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Quebec premier to be absent at First Nations meeting
Quebec premier to miss First Nations meeting
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese
Quebec’s new premier, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, will not attend the First Nations-First Ministers’ Meeting in Ottawa on Monday.
The meeting includes Prime Minister Mark Carney, the premiers of Canada's provinces and territories, the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, and other leaders.
It is preceded Sunday by a traditional Indigenous ceremony.
At an unrelated news conference in Montreal on Friday, St-Pierre Plamondon confirmed his absence and explained that he wants to prioritize a different approach with Indigenous peoples.
He noted that he has several meetings scheduled in the near future, including one with the chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador.
Other premiers may be absent on Monday, including British Columbia’s David Eby, as the province is holding a general election on Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published October 24, 2026.
Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Ottawa 'disappointed' after union announces strike votes for 120,000 workers
Ottawa 'disappointed' as union calls strike votes
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
The federal government says it's "disappointed" after Canada's largest federal public service union announced 120,000 workers will take part in nationwide strike votes starting next month.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada says voting will take place from Nov. 16 to Jan. 22.
The union and Treasury Board have been in contract negotiations for a year and a half and PSAC in May called a government wage offer of less than one per cent per year "insulting."
The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat says it's "disappointed" the union has chosen to proceed with a strike vote while the groups are still working through the mediation process.
The government says that for the past year and a half, it has engaged with the union on all of its proposals and several days of mediation recently led to progress on certain points.
The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat says it respects the right to strike but the best deals are reached at the bargaining table.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2026.
By Catherine Morrison | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Israeli companies misled Canadians about West Bank real estate, complaint alleges
Israeli real estate events prompt complaint
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Home In Israel (Mandatory Credit)
A group of lawyers and civil society members have filed a complaint with the Competition Bureau over Israeli real estate events in Toronto and Montreal, alleging that illegal properties were marketed to Canadians under false pretences.
The complaint alleges at least four Israeli real estate companies and one Canadian marketing firm promoted properties in occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank while misleading consumers to believe they were in Israel.
The Competition Bureau says it will review the complaint filed by Global Echo Litigation Center and the Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights and determine if an investigation into the companies is warranted.
James Yap, president of the lawyers' association and a Windsor university law professor, said Canadians who may have purchased West Bank properties could be opening themselves up to serious legal consequences under international law, such as complicity in war crimes.
Canada and much of the international community have long held that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal and an obstacle to peace in the Middle East.
The territory has been occupied by Israel since 1967, but settlement activity has significantly increased since the onset of the latest war in the Gaza Strip, triggered by the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and displaced most of Gaza's two million residents.
Ottawa advised Canadian businesses in August to avoid engaging with Israeli settlements, warning that failing to do so could open them up to legal and financial risk.
“The Canadian government talks a lot about upholding international law,” Yap said. “We have our prime minister bemoaning the deterioration of the international rules-based order. They condemn the settlements as illegal. They talk about taking steps, taking action. This is a chance for the Canadian government to actually take action.”
The complaint, filed on behalf of six Canadians, compiles photos, social media posts and promotional materials of condo projects in the occupied West Bank being marketed at various real estate events from 2024 to 2026.
One photo of an Israeli real estate company’s booth at the 2024 Great Israeli Real Estate Event in Montreal suggests the company promoted condo projects in Ma'ale Adumim and Adam, two Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, alongside Israeli real estate.
The company’s booth advertised the developments with the message of finding one’s “dream home in Israel.”
Another company’s booth at the same 2024 event advertised it as “your real estate agency in Jerusalem” while listing the locations of four Israeli settlements in the West Bank and two Israeli cities. The company is more explicit on its website, stating that its homes in West Bank settlements in Efrat, Mitzpe Yericho and Ma’ale Adumim are in Israel.
A Canadian marketing firm that helps North Americans buy Israeli real estate similarly lists a West Bank condo development as being in Israel on its website but it used more ambiguous language at a real estate event in Toronto.
The firm promoted a condo project in the Givat HaMatos settlement, located in East Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, at the 2026 Israel Real Estate Briefing in Toronto with the tagline “own a piece of Jerusalem.”
The lawyers behind the complaint to the Competition Bureau argue the ambiguity isn’t enough to absolve the companies.
Under Canadian law, courts use a “general impression” test to determine if an advertisement is false or misleading. If an ad is literally true but omits essential information that would influence a consumer’s behaviour, it could violate the Competition Act.
The lawyers argue that by promoting these properties at events titled the Great Israeli Real Estate Event and the Israeli Real Estate Briefing, and omitting mention of their true location in internationally-contested territories, the real estate companies misled Canadians.
Ariel Katz, a competition law expert who reviewed the complaint but was not involved in its filing, said he finds the evidence compelling, but couldn’t say if the Competition Bureau would be likely to launch an inquiry.
“This is a highly politically charged topic, right? So whatever decision they make, they might be under enormous pressure,” Katz said.
Israel contends that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are not illegal because of Jewish people’s historic connection to the land.
While the complaint deals with allegations of false advertising, Katz said the West Bank properties that were allegedly promoted at the events are considered illegal under international law, and Ottawa could ban the marketing of such properties altogether.
The lawyers behind the complaint say they’re leaving the door open for future legal action that could target the illegality of the properties themselves.
The Canadian Press asked Global Affairs Canada if the sale of West Bank property is illegal in Canada and whether Canadians could be legally liable if they purchased such property but did not receive an answer before publication.
Emily Schaeffer Omer-Man, founder of Global Echo Litigation Center, said her law firm has been monitoring a “circuit” of Israeli real estate events in the United States, United Kingdom, France and other countries.
She said the complaint before the Competition Bureau gives Canada a chance to “pave the way” for other countries to follow suit in cracking down on these kinds of sales.
Marlee Wasser, one of the complainants, said she’s a granddaughter of Holocaust survivors and sees the sale of Israeli settlement property in Canada as normalizing genocide in the West Bank, where Israeli settlers have attacked and displaced Palestinians.
She added that protests outside Israeli real estate events have been used to justify restricting peoples’ right to protest in Canada.
The mayor of Vaughan, Ont., proposed a bubble zone bylaw – which ultimately passed – restricting protests near places of worship, schools and hospitals shortly after protesters demonstrated outside a local synagogue where an Israeli real estate event was being held in 2024.
For Basel Adra, an Oscar award-winning documentarian and community engagement manager at Global Echo Litigation Center, the complaint before the Competition Bureau is a chance for Canada to do “what’s right.”
The Palestinian filmmaker of “No Other Land,” a documentary about the destruction of a West Bank community, says there’s daily construction in the West Bank, building homes and roads for Israeli settlers.
While he’s never personally seen a Canadian settler in the West Bank, Adra said there are settlers from all over the world, especially America, in Israeli communities in the region.
Adra said he’s been attacked by settlers several times, and last week a group of settlers invaded his family’s land and cut down olive trees.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in June there was an average of six settler attacks on Palestinian communities in the West Bank each day of 2026 thus far that caused casualties or property damage, higher than any other year on record.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2026.
By Kathryn Mannie | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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On a demandé les erreurs à éviter à Montréal à ChatGPT et elle a tout compris
Prends des notes, tu vas en avoir besoin!
Être Montréalais.e ne s'apprend pas en un jour! Comme dans toutes grandes villes du monde, il y a certaines règles à respecter et plusieurs choses à ne pas faire si l’on souhaite avoir une belle expérience dans la métropole et peut-être même un jour porter ce titre qui se mérite.
Pour s'amuser un peu, Narcity a demandé à la nouvelle plateforme d'intelligence artificielle (IA) ChatGPT quelles sont les erreurs à éviter absolument à Montréal et le moins qu'on puisse dire c'est que l'IA semble avoir passer bien du temps sur l'île puisqu'elle a tout compris. Que tu sois touristes ou que tu aimes te rendre dans la grande ville pour vivre un brin l'énergie urbaine, ces quelques prescriptions à suivre pourront t'être bien utiles pour ne pas te faire regarder de travers.
Bouder les transports en commun
L'une des richesses de l'île est notamment son vaste et efficace réseau de transport en commun. Comparativement à certaines villes dans le monde, les métros de Montréal sont assez simples à comprendre, plutôt propres et peuvent t’amener presque partout dans la ville en moins de 40 minutes.
Ne pas mettre les pieds dans le métro ou un autobus c'est t'arranger pour rager devant les multiples cônes orange, passer des minutes dans le trafic ou à chercher un stationnement : « Montréal dispose d'un excellent réseau de transport en commun, y compris les métros, les bus et les trains de banlieue. Utiliser ces moyens de transport est souvent plus facile et plus pratique que de conduire dans la ville ».
Sous-estimer les distances
« Montréal est une ville relativement grande, donc assurez-vous de prévoir suffisamment de temps pour vous déplacer d'un endroit à l'autre ». Effectivement, il est essentiel de partir un peu à l'avance lorsqu'il est temps de traverser la ville. C'est toujours plus long que prévu parce qu'on a mal évalué la durée du trajet ou parce qu'il y a un détour à prendre. Un classique, et ce, même chez les natif.ves de l'île.
Ignorer la bouffe locale
« Ignorer la nourriture locale : Montréal est célèbre pour sa cuisine, y compris la poutine, le smoked meat et les bagels. Assurez-vous de goûter à ces plats locaux pendant votre séjour ».
Ce n'est pas pour rien que Montréal est reconnue pour sa scène culinaire. Comme l'indique la plateforme, ne pas tester les spécialités montréalaises telles que les bagels, le smoked meat ou les restaurants de la métropole est un véritable sacrilège. Rends-toi service et ne fais pas cette erreur.
Négliger le français
C'est bien connu, la langue à Montréal crée moult débats. Bien que la ville ne soit pas déclarée officiellement comme étant bilingue, on peut aisément passer sa vie en ne parlant qu'anglais, mais la plateforme IA a tenu à préciser que pour s'entendre bien avec la grande majorité des Montréalais.es et passer un moment agréable, il est primordial de ne pas mépriser le français : « Négliger la langue française : Montréal est une ville bilingue, mais la langue principale est le français. Si vous ne parlez pas français, il est important d'être respectueux et d'essayer d'apprendre quelques phrases pour communiquer avec les habitants locaux ».
Ne pas visiter plusieurs quartiers dans la ville
Bien que quelques quartiers soit plus populaires chez les touristes, on pense au Mile-End, au Plateau-Mont-Royal, au Vieux-Port ou au centre-ville par exemple, il reste que tous les secteurs de Montréal valent le détour et offrent chacun quelque chose d'unique. Verdun avec sa longue promenade au bord de l'eau et la rue Wellington, les pistes cyclables et les aires de pique-nique du canal Lachine, Hochelaga avec ses rues animées et ses multiples bars et restos, le Village hyper coloré, le marché Jean-Talon au coeur de la Petite Italie, etc.
Bref, ChatGPT est d'avis qu'il faut absolument explorer la métropole : « Montréal est une ville diversifiée avec de nombreux quartiers intéressants à explorer, chacun avec sa propre atmosphère et ses propres attractions. Assurez-vous de sortir des sentiers battus pour découvrir tout ce que Montréal a à offrir ».
Ne pas respecter les règles de stationnement
Une des choses qui stresse le plus les gens de l'extérieur de l'île c'est bien les pancartes de stationnement. Peut-on se garer ici même s'il est écrit « les samedis entre 8 h et 10 h », mais qu'on est vendredi?
ChatGPT est formel : « Les règles de stationnement sont très strictes à Montréal, il est important de bien lire les panneaux de stationnement pour éviter les amendes ». Se ramasser avec un petit papier sur son pare-brise ça commence mal une journée et les Montréalais.es en savent quelque chose!
Ne pas se vêtir de vêtements chauds
« Les hivers à Montréal sont très froids, il est important d'apporter des vêtements chauds et imperméables pour profiter de la ville », note la plateforme d'intelligence artificielle. Effectivement, non seulement les hivers sont très froids à Montréal, mais les citadin.es marchent beaucoup. En ville, à -15 degrés, oublie les talons hauts pour te rendre au resto ou à une soirée dans un bar...Même si on l'a tous.tes déjà fait pour éviter de payer le vestiaire!