Afternoon front page: Carney’s Senate shake-up; a Montreal synagogue arsonist denies hate crimes; and more 

Conservative MP Richard Martel speaks during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 7, 2026. Martel was appointed to the Senate on Tuesday. Photo by HYUNGCHEOL PARK /Postmedia

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It’s Tuesday, July 7. Here are the top stories we’re following today.

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Carney appoints Conservative MP from Quebec to Senate, along with principal secretary

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Prime Minister Mark Carney is changing the criteria for appointing someone to the Senate by removing the “non-partisanship” requirement that became a hallmark of his predecessor’s time in power. The news came as he appointed four to the Senate, including Quebec Conservative MP Richard Martel and Tom Pitfield, principal secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office.

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A damaged window is seen at Congregation Beth Tikvah in Montreal after its second arson attack in a little more than a year, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. Photo by John Mahoney/Postmedia

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Terry Newman: The Montreal arsonist who claimed he didn’t know it was a synagogue

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Mohamed Ilyes Akodad has already pleaded guilty to firebombing a Montreal synagogue and Jewish community centre in late 2024, but he insisted at his recent sentencing hearing that he didn’t know he was committing hate crimes and was only carrying out orders he was paid to follow by an unknown third party he met through a friend he refuses to identify at a location he can’t recall.

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Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, his wife, Diana Fox Carney and Turkey’s Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek review troops during a welcome ceremony at Esenboga Airport to attend the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit in Ankara on July 7, 2026. Photo by ABDULLAH GUCLU /POOL/AFP via Getty Images

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Carney welcomes other ‘possibilities’ with South Korea at NATO summit after passing on submarine bid

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On Monday, Mark Carney announced Germany’s TKMS had won the bid for Canada’s new submarine procurement contract, beating out South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean. On the sidelines of the NATO summit in Turkey today, the prime minister discussed other avenues of “co-operation” with Korean President Lee Jae Myung.

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A homeless man sits in the rain, smoking in downtown Ottawa. Photo by TONY CALDWELL, Postmedia

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Amy Hamm: Professor-activists want ‘harm reduction’ for Kindergarteners

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“If the new standard on ‘harm minimization’ is adopted by educators across the country, parents should expect a wholesale normalization of drug use and harm reduction culture in our schools,” Hamm writes in a warning on a “vague” new drug education guideline for Canadian youth as young as five.

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Lyme disease is spread to humans through the bites of infected blacklegged ticks (deer ticks). Photo by Bertrand Guay/AFP via Getty Images

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Lyme disease is on the rise. Here’s how to prevent it and what to do if you get bitten

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Ticks are on a meteoric rise in many parts of Canada, and while Lyme disease is the most common illness the pesky bugs’ bites can cause in humans, others include parasitic and bacterial infections, allergies to red meat, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Laura Brehaut unpacks what you need to know as tick season hits its apex.

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