The price of watching hockey soars; Ontario woman killed by rat bite fever; and more

The Montreal Canadian's Juraj Slafkovský, left, shoots on the Toronto Maple Leafs Samuel Hlavaj during pre-season action this month. Photo by Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

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It’s Monday, September 28. Here are the top stories we’re following today.

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Scott Stinson: The NHL is back, and watching it is more expensive than ever

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“Traditional broadcast homes have been abandoned. New paid tiers have been introduced that will require fans in some provinces to subscribe to four services should they want to watch every game at home. And some of those services are streaming-only, meaning viewers used to finding the game on their traditional channel guide will be on a road to nowhere,” Stinson writes.

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Rat bite fever is a rare infection with an estimated mortality rate of up to 13 per cent if left untreated. The disease often starts with vague symptoms such as fever, rash and generally just feeling unwell, which can delay people seeking medical attention. Photo by Ron Ward/Times & Transcript/Postmedia

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Doctors stumped at first when Ontario woman died of rat bite fever

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The infection spreading through the 48-year-old woman was so aggressive, large parts of her heart were destroyed. But all the usual tests for typical bacterial infections came back negative. Doctors couldn’t fully understand what was feeding the infection. Until her sister wondered, could it be the rats?

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Prime Minister Mark Carney delivers a speech in the hemicycle of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on Sept. 17, 2026. Photo by Jean-Christophe Verhaegen/AFP via Getty Images

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Trump administration muses about hitting Canada with EU-style tariffs over Carney’s EU pivot

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As Canada seeks closer economic ties with Europe, U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra said in an interview that American trade negotiators told him “We may just slide Canada in under the EU trade agreement. We won’t treat Canada as a country with whom we have a four- or five-thousand-mile border anymore… It is aligning with the EU, so it only makes sense for the U.S. to put Canada under that trade agreement.” But analysts question if that would even be legally possible.

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Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during question period in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. Photo by Hyungcheol Park/Postmedia

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Jamie Sarkonak: Mark Carney’s enormous new major projects bill is a mirage

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The “One project, one decision, in one year” tagline that comes with Bill C-39, which is intended is to streamline the federal infrastructure approvals process, seems to be more a suggestion than a rule, Sarkonak says. “A number of escape hatches have been worked into the legislation to account for delay and stalling — whether from slow-walking bureaucrats or disgruntled Indigenous groups — that can likely be expected in response to any major project proposal.”

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B.C. NDP Leader David Eby Photo by Jason Payne/Postmedia

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What was B.C.’s David Eby thinking by calling the maddest Canadian election ever? Full Comment podcast

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A pair of B.C. politics columnists join host Brian Lilley to try to find a method in Premier David Eby’s seeming madness in calling a snap election with two years left on his mandate and an unpopular record to defend.

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