By Canadian Press

In the news today: Defence spending won’t slow recession, P.M. to meet First Nations

Jul 17, 2025 | 2:16 AM

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed…

Defence spending to boost Canada’s economy: report

Ottawa’s ramped up defence-spending plans will give the economy a lift, but not enough to save it from a recession, a newly released report forecasts.

The updated analysis from Oxford Economics published Wednesday projects that Canada’s defence spending commitments will raise the country’s real gross domestic product by a tenth of a percentage point this year and next.

That would bring growth up to 0.9 per cent annually this year and 0.4 per cent in 2026.

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Prime Minister Mark Carney announced plans last month to reach NATO’s defence and security spending target of two per cent of GDP by the end of this year. New member commitments from last month’s NATO summit will see that funding ramp up to five per cent of GDP by 2035.

Carney meeting with First Nations today

Prime Minister Mark Carney will meet today with First Nations leaders about his government’s controversial major projects legislation.

The closed-door meeting was promised by Carney in June after chiefs said their rights were not respected by the rush to push the Building Canada Act through Parliament in June.

The legislation allows cabinet to quickly grant federal approvals for big industrial projects like mines, ports and pipelines by sidestepping existing laws.

An agenda for today’s meeting shared with The Canadian Press shows Carney will deliver opening remarks for 10 minutes in the morning, followed by the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

Smith faces opposition to provincial pension plan

After receiving a warm welcome and widespread support just 24 hours earlier, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith faced a more vocally critical and frustrated crowd as she and her hand-picked panel members assembled in Edmonton for the second of a series of summer town halls.

“We sound like bratty children,” said Roberta Stasyk, a resident of Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., who was one of many speakers who showed up to voice their frustration.

Smith launched the panel to address public concerns over Prime Minister Mark Carney’s election win — concerns that have pushed some to want Alberta to separate from Confederation.

The premier’s staff said some 500 people attended the Edmonton town hall on Wednesday.

Ex-pilot called himself messiah before ‘hijacking’

The day before the suspected hijacking of a light aircraft triggered a security scare at Vancouver’s airport this week, former commercial pilot Shaheer Cassim posted on social media that he was a “messenger of Allah” sent to save humanity from climate change.

A 39-year-old man with the same name has now been charged with hijacking, constituting terrorism, over the incident on Tuesday that saw Norad scramble F-15 fighter jets before the light plane safely landed.

RCMP say the suspect had an “ideological motive” and allegedly seized control of the plane at Victoria International Airport after threatening a flight instructor, before flying to Vancouver.

Images posted on social media depicting the arrest of the Cessna’s pilot on the north runway of YVR show a bearded man who resembles climate activist Cassim.

In his Facebook post on Monday, Cassim says he’s the “messiah sent to save humanity from climate change and usher in an era of world peace.”

Heat wave continues from Ontario to Newfoundland

Daytime temperatures from Windsor, Ontario, to St. John’s, Newfoundland, are going to remain hot a little longer.

Environment Canada has several heat warnings in effect this morning, along a 2,400-kilometre stretch of southeastern Canada.

The warnings forecast daytime highs in some areas between 31 and 34 degrees Celsius — with a humidex of 37 to 42.

As with any heat warning, it is recommended that people watch for the early signs of heat exhaustion and check in with vulnerable family and friends to ensure their well-being.

10-year project to save B.C.’s only native turtle

Menita Prasad knows that turtles don’t rate the same kind of attention from the public as a “cute, fluffy mammal.”

The director of animal care at Greater Vancouver Zoo says that’s one reason why British Columbia’s endangered western painted turtles deserve special care.

The zoo is part of a decade-long project to revive the fortunes of the province’s only native freshwater turtle.

“How can you not love a turtle?” said Prasad, describing the western painted turtle’s “beautiful, bright-red plastron,” the underside of its shell.

The zoo in Langley, B.C., is halfway through the project to collect western painted turtle eggs in the wild and hatch them, to increase their chances of survival when they are released.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 17, 2025

The Canadian Press