Saskatchewan News

Residents of Foam Lake, Sask., banded together after the town declared a local emergency due to flooding last Tuesday.

"We know it's going to get a lot tougher real soon."

The Unity Music Festival held its 100th finale on April 26, with encore performances from the young and young-at-heart.

OTTAWA — NDP Leader Avi Lewis said Monday he won't run in an upcoming Quebec byelection to fill a seat being left vacant by Alexandre Boulerice.

OTTAWA — NDP Leader Avi Lewis said Monday he won't run in an upcoming Quebec byelection to fill a seat being left vacant by Alexandre Boulerice. Boulerice officially announced Monday he is leaving Parliament to run provincially for the Québec solidaire after spending 15 years as an MP. He will sit as an Independent until he formally resigns his seat in the Quebec riding of Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie ahead of the provincial election campaign call this fall. Boulerice said he feels he has completed his work federally and framed the move as a continuation of his progressive work rather than a political calculation. "It’s not a decision that is taken lightly," he said. "After 15 years and five election victories, I felt I had done what I needed to do in Ottawa and that it was now time to come back home, here, to Quebec." His departure is another blow to the NDP, which last year had its worst showing in a federal election, winning just seven seats. It needs 12 to be considered an official party in the House of Commons, which means it no longer has a seat on House committees, and had its caucus funding reduced. The NDP caucus was reduced to six in March when Nunavut MP Lori Idlout crossed the floor to the Liberals. Boulerice's departure will cut that further to five. He was also the only MP in Quebec, and the only one east of Manitoba. Lewis, who was elected less than a month ago to lead the party, said he encouraged Boulerice to stay on in Parliament. "I think everyone did and when I saw Alex in my first moments as leader, I did what I think a responsible leader should do because everyone had heard the rumours for a long time and we knew he was considering it," Lewis told reporters Monday. "But it's clear that this decision has been a long time in coming and we were ready." Although Lewis doesn't hold a seat in the House of Commons, he said he won't run in the vacated seat because Quebecers should be represented by someone from Quebec and it's too soon for him to consider a run. "This is not a riding where I will seek election myself," he said. "I'm not a Quebecer, and there's a lot of interest already locally." Boulerice said his shift to provincial politics reflects where he believes the most urgent battles are now being fought in Quebec. "The house is not in order," he said. "We need to fix Quebec." He said issues like housing affordability, public services and inequality have become increasingly difficult to address from Ottawa, and stronger provincial action is required to respond to what he described as mounting social pressures in Quebec. Lewis said Monday he believes Boulerice's move is different from recent floor-crossings and what he called "opportunistic moves that we've seen from MPs recently." In addition to Idlout, four MPs elected as Conservatives joined the Liberals between November and April. "This is a move of principle," said Lewis. "Alexandre wants to put his considerable skills as a politician and as a fighter for progressive values to work in his province, and we respect that decision." This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 27, 2026. —With files from Charlotte Glorieux in Montreal Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press

Frances (Lorraine) Vickers (nee Dilworth) It is with great sadness that the family of Lorraine announce her passing on April 23, 2026, just shy of her 99th Birthday.

TORONTO — Business groups say the federal government's decision to establish Canada's first sovereign wealth fund could be helpful to get projects going, but is not a singular fix.

TORONTO — Business groups say the federal government's decision to establish Canada's first sovereign wealth fund could be helpful to get projects going, but is not a singular fix. Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the Canada Strong Fund on Monday, saying it will invest in major Canadian industrial projects in areas such as energy, infrastructure, mining, agriculture and technology with an initial $25 billion in government funding. Matthew Holmes, head of public policy at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, says the fund is another tool to spur investment, but its success hinges on the details and speed of implementation. Holmes says in a statement that given the amount of time it could take to get such a fund running, the immediate focus should remain on areas like boosting trade relations, reducing regulation and tax reform. Pierre Gratton, head of The Mining Association of Canada, says a sovereign wealth fund could be helpful in areas like critical minerals that need patient, longer-term capital. He says it will be less helpful for more conventional metals projects like copper or iron mines, which he says would benefit more from tax and infrastructure improvements. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 27, 2026. Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press

CAIRO (AP) — Iran offered to end its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz if the U.S.

The police chase started after officers on routine patrol in Saskatoon spotted a vehicle that had been reported stolen.

The three Liberals who won the byelections that secured a majority government for Prime Minister Mark Carney earlier this month took their seats in the House of Commons on Monday. The government moved quickly to make use of its new majority powers by introducing a motion to limit debate on a change to the House rules that would enable the Liberals to take control of committees. Read more:

• MacKinnon rejects Conservative’s call to leave some committee control to opposition
• MacKinnon defends Liberal move to seize control of House committees
• Prime Minister Mark Carney announces Canada’s first sovereign wealth fund

The Liberals are looking to change the structure of committees to ensure they have a majority of members. Committees study legislation and other government business and have the power to call witnesses and require the production of documents. Government House leader Steven MacKinnon said the changes reflect the “long tradition” in Parliament that majority governments also hold a majority of seats on committees — though he acknowledged the situation is unusual. “Let’s agree that it does not happen often that governments change status such that they grow to have a majority of the seats in the elected chamber during the typical mandate,” he said. Opposition House leader Andrew Scheer decried the move as undemocratic. “The very first vote that these new Liberal MPs will pronounce on will be a vote to shut down debate. So welcome to the Liberal Party of Canada, you can check your soul in at the door and just follow whatever the whip tells you to do,” Scheer said. The Liberals have enough voting members to force the changes through, in spite of the opposition. There are now 174 members on the government benches after five MPs — four from the Conservative benches and one from the NDP — defected over the last six months. Doly Begum, Danielle Martin and Tatiana Auguste took their seats on Monday after they were formally sworn in as members of Parliament on Saturday. Begum and Martin are newcomers who replaced outgoing cabinet ministers Bill Blair and Chrystia Freeland in Toronto-area seats. Auguste won the seat in the Bloc Québécois stronghold of Terrebonne in a rematch after the Supreme Court of Canada invalidated the results of last April’s election in the riding. The court found that Elections Canada had made an error in the printed return addresses on some mail-in ballots and ordered the vote redone. Auguste increased her one-vote margin in 2025 to more than 700 votes this year. Most members of the Liberal caucus came to the Commons chamber to welcome their newest colleagues with standing ovations and a few hugs. No more than two dozen MPs filled the sparsely populated opposition benches, and none of the other party leaders were there. The new additions came on the same day NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice announced that he was leaving the party to sit as an Independent MP before he resigns to run provincially for the Québec Solidaire this fall. The departure leaves the New Democrats with just five seats in Parliament. The party’s new leader, Avi Lewis, is not an MP. “I’m not fazed by this,” Lewis said Monday, adding that Boulerice began considering the move to provincial politics well before he was chosen as the leader. A byelection must be called within six months of Boulerice’s resignation in his riding of Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 27, 2026.

Dignitaries including Premier Scott Moe, Lieutenant Governor Bernadette McIntyre among those paying tribute.

Second-degree murder charges have been laid against a 29-year-old man accused of killing a 36-year-old in Regina earlier this month, the city’s police said.  

OTTAWA — The three Liberals who won the byelections that secured a majority government for Prime Minister Mark Carney earlier this month took their seats in the House of Commons on Monday.

Tim Hortons Smile Cookie campaign supports Regina organizations.

Hospitality Saskatchewan's CEO is proposing a liquor law change to allow teens as young as 14 to bring alcohol to customers after seeing a labour shortage in the rural hospitality industry. Read More

Regina is facing a $4.9M deficit in 2025, while its general utility fund recorded a $68.2M surplus, according to a new report.

A man has been charged with murder in relation to the death of 36-year-old Myles Anderson in Regina's North Central neighbourhood earlier this month. Read More

Ottawa is waiting for answers from the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) about its fiscal management, says Indigenous Services Canada Minister Mandy Gull-Masty.

CALGARY — Shell plc has signed a $22-billion deal to acquire ARC Resources Ltd.