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Military could begin Arctic sensor installations next summer
Military may deploy Arctic sensor stations in 2027
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
National Defence plans to install 47 sensor stations across the North starting as early as next summer to bolster Norad’s surveillance and early warning abilities, according to recently published regulatory filings.
The planned installations would start in Yukon near the Alaskan border and follow along the Arctic coast across the Northwest Territories, reaching as far out as Alert, Nunavut, the most northern inhabited point in the world.
Called Project Crossbow, the plan involves using Hercules aircraft and Chinook helicopters to airlift passive sensor installations, which resemble large shipping containers that stand on metal legs.
The initial deployments could begin as soon as next summer with initial operating capability coming online in 2029, said Royal Canadian Air Force spokesperson Lt.-Cmdr. Melanie Aqiqi.
She said in an emailed statement that Crossbow is “part of a broader network of capabilities supporting northern air domain awareness.”
The container stations will run on solar and wind power, according to a series of National Defence documents filed with a Nunavut regulatory board.
Aside from some temporary deployments required to set them up and an annual maintenance cycle, the installations will remain unstaffed throughout the year.
"This defence capability (surveillance sensors) will operate within self-powered, autonomous, ruggedized power-generating container systems designed for continuous operations in austere environments and extreme Arctic conditions," one of the documents said.
The federal government is investing billions of dollars in a broader effort to modernize Norad's equipment.
The project was announced in 2022 by then-defence minister Anita Anand under the Northern Approaches Surveillance system, which includes the over-the-horizon radar project.
Anand said at the time the capabilities of the joint Canada-U.S. project are classified but the new network would add “another layer of detection” to Norad.
An information package submitted to the Nunavut Planning Commission said the project is of “national significance” and the “proposed sites are required for overall system network operation.”
The sites mapped out in some of the filed plans include two in Quttinirpaaq National Park on Ellesmere Island and four within a migratory bird sanctuary on Banks Island. The documents state the project is expected to have little to no impact on wildlife.
Two sensor systems are already stationed in Alert, Nunavut and Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories, one of the documents said.
The sites were chosen so that National Defence can easily airlift the containers in just a few days — although the exact rationale for site selection remains classified.
The sensor project is expected to be complete by 2032. Once fully deployed, the project is expected to run another 20 years.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2026.
— With files from Nick Murray
By Kyle Duggan | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Video of contact with possibly rabid skunk in B.C. prompts health authority warning
Video of B.C. skunk contact prompts rabies warning
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Facebook, Vancouver Kick (Mandatory Credit)
Vancouver Coastal Health is warning anyone in the city's downtown who has had contact with a possibly rabid skunk to get a medical assessment immediately after a video emerged on social media.
The video posted on Facebook on Oct. 10 shows a skunk struggling to cross a Vancouver street, attracting a number of bystanders before a man picked up the animal using a sweater and moved it onto the sidewalk.
On Wednesday, Vancouver Coastal Health reported a skunk captured in the city's downtown has tested positive for rabies, but it is unclear if it's the same animal shown in the Facebook video.
The health authority says a small number of people were bitten by the skunk and have been assessed, as well as receiving rabies vaccinations and immunoglobulin as a precaution.
It also says that it is aware of videos capturing other exposures, and anyone in the West End and Stanley Park areas who have had contact with a skunk between Sept. 22 and Oct. 17 should contact Vancouver Coastal Health immediately.
The rabies virus is found in the saliva of infected animals and can be transmitted through bites or scratches, and an infection affects the brain and nervous system leading to possible death.
The health authority says the virus is not transmitted through other types of exposures such as the spray, urine or feces of an infected skunk.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2026.
Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Atikamekw baby to be reburied in home community more than 70 years after death
Atikamekw baby to be reburied in home community
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
More than 70 years after his death, an Atikamekw baby buried far from his family in Quebec City will be laid to rest in his home community.
After 12 years of searching, the family of Maxime Ottawa has located his burial site, exhumed his remains and confirmed his identity, bringing what relatives describe as "immense relief."
"On Oct. 26, 2026, Baby Maxime will finally come home to Manawan, to his mother and father, to his brothers and sisters," his niece, Manon Ottawa, said Thursday at a news conference in Montreal.
Maxime was the brother of her father, Henri Ottawa, whose wish to find out what happened to the child prompted her to begin searching in 2014.
Manawan is an Atikamekw community located about 250 kilometres north of Montreal.
In 1954, when Maxime was just six months old, he was taken from Manawan to La Tuque, Que., for medical treatment without his parents.
He was later transferred to Quebec City without his family being informed. He died on Oct. 5, 1954, after 43 days in the hospital, without his loved ones having the chance to see him one last time.
His parents only learned of his death two years later, and were unable to hold a funeral or bury him according to their traditions and beliefs.
"In 2014, four years after the death of my father Henri, I began searching, according to his wishes, to find my uncle," Ottawa told reporters.
"I wanted to understand what had happened to him … I wanted to know the truth."
The family's search eventually led them to Saint-Charles Cemetery in Quebec City, where Maxime had been buried.
In October 2025, Quebec Superior Court authorized the exhumation of his remains so that forensic testing could confirm his identity and, if successful, allow him to be reburied in Manawan.
The exhumation proved particularly complex.
Cemetery records indicate Maxime was buried in a plot containing five people, while the two neighbouring plots contained four and five people, respectively, all of them Indigenous.
One body was eventually exhumed and transferred to Quebec's forensic laboratory for identification testing.
Nearly a year later, on Sept. 30, Canada's National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the family received confirmation that the remains belonged to Maxime Ottawa.
"Receiving this confirmation precisely on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation gave it an even deeper meaning in our story," Manon Ottawa said.
She added that reconciliation goes beyond words and requires seeking truth and respecting the dignity of families.
Maxime's story is one of several involving Indigenous children who disappeared or died after being sent to Quebec hospitals decades ago, leaving families searching for answers.
In 2020, Indigenous leaders called for separate legislation to help families access medical records and religious archives to learn what happened to their children. The province passed a law the following year allowing families to access certain records held by health institutions, government bodies and religious organizations.
Maxime's remains are expected to return to Manawan on Monday, ahead of a reburial ceremony on Wednesday that will honour his memory and the traditions of his community.
In a statement Thursday, the family thanked those who helped bring Maxime home after decades of uncertainty.
"While their search for truth is coming to an end, the journey toward possible reconciliation can now begin," the family said in a statement issued through their lawyer, Olivia Malenfant.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2026.
By Frédéric Lacroix-Couture | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Des commentaires haineux et antisémites inquiètent la communauté juive au Québec
Suites aux rassemblements illégaux observés auprès de la communauté hassidique d'Outremont durant le dernier week-end, le Centre consultatif des relations juives et israéliennes-Québec (CIJA) a condamné plusieurs commentaires antisémites sur les réseaux sociaux.
L'organisation a d'ailleurs publié un avis sur Twitter visant à sensibiliser les gens à ce sujet et dénoncer.
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CIJA-Québec
Le CIJA a également réaffirmé que la communauté doit se conformer aux directives de la santé publique, condamnant les contrevenants.
« Bien que nous comprenions et partagions la frustration que cette histoire a suscitée, nous sommes également profondément préoccupés par la façon dont cela est exprimé sur les médias sociaux », indique le CIJA.
L'organisation, qui agit comme porte-voix de la communauté juive dans la province, se dit inquiète :
« De nombreux exemples inquiétants montrent que dans certains cas la colère de certains s’est exprimé de manière antisémite et haineuse. »
Ces commentaires sont d'ailleurs signalés auprès de Facebook et même au Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), dans certains cas, mentionne le CIJA.
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