In the news today: Canada Post operations to resume Tuesday: company

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed…

Canada Post operations to resume Tuesday: company

Mail will begin moving again on Tuesday as Canada Post employees return to work for the first time in more than a month after the federal government pushed to end the stoppage.

Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon directed the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order the 55,000 picketing employees back to work within days if the tribunal determines a deal isn’t doable before the end of the year.

Canada Post said Sunday night that after two days of hearings over the weekend, an impasse was declared.

It says union members have been ordered back to work under their existing contract, which has been extended until May to allow the bargaining process to resume.

In the meantime, Canada Post says it has agreed with the union to implement a five per cent wage increase, retroactive to the day after the collective agreements expired.

Here’s what else we’re watching…

Body found after mudslide hits home

Squamish RCMP say emergency crews have recovered the body of one of the two people who may have been home after their residence was hit by the same mudslide that closed the Sea to Sky highway.

BC RCMP spokesperson Cpl. James Grandy says the search continues this evening for a second person who remains unaccounted for.

Highway 99 reopened early Sunday after crews were able to clear a mudslide between Lions Bay and Brunswick Beach that had cut off the route between Vancouver and Whistler, B.C.

Mounties in Squamish said in a statement on Sunday morning that one home had been affected by the mudslide with residents still unaccounted for.

RCMP spokesman James Grandy said officers, emergency crews, and heavy-duty search and rescue crews are on site, and they will release more details on Monday.

Former B.C. premier John Horgan remembered

An arena, where John Horgan spent many hours cheering on his favourite local sports teams, was packed Sunday with a full house to pay tribute to the former premier, and wipe away a few tears.

Up to three thousand people gathered at the Q Centre in the suburban Victoria community of Colwood for a memorial service for the former New Democrat premier and Canada’s ambassador to Germany who died last month at age 65 following his third bout with cancer.

Proof of Horgan’s stellar status as a political leader, community builder and father figure was evident at a three-hour memorial service attended by leaders from across the political spectrum, lifelong friends and family.

Among the political leaders attending the ceremony: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, federal New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh, B.C. Premier David Eby, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and John Rustad, leader of B.C.’s Official Opposition Conservatives.

“John and I didn’t talk a lot about spiritual stuff, but I have to say, a gathering of thousands of the political elite of British Columbia in a lacrosse arena on a Sunday would be pretty close to his definition of heaven,” said Eby.

Trudeau was seen wiping tears during the memorial when Horgan’s youngest son spoke about his father.

Freeland to unveil economic update today

The Liberal government in Ottawa is set to unveil its fall economic update today, its first spending package since Donald Trump won the November presidential election.

Ottawa is expected to blow past its deficit target, but Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has said debt-to-GDP is still in decline.

The update is expected to include measures to spur business investment in Canada to respond to Trump’s “America first” economic agenda.

It will also detail the government’s plan for ratcheting up security at the border, anticipated to include money for helicopters and drones.

That comes on the heels of Trump’s threats of slapping a 25 per cent tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico unless both countries clamp down on illegal drugs and migrants coming into the U.S.

B.C. byelection is another test for Trudeau

Voters in the Liberal-held British Columbia riding of Cloverdale—Langley City go to the polls today to pick a new member of Parliament, in another test for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Liberal candidate Madison Fleischer, a local business owner, will face Conservative Tamara Jansen who previously held the seat.

The byelection comes after the Liberals have already lost two long-held seats in the last several months.

The successive byelection losses and dismal poll numbers have inspired public calls from inside and outside of Trudeau’s caucus for him to resign as party leader.

Cloverdale—Langley City in the Fraser Valley east of Vancouver has see-sawed between the Liberals and Conservatives in recent elections, with Jansen unseating Liberal John Aldag in 2019 before a 2021 rematch saw Aldag return as MP.

Aldag quit this year to run in October’s provincial election for the NDP in Langley-Abbotsford, but was defeated by a B.C. Conservative.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 16, 2024.

The Canadian Press