The Ministry of Energy and Climate Solutions says the legislative changes would align the provincial mandate with the federal government's goals.

It also says 75 new public charging projects for EV users are being funded across the province.

Energy Minister Adrian Dix says the measures would give the industry and consumers more choices.

The ministry says the amendments will be made by the fall, and the updated regulation is expected to retain the 26 per cent sales compliance requirement for this year and 2027.

The Pembina Institute, a clean-energy think tank, says it was "encouraged" to see B.C. maintain a 75 per cent target despite current economic and market conditions.

"A sales requirement is particularly important because it ensures vehicle supply, infrastructure investment and industry planning move forward together," said the institute's clean growth director, Adam Thorn, in a statement.

"As the province moves forward with updating its targets, strong interim targets will be critical. These near-term milestones ensure the policy ramps up effectively and give industry and investors the confidence to continue building charging infrastructure, expand vehicle supply and create jobs across British Columbia."

A ministry statement said the alignment with federal goals "will provide certainty for automakers," while reducing their regulatory burden and helping address challenges, including slower-than-expected consumer adoption.

It said targets for 2028 to 2030 "will be informed by federal plans" that are expected this summer.

In a separate statement, the New Car Dealers Association of BC called the move "a helpful step toward a more balanced and adaptable approach to zero-emission vehicle policy."

"We appreciate that government is listening to both industry and consumer concerns," said association president Blair Qualey, adding that dealers have been "highlighting the growing gap between policy ambition and market reality" for some time.

"These changes reflect an important recognition that flexibility matters and that policy must evolve alongside consumers, not ahead of them,” Qualey said.

In 2019, B.C. became the first jurisdiction in the world to legislate a 100 per cent zero-emission-vehicle sales target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 1, 2026.

The Canadian Press

Carney promised a number of incentive measures during the leadership campaign, including re-funding the government's Greener Homes Grant program for lower-income households and exploring discounts for low- and medium-income homeowners who make energy-efficient retrofits.

Carney also promised to strengthen the existing oil-to-heat pump program, which in some cases can provide more than $10,000 to low-to-median income households to switch from oil heating to electric heat pump systems.

But more than a year after Carney took office, those promised incentives haven't materialized.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday in Wakefield, Que., Carney said he's still committed to the promises he made during the leadership race.

He said part of the work happening now is to transfer responsibility for programs like the Greener Homes Grant to Environment and Climate Change Canada from Natural Resources Canada.

"One of the things we're really focused on … is making sure that when we refresh these programs, that they're going to be as impactful as possible," Carney said.

"So part of it is just the work in order to deliver that. So it is a priority, and I appreciate the question."

Carney also promised in his Liberal leadership bid to bring back subsidies for electric vehicle purchases — something that was also in the Liberal party election platform — and to expand the number of EV charging stations.

The government delivered on those earlier this year as part of its new auto strategy.

"Mark Carney is racking up a list of broken promises to Canadians," a spokesperson for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said in a statement, taking aim at the prime minister on homebuilding, jobs and grocery prices.

"Canadians deserve a Conservative government that is ready to get to work. We will scrap Liberal inflationary policies and get government out of the way so we can build ourselves up at home to be unbreakable abroad."

The Greener Homes Grant program, which has been closed since February 2024, provided homeowners up to $5,000 toward the cost of eligible and recommended home retrofits.

The program was hugely popular and uptake exceeded the government's expectations. As of late January 2024, more than 500,000 Canadians had applied to the program and it had issued more than $700 million in grants for things like insulation, energy-efficient windows and doors, air sealing and solar panels.

"I mentioned this to someone in the government and they said 'Yeah, for this government and this prime minister, that's a problem, actually,'" said Keith Brooks, a program director with the Environmental Defence advocacy group.

Brooks said an official acknowledged to him that when a program is very popular, it costs a lot of money, making it harder for the government to keep capitalizing it.

The window for existing applicants to submit documents for reimbursement under the program closed at the end of December. The Canadian Press has asked Natural Resources Canada for a final tally of the program's costs but has not yet received the requested information.

Quebec MP and former environment minister Steven Guilbeault said bringing back programs like the Greener Homes Grant would help Canadians in an affordability crunch.

"My understanding is there are conversations about bringing back some of these programs," Guilbeault told The Canadian Press last week.

"Final decisions haven't been made, but they're key components in terms of affordability, fighting climate change, and economic development."

Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin pointed to the Canada Greener Homes Affordability Program the government launched with the province of Manitoba in September.

The program provides low-to-median-income homeowners and tenants with no-cost home retrofits, such as insulation and heat pumps.

"That actually is a program that we've put in place to help people with lower incomes to be able to retrofit their homes without ever paying out of pocket," Dabrusin told The Canadian Press Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 1, 2026.

Nick Murray, The Canadian Press

Anand said all countries involved in the U.K.-hosted talks should know Canada will not hesitate to help secure the strait once there is a ceasefire.

"Canada will be advocating for freedom of navigation at all times and the need to ensure that international maritime law and the law of the sea is respected," Anand said in an interview Wednesday.

She said that while the government has not yet decided how Canada could help reopen the strait following a ceasefire, she suggested it could contribute vessels, demining expertise, intelligence and cyber capacities.

"How that particular effort is presented is a topic of conversation now," Anand said. "I want to underline that that is a conversation that is still occurring."

The Iran war has disrupted shipments of energy commodities through the strait, causing global oil prices to surge over the past month. Iran has laid sea mines and attacked commercial ships passing through.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Iran's foreign ministry have been at odds over whether Iran wants a ceasefire. When Trump addressed Americans on the war late Wednesday evening, he said the U.S. will hit Iran hard over the next few weeks and send the country "back to the stone ages."

Roland Paris, an international relations professor at the University of Ottawa, said the Canadian government has been right to set out a ceasefire as its condition for getting involved in any effort to reopen the strait. He said there would still need to be a clear, "viable plan" in place before Canada commits to anything.

"Canada does have some capabilities that it could contribute. They're limited. They might include imagery analysis, other kinds of intelligence collection and monitoring," Paris said.

"I don't see even a reliable reopening of the strait without there being some kind of negotiated ceasefire between the United States and Iran. (Trump) may be tempted to escalate, but I think that would be doubling down on a bet that's not paying off."

Paris, a former foreign policy adviser to Justin Trudeau's government, said Canada will want to be slow and cautious in its approach as the situation evolves, especially given Trump’s frequently shifting positions on the war.

A number of experts have pointed out that Canada likely has very little to contribute militarily to the strait. The Canadian Armed Forces is stretched thin, with thousands of troops deployed to Latvia, an ongoing personnel crisis, limited anti-drone warfare equipment and aging fleets.

Only about 59 per cent of the entire Royal Canadian Navy fleet is serviceable. It has four Kingston class vessels that can do mine sweeping, although the navy is in the process of divesting itself of those aging ships and has plans to redistribute minesweeping capabilities to other vessels.

"The state of our fleets at sea and land forces, our commitments in Latvia means that we have, in my view, very limited expeditionary capacity to offer," said Wendy Gilmour, vice-chair of the Conference of Defence Associations think tank.

"That doesn't mean to say that we don't have incremental capabilities, like specialist planning personnel or prospectively individual aircraft for small periods of time, like we did in Mali or elsewhere."

A ceasefire remains out of sight as the war threatens the security of Gulf states and spills out into a broader conflict in the Middle East, with Israel dispatching ground troops further into Lebanon.

Israel has sent troops into the south of the country with the intention of creating a security zone that stretches some 30 kilometres from the border. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney strengthened his language on the deepening conflict by condemning Israel's "illegal invasion" of Lebanon.

Asked about Canada's position Wednesday, Anand said the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah must cease its attacks and Lebanon's "territorial integrity must not be violated."

"Moving the boundary in Lebanon is in our view unacceptable,” she said.

Asked if she would summon Israel’s ambassador, Anand only said diplomacy is “best done behind closed doors.”

"I'm continually in touch with my our allies as to what our collective next steps will be.”

Anand just returned from a trip to Saudi Arabia, where she met with top-level officials to discuss deepening trade ties and finding ways to reduce tensions in the region as the war escalates.

Even though Saudi Arabia was hit by retaliatory strikes the night before the minister arrived, Anand said it was important for her to go to Riyadh to thank the Saudi government in person for helping about 300 Canadians leave the region.

Canada has been in talks with the Saudi government about deepening trade ties through a foreign investment framework agreement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 1, 2026.

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press

Posing for selfies in front of her phone mounted on a tripod, Yue, from Calgary, struck various poses, flouncing in her sparkly dress. But she knew to keep her hands off the blossoms.

"I don't know if you noticed, but as I was swinging, I'm the one moving, not the tree," said Yue, a former Vancouver resident who was in town to visit family.

The park, directly in line with the airport's south runway, is a favourite with plane spotters, but in recent days it has been taken over by crowds of cherry blossom fanciers.

RCMP in Richmond, B.C., said the crowds have been creating traffic hazards because of illegal parking — although Yue had arrived early enough on Tuesday to find a proper space in the parking lot.

Police said in a statement that they conducted a targeted enforcement operation over the weekend, handing out 32 tickets, issuing "numerous" verbal warnings and having two unoccupied vehicles towed from the site.

At one point, 50 vehicles were illegally parked on Russ Baker Way, next to the park, "contributing to traffic flow and safety concerns," police said.

The City of Richmond has meanwhile posted a "cherry blossom safety" guide on its website, warning of "significant traffic congestion, pedestrian safety concerns and parking challenges" in blossom hot spots.

The guide says growing crowd volumes in recent years have caused a number of issues, including "traffic backups, jaywalking, illegal parking and limited emergency vehicle access."

Linda Poole, founder and creative director of the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival that runs until April 17, said it has established etiquette rules for flower viewing, including no shaking of trees or breaking branches.

She said she noticed that people had become more respectful at an event in David Lam Park in Vancouver, which drew thousands of people over the weekend.

“Do you know this year, I only had to remind one father who was shaking the branch a bit so that the petals would fall on his baby,” Poole says. “It's like people have learned, finally, to be respectful.”

Not far away from Yu at the Larry Berg Flight Path Park, Ariella Yan was dressed in a traditional Chinese dress and carrying a fan, cosplaying as a character from a video game while a friend took photos. It was her second trip to the park in recent days.

“I do shoots like this for fun, just to be creative,” said Yan. “I love the fantasy stuff.”

She said she visits the park every year during blossom season and is very respectful of flower-viewing rules.

“Even if we use flowers, we always pick the ones from the ground, which have already dropped,” said Yan.

Yue agreed that people need to be gentle with the trees.

"And you know we don't need to do too much with the tree. They say nature is beautiful, and the more natural it is, the more beautiful it is," said Yue, adding that the tree "just sits there, and it's pretty, and it's you who moves."

Fernanda Gonzalez was busy posing with the blossoms for her friend Cristiano Silva.

“My friend is a top model from Mexico,” Silva said as a joking introduction to Gonzalez.

“I used to live in Calgary, and there is no kind of this tree, so it should be planted everywhere,” he added.

Japanese cherry trees were first introduced to Vancouver in the 1930s as a gift from Japan, to honour Japanese Canadians who fought in the First World War.

Poole said Vancouver is currently enjoying the blossoms of the akebono variety, which will be followed in April by the showy double kanzan blossoms, which will only last about two weeks.

“I also want to tell people not to take them for granted," Poole said of the city's cherry blossom trees. "We have to take care of them."

Yue said a lot of her friends want to visit Japan in spring to enjoy its famous cherry blossoms.

"But I feel like I don't need to go to Japan because I'm right here. It's all here," said Yue.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 31, 2026.

Nono Shen, The Canadian Press

Announcing the new plan at an event in Wakefield, Que., Carney said the federal government will create new national parks, urban parks and marine conservation areas.

Carney said his government is taking an "ambitious" approach to conservation spaces and urban parks. He said the plan will require "significant" federal funding and includes aspirations to spur private-sector investments.

The new conservation areas will include the Wiinipaawk Indigenous protected area and national marine conservation area in Eastern James Bay, and the Seal River watershed national park in Manitoba.

Carney said the Seal River park will help protect the world's largest intact watershed.

"Think about that — the world's largest intact watershed, providing natural carbon storage, water filtration and flood protection, while preserving the habitat of polar bears, caribou and other iconic Canadian wildlife," Carney said.

"It's a good day to be a polar bear in Canada."

Tuesday's announcement included commitments to fund as many as 14 new marine protected and conserved areas, along with 10 new national parks and freshwater conservation areas.

The government says the measures will allow Canada to protect 30 per cent of its lands, and 28 per cent of marine and coastal areas, by 2030.

The federal government committed four years ago to protecting 30 per cent of the country's land and waters by 2030.

Tuesday's announcement also included a commitment of $230 million to expand the Indigenous Guardians Program to add an Arctic-specific component to it. The government also committed to further fund the removal of "harmful fishing gear" from Canada's oceans — also known as ghost gear.

The new plan comes just a few weeks after conservation groups warned that federal funding was running out. A key funding initiative was to sunset after Tuesday.

Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin was questioned about the expiring funding earlier this month at a Parliamentary committee hearing. She told MPs the government was working on it.

Speaking to The Canadian Press on Tuesday, Dabrusin said she was excited to finally be able to share the news.

"Being able to announce two new parks, talking about what we're doing in the area of marine conservation with ghost gear, all these things, it's so many good pieces today," she said.

A spokesperson for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre wasn't sold on Tuesday's announcement, calling it "a whole new bureaucracy to burn taxpayer money while continuing to get the same poor results" and predicting the Liberals will still miss their targets.

In a statement, Greenpeace Canada said Tuesday's announcement, while welcome, lacked ambition.

"More parks won’t restore the grasslands, forests and waters threatened by climate change, pollution and resource exploitation as long as Canada continues its 'extraction first, nature and people last' approach," Salomé Sané said in a statement.

Bloc Québécois environment critic Patrick Bonin, who at the committee meeting grilled Dabrusin on the government's conservation targets, welcomed Tuesday's news.

"As long as Ottawa cements its walking back of environmental policies, the injection of new money and the will to protect 30 per cent of lands and waters is welcomed," Bonin said in a statement in French.

Bonin did call for more funding for Quebec to help meet Canada's goals.

"The federal government does not own the territory or the tools that would permit it to protect nature. Quebec is better positioned to manage its own territory and combat the decline in biodiversity."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 31, 2026.

— With files from Kyle Duggan

Nick Murray, The Canadian Press

The study, which homes in on the United States, suggests one in three Americans could be breathing summer air considered unhealthy for sensitive groups by 2100, a seven-fold increase compared to the turn of this century.

In that worst-case scenario, the study suggests young children, the elderly and other sensitive groups could be alerted to stay inside every other summer day on average.

University of Waterloo associate professor Rebecca Saari says the results indicate that just telling people to stay inside cannot compensate for the rising climate-driven health risks of poor air quality.

"It's not a short-term problem anymore, it's a chronic issue," said Saari, a Canada Research Chair in global change, atmosphere and health.

Alongside efforts to cut planet-warming emissions driven by fossil fuels, she said there needs to be a greater emphasis on improving indoor air filtration and the airtightness of buildings to keep out harmful pollutants.

"We need attention on longer-term protective adaptations," she said.

While other studies have detailed how climate change worsens pollution, the authors suggest this is one of the most detailed accounts of how it could affect U.S. air quality alerts that tell people to stay indoors. Saari and former PhD student Matt Sparks worked with three U.S. researchers on the project.

The study models those alerts during the smog season, from May 1 to September 30, under three scenarios: if global warming hits two degrees above pre-industrial levels, if it is kept to 2.5 C or if, in the worst case, no action is taken to fight climate change. Two key pollutants are modelled: ozone and fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5.

Unmitigated climate change could add an average of 28 alert days for sensitive groups by 2100, the study finds. That number would be cut by about 30 per cent if climate action is taken to cap global warming at 2 or 2.5 C.

The sharpest rise would appear in already population- and pollution-dense areas in California and the eastern United States, with the latter getting two months of additional alerts for sensitive groups per year, the study says. Keeping global warming to two degrees would cut down about a month of those alerts.

People 65 and older, compared to other age groups, shoulder the bulk of the health burden linked to poor air quality, the study suggests. They also see the highest benefits in complying with air quality alerts to stay inside.

Yet widespread compliance cannot compensate for the rising costs of poor air quality, the study says. Under the worst-case scenario, full compliance with "unhealthy" alerts would only offset about 15 per cent of the economic impact of poor air quality, such as from spiralling health-care costs and lost wages. Those savings rise to about 40 per cent if global warming is limited to 2 C by end of the century.

There are limits to the study. The scenarios are modelled on 2005 population data. Larger and older populations in the future could increase the estimated health burden.

It also doesn't account for wildfire smoke, a pollution source expected to get worse as climate change increases wildfire frequency and intensity.

Wildfire smoke exposure, largely from the tiny particles of burned vegetation that can penetrate deep into lungs, poses one of the greatest risks to outdoor air quality in Canada.

A recent Health Canada review estimated that PM2.5 exposure from the record-breaking 2023 wildfire season could contribute to around 400 acute and 5,400 chronic premature deaths. The study suggests that could translate into $52 billion in economic costs, including from medical costs, reduced productivity, and pain and suffering.

A warming climate is also likely to increase ozone levels in heavily populated and industrialized areas of Canada, including southern Ontario and southwestern Quebec.

Ozone, which thrives on hotter and sunnier days, forms when sunlight reacts with certain precursors, such as nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. Short-term exposure can exacerbate asthma and other lung diseases, while long-term exposure has been linked to onset of asthma and increased respiratory symptoms in some groups.

The University of Waterloo-led, peer-reviewed study was published this month in Environmental Science & Technology.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 31, 2026.

Jordan Omstead, The Canadian Press

"I can't describe how disappointed I'm feeling," Lantz said Monday during a news conference. "Cabinet ministers have a fundamental duty to be accountable for the decisions that they make."

On Saturday, Lantz removed Gilles Arsenault as economic development minister, saying he had shown poor judgment when the developer, P.E.I. Ocean View Resort, asked the minister to change its permit to alter some wetlands in October 2025.

Arsenault was the province’s environment minister at that time.

On Sunday, Lantz announced he was suspending Arsenault from the Tory caucus and asking the province’s conflict of interest commissioner to investigate.

“Elected leaders need not only be free of conflict of interest, they must also be free of the perception of a conflict of interest,” Lantz said. "Obviously, there's a perceived conflict, and I felt I had no choice but to take the decisions I've taken.”

Citing results from a third-party investigation, Lantz said the document raised questions about a $100,000 donation the developer gave to a non-profit environmental group led by Arsenault’s former campaign manager. In the past, the group had organized local youth to do cleanups and collect returnable containers.

The investigation, conducted by the law firm Stewart McKelvey, said Arsenault insisted he did not ask for the donation, delivered to the non-profit on Jan. 28, 2026. As well, he said it was not made in exchange for his approval of the amendment. The report, however, says a contractor hired by the developer said it was his understanding that Arsenault’s approval would only be granted in exchange for the donation.

“Regardless whose version is more accurate, the timing of the donation suggests that it was linked to the approval,” the report says.

Lantz said a deputy minister in the provincial government alerted the RCMP about the report's initial findings on March 13. The allegations in the law firm's report have not been tested in court.

Arsenault issued a statement Monday apologizing to his constituents and the premier, adding that he "never implied the amendment to the permit being contingent on the donation, or vice versa."

"The suggestion of making a donation was not my idea, it was the developer's," the former minister said, adding that he responded by providing him with options. "Where he chose to make his donation was completely up to him."

Arsenault said that when the developer said he wanted to contribute to education and the environment, that's when the politician mentioned the non-profit organization in his district.

"I never wanted to break rules or cause issues for our community, the organization, nor the developer," his statement says. "However, I realize now that the optics … matter. If the developer thought the donation was contingent on the permit, that was never the intention. Clearly there was a miscommunication."

The law firm's report says that after Arsenault gave the developer verbal approval for the changes in the autumn of 2025, the minister told his deputy that the altered permit was "no big deal."

The premier said it was “relatively clear” that Arsenault did not personally benefit from the transaction. “(But) it's exceptionally clear that he demonstrated poor judgment,” the premier said Monday.

The report says the province’s wetland conservation policy was not followed and the developer should have submitted an application to amend its plans rather than seek direct intervention from the minister. On another front, the report says that under certain circumstances, the policy allows for development of wetlands so long as compensation is paid. That money can be donated to a non-profit group to conduct watershed work.

But in this case, the Environment Department’s rules were not followed, according to the report. As a result, the report recommends that the developer should file a new application and the non-profit group should return the donation it received. Lantz indicated the money had already been returned.

The law firm's report says the Environment Department was tipped off by a member of the public who alleged the developer was working in an area not covered by their permit. Department officials determined the developer was working on an additional five hectares outside the approved zone.

The premier has said deputy ministers in the departments of Environment and Justice contacted his office after the Environment Department ordered the developer to stop work on Feb. 27, citing concerns about the way the project was approved.

The law firm's final report was handed to the premier on Friday.

The RCMP was not immediately able to provide a comment about the allegations.

Arsenault also served as minister responsible for Acadian and francophone affairs. A swearing-in ceremony was held Monday to fill the portfolios he vacated.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 30, 2026.

— By Michael MacDonald in Halifax

The Canadian Press

The Calgary-based company says it volunteered the public safety fund to help governments in Wisconsin cover the extra costs related to the rerouting of the pipeline opposed by Indigenous communities.

The proposed deal has alarmed some local residents and observers in Canada who say it smacks of a conflict of interest and fear it could incentivize police to act as the company's hired security.

"It's hard to think that there's not some kind of transactional benefit to paying the bills," said Jeffrey Monaghan, a Carleton University sociologist who's written extensively on the policing of protests.

Monaghan said while resource companies cultivate close relationships with police in Canada as a way to advance their projects or quell protests, this type of deal would likely be received poorly north of the border. That said, Canada has been influenced by U.S. criminal justice policy before, he says.

"I think it certainly could migrate up. I really hope it doesn't," he said.

Line 5, a conduit for much of Ontario and Quebec's crude oil, moves around 540,000 barrels per day of western Canadian oil and natural gas liquids across the Great Lakes and the U.S.-Canada border to Sarnia, Ont.

Enbridge faced a court-ordered relocation of the pipeline in Wisconsin after it was found to have been trespassing on the land of a tribal nation that opposed the project over fears of an oil spill. The company began work last month on the US$450-million reroute of the pipeline around the reservation. The community opposes the project and says it threatens the watershed.

In anticipation of protests, Enbridge worked with local officials in Wisconsin on a deal to reimburse law enforcement for costs incurred to police the pipeline.

Law enforcement would be able to seek compensation for, among other things, daily patrols and crowd control at Enbridge's construction sites, according to the deal's draft text. Guns, vehicles and bulletproof vests are off limits, though police body armour could be reimbursable if it's used at a protest, the deal suggests.

What police eventually seek reimbursement for is to be kept "highly confidential," says the draft deal reviewed by local officials.

Enbridge will pay into a public safety escrow fund managed by the Wisconsin Counties Association, which represents the state's local governments. A lawyer for the association told local officials there would be no time limit and no cap on how much Enbridge may contribute, suggesting the fund would contain millions of dollars. Local officials file reimbursement requests to a former Wisconsin county sheriff, appointed to review and decide the claims.

Officials in Ashland County, Wis., who backed the proposed deal in a narrow 10-7 vote at a meeting last month, suggested their already-constrained budget could buckle under expected policing costs. The same deal was offered to other Wisconsin counties along the pipeline route. One agreed, and another turned it down.

About a dozen residents spoke against it at the Ashland County meeting. They argued it would, in effect, turn their local sheriff's office into Enbridge's private security and provide a financial incentive to excessively police the pipeline project.

A lawyer for the association said the deal provides no guarantee of minimum service, which is up to sheriffs to decide.

"Like with any large-scale event, there is a cost for providing public safety and emergency response services," Enbridge spokesperson Juli Kellner said in an email.

"Enbridge does not believe local communities and taxpayers should be saddled with these extra costs associated with Line 5 construction and offered a constructive solution."

The pipeline cuts through the territory of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, a tribal nation that refused to renew the company's right-of-way in 2013 over fears of an oil spill. Spring flooding has washed away large parts of the riverbank where Line 5 intersects with the Bad River, the watercourse through Indigenous territory that feeds Lake Superior and a complex network of ecologically sensitive wetlands.

At the same time, Indigenous communities have joined Michigan in fighting Enbridge's plan to build a tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac, the passage between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron where the pipeline runs underwater between the state's upper and lower peninsulas.

Ottawa argues the pipeline is an economic lifeline for Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec, and has invoked a 1977 pipelines treaty ensuring the uninterrupted flow of oil and gas in transit between Canada and the United States. The Trump administration strongly supports the tunnel project and has worked to expedite it.

Enbridge has made similar deals in the past to reimburse U.S. law enforcement in anticipation of pipeline protests. The company provided millions to Minnesota agencies for costs related to a Line 3 expansion project between December 2020 and September 2021, according to multiple media reports. Hundreds of protesters were arrested.

Eriel Tchekwie Deranger, a member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation near Alberta's oilsands, said the Wisconsin deal suggests oil and gas companies are emboldened to openly flout democratic principles and suppress Indigenous resistance.

This crackdown, she said, targets Indigenous rights and values — from free, prior and informed consent to kinship with the natural world — precisely because they pose an alternative to fossil fuel extraction during a climate change crisis and widespread species die-offs.

"We're already seeing the largest mass extinction that Earth has seen in millions of years, and so we have this cognitive dissonance to make the subject about eroding of democracy, or just about oil and gas or just about the climate crisis, when all of those things are interconnected," said Deranger, the president of the Indigenous Climate Action organization.

"Indigenous Peoples are trying to say, 'Hey, like, we have an alternative to these systems ... but those alternatives really require us to reimagine what we centre in the system. Is it political-economic power, or is it kinship?'"

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 26, 2026.

Jordan Omstead, The Canadian Press

Some posts included images of a woman and identified her as one of the pilots who died, Mackenzie Gunther. Others identified a man wearing a tie as Gunther. The posts are false. The images of the woman identified as Gunther appear to be AI-generated recreations of someone who shares the same name with the pilot, who was male. The photo of the man in a tie appears to be someone who attended the same flight school as Gunther.

THE CLAIM

Sunday's fatal crash between Air Canada Express Flight 8646 and a firefighting truck on the runway at LaGuardia claimed the lives of two pilots, Gunther and Antoine Forest.

As media reports about the identity of the flight crew started to circulate, social media posts memorializing the victims appeared online. Some of the posts seemed to include real photos, while others looked AI-generated.

An AI-generated image posted to X claimed to show "Captain Antoine Forest & First Officer Mackenzie Gunther." The image shows a man who looks similar to Forest and a smiling blond woman with glasses. Similar images of the woman identified as Gunther appeared in Instagram and Facebook posts memorializing the pilots.

Other posts claimed Gunther was a man pictured standing in front of a small aircraft in a long-sleeved white shirt and black tie.

THE FACTS

The Canadian Press confirmed the identities of the pilots through social media posts from Forest's brother and from Seneca Polytechnic, where Gunther studied aviation technology.

Quebec's forest fire prevention service SOPFEU shared a photo of Forest on Facebook and said he was a former employee.

Seneca Polytechnic did not release a photo of Gunther in its post acknowledging his death. However, a reverse image search of the man in the tie identified as Gunther in many social media posts shows the photo comes from a Seneca newsletter published in 2021.

The newsletter said its school of aviation "managed to train two students Mackenzie Gunther and Spencer Dyce (pictured right)" and that they had completed their private pilot licences. The accompanying photo shows a man in a tie fist-bumping another man in front of a light aircraft on the tarmac.

The newsletter's wording could be read as suggesting that Gunther is the pilot in the tie, but Seneca Polytechnic's communications director Cam Gordon said in a phone call Wednesday that Gunther is not in the photo. Gordon added that the school has not shared any photos of Gunther since the crash.

A Google image search of Dyce's name shows a person who looks similar to the man in the tie in the newsletter photo.

As for the woman identified as Gunther in some posts, a Google search of "Mackenzie Gunther" brings up social media pages of a woman with the same name as the pilot.

The social media photos of the female Mackenzie Gunther bear resemblance to the images identifying her as the pilot. Those images appear to be AI-generated recreations of the real, but unrelated woman.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 25, 2026.

Marissa Birnie, The Canadian Press

The federal and provincial governments inked a sweeping accord in November touching on several energy policy matters, including a plan to reach a methane equivalency agreement on or before April 1 aimed at eliminating the overlap between federal and provincial rules.

“Canada is strongest when we work together," Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a news release Wednesday.

"By partnering with Alberta on a methane equivalency agreement, we will cut emissions while ensuring we protect Canadian jobs and build a more competitive and resilient energy sector."

The two governments are to release a draft equivalency agreement later this year, which will be open for consultation for 60 days and finalized by year-end. The agreement says it is to take effect no later than Jan. 1, 2027 and last for 10 years.

The Alberta government says without an equivalency agreement, both federal and provincial rules would apply, increasing costs and creating duplication. Federal methane regulations would be stood down in Alberta, with equivalent provincial regulations in place, the agreement in principle says.

"Albertans have long known that responsible energy development and strong environmental performance go hand in hand," said Premier Danielle Smith in a release.

"This agreement reflects that approach, keeps decision-making here in Alberta and builds on a system that is already delivering results."

November's MOU set out a goal of cutting emissions of the potent greenhouse gas by 75 per cent from 2014 levels by 2035. That's five years later than earlier federal draft regulations had called for. At the time, that change drew dismay from environmental groups and qualified applause from the energy sector.

Methane is a greenhouse gas more than 80 times stronger than carbon dioxide over a 20-year span, but its lifetime in the atmosphere is up to a dozen years versus centuries for CO2. So targeting methane is often considered low-hanging fruit for near-term emissions reduction efforts.

The oil and gas sector is Canada’s biggest emitter of methane, the main component of natural gas. The gas can escape into the atmosphere through intentional venting, unintentional leaks from equipment and through inefficient burning.

Pembina Institute, a clean energy think-tank, said the agreement gives industry more confidence to invest in methane mitigation work.

Amanda Bryant, manager of the institute's oil and gas program, said it was also encouraging to see the agreement call for an independent third party to assess methane reduction results.

"We are pleased to see that this agreement-in-principle acknowledges that the self-reported industry estimates used by Alberta in the past are no longer adequate on their own," she said in a release.

"Measurement studies have shown that Alberta’s methane emissions are almost twice as much as these estimates suggest."

Conservative Opposition House leader Andrew Scheer said on social media that the methane agreement does nothing to address "anti-energy policies" introduced by the Liberal government in the past, like the West Coast tanker ban and environmental review legislation.

Three other items in the MOU came with an April 1 target. One was a co-operation agreement on streamlined project reviews, and the two governments announced an agreement-in-principle on that earlier this month. Still outstanding are deals around industrial carbon pricing and the massive Pathways carbon capture and storage proposal to be built in tandem with a new oilsands pipeline to the B.C. coast.

"We're at a point now where the prime minister and I need to get together to just iron out our understanding of a couple of details around (carbon) pricing and stringency," Smith said during an unrelated news conference on Wednesday.

"And I have impressed upon the prime minister that we've gotta do it for April 1st. It would be a great birthday present for me, and it won't be a joke when we issue the release on that."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 25, 2026.

— with files from Jack Farrell in Edmonton.

Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press