Controversy over minister’s connection to rail project; refugee found not criminally responsible for leaving deadly crash scene; and more

Prime Minister Mark Carney listens as Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne speaks at a news conference in Ottawa, Jan. 26, 2026. Photo by Blair Gable /Postmedia

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

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Carney defends minister’s connection to rail project as Tories call for investigation

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The prime minister said François-Philippe Champagne followed all the rules when his spouse was hired as a senior executive at Alto, the group managing the government’s planned high-speed rail link between Toronto and Quebec City.

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John William Wignall, 57, (left) and Ryan Valentim, 38, were killed in the crash on Sept. 25, 2022. Photo by Hamilton Police // Family handout

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Syrian refugee found not criminally responsible for failing to stop after deadly Ontario crash gets absolute discharge

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Mouhamad Al Jalmoud, who killed two men and severely injured a third after crashing while driving away from police, was discharged because he “does not at this time meet the threshold of significant threat to the safety of the public.”

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Ontario Superior Court in Belleville, Ont. Photo by Luke Hendry/Postmedia

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NP View: Canadian Bar Association’s progressive agenda undermines the rule of law

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The bar association wrote last week that media criticism of a judge who threw evidence out of two trials due to his belief that police were racist is a “crude effort at undermining public confidence in the judiciary.” In an editorial, the National Post argues that “if writing accurately about what the courts are doing risks undermining confidence in the judiciary, the problem is not the people who are reporting what is going on in the legal system.”

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FILE: A photo shows a flag of Samidoun during a “in solidarity with Gaza” demonstration in Duisburg, western Germany, on Oct. 9, 2023. Photo by INA FASSBENDER /AFP via Getty Images

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FIRST READING: Canada finally gets around to stripping non-profit status from a terrorist group

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Why was Samidoun finally stripped of its non-profit status? Not because of its open support of violence, or its alleged exploitation of the Canadian charitable sector to wire money to terrorists. It was because their paperwork wasn’t in order.

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Former Alberta premier Ralph Klein in 1999. Since the Klein years, Alberta has increased insurance premium taxes, fuel taxes, and numerous other levies that have inflated the cost of everyday goods. Photo by Tom Braid/Postmedia/File

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The Alberta tax advantage is disappearing three decades after Ralph Klein’s reforms

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In the mid-1990s, then Alberta Premier Ralph Klein solidified Alberta’s small government identity with a series of tax and spending cuts. While the province remains Canada’s lowest-tax jurisdiction, the gap is narrowing, and the drift away from its previous days of austerity is equally visible.

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