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Residents of Alberta seem to be the most open to the concept of Canada joining the US as a new state, an idea US President Donald Trump has repeatedly floated over the past couple of months.

A new poll conducted by Research Co. on tariffs in Canada asked whether respondents were on board with the notion of initiating a formal process for Canada to become an American state, and Alberta led the pack in being the most responsive to it.

Alberta leads Canada in support of joining the United States, with 12% of respondents saying they would “definitely consider it,” followed by 7% saying they would “probably consider it.”

Hurried pursuit of a liquefied natural gas windfall in B.C. and Alberta will squander a key component of Canada’s long-term energy security while causing environmental devastation, according to a new report.

Scaling up LNG exports from fracking in the Montney basin that straddles the two provinces almost certainly will jeopardize local water resources, species habitat and the country’s struggling effort to meet climate targets.

And there could be another cost down the road: “The current policy of exploiting the Montney as fast as possible for LNG exports may create risks that gas will be unavailable for other uses in the future.”

This, according to energy analyst David Hughes, author of a comprehensive report called “Drilling into the Montney,” released June 24 by the David Suzuki Foundation.

“The Montney represents Canada’s largest remaining accessible gas resource and is forecast to provide a significant portion of future gas production with or without LNG,” Hughes told The Tyee. “Conventional production from mature gas fields in Canada has declined sharply over the past couple of decades.”

“Production has been made up by unconventional plays like the Montney which can only be accessed with the technology of hydraulic fracking and horizontal drilling. And those technologies come with significant environmental impacts in terms of climate change, water consumption, biodiversity loss and land disturbance.”

The Montney basin is an oval-shaped, 96,000-square-kilometre geological formation that stretches on a southeast diagonal from Fort Nelson, B.C., at its top and includes the territories of Treaty 8 First Nations. The Montney currently produces 10 billion cubic feet of methane per day or roughly half of Canada’s total.

Last month Alberta Premier Danielle Smith tabled Bill 18, the Provincial Priorities Act, in the provincial legislature. If passed into law, the bill will give the Alberta government power to vet any agreements between the federal government and post-secondary institutions, and other “provincial entities.”

The proposed legislation could have a tremendous impact on whether scholars in Alberta can secure federal research funding. The bill would prohibit provincial entities like municipalities, post-secondary institutions and health authorities from making deals with the federal government unless they obtain approval from the province.

In terms of federal funding for Alberta universities, the Tri-Council agencies — the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council — are the main, non-partisan mechanism through which the Government of Canada funds research across disciplines.

Through these sources, faculty and graduate students obtain funding to conduct research in diverse fields that contribute to health, science and engineering and social sciences and humanities innovation and insight.

Universities across the country sign an agreement with the Tri-Council every five years on how to administer the funding.

Should the provincial government intervene in this process under Bill 18, some critics feel university research could be jeopardized.

Numerous research projects could be at risk of losing access to grants and awards, which thousands of research assistants and students rely on to support themselves and their research. It could also limit opportunities for teaching and training.

More than 6,000 residents of Fort McMurray, Alta., headed south to safety as a large, out-of-control wildfire drew closer to their community. Other areas in Fort McMurray remain on evacuation alert and residents need to be ready to leave on short notice.

The Winnipeg Police Service confirmed the DNA of four Indigenous women inside the home of their self-confessed killer, a court heard Thursday, along with the DNA profiles of an additional 12 women.

Police forensic identification officer Jan de Vries said he sent clothing, jewelry and blood stains from the apartment of Jeremy Skibicki for testing in May 2022 that positively identified Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran and Rebecca Contois, three First Nations women slain in the spring of 2022.

The testing also confirmed the presence of Buffalo Woman, de Vries said of the 20-something Indigenous victim police have yet to identify.

Skibicki, 37, said in court he “unlawfully” killed Harris, Myran, Contois and Buffalo Woman, but is seeking to be found not criminally responsible due to mental illness.

The Crown alleges he is guilty of four, “racially motivated”, first-degree murders of vulnerable Indigenous women he picked up at city homeless shelters.

A man has admitted in court that he killed four women in Winnipeg, but his lawyers are asking he be found not criminally responsible because of mental illness.

Court of King’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal said Monday the question of Jeremy Skibicki’s mental capacity and intent will now be the focus of the trial.

The Crown agreed the trial, which was supposed to be with a jury, will instead be heard by a judge alone because of complexities with this type of defence.

“Concluding this matter before a jury does pose some challenges,” said prosecutor Christian Vanderhooft.

The trial is to start Wednesday.

In January, the Federal Court found that the Trudeau government's use of the Emergencies Act to respond to the protests of the self-styled freedom convoy in 2022 was not properly justified — a decision the federal government is now appealing.

At the time, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre celebrated that ruling.

"Today, in a landmark victory for the freedoms of Canadians, the Federal Court ruled that Trudeau broke the highest law in the land," he said in a prepared statement, apparently referring to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

"Common-sense Conservatives will protect the Charter rights of Canadians, and as prime minister I will unite our country and our people for hope and freedom."

A few months later, Poilievre's support for the Charter rights of Canadians seems less than absolute.

Last week, the Conservative leader appeared before a meeting of the Canadian Police Association and outlined — or at least hinted at — his plans to use the notwithstanding clause to safeguard his government's laws from being overturned by the courts.

"All of my proposals are constitutional. And we will make sure — we will make them constitutional, using whatever tools the Constitution allows me to use to make them constitutional," he said. "I think you know exactly what I mean."

Would a Poilievre government use the clause to save mandatory-minimum sentences that the Supreme Court has found constitute cruel and unusual punishment? What if the court ultimately rules against the bail restrictions that Poilievre has said he would implement?

In 2011, the Supreme Court ruled that the previous Conservative government's attempts to block a supervised drug consumption site in Vancovuer — Insite — violated the Charter right to life, liberty and security of the person. Would the Poilievre government use the notwithstanding clause to implement elements of its response to the opioid epidemic?

For the first time since the start of its inaugural season in January, the PWHL will be making its debut at the Bell Centre — home of the Montreal Canadiens and the biggest hockey arena in North America.

General tickets for the April 20th game between Montreal and Toronto went on sale Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET and sold out in under 20 minutes, setting the league up to break the world record for largest attendance for a professional women's hockey match.

As of Friday, at least 31 cases of measles have been reported so far this year across Canada, according to a CBC News tally of provincial and regional figures released by public health teams.

That's already the largest annual total since 2019 and more than double the number of cases reported last year, as medical experts fear the number will rise while more Canadians travel in and out of the country this month for March break.

New projections from a team at Simon Fraser University (SFU) in British Columbia show the grim possibilities. The modelling suggests that vaccine coverage of less than 85 per cent can lead to dozens of cases within small communities — or even hundreds if immunization rates are lower.

Environmental groups that have been fighting for the end of offshore oil and gas development in B.C. are celebrating victory after the federal government announced the last remaining permits for Pacific Ocean exploration had voluntarily been surrendered.

Federal Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said Wednesday that Chevron, the last corporation to hold the permits, had voluntarily relinquished them as of Feb. 9.

Jay Ritchlin, David Suzuki Foundation Director General of B.C., said he welcomed the news.

"I've been working on this for 20 years ... Offshore oil and gas drilling doesn't have a place in the future."

B.C.'s carbon tax is rising on April 1, and so are the tax credits it funds.

Maximum payments for the climate action tax credit are increasing by about 10 per cent starting in July, according to the province. The tax credit, paid quarterly, is designed to help offset the impact of the carbon taxes paid by British Columbians.

A single person in B.C. will be able to receive up to $504, up from $447 in 2023, and if they have a child, they can receive $252, up from $223 last year. A married or common-law couple, can receive up to $756 combined, up from $670 last year.