Author: Sam Allcock

CALGARY — Canada’s ski jumping contingent for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games is set, with a four-athlete roster featuring a mix of Olympic experience, recent podium form and two first-time Olympians. Ski Jumping Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee announced Monday that Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes, Natalie Eilers, Nicole Maurer and Abigail Strate have been selected to represent Canada in Italy. The athletes earned their places through performances during the Olympic qualification window. All four athletes are based in Calgary, underscoring the city’s long-standing role as the hub of Canada’s ski jumping program. Boyd-Clowes and Strate return to the Games…

OTTAWA — Ottawa Tourism is rolling out a slate of new events and visitor experiences ahead of the capital’s bicentennial celebrations, announcing funding for 14 projects through its 200th Tourism Animation Fund. The program is designed to help tourism operators and cultural organizations develop new offerings that encourage overnight stays, boost visitor spending and support private sector investment as Ottawa marks 200 years. Ottawa Tourism said the funded projects will run between March 1 and Dec. 31, 2026, aligning with the city’s anniversary calendar. Under the fund, recipients can receive grants of up to $20,000 per project, covering as much…

Ottawa Tourism has awarded funding to 14 new and expanded visitor experiences as part of the city’s 2026 bicentennial, aiming to boost overnight stays, visitor spending, and private-sector investment during the year-long celebration. The organization announced Tuesday that recipients of its 200th Tourism Animation Fund will receive grants of up to $20,000 per project, covering as much as 50% of eligible expenses. Funded initiatives will run between March 1 and Dec. 31, 2026, and are designed to create tourism-oriented programming that highlights Ottawa’s culture, history, and communities. Ottawa Tourism said the program is intended to “catalyze the development of quality…

Ontario’s Sling Sisters are preparing to enter 2026 with their first full-length release, announcing their debut album What I Hope to Find will arrive Jan. 31, 2026, alongside a slate of live dates across the province and beyond. The Blues-Americana-Country trio—based between Cambridge and Toronto—has also released its lead single, “Chasing Whiskey With A Kiss,” accompanied by a new music video. The track serves as the first public preview of the album’s direction: roots-based storytelling with a polished, performance-forward sound designed around three-part vocal harmony. The group is led by vocalist and producer Elana Harte, with Suzie B. and Kelly…

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Collective Book Studio, a woman-owned independent publisher, says it will release a second children’s title from New York Times bestselling author, pilot and philanthropist Lauren Sánchez Bezos, expanding her Flynn the Fly series with a new ocean-themed adventure. The publisher announced that The Fly Who Flew Under the Sea will be published on March 3, 2026, with editions planned in both English and Spanish. It will be Sánchez Bezos’ second book in the Fly series, following the continuing story of Flynn, a character designed to encourage young readers through themes of self-confidence, learning differences and environmental…

TORONTO — The federal and Ontario governments are investing up to $20 million in a new program aimed at helping local farmers, food processors and agribusinesses expand sales of Ontario-grown products in domestic and international markets, as the sector navigates trade pressures, tariffs and broader economic uncertainty. The funding, announced Tuesday, will be delivered through the Market Diversification and Trade Resiliency Initiative, a new stream under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (SCAP). Governments say the initiative is designed to strengthen competitiveness, improve market access and support businesses looking to diversify their customer base and production capacity. The program is aligned…

TORONTO — The Ontario government is opening a second intake of its $20 million Rural Ontario Development Program, expanding support aimed at strengthening local economies, building infrastructure and sustaining employment in smaller communities across the province. The province announced the new intake Monday at the 2026 annual Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) conference in Toronto. Applications are now open to rural municipalities, businesses, Indigenous groups and not-for-profit organizations, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing said. “In the midst of global economic uncertainty, our government is doubling down on our plan to protect Ontario and its rural communities,” said Premier…

CALGARY — Canada’s Olympic skeleton program will take a key step toward the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games this week, as Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton and the Canadian Olympic Committee prepare to formally announce the athletes nominated to represent the country. The organizations said they will unveil the skeleton athletes nominated to compete for Team Canada at Milano Cortina 2026 during an event in Calgary on Wednesday morning. The announcement is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. MT on Wednesday, Jan. 21, and will include opportunities for media interviews, photography and b-roll. For Canada’s high-performance winter sport system, Olympic nominations are a critical…

OTTAWA — The BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) is intervening at the Supreme Court of Canada this week in a closely watched case that could reshape police authority to conduct random traffic stops across the country, particularly in light of evidence about racial profiling and its impacts on Black Canadians. The civil liberties group will present oral arguments as an intervenor in Attorney General of Quebec v. Luamba, a two-day hearing focused on whether police powers to stop drivers without any specific suspicion of an offence are constitutional when such discretion is linked to discriminatory outcomes — a phenomenon commonly…

Ontario’s struggle to meet key targets under Ottawa’s national $10-a-day child-care program is fuelling new warnings that provinces and territories have become financially dependent on federal funding to sustain their systems — a dynamic one policy analyst describes as a “golden handcuff problem” in Canadian child care. A newly released report from Cardus examining Ontario’s first three years under the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) agreements argues the province has been forced into a difficult bargaining position as governments negotiate the next phase of federal support. “Ontario in particular, finds itself in a difficult bargaining position,” the report’s…