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B.C. votes for mayors and councillors before general election next week
B.C. votes in local elections as campaigns overlap
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
It’s voting day in British Columbia but if you are confused, you're probably not alone.
B.C. residents vote today for their local representatives on councils, school boards and other regional posts, choosing from 3,500 candidates across the province.
But advance voting in the provincial general election is also taking place, continuing until Oct. 21 ahead of final voting day on Oct. 24.
NDP Leader David Eby’s decision to call a snap election two years early and in the middle of the planned municipal election period has been denounced by local and opposition politicians.
The Union of B.C. Municipalities passed a resolution at its annual convention last month imploring Eby not to call an election during the local campaign period, but days later he set off the provincial vote.
Cori Ramsay, who was the president of the union at the time of the resolution, said since then that the two elections have caused voter confusion and local campaigns lost staff to provincial candidates.
Many cities and municipalities have nevertheless reported increased or even record turnout at advance polls, including Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby, Kamloops, Surrey, Kelowna, Prince George, Cranbrook and View Royal, among others.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2026.
Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Community papers connect remotely housed Albertans to satellite internet rebate
Eligible Alberta households can claim up to $1,000 for satellite internet hardware and installation.
The target audience for a new rebate in Alberta may need the print version of their community newspaper to first learn that the satellite-facing program even exists.
Rebates worth up to $1,000 are available until March 31 for hardware and installation costs to connect certain households to low-Earth-orbit satellites for internet service.
The challenge is that the 10,000 or so rural and remote households that qualify have, by definition, severely limited or non-existent internet access, a rural media roundtable organized by the provincial government heard Thursday.
The eligible homes are in areas of Alberta deprived of traditional ground-based internet because of distance and topography, Technology and Innovation Minister Nate Glubish told about a dozen rural media representatives.
That makes community newspapers distributed along Alberta’s roads less travelled particularly important, he confirmed.
Glubish said major outlets have given the story little attention and “don’t want to talk to me about it. But I appreciate that it's your readers who are going to be more interested in this anyways.”
The program draws from a joint federal-Alberta fund worth $755 million to blanket the province with broadband. The new rebate addresses rural and remote residents that fell between the cracks because — until now — reaching them hasn’t been affordable, practical or even possible, Glubish said.
The difference today is that satellites in low-Earth orbit have become widely available to internet providers and users in Alberta.
Earlier, the government would have had to entice satellite companies to expand their service, Glubish said.
“We knew they were going to expand here anyway, but it was going to cost us tens of millions of dollars to persuade them to come here first, rather than just allowing them to come here as they normally were going to. And that patience has paid off,” said Glubish, the UCP member representing Strathcona-Sherwood Park.
Alberta published a broadband strategy in January 2022 with the goal to hit 100 per cent connectivity by the end of this fiscal year.
The strategy said then that 67 per cent of rural Albertans and 80 per cent of the province’s Indigenous communities had unreliable internet access at federal target speeds.
But today, according to the minister’s office, the needle has moved dramatically.
An estimated 82.2 per cent of households in Alberta First Nations reserves have access to high-speed internet, up from just 19.6 per cent in 2019, the baseline cited in the strategy.
That represents an increase of about 8,400 on-reserve households, the ministry told The Macleod Gazette in an emailed follow-up to the roundtable.
Of all Alberta households, 98.2 per cent now have access to high-speed internet, said a news release on the rebate.
“I know it's been a long time coming. We've been working hard on this for the last four years,” Glubish told the roundtable.
“But I think we’re coming to the tail-end of an important initiative, and it's nice to see that we are getting close to achieving our goal of universal connectivity."
A “significant portion” of federal-provincial funding has gone towards improving reliable, non-satellite internet in Indigenous communities, he said.
“If there are any First Nations communities that are not yet covered, then absolutely, yes, they would be eligible to participate in this rebate program,” he said.
Affordability remains an issue for some rural Albertans, Glubish acknowledged. Living the remote life can be expensive, and paying a premium for internet service is one of those higher costs.
But “the biggest barrier … is the upfront investment for the hardware and the installation. And that's what this program addresses,” he said.
“So this will go a long way to helping anybody in a low-income scenario to be able to get their connection established.”
Connectivity keeps getting more important in the professional and personal lives of Albertans, Glubish said.
He pointed to education, employment, entrepreneurship, and medical and justice services as cornerstones of modern life that the internet has improved dramatically. “If you don't have connectivity, your options are limited."
Households that qualify for the rebate can purchase their satellite hardware and installation while the program is open, with eligible receipts dating from Aug. 11 of this year onward.
Hardware must be purchased from an authorized vendor to qualify. Rebates apply to satellite dishes, receiver kits and installation services and supplies. Receipts are submitted through an online portal.
Find out more at alberta.ca/alberta-satellite-rebate-program — assuming you have a way to connect to the internet.
“I think it's super important to get this message out to our rural newspapers,” said roundtable participant Lisa Sygutek, president of the Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association and the publisher and owner of the Crowsnest Pass Herald.
Sygutek also wanted to know how the rebate would be rolled out to Albertans who don’t have the connectively yet to apply or submit receipts online.
The ministry is working with organizations like Rural Municipalities of Alberta and with MLAs to share information on the rebate. It will monitor how effective its efforts are before looking at other communications measures, including direct mailing.
“Our goal is to try and make sure it's very clear that anybody who is likely to be eligible for this will know that this is an option available to them,” Glubish said.
Copyright 2026, The Macleod Gazette. All rights reserved.
George Lee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Macleod Gazette.
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Toronto 18 ringleader no longer shows signs of extremism, granted full parole: board
Toronto 18 ringleader granted full parole
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby
One of the ringleaders of the thwarted Toronto 18 terror plot has been granted full parole after the Parole Board of Canada found he no longer showed "any signs of holding onto extremist beliefs or radical ideologies."
Zakaria Amara, who helped recruit members for a group that aimed to storm Parliament Hill and bomb several locations around Toronto, has been on day parole with multiple conditions for four years, and the board upgraded his release after reviewing his case last week.
In a written decision issued Friday, the two-member panel says Amara, 41, undertook a process to deradicalize while incarcerated and has used his day parole "for its intended rehabilitative purpose," demonstrating "positive change, both in attitude and in behaviour."
It says he was closely supervised while on day parole and his internet use, friendships and relationships were monitored, with no reported safety concerns or breaches.
The decision, which includes several redactions, says Amara now plans to live in his own home and continue to structure his time around his full-time job, attending a mosque, seeing his family and "appropriate leisure activities."
He is barred from communicating with anyone involved in criminal activity, including any of the others arrested in the June 2006 anti-terrorist raids, or come into contact with anyone with extremist ideologies, except in his work as a consultant with a specialized program.
He must also continue to participate in counselling and be subject to financial monitoring as well as restrictions on his phone and internet use.
The board's decision comes two decades after the dismantling of the homegrown plot that shocked the country and shifted public discourse around terrorism.
Amara and an accomplice recruited people for a group based on jihadist ideologies, planning to carry out terrorist acts to demand the withdrawal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan.
The group eventually splintered in two, with Amara taking the helm of a plot focused on building truck bombs targeting the Canadian Security Intelligence Services headquarters, the Toronto Stock Exchange building, and a military base.
He was arrested on the day bomb-making materials were delivered to a warehouse.
Amara pleaded guilty to participating in a terror group with the intention of causing an explosion or explosions that were likely to cause serious bodily harm or death, and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years. He challenged the sentence but it was upheld on appeal.
The parole board document said his "problematic and extremist ideologies and attitudes" remained during his first few years behind bars, which also included several incidents of misconduct.
His ideology "began to shift" in 2014 and he was eventually transferred to a medium-security institution in 2019, where correctional officers reported he was "respectful, polite and quiet," the board said.
Amara was granted day parole for three months in 2022 and it was extended several times.
"During the latter part of your federal custody and for the past four years in the community, you have undertaken a process to distance yourself from extremist ideologies and others who share the same views," the board wrote.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2026.
By Paola Loriggio | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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7 « hacks » utiles au Maxi pour t'aider à économiser sur ton panier d'épicerie
Quand Maxi peut être ENCORE moins cher! 👀
Avec les prix des aliments qui font sourciller, il est bien normal de commencer à se tourner vers des façons plus créatives d'économiser à l'épicerie. Il existe une panoplie de trucs et même des applications qui te permettent de ne pas avoir à vider ton portefeuille en arrivant aux caisses.
Reconnue pour ses publicités hilarantes, la bannière Maxi est bien populaire chez les consommateur.trices, car elle propose souvent des prix réduits. Si tu aimes bien magasiner dans les allées de ton Maxi de quartier, voici quelques trucs faciles qui te permettront de sauver des sous lors de tes emplettes.
Le principe des imbattables du Maxi
Savais-tu que tu peux utiliser le principe des prix imbattables chez Maxi? Eh oui, ce n'est pas pour rien que cette chaîne d'épicerie se targue d'être « le panier le moins cher ».
Maxi s'engage à proposer les prix les plus bas possibles sur une sélection de produits alimentaires, de produits ménagers et d'autres articles de la vie quotidienne. Donc, si tu vois par exemple que les fraises sont en rabais chez Super C, mais pas chez Maxi, tu peux montrer ce rabais aux caisses et l'entreprise devra alors en modifier le prix.
Les applications Flipp ou Reebee pour t'aider à comparer les prix
Si tu ne sais pas trop comment faire ou qu'est-ce que ça mange en hiver « les imbattables », n'aie crainte, il existe maintenant des applications qui font la recherche pour toi!
Eh oui, Flipp et Reebee te permettent de voir rapidement les différents prix des produits dans les épiceries du Québec et effectue même la comparaison à ta place. Tu peux donc aisément entrer un produit dans la barre de recherche puis voir quelle épicerie propose le meilleur coût. Tu pourras ensuite montrer ton application à la caisse lorsque tu effectueras les imbattables au Maxi pour prouver que tu peux bien le trouver pour moins cher ailleurs.
L'application Flashfood
La société Loblaw Companies Limited, à qui appartient Maxi, a mis en place une application, Flashfood, qui permet à la fois de profiter d'aubaines en épicerie et de lutter contre le gaspillage alimentaire. Flashfood te permet de voir les produits qui approchent de leurs dates de péremption au Maxi, Provigo ou Loblaw près de chez toi, de les acheter via l'app puis d'aller les chercher dans les frigos du commerce. Faire des aubaines tout en aidant la planète, c'est toujours oui!
Regarder les circulaires
Les circulaires d'épicerie te permettent de voir rapidement les rabais et de préparer ta liste en avance. Pour économiser, tu peux donc commencer à regarder les circulaires, concevoir ta planification des repas de la semaine et tes achats en fonction des items en promotion. Trois étapes, certes, mais ça peut te permettre d'épargner chaque semaine. En plus, en sachant déjà tout ce dont tu as besoin, faire ton épicerie te prendra moins de temps.
Avoir un poulet rôti gratuit
Si tu te rends en succursale entre 15 h et 19 h et qu'il n'y a plus de poulet rôti dans le présentoir, tu peux te rendre à la caisse pour demander un coupon qui te permettra d'en avoir un gratuitement lors de ta prochaine visite. Un.e commis devra toutefois aller vérifier au préalable qu'il n'y a réellement plus aucun de ce poulet.
C'est d'ailleurs la même chose pour les baguettes de pain cuites sur place.
Privilégier les marques maison
Il peut être tentant d'acheter ta marque préférée de biscuits, de chips ou de tortilla, mais les marques maison des épiceries proposent bien souvent des prix réduits. Chez Maxi, tu pourras trouver les produits sans nom et Le Choix du Président.
Choisir avec soin ses produits
La page TikTok @eezly.quebec s'applique à effectuer une panoplie de tests en comparant le goût des différentes marques en épicerie. Ça peut donc être une bonne idée de visionner quelques vidéos pour t'aider à faire des choix plus rapidement. Parce qu'au final, si tu achètes un produit pas cher, mais qu'il finit dans ton congélateur durant deux ans, tu n'économises pas beaucoup d'argent.
Tu peux aussi visionner les tests de bouffe pour savoir si les marques maison compétitionnent avec les grandes compagnies, malgré leurs petits prix.