In the news today: Post-budget sales pitch begins, Prince Harry to visit Toronto

It’s the first caucus meeting after Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont left the Conservative caucus to join the Liberals Tuesday.

Champagne will speak with business leaders at an armchair discussion in Montreal this afternoon, where he’s expected to drill down on the government’s plan to deliver what he calls “generational, transformational investments.”

Champagne’s budget, tabled Tuesday, includes nearly $90 billion in net new spending over five years.

Clerk warns budget will cut programs, staff

Canada’s top bureaucrat is warning the budget’s spending reduction target is a “big number” that will mean cuts to programs and jobs in the public service.

Tuesday’s federal budget outlined a plan to lower program spending and administration costs by about $60 billion over the next five years.

In a message sent to federal employees after the budget was tabled, Clerk of the Privy Council Michael Sabia said that plan will lead to reductions in some programs and the cancellation of others.

Sabia says it’s inevitable that reduced spending will shrink the size of the public service.

Ottawa announces measures to cut telecom costs

The federal government says it plans to take measures aimed at increasing competition in Canada’s telecommunications sector and lowering consumers’ cellphone and internet costs.

Ottawa outlined parts of that strategy in the budget Tuesday, including a new “dig once” policy that would encourage companies to co-ordinate when installing fibre optic lines.

It also says it will reduce regulatory hurdles when deploying telecom infrastructure across the country, including by consulting on a streamlined tower-siting process later this year.

Meanwhile, the federal government will release additional wireless spectrum, the electromagnetic frequencies that enable smartphone communications, and develop modernized spectrum licence transfer rules in late 2025-26.

Evacuations as storm pounds Newfoundland coast

Wanda Waddleton said she was waiting for the worst on Tuesday as an intense storm sent waves crashing over the seawall in her community along Newfoundland’s southern shore.

The mayor of Trepassey, N.L., said the seawall — or breakwater — had been damaged in a storm last year. What remained was no match for the powerful, low-pressure system set to lash much of the province overnight on Tuesday, Waddleton said.

Two families had already been asked to evacuate, she said in an interview at about 6 p.m. local time.

“We’re at the mercy of the sea,” Waddleton said. “It’s high tide now. I’m expecting two to four hours of really severe winds and damaging waves.”

Prince Harry in Toronto for two-day visit

Prince Harry is set to begin a two-day visit to Toronto to attend events supporting veterans and the military community ahead of Remembrance Day.

The office of the Duke of Sussex says he’s making the trip at the invitation of the True Patriot Love Foundation, which supports Canadian military members, veterans and their families.

Prince Harry has several engagements today, including a private lunch followed by an evening fundraiser for the HALO Trust – a U.K.-based charity that helps clear explosives around the world and was also supported by his late mother, Diana.

Prince Harry, who served in Afghanistan as a member of the British military, is also set to meet some of Canada’s oldest veterans at Sunnybrook Hospital’s veterans centre on Thursday.

Menopause care is more widely available, if you can pay

Karine Beauchamp couldn’t think straight, felt so exhausted she could barely get out of bed and had unpredictable mood swings ranging from sadness to anger.

“It’s like my resilience just disappeared,” the 48-year-old federal government worker said in an interview from Ottawa.

“It felt like I wasn’t myself.”

Beauchamp talked to her family doctor, who suggested antidepressants, and a naturopathic doctor, who did blood tests and told her to take more vitamin D and iron.

Finally, a cousin told her about her positive experience with treatment at a private virtual menopause clinic. Beauchamp realized perimenopause — when mid-life women are still menstruating but approaching menopause — might be behind how she was feeling. Beauchamp decided to pay $300 for a consultation, where a nurse practitioner listened and went through all her symptoms and treatment options.

—

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2025

The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

In the news today: Post-budget sales pitch begins, Prince Harry to visit Toronto

What's Trending