AI helps German historian identify Nazi killer in infamous Holocaust image

By Jordan Fleguel
Published: October 03, 2025 

A German soldier is about to shoot a Jewish man in 1941. This image was titled "The last Jew in Vinnitsa." The text is written on the back of the photograph, which was found in a photo album belonging to a German soldier. (Photo by Galerie Bilderwelt/Getty Images)

A U.S.-based German historian believes he’s uncovered the identity of the Nazi killer in one of the most infamous Holocaust images ever taken – and he did so with the help of artificial intelligence.

Jürgen Matthäus, who until this spring was head of research at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., had for years been attempting to discover the identities of the men in the image, which was taken in 1941 in the city of Berdychiv in modern Ukraine.

The image shows a Nazi SS officer pointing a pistol at the head of a man kneeling on the edge of a pit of corpses as around 20 other Nazi soldiers watch in a line a short distance away. The identities of the perpetrators and victims in the photo remained unknown for years.

The photo was known as “The Last Jew in Vinnitsa” for decades, until Matthäus found the diary of an Austrian Wehrmacht captain in the Holocaust Museum, which contained a negative of the same photo with the description: “Shooting of Jews by the SS in the Berdichev Citadel.”

Using artificial intelligence software, Matthäus and other researchers were able to confirm the location of the image based on the buildings and city layout in the background.


After Matthäus published those findings in 2023, he received a letter from a man who said he’d always suspected that the killer in the photo could be his wife’s uncle, who was a German SS officer on the eastern front during the Second World War.

The man provided Matthäus with details about the man’s life and military career, as well as comparison photographs, which were then matched to the original image with 99 per cent certainty using an open-source artificial intelligence tool.

The killer was identified as Jakobus Onnen, according to Matthäus, who published his most recent findings in the historical research journal Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft.

According to Onnen’s relatives, he was born in 1906 in the German town of Tichelwarf, near the Dutch border. After graduating high school, he taught English, French and physical education before joining the SA, the Nazi party’s original paramilitary wing, at the age of 25.

He was killed in battle in 1943.

Matthäus said in his research submission to the journal that using AI is becoming more common in the humanities, and it’s another useful tool historians can use to identify previously unknown individuals.

He said this particular image is as important as those showing the gates of Auschwitz, as it demonstrates the “hands-on” nature of the Nazi atrocities; “the direct confrontation between killer and person to be killed.”


Jordan Fleguel
Journalist, BNNBloomberg.ca

How Walmart plans to prepare America’s largest private workforce for an AI-driven future

By The Associated Press
Published: September 28, 2025

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon speaks at the Opportunity Summit Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, in Bentonville, Ark. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

BENTONVILLE, Ark (AP) — As artificial intelligence and demographic changes reshape the U.S. job market, the nation’s largest private employer is trying to identify the skills its workers and the broader labor force might need for the future.

Walmart on Thursday hosted more than 300 workplace experts and representatives from other companies participating in the Skills-First Workforce Initiative, a project to develop and fill stable jobs based on what people know how to do instead of whether they attended college.

The retailer already has launched its own employee training and certification programs to meet Walmart’s need for truck drivers and maintenance technicians, two roles for which U.S. companies say they can’t recruit fast enough as experienced tradespeople retire.

Walmart says it plans to offer a similar AI skills program next year through a new collaboration with OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.

The Associated Press sat down with Walmart CEO Doug McMillon at the company’s sprawling headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, to talk about AI and the American workforce. The interview has been edited for clarity and length.


AP: What’s your view of the overall health of the job market, given the uncertainty about tariffs and the economy?

MCMILLON: I would say pretty much a steady state. Turnover numbers are coming down. I’m remembering what happened during the pandemic and relative to that experience, things feel much more stable now. I think the pace of change in the employment market is just smaller and easier to manage.

AP: What are the biggest factors affecting Walmart workers? Fear of AI, or their paychecks not keeping pace with inflation?

MCMILLON: We continue to invest in wages. So I think that’s helping some, and that process will continue. As it relates to AI and the future of employment, I think for the most part, our folks are enthusiastic about it because they’ve seen new tools that they’re receiving that are making their jobs better. That’s helping them take fewer steps.

And our sales are growing so much. I think people are optimistic about the future of what their life can look like.

AP: Which jobs might be eliminated or added because of AI?

MCMILLON: I think no one knows how this is going to play out exactly. And the way it feels to me is that basically every job gets changed. And I think the best way to think about it is getting “plussed up.” So how can I lean in the role that I have, regardless what that role is, to adopt new tools, leverage them and make things better than they would’ve otherwise been?

As I look across our company, we have everything from store associates to supply chain associates. Of the 2.1 million people (globally), something less than 75,000 of them are home office jobs. All the other ones are working in a store, a club, a distribution center. And I think those jobs change more gradually. We are still going to want to serve customers and members with people. The change as it relates to the home office jobs probably happens faster.

AP: When will you have a clearer idea?

MCMILLON: I don’t know there’ll be a moment where we all have clarity. I think the way for all of us to approach it, especially here at Walmart, is just in a very transparent, honest, human, straightforward way, talking to people real time about what we’re learning and what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. That’s the way that we plan to lead through this.

AP: Do you think AI will result in fewer workers at Walmart?


MCMILLON: One of the biggest areas of change in the last decade is related to associates that work in our stores, picking orders for delivery and pickup for our customers. And we have something north of 200,000 people doing that job, and yet we have about the same (total) number of people working in Walmart U.S.

How did we do that? Other tasks and other jobs changed, which enabled us to create new jobs that paid more and have fewer of the older jobs that went away. I hope what happens as we lead through this is that there will be pluses and minuses, but the net ends up being even more people because we have more ideas of how to grow.

AP: What do you think are the most coveted skills?

MCMILLON: The first thing that comes to mind is store managers. Being a store manager is such a great job and such a challenging job. And it’s a job that pays well, and it pays well for a reason. You’re interacting with the community with large numbers of people. You have a large number of associates. You have big sales numbers to deliver. And those skills that the store manager has are both human and technical. I think the skills that we have as human beings are valuable. They always have been, and that’ll be even more true in the future.

AP: Why are there shortages in roles like maintenance technicians?

MCMILLON: To some degree, it’s a lack of awareness. I think most Americans probably don’t know what a tech makes that helps take care of our stores and clubs and that we can help them learn how to be a tech. The same thing’s true for our drivers. So we have a need to get the word out so that people know there are some great jobs.

AP: Do you think Walmart will be able to fill such gaps as the immigrant pool shrinks?

MCMILLON: We’ve been able to do that so far, and I expect that we’ll continue to find great people that want to join the company and our turnover rates are down, which is helpful.

AP: How critical is this initiative focused on skills-based hiring?

MCMILLON: I think as we all work to learn and navigate the future towards a world where AI fulfills its promise, the best way to do that is to work together and to share information and learn together. It’ll speed up our ability to get ahead of this so that we can do a better job of setting our associates up for success. And that’s ultimately what we’re trying to do. The change that’s happening in the world is going to happen. Our choice is to lean in, learn (and) help lead so there are better outcomes for everybody involved.

Anne D’innocenzio, The Associated Press

Treasury chief says wars and tariffs are harming the U.K.’s economic outlook

By The Associated Press
Updated: September 29, 2025

British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves takes part in the early morning news rounds during the Labour Party Conference at the ACC Liverpool, England, Monday Sept. 29, 2025. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

LIVERPOOL, England — Britain’s Treasury chief warned Monday that “harsh global headwinds” from wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs have worsened the U.K.’s economic outlook since the governing Labour Party won power last year.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves told Labour’s annual conference that her economic plans must be “fit for an uncertain world,” a hint she will raise taxes in her autumn budget on Nov. 26.

“In the last year the world has changed, and we are not immune to that change,” she told the BBC before the speech. “Whether it is wars in Europe and the Middle East, whether it is increased barriers to trade because of tariffs coming from the United States, whether it is the global cost of borrowing, we’re not immune to any of those things.”

Since ending 14 years of Conservative rule in July 2024, the Labour government has struggled to deliver the economic growth it promised. Inflation remains stubbornly high and the economic outlook subdued, frustrating efforts to repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living.

Labour pledged during last year’s election not to raise taxes on working people, but has since hiked levies on employers, and Reeves has not ruled out increasing other forms of tax in her budget.


Reeves told the BBC she was “determined not to increase those key taxes that working people pay,” stopping short of ruling out any hikes at all.

In her speech, interrupted by repeated standing ovations from hundreds of Labour members -- and by a lone pro-Palestinian protester -- Reeves leavened her sober assessment of the country’s finances with a touch of optimism. She outlined the government’s investments in defense, transport, energy and education, claiming they were making a difference to millions of people.

She pledged to end long-term youth unemployment with a plan for everyone under 25 who has been unemployed for 18 months will be offered guaranteed paid work. One in eight 16--24-year-olds in Britain -- about 1 million people -- is currently not in education, work, or training.

Reeves also said the government was working on an “ambitious agreement on youth mobility” between Britain and the 27-nation European Union. British citizens lost the right to move and work freely in the EU when the country left the bloc in 2020.

Thousands of Labour members from around the country are in Liverpool, in northwest England for the party conference --- a mix of policy forum and pep rally that this year is lacking in pizazz.

The hard right is a key concern

Labour lags behind Nigel Farage ‘s hard-right Reform UK party in opinion polls, and some party members are losing faith in Prime Minister Keir Starmer, even though there may be four years until the next election.

Many are rallying around Andy Burnham, the ambitious Labour mayor of Manchester, who said Sunday that the party is in “peril” and needs to change direction.

The threat posed by Reform is top issue among Labour delegates at the four-day conference that ends Wednesday. Farage’s party has only five lawmakers in the 650 seat House of Commons, and Labour has more than 400. Nonetheless, Starmer said Reform, and not the main opposition Conservatives, is now Labour’s chief opponent.

Starmer has described the fight between Labour and Reform as “a battle for the soul of this country.” On Sunday he accused Farage of sowing division with plans by Reform to deport immigrants who are in the U.K. legally. Starmer said such a policy would be “racist” and “immoral.”

The U.K. government has toughened its own language about immigration, though. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is expected to announce plans on Monday to raise the bar immigrants must meet to gain permanent residency. Under the proposals, people will have to have a “high standard” of English, “a spotless criminal record” and give back to their communities to get the right to settle in the U.K.

She said she plans to raise the bar immigrants must meet to gain permanent residency. Under the proposals, people will have to have a “high standard” of English, no criminal record and give back to their communities to get the right to settle in the U.K.

“Unless we have control of our borders, and until we can decide who comes in and who must leave, we will never be the open, tolerant and generous country that I know we all believe in,” she said.

Jill Lawless, The Associated Press

Canada Post union set for meeting with Ottawa as strike stretches on

By The Canadian Press
Published: October 08, 2025 

Canada Post workers are joined by CUPE union members as they hold a rally outside MP Julie Dabrusin's office in Toronto on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

OTTAWA — The union representing striking Canada Post employees says it will meet with the federal minister in charge of the Crown corporation after accusing Ottawa of trampling on the collective bargaining process.

Postal workers took to the picket lines nearly two weeks ago after Procurement Minister Joël Lightbound announced sweeping changes to Canada Post’s mandate that would allow the struggling postal service to overhaul its operations in the midst of negotiations with the union.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers is asking the minister to roll back the changes that include permitting the end of daily mail delivery, the expansion of community mailboxes and the closure of some rural post offices.

The union says Ottawa’s changes would hurt the long-term future of the postal service and argues government intervention has been unhelpful nearly two years into the bargaining process.

Canada Post has welcomed the minister’s changes amid stark financial challenges facing the Crown corporation and tabled new proposals last week that the union called a step back from previous offers.


The union says this evening’s meeting will be its first in-person with Lightbound and will focus on Ottawa’s mandate changes and Canada Post’s latest proposals, which kept wage offers steady but introduced provisions related to expected job cuts.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2025.

Economic opportunity of climate action a focus as Toronto Climate Week launches

By The Canadian Press
Updated: October 01, 2025 

The Toronto skyline is seen on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

TORONTO — Canada has an opportunity to leap ahead and reap the economic gains of climate action as the U.S. retreats, said several speakers at the launch of the first Toronto Climate Week on Wednesday.

“There is a massive economic opportunity here. The U.S. just left a huge leadership gap that we could fill,” said Becky Park-Romanovsky, founder and executive director of the conference.

Climate change is already hurting the economy, said federal Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin, citing a study that estimated climate-induced damages would cause a $25 billion drag on the economy this year.

Meanwhile, the economic potential in solving the problem is part of why the government is working on its climate competitiveness strategy, she said.

“We’re talking about a moral imperative, but we’re also talking about an economic imperative.”


Dabrusin, however, provided no updates on when that strategy may arrive or what it will contain, as others working in the climate space raised concerns about how slow the Mark Carney government has been in rolling out its climate plans.

“I am both still hopeful, and increasingly impatient,” said Canadian Climate Institute president Rick Smith, talking on a panel at the conference.

He said he was concerned by the growing gap between the impacts of climate change — including the equivalent of 2.5 Vancouver Islands of forests burned this year in Canada and last year’s record $8.5 billion in insured losses — and the level of ambition he’s seeing from the country.

Smith said it can be hard to look past the deluge of news coming from the U.S., but that it’s important to remember that the rest of the world is moving on with climate action.

It was also just a year ago that the concern was more on how the scale of U.S. climate spending was making it hard to compete, so the temporary reversal there is an opportunity.

“We should look at this intervening period as a moment where we can leapfrog the United States, and clearly we need improved policy to do that.”

He pointed to the need to fix carbon pricing, finalize methane regulations, get clean electricity tax investments and establish sustainable investment guidelines as some key areas overdue for action.

“There’s a short list of policies federally that would have a big catalytic impact in terms of economic prosperity,” Smith said.

Efforts to gain traction in clean technology and other climate-related industries has, however, also been hampered by the uncertainty created by U.S. policy shifts, said Peter McArthur, chair of the Ontario Clean Technology Industry Association.

Investors are hesitant to commit money given the uncertainty, helping lead to a 31 per cent drop in funding for early-stage companies compared with last year.

“It’s tough,” he said.


Changes to government funding programs (made in the wake of critical reviews of how they operated), has also made it harder for startups to secure funding, he said.

Canada needs to step up, across the economy, if it’s going to seize the moment, said McArthur.

“We’ve got to get more aggressive, more foolish, and more willing to take risks ... we’ve got to get better at selling, better at doing, and if something fails, it doesn’t mean you should get fired, it might mean we learned something.”

Part of the effort to step up is organizing Toronto Climate Week, said Park-Romanovsky, with plans to run a full week of programming next June to follow on the three-day soft-launch this week.

She said the conference is an opportunity to acknowledge all the work already being done on innovation and clean tech and also to figure out how to get Toronto, and Canada, recognized as a climate hub.

“We don’t want to be this hidden gem for climate innovation anymore. The time to shine has come.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 1, 2025.

Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press

QUE.INC.

Quebec premier outlines new economic vision in speech to legislature

By The Canadian Press
Published: September 30, 2025

Quebec Premier François Legault stands for the inaugural speech at the legislature in Quebec City, on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot) (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)

In an attempt to revive his party’s political fortunes, Quebec Premier François Legault has outlined what he calls a “new economic vision” for the province.

During an inaugural speech Tuesday in the national assembly, Legault said the world has “profoundly changed” since the re-election of U.S. President Donald Trump last year, and Quebec must adapt.

He said his government will table a new bill to accelerate approvals for major projects, inspired by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s signature legislation to fast-track projects deemed to be in the national interest.

Legault also said he will ask the province’s largest pension fund manager to increase the share of its investments in the Quebec economy.

“We have absolutely everything we need to become one of the most prosperous, safest and, above all, happiest nations on the planet,” he said.

The Quebec premier shuffled his cabinet and prorogued the provincial legislature earlier this month, as his government faces dismal polling numbers and the prospect of being wiped off the electoral map.

After seven years in power, his party, the Coalition Avenir Québec, would be at risk of losing all 83 of its seats if an election were held today, according to poll aggregator Qc125.com.

In response, Legault has signalled a shift to the right, including a “shock treatment” in the form of deep cuts to the public service. On Tuesday, he said his treasury board president will, in the coming weeks, “announce ambitious targets to reduce the number of positions in the bureaucracy in the short term.”

He also said he has instructed his finance minister to find ways to help Quebecers struggling with inflation and the rising cost of living, though he offered few details.

“We are well aware that inflation has hit hard,” he said. “Housing and groceries cost much more than before. Quebecers are struggling to make ends meet. We need to do more to help them.”

Legault has also pledged to maintain his government’s focus on issues of identity, and on Tuesday he repeated promises to table a Quebec constitution and a new bill to strengthen secularism.

He said secularism is under threat from a growing phenomenon of “political-religious groups” intent on undermining Quebec values. “Let’s be honest,” he said. “It is mainly radical Islamists who are attacking these values ​​with the most intensity.”

Legault has also promised a renewed focus on law and order, and on Tuesday he said his new public security minister will have “the responsibility to introduce anti-crime measures.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 30, 2025.

As public service cuts loom, local Ottawa agency eyes growing defence industry

By The Canadian Press
Updated: September 30, 2025 

A Spot quadruped robot from Boston Dynamics is demonstrated at the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries annual defence industry trade show CANSEC, in Ottawa, on Wednesday, May 28, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

OTTAWA — OTTAWA — With the prospect of public service cuts looming over the capital, an Ottawa economic development agency is making a pitch for federal help to grow out the local defence industry and turn it into an “innovation hub.”

Invest Ottawa, a not-for-profit local economic development group, is asking the federal government to grant the National Capital Region a “formal designation” as a “national defence innovation hub” and to “fully leverage and invest” in the local defence industry.

In a document submitted to the House of Commons finance committee, which is studying requests ahead of the Nov. 4 budget, Invest Ottawa called for funds that would create new “high-value jobs” in the Ottawa and Gatineau region and help firms develop new products for export.

A separate submission by Invest Ottawa to the Department of Finance specifically asks for funds for a secure research site -- what it calls a “Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility” -- where companies could collaborate with the military on classified matters.

It also calls for federal money to expand Invest Ottawa’s Area X.O, a research and development complex in rural Ottawa for emerging technology.


The organization is also asking Ottawa to allocate a set share of new national defence hires to the capital region.

Sonya Shorey, CEO of Invest Ottawa, said her organization sees a chance to counteract anticipated public sector job losses and renew the local economy.

“The opportunity in defence and security is immense,” she said.

“We’re seeing it as really an opportunity to almost counterbalance and counteract some of the losses in that public sector. Hopefully, there will also be up-skilling and re-skilling. We’re definitely championing talent strategy as part of our overall capital region strategy with respect to the defence sector.”

The pitch comes as the federal government looks to ramp up defence spending over the coming years to meet steep NATO spending targets.

The federal government says it intends to boost defence spending to the equivalent of two per cent of GDP, and eventually to five per cent by 2035 -- an increase of tens of billions per year.

Ottawa hosts some 330 defence-related companies and is home to the Department of National Defence headquarters, Defence Research and Development Canada and four NATO “innovation accelerator” test centres.

Shorey said she has been working with Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe on a National Capital Region defence sector strategy. That strategy, set to be released at end of October, will come with specific targets for jobs and investment.

The federal government is drafting a national industrial policy to boost the domestic defence industrial base -- expected to come out sometime this fall -- and stand up a new defence procurement agency to overhaul how Ottawa makes military purchases.

Ottawa and Gatineau also represent a political stronghold for the Liberals and area MPs include Prime Minister Mark Carney, Defence Minister David McGuinty and Jenna Sudds, parliamentary secretary for defence procurement.

McGuinty spoke at an event last week at Area X.O, where he said the government has engaged with hundreds of companies as it forges its new industrial strategy.


In a speech shared with The Canadian Press that Shorey delivered to the National Capital Region’s Liberal caucus on Aug. 29, the Invest Ottawa CEO told MPs it’s possible to achieve “disproportionate economic impact” through “disproportionate investment.”

Her organization has not said yet exactly how much federal funding it’s seeking to boost the local defence sector.

Experts said politics will play a role in federal government decision-making as it divides up the defence pie across the country.

Evert Lindquist, a professor at the school of public administration at the University of Victoria, said the government could become inundated with funding requests as other cities see opportunities.

“I think every municipality and region ought to be thinking along these lines,” he said.

“There’s a big (national) grid all of a sudden, and the government has to deal with the optics of only investing in Ottawa. The defence industry, broadly speaking, will have to think about how they’re conveying this to the government as a whole to help it deal with the politics in making such big investments.”

He said government decision-making can also become overloaded as it seeks to get its fiscal trajectory under control.

Christian Leuprecht, a professor at Royal Military College of Canada and Queen’s University, said it’s “not clear” that laid-off public servants could find work in the defence sector, but “clearly, there’s an opportunity.”

“Previously in this country, people would sort of frown on co-operating with defence, so that Ottawa would see this as an opportunity is also an indication of a broader swing in the public mood,” he said.

“I would hope that the government would consider a more co-ordinated approach to the role of municipalities and what exactly we might need from them.”

The Ottawa region isn’t the only one looking for a piece of the federal government’s defence spending boom.

Calgary Economic Development is asking for $3 million for a defence commercialization hub, while the organization representing Quebec’s chambers of commerce is calling for a new forgivable loan program dedicated to small and medium-sized defence-sector enterprises.

Top Canadian research universities are seeking to forge early ties with a promised new federal defence research institute: BOREALIS, the Bureau of Research, Engineering, and Advanced Leadership in Science. The institute, which Carney pitched during the election campaign, is meant to advance research in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and cybersecurity.

Many other groups are proposing federal investments in “dual-use” projects that could be applied in other areas as well.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities said it wants to ensure that Arctic and northern defence funding also bolsters municipal and community infrastructure by improving ports, roads, airports, water and wastewater systems.

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press

Canadian energy minister, Alberta premier disappointed with Imperial Oil job cuts

By The Canadian Press
Updated: September 30, 2025

Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, provides an update on the forecast for the 2025 wildfires season at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa on Thursday, June 12, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says Imperial Oil’s “very disappointing” plan to lay off roughly 20 per cent of its workforce by 2027 reinforces the need to build more pipelines.

Smith is blaming Ottawa for the layoffs at the Calgary-based company.

“The industry for the last 10 years has been hampered and hobbled by federal government decisions,” she told an unrelated news conference in Calgary on Tuesday.

“This is what happens when you have uncertainty, and this is part of the reason why we have to work very quickly to get to a resolution with Ottawa so that we can start building again ... no one likes to see these kinds of consolidations.

“If we can realize the aspiration of building our pipelines north, south, east and west, doubling our production, then there’s a lot of opportunity for people to get re-employed in this sector.”

Imperial said Monday the cuts are part of a broader restructuring plan and would save the company about $150 million annually.

Company chairman John Whelan said in a statement the restructuring and layoffs will ensure Imperial continues to deliver returns and value for shareholders.

“We recognize the considerable impact this restructuring will have on our employees and their families,” Whelan said.

“We are deeply committed to supporting our employees through this transition.”

The company also said part of the restructuring will see Imperial “further consolidate activities to its operating sites” in Alberta.

A spokesperson for the company, Lisa Schmidt, said in an email Tuesday that the company has reached a tentative agreement to sell its multi-building Calgary office complex and lease back the space it will still need.

“We plan to maintain a presence in Calgary,” said Schmidt.

Data from LSEG Data and Analytics shows the layoffs would impact about 1,000 jobs, based on an employee count of 5,100 as of Dec. 31, 2024.

Federal Energy Minister Tim Hodgson also said Tuesday he’s disappointed with the cuts.

He said he’s working to understand what went into Imperial’s decision and that the government will explore ways to support the workers losing their jobs.

“These are skilled, dedicated people who have greatly contributed to Alberta’s energy sector and Canada’s economy, and my thoughts are with them and their families as they receive this difficult news,” Hodgson said on social media.

In August, Imperial reported $11.23 billion in total revenue and other income during the second quarter, down from $13.38 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.

Hodgson said it’s his mission to make sure energy companies like Imperial stay prosperous as the government works to make Canada an “energy superpower.”

“We are taking steps today to ensure the Canadian energy sector will continue to provide careers and prosperity for generations to come,” he said.

Alberta Opposition NDP leader Naheed Nenshi said Monday the company’s plan represents “a significant blow to Calgary and Alberta’s economy.”

Nenshi called on Smith and her United Conservative Party government to develop a plan to keep good paying jobs in Alberta, especially with its unemployment rate being one of the highest in Canada.

By Jack Farrell and Fakiha Baig.

EXCLUSIVE: Enbridge CEO: Canada standing in its own way in becoming an energy superpower

By Samantha Pope
Updated: October 02, 2025


Enbridge CEO Greg Ebel is urging the federal government to make several changes before his company could commit to being a proponent of a new pipeline.

The CEO of North America’s largest energy infrastructure company says Canada can “absolutely” be an energy superpower — but federal government regulations are standing in the way.

In an exclusive broadcast with CTV’s Power Play, Enbridge CEO Greg Ebel says Canada has the tools to dominate the global energy landscape, with supplies of uranium, natural gas, oil, and gold.

“We have everything set up,” he told host Mike Le Couteur. “The only thing that’s stopping us is ourselves.”

On Wednesday, Alberta announced it will commit $14 million to support a new pipeline to northwestern B.C. The province is leading a technical advisory group involving three major pipeline companies — Enbridge, South Bow and Trans Mountain — which will provide counsel on the proposal, though none of those companies would be obligated to be involved in the project.

While Alta. Premier Danielle Smith says she hopes the pipeline will make the federal government’s next phase of major projects, B.C. Premier David Eby has sharply criticized Smith, telling reporters the proposal “is not a real project.”

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announces plans to submit an application for a new oil pipeline to northwestern British Columbia, in Calgary, on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Todd Korol

He notes it would require a lifting of the federal government’s oil tanker ban, which he says is “foundational” for British Columbians who value the province’s coast.

Ebel says that while Enbridge would “entertain the possibility” of becoming a project proponent, the current regulatory conditions are a barrier.

“You’re not going to build a pipeline to nowhere, so if the tanker ban is there, why would you build a pipeline to the west coast?” he said.

Enbridge has been involved in many pipeline projects proposals in the past, including the ill-fated Northern Gateway pipeline project from Alberta to B.C., which was cancelled in 2016.

“I don’t think you have to look too far to see concrete, real examples of Enbridge and other pipelines being willing to be the proponent of a pipeline, if the conditions are set. Capital will go to where the conditions are set, and today, the conditions are not set for that pipeline to exist,” Ebel said.

On April 30, Enbridge wrote a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney on behalf of leading energy companies, outlining an action plan to support investment in the Canadian energy sector. Among the requests was an elimination of the emissions cap and industrial carbon levy to allow the sector to “reach its full potential.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney delivers remarks on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

The company wrote another open letter on Sept. 15 with the same requests, writing that though the launch of the federal government’s new Major Projects Office is a “crucial step in the right direction” in becoming an energy superpower, regulations still impede that vision.

When asked by Le Couteur if it matters whether it’s a blanket removal of all these regulations to enable Canada to become an energy superpower, Ebel says having “bespoke regulation is not a great way to formulate capital and bring it together.”

“I think what you would be better off doing is creating the conditions across the entire country that will allow capital to come and these projects to be pursued,” he said.

In a statement to CTV News, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson did not express explicit support for Alberta’s proposal to be the proponent of a pipeline, but said the province has the “right to do so.”

“We have an active and constructive dialogue with Alberta and will always look for ways to advance shared priorities,” part of the statement read.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks during a meeting of the Conservative caucus on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, before Monday's return of the House of Commons, on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)

Meanwhile, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has continued to criticize the federal Liberal government, saying Carney needs to “get out of the way” for a pipeline to be built.

When it comes to federal leadership, Ebel says he believes Carney recognizes that it’s a competitive world and Canada has the products, but government regulation is standing in the way of taking advantage of global demand.

“On election night, I believe he said, ‘Build, baby, build.’ I think those words matter. I love that enthusiasm. I think he recognizes we have been uncompetitive for the last 10 years, and he knows that changes have to be made,” Ebel said. “I support him in that, and look forward to those changes actually coming to fruition.”

With files from CTV News’ Stephanie Ha
Samantha Pope
Associate Producer, CTV's Power Play

Federal officials were interested in proposed Quebec LNG project, documents show

By The Canadian Press
Published: October 02, 2025 

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Friday, June 20, 2025. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang)

Senior federal officials touted a proposed liquefied natural gas facility in Quebec as having the potential to export “substantial volumes” of LNG to Europe, documents show.

The revelation appears in a federal briefing note prepared in May after Marinvest Energy Canada, a subsidiary of a Norwegian energy company, requested a meeting with the top bureaucrat at the federal Natural Resources Department to discuss its plans.

Although a company representative said a lower-level public servant met with them instead of the department’s deputy minister, the meeting was part of a flurry of lobbying activity in recent months that targeted high-level government officials, political staffers in the office of Energy Minister Tim Hodgson, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Mark Carney and Opposition Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.

Publicly, the government has said little about the project, which is still in very early stages.

But according to the documents obtained by The Canadian Press, public servants were keen to hear the company’s views on the federal regulatory process last spring, as the Liberal government was preparing to table legislation to fast-track major projects.


The facility “could position Canada to export substantial volumes of Canadian natural gas to Europe in support of its medium-term energy security and long-term energy transition,” said the briefing note for the deputy minister of Natural Resources Canada.

Federal officials who drafted and approved the briefing note also recommended the government ensure the company was aware of the importance of engaging early with First Nations.

The Quebec government in 2021 rejected a similar fossil fuel project in the province’s Saguenay region, which had attracted widespread opposition, including from Indigenous communities.

Details about the meeting in May were not previously reported by the company and are only coming to light as a result of the documents obtained by The Canadian Press.

A representative for the company said it didn’t report this meeting on the federal lobbying registry, explaining it was not required to do so since the deputy minister did not attend.

Plans for a new natural gas pipeline and LNG export facility near Baie-Comeau, Que., along the north shore of the Saint-Lawrence River in the province’s Côte-Nord region, were first made public in July by Quebec newspaper Le Devoir.

At the time, Greg Cano, chief operating officer for Marinvest Energy Canada, said in a statement that there is a “clear and growing demand” for LNG in Europe, and Quebec is “strategically well-positioned to meet this need.”

The May briefing note advises the government to “seek insight on the project’s current status, and next steps,” and to inquire “on Marinvest’s long-term forecast of European LNG demand.”

It also recommends inviting “the proponent’s views on the federal regulatory process and timelines, within the context of the new government’s commitment to develop more efficient processes.”

In June, Parliament passed Bill C-5, Carney’s signature legislation meant to speed up approvals for projects deemed to be in the national interest.

Hodgson’s office did not respond to questions this week about the Marinvest project, but said in a statement that all projects to be referred to the new major projects office must strengthen Canada’s autonomy, provide economic benefits, have a high likelihood of success, benefit Indigenous peoples and contribute to climate change goals.


In a statement, Marinvest said it would be “speculative at this stage” to say whether its LNG project could be formally designated a project of national interest.

However, the company added that the project aligns with Bill C-5’s goals of “Canadian autonomy, resilience, security, economic benefits, and advancement of Indigenous interests.”

The Canadian subsidiary of the Norwegian company Marinvest Energy AS was listed in Quebec’s business registry in June. Cano is named as its sole Canadian shareholder.

Though the company reports having no salaried employees in Quebec, it has already hired several lobbyists to pitch the project to government officials.

Four lobbyists with the public relations firm National are currently registered to lobby the federal government on behalf of the company.

Apart from lobbying staff in Carney’s and Hodgson’s offices, the company has also lobbied Canada’s ambassador to Norway.

The communications were to “determine the applicable conditions for implementing a transformative and beneficial energy project for the future of Quebec and Canada,” according to details in the lobbyist registry.

In its statement, Marinvest said it has held “exploratory meetings” with government officials.

“These discussions remain preliminary, as the project is still in development,” the company said, adding that it has not yet submitted a “defined project” for review.

Marinvest said its “immediate priority” is engaging with First Nations about the project.

The May briefing note from Natural Resources Canada says the government should “emphasize the importance of engaging Indigenous communities early in the project design and planning process,” and should ask the company about its plans to “engage Indigenous communities… ahead of the regulatory application.”

An attachment to the document notes that a previous proposal for a natural gas pipeline and export facility in Quebec’s Saguenay region “faced opposition from Indigenous communities, including Innu in northern Quebec.”

The Quebec government axed that project in 2021, saying it risked “disadvantaging the energy transition.”

The following year, it was also rejected by the federal government, after the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada found it was likely to harm the environment.

A spokesperson for Quebec Economy Minister Christine Fréchette said she could not comment on Marinvest, since “no project has officially been submitted.”

But she said the Trump administration has disrupted the Quebec economy and the province has “a duty to objectively and rigorously examine projects of national interest.”

Three lobbyists from National are registered to lobby the Quebec government on behalf of Marinvest.

Quebec Premier François Legault has previously confirmed that members of his team have met with the project’s proponents.

Louis Couillard, a climate campaigner with Greenpeace Canada, said the renewed discussion of LNG in Eastern Canada is a reaction to the Liberal government’s focus on big projects.

He said the Marinvest project seems very similar to the one that Quebec rejected four years ago, but the context has changed since then.

“We’re seeing there’s a political appetite. But in terms of the business case, there’s no known investors yet for that project. It’s a small Norwegian company,” he said.

“When I look at it, I think it’s completely unserious. But there’s a small army of lobbyists ... and they’re meeting all the highest politicians in the country. Somehow, somewhere, there are people that think this is a serious project.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 2, 2025.