Maple Express | October 28, 2026 — Joly says Canada must 'send a message' over Stelco

Source: CP24

1. Joly says Canada must 'send a message' over broken Stelco deal, won't rule out forced divestment

Federal Industry Minister Mélanie Joly says Canada needs "to send a message" by calling out the American owner of Stelco for breaking its promise to protect Canadian jobs. She made the comments in an interview with CTV News Ottawa bureau chief Graham Richardson, reported on the evening of Oct. 27.

The dispute centres on Cleveland-Cliffs, which owns Stelco and announced last month that it was eliminating 500 jobs and closing part of its site in Hamilton, Ont. Ottawa says the potential layoffs go against commitments the company made under the Investment Canada Act when it bought Stelco in 2024. Joly said the government wants Cleveland-Cliffs to provide a timeline for restoring jobs at the plant.

Asked about the history of large companies doing as they please after striking a deal with government, Joly replied: "That doesn't work. My point is we are in a trade war right now. We need to send a message." She stressed that Cleveland-Cliffs is not the victim: "The victims are those affected by the layoffs, are the people that can't pay for the mortgage right now, can't pay for their bills."

In a letter to Joly, the company said it does not believe it breached its 2024 commitments and asked for a meeting between Joly and CEO Lourenco Goncalves to lay out a path to full employment. "The facts are clear," Goncalves said in a statement. "We made serious commitments to Canada when we acquired Stelco, and we have honoured them." The company blames U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and low steel prices, but the federal government notes Goncalves publicly backed those levies.

Ottawa has threatened to take Cleveland-Cliffs to court if it does not stop laying off unionized workers. Joly said that if the cuts continue, the government is considering a forced divestment of assets or financial penalties. "That is why the government is taking a strong stance. We believe we have a strong case," she said.

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2. Privacy commissioner opens probe into Crime Stoppers data breach as police pause tips

Canada's privacy watchdog has launched an investigation into a reportedly massive Crime Stoppers data breach, as police departments across the country pause accepting tips through the platform. The office of Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne said the probe will examine the cybersecurity incident involving Navigate360, the third-party company that manages the platform used by Crime Stoppers.

The investigation follows a CBC report that 1.5 million tips submitted to Canadian Crime Stoppers programs over the past 25 years were exposed when Navigate360 was hacked in March. The U.S.-based company confirmed the breach last week, saying it immediately opened its own investigation, took "mitigation measures" and "implemented additional and enhanced safeguards" with the help of another cybersecurity firm.

The commissioner's office said the investigation will look at the security safeguards Navigate360 had in place at the time of the breach to determine whether the organization complies with Canada's federal private-sector privacy law. It said it has reached out to Crime Stoppers programs to offer "expertise and guidance," and has contacted Navigate360, though it did not say whether the company responded.

Police forces across Ontario, including several in the Greater Toronto Area, temporarily stopped directing public calls to Crime Stoppers after the revelation. At least two police departments in Manitoba, including Winnipeg, said they would stop taking tips through the program while they review the incident. Saskatchewan Crime Stoppers urged the public over the weekend to avoid sending tips through its platform, saying the pause is temporary and that it will resume "as soon as we are confident it is safe to do so."

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3. Ontario quietly pauses some Better Jobs Ontario training funding, leaving students waiting

On top of freezing Ontario Student Assistance Program payments to all private post-secondary institutions, Ontario has paused at least some funding through Better Jobs Ontario, a program that helps unemployed people get skills training. The government has not publicly said so.

Reece Daniel had hoped to start an HVAC program in London, Ont., on Oct. 19. The government had scheduled an Oct. 13 meeting to give him information about the funding agreement but cancelled a few days earlier, saying applications were under review. The next intake for the program is May 2027. "This course was something that was going to get me jumped back on my feet," Daniel said, adding that the delays and putting off work have been frustrating.

Pathways Employment Help Centre, which was assisting Daniel, said other clients are seeing the same uncertainty. "Despite our agency's repeated efforts to obtain clarification, the absence of a definitive decision prevented Reece and other clients from proceeding with their planned training as scheduled," CEO Ben Cecil said.

Career Colleges Ontario said member schools have heard that Better Jobs Ontario funding for career college students is paused, but the association has received no formal communication from the government. It urged the province to restore funding for students at institutions with no identified compliance concerns. Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn announced earlier this month that OSAP payments were paused for students at all private institutions after preliminary audit findings raised serious concerns about financial aid usage at some career colleges. Trillium College has suspended classes. Quinn's spokesperson would say only that other streams of provincial funding to private institutions are "under review," refusing to list them. Interim Liberal leader John Fraser said: "It's happening. They know it's happening and I don't know why they're afraid to say it."

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4. Police seek suspect after woman sexually assaulted in downtown Toronto entertainment district

Toronto police are searching for a suspect after a woman was sexually assaulted in downtown Toronto last month. In a news release issued on the evening of Oct. 27, police said the victim was at a venue in the Entertainment District near King Street West and Simcoe Street just before midnight on Sept. 25.

Investigators said she was dancing with friends when she was approached by the suspect, who sexually assaulted her during the interaction and shortly after.

Police described the suspect as approximately 20 years old with short, curly black hair. He was last seen wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans and white shoes with red markings. The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact Toronto police.

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5. Fake detective and fake judge: Toronto homeowner loses more than $200K in renovation scam

Toronto police are searching for multiple suspects in an Etobicoke fraud investigation after a victim lost more than $200,000 in a home contractor scheme. Investigators said they began looking into reports of fraud and impersonation on Oct. 5.

According to police, the victim hired contractors to work on her home in the Mimico neighbourhood, near Lake Shore Boulevard West and Royal York Road, and was misled about the extent of the repairs required. The costs exceeded the original quote and caused significant financial losses.

A suspect who identified himself as Toronto police detective "Philip Spring" then contacted the victim, claiming the contractors were under investigation for fraud. A second suspect allegedly impersonated a judge using the alias "Stephen Firestone" and told her that because of the fraud investigation and court proceedings she would have to pay a large sum that would later be reimbursed by the court. Police said the victim purchased and delivered bank drafts totalling more than $200,000.

Investigators are probing both the alleged contractor fraud and the impersonation scheme, and believe there may be additional victims. Police said they are searching for multiple suspects associated with the incident and asked anyone with information to contact investigators.

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6. Toronto 'pimp-turned-preacher' pleads guilty, freed on time served in Barrie court

A Toronto man accused of pimping out vulnerable women in the sex trade, who has since become a preacher, was sentenced to time served after a plea deal in a Barrie courtroom. Brandt Vanderhyden, 37, pleaded guilty to two of 13 counts, admitting he advertised sexual services online and arranged and took all $240 from a woman he sold to a client in Barrie in September 2022.

The plea came just as a jury had been selected ahead of what was expected to be a three-week trial. Vanderhyden had faced serious charges including kidnapping, procuring a woman for sexual services, sexual assault with a weapon and extortion. The Crown's case fell apart when two complainants failed to appear in court Monday morning, prompting a deal; the Crown said the women, described as vulnerable, did not want to take part and one told police she feared for her safety.

Having spent eight months in custody and about four years under strict house arrest with a GPS ankle monitor, Vanderhyden was credited with 18 months' time served. Justice Lisa Wannamaker accepted the joint proposal; he was placed on three years' probation, ordered to pay $240 in restitution, and all other charges were withdrawn. His lawyer, Melina Macchia, told the court he worked for his family's business while on bail and completed addiction treatment. Vanderhyden said he was addicted to crack cocaine at the time of his arrest, is now three years sober, and told the court: "I am a new man today."

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7. Driver seriously injured after car strikes deer in Georgina

A motorist has been taken to hospital with serious injuries after colliding with a deer in York Region, police say. The collision happened just before 7 p.m. on Oct. 27 in the town of Georgina, near Ravenshoe and Miles roads, just east of Highway 48.

Ravenshoe Road between Miles and Park roads is closed for the investigation, and drivers are being advised to avoid the area. Anyone with further information is asked to contact York Regional Police's 3 District at 905-830-0303 ext. 7300.

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8. Durham Region police officer charged in child sexual exploitation investigation, suspended without pay

A Durham Region police officer has been suspended without pay after being charged in a child sexual exploitation investigation in Northumberland County. Ontario Provincial Police's Northumberland detachment said it received a report on Oct. 21 regarding the sexual exploitation of a young person, then launched an investigation with OPP crime units from Peterborough County and Haliburton Highlands, assisted by regional support and emergency response teams.

Search warrants were executed in Whitby and Ajax with help from Durham Regional Police's digital forensics unit. OPP said Tre-Jamal Hamad, 31, of Ajax, was arrested on Sunday and charged with several Criminal Code offences, including one count each of possessing child sexual abuse and exploitation material, making sexually explicit material available to a person under 18, luring a person under 18 by telecommunication, indecent exposure to a person under 16, and making, publishing or possessing for publication child sexual abuse and exploitation material. He also faces two counts each of making sexually explicit material available to a person under 16 and luring a person under 16 by telecommunication.

Durham Regional Police confirmed to CTV News Toronto that Hamad is a member of the force. The allegations have not been tested in court. He was held for a bail hearing and is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday. OPP said a publication ban has been issued, so no further information can be released.

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9. The Indian Act dates to 1876. Saskatchewan First Nations ask what reform would actually mean

In the wake of recent talks about reforming Canada's Indian Act, Indigenous people are asking what that change would look like. Ernie Louttit, a member of the Missanabie Cree First Nation, holds status under the act while his children do not because of rules in the current legislation. He hopes reform would let status be passed down more easily. "It just feels like you have to qualify your identity to the government," he told CTV News. "It needs to be reformed, but it needs to be reformed with good intention."

Enacted in 1876, the Indian Act gives the federal government authority over First Nations people, status registration, reserve lands and band governance, and attempted to assimilate First Nations. "This exists to separate the Canadian populace from the First Nations populace," said Jason Bird, a lecturer at the First Nations University of Canada. The act prevented First Nations women from running for chief and stripped women of status if they married a non-Indigenous man, and it paved the way for residential schools, banned cultural practices and developed the reserve system.

Katherine Strongwind, founder of Sixties Scoop Legacy of Canada, called the reserve system "a form of apartheid" and said the 1950s shift of child welfare jurisdiction to provinces ultimately led to the Sixties Scoop, when thousands of children were taken from their homes and placed with non-Indigenous families. She said the recent reform talk is "somewhat reminiscent" of the 1969 White Paper and that she was surprised the issue came up at the First Ministers' Meeting in Ottawa. She noted Premier Kinew raised it in a scrum with the prime minister without consulting First Nations and without the national chief present.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said many Indigenous leaders have called for the elimination of the act, adding that any reform or abolishment would only happen in partnership with First Nations. Strongwind hopes the moment can be used to develop replacement legislation with more consultation involving Assembly of First Nations chiefs, Indigenous leadership and survivors.

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10. A 'warning shot': two dozen Ontario communities change mayors as big cities stick with incumbents

Election signs were still up in Mississauga, Ont., the day after voters chose first-term councillor Alvin Tedjo as their next mayor, defeating both incumbent Carolyn Parrish and her predecessor Bonnie Crombie. "Sometimes we just need change, right?" said resident Linda MacPherson. "There's new perspectives, new ideas maybe."

Mississauga was not alone. While votes were still being tallied, at least two dozen Ontario towns and cities voted for change in Monday's municipal elections. In Hamilton, a city hit hard by U.S. tariffs, Keanin Loomis unseated incumbent Andrea Horwath. Windsor, also affected by the trade war, chose Coun. Fred Francis over incumbent Drew Dilkens. In Milton, Canada's longest-serving politician Gord Krantz — first elected as a town councillor in 1965 and mayor since 1980 — was unseated by Coun. George Minakakis.

"This speaks to an environment where voters are looking for solutions... I think this is a bit of a warning shot. Voters are grumpy," said pollster Nik Nanos, citing worries about traffic, safety, homelessness, housing costs and property taxes. Still, many of Ontario's large cities re-elected their mayors: Ottawa's Mark Sutcliffe and Brampton's Patrick Brown won new mandates, and Toronto's Olivia Chow won decisively over Brad Bradford, calling on Tuesday for unity across levels of government on cost of living, traffic and safety.

The shift is not limited to Ontario. Earlier this month Quebec elected a Parti Québécois government after eight years of Coalition Avenir Québec rule, and on Saturday British Columbia voters gave the Conservatives a decisive majority, removing former premier David Eby and the NDP from power. "(Voters) are very suspicious of politicians trying to engineer their own success," Nanos said. Manitoba holds municipal elections on Oct. 28 and Prince Edward Island votes on Nov. 2.

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