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Katharine Berkoff Sets American Record in 50 Backstroke to Claim Pan Pacific Gold on Night Two

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Katharine Berkoff Sets American Record in 50 Backstroke to Claim Pan Pacific Gold on Night Two

The second night of competition at the 2026 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships produced the kind of racing that reminds you why the sport commands attention far beyond Olympic years. At the centre of it all stood Katharine Berkoff, who touched the wall in 26.90 to win gold in the women’s 50 backstroke — a new American record, and her second consecutive victory over world-record holder Regan Smith in as many nights.

Smith, the dominant force in backstroke swimming for the better part of this decade, again settled for silver. Australia’s Iona Anderson claimed bronze. Back-to-back head-to-head wins over a swimmer of Smith’s calibre is not a footnote — it is a genuine statement about where Berkoff stands in the global hierarchy of the event.

But Berkoff’s record-breaking swim was only one piece of a full and consequential evening. Across the pool, in events ranging from the individual medley to the freestyle relays, the night delivered championship records, an unexpected upset, and at least one quietly remarkable human story.

Summer McIntosh arrived at the 400 individual medley with something to prove. The Canadian had suffered a rare defeat in the 200 freestyle on opening night — a result that, by all visible accounts, stung. The world record holder in the 400 IM answered with authority, blowing away the field in 4:28.01, a new championship record. Australia’s Jenna Forrester finished second in 4:31.50, Argentina’s Agostina Hein took bronze in 4:32.54, and American Alex Walsh placed fifth in 4:33.73. McIntosh’s response was measured in both time and temperament: composed, dominant, and entirely in keeping with her standing as one of the most complete swimmers in the world.

On the men’s side of the 400 IM, Japan’s Tomoyuki Matsushita edged American Carson Foster in a race that stayed close through every stroke. Matsushita won in 4:06.75, a championship record, with Foster just four hundredths behind in 4:07.11. Bobby Finke, fresh from a silver medal in the 800 freestyle the previous night, rounded out the podium in third — a strong showing that underscores American depth in the distance events.

The women’s 100 freestyle final produced the evening’s most dramatic finish. Gretchen Walsh, the fastest qualifier out of the heats and the winner of the 50 butterfly on opening night, led at the 50-metre turn. Australia’s Meg Harris, however, had other ideas. Harris found another gear over the back half of the race, out-touching Walsh at the wall — 52.60 to 52.78. Olivia Wunsch completed a 1-3 finish for Australia, claiming bronze in 52.98. It was Walsh’s first defeat of the meet, a reminder that even the sharpest form can be matched on any given night.

Jack Alexy left little doubt in the men’s 100 freestyle. The American record holder, who had raced unrested at U.S. Nationals specifically to conserve his peak for Pan Pacs, broke his own championship record to win in 47.14. Brazil’s Gui Caribe led early but could not hold off Alexy’s surge. Patrick Sammon backed up his domestic form with a runner-up finish in 47.62, Caribe held on for third in 47.89, and Chris Guiliano — racing in the consolation final — posted a 47.16, just two hundredths off the winning time. That depth of performance in a non-championship heat is worth noting.

McKenzie Siroky continued her breakout season with gold in the women’s 100 breaststroke, winning in 1:05.32. Siroky, who upset Kate Douglass by two hundredths at U.S. Nationals, again proved that result was no fluke. China’s Tang Qianting and Japan’s Satomi Suzuki joined her on the podium. Douglass, the 2025 national champion and world championship silver medalist in the event, finished fourth in 1:05.81 — a result that will sharpen her focus heading into the rest of the season.

Van Mathias, whose trajectory from former Indiana swimmer to director of operations to professional competitor reads like something a novelist might invent, won the men’s 100 breaststroke in 58.02, breaking his own championship record and narrowly missing his American record in the process. Japan’s Shin Ohashi took silver in 54.54 — a new world junior record — with Australia’s Samuel Williamson third in 59.34. Mathias’s story keeps accumulating chapters.

Quintin McCarty, who took the 50 backstroke at U.S. Nationals, delivered again on the international stage, breaking the championship record to win in 24.51. Australia’s Isaac Cooper, the top qualifier from prelims, was second in 24.59. American Will Modglin, coming off a world-record mixed medley relay performance the night before, claimed bronze in 24.66.

The relay events closed out the evening with contrasting results for the United States. The American men won the 4×200 freestyle in 6:49.37, a championship record, with Luke Hobson, Aaron Shackell, Patrick Sammon, and Gabriel Jett combining for an impressive performance. Australia’s Charlie Hawke made things interesting on the third leg, but Jett’s final turn sealed the result. Australia took silver in 7:01.10, Japan bronze in 7:02.74. Three of the four American legs were individually under the pace required to threaten the world relay record — a detail that illustrates just how difficult it is to synchronize peak performances across a team, even when the individual talent is plainly there.

In the women’s 4×200 freestyle, Australia edged the United States for gold, winning in 7:42.40 — another championship record — with the Americans seven-tenths back in 7:43.10. Katie Ledecky anchored hard but could not close the gap. Canada claimed bronze in 7:52.74, a result that will register with satisfaction across a country that has watched its swimming program build steadily through this generation of athletes.

Day three begins Friday, August 14, with heats at 1 p.m. ET and finals at 9 p.m. ET. The session is available in the United States on Peacock and in Canada on CBC Sports. On the schedule: the 400 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 200 backstroke, and 50 breaststroke for both women and men, along with the 4×100 freestyle relays. After two nights of championship records and genuine surprises, the competition has earned the attention it is about to receive.

Kluane First Nation Citizen Keeps Traditional Knowledge Alive Through Art and Community Workshops

Kevin Martin
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Kluane First Nation Citizen Keeps Traditional Knowledge Alive Through Art and Community Workshops

Sharon Kabanak, a citizen of the Kluane First Nation, is working to ensure that Indigenous traditional knowledge does not fade with her generation — passing it on through hands-on workshops near Haines Junction, Yukon, that welcome children, families, and visitors from a wide range of cultural backgrounds.

Knowledge Rooted in Community and Mentorship

Kabanak learned traditional practices over years of guidance from her mother, mentors, and elders within her community. That foundation of intergenerational transmission now shapes her own approach to teaching. Rather than treating traditional knowledge as a fixed cultural artifact, she treats it as a living practice — something that must be actively shared and exercised to survive. Her workshops reflect that philosophy, offering participants direct, hands-on engagement with techniques and materials drawn from Kluane heritage.

Workshops at a Shared Cultural Space

A recent workshop took place at the Thechàl Dhâl’ Visitor Centre, a collaborative space jointly operated by Kluane First Nation and Parks Canada, located near Silver City, north of Haines Junction. At that session, Kabanak guided participants through the making of necklaces and medicine bags, using beads and plastic bone-shaped pieces inspired by traditional styles. The workshop drew participants across generations and cultures, reflecting Kabanak’s intent to open this knowledge to anyone willing to engage with it respectfully. Among those attending was Marilou Roy, a master’s student, into whose handmade medicine bag Kabanak placed yarrow — the medicinal plant known scientifically as Achillea — demonstrating the practical, living dimension of the tradition.

Transmission as an Act of Sovereignty

The work Kabanak does sits within a broader context of Indigenous cultural continuity that carries constitutional and political weight in Canada. For First Nations communities across the country, the transmission of traditional knowledge — whether through language, ceremony, or craft — represents an assertion of ongoing sovereignty and self-determination. In the Yukon, where modern land claims agreements have given First Nations governments significant jurisdictional authority, cultural programming of this kind complements formal governance by reinforcing the social and spiritual fabric of the community. Kabanak’s workshops, modest in setting but significant in purpose, embody that connection between cultural practice and community resilience.

By opening her sessions to people from outside the Kluane Nation, Kabanak also builds bridges across cultural lines — inviting understanding without surrendering ownership of the knowledge she carries. Her stated goal is straightforward: to make sure what she learned from her elders continues to live on, long after her.

Ontario Bars Undocumented Residents and Temporary Visa Holders from Social Assistance

Emily Roy
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A tribunal ruling quietly changed everything. Ontario is now moving to close a gap in its social assistance rules — one that a provincial adjudicator had found allowed undocumented residents to receive benefits.

The sequence of events began when a tribunal adjudicator reviewed the case of a man who had arrived in Canada decades ago on a temporary work permit, stayed after it expired, and applied for Ontario Works payments. The adjudicator concluded that the existing Ontario Works legislation did not explicitly require applicants to hold legal immigration status, provided they did not fall within three specifically excluded categories. The ruling was legally defensible on its face — but it set off a political chain reaction.

Media coverage of the decision reached Premier Doug Ford. He responded swiftly and publicly, writing on social media that his government would always support people who had fallen on hard times, but that this support did not extend to, in his words, “people living in Canada illegally.” He committed to changing provincial regulations to make the law’s intent unambiguous.

Regulations Amended on the Same Day as the Announcement

Weeks later, on August 13, 2026, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services Michael Parsa made it official. The province announced amendments to the regulations governing both Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program. The changes took effect immediately — the same day they were announced.

The amended regulations specify two distinct groups who are now ineligible for social assistance. The first are individuals present in Canada without legal authorization. The second are those authorized to remain only on a temporary basis, a category that explicitly includes holders of student visas and work permits. Both groups are now barred from accessing either program.

The changes also introduce a documentation requirement. Applicants must now provide proof of their citizenship or immigration status as part of the eligibility process — a procedural step designed to enforce the new rules at the point of application rather than after the fact.

What the Government Says It Is Protecting

Minister Parsa framed the amendments in terms of fiscal stewardship. The province stated the changes would ensure that taxpayer dollars remain focused on people facing genuine financial hardship who are legally permitted to live in Canada. The language was deliberate: the government positioned the move as a clarification of intent rather than a break from existing policy.

The original tribunal ruling, however, had exposed a real ambiguity. The adjudicator had not invented a loophole — they had applied the law as written. The legislation simply had not addressed the question of undocumented status in explicit terms, beyond three narrow exclusions. That gap is now closed.

Broader Implications Worth Watching

The speed of the change — announced and enacted on the same day — reflects how politically charged the issue became once it entered public view. Social assistance eligibility rules sit at the intersection of provincial jurisdiction, immigration law, and constitutional protections, and the long-term legal durability of the new regulations may yet face scrutiny.

The implications extend beyond the individual case that triggered the review. Temporary foreign workers and international students — many of whom contribute to Ontario’s labour market and tax base — now face an explicit statutory bar from accessing provincial safety-net programs, regardless of their personal circumstances. Disability advocates and legal aid organizations may examine whether the ODSP exclusion, in particular, raises questions under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

For now, the rules are in force. Ontario has drawn a clear line.

Sault Ste. Marie Council to Consider Freeze on AI Data Centre Approvals Pending New Rules

Emily Roy
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Sault Ste. Marie Council to Consider Freeze on AI Data Centre Approvals Pending New Rules

Sault Ste. Marie city council will debate a motion Monday that would halt approvals of new artificial intelligence data centres until the city establishes a proper planning and regulatory framework.

The motion, brought forward by Councillor Angela Caputo and seconded by Councillor Lisa Vezeau-Allen, follows growing public concern over a data centre already approved last December. That facility, a joint venture between cybersecurity firm Protexxa and Missanabie Cree Business LP, is slated for the city’s west end. An online petition raised concerns about the project’s potential negative effects on the surrounding community, prompting the councillors to act. Mayor Matthew Shoemaker has pushed back on some of those concerns, arguing the Sault’s approved centre is not the kind of high-consumption facility drawing scrutiny in other Canadian cities.

The motion would prohibit council from approving any further data centres until a comprehensive review is completed, covering a wide range of potential impacts.

A full report would be due by the second quarter of 2027, with an interim report — covering the cost of external consultants, the Indigenous consultation plan, and the public engagement strategy — expected the following year. The motion also directs staff to prepare, for the August 31 council meeting, an interim control bylaw that would formally prohibit new data centre development in the city while the review proceeds. That bylaw would give the moratorium legal teeth while the longer policy work gets underway.

The debate arrives at a moment when municipalities across Canada are grappling with how to manage the rapid expansion of data infrastructure — balancing economic opportunity against real questions about energy demand, environmental impact, and community input. Sault Ste. Marie’s approach, if adopted, would place it among the first mid-sized Canadian cities to impose a formal pause while it builds a regulatory foundation.

Alberta’s Judicial Appointment Referendum: Democratic Reform or Threat to Judicial Independence?

Kevin Martin
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Alberta’s Judicial Appointment Referendum: Democratic Reform or Threat to Judicial Independence?

A Question Albertans May Not Have Seen Coming

When Albertans head to the polls this October for Premier Danielle Smith’s wide-ranging referendum, they will confront no fewer than nine questions — some familiar, some not. Immigration policy and the spectre of separation have dominated headlines, but one question has received comparatively little attention despite its potentially far-reaching constitutional consequences: who should appoint the judges sitting on Alberta’s superior courts?

The referendum will ask Albertans whether their province should work with other willing provinces to transfer the power of appointing judges to provincial King’s Bench and Court of Appeal positions from the federal government to provincial governments. It is a question that cuts to the heart of how judicial independence, democratic accountability, and federalism intersect in Canada — and it has drawn sharp responses from the legal community.

Smith’s Case: Values, Politics, and Provincial Voice

Premier Smith has made her position clear and repeated it often. In a January 2026 open letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney, she argued that the current federal appointment process fails to reflect Alberta’s values or what she describes as the province’s distinct legal traditions. Her proposed remedy was concrete: a new advisory committee with equal federal and provincial representation, whose recommendations would require joint ministerial approval before any appointment could proceed.

Smith also cited data she says shows that approximately 80 per cent of judges who made political donations gave to the Liberal Party, arguing this demonstrates the process is far from politically neutral. To reinforce her demands, she backed them with a financial threat — withholding provincial funding for any new positions on Alberta’s Court of King’s Bench — and pointed to existing vacancies on the court, as well as the approaching retirement of a Supreme Court of Canada justice from Alberta.

Alberta Justice Minister Mickey Amery framed the issue in terms of provincial voice. “Provinces lack a strong, meaningful voice in the appointment of superior court judges,” he wrote in a public statement, presenting the referendum as an opportunity for Albertans to weigh in on a structural imbalance they have long endured.

What Legal Experts and the Bar Actually Say

The legal community has not been persuaded. Former judges and constitutional scholars have pushed back firmly, questioning both the factual basis and the implications of Smith’s framing. A former Calgary judge took particular issue with the notion of Alberta’s distinct legal traditions, pointing out that provinces and territories across Canada operate within a broadly shared legal framework — one that has been deliberately harmonized over more than a century to facilitate the free movement of goods and people across the country.

Legal scholars have drawn a clear distinction between Alberta’s grievances and Quebec’s constitutionally entrenched civil law tradition, which genuinely represents a separate legal system rooted in a different historical and cultural inheritance. Alberta’s claim, they argue, rests less on a fundamentally distinct legal order and more on concerns about ideological distance from federal governments and a desire for greater democratic accountability over the courts. These are legitimate political concerns — but they are not the same thing.

The Canadian Bar Association, which represents 40,000 lawyers, judges, and legal professionals across the country, expressed concern that Smith’s proposal compromises judicial independence and risks casting doubt on the integrity of sitting judges. Groups representing lawyers and other legal professionals echoed that concern, warning that entangling provincial governments more directly in the selection of judges who must rule on provincial government decisions creates an obvious structural conflict.

One constitutional expert offered a nuanced take. Criticism of courts and judges is not only legitimate but sometimes necessary in a democracy, he acknowledged — if the judiciary overreaches, that too poses a risk to democratic governance. But there is a line, he cautioned. A respected, non-partisan judiciary whose decisions are consistently followed remains an essential pillar of the rule of law, and politicians must take care not to erode that foundation in the name of accountability.

A Long-Standing Federal Grievance

Provincial frustration with Ottawa’s control over superior court appointments is not new. The issue surfaced prominently during the Meech Lake accord negotiations in the late 1980s, when formal provincial consultation on judicial appointments was among the proposals tabled — and ultimately lost when the accord failed to be ratified. That history matters. It situates Smith’s referendum question within a decades-long tension between provincial governments seeking meaningful input into institutions that operate on their territory and a federal appointment power that the Constitution assigns squarely to Ottawa.

The Constitution Act, 1867 grants the federal government authority to appoint judges of the superior, district, and county courts in each province. Changing that arrangement in any meaningful way would require navigating the constitutional amendment formula — a formidable undertaking that goes well beyond what a provincial referendum can accomplish on its own. A successful vote in October would give Smith a political mandate to press the issue with other provinces and with the federal government, but it would not, by itself, alter a single appointment.

What the Referendum Can and Cannot Do

This distinction matters enormously, and it is one that public debate has not always made plain. Alberta’s referendum is a consultative exercise. It can signal provincial opinion, strengthen a premier’s negotiating hand, and potentially attract like-minded provinces into a coalition pressing for reform. It cannot unilaterally restructure the federal appointment process.

The question of whether provincial governments should have a more formal role in selecting the judges who hear cases in their courts is, at its core, a legitimate constitutional debate. Provincial governments do have interests in the composition of courts that adjudicate disputes arising under provincial law, regulate provincial institutions, and shape the legal environment in which provincial policy operates. Acknowledging those interests does not require accepting every element of Smith’s framing.

What the referendum will ultimately test is how many Albertans share their premier’s conviction that the current system is broken — and how many are persuaded that the cure she proposes would preserve, rather than compromise, the independence of the courts they depend on.

Stollery Children’s Hospital Receives $100,000 Boost for Pediatric Cancer Research

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Stollery Children’s Hospital Receives $100,000 Boost for Pediatric Cancer Research

A ceremony held Tuesday morning in Edmonton marked a meaningful moment for one of western Canada’s most vital medical institutions. The Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation received a $100,000 grant directed specifically at pediatric oncology research — a field that, as those working within it will quickly tell you, carries its own distinct and urgent demands.

Sue McCoy, the foundation’s vice president of philanthropy, was direct about why this area of medicine deserves dedicated attention and resources. “Kids struggling with cancer is different than adults,” she said following the ceremony. “They’re not just little adults; there is special care when it comes to pediatric oncology.” That distinction matters enormously. Children’s bodies respond differently to treatment. Their developmental needs are different. The research required to treat them well cannot simply be borrowed from adult oncology — it must be built on its own terms.

The Stollery is the second largest children’s hospital in Canada and the most specialized children’s hospital in all of western Canada, serving patients drawn from Alberta and well beyond its borders. McCoy noted that the funding will allow the hospital to sustain and deepen research that has already begun attracting international expertise. “We’ve got specialists from around the world that are coming and contributing to the body of knowledge that we have at the Stollery,” she said. That kind of collaborative pull — drawing global talent to Edmonton — speaks to the institution’s standing and to what continued investment can produce.

The money comes through the Hyundai Hope on Wheels program, a corporate philanthropy initiative through which a portion of every new Hyundai vehicle sold is directed toward pediatric cancer research. Kirk Merrett, Hyundai’s director of customer experience and dealer performance, confirmed that the manufacturer plans to distribute $4.1 million to sixteen hospitals across Canada this year. The Stollery’s $100,000 grant represents one piece of that national commitment.

The program originated in the United States in 1998, with its Canadian chapter launching in 2025. It positions routine consumer transactions — car purchases — as a mechanism for sustained medical funding, threading philanthropy into commerce in a way that accumulates meaningfully over time.

For a hospital system that depends on a combination of public funding and private philanthropy to push the boundaries of what pediatric medicine can accomplish, grants like this one are not incidental. They are the difference between research that stalls and research that moves. At the Stollery, they represent another step in the long, careful work of giving seriously ill children a better chance.

AC/DC Brings ‘PWR/UP’ Tour to Edmonton, Drawing Over 50,000 Fans to Commonwealth Stadium

Emily Roy
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AC/DC Brings ‘PWR/UP’ Tour to Edmonton, Drawing Over 50,000 Fans to Commonwealth Stadium

A Landmark Night for Edmonton’s Live Music Scene

Rock legends AC/DC drew a capacity crowd of 50,047 fans to Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton on Sunday, delivering a sold-out performance as part of their global PWR/UP Tour. The show marked one of the largest live music events the Alberta capital has hosted in recent memory, with the stadium filled to its limits for an act whose catalogue spans more than five decades.

The scale of the operation behind the scenes matched the spectacle on stage. More than 510 security guards were deployed across the venue, alongside 115 ushers and customer service staff and 125 City of Edmonton event personnel. Edmonton Police Services, Edmonton Transit Services, and dedicated medical teams were also present throughout the evening to maintain public safety.

City Officials Highlight the Economic and Cultural Stakes

Heather Seutter, Director of Commonwealth Stadium, underscored the significance of attracting a tour of this magnitude to the city. “We are very excited that Edmonton was chosen to host AC/DC’s PWR/UP Tour,” she said in a statement released Monday. “These mega stadium tours and world-class artists choosing Edmonton as a stop on their tours have an incredible impact on our city.”

Seutter pointed to the broader ripple effects of sold-out shows of this scale, arguing that the “tremendous energy and excitement” they generate flows directly into local businesses and reinforces what she described as Edmonton’s cultural vibrancy. Events of this profile also draw visitors from across the region and beyond, contributing to the city’s hospitality and retail sectors in ways that a single evening’s attendance figures alone do not capture.

Logistics, Transit, and the Realities of a Mega-Concert

Concertgoers were encouraged in advance to use public transit and to arrive early, a standard precaution for events of this size at a stadium embedded in a residential and commercial neighbourhood. The city confirmed that 139 parking tickets were issued in surrounding streets on Sunday, and 17 vehicles were towed — figures that, while not negligible, suggest the logistics operation held together reasonably well given the volume of attendees.

The coordination required to move tens of thousands of people safely in and out of a single venue in a matter of hours places significant demands on municipal services, from transit scheduling to traffic management. That the evening proceeded without reported major incident reflects both careful advance planning and the accumulated experience Edmonton has built in hosting large-scale events at Commonwealth Stadium.

What Comes Next at Commonwealth Stadium

The AC/DC concert is not a one-off moment for the venue this summer. Guns N’ Roses are scheduled to take the stage at Commonwealth Stadium on August 26, extending what is shaping up to be a notable season for live rock music in Edmonton. Tickets for that performance remain available through Ticketmaster.

The back-to-back booking of two of rock’s most enduring acts at the same venue within weeks of each other speaks to Edmonton’s growing profile as a destination on major North American touring circuits — a development that city officials and local businesses alike have reason to watch closely.

Second Montreal-Area Cat Tests Positive for Raccoon Rabies as Quebec Cases Surge in 2026

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Second Montreal-Area Cat Tests Positive for Raccoon Rabies as Quebec Cases Surge in 2026

New Exposure Cases Confirmed

Quebec public health officials have confirmed a second cat infected with raccoon rabies in the Montérégie region, prompting three additional people to receive emergency preventative treatment for potential rabies exposure, the Montérégie Public Health Department announced Monday.

The newly confirmed animal was found in Saint-Anicet. A departmental spokesperson confirmed to media that the three individuals now receiving treatment are separate from those affected in late July, when Quebec first reported raccoon rabies in a domestic cat in the municipality of Godmanchester — also in Montérégie.

That initial July 29 confirmation triggered post-exposure prophylaxis for three people who had been in contact with the Godmanchester cat. The treatment involves a multi-dose vaccine series. Officials emphasize that administering such preventative care is not unusual when potential exposure occurs.

A Sharp Rise in Confirmed Cases

The numbers are stark. Quebec has recorded 139 confirmed cases of raccoon rabies so far in 2026, compared to 93 cases across the entire province in 2025. The Montérégie region accounts for roughly 80 per cent of this year’s cases — a concentration that underscores the geographic pressure the region is facing.

“This new case serves as a reminder that rabies continues to spread among wild animals and that domestic animals can also be infected,” public health officials stated, urging residents to remain vigilant and to report any dead, injured, disoriented, paralyzed, or unusually aggressive animals to the appropriate authorities.

What the Public Should Know

Health authorities are calling on pet owners to act now. Keeping pets’ vaccinations current is the single most direct protective measure available. Officials also urge residents to prevent pets from roaming outside unsupervised, to avoid any contact with wild or unknown animals — including carcasses — and to consult a veterinarian promptly if a pet has interacted with wildlife.

Any pet showing symptoms consistent with rabies — excessive drooling, paralysis, or unusual aggression — should be isolated immediately. Residents are also advised to avoid practices that attract wildlife near the home, such as leaving food scraps accessible outdoors.

The province’s public health network continues to monitor the situation closely as the outbreak extends deeper into the 2026 season.

Asterisk Talley Wins the U.S. Women’s Amateur in Dominant Fashion, Cementing Her Place Among Golf’s Rising Stars

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Asterisk Talley Wins the U.S. Women’s Amateur in Dominant Fashion, Cementing Her Place Among Golf’s Rising Stars

A Championship Claimed Through Tears and Tenacity

When Asterisk Talley glanced toward her father Jim on the final green at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tennessee, he was already in tears. She joined him — and then, through blurred vision, rolled home a putt that settled the matter in two strokes. With that, the 17-year-old from Chowchilla, California, claimed the 126th U.S. Women’s Amateur, the oldest women’s amateur golf championship in the world, in a performance that left little room for debate.

The thesis of Talley’s week was written in the numbers: an 8-and-6 victory over fellow 17-year-old Anna Iwanaga of Japan, a co-medalist and the tournament’s No. 1 seed. Talley did not simply win — she dismantled a formidable opponent, winning nine of the final 21 holes after Iwanaga had briefly seized a 1-up lead at the turn in the morning session. From that moment forward, the championship belonged to Talley.

A Pattern of Excellence, Interrupted and Resumed

To understand what Sunday’s result means, it helps to trace the arc of Talley’s short but already substantial career. Two years ago, she captured the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball — her first USGA title — before finishing runner-up in both the U.S. Girls’ Junior and the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Southern Hills. That runner-up finish at the Women’s Amateur stung, but it also established her as a player capable of competing at the highest level of the amateur game before most of her peers had found their footing.

Last year at Bandon Dunes, she shared co-medalist honours in stroke play, only to fall in the Round of 64 — an early exit that underscored how unforgiving match play can be, regardless of form. Earlier this year, she carried the solo lead into the final round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, then faltered. Her visible emotional response in that moment resonated widely, not as weakness, but as evidence of how deeply she competes and how honestly she carries both ambition and disappointment.

Sunday at The Honors Course was the resolution of that arc.

Dominance That Demanded Recognition

Iwanaga is no ordinary opponent. The Japanese teenager has won professional events and demonstrated the kind of consistent excellence that earns a top seed in a field of this calibre. Her morning performance — taking a 1-up lead through nine holes — suggested a genuine contest was underway. What followed was something else entirely.

Talley’s power and precision over the afternoon session transformed the match into a demonstration. Winning nine of the next 21 holes in a format that rewards consistency and nerve, she closed out the match with six holes to spare. The margin was not a fluke of fortune or a collapse by her opponent — it was the product of sustained, purposeful golf.

Her first name, Asterisk, derives from the Greek word for “little star.” At 17, with two USGA titles and a résumé that already includes Augusta, Southern Hills, and Bandon Dunes, the name has stopped feeling like a curiosity and started feeling like a forecast.

What Comes Next

The U.S. Women’s Amateur is the most prestigious trophy in women’s amateur golf, and Talley now holds it. That fact carries weight beyond the symbolic. Past champions have used the title as a launching point toward professional careers of lasting significance, and there is every reason to expect Talley’s trajectory to follow a similar path.

For now, though, the image that endures is simpler than any statistical summary: a father and daughter on a final green in Tennessee, both in tears, the biggest championship of her young life decided, the long road from runner-up to champion finally complete.

Fierté Montréal Marks 20th Annual Pride Parade with Calls for Solidarity and Remembrance

Emily Roy
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Fierté Montréal Marks 20th Annual Pride Parade with Calls for Solidarity and Remembrance

Downtown Montréal came alive on Sunday as tens of thousands of spectators lined René-Lévesque Boulevard for Fierté Montréal’s 20th annual Pride parade — a milestone that captured both the distance the 2SLGBTQIA+ community has travelled and the ground that remains to be won. Running from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., the parade stretched from Robert-Bourassa Boulevard to Atataken Street, closing out a week of celebrations that ran from July 31 to August 9.

This year’s theme, “Let’s Shine Together,” was chosen to mark progress on 2SLGBTQIA+ rights while insisting that solidarity — across identities, across communities — remains the animating force of the movement. That spirit of collective recognition took its most solemn form in a moment of silence observed during the parade, honouring those lost prematurely to transphobia, lesbophobia, homophobia, biphobia, and AIDS, as well as missing and murdered Indigenous 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals. The explicit inclusion of Indigenous lives in that act of remembrance reflects a growing acknowledgment that the struggles of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities and Indigenous peoples are not parallel concerns but deeply intertwined ones.

The political attendance was notable. Montréal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferranda was present, as were Quebec Liberal Party leader Charles Milliard and Québec solidaire spokesperson Ruba Ghazal — a cross-partisan showing that, whatever their differences at the National Assembly, these figures chose to stand visibly alongside the community on its most prominent day.

Security was tightened this year, and the reasons were concrete. Interim Executive Director Higino Monteiro told CTV News that enhanced measures were put in place following a deadly attack at Berlin Pride that left one person dead and several others injured. The threat was real, and organizers responded accordingly — a reminder that Pride, for all its celebratory energy, continues to occupy contested public space in a world where anti-2SLGBTQIA+ violence has not receded.

Festivities were set to continue after the parade, with celebrations extending into the Village and onto the Olympic Park Esplanade. Twenty years in, Fierté Montréal has grown into one of the largest Pride events in North America — and Sunday’s parade made clear that its purpose is as urgent as its scale is impressive.

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