Saskatchewan News

CALGARY — ARC Resources Ltd. reported net income of $584.3 million during the first quarter, rising from $404.7 million during the same period last year.

Spiritwood, Sask., conservation officers are investigating after a black bear sow and its cubs were shot and "left to waste" earlier this month.

Saskatoon’s downtown could look a lot different if a proposed project that would take over the former Star Phoenix building at 204 Fifth Avenue North is given the green light by Saskatoon City Council. The plan for the area that is less than a block from the South Saskatchewan River includes residential towers on both the north and south ends of the block. The north tower could reach 24 storeys high, while the south tower could reach 35, making it the tallest building in the city. Read more:

• Taller than Nutrien Tower: Proposed Saskatoon development under review
• Business improvement district discusses safety in downtown Saskatoon
• Midtown mall hits record sales while improving safety, manager says

The development would also see 600 residential units and 540 parking spaces, along with offices, retailers, and a grocery store. Ward 6 councillor Jasmin Parker called the proposal exciting. She said the project was quite ambitious but could be a stepping stone to helping the city reach some of its goals downtown. “It would bring that density downtown. One of the big parts of creating vibrancy downtown is just having more residents … more people that can support small businesses downtown, that can support entertainment facilities downtown, that will invest their dollars in their neighbourhood and create more of a neighbourhood downtown,” she said. “I think this project will provide another option for living. When you look at the residential properties downtown, they cater to a variety of different styles of living — there are different kinds of options. And I think this just adds to the diversity of options,” said Parker. Parker said any increase in the number of residents would contribute two things. “For sure, it will help boost local businesses in the area. And I think the more financial success local businesses have, the more businesses are going to be driven to be downtown,” she said. “I know that the more animation and the more people we have on the streets of downtown make it inherently safer. So, it’s not the only thing we need to do to make sure that we’re making downtown a safer place to be, but people feel safer when there are other people on the street with them,” said Parker. Keith Moen, executive director for North Saskatoon Business Association, said that some aspects of the project stick out to him. “From my understanding, it’s going to be largely residential but have mixed use for some commercial development, including plans of hopefully having a grocery store in it, and I think that’s a great addition to the downtown scene,” he said. “And obviously, with the height of the building and the number of residents there will be in that particular residence, it will be self-feeding. Talk about literal vertical integration, having the people, your primary customers, living right above your store. I think that’s a great use of that property,” said Moen. He said there are many examples of the need for this kind of project. “I think it’ll be transformational. When you look at River Landing, for instance, in terms of the residents, the condos that were available there, and how quickly they sold out, I think that shows the type of demand that there is for downtown products like this. “And so I think that having a developer that’s willing to take the risk and put up the capital to develop the city in such a way is very commendable, and I wish them the best of luck,” he said. Moen said that while he hasn’t heard any concerns regarding the project yet, he doesn’t doubt that there will likely be some backlash. “There’s always nimbyism, regardless of whatever you’re trying to do. So there will be folks that will not be happy with the development. I would expect that to be probably because of the height of the building and impeding their view of certain things. I suspect that’ll be the biggest complaint. “I suppose that other complaints will be around, noise and traffic and congestion and all those sorts of things. And don’t get me wrong, there are concerns, valid concerns, that will be brought forward that will need to be addressed,” said Moen. People will have a chance to provide feedback and ask questions about the proposal as part of the city’s community engagement phase at a public information meeting on May 7, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Saskatoon City Hall. Following that meeting, the application will go forward to the city’s municipal planning commission. Read more:

• Taller than Nutrien Tower: Proposed Saskatoon development under review
• Business improvement district discusses safety in downtown Saskatoon

The 306’s Peter Mills sat down with Regina guitarist Jack Semple to talk about his recent cancer diagnosis and what it was like to almost lose his one passion in life. After a trip to the Mayo Clinic in the U.S., Semple had a fast recovery. He's now writing new music and plans to return to the stage later this summer.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told senators last week that medical assistance in dying is the leading cause of death in Canada. Canada's national statistics agency does not record MAID as a cause of death under World Health Organization guidelines, but the number of MAID deaths reported by Health Canada does not place it as the leading cause of death in Canada. THE CLAIM During an April 22 hearing in front of the United States Senate finance committee, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. referred to Canada in remarks about assisted suicide laws. In Canada, medical assistance in dying is legal if specific criteria spelled out in federal law are met. A physician or nurse practitioner can directly administer a lethal substance, or they can provide a drug that a person takes to bring about their own death. "I think those laws are abhorrent and we see in Canada today, I think it's the number 1 cause of death is assisted suicide," Kennedy said. THE FACTS
 Statistics Canada tracks the leading causes of death among the total population. According to the latest available statistics from 2024, the leading cause of death for Canadians of all ages and both sexes was malignant neoplasms, referring to cancerous tumours. Cancer is followed by heart disease, accidental deaths, stroke and other cerebrovascular diseases and chronic lower respiratory diseases to round out the top five causes of death. MAID does not appear on the list because it is not listed as a cause of death. Statistics Canada codes and classifies causes of death in line with a system created by the World Health Organization, which records deaths according to their underlying cause. "The tabulation of the causes of death is based on the underlying cause of death, which is defined by the WHO as the disease or injury that initiated the train of events leading directly to death; or, as the circumstances of the accident or violence that produced the fatal injury," Statistics Canada said in an emailed statement. "The underlying cause of death is selected from the causes and conditions listed on the medical certificate of cause of death, which is completed by a medical professional, medical examiner or coroner." When patients die through MAID, the cause of death is coded to match the health condition that led them to seek MAID, Statistics Canada notes. Cancer was the most frequently reported underlying medical condition among Canadians who received MAID, accounting for 63.6 per cent of cases among patients whose death was reasonably foreseeable. Health Canada tracks MAID deaths and publishes annual reports on the practice. In 2024, MAID accounted for 5.1 per cent of all deaths in Canada. Of the 22,535 people who requested MAID in 2024, 16,499 people ultimately received it. Comparing that with Statistics Canada's 2024 data, the number of deaths through MAID would fall far below the leading causes of death. There were 85,589 deaths from malignant tumours, 57,982 from heart diseases and 20,415 from accidents. However, Health Canada cautions against drawing any comparisons. It describes MAID as a health service available in very limited circumstances as part of end-of-life care. To be eligible, patients must have a grievous and irremediable medical condition that causes unbearable physical or mental suffering. "The number of MAID provisions should not be compared to cause of death statistics in Canada in order to determine the prevalence (the proportion of all decedents) nor to rank MAID as a cause of death," it said. Kennedy was the subject of a Canadian Press Fact Check last year after he made several misleading claims about measles. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2026. Marissa Birnie, The Canadian Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — When the Supreme Court killed his favorite tariffs in February, President Donald Trump promptly rolled out temporary import taxes to replace them. But those stopgap levies expire in less than three months. Now the administration is scrambling to put more durable tariffs in place to keep revenue flowing into the U.S. Treasury and to shore up the president’s protectionist wall around the American economy. Starting this week, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will begin hearings in two investigations that are expected to lead to a new round of U.S. tariffs — taxes paid by importers in the United States and usually passed on via higher prices to consumers who are already fed up with the high cost of living. Trump’s newest tariff push is sure to face more challenges in court but is likely to prove sturdier than the one the Supreme Court tossed out. First up is a hearing Tuesday and Wednesday into whether 60 economies — from Nigeria to Norway and accounting for 99% of U.S. imports — do enough to prohibit the trade in products created by forced labor. “For too long, American workers and firms have been forced to compete against foreign producers who may have an artificial cost advantage gained from the scourge of forced labor,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in March. The administration could punish scofflaws with new tariffs. Then, next week, the administration will hold hearings on whether 16 U.S. trading partners — including China, the European Union and Japan — are overproducing goods, driving down prices and putting U.S. manufacturers at a disadvantage. The economies being investigated account for 70% of U.S. imports, according to Erica York of the Tax Foundation. Again, the probe could result in new tariffs. Most major economies, including China, the EU and Japan, are on both lists. Trump's top trade official insists he won't prejudge the investigations The administration has brought the cases under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which authorizes tariffs and other sanctions against countries found to engage in “unjustifiable,” “unreasonable” or “discriminatory” trade practices. U.S. Trade Representative Greer, who is overseeing the investigations, has insisted he won’t prejudge them. But importers and foreign countries have doubts the process will be fair. After all, Trump’s Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, did not wait for the investigations to be completed to proclaim that the U.S. government will replace its original tariff revenues with new import taxes, including ones to be imposed under Section 301. The president himself has said that new tariffs “are going to get us more money.’’ “If you believe the Treasury secretary and the president, then the cake is already baked,” said Scott Lincicome of the libertarian Cato Institute’s Center for Trade Policy Studies. “These investigations will result in tariffs that approximate what the Supreme Court overruled in February.’’ On Feb. 20, the high court ruled that Trump had overstepped his authority by invoking the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose double-digit tariffs on almost every country on Earth. Trump had used the act to plaster taxes on imports with eager abandon. For example, he conjured up a new tariff on Canada (though he never actually imposed it) because he didn’t like a Canadian television ad criticizing his trade policies. He used the threat of IEEPA tariffs to strong-arm top U.S. trading partners – including the EU, Japan and South Korea – into accepting lopsided trade agreements. The levies also brought in a lot of revenue -- $166 billion – before the Supreme Court shut them down, ruling that IEEPA couldn’t be used to impose tariffs. Now the federal government must refund money to importers who paid those tariffs. Tariffs remain Trump's go-to Trump had a handy way to quickly recoup some of the lost revenue — which had been expected to hit $1.6 trillion over the next decade – at least temporarily. Section of 122, also of Trade Act of 1974, allows the president to impose global tariffs as high as 15% for up to 150 days. The administration wasted no time. Two days after the Supreme Court decision, it slapped 10% Section 122 tariffs on imports. Trump said he’d raise the levies to the maximum 15% but hasn’t. The clock runs out on those tariffs July 24. Congress could extend them. But lawmakers have little enthusiasm for approving what amounts to a big tax as November’s midterm elections approach: American voters are already furious about the high prices, for which tariffs are at least partly to blame. Section 301 offers another opportunity to replicate the the protectionist impact of the IEEPA tariffs. There are no limits on the size of Section 301 tariffs. They expire after four years but can be extended. Perhaps best of all, from the Trump administration’s perspective after its Supreme Court defeat, Section 301 tariffs withstood legal challenges when the president used them in his first term to pound China in a dispute over Beijing’s sharp-elbowed policies to promote its own tech companies. Any new 301 tariffs are sure to be challenged again in court. But judges might not throw them out. “Even if it is a veiled — or less-than-veiled — attempt to reinitiate the IEEPA tariffs, he still has the cover of the process itself,’’ said trade lawyer Joyce Adetutu, a partner at law firm Vinson & Elkins. Importer calls investigation a "sham'' Critics have latched onto the speed with which Trump’s latest investigations are proceeding. Imposing the Section 301 tariffs against China in the president’s first term took nearly a year of investigation and public comment. If the latest investigations produce new tariffs in time to replace the expiring Section 122 levies, the process will have taken less than half that long. “It’s such a short timeframe,’’ said Kenya Davis, a partner at the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner who has done pro bono work on human trafficking and forced labor. “It’s so condensed that it doesn’t make a lot of sense that they can do it that quickly.’’ Importers bracing for the return of painful tariffs can take some comfort in knowing that Trump’s Section 301 tariffs likely won’t be as erratic as his IEEPA levies. He has to follow procedures before imposing them. “One of the reasons Trump used IEEPA is because it was just a complete blank slate’’ — or seemed to be before the Supreme Court ruling, Cato’s Lincicome said, describing it as “a little tariff switch in the Oval Office that Trump could flip on and off anytime he wants; he wakes up in the morning and he doesn’t like a Canadian television commercial, he flips the switch ... You really can’t do that with 301.’’ Paul Wiseman, The Associated Press

Police are investigating after the Rural Municipality of Sherwood office in Regina was vandalized with anti-AI graffiti over the weekend. Read More

An unpredictable spring is causing problems for farmers in Saskatchewan, with snow one day and summer-like temperatures the next. Jeremy Welter is the vice-president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS). He said that this year’s spring has had both pros and cons for farmers. Read more:

• Monette Seeds elevator licence to lapse as company enters creditor protection
• From lake to plate: Wild rice harvesting draws Indigenous people to the land

“There’s a lot of benefit to it, with the moisture, you know. I’m sure it kind of goes without saying, but we’ve been behind the eight ball on moisture for the last number of years, and so any spring moisture is definitely good. It’s going to help us get a positive start,” he said. “There are obviously concerns around the timing. Every time it snows, it puts you back a couple extra days as far as just getting machines ready and being able to get out and do some pre-seed fieldwork. It doesn’t matter whether it’s spraying or harrowing, preparation is as important as actually putting seed in the ground,” said Welter. He said that livestock farmers are also running into some troubles due to the weather. “The livestock guys are out there in the middle of calving right now, this extra snow every three, four days doesn’t really do a lot of beneficial things for them as far as calving goes. It makes it significantly more challenging to calve animals,” he said. Welter said that depending on where farmers are operating determines the kind of timeline they’re now forced to deal with. “I’ve got friends up by Lloydminster, and they’re hoping to get into the field somewhere between May 5 and May 8. I’ve got a buddy over by Prince Albert, and he’s very hopeful that he will be on the field on or just before May long weekend,” said Welter. Many farmers faced with these delays may not experience problems until September. “The biggest challenge to being behind in the spring is it puts your entire year behind, and so it creates challenges, or potential challenges, for bringing the harvest in the fall,” he said. Read more:

• Monette Seeds elevator licence to lapse as company enters creditor protection
• From lake to plate: Wild rice harvesting draws Indigenous people to the land

As Mandy Currie fought through 81 kilometres, 4,000 metres of elevation, 35 C heat and intense humidity, she had her late sister with her.

The Town of La Ronge has taken the next step toward allowing homeless encampments in some areas. Council voted unanimously Monday to have the administration draft a parks bylaw amendment that would allow outdoor camping in undeveloped parks and recreation areas.

The Alberta government is stepping up the fight against zebra mussels, quagga mussels and other invasive aquatic species by adding more inspection stations and more K-9 inspectors.

Storied Telling is more than a showcase of photography, it’s an invitation for the community to explore the stories that connect us, shape us, and continue to evolve.

A tow truck operator in Kelvington, Sask., freed a moose from a frozen waterway using tools from his truck and helped the animal with its days-long recovery.

The City of Swift Current recognized the National Day of Mourning occurring April 28.

Canada is one of several grain-producing countries facing questions about import dependence.

WATSON Keith Duncan Watson, aged 59 years of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, passed away unexpectedly on Monday, April 27 th , 2026, from complications of diabetes. He was predeceased by his father, Duncan Watson; and many aunts, uncles, and cousins.

North Battleford has received a national financial reporting award for the sixth straight year, recognizing transparency and accountability.

These parts are commonly used in heavy equipment and may be resold, installed in other machinery, or sold to a scrap yard.

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says the province is poised to become a world leader when it comes to offering residents the opportunity to easily take part in medical research. Houston announced Tuesday that Nova Scotians can now voluntarily consent to participate in clinical trials or other research through a new, streamlined process. Those who sign up will grant researchers various levels of access to their electronic health records, an area where Nova Scotia is considered a leader. Previously, researchers seeking access to health records had to go through a largely manual, paper-based process. Health officials say the new approach is sure to speed things up. Houston said the goal is to accelerate the pace of medical innovation and make Nova Scotia a magnet for health research. “Nova Scotian's have the opportunity now to be part of groundbreaking discoveries in cancer care, women's health, chronic disease management and general health-care research,” the premier told a news conference in Halifax. “We're not aware of any other jurisdiction in the world that is giving its residents the opportunity to say yes to participating in medical research.” A health official said the project marks a big step forward for the province. “There are other provinces (that have electronic health records), but not to the same scale and size,” said Dr. Ashley Hilchie, senior research director with Nova Scotia Health. “This is a leading example for Canada.” Residents can sign up when they register or renew their health card, or by contacting Medical Services Insurance, the province’s public health insurance program. They can also use a new web-based portal called MSI Online. Options for participants include consenting to be contacted if they are a potential match for a clinical trial or other medical study. They can also consent to allowing their biological samples and health information to be used to support research. As well, participants can give consent for their health information to be used in studies aimed at developing medical devices, drugs or other treatments. And the final option allows for sharing health information with approved organizations and businesses developing new drugs, devices and technologies. Hilchie said protecting privacy is a top priority. "Every single research project must go through a comprehensive review," she said. "This work is done to ensure that all information is used responsibly and securely.... There are many rules and requirements that researchers must meet in order to use this information." Asked if Nova Scotians might be reluctant to share their health data given widespread problems with online security breaches and ransomware attacks, Houston conceded that some people will be nervous about taking part. "There will probably be some off-the-wall theories about what's driving this," he said. "But ... these are accredited researchers and accredited trials. All of the personal information protections that could possibly be in place will be in place with this." Those who choose to take part can select one, some or all of the options. Participation is strictly voluntary and open only to Nova Scotians who are 19 or older. And preferences can be changed or withdrawn at any time. “Every cure and treatment begins with research,” Frank MacMaster, vice-president of research at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax, said in a statement. “Participation in research is the first critical step in that journey.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2026. Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press

TORONTO — Stock markets in Canada and the U.S. moved lower on Tuesday amid losses in tech stocks and rising oil prices due to the Middle East conflict.