As questions swirl over how soon Canadians could be going to the polls, the Liberal Party announced on Sunday the two people who will oversee its campaign for the next federal election.

In a news release, the Liberals said that Andrew Bevan will serve as campaign director and Marjorie Michel will serve as deputy campaign director.

Bevan previously worked as chief of staff for former federal Liberal leader Stéphane Dion, the release said. He also served as chief of staff to former Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne.

A motion from the Bloc will increase benefits for affluent retirees, to be paid for by younger (and poorer) Canadians. The advocacy group for Canadian seniors has proposed a much fairer alternative;

[Canadian Association of Retired Persons's proposal] would strengthen OAS, help younger Canadians, reduce the deficit and save Parliament. This would enable MPs to make the most significant improvement to generational fairness in the federal budget in my professional lifetime – rather than play political games by proroguing Parliament or launching an early election.

...

In my previous column, I costed out some options. The government could start to claw back OAS at an individual income threshold of $70,000 or a household income of $90,000. These alternatives would free up $12-billion and $48-billion, respectively, over the next five years.

Original link: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/personal-finance/young-money/article-a-plan-to-strengthen-oas-help-younger-canadians-and-reduce-the-deficit/

A British Columbia First Nation says at least 55 children died or disappeared while attending a residential school near Williams Lake, more than triple the number recorded for the institution in the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation memorial register.

The higher figure is contained in an interim report into the St. Joseph’s Mission Indian Residential School by the Williams Lake First Nation.

The report says the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation memorial register lists 16 children by name as having died while under the school's care.

It says the additional 39 deaths or disappearances were verified "through archival documentation."

Pressure is building on the prime minister and his office as a growing number of anxious Liberal MPs are co-ordinating efforts to force Justin Trudeau to step down as Liberal Party leader, multiple sources have told CBC News.

Disgruntled Liberal MPs held a series of meetings to discuss a path forward for the party since the surprising Toronto-St. Paul's byelection loss in June.

Those talks accelerated with Parliament's return and the Montreal byelection loss. They escalated further this week with the prime minister and his chief of staff, Katie Telford, out of the country for a summit in Asia.

Some MPs are being asked to sign their names to what amounts to a pledge to stand together in calling for Trudeau to resign, multiple sources said.

The two young men arrested by Montreal police Friday in connection with a deadly building fire in Old Montreal last week have been charged with second-degree murder and arson.

Justin Fortier-Trahan, 20, is suspected by Montreal police of using an incendiary device to set fire to the building on 400 Notre-Dame Street around 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 4. Juventino Hernandez Pelaez, 18, allegedly drove the getaway car, Montreal police told reporters Friday.

Both men have been jointly charged with two counts of second-degree murder for the deaths of Léonar Geraudie, 43, and her seven-year-old daughter Vérane Reynaud-Geraudie.

For three years, Riley Johnson says he has struggled with homelessness and complex mental health challenges — calling every resource he could find to try to access support.

But after years of searching for help in his hometown of Victoria, B.C., Johnson, 31, feels no closer to stability than he did after first finding himself homeless in the wake of a job loss and breakup in 2021.

"It seems like once you don't have housing, then there's just nothing that anybody can do for you," said Johnson, who has been met with long wait lists and few answers when seeking help from government and charitable resources across the city.

B.C. Housing's list of people in B.C. waiting for subsidized housing has more than 34,000 applicants, according to the most recent data from June. Supportive housing, which provides additional support for people struggling with mental health and addictions, has more than 8,000 applicants waiting.

Historically, models of isolation and violence inflict deep harm on already targeted peoples: Indigenous, Black, racialized, disabled, criminalized people and drug users. Studies show that forcibly institutionalizing people creates worse outcomes than other forms of support. People already struggle to access voluntary treatment, counselling and bed-based services. This type of incarceration often reduces tolerance to substances, increasing the risk of fatal overdoses upon release, particularly when community-based supports are lacking.

Canada's parliament has passed a bill that that will cover the full cost of contraception and diabetes drugs for Canadians.

The Liberal government said it is the initial phase of a plan that would expand to become a publicly funded national pharmacare programme.

But two provinces - Alberta and Quebec - have indicated they may opt-out of the programme, accusing Ottawa of interfering in provincial matters.

Opposition Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, whose party is ahead in national polls by a wide margin, does not support the legislation.

Cindy Ali, the Toronto mother who was acquitted in the 2011 death of her 16-year-old daughter Cynara after serving more than four years in prison, is suing Toronto police and the city for more than $10 million.

“Officers took little care to secure the scene in the hours following the event, and the forensic team neglected to take fingerprint or DNA samples from several surfaces that Cindy said the home invaders touched,” (Cindy's) claim reads.

The claim stats that despite the investigation’s failure to produce “any incriminating evidence,” Ali was arrested on March 8, 2012 and charged with manslaughter. The charge was later upgraded to first-degree murder on Oct. 17, 2012.

The suit is seeking damages in the amount of $8 million from the Toronto Police Services Board and Frank Skubic, $2 million from the City of Toronto and Bujokas, and an additional $500,000 from all defendants.