Maple Express | October 14, 2026 — Toronto Abduction Probe Widens: 7 Arrested, Including 3 Canadian Armed Forces Members

1. Toronto Abduction Probe Widens: 7 Arrested, Including 3 Canadian Armed Forces Members

Source: CP24

Toronto police say seven people — including three members of the Canadian Armed Forces — have been arrested in a major criminal investigation that began as a probe into a violent abduction in the city last July. Police have laid 82 charges, including kidnapping for ransom, forcible confinement, unauthorized possession of a firearm and possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Supt. Joe Matthews told a Wednesday morning news conference the investigation started on July 25, when a man was targeted near Finch and Bayview avenues as he approached his vehicle, handcuffed and assaulted. The suspects tried to access the victim's cryptocurrency assets before releasing him with a warning not to contact police, he said. Within 24 hours, officers identified a suspect vehicle and arrested two people.

Matthews said the case "quickly unfolded" into a broader probe involving firearms and drugs. Executing a search warrant, officers seized firearms, illicit drugs and ammunition; about 2,500 rounds were later found to have been stolen from the Canadian Armed Forces. Police identified the three CAF members as Talarambage Fernando, James Moreau and Jack Miley. Earlier this month, the Department of National Defence confirmed the arrests of Fernando, 22, and Moreau, 29, and said they had been removed from military duties.

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2. Montreal Father Gets Life Sentence for Murder of 9-Year-Old Daughter

Source: CP24

A Montreal man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing his nine-year-old daughter and leaving her body in a marsh in rural New York, two months after a jury in Essex County Court convicted Luciano Frattolin of second-degree murder and concealment of a human corpse in the death of Melina Frattolin. Judge Tatiana Coffinger imposed the sentence after rejecting a defence motion to set aside the verdict.

"I hope, at some point in your life, you realize what you have done," Coffinger said in court. Frattolin will not be eligible for parole before 25 years and is expected to serve his sentence in New York. The defence filed a notice of appeal. The girl had been living in Montreal with her mother and went on a road trip to the U.S. with her father in July 2025.

On the night they were due to return home, Frattolin called 911 and reported she had been kidnapped after he pulled his car over. "Mr. Frattolin, you live in a world of self-made delusion of wealth and image," the judge said. During the three-week trial, prosecutors called officers and experts who used car-location data, cellphone data and surveillance footage to reconstruct Frattolin's movements and show his account was false. The jury deliberated for an hour on Aug. 10 before convicting him.

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3. Lotto Max Jackpot Grows to Record $90 Million, Canada's Biggest Ever

Source: CP24

The Lotto Max jackpot has grown to a never-before-seen $90 million — the largest lottery prize ever offered in Canada. The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation announced Wednesday that because the previous-record $85-million jackpot went unclaimed after Tuesday night's draw, the top prize grew by another $5 million.

Tuesday night's winning numbers were 7, 11, 19, 28, 32, 35 and 50, with bonus 36. Lotto Max announced in April that it was raising the jackpot cap from $80 million to $90 million — the first time the top prize has reached that threshold, as earlier jackpots were claimed before hitting the new limit. The next draw is Friday, Oct. 16, and will also feature 18 Maxmillions prizes worth $1 million each and at least 90 Maxplus prizes worth $100,000 each.

Even though Tuesday's jackpot went unclaimed, there were other winners around the Greater Toronto Area. Two $1-million Maxmillions tickets were sold in Whitby and Hamilton, and two $500,000 Maxmillions tickets were sold in Toronto and Mississauga — those two are shared, the OLG said.

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4. Cycling Protest Blocks Bike-Lane Removal Work on Bloor Street

Source: CP24

A cycling advocate is vowing to keep protesting Ontario's bike-lane removals after demonstrators blocked the first night of the province's latest planned work along a stretch of Bloor Street. In a statement, Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said the Bloor Street work expected to start Tuesday night was halted by protesters, adding: "make no mistake: these bike lanes are coming out."

Videos shared on social media showed bicycle-mounted demonstrators surrounding a truck carrying stacks of construction pylons as they chanted "get home safe," with the truck slowly driving away escorted by police officers on bicycles. Michael Longfield, executive director of Cycle Toronto, said he expects the protests to continue "until further notice." The group is behind a constitutional challenge of Ontario's plan to remove up to 19 kilometres of protected bike lanes along stretches of Bloor, Yonge Street and University Avenue.

A Toronto roadwork website indicates the removal is slated for a roughly one-kilometre stretch of Bloor from Islington Avenue to Royal York Road, with overnight work that was to start Tuesday and run through Nov. 17. The minister's spokesperson did not respond Tuesday to questions about the cost or whether a bike lane would remain. The protest came the same day the cycling group said it would ask Canada's top court to weigh in. An engineering report commissioned by the province found congestion benefits from removing bike lanes would be negligible or short-lived, while predicting bike lanes cut crashes among all road users by 35 to 50 per cent.

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5. Inquest Into Toronto Woman's Fatal Balcony Fall Continues With Neurologist Testimony

Source: CP24

A neurologist who examined Regis Korchinski-Paquet's records after her death is set to continue testifying today at a coroner's inquest — more than six years after Korchinski-Paquet fell to her death from a Toronto balcony while police were inside her home. Dr. Julien Hébert is the first witness to be called.

Hébert said Tuesday that in the years before her death, Korchinski-Paquet showed symptoms on several occasions consistent with postictal delirium or postictal psychosis, mental states that can occur after seizures. The inquest heard she had a long history of epilepsy-related seizures, often followed by confusion, aggressive behaviour and temporary amnesia, and that she had two seizures on the morning of the day she died.

The inquest was announced earlier this year and is slated to last 14 days, with 13 witnesses expected to testify. Korchinski-Paquet's mother, father and brother have been named as potential witnesses, along with five of the six police officers who attended the scene.

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6. RBC Survey: About 40% of Ontarians Would Consider Multi-Generational Living

Source: CP24

About 40 per cent of Ontarians would consider living in a multi-generational home, according to a new RBC survey released Wednesday that examines how Canadians are changing their approach to home ownership. Nationally, about 44 per cent of respondents said they would consider multi-generational living.

The poll surveyed 1,810 Canadians aged 18 to 64 through Leger's online panel between Aug. 5 and 24, 2026. Among Ontario residents, three-quarters said buying a home is "more complicated" now than for previous generations, and about 42 per cent said multi-generational living is "becoming more common" because of a lack of affordability. "Canadians are finding new ways to make one of life's biggest purchases possible," said Janet Boyle, RBC's senior vice-president of Home Equity Finance.

The survey found 55 per cent of Ontario homeowners said moving up was "harder than expected," while slightly more than half want a larger or different home but say it isn't "financially realistic." Ontario buyers see risks on both sides: 41 per cent are more worried about buying now and seeing prices fall, while 59 per cent are more worried about waiting and being priced out. Nationally, current owners bought their first home at 29 on average, while non-owners expect to be 41 before they can buy — and 50 per cent of non-owners don't know when they will.

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7. Legendary Canadian Musician Joni Mitchell Becomes a U.S. Citizen

Source: CP24

After more than 60 years of living in the United States, Joni Mitchell has become an American citizen. On Tuesday, the 82-year-old singer-songwriter posted a photo and video on Instagram of her citizenship ceremony, with the caption: "A journey that began 62 years ago."

Mitchell moved to the U.S. in the mid-1960s during her short-lived marriage to American musician Chuck Mitchell. After time in Detroit and New York, she settled in southern California following her 1967 divorce, where her career skyrocketed as she became a leading voice in the Laurel Canyon music scene. She now lives in Santa Barbara and keeps a second residence on B.C.'s Sunshine Coast. Born Roberta Joan Anderson on Nov. 7, 1943, in Fort Macleod, Alta., she has said Saskatchewan "is in my veins."

Mitchell is best known for songs such as "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Woodstock" and the 1971 album "Blue," cited as one of the greatest records of all time. She has won five Junos and 11 Grammys, including two lifetime achievement awards, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 and received the Order of Canada in 2004. She has not publicly said why she finally chose to become a U.S. citizen.

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8. Saskatchewan Town Prepares to Host New TV Series 'Copperhill Road'

Source: CP24

Decades after North Star service stations vanished from the prairies, one original location has been restored in the Saskatchewan town of Indian Head for a television series called "Copperhill Road." Series creator Ryan Douglas said the main set is a gas station built in 1937. "We have restored it back to a gas station for the TV show, but it's also a heritage property," he said.

The show is described as featuring action like "The Dukes of Hazzard," but set on the prairies instead of the Georgia backcountry. "There will be a lot of stunts," said director of photography Clint Demasson. The 13-part series will be filmed entirely in the province with an all-Saskatchewan cast and crew.

The Town of Indian Head hopes to benefit much like the Town of Rouleau did with "Corner Gas." Community development officer Meagan McEwan pointed to a "tourism spinoff" as well, saying people will want to see where the show was filmed and its classic locations. Funding is being finalized, with production slated to begin next spring.

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9. Disney Taps 'Sinners' Director Ryan Coogler to Reboot 'The X-Files'

Source: CP24

"Sinners" director Ryan Coogler is set to make a new series of "The X-Files," with British actor Himesh Patel and American Danielle Deadwyler playing agents Scully and Mulder, Disney announced Wednesday.

Created by Chris Carter, the original nine seasons between 1993 and 2002 were a worldwide success with critics and audiences, winning numerous Emmy and Golden Globe awards; two follow-up seasons aired in 2016-18. Coogler, known for "Creed," the "Black Panther" films and the multi-Oscar winner "Sinners," wrote, directed and produced a pilot that Disney has bought for its Disney+ streaming platform.

"What Chris Carter created is special, and we wanted to honour everything that made the original series connect with so many people while also finding our own way into that world," Coogler said in a statement. The original starred Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny as FBI agents Dana Scully and Fox Mulder. The new leads are Patel, who appeared in Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" this summer, and Deadwyler, set to appear in an upcoming adaptation of "The Bell Jar."

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10. Starlink Limits Sap Ukraine's Drone Power as Kyiv Fears U.S. Intelligence Squeeze

Source: CP24

Ukrainian drones lost some of their fighting capacity after restrictions were suddenly imposed on the battlefield use of the country's U.S.-made Starlink terminals, officials said Wednesday, as Kyiv endured another night of missile attacks. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine did not receive its usual advance warning from Western partners about the Russian ballistic missiles that struck the capital two consecutive nights, raising fears that Kyiv is being starved of vital intelligence, especially from the U.S.

Zelenskyy did not specify which partners, and U.S. President Donald Trump has said Washington has not stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine. Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to Zelenskyy, said on social media that Elon Musk's SpaceX imposed a speed limit overnight on Ukraine's Starlink terminals mounted on drones, disrupting operations and making slower-flying attack drones easier targets for Russian defences. "Obviously, this action cannot be a coincidence and is connected to the current political situation," he said. SpaceX and the White House offered no immediate comment.

Kyiv police said five people were killed and 36 injured in the Russian attack from Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning. Zelenskyy voiced outrage over Russia's continued strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, urging America and the world "to respond — and to respond forcefully," and accusing Russia of squandering the chance for de-escalation. Russia's Defence Ministry said it struck six power plants; Zelenskyy said at least 600,000 people were left without power. Ukraine's Brig. Gen. Andrii Biletskyi said Kyiv's forces had liberated 277 square kilometres since summer, a claim that could not be independently verified. Zelenskyy arrived in London on Wednesday for talks with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

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