Carney Picks Canadian Pension Executive as Next Chief of Staff
Prime Minister Mark Carney is hiring an executive from one of Canada's top pension fund managers to be his chief of staff.
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec said in a release Sunday that Marc-André Blanchard, executive vice-president and head of CDPQ Global and and global head of sustainability, was leaving to become Carney's chief of staff.
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Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
In Alberta, separatism is on the ballot in a rural byelection on Monday
OTTAWA — Cameron Davies, the leader of the separatist Republican Party of Alberta and the party's candidate for Monday's Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills byelection, admits that his party's name and MAGA red branding are causing some confusion at the doors. 'It certainly has come up in conversation,' Davies told the National Post on Thursday. 'People want to know more about it, what it means and that's just an opportunity to explain why the word 'republican' and why a constitutional republic is something we want to look at.' Davies' Republican party isn't formally aligned with the more well-known one south of the border — notably swapping out the latter's elephant for a more local buffalo as its logo — but it does aspire to make Alberta an independent republic governed similarly in principle to the U.S. 'The form of government Canada has doesn't work for Alberta, and the form of government we have here in Alberta doesn't work for Alberta,' said Davies. Davies, an ex-UCP organizer, is one of two separatist candidates who'll be on the ballot in Monday's byelection in the south-central Alberta riding, where the governing United Conservative Party won more votes than anywhere else in the province in 2023's provincial election. The other is employee benefits specialist Bill Tufts, running under the banner of the Wildrose Loyalty Coalition. Under normal circumstances, the byelection would be a tap-in for first-time UCP candidate Tara Sawyer. But these are anything but normal circumstances, with support for Alberta separatism spiking on the heels of the federal Liberals fourth straight election win. What's more, Davies and Tufts have a fortuitous piece of Alberta election lore to point to. Western Concept candidate Gordon Kesler notched a surprise 1982 byelection win in predecessor riding Olds-Didsbury, briefly becoming the first and only separatist to hold a seat in Alberta's legislature. Kesler is still active in the area's politics and is backing Davis in the byelection. Ex-Alberta MLA Derek Fildebrandt, whose now-defunct riding of Strathmore-Brooks crossed into the riding's east end, says he expects the Republicans to place a strong second, possibly even pushing the UCP below a majority vote share. 'Based on my gut, nothing hard,' said Fildebrandt. The UCP's Nathan Cooper won in dominant fashion with 75 per cent of the vote in 2013. Davies says he'd be happy with 20 per cent of the riding's vote, around what the populist Wildrose party got in its first election in 2008. '(Wildrose) got around 20 per cent of the vote, and that was after being a party for close to a year,' said Davies. The Alberta Republicans, formerly the Buffalo Party of Alberta, formally launched on February 11. Davies was acclaimed as leader two months later in April. 'Anything at or above 20 per cent is a significant gain, given how short of a runway we've had,' said Davies. Davies, who lives just outside the riding in south Red Deer, says he typically gets between 12 and 18 volunteers each day and has knocked on 20,000 doors in the riding, which is home to about 50,000 people. Tufts, for his part, says he's in it to win it. 'Well, we would like to win,' said Tufts. Tufts said that the contest's timing, outside of a general election, gives him an opening. 'Byelections can be quite tumultuous events, typically because of the low voter turnout. So I think we've had an opportunity to go out there and work hard, knock on the doors and explain our position.' Tufts pointed out that both Kesler and Alberta's first Wildrose MLA Paul Hinman won office in byelections. He said he was optimistic that his party's brand recognition would propel him past Alberta Republican candidate Davies and into the winner's circle. 'The Wildrose has been around for a long time … so I think there's a lot of credibility with the name, the recognition of our brand and our policies that resonate with a lot of voters,' said Tufts. The populist Wildrose Party merged with the rival Alberta Progressive Conservatives in 2017 to form the UCP but Tufts' Wildrose Loyalty Coalition lives on as a splinter group. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith led the Wildrose Party from 2009 to 2014 before defecting to the PCs in a disastrous floor-crossing. Tufts says that a revitalized Wildrose caucus could hold the UCP to account and keep it from getting weak-kneed in seeing through the results of a successful referendum on independence, drawing a comparison to the recent Liberal-NDP supply and confidence agreement. 'Look at who the most powerful party in Ottawa was over the last few years: that was the NDP,' said Tufts. Katherine Kowalchuk, a separatist who lives in the riding, says she'll be voting Republican. 'The sense that I get from Cam (Davies) is that he's prepared, he has conservative viewpoints on things… and I think that he has the ability to stand by those convictions,' said Kowalchuk. 'We need to fight for our strong Alberta heritage rooted in family and freedom, and Cam is really the only candidate that's talking about this.' Kowalchuk ran in the riding for the Alberta Independence Party in 2023, winning 4.7 per cent of the vote. Pollster Dan Arnold, an executive with Pollara Strategic Insights says that Alberta's budding separatist movement could hardly have picked a better time and place for its first electoral test. He noted that support for Alberta independence among committed voters was at 24 per cent in mid-May, the highest level his firm has seen since it started polling Albertans on the topic in 2011. 'My assumption is the reason you're seeing the numbers edging up is because (separation) is now in the spotlight,' said Arnold. He said that the UCP will likely get spooked if the separatist vote breaks the double-digits. '10 per cent can grow over time to 20 per cent and then you're getting into vote split territory,' said Arnold. Arnold noted that Smith has dialled up the rhetoric against Ottawa's equalization program in recent days, likely in an effort to shore up soft separatists in the province. 'In our past polling, we've generally found that nobody really knows what equalization is but, at least in Alberta and Saskatchewan, they think it's unfair to their province.' Smith said on Monday that Quebec, the program's biggest recipient, should develop a resource 'royalty framework to wean them off the equalization that comes from western Canada.' Arnold said that 35 per cent of UCP voters see Smith as a separatist. Ironically, this could be a problem for her with her base, with polls showing that over half of UCP voters would vote 'yes' in a referendum on independence. Sawyer says she's not a separatist and believes in a strong Alberta within a united Canada. She told National Post that she's not playing the over/under game. Instead, she's focused on earning the trust of voters and winning the seat. 'We are working hard and earning every vote,' said Sawyer. Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills is one of three byelections scheduled for Monday, with the NDP tipped to win two Edmonton-area races. National Post Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Franklin County home listings asked for more money in May - see the current median price here
The median home in Franklin County listed for $364,900 in May, up 1.2% from the previous month's $360,720, an analysis of data from shows. Compared to May 2024, the median home list price increased 13.2% from $324,723. The statistics in this article only pertain to houses listed for sale in Franklin County, not houses that were sold. Information on your local housing market, along with other useful community data, is available at Franklin County's median home was 1,968 square feet, listed at $183 per square foot. The price per square foot of homes for sale is up 2.2% from May 2024. Listings in Franklin County moved briskly, at a median 36 days listed compared to the May national median of 51 days on the market. In the previous month, homes had a median of 38 days on the market. Around 196 homes were newly listed on the market in May, a 7.7% increase from 182 new listings in May 2024. The median home prices issued by may exclude many, or even most, of a market's homes. The price and volume represent only single-family homes, condominiums or townhomes. They include existing homes, but exclude most new construction as well as pending and contingent sales. In Pennsylvania, median home prices were $325,000, a slight increase from April. The median Pennsylvania home listed for sale had 1,708 square feet, with a price of $196 per square foot. Throughout the United States, the median home price was $440,000, a slight increase from the month prior. The median American home for sale was listed at 1,840 square feet, with a price of $234 per square foot. The median home list price used in this report represents the midway point of all the houses or units listed over the given period of time. Experts say the median offers a more accurate view of what's happening in a market than the average list price, which would mean taking the sum of all listing prices then dividing by the number of homes sold. The average can be skewed by one particularly low or high price. The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Please leave any feedback or corrections for this story here. This story was written by Ozge Terzioglu. Our News Automation and AI team would like to hear from you. Take this survey and share your thoughts with us. This article originally appeared on Waynesboro Record Herald: Franklin County home listings asked for more money in May - see the current median price here
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Spy agency says it 'improperly' shared Canadians' data with international partners
One of Canada's intelligence agencies says it "improperly" shared information about Canadians that it had obtained "incidentally" with international partners. The Communications Security Establishment (CSE) shared some details about the incident after the intelligence commissioner — the quasi-judicial position that reviews the cyber spy agency's activities — flagged the case in his annual report tabled in Parliament earlier this week. CSE spokesperson Janny Bender Asselin told CBC News that last year the agency had to notify the defence minister "of an incident where CSE improperly shared information." "CSE identified an activity where, between 2020 and 2023, we shared some information with international partners without properly removing Canadian information that had been acquired incidentally when targeting valid foreign intelligence targets," she said. "CSE acted quickly to contain the issue." The CSE is considered one of Canada's intelligence crown jewels, responsible for intercepting and analyzing foreign electronic communications, launching cyber operations and defending the government's networks and critical infrastructure from attacks. Asselin said that included seeking assurances from CSE's trusted partners that the shared information was deleted. "We continue to update our policies and procedures to prevent reoccurrence," she said. CSE did not say how many Canadians were impacted or to which countries the information was shared, citing operational security. Details were shared with Intelligence Commissioner Simon Noël, who raised it in his recently published report. The commissioner is part of the chain of approval before CSE and its sister agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), can go ahead with certain intelligence-gathering and cybersecurity activities. CSE first needs to seek permission from the minister of defence — known as ministerial authorization — if the proposed action would otherwise break the law or potentially infringe on the privacy interests of Canadians. Under the law, ministerial authorizations must prove the activities are reasonable, necessary and that measures are in place to protect Canadians' privacy. The intelligence commissioner then provides a layer of oversight and either signs off on the mission, approves with conditions or denies the request outright. Noël also makes sure CSE remains compliant after receiving the green light and sticks to what was approved — which was not the case in this information-sharing matter. The commissioner's report doesn't include many details, citing national security. The case will be included in CSE's own annual report, which is expected later this month, said Asselin. Noël's report said he urged the intelligence agency to be as transparent about the incident as possible. It doesn't appear the individuals involved were alerted, although CSE said it reported the incident to its oversight and review bodies, including the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. "The disclosure of this incident involving CSE raises many serious concerns," said Matt Malone, director of the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic. The University of Ottawa professor said the findings justify many of the fears raised by civil society groups about the potential for inappropriate information in the Liberal government's cybersecurity bill. The first iteration of the bill died when the House prorogued earlier this year, and it was reintroduced by Prime Minister Mark Carney's government as Bill C-8. If passed, federally regulated industries would have to report cybersecurity incidents to CSE, meaning it would be in possession of more information. "All of this bodes very poorly for the state of privacy protection in Canada," Malone said. "Three of the eight government bills introduced so far in this Parliament are extremely privacy-corrosive." In 2024, the information commissioner received 13 ministerial authorizations for review — seven relating to CSE activities and six relating to CSIS activities. He approved the activities in 11 authorizations, approved the activities with conditions in one authorization and partially approved the activities in the other authorization.
