In the news today: Liberals set to table internal trade bill

Prime Minister Mark Carney has pledged to break down internal trade barriers by Canada Day to create one economy — although the time left on the parliamentary calendar suggests the legislation will not gain Royal Assent by the time the House rises for the summer.

Several other provinces, including Ontario and Quebec, have also tabled such legislation to remove interprovincial barriers to the trade of goods across the country.

It comes against a backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trump roiling the country’s economy with stop-and-go tariffs in an escalating trade war — and as Carney has been engaged in behind-the-scenes talks with Trump on trade.

Here’s what else we’re watching…

Wildfire evacuees take refuge in Niagara Falls

Some Manitoba residents who have taken refuge in Niagara Falls, Ont., after fleeing wildfires raging in their province say they’re grateful for the hospitality but worry they won’t have a home to return to once the flames die down.

Kelly Ouskun says he saw so much fire and smoke along the highway on the drive from his family’s home in Split Lake to Thompson, about 145 kilometres away, that he felt “nauseated” and his eyes hurt.

The family flew to Niagara Falls from there and he says they’ve now settled in at one of the five downtown hotels taking in evacuees, while hanging on to hope that what he’s heard about his home — that it’s still standing and intact — is true.

More than 18,000 people have been displaced due to the wildfires in Manitoba since last week, including 5,000 residents of Flin Flon near the Saskatchewan boundary, along with members from at least four First Nations.

Some residents from Pimicikamak Cree Nation, east of Flin Flon, were taken to Niagara Falls on Sunday, with more arriving since then.

Wildfires included in G7 leaders summit planning

Security officials at the G7 leaders summit in Kananaskis say plans are in place, including the possibility of evacuations, if wildfires become a serious threat later this month.

Kananaskis, located about an hour west of Calgary, is in the foothills and front ranges of the Rocky Mountains. Its western edge borders Banff National Park and the Alberta-B.C. boundary.

Its remote location is considered to be ideal from a security standpoint for the meeting of the leaders from Canada, the United States, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and Italy, as well as the European Union from June 15 to 17.

But with an explosion of wildfires in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and in northern Alberta, a contingency plan is in place if the situation moves south.

“Wildfire has been part of our planning since the summit was announced here in Alberta,” said RCMP Chief Supt. David Hall, an event security director for the Integrated Safety and Security Group, in a recent briefing.

StatCan to publish May jobs numbers

Statistics Canada is set to reveal employment numbers for May today.

A poll of economists provided by LSEG Data & Analytics heading into today’s release calls for a loss of 12,500 jobs last month and for the unemployment rate to rise a tenth of a percentage point to seven per cent.

Canada’s unemployment rate rose two ticks to 6.9 per cent in April amid a gain of 7,400 jobs.

That month’s figures got a one-time boost in hiring tied to the federal election but also showed a contraction in manufacturing as the tariff dispute with the United States started to bite.

The Bank of Canada will be watching the labour market data closely just two days after it left its benchmark interest rate on hold for a second straight time.

Fans react to criticism of Gretzky over Trump ties

It wasn’t long ago that some Canadians were up in arms about hockey legend Wayne Gretzky’s ties to U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.

But as the Edmonton Oilers skate their way through the Stanley Cup final, hockey fans say it’s time to let bygones be bygones.

The statue was vandalized in March and smeared with what appeared to be and strongly smelled like feces. On Wednesday, a hip-high metal fence was up around the bronze figure.

Gretzky, the Ontario-born hockey star who led the Oilers to four Stanley Cup victories in the 1980s, recently drew the ire of Canadians for his public support of Trump, who has repeatedly expressed his desire for Canada to join the U.S and become its 51st state.

Darren Rogers, a Gretzky fan since the Oilers’ inception into the NHL in 1979, said Gretzky’s leadership led the team to win multiple Stanley Cups.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2025.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

In the news today: Liberals set to table internal trade bill

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