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CentreBC pledges $25M 'rural ER stabilization fund' to keep emergency rooms open
CentreBC pledges $25M 'ER stabilization fund'
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns
CentreBC Leader Elenore Sturko has announced plans for a $25-million-a-year "rural ER stabilization fund" to help keep emergency rooms open in the province.
The party's campaign pledge says the fund would pay locum doctors and nurses, and fund travel costs and "virtual ER backup."
Sturko, who is CentreBC's only incumbent legislator, says her party's plan will reduce wait times and increase public accountability in health care.
None of the leaders of British Columbia's larger parties have scheduled announcements in the provincial campaign on Saturday as voters head to municipal polls, a week out from voting day in the general election.
The B.C. Conservatives say interim leader Lorne Doerkson will be in Williams Lake where he's voting in the local elections and greeting constituents at campaign offices.
The BC NDP says Leader David Eby has no events while the BC Greens say Leader Emily Lowan is campaigning in Sidney and on Mayne Island.
Eby's decision to call the provincial election for Oct. 24 meant overlapping campaign periods with the municipal vote, drawing criticism from opponents and the Union of B.C. Municipalities.
Advance voting in the provincial election is already underway and continues until Wednesday.
The Conservatives have pledged they would legislate against provincial and local elections within 60 days of each other.
Doerkson said Friday the release of costings for his party's platform was "imminent" but the party hasn't said when that will be. The NDP and Greens have already released their costings.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2026.
Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Rallies planned in final weekend before Alberta separation referendum
Rallies planned in final weekend of Alberta vote
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
It's all over but the rallies in the final weekend before Albertans vote on their place in Confederation.
On Monday, voters go to the polls to decide if Alberta should stay in Canada or if it's time for a second, binding referendum on leaving.
Supporters for and against the topic have events planned, including in Edmonton at the legislature.
It's been a week of last-ditch pleas.
Prime Minister Mark Carney wrapped up a two-day barnstorming tour of the province to rally the pro-Canada vote.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is also voting to stay in Canada, and says recent joint deals with Ottawa -- such as fast-tracking a new oil pipeline --show that a united country can get things done.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2026.
Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Alberta referendum expected to bring finality, but also more questions on separation
Questions to remain after Alberta separation vote
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
On Monday, Albertans vote on whether to stay in Canada or hold another binding referendum on quitting Canada.
If the vote goes as polls suggest, a majority of Albertans will mark an X to stay in Confederation, and Premier Danielle Smith has said if that’s so, she expects everyone to accept it and move on. Leaders of the independence movement contest that.
And political watchers are divided about whether separation — previously a fringe sentiment — will now be a prominent, permanent feature of Alberta’s political landscape, as in Quebec.
Julian Castro-Rea, a political-science professor at the University of Alberta who studies the separation debates in Quebec and Alberta, believes as long as Alberta feels alienated from the Canadian capital — feeling that Ottawa benefits from Alberta's resource economy without giving back — the movement will have fuel.
"Even if the referendum is lost, the westernization will still be around, because it's kind of a way which, traditionally, Albertans have related to the rest of Canada," says Castro-Rea, who believes western alienation may remain indefinitely.
Alberta's independence movement has been compared to Brexit and separation in Scotland, but the most obvious comparator is Quebec.
Earlier this month, Quebec elected a minority government led by the Parti Québécois, which has promised to call a third independence referendum to leave Canada, following votes in 1980 and 1995.
Experts say the two provinces differ in their catalysts for secession. Quebec and its francophone culture have developed over centuries. Alberta, by comparison, was created alongside Saskatchewan out of the division of the Northwest Territories in 1905.
Alberta's separatists are driven by western alienation rather than a deep-seated nationalist sentiment, like Quebec, experts say. That means it's difficult to see how the long-term future of the movement could pan out.
"They have different identity, different history, different language, as you know, and therefore they can claim, kind of, this historical legitimacy as the basis for their attempts for separation," Castro-Rea says.
Separatist sentiment has been sprinkled into Alberta's saucepan for the past half-century before coming to a boil in recent years. Premier Smith, who has voted to stay in Canada, has repeatedly criticized former prime minister Justin Trudeau's policies as oppressive to Western Canada's sovereignty and its energy-driven economy.
That criticism has softened against current Prime Minister Mark Carney, who referred to Alberta's bid for secession as a "dangerous bluff" on Thursday night. He also said a decisive result would "settle this question."
Andrew McDougall, an associate political science professor at the University of Toronto, says he sees Alberta's referendum as a way to garner political leverage with Ottawa, as Quebec has.
"This has sometimes been referred to in Quebec as the 'knife at the throat strategy,' where Quebec could sort of push its agenda because we've had that incredible threat of a referendum," he says.
But former UCP premier Jason Kenney, speaking in Edmonton earlier this week, said the knife analogy cuts both ways.
"The idea of making the threat by holding a knife to the throat of the federation is how you end up as a have-not province, like Quebec, instead of the ultimate have province like Alberta," he said.
"You want to talk about a lack of investor confidence? The next year, moving towards an actual vote on separation when the first one is won — the economic consequences would be catastrophic."
Political science professor Graeme Young says to understand Alberta’s future, one could look at Scotland.
Young, at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, grew up in Ontario and kept interest in Alberta's prospective separation from afar as Scotland bolsters another push to leave the United Kingdom.
He says he doesn't expect Alberta's separatist campaign will last. He believes the movement could deflate with a different federal political party in power. And he says it can’t draw from the same wellspring of national identity as exists in Scotland.
Young says Scotland's 2014 campaign was, in large part, defeated by uncertainty about the economics of independence, including pensions, currency, finances and its role in the European Union.
And while Scotland has been preparing for more than a decade for another run at independence, Alberta's movement is underprepared, Young says.
"(Alberta's case) has been put together quite hastily," he says. "It does not seem that they have invested as much time and energy into that case as one would expect for setting up a new country."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2026.
— With files from Lisa Johnson in Edmonton and The Associated Press
By Dayne Patterson | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Expedia dévoile les meilleurs « hacks » pour économiser sur les vols et c'est étonnant
Il y a des journées que ça coûte moins cher que d'autres. 👀
Tu veux prendre des vacances bientôt et profiter de tes jours de congé en te faisant griller la couenne au soleil? Tu frétilles à l'idée de faire ta valise et d'envoyer des cartes postales à tes proches (et de les rendre un peu jaloux.euses, avouons-le)? Si tu fais partie de ces baroudeur.euses qui rêvent d'aventures et de paysages incroyables, sache qu'il existe différentes astuces pour économiser quelques dollars sur des vols.
L'agence de voyages Expedia, a récemment publié sa liste des meilleurs trucs pour obtenir les prix les plus bas des compagnies aériennes et ça vaut assurément la peine d'y jeter un coup d'oeil si tu penses t'envoler vers de nouvelles destinations dans les prochains mois.
En se basant sur ses propres données ainsi que sur les analyses de Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC), la compagnie américaine a réussi à déterminer le meilleur jour et la bonne heure pour acheter tes billets au prix le plus bas. Sors ton calepin et prends des notes, car tous ses hacks te seront bien utiles avant de réserver ton vol.
Quel est le jour le moins cher pour faire ta réservation?
Selon les données récoltées, se sont les réservations faites le dimanche qui sont les plus avantageuses. L'entreprise a remarqué que les voyageur.euses qui achètent leur vol lors de cette journée, comparativement au vendredi par exemple, peuvent économiser en moyenne 15 % de rabais sur les vols intérieurs et 10 % sur les vols internationaux.
Combien de temps en avance dois-je réserver mon vol intérieur?
Expedia recommande de booker ton vol intérieur un peu plus de deux mois à l'avance (environ 71 jours), afin de profiter des plus bas prix. Tu pourrais ainsi économiser jusqu'à 40 % sur ta facture comparativement à ceux et celles qui achèteraient leur vol un mois avant ton départ.
Il est aussi conseillé de ne pas réserver ton siège trop tôt, soit plus de 100 jours à l'avance, car habituellement les prix des vols seront plus dispendieux de quatre à cinq mois avant le départ.
Combien de temps en avance dois-je réserver mon vol international?
Pas trop tôt et pas trop tard, selon la compagnie touristique. Les vacancier.ères devraient privilégier une réservation faite trois mois avant le voyage outre-mer, car iels pourraient économiser près de 10 % du prix .
« Les offres de dernières minutes sont de plus en plus rares », mentionne Expedia. Si tu veux prendre cette chance, c'est donc à tes risques et périls.
Comment éviter les retards et annulations de vol?
Il semble que les départs avant 15 h soient les plus sûrs selon l'entreprise américaine : « Les voyageurs qui veulent avoir le plus de chances de voyager sans encombre doivent opter pour des vols matinaux ». Ceux et celles qui décident de partir en soirée (après 15 h) auraient 15 % plus de chances de voir leur vol être annulé ou retardé.
Est-ce mieux de partir hors saison?
D'après les données recensées, partir hors saison peut non seulement te faire économiser, mais aussi réduire les possibilités d'avoir une annulation ou un retard de vol. Les meilleurs mois pour voyager seraient de février à mai.
Quand partir?
C'est le vendredi qui serait le meilleur jour pour décoller vers d'autres destinations au Canada, puisqu’un départ le cinquième jour de la semaine te permettrait d'obtenir un rabais pouvant aller jusqu'à 20 % comparativement au dimanche ou au lundi.
Pour les vols internationaux, c'est plutôt le jeudi qui serait le plus avantageux, mais la différence n'est pas aussi grande puisque les usager.ères pourraient économiser seulement 5 % en choisissant cette journée.
En somme, les vols au début de la semaine sont habituellement un peu plus dispendieux.