UK company wins rights to explore for oil and gas in Nova Scotia's offshore


The jack-up rig Noble Regina Allen sits on the heavy-lift vessel GPO Amethyst in Halifax harbour on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan© The Canadian Press

HALIFAX — A joint federal-provincial regulator says a U.K. company has won the rights to explore for oil and gas in the water off Nova Scotia.

The Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Energy Regulator says Inceptio Oil and Gas Ltd. has committed $210 million for exploration activities such as seismic testing and drilling.

However, the company will only get an exploration licence after approval from the federal and provincial governments.

And further authorizations will still be required before Inceptio Oil and Gas can actually start seismic testing.

Premier Tim Houston says the successful bid means Nova Scotia is back in the offshore oil and gas business.

Nova Scotia’s once active offshore energy sector vanished after the closure of two major gas fields in 2018.

ExxonMobil’s Sable Offshore Energy Project and Encana’s Deep Panuke Project reflected the industry's potential in the province, Houston said.

“We proved we can build, operate and responsibly manage offshore energy at scale. That was not the peak. It was a preview,” the premier said in a statement Thursday.

"Across our entire offshore margin, we believe there is the potential for 148 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 49 billion barrels of oil.”

Related video: Shell's decade of deals in Canada (Financial Post)

In 2023, the provincial and federal governments vetoed a winning bid by Inceptio to explore for oil and gas in Nova Scotia's waters, following a call for bids by the joint energy regulator.

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

The Canadian Press

Lake Huron's 'fish city' is a sign of trouble at nuclear plant, says Ontario First Nation

Story by CBC/Radio-Canada
• 1d •


The dazzling underwater footage from Lake Huron appears to show such abundance that a documentary crew dubbed a zone "fish city" and showcased it for Earth Day.

But Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) is challenging that narrative of fish crowding in the warm-water outflow of Bruce Nuclear Generating Station — saying the site functions instead as a "fish trap."

The First Nation points to the deaths of up to five million gizzard shad there in 2025 — a tally recorded by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) in a Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission regulatory report.

The mass die-off occurred when enough fish entered the station to clog cooling water intake systems and force a proactive shutdown of Bruce A Unit 2 by the utility.

SON also says several lake sturgeon — a species at risk, considered culturally important in Anishnaabe teachings — became stranded in a forebay pond at the plant. One was rescued in November by Bruce Power and SON, while three remain.

The clash over "fish city" is about more than imagery. It raises questions about how Bruce Power manages ecological risk as it seeks permission from regulators to increase plant limits in order to run reactors at a higher output to produce more electricity.




(Submitted by Saugeen Ojibway Nation)
SON says warm water is 'bait'

Bruce station is North America's largest nuclear plant and releases water as part of its reactor cooling system that is warmer than the surrounding lake. While it's clear fish gather there, regulators didn't cite the plant as the cause of the die-off.

However, Ryan Lauzon, a biologist with SON and an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto who authored a 136-page study on the 2025 fish kill paid for by the First Nation, said the site operates in two stages: attraction and entrapment.


A lake sturgeon, a species at risk and culturally revered by many Indigenous nations, including Saugeen Ojibway Nation, is seen in June 2024 in a forebay pond at Bruce Nuclear Generating Station. (Submitted by Saugeen Ojibway Nation)

"You have this thermal effluent, which is the bait," he said.

Lured by the warm waters and higher food availability within, Lauzon said the fish can, depending on conditions, be pulled into the plant's forebay — a channel inside the plant's water intake system that feeds cooling water to station equipment — once there, larger fish often have no way out.

Related video: How Industrial Fishing Sinks Communities (TED)

How Industrial Fishing Sinks Communities

Let me tell you a story about stolen fish.

Duration 7:28

"There's no real access for them to exit the plant," he said. "Just the fact there's all these fish swimming around outside the nuclear plant doesn't necessarily mean health."

"These fish are actually at risk."
Bruce Power disputes claim

Bruce Power disputed claims the plant caused the 2025 die-off, saying unusual environmental conditions, such as high shad numbers and harsh winter conditions, played a a major role.

"This combination led to a broad, population-level die off observed across the region," the utility said in an email.




(Bruce Power)

Bruce Power said it also added nets, acoustic and strobe-light deterrents as well as sonar and camera monitoring and expanded its lake research to keep fish out of its system, following the 2025 die-off incident.

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission said staff visited the plant three times in March and February of 2025 to confirm the measures had been put in place and said it would continue to monitor their effectiveness.

Seeking increased power limits

In August 2025, Bruce Power asked regulators for permission to generate more electricity from its existing reactors, saying the plant could increase output by about 11 per cent by 2030, from roughly 6,300 to 7,000 megawatts, without building a new reactor.

A final hearing on the matter is scheduled for July 2026.

Maggie Tieman, the director of community and external affairs at Bruce Power wrote in an email to CBC News that the requested increase is needed to help meet rising provincial electricity demand and can be made safely, while staying within environmental limits.

"Due to improvements in pump flow, the reactor power increase requested will not increase temperature differences outside of regulated limits," she wrote. "No operational changes can be implemented without regulator assessment and approval."
No benchmark for fish deaths

At the same time, the company acknowledged in a 2024 report, the year before the mass die-off and reactor shutdown, regulators had no clear benchmarks for judging how many fish deaths are unacceptable when fish are pinned to intake screens or drawn into plant systems.




Bigmouth buffalo swim among other species in a dense 'fish city' near the Bruce nuclear plant, part of a shifting mix of fish in Lake Huron. (Inspired Planet)

"No benchmarks for fish impingement or entrainment are available from federal or provincial authorities that can be used to assess the environmental risk. Effect thresholds are dependent on sufficient knowledge of the population including natural variability," the report said.

It means that while Bruce Power does operate under strict regulatory rules, there is no clear threshold for when fish losses become unacceptable.
Shad play role in lake health

Paul Jones, a retired fisherman who spent roughly two decades working Lake Huron and is now a councillor with the Chippewas of the Nawash Unceded First Nation, part of Saugeen Ojibway Nation, said that while many people dismiss gizzard shad as junk fish, the mass die-off removed an important food source from the lake ecosystem that affected other species.

"You take out all that kind of nourishment out of the lake, it's going to have some sort of effect," he said, noting many people in his community view fish as a gift.


Gizzard shad are extremely sensitive to water temperature and will often seek out warm water effluents as a refuge against winter. These shad, seen in the Thames River in London, Ont., in 2021 gathered in the warmth from storm sewer runoff. (Colin Butler/CBC News)

"We always say that fish give up its life so that we could utilize it, so that we could sustain ourselves."

Jones said the fish deaths matter both ecologically and culturally: shad provide food in the lake, while fish are treated with respect in Ansihnaabe teachings. It underscores why he believes celebratory "fish city" portrayals "missed the mark."

"If you do that, you don't really have to fix anything."

Discovery is a glimpse into life 3,500 years ago

Story by Kathryn Emerson - BBC Radio Gloucestershire


The remains of the 3,500-year-old watering hole were uncovered by archaeologists© Cotswold Archaeology

What first appeared to be bits of wood in the ground has now been revealed to be a rare glimpse into life during the middle Bronze Age.

Archaeologists discovered the remarkably well-preserved timber structure, built more than 3,500 years ago for collecting water, near Gloucester.

Paolo Guarino, a post-excavation manager with Cotswold Archaeology, said the discovery stood out due to the rare preservation of organic material.

"It's not quite that often that we find wood," he explained. "Water-logged conditions are some of the best for the preservation of organic matter like timber."


Paolo Guarino is part of the team that has been analysing the discovery© BBC

The discovery was made during a routine archaeological excavation carried out ahead of a proposed housing development, just south of Gloucester, in an area where Roman and Anglo-Saxon finds have also been made.


Archaeologists working across multiple digs at a development site near Gloucester© Cotswold Archaeology

Archaeologists identified the well has an upper platform made of "planks and roundwood", which connects to a log ladde descending into a lower chamber.

"One of the things we do wonder is why we have such a feature in an area that is now rich in streams and rivers," added Guarino.

"We know from pollen analysis that during the Middle Bronze Age there was a period of weather-warming. The fact we're finding more of these water holes suggests communities were digging them to access water near their settlements."

He added it is perhaps ironic that high water levels over time are what likely contributed to the well's preservation.


Archaeologists digging deeper into the well and discovering layered platforms© Cotswold Archaeology

Excavation work and analysis has now been completed, and the findings will be presented to developers and local councillors.

The results could lead to further archaeological investigations across a wider area.

Meanwhile the preserved timbers are being analysed by specialists, with some selected for conservation.

More on this story
Iron Age settlement and 'Roman villa' unearthed
Medieval wall uncovered at historic monument
Roman settlement dig 'exceeded all expectations'

Why a salary of $115K isn't enough to purchase a house in some parts of Canada

Story by CBC/Radio-Canada


Across 23 countries with available OECD data, Canada experienced the sharpest rise in the home price-to-income ratio, up more than 80 per cent over the past two decades.

© Evan Mitsui/CBC

Ron Butler says that when he started in the mortgage business 30 years ago, it was quite easy for a grocery store produce manager or part-time nurse to find the five per cent down payment needed to buy a home.

"Those days are gone," Butler said recently at a parliamentary finance committee hearing looking into household debt in Canada.

Asked how long it would take someone with a solid, full-time job to save up the minimum down payment on a home today, Butler said that when it comes to the Greater Toronto Area, "the reality is they never could."

"If you're running about $110,000, $115,000 income, you have to pay rent, you have to eat, you have to live. You pay taxes," Butler said. "You could not possibly accumulate a satisfactory down payment for a house price that's still sort of just under a million dollars."

In Ontario before 2015, a family making $115,000 a year "had a shot" at home ownership, Butler said. They would have to go to places like Ajax, Burlington, Hamilton or the Niagara region to find a single-family home, but they would be able to find something to buy.

"Today, a $115,000 income earner, they really can't buy anything."

According to March 2026 figures from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), the national average sale price for a home in Canada was $673,084. That means the minimum down payment required would be just over $42,000.

• Related video: 9 financial realities Canadians are quietly adjusting to (Canadian Essence)

But in the Greater Toronto Area, the average price was $1,017,796, while in Greater Vancouver, it was $1,201,123. In those cases, the minimum down payment would be about about $76,000 and $95,000, respectively.

It's not just in parts of Toronto and Vancouver where a single income in the $100,000 range is insufficient to be able to buy a home.

"Over the last few years, it's spread to other locations," said Mike Moffatt, founding director of the University of Ottawa's Missing Middle Initiative (MMI) and a researcher into Canada's housing supply and affordability crisis.

For example, CBC calculated that by using CREA's March 2026 median house prices and assuming a mortgage rate of 4.39 per cent amortized over 25 years, a person would need to make $122,300 to afford a 10 per cent down payment, a $4,000 annual tax bill and to pay $150 monthly in heating for a home in Calgary.

In Montreal, one would need to make $127,800, and in Ottawa $132,100 to do the same.

A report published in February this year by MMI found that across 23 Canadian metropolitan areas, newly built family-sized starter homes are now more than twice as expensive relative to median income as they were in 2004. According to the report, in the last two decades, new home prices at the lower end of the market have risen by 265 per cent on average, while young dual-earner incomes grew just 76 per cent.

Another MMI report published in November found that across 23 countries with available OECD data, Canada experienced the sharpest rise in the home price-to-income ratio, up more than 80 per cent since 2004.

A home that cost three years’ income in 2004 now costs nearly 5½ years' income today, the report found.

"A combination of skyrocketing home prices and stagnant wage growth has left Canadian households far worse off than their peers abroad," the report said.

Help from Mom and Dad

The people buying houses, at least in Ontario and British Columbia, are almost consistently in the top 10 or 15 per cent of earners in the country, Butler said.

Either that or people are getting massive assistance from their parents, who are using some of the accumulated equity in their own homes to assist their kids in buying a place, Butler said.

He gave the example of a semi-detached home in most of the GTA and most of Greater Vancouver, which would cost just under $800,000.

"That's not a nice one. That's not a great neighbourhood," he said. Still, if you're making $115,000, "that's seven times your income. You can't get a mortgage even with 20 per cent down."

Butler said it's "thin on the ground" in terms of Canadian locales where the lower part of middle-income earners can afford a home.

Moffatt said some parts of Quebec, northern Alberta, Saskatchewan, and some areas of Manitoba, Atlantic Canada and northern Ontario have homes that are priced relatively low compared to incomes.

When asked for advice on where someone would have to go to find an affordable house, "it's largely to look for places where people don't live as much," he said.

"But that list of places is shrinking."

The wage dilemma

He said this housing dysfunction, which 20 years ago was basically just a Toronto and Vancouver problem, has spread across the country, for the main reason that people moved.

In fact, Moffatt said the place where home prices have increased the most in Canada over a 10-year period was Tillsonburg, Ont., which is outside of London.

"And the reason for that is just that it was one of the cheapest places in the country to live, and families started moving there."

The challenge with housing affordability is that the costs of homebuilding have not gone down. Moffatt said one of the risks is an extended period where new homes aren't being built.

"Because right now, if you want a home, it's hard to build something new that can compete with the prices on the resale market," he said.

And if wages increased without more homes being built, that would just lead to more money chasing the same number of homes.

But wage growth is part of the solution, he said.

"That's how we're going to get affordability. It's not just the prices of homes falling, but you need wages to rise, rise faster than housing prices."

Trump signs order authorizing Bridger's Canada-Wyoming crude pipeline

Story by CBC/Radio-Canada

April 30, 2026.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an order authorizing a proposed project to transport Canadian oil across the border as part of an effort to revive parts of the cancelled Keystone XL pipeline.

South Bow, the Canadian pipeline company behind the cancelled Keystone XL pipeline, is partnering with U.S. company Bridger Pipeline on the proposed project.

South Bow is considering reviving some of the already built line in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Bridger Pipeline is pursuing construction of a potential 1,038-kilometre pipeline beginning near the U.S.-Canada border in Phillips County, Mont., and transiting to Guernsey, Wyo.

As Trump signed the order, White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf told the president, "This is a trans-border pipeline similar to the old Keystone XL pipeline."

Trump responded: "A lot of jobs, too. A lot of jobs. OK, very good."


(Kyle Bakx/CBC)

New proposal revives part of Keystone XL route

The pipeline could increase Canada's crude exports to the U.S. by more than 12 per cent if it goes ahead.

The new proposal involves a different route through the U.S. than the previous Keystone XL project, which was cancelled by former U.S. president Joe Biden in 2021 after years of Indigenous and environmental opposition.\

However, it would use some of the previously built pipe on the Canadian side, where the Keystone XL line is already fully permitted. In 2021, about 150 kilometres of pipe were installed in Alberta.

"South Bow continues to evaluate the Prairie Connector project, a potential expansion of its Canadian asset base that would leverage existing infrastructure and permitted corridors to improve market access for Canadian crude oil," South Bow spokesperson Solomiya Martoiu said in an emailed statement.

"The Prairie Connector project remains in early stages and is subject to ongoing commercial, stakeholder and rightsholder discussions, regulatory processes and evaluation," Martoiu said.

South Bow was created in 2024, when former Keystone XL proponent TC Energy spun off its oil pipeline business.

"One reason we see it keep coming back is that there are some market realities that make a lot of sense," James Coleman, an energy law professor at the University of Minnesota, said in an interview with CBC News.

"There are continued increases in oil production in Canada. We are seeing right now the biggest threats to waterborne traffic of oil that we've ever seen in the world," he said.

North America is uniquely well positioned to deal with the energy crisis caused by the U.S. war in Iran because of the continent's mix of heavy oil, light oil, refining capacity and natural gas, Coleman said.

Still, Coleman warned there could be legal challenges to this proposal, similar to the lawsuits against Keystone XL.
Keystone revival resurfaces during trade talks

The pipeline could transport about 550,000 barrels of Canadian crude per day to the U.S.

"Canada has benefited for decades from having fully integrated infrastructure tied to the United States, the largest oil and gas consuming market on the planet," Lisa Baiton, CEO of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said in an emailed statement.

Baiton said the association supports "any new capacity that is commercially viable and can move Canadian energy reliably."

State regulatory permits will still be required for the project to proceed.

"We are aware of the issuance of permits to Bridger Pipeline. The Government of Canada remains focused on strengthening Canada’s position as an energy superpower, supporting North American and global energy security, and advancing the diversification of our trade partnerships," Charlotte Power, a spokesperson for natural resources minister Tim Hodgson, said in an emailed statement.


Pipe ready to be used for the construction of the Canadian leg of the Keystone XL pipeline in Alberta in September 2020. (Kyle Bakx/CBC)

The presidential permit comes at a time when Canada and the U.S. are facing an ongoing trade war and will soon begin negotiations on a new North American trade agreement.

Last October, Prime Minister Mark Carney floated the idea of Keystone XL to Trump during a meeting at the White House.


During the construction of the Canadian leg of the Keystone XL pipeline, about 1,000 workers were based in the town of Oyen, located 300 kilometres east of Calgary.

The 1,897-kilometre Keystone XL pipeline was first announced in 2005 and designed to carry 830,000 barrels of crude a day from Hardisty, Alta., to Nebraska. It would then connect with the original Keystone pipeline, which runs to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries.

In 2024, TC Energy lost its bid to recoup $15 billion US from the U.S. government after claiming it was treated unfairly and inequitably.

Carney says there is 'one negotiator for Canada' after Conservative MPs descend on Washington

Story by Stephanie Taylor

April 30, 2026.


Prime Minister Mark Carney walks with Anita Anand, Minister of Foreign Affairs at Oakville's IUOE Local 793, Thursday April 30, 2026.

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday that politicians travelling to Washington who are not part of his government often return home not having learned “anything new” about Canada-U.S. trade.

He added that the same can be said when it comes to gleaning information about the state of ongoing discussions and the status of negotiations.


“In the end, there’s one negotiator for Canada, and that is the Government of Canada,” Carney said, speaking at an unrelated announcement in Oakville, Ont.

“Our interlocutors in the United States are generous people. They’re generous with their time, and it’s good of them to meet a host of Canadians coming down. But in the end, they know, and we know that we’re the negotiators.”

Carney’s comments come after Conservative MP Jamil Jivani, along with some of the party’s other MPs, including its foreign affairs critic Michael Chong, went to Washington to participate in a networking event hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Canada, which saw them meet with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and included other federal and provincial officials.

Citing unnamed sources, The Canadian Press reported Thursday that Greer told those in attendance the “America First” policy ushered in under U.S President Donald Trump was unmovable and that the U.S. was interested in working with Canada on energy issues. National Post has not independently confirmed the contents of what was said.

 Related video: ‘There is one negotiator,’ says Carney on Conservative MP trips to Washington DC (CBC)

“It has not been our experience that people have gone to Washington and have learned anything new, nor has it been that they have learned everything that is either being discussed on the table or where the negotiations are in the end,” Carney said on Thursday.

This trip marks the second Jivani has taken since February, where he went to the White House to meet with Vice-President JD Vance, whom he has been friends with since attending Yale Law School together, along with other Trump officials, saying at the time he wanted to extend a hand to the Carney government to help in navigating the Canada-U.S. relationship.

Opposition Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said on Wednesday that dozens of Conservative MPs have travelled to Washington in recent years to fight for “tariff- free trade” and underscored how the party stands ready to fight for Canadian workers.

Ontario MP Shelby Kramp-Neuman, who serves as the party’s critic in Parliament on Canada-U.S. trade, told reporters on Wednesday that she intends to travel to Washington in the coming weeks.

Poilievre, who travelled to the U.S. last month, stopping in Texas, Michigan and New York, has not travelled to Washington himself since becoming party leader back in 2022. He has said he takes the approach of letting the U.S. administration deal with “one prime minister at a time.”

The Conservative leader recently told reporters that his intention was to brief Carney on his trip. During an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, aired last month, he told the mega-popular host that he was texting with the prime minister, whom he would not criticize while on foreign soil.

Poilievre’s Conservatives have criticized Carney’s government for not yet having secured any kind of trade deal with Trump that would see existing tariffs, such as the 50 per cent levies on steel and aluminum lowered or lessened.

The party’s MPs have also called on the government to be more transparent about its plans to manage the relationship with the U.S., given the upcoming July 1 deadline to begin the scheduled review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement.

Carney has characterized Canada’s trade deal with the U.S. as being an envy of its other trading partners, given that goods covered by the trilateral deal continue to be exempt, telling CBC in an interview that aired this week that he did not want to rush into striking a deal with Trump that “disadvantages us.”

National Post

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here.

First reading: Denmark to procure state-of-the-art Canadian assault rifle before Canada does

Opinion by Tristin Hopper
NATIONAL POST



Variants of the Modular Rail Rifle, also known as the C8.


Despite the Department of Defence touting its new “fast-tracked” procurement strategy, a new Canadian-made assault rifle is already equipping Danish soldiers months before a Canadian will ever see one.

The C8 Modular Rail Rifle, first unveiled at an Ottawa military trade show in 2024, is lighter, more accurate and stealthier than the C7 assault rifle currently in Canadian Armed Forces service.

Although it’s made in Kitchener, Ont., the tiny Danish military has managed to secure the rifles first, in larger quantities, and on a faster timeline.

It was last August that the Danish Ministry of Defence Acquisition first announced a contract with Colt Canada to buy 26,000 of the rifles, which Danes are calling the Gevaer M/25.

In February, the order was then expanded to 50,000, with the additional rifles to be delivered by 2027.

As of press time, the rifles are already in Danish service. In January, the Danish government published photos of large crates of the guns, shrouded in bubble wrap, arriving from Canada.



The Government of Canada, by contrast, inked its contract to buy the C8 just last month. On March 19, the newly formed Defence Investment Agency first announced its deal with Colt Canada to “replace current Canadian Armed Forces assault rifles.”

The contract shows that Canada will be buying fewer rifles to start, and will be taking more time to phase them in. Although the eventual plan is to buy 65,402 assault rifles, the initial commitment is for 10,000 rifles per year for three years.

The net effect is that Denmark, which has about 9,000 full-time professional soldiers in its army, is purchasing 50,000 C8 rifles on a timeline of about 18 months.

While Canada, which has 22,500 active personnel in its army, is purchasing its first tranche of 30,000 C8 rifles on a timeline of at least three years.

This is all happening as Canadian troops happen to be serving alongside Danish ones as part of the NATO Multinational Brigade in Latvia. Which means that the first glimpse Canadians get of their next assault rifle could be in the hands of Danes deployed to the Baltic.

In tandem with the Carney government’s massive expansion in military spending has been a promise to speed up the Department of Defence’s infamously slow procurement process.

As the Prime Minister’s Office said in a February statement , “Canada’s defence procurement has long been too complicated, too slow, and too reliant on international suppliers, limiting the growth of our defence industries.”

The glacial pace of Canadian defence procurement was best illustrated by its decades-long odyssey to replace the Browning Hi-Power, a pistol that had been in Canadian service since the Second World War.

Despite the fact that the 74-year-old pistols were so worn out they were constantly jamming, it took a 13-year process for the Department of Defence to eventually swap them out with the German-designed Sig Sauer P320.

The delay was ultimately so long that the Canadian military had to set up an “ Army Interim Pistol Program ” just to cover for the fact that units were running out of functioning pistols.

Compare this with the experience of the British Army, who in 2010 faced the exact same process of phasing out a war-era Browning-made pistol as its official sidearm. In a process lasting no longer than two years, the U.K. Ministry of Defence tested the available substitutes, and then put in an order to buy 25,000 pistols from Austria’s Glock Inc.

The process to acquire the C8 rifle has been much the same.

Denmark simply empowered its Ministry of Defence Acquisition to buy the best available rifle, while Canada launched into a years-long bureaucratic review process.

It was six years ago that the Canadian Army first officially announced its plans to acquire a “Canadian Modular Assault Rifle,” submitting its plans to the Independent Review Panel for Defence Acquisitions in July 2020.

As detailed by the publication Canadian Army Today , the process very quickly slowed to a crawl due to “chronic shortages of specialized staff.”

Prior Canadian procurement odysseys have often been sidelined by political intervention, particularly over the issue of foreign-made equipment.

Canada’s acquisition of a replacement to its CF-18 fighter jets, for instance, remains in a limbo that has now stretched to 10 years, with recent delays being influenced by Ottawa’s hesitance to buy the U.S.-designed F-35.

Assault rifles, however, are one of the very few military technologies that Canada has no problem manufacturing in-house.

Denmark, in particular, has been employing Canadian-made assault rifles since the 1990s. The new C8s will be replacing rifles also made by Colt Canada, the C7.

First Reading is a Canadian politics newsletter curated by the National Post’s own Tristin Hopper. 

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PERMANENT ARMS ECONOMY

'Only yes means yes' rape definition backed by EU lawmakers

On Tuesday, April 28, 2026, it was approved by a large majority of 447 to 160 votes in the European Parliament.

Thomas Latschan

DW

04/28/2026

The European Parliament voted for a consent-based definition of rape. But what constitutes rape under criminal law still varies significantly across the bloc.

After decades of arguing, the European Parliament agreed on a common definition of rape

Image: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa/picture alliance


About half of all women in the European Union have been sexually harassed at least once since their 15th birthday, according to the European Council.

In response, the EU has launched several measures to better protect women and girls from sexual assault. On October 1, 2023, it acceded to the Istanbul Convention, the world's most comprehensive set of rules for combating gender-based violence. In 2024, the bloc adopted a directive that criminalizes sexual harassment in the workplace, cyberstalking, and the non-consensual distribution of intimate images across the EU.

The new EU Gender Equality Strategy specifically targets cyberviolence, deepfakes, and digital violence against women. European countries invest hundreds of millions of euros annually in projects focused on violence prevention and victim protection.

Swedish parliamentarians led the initiative to accept "only yes means yes" as common European definition

Image: Panama Pictures/IMAGO

Cross-party initiative in the European Parliament

However, when it comes to defining what actually constitutes rape under criminal law, the 27 EU member states have been unable to reach a consensus for decades. A cross-party initiative in European Parliament aimed to push the European Commission to redefine the legal framework for this.

"The legislative initiative aims to create a uniform EU-wide regulation that ensures that in sexual relationships, only 'yes' truly means 'yes' and that all rape laws in the EU are based on the principle of consent," Evin Incir, a member of the European Parliament representing the Swedish Social Democratic Party and one of the initiators of the latest push, told DW.

In future, Incir added, the decisive factor should be "the absence of consent" and "not the fact that women have to fight back or show bruises to prove they said 'no!'"

The document also calls for alignment with international standards and stronger support for victims across all member states, including access to justice, specialized services, and healthcare.

On Tuesday, April 28, 2026, it was approved by a large majority of 447 to 160 votes in the European Parliament.

Criminal law differences within the EU

Currently, criminal law definitions of what is considered rape vary considerably across Europe.

Their legal models can be broadly divided into three categories. In several EU countries, an act is only considered rape if the perpetrator uses or threatens to use physical force. In other countries, including Germany, Austria, and Poland, the so-called "no means no" model applies: Rape is considered a crime if the act is committed against the victim's recognizable will, meaning they actively refuses to consent.

The "only yes means yes" model, on the other hand, means that any sex without explicit, voluntary consent is defined as rape. This model was first introduced in Sweden but is also in effect in numerous other EU countries such as Belgium, Denmark, Croatia, Greece, Spain and the Netherlands. France joined in November 2025, in the wake of the Gisele Pelicot case, which shocked the entire country. The introduction of this law is also currently being discussed in the Czech Republic.

Convictions at court remain low as rapes are often not reported

Image: Suvee Subyen/COLOURBOX

Sweden pioneers legislation to stop rape

The prosecution rate for rape cases remains extremely low. Only a fraction of rape crimes is reported at all, and trials often pit one person's word against another's word. Also, clear evidence of rape is difficult to establish. Some estimates suggest that across Europe, only a low single-digit percentage of actual rapists are actually convicted.

In Sweden, the EU country that was the first to introduce the "only yes means yes" rule in 2018, the number of convicted rapists has risen significantly. This is likely also due Stockholm simultaneously introducing the criminal offense of "grossly negligent rape." Under this provision, perpetrators can now be convicted if they did not ensure beforehand that their partner is voluntarily participating in the sexual act.

Nevertheless, proving a rape case in court remains difficult, and the overall conviction rate remains low. Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International recognize the transition to the "only yes means yes" rule as an important step, also in terms of social change.

More European nations adopt similar rape laws

The "only yes means yes" rule was proposed for the second time as a Europe-wide standard. An earlier initiative failed in 2024 — in part due to France and Germany's obstruction in the European Council. The issue was less about a substantive rejection of the consensus principle and more about formal legal concerns.

Because rape is not explicitly listed in the EU treaties as a criminal offense with a cross-border dimension, countries have argued the EU lacks authority to establish a Europe-wide definition. Criminal law is considered one of the core areas of national sovereignty.

Germany and France expressed fears the European Commission would overstep its authority and that a corresponding directive could be overturned by the European Court of Justice.

"A lot has happened since 2024, when we first called for legislation on persistent rape," Swedish MEP Evin Incir told DW, highlighting that not only France has changed its position at the national level, but also Italy is currently working on a corresponding law.

Misogyny on social media  12:34


This article was originally published in German.

Thomas Latschan Author and editor with a focus on global politics

Football: Afghan women's team recognized in blow to Taliban

Matt Pearson

DW

Banned from playing football and sent into exile, Afghanistan's women's team has had to fight to regain international status. That newly awarded recognition is a "hard slap to the face" of the Taliban, a player told DW.

Afghanistan will now be allowed to compete in the world's top football tournaments

Image: Mosa'ab Elshamy/AP Photo/picture alliance

After years of fleeing, fighting, advocating and training, Afghanistan's women have won the right to compete for football's biggest prizes as their country's official national team.

An unprecedented decision made by world football's governing body, FIFA, in Toronto on Tuesday paves the way for the current squad to try to qualify for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 and then future World Cups and Asian Cups.

It is another huge step for a team who have had to fight for their right to play, with the Taliban-run football association refusing to sanction an Afghanistan national women's team.

"It's something really huge for us, to show the world that Afghan women and girls are capable of doing amazing things," national team goalkeeper Elaha Safdari told DW. "It's a hard slap to the face of the Taliban and those people who were against us.

Football and freedom: Afghan women against the world  12:34

"We are just showing that we are capable of doing amazing things through sports. And of course, we are still raising our voice for all the voiceless who are back home."
Afghan example may open the door for others

Safdari was one of the Afghanistan Women's United squad who took part in a small tournament called 'FIFA Unites Women's Series' in Morocco in 2025. The squad are made up of refugees who now live mostly in Australia and Europe and have faced a host of logistical and political challenges. They will likely form the bulk of the new national team.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said the amendment made at the organization's Council was "momentous." He said it meant FIFA can now "approve the registration of a national or representative team under exceptional circumstances where a Member Association is unable to do so."

"This is a powerful and unprecedented step in world sport," he added. "FIFA has listened to these players as part of its responsibility to protect the right of every girl and woman to play football and to represent who they are."

Infantino also pointed to his organization's 'Strategy for Action for Afghan Women's Football, approved in 2025, as a key driver of the change.

Goalkeeper Elaha Safdari now lives in Engand and plays club football for Rotherham United

Image: Francois Nel - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images

Andrea Florence, the Executive Director of the Sport and Rights Alliance advocacy group, pointed out that the precedent set by this amendment "demonstrates that governing bodies can adapt their rules to protect human rights when extraordinary circumstances demand it."

This will likely open the door for other national teams, often women's ones, who are denied the opportunity to play by their federations.
Big moment in Afghanistan and in exile

Khalida Popal, the former Afghanistan captain, who has become a figurehead for the new generation, sat next to Infantino when the news was announced as the current squad watched together online elsewhere.

"It means so much. The whole situation that Afghanistan women have is very emotional," she said. "This is our moment, this is our time and football is our voice and our platform."

Afghanistan won one of their three games at the FIFA Unites Women's Series 2025 and forged team spiritImage: Ann Odong/FIFA

For Safdari and her teammates, this is a chance to look ahead and build on the momentum and team spirit forged at the tournament in Morocco, in which the Afghans were not recognized as a full national team.

"Our situation is quite different from other teams but I feel like that's a big strength for us," Safdari said. "We've been training hard, we've been aiming for this, and it's a new hope for us. It shows our resilience and it just shows that if we work hard, we can definitely achieve [our goals]."

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Fight not over until Taliban are out

But with the brutal repression of women continuing back home, Safdari and the other players know that their fight is not fully won while the Taliban remain in power. Nevertheless, Safdari and the rest of the squad enjoy a rare platform as Afghan women international athletes. Now that their stage is even greater, they remain determined to shout from it for those back home.

"First of all I [thought of] my parents, who are still back home. They've already heard the news and are just proud of how far that I came personally. It's really something for me to play for my country and make my people, my family and my parents proud.

Dreams in the dust - The divided rise of Afghan cricket 12:34

"Of course, I've heard so many good things from friends and the people who are still back home. And we've seen how they were supporting us through this news on social media."

The squad, who are funded and supported by FIFA during international breaks, are set to get together in New Zealand for their first matches since the games in Morocco last October. They will play a match against the Cook Islands as part of an eight-day training camp before Olympic qualifiers are set to start, likely later this year. That will be followed, eventually, by World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers and all sorts of other opportunities afforded to them by their new status.

"It sounds really great [to hear Afghanistan can compete in those tournaments] and I still cannot believe it that we are finally official and we can play qualifiers," Safdari said.

With the team having barely been in the same country, let alone played together in recent years, there is plenty of work to do to catch up. But for players like Safdari who have had to forge new lives in foreign lands at a young age while fighting for their right to play football, that is not a daunting proposition.

Edited by: Janek Speight

Matt Pearson Reporter and editor@thisismpearson

Iran crisis, World Cup tensions overshadow FIFA Congress in Vancouver

Football officials gather in Vancouver on Thursday for FIFA’s 76th Congress, weeks before the expanded World Cup kicks off in North America. War in Iran, logistics and Russia’s ban top the agenda. Iranian federation officials left Canada abruptly, casting a shadow over the meeting.


Issued on: 30/04/2026 - 
By: FRANCE 24

FIFA President Gianni Infantino is juggling multiple issues ahead of the 76th FIFA Congress in Vancouver, the last major gathering of football's global governing body before the World Cup © Kent NISHIMURA, AFP

Football's power brokers meet in Vancouver on Thursday as FIFA convenes its 76th Congress, a high stakes gathering less than two months before the biggest World Cup ever opens across Canada, Mexico and the United States

The Iran war, World Cup logistical headaches and the unresolved question of Russia's international ban are set to feature in discussions among roughly 1,600 delegates from more than 200 member associations.

Iran's absence is already threatening to overshadow the meeting.

Officials from the Iranian football federation (FFIRI) abruptly left Canada after landing in Toronto earlier this week, abandoning their onward trip to Vancouver.

Iranian media said FFIRI president Mehdi Taj – a former member of Tehran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – and two colleagues flew home after being "insulted" by Canadian immigration officers.

Canada, which designated the IRGC a terrorist organization in 2024, said Wednesday that individuals linked to the force were "inadmissible".

"While we cannot comment on individual cases due to privacy laws, the government has been clear and consistent: IRGC officials are inadmissible to Canada and have no place in our country," Canada's immigration agency said in a statement.

The episode adds fresh uncertainty to Iran's World Cup status, already clouded since the Middle East war erupted on February 28 with a wave of attacks by the United States and Israel.

Iranian football officials said last month they had suggested moving their three World Cup group games from the United States to co-hosts Mexico – a plan which was swiftly nixed by FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

Infantino told AFP that Iran will play at the World Cup "where they are supposed to be, according to the draw."

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted last week that Iran's footballers would be welcome to compete at the tournament.

But Rubio warned that the United States may yet bar entry to members of the Iranian delegation with ties to the IRGC.
Infantino under scrutiny

The FIFA boss heads into Thursday's meeting facing scrutiny following criticism over skyrocketing World Cup ticket prices and his close friendship with US President Donald Trump.

FIFA on Tuesday announced it had boosted World Cup financial distributions to nearly $900 million, up from the initial $727 million announced in December.

The move came after several World Cup-qualified teams reportedly warned that they risked losing money from competing at the sprawling tournament, citing the high cost of travel, taxes and overall operations.

Rights groups meanwhile have called for the football supremo to use his upcoming address to FIFA delegates to give assurances that World Cup visitors face no risk of being caught in the Trump administration's draconian immigration crackdown.

"FIFA President Gianni Infantino has yet to publicly outline how fans, journalists and local communities will be safe from arbitrary detention, mass deportations and crackdowns on free expression," Amnesty International's head of economic and social justice Steve Cockburn said Wednesday.

"This FIFA Congress should be the moment he does so, and the global football community must receive more than empty platitudes," Cockburn added in a statement.

Infantino is also facing calls to abolish the FIFA Peace Prize, which he awarded to Trump during last December's World Cup draw in Washington.

"We want to see (the prize) abolished," Norwegian football association president Lise Klaveness told reporters this week. "We don't think it's part of FIFA's mandate to give such a prize."

Thursday's Congress could also address the issue of Russia's ongoing ban from international football, which has been in force since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Infantino spoke in favor of lifting the ban on Russia earlier this year.

"We have to (look at readmitting Russia). Definitely," Infantino told Britain's Sky News.

"This ban has not achieved anything, it has just created more frustration and hatred."

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Iranian football officials leave Canada before FIFA Congress due to airport 'insult'


A team of Iranian football officials left Canada before the start of this week's FIFA Congress due to the "inappropriate behaviour" of immigration officials at Toronto airport, Iranian media reported Wednesday. The Iranian federation's president is a former member of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, which is a designated terror group in Canada.


Issued on: 29/04/2026 - 
By: FRANCE 24

File photo of the 2026 World Cup logo on a screen outside Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles taken on May 17, 2023. © Jae C. Hong, AP

Top Iranian football officials left Canada before the start of the FIFA Congress because of the behaviour of officials during immigration checks at Toronto's international airport, Iranian media reported Wednesday.

The global football body's gathering of member nation representatives will be held this week in Vancouver, the British Columbia city which is also hosting seven matches in the World Cup that Canada will co-host with the United States and Mexico this summer.

The Iranian football federation (FFIRI) president, secretary general and deputy secretary general "returned to Turkey on the first flight due to the inappropriate behaviour of the immigration officials at the airport and the insult to one of the most honourable organs of the Iranian Armed Forces", several outlets reported, without providing further details.

In 2024, Canada designated Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) a terror group, barring its members from entering the country.

The Iranian federation's president Mehdi Taj is a former IRGC member.

The Iranian reports said the officials had travelled to Canada with "official visas" before turning around.

The incident underscores the practical and political obstacles surrounding Iran's participation at the World Cup, the most politically ‌sensitive item on FIFA's agenda since the US and Israel launched a war against Iran in February.

Iran's ⁠qualification has not removed hurdles tied to travel, visas and security in a tournament staged in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said it could not comment on specific cases due to privacy but added: "IRGC officials are inadmissible to Canada."

Doubts over Iranian team's attendance

While FIFA has insisted fixtures will proceed as scheduled, the delegation's withdrawal deepens doubts over whether ​Iranian players, officials and supporters will be able to move freely across borders during the tournament.

The officials – ‌who had travelled to Canada to attend Thursday’s Congress in Vancouver – returned on the next available flight, according to the Tasnim report, which added that the incident involved an insult directed at one of the most decorated branches of Iran's armed forces.

FIFA has since contacted the Iranian ‌delegation to express regret over the incident and indicated that president Gianni Infantino would arrange a meeting with them at the organisation’s headquarters, the report added. FIFA did not respond ​to a request for comment from Reuters. A source at the FIFA Congress told Reuters FIFA had sent a representative to mediate in Toronto but their efforts were in vain.

Doubts have risen over the Iranian team's attendance at the World Cup because of the Middle East war that began on February 28 with a massive wave of US-Israel attacks.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted last week that Iran's footballers would be welcome at the global spectacle.

But he warned that the United States may yet bar entry to members of the Iranian delegation it judged to have ties to the Revolutionary Guard, which is also designated a terrorist organisation by Washington and several other governments.

No one "from the US has told them they can't come", Rubio said.

'Visa issues'

Sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters that the Iranian ​officials were also unable to attend Tuesday's Asian Football Confederation Congress, which was also held in Vancouver, due to visa ​issues.

“If it's like this in Canada where it's supposed to be easy, how is it ​going to be for the World Cup in the US?" a delegate at the AFC Congress told Reuters on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Concerns over security, travel restrictions and the broader geopolitical climate have prompted officials in Tehran to seek guarantees for the Iran team at the World Cup and, in some cases, explore the possibility of ⁠alternative venues for their matches in the United States.

FIFA has so far resisted any changes, reiterating that participating teams are expected to adhere to the established match ⁠schedule.

The Congress – bringing together ​more than 200 member associations – was already expected to focus on operational and financial questions linked to the first 48-team World Cup.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)