Maple Express | October 12, 2026 — One dead, two injured in Scarborough crash

Source: CP24

1. One dead, two injured in Scarborough crash

Toronto police say one person is dead and two others are in hospital after a two-vehicle crash in Scarborough Sunday night. Emergency crews were called to the scene near Scarborough Golf Club Road and Lawrence Avenue East just before 10 p.m.

Police said a 2014 BMW 750i was travelling eastbound on Lawrence Avenue when a westbound 2017 Ford Escape began making a left turn into a driveway and the two vehicles collided. A 68-year-old female passenger in the Ford Escape was pronounced deceased in hospital, while the two adult male drivers both sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

The cause of the crash is under investigation. Police are asking anyone who may have security or dash camera footage of the area or incident to contact investigators. Roads in the area were closed but have since reopened.

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2. Carney speaks directly to Albertans in Thanksgiving message

Prime Minister Mark Carney is using Thanksgiving Monday to deliver a direct message to Alberta voters: choose unity and prosperity. With one week to go before a consequential referendum on Alberta's future in Canada, Carney made one of his strongest appeals yet for the province to remain part of the country.

In a video message released to social media Monday morning, the prime minister says Canada is facing growing threats in a changing world. "You can't build big things on fault lines. And we should recognize that the world has changed. Canada is facing real threats to our economy, to our security, to our way of life," Carney says. "We have to be strong and we are stronger together," he adds. "Generations of Albertans helped build this country. It's yours, it's ours, and it's worth fighting for."

The remarks are some of Carney's most direct comments yet on the Oct. 19 referendum. Until now, he has largely focused on policy changes aimed at addressing longstanding Alberta grievances, including scrapping the Trudeau-era consumer carbon tax, backing a pipeline to the West Coast and moving to address environmental regulations that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has blamed for discouraging investment and costing jobs. Dalhousie University political science professor Lori Turnbull says Carney has dealt with those things. Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney, in an interview with CTV's Question Period on Sunday, urged Albertans to lean into the momentum of new pipelines, new LNG and new investment.

Next week, Albertans will vote on 10 referendum questions. The 10th, which asks whether voters support Alberta remaining a province of Canada or would prefer to hold a referendum on separation, is drawing the most attention. Polling suggests most Albertans would choose to stay in Canada, though there are concerns that so-called "frustrated federalists" or "soft separatists" could influence the outcome. Thomas Lukaszuk, head of the pro-unity Forever Canadian campaign, rejects the idea that a referendum is needed to deliver that message, while Tanya Clemens, co-chair of Let Alberta Decide, says a majority for the second option would put Ottawa on notice. CTV News has learned Carney will be in Alberta this week, and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre announced Friday he would deliver his own speech on Canadian unity on Oct. 16.

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3. Alberta separation referendum campaigns enter homestretch

The referendum campaigns on Alberta's place in Confederation have entered the homestretch, with politicians set to speak and groups ready to rally. Advance voting stations open Tuesday, and less than a week later, on Monday, Oct. 19, it's the official polling day. Albertans are answering 10 questions, including whether the province should stay in Canada or hold a second, binding referendum on leaving the country.

It promises to be a busy week. Former UCP premier Jason Kenney and one-time NDP rival and fellow premier Rachel Notley will speak for a united Canada at an event in Edmonton on Tuesday. On Friday, federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith will speak in Calgary, both urging Alberta to stay in the Canadian fold. The federalist Forever Canadian group will gather supporters in Calgary Thursday and Edmonton Friday. On the weekend, duelling rallies are scheduled in Edmonton at the legislature grounds, with the pro-separation group Let Alberta Decide holding an event Saturday and the Alberta Federation of Labour sponsoring a unity rally Sunday.

MP Dane Lloyd has been leading the federal Conservative party's pro-Canada drive with door knocking and public events. "There is no substitute for direct engagement," he said in a statement. Prime Minister Mark Carney and Liberal cabinet ministers have been in Alberta numerous times in recent months to announce a fast-track plan for a new Alberta oil pipeline and to remind Albertans of billions of dollars in ongoing military spending. The Alberta Opposition NDP says it has more than 15,000 volunteers door knocking and phoning to keep Albertans in Confederation. NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi has lambasted Smith for not following through on her promise to actively campaign for a united Canada. "They should bloody be knocking on doors. They should be getting out the vote," Nenshi said. "They're behaving like separatists." Smith rejects the criticism, saying she has made her pro-Canada sentiments clear, and her government has put $4 million into an advertising campaign encouraging people to vote for "a strong and sovereign Alberta within a united Canada."

The separation question is the last of the 10 issues Albertans are being asked to mark an X on; the first nine focus on immigration and the Constitution. The immigration questions ask whether the province should have more say on who comes to work, and whether to put more limitations on some who arrive and seek access to health care and education. The constitutional questions ask Albertans for a blessing to pursue talks with other provinces on wresting power from the federal government and abolishing the Senate. Smith's UCP never campaigned on holding a separation vote in 2023, but she says some Albertans' anger spread during the term of former prime minister Justin Trudeau. She has taken heat from both sides. On referendum night, Elections Alberta officials say the separation question will be counted first, with the result known sometime early the following morning; Smith has said a simple majority will carry the day.

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4. What's open and closed in Toronto on Thanksgiving Monday 2026

Many Toronto businesses are adjusting their hours for Thanksgiving Monday, 2026. Here is a look at what is open and closed.

Most grocery stores will be closed, with the exception of a few that will remain open. Convenience stores licensed to sell alcohol will be permitted to do so on Thanksgiving Monday.

Several malls are also closed on Thanksgiving Monday. Residents are advised to confirm individual store hours before heading out.

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5. Mississauga mayor's race gets heated

A heated mayoral race is shaping up in Mississauga, where observers could be forgiven for thinking it bears some resemblance to a telenovela. To understand the players, one has to back up to 2024. After holding the mayor's office for 10 years, Bonnie Crombie stepped down after winning the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party. Longtime councillor Carolyn Parrish then won a byelection to replace her.

Months after losing the provincial election in February 2025, Crombie said she would step down as leader of the party, and this past summer she announced she would run to get her old job back as mayor. Parrish, the now-incumbent mayor, is running to hold onto her job; the 80-year-old is seeking a second term. In total, there are 14 candidates running for mayor, with other frontrunners including Ward 2 councillor Alvin Tedjo and Ward 7 councillor Dipika Damerla. At a recent mayoral debate, voices were raised, eyes rolled and insults flew. Parrish referred to Crombie as "the blond bombshell" and claimed staff were "terrified" she would return; Crombie retorted that staff were in fact terrified of Parrish and accused her of sitting in her office rather than doing the job of mayor.

With the rising cost of living, affordability is a major issue for voters. Crombie is promising to keep property tax increases at or below the rate of inflation, while Parrish has said she would keep the increases near the rate of inflation. Tedjo has promised a residential property tax freeze for at least two years, along with a permanent freeze for qualifying seniors, and Damerla is promising to freeze the city-controlled share of residential property taxes for 2027. Transit has also come up in the election: Crombie promises to extend the TTC's Line 2 into Mississauga; Tedjo says a strong relationship with the province needs to come first; and Damerla has called for converting the existing Lake Shore GO line into a de facto surface subway. The ongoing trade war with the U.S. has also surfaced: Parrish has floated a property tax subsidy or holiday for small businesses affected by tariffs, while Crombie has called for interest-free property tax deferrals on the city portion of qualifying commercial and industrial taxes. Advance voting ran through Oct. 11, and Election Day is Oct. 26.

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6. New Ottawa airport facility to speed up deliveries to the North

Cargo planes are vital lifelines for remote communities in Canada's north, delivering food, medicine and other essentials. To get those critical items to people faster, Canadian North has opened a new cargo facility at the Ottawa International Airport. The airline serves more than 20 destinations across Nunavut, Nunavik and the Northwest Territories.

"It represents the beginning of a new, exciting chapter for Canadian North as we continue to strengthen our operations and enhance the services we provide," said Shelly De Caria, Canadian North's president and CEO. De Caria, who was born and raised in Kuujjuaq, Que., said she understands the vital importance of this infrastructure. "I remember when the cargo came in and my brother ran to the fridge and said 'we're rich' because we had food in our fridge." The airline transports thousands of boxes of groceries, essential medical supplies and materials for businesses every week, often to communities only accessible by air.

The expansion project received $11 million from the federal government's National Trade Corridors Fund. "A sovereign Arctic depends on moving goods safely and reliably across the north. That is why this building matters so much," said Defence Minister David McGuinty. The warehouse's general cargo capacity has increased by 40 per cent, and its cold storage capacity has nearly doubled. "Alongside faster cargo processing and cargo loading, truck wait times will come down from as much of an hour to just five to 10 minutes," said Rebecca Alty, minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations. The facility aims to move cargo more quickly to ensure supplies arrive faster and fresher.

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7. Thousands attend a Quebec festival centred on a little-known tropical-tasting fruit

All over Canada on Sunday, people prepared stuffing, began thawing turkeys and rummaged for the nice tablecloth for Thanksgiving dinner. Meanwhile, in one Quebec town, thousands gathered to celebrate a peculiar fruit: the pawpaw. Warm October rays and bright fall colours lit up the town of Farnham, about 50 kilometres southeast of Montreal, for its second annual Pawpaw Festival.

With sticky fingers and bright faces, people scooped up heaping spoonfuls of yellow flesh from the mango-shaped fruit. "It tastes like mango, banana, pineapple and caramel. It has every characteristic of a tropical fruit, even if it's a native fruit. And it grows in our backyard here in Quebec — it's pretty incredible," said Vincent Renaud, founder of the non-profit organization Pawpaw Québec. Visitors could also sample a wide range of pawpaw products, including candles, beer, pastries and hot sauce.

In 2021, Renaud created a Facebook group for pawpaw enthusiasts that now has close to 23,500 members, and last year he decided to launch the festival. The first edition of the Farnham Pawpaw Festival drew 10,000 visitors, and he estimates 12,000 to 14,000 people attended this year, including visitors from other provinces, the United States and even Europe. Pawpaw is native to North America and saw an upsurge in popularity in the early 1900s, but that interest died down around World War II, partly because its short shelf life makes it hard to sell in grocery stores. Rodney Dever, a pawpaw specialist from West Virginia, was in Farnham to tell festivalgoers about the history and potential of the fruit. Dominique Lalonde, owner of the pastry shop Kîsisam Pâtisserie, said pawpaws also represent a return to local foods and Indigenous roots.

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8. k.d. lang on fame, Buddhism and finding peace away from the spotlight

Over the last several years, k.d. lang has used different words to describe this phase of her career. Sometimes she calls herself retired or semi-retired. It's been five years since she released an album ("Makeover," which didn't include any new material) and 10 since she produced one with original songs ("case/lang/veirs," a collaboration with Neko Case and Laura Veirs). Ahead of a tribute concert in her honour at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, she settles on another term. "I'm definitely in a recess," she says. "'Recess' is actually a perfect word for it because I'm just playing and hanging out with my friends. And maybe there's more work. But I don't feel like I'm ever going to be fully engaged in the music business anymore."

She says her relationship with the business was somewhat fraught from the beginning, calling it "a charged subject." Lang smashed onto the scene in the mid-'80s with her band the Reclines, and their first album, "A Truly Western Experience," won her the Juno for most promising female vocalist — a prize she famously accepted while wearing a wedding gown. A duet with Roy Orbison on "Crying" brought her first Grammy, and four years later her third, for "Constant Craving," off the landmark album "Ingenue." While promoting that album, lang came out as a lesbian in an issue of the Advocate in 1992 — a year before Melissa Etheridge and five years before Ellen DeGeneres. Her now-hallmark shoelessness started as an ode to Anne Murray, who also performed barefoot.

Lang became a Buddhist around the turn of the millennium, and she says that became "inseparable" from how she thinks about fame. Her collaboration with Tony Bennett, the 2002 album "A Wonderful World," won the Grammy for best traditional pop vocal album. When her mother fell ill, she moved to Calgary to take care of her, spending a decade there. Her mother, Audrey Lang, died in May 2022 at the age of 99. Lang lives in Portland, Ore., now, and describes her life as relatively low-key, starting her day with coffee and the New York Times' daily puzzle games.

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9. Auger-Aliassime advances to round of 16 at Shanghai Masters

Canadian men's singles star Felix Auger-Aliassime has advanced to the round of 16 at the Shanghai Masters. Seeded fourth in the annual hard court tournament at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena, the Montreal athlete defeated Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 on Sunday in a match that took one hour, 59 minutes to complete.

Auger-Aliassime will face Casper Ruud of Norway in the next round. The 20th-seeded Ruud defeated 14th-seeded American Learner Tien 6-4, 7-6 (3) on Sunday. Auger-Aliassime finished Sunday's match with seven aces, 37 winners, two double faults and 28 unforced errors; Carreno Busta had five aces, 13 winners, two double faults and 21 unforced errors. The Canadian won four of 13 receiving games and 12 of 13 service games.

In his opening-round match at the ATP Masters 1000 event, Auger-Aliassime defeated Camilo Ugo Carabelli of Argentina 4-6, 7-6 (1), 7-5.

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10. U.K. PM says air base incident almost certainly directed by Iran

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Monday a security incident at a U.S.-run military air base in England was "almost certainly" directed by Iran's Revolutionary Guard. He previously said there are strong indications Iran was linked to the apparent plan last month to attack the RAF Fairford air base, which has been used by American bombers to strike Iran.

Police have arrested seven men in the investigation into the alleged plot, but all suspects have been released on bail and no one has been charged so far. "I can confirm our assessment that it is highly likely to have been coordinated in Iran, almost certainly directed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard," Burnham told lawmakers. "We will not tolerate these threats on our soil."

Scores of residents near the air base were evacuated from their homes on Sept. 27 as armed police officers and army bomb-disposal experts swarmed the rural area. Police later said they had found a quantity of an accelerant — gasoline — in three vans linked to the initial five suspects, but no explosives. All the suspects arrested are in their 20s, and six are British nationals while one is a dual U.K.-Iranian citizen. On Monday, the British government summoned the Iranian ambassador to express displeasure at "Iran's continued attempts to undermine the security of the United Kingdom and international partners." The U.S. pulled its bombers from RAF Fairford last week, and the Trump administration said it believed the base faced Iranian threats.

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