Maple Express | October 19, 2026 — A Year After Ontario Resident Eli Wood Vanished, Mother Says 'None of Us Are Going to Give Up'

Source: CP24

1. A Year After Ontario Resident Eli Wood Vanished, Mother Says 'None of Us Are Going to Give Up'

It has now been one year since anyone has seen or heard from Eli Wood. On Oct. 19, 2025, around 6 a.m., flames destroyed the back unit of a home on Major Street in Kitchener, Ont., where the 25-year-old was living. Waterloo Regional Police launched an arson investigation but have never said what led them to that determination, and they have said foul play may have played a part in the disappearance.

On the anniversary of the fire, police renewed their appeal for information. "Despite extensive efforts, investigators were unable to locate Eli," Staff Sgt. Alison Sproule said in a video posted to social media. "One year has passed, but the search for answers continues." The video also included a message from Eli's mother, Cindy Wood, who said her voice shaking: "I think somebody does know something and I think it's time that they spoke up."

Cindy Wood described Eli as the glue that keeps the family together, someone who put younger siblings to sleep at night on video chat and helped them with homework over the phone. Multiple searches have been organized over the past year by friends and community members, but nothing has turned up. Eli is 4'10" tall and weighs between 85 and 95 pounds, with green eyes, white eyebrows and eyelashes, and distinctive tattoos including a flower and seahorse on the left forearm and a rainbow on the upper right arm. Anyone with information is urged to call the Waterloo Regional Police Service's Major Crime Unit at 519-570-9777, ext. 8191.

2. Polls Open in Alberta Referendum as Separation Question Awaits Late-Night Result

Voting is underway in the Alberta referendum, where people are answering 10 questions, including whether the province should stay in Canada or have another vote to separate. More than one million people have already voted via mail-in ballots and advance voting, and polls stay open until 8 p.m.

The first five questions ask about immigrants to Alberta and their access to health care, education and citizenship. The next four ask about Alberta's constitutional and judicial power in the country. The final question asks whether the province should stay in Canada or hold a second, binding referendum on separating.

Elections Alberta will begin counting mail-in ballots and advance votes at 5 p.m. local time and will start announcing results when polls close. Results for Question 10, the separation question, are expected between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. local time on Tuesday.

3. Canadian News Publishers Sue Anthropic Over Copyright in Ontario Court

A coalition of news publishers that includes Canada's largest newspapers is suing the AI company Anthropic in an Ontario court. Postmedia, Torstar, The Globe and Mail and The Canadian Press say Anthropic infringed their copyright by using their content to develop its large language model Claude.

"Anthropic has capitalized on the commercial success of its AI models... all without obtaining a valid licence from any of the News Media Companies," the statement of claim says, adding that the company "has been substantially and unjustly enriched." The claim says Anthropic breached the news websites' terms of service and circumvented technological protection measures, deliberately scraping enormous amounts of text data and continuing to scrape in response to user prompts.

The lawsuit was filed on Oct. 6 and first reported by the news site Cartt.ca. Anthropic has not responded to a request for comment, and the allegations have not been proven in court. The same companies, alongside CBC/Radio-Canada, also launched a lawsuit against OpenAI in 2024, which has yet to be settled. News publishers have been pushing Ottawa to take a stand on how AI systems use copyrighted content.

4. Toronto Officer in Corruption Probe Gets Conditional Discharge

A Toronto police officer who pleaded guilty in connection with Project South, a sweeping investigation into alleged police corruption, was sentenced Monday to a conditional discharge. Const. Elias Mouawad pleaded guilty last month to unauthorized use of a computer. The case saw 27 suspects, including eight current and former Toronto police officers, face corruption allegations.

The conditional discharge is subject to the completion of a one-year probationary period, and Mouawad must report to a probationary officer within two days. He had also been charged with breach of trust, but that charge was withdrawn by the Crown.

York Regional Police revealed the results of Project South in February. Court previously heard that Mouawad broke Toronto Police Service rules by using its computer system to look up a licence plate for a friend, and was later caught up in a review of police databases as investigators sought the source of leaks that sparked shootings and the attempted murder of a jail supervisor. His lawyer said outside the courthouse that the release of the information to the press made his client appear to be part of the very serious misconduct alleged in Project South, when that is not the case.

5. Bike Lane Dispute Escalates as MPP Closes Office After Staffer Threatened

Graydon Smith, MPP for Parry Sound-Muskoka, says the doors to his office are closed. On Monday, the MPP announced the closure of his constituency office via social media, saying the decision was made after a constituent showed "threatening and hostile behaviour" toward a staff member while she was working alone. Smith's office later confirmed to CTV News that the incident occurred shortly after 10 a.m. Monday.

"A constituent came to the office and loudly berated her over his opposition to our government's bike lane policy in Toronto," Smith said. "He told this young woman that she was 'going to die' as a result of climate change and said he would be 'happy' if people get struck and killed by cars." Earlier this month, the provincial government began removing bike lanes from major Toronto streets, and many people have since been arrested while protesting the removals.

"Disagreement with government policy is part of democracy," Smith said, adding that "threatening and intimidating staff is not." He said provincial police had been notified and that he intends to reopen the office on Tuesday.

6. Man Arrested After Business Set on Fire in Danforth Village

A man has been arrested and charged after a business was set on fire in Toronto's Danforth Village over the weekend. It happened on Saturday evening, shortly after 6 p.m., inside a business near Danforth and Sibley avenues.

According to Toronto police, the suspect arrived at the entrance of the building and waited near the door for a short period before leaving. A fire then broke out from where the suspect last was, causing "extensive damage," police said in a news release.

On Monday, police arrested Phillip Richardson, 57, of no fixed address. He was charged with two counts of arson and two counts of breach of probation. The charges have not been proven in court.

7. One Critically Injured in Brampton High-Rise Fire

One person has been rushed to hospital with critical injuries after a fire inside a high-rise apartment building in Brampton Monday afternoon. Emergency services were called shortly after 3 p.m. to the area of Beech and Queen streets following reports of an active apartment fire.

Peel Regional Police say the building has been evacuated. It is currently unclear what caused the blaze.

Beech Street is closed from Queen Street to Church Street as crews remain on scene.

8. 127 kg of Suspected Cocaine Seized at Ambassador Bridge; Two Mississauga Men Charged

Canada Border Services Agency officers seized 127 kg of suspected cocaine at the Ambassador Bridge crossing between Windsor, Ont., and Detroit. CBSA said it was seized from a commercial truck arriving from the United States on Sept. 11, 2026.

After being referred for a secondary examination, border services officers used the assistance of a detector dog to find and seize the suspected cocaine in the trailer. "This seizure at the Ambassador Bridge shows the important work our border services officers do every day to keep illegal drugs out of Canada," said Michael Prosia, regional director general for the CBSA's Southern Ontario Region.

The CBSA arrested Vasyl Galychyn, 61, and Anton Chernyshov, 41, both of Mississauga. The two men and the seized narcotics were transferred to the RCMP, which charged them with importation of cocaine and possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. The case is before the Ontario Court of Justice in Windsor, and the charges are subject to validation by the court.

9. Ontario Electricity Rates Fall in November; Typical Household to Save $23 a Month

Ontario is reducing winter electricity pricing this November, and it is also cutting down its ratepayer rebates. As of Nov. 1, the Ontario Electricity Rebate (OER) will change to 15.7 per cent. The rebate is applied to the electricity bill of all residential, small business and farm customers.

"Our government continues to keep electricity costs down for Ontario families. With electricity prices falling this winter, we continue to provide an energy rebate saving an average family nearly $275 annually," said Noah Mawji, spokesperson for Energy Minister Stephen Lecce. A typical customer using 700 kilowatt hours a month will see bills decrease by $23 every month now; previously the OER reduced bills by about $36 each month, or $432 annually.

The reduction in the rebate percentage does not necessarily mean bills will be more expensive. Over the last five years, the OER has ranged between 13.1 and 23.5 per cent. On time-of-use plans, the off-peak rate is 9.1 cents per kilowatt hour (previously 9.8), mid-peak 14.6 cents (previously 15.7) and on-peak 18.9 cents (previously 20.3). On the ultra low overnight plan, the ultra-low period is 3.7 cents (previously 3.9) and peak hours are 37.7 cents (previously 39.1). On the tiered plan, residential customers pay 11.2 cents for the first 1,000 kilowatt hours (down from 12) and 13.2 cents after that (previously 14.2). The province said the seasonal threshold change provides an additional 400 kilowatt hours a month at the lower price in winter.

10. Body of Oilsands Worker Recovered More Than Nine Months After His Death

The body of a worker who died at an oilsands mine north of Fort McMurray, Alta., has been recovered more than nine months later. Suncor Energy confirmed in a statement that Kenneth Joseph MacAulay's body was recovered last week.

"Recovery has remained a top priority with continuous efforts underway since the event," Suncor's statement read. "These activities were technically and operationally complex, and we needed to ensure the safety of response personnel at every stage." The company said its thoughts continue to be with the individual's family, friends and colleagues.

MacAulay was inside a piece of equipment on Jan. 13 when it became submerged in muskeg at Suncor's Fort Hill mine. He was 66 years old at the time of the incident. Reports in late January said Suncor had hired a private industrial dive team to search for him, and a follow-up report in early February still cited him as missing. His obituary, released in February, stated he would "not be physically present at his memorial services."

Source