copyrighted content after the government’s national AI strategy failed to address the issue.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2026.
By Anja Karadeglija | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Trial for man accused in Pearson gold heist hears more from key figure in case
Testimony continues in Pearson gold heist trial
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Arlyn McAdorey
A man who received a prison sentence for his role in the Toronto Pearson airport gold heist has told a Brampton, Ont., court that on the day of the theft, he communicated with the man currently on trial in the case.
Arsalan Chaudhary returned to the witness stand today in the trial of Parmpal Sidhu, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of theft over $5,000 and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence in the 2023 heist.
Chaudhary was sentenced this spring to four years in prison after pleading guilty to theft over $5,000, and he was given 40 years to pay back $22 million in restitution.
His testimony in Sidhu's trial was paused last week after he said that recalling his alleged abduction in Pakistan had left him traumatized.
Chaudhary testified today that he told Sidhu the truck and driver were ready on the day of the gold heist and that Sidhu replied, "OK."
Chaudhary told court last week that he planned the heist with another man who is still wanted by authorities, and he ended up taking 30 per cent of boxes full of one-ounce gold bars.
He said he melted some of the gold before travelling to Pakistan, where he was kidnapped and abused until he gave up the loot.
Prosecutors allege that Sidhu, an Air Canada employee at the time, provided a doctored waybill that allowed another man to pick up more than $22 million in gold and currency from a Pearson airport cargo bay.
Peel regional police have said 6,600 gold bars weighing more than 400 kilograms were stolen from the airport on April 17, 2023, after the shipment arrived from Switzerland.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2026.
Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Clodelle répond aux commentaires concernant les circonstances du décès de Karim Ouellet
« On a été une bonne gang à ne pas dormir, être inquiets… »
Dans les derniers jours, plusieurs personnalités publiques ont partagé un lien où leurs abonné.es peuvent leur poser des questions de façon anonyme. La chanteuse et candidate d'OD Dans L'Ouest, Clodelle, a participé au mouvement et a répondu à une question liée aux commentaires qui circulent concernant le décès de Karim Ouellet.
C'est le 17 janvier 2022 que le chanteur de 37 ans a été retrouvé sans vie dans son studio de musique à Québec. Quelques mois plus tard, soit le 22 juin, le rapport d'investigation du coroner est sorti, révélant les circonstances du décès.
« Le décès serait survenu le 15 novembre 2021 », peut-on lire dans le document suite aux résultats obtenus lors du l'autopsie du 19 janvier. La perte de Karim aurait donc été découverte deux mois après son départ, ce qui a suscité plusieurs questionnements chez les fans de l'artiste.
C'est donc lors de la séance de questions et réponses publiée en stories sur son profil Instagram que Clodelle a reçu un message au sujet de ces événements :
« En fait, je ne comprends pas... Tu dis que c'était ton meilleur ami, mais pourquoi n'as-tu pas pris de nouvelles de lui avant qu'il soit retrouvé? Il n'y a aucun jugement dans ma question, seulement beaucoup d'incompréhension [...]. »
Sans trop vouloir entrer dans les détails, la chanteuse a alors répondu que ce genre de propos la dérange :
« Je vais juste frôler le sujet par respect de Karim et sa famille, mais notre ami était malade. Il avait par moments des difficultés à accepter sa maladie et par moment, même prendre soin de lui-même. C'était quelqu'un qui était très fier et très discret.
« Pas longtemps avant sa mort, il a coupé les ponts avec tout son entourage, par choix. Quand je dis tout, c'est tout. On a été une bonne gang à ne pas dormir, être inquiets, se sentir démunis et tristes de ne pas avoir de nouvelles... », a ajouté Clodelle.
Elle a ensuite remercié les gens de conserver leurs jugements :
« Je sais que nous sommes des personnalités publiques, mais on traverse des difficultés aussi et c'est correct de ne pas vouloir tout partager et médiatiser. »
Suite à son départ, plusieurs vedettes québécoises ont tenu à rendre hommage au chanteur à travers différents textes et images. Clodelle a d'ailleurs participé au spectacle hommage Bye Bye Bye Karim le 12 juin dernier aux Francos de Montréal, aux côtés d'artistes tel.les que Ariane Moffatt, Hubert Lenoir, Claude Bégin et le groupe Alaclair Ensemble.