#TheMoment parents unexpectedly saw their son on The National
When Manitoba teen Justin Fung appeared on The National to explain his interactive website aiding wildfire victims, his surprised parents were elated to see him on screen – and he caught it all on video.
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Worldwide French music celebration hits high note in Halifax
Musicians are pictured performing in the Halifax public gardens as part of Fête de la musique on June 21, 2025 (Vanessa Wright/CTV Atlantic) Haligonians joined a worldwide celebration Saturday when they enjoyed the sights and sounds of this year's Make Music Day event. 'In French, it's called 'Fête de la musique' because it's a French initiative,' says Melanie Koehnemann, the culture and communications officer for Alliance Française. 'It was born in France in the 80s.' Performances took place at two Halifax locations this year, one at Public Gardens, and the other at a Northwood Care retirement facility. Music fan A music fan claps along during a performance at Fête de la musique in Halifax public gardens on June 21, 2025 (Vanessa Wright/CTV Atlantic) Koehnemann says the event has a history of bringing music outside for everyone to celebrate, anywhere. 'The idea is to propose something different, something accessible and free, because there is no cost to this event,' says Koehnemann. The celebration brought together artists of different genres from the francophone community for the public to enjoy. 'The whole idea of this music is to have people sing and perform it outside – amateurs, professionals,' says musician Suzie Quackenbush, who has performed at the event for about ten years. '(I sing) a lot of folk and I will alternate between English and French.' Robert Brushedd – a musician and member of Alliance Française – also took centre stage at public gardens, performing with his guitar. 'What I did play is just stuff that I've been playing in my apartment over the last while, and I had the guitar since 1983,' says Brushedd. Koehnemann says seeing people from different backgrounds of different ages enjoying Fête de la musique is what they strive for all year. Performances at the Halifax public gardens and Northwood Care retirement facility will wrap up Saturday at 7:15 p.m. music festival A crowd watches a performance at Fête de la musique in Halifax public gardens on June 21, 2025 (Vanessa Wright/CTV Atlantic) For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
CTV News
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2 killed in plane crash in eastern Alberta
Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) signage is pictured outside TSB offices in Ottawa, Monday, May 1, 2023. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick) Two people died in a plane crash in eastern Alberta on Saturday. The plane crashed shortly before 12:30 p.m. 1.2 kilometres short of the Vermilion Airport runway, according to local RCMP. It had only two occupants: the pilot, a 46-year-old woman from Slave Lake, Alta., and a passenger, a 76-year-old man from Mannville, Alta. The Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
CTV News
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Is Canada losing its education edge? Here's what experts say
Research shows Canadian students are scoring lower than before on international evaluations of education. (Pexels/SHVETS production) Canada's education quality has been facing a slow decline over the past few years, research has shown. The latest mathematics scores from Canadian students on an International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) test from last year show the country ranking 32nd out of 64 countries that were part of the well-known international standard test conducted every four years. The test is conducted at the Grade 4 and Grade 8 levels in six benchmarking systems, in which 65 education systems participated — 59 education systems and six benchmarking systems participated in Grade 4 assessments, and 44 education systems and three benchmarking systems participated in Grade 8. Furthermore, despite Canada continuing to rank among the top ten countries in the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey — a programme that assesses the knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds in mathematics, reading and science — the country's national trends have consistently declined since the early 2000s, experts say. Around 690,000 students took part in the PISA survey in 2022, from 81 participating countries. More than 23,000 Canadian students from 867 schools participated in mathematics, reading or science tests. However, East Asian countries like Singapore, South Korea, China and Japan ranked at the very top in both tests. Canada has three major issues that need troubleshooting, John Richards, an expert on social policy and education and an author, told 'One is that we have declined in all three subjects relative to the benchmark that was organized in the beginning,' Richards said. 'Second point is the four big provinces — Que., Ont., B.C. and Alta. — their performance has been better. They have declined more slowly than the six small provinces, which have declined more quickly.' And the third is mathematics, he said. 'Which is where our biggest decline has been.' 'Summer learning loss' The solution for it may be rooted in how Canadian provinces are organizing the school year to maximize learning opportunities for students. A year-round school schedule is starting to catch the attention of provinces and educational institutions in Canada, with some electing to adopt this new form of school year so students can benefit from it. A commentary by the Fraser Institute from 2023 that supported the idea of provinces allowing schools to schedule their own school years noted that experts had coined a term for the learning loss that can occur during an extended summer break — 'summer learning loss.' Research says it's more beneficial for a child to have a year-round school system, rather than a long break over multiple months, Todd Cunningham, a clinical and school psychologist and an associate professor at the University of Toronto's Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), told However, children can retain information and perform well even after a long break from school if they have adequate opportunities to learn at home and an environment that supports their skill development, Cunningham said. 'Those who have the means and the opportunities will continue to develop their skills, and those who don't have the means, opportunities or abilities to do it — they're not going to continue to develop their literacy skills, numeracy skills,' he said. 'With that, when you come back in September and you kind of measure those two groups, there's going to be a difference between where they're at.' School curriculums can sometimes be influenced by political factors rather than best practices in education, according to Cunningham. 'We're trying to help shift the understanding and knowledge base that teachers have to be more in line with what the evidence (shows) are the best practices for literacy and numeracy, and I feel that that's a key thing that we should be doing across Canada,' he said. According to Cunningham, teachers are facing a different set of challenges in the classroom, and there needs to be more investment in the training and upgrading of their knowledge and skills, along with additional support. Richards believes institutions like schools are composed of multiple elements, such as teachers' unions and provincial budgets. He notes that while better teaching practices can help, broader change won't come from a single solution. 'I don't think there's one silver bullet that will make Canada go back to where it was at the beginning of the century,' he said.
