Maple Express | November 5, 2026 — Five pedestrians struck across the GTA overnight, elderly man critically injured

1. Five pedestrians struck across the GTA overnight, elderly man critically injured

Toronto police say a 79-year-old man was struck by a vehicle near O'Connor Drive and Coxwell Avenue at around 1 a.m. Thursday and was rushed to a trauma centre in life-threatening condition. The driver remained at the scene, police said.

About 30 minutes earlier, a pedestrian was struck near McLaughlin Road and Derrydale Drive in Mississauga, sustaining serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Police said there were three other collisions involving pedestrians at separate Toronto locations on Wednesday night.

The collisions came just days after the clocks rolled back an hour with the end of Daylight Saving Time. Toronto police have previously said they typically see an uptick in collisions in the month after the clocks roll back.

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2. Two charged, one wanted after Mississauga apartment arsons

Two people have been charged and a third suspect is wanted after two fires at a Mississauga apartment building that caused an estimated $1 million in damage, Peel police said Thursday.

Police say the fires were deliberately set in a third-floor hallway of the building near Lakeshore Road West and Southdown Road on Sept. 20 and 21. Investigators believe occupants of one of the units were deliberately targeted in both incidents. No significant injuries were reported, but several residents were displaced along with a large-scale evacuation, and 18 residents were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation.

Joshua Pedersen, 28, of no fixed address, was arrested in Hamilton on Oct. 15 and charged with two counts of arson – disregard for human life, two counts of mischief over $5,000, break and enter with intent to commit an indictable offence and possession of break-in instruments. Morgan Murphy, 27, of Burlington, was arrested on Oct. 26 and charged with two counts each of conspiracy to commit an indictable offence and arson – disregard for human life. Both were held in custody pending bail hearings. Police are still searching for Madison Varga, 30, of no fixed address.

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3. Durham police operation nets 12 accused of seeking sex with a minor

Durham police said Thursday that 12 people have been charged in Project Firebird, a proactive enforcement initiative targeting individuals allegedly looking to purchase sexual services from a 15-year-old. The operation ran over 10 days in October.

Det. Sgt. Michael Naccarato said police placed an online ad aimed at those seeking to purchase sexual services from a person represented to be 15 years old, and made it "very clear" in communications that the person was 15. He said several individuals continued communicating and arranged to meet someone they believed to be a 15-year-old child, and that the ad received more than 8,000 views while it was live.

Deputy Chief Ryan Connolly said the rising proportion of children and youth in human trafficking cases is a growing concern: 41 per cent of victims and individuals identified as "at risk" were under 18 in 2024, rising to 49 per cent in 2025 and 55 per cent so far in 2026. In real numbers, that represents 87 young people in 2024, 95 in 2025 and 96 so far this year. "More than half of the victims and individuals identified as at risk this year are children," he said.

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4. Her bags had trackers, but she says the airline wouldn't use them

An Ontario family that travelled to France in August says their luggage didn't make it onto their connecting flight because of a delay and a missed connection. Marie Vasilou of Toronto said she went straight to customer service to ask whether the bags would arrive, but when the family reached Paris, the luggage did not. They flew with Air France.

Vasilou said she was thankful the suitcases carried trackers and she could see where they were, but airport staff weren't interested in the information. "They would not use our AirTags. They would not confirm where the luggage was," she said. Three suitcases were deemed lost in the system, and two were eventually found.

She watched the third bag zigzag between Montreal, Toronto and other airports before heading to Paris and ending up back in Montreal. At times it was less than a kilometre away, but no one would retrieve it. Travel expert Barry Choi said that even if passengers can point to a bag's location, airlines may have to follow their own barcode systems and staff may not be allowed to physically hunt for luggage. CTV News reached out to Air France and did not receive a response, but not long after, the suitcase was found and returned.

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5. Air Cadets commander assaulted while distributing poppies still can't walk

A 59-year-old man assaulted while supervising Air Cadets distributing Remembrance Day poppies at a Hamilton mall over the weekend remains unable to walk and faces an "uncertain" long-term recovery, his family says. The incident happened at The Centre on Barton, near Barton Street and Kenilworth Avenue, on Sunday afternoon.

Police have said two youths approached cadets in front of a restaurant and blew a loud air horn into their ears. The supervisor followed them into the restaurant and confronted them, and was allegedly assaulted by a woman not involved in the initial altercation; a male youth then allegedly struck him multiple times before fleeing. A 12-year-old boy was charged with assault and a 48-year-old woman with aggravated assault.

A family spokesperson identified the victim as Canadian Armed Forces member Kenneth Kunkel, commanding officer of 826 Gryphon Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets. Police have described his injuries as serious and "life-altering." His son Christopher Kunkel said his father underwent spinal surgery on Sunday and is receiving specialist care and mobility rehabilitation, with an uncertain prognosis. The family alleges the woman's attack impacted his spine and caused his legs to buckle and lose function, and that the 12-year-old repeatedly punched him while he was on the ground. The allegations have not been tested in court. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and Hamilton East–Stoney Creek MP Ned Kuruc both condemned the attack publicly.

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6. Truck driver killed in three-vehicle crash on QEW in Niagara Falls

The QEW in Niagara Falls was closed for several hours Wednesday after a three-vehicle collision left a truck driver dead, Ontario Provincial Police said. The crash happened around 2:45 p.m. between Thorold Stone and Mountain Roads.

OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said the tractor-trailer involved was blocking both lanes of the highway and had also "got tangled up in one of the large overhead signs" spanning the Niagara-bound side. The driver of the tractor-trailer was pronounced dead at the scene. Another driver was airlifted to a trauma centre; there was no immediate word on the extent of their injuries. The cause of the collision is unknown.

Schmidt said OPP had received reports of "some aggressive driving or unpredictable driving" before the collision and officers are working to confirm whether one of the vehicles was involved. He asked anyone who was in the area and saw anything out of the ordinary, including on dash cam, to contact Niagara OPP. The investigation and the repair of the road, guardrail and signage resulted in a lengthy closure.

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7. Explosion southeast of Calgary destroys rural home, residents shaken awake

Residents in many southeast Calgary communities were shocked awake Thursday morning by a reported explosion at a rural property outside the city. Viewer reports indicate the incident in Foothills County, near Okotoks, began shortly after 7:10 a.m., with photos and video showing a fire at a rural property near Heritage Heights School.

Calgary Fire Department public information officer Alex Kwan said a crew was dispatched from the Seton station, the closest one in Calgary, to investigate, but was cancelled after confirming the fire was outside the city. "They're on scene and do not require our assistance at this time," he said of the Foothills County fire department.

Ron Tarrant, who lives in the Foothills County community of Heritage Pointe, said he was thrown out of bed by the blast. "I was literally thrown out of bed by what felt like a bomb going off by our house, so I jumped in the car and realized that a house half a mile away from us had just completely exploded." Officials have not confirmed the cause of the fire or explosion, but it's believed no one was hurt. Heritage Heights School was closed for the day "out of an abundance of caution," and students who arrived by bus were taken to École Percy Pegler in Okotoks, where parents can pick them up.

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8. Semi spills load of huge pipes onto busy B.C. highway

A semi transporting several massive pipes spilled its load onto a major Metro Vancouver highway during Wednesday's morning rush hour, though no injuries were reported. The incident unfolded along the Lougheed Highway, near the border between Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows.

Dash-cam video captured by Allan Reyes shows the pipes rolling onto the road and narrowly missing some passing vehicles. The four pipes eventually came to rest across two lanes of traffic. "Amazingly, no one got hurt," said Curtis Harling of the Maple Ridge RCMP, who told CTV News there also didn't appear to be any major damage to infrastructure in the area. "I'm sure there's some damage to the roadway," he added.

The investigation is being handled by B.C.'s Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement branch. The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure told CTV News it could not provide details on the incident because the province remains in "temporary caretaker mode" during the transition between the outgoing B.C. NDP and incoming B.C. Conservative governments.

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9. Common loon chicks down about 40 per cent over three decades

The number of common loon chicks has dropped by approximately 40 per cent over the past 30 years or so across breeding sites monitored in nine Canadian provinces and seven U.S. states, according to a new study published Oct. 22 in the journal FACETS.

Matt Fuirst, a research ecologist and observatory manager with Birds Canada, told CTV on Thursday that it's unclear what's causing the decline. "We don't know. But we suspect that climate change is acting in different ways to influence the decline of these chicks," he said. The study gathered data from non-profits, governments and academic monitoring projects, encompassing 49 years of activity on 3,421 lakes in 12 regions across northern North America. Half of the data came from volunteers with the Canadian Lakes Loon Survey, hosted by Birds Canada.

Fuirst said climate change can contribute to acid rain, which affects what fish lakes can sustain, and loons rely on fish. Heavier rain can also wash material from shorelines into lakes and reduce water clarity, making it harder for loons to hunt. Human activity such as boating and the use of lead tackle when fishing could also reduce breeding habitat and kill loons. Canada houses 94 per cent of the global common loon population. Fuirst said it's "hard to tell" whether the bird could become endangered, noting "their status in Canada is still doing very well," but much of the data comes from the southern edge of the monitored range and may be an indicator of what happens if threats creep north.

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10. W5: Self-styled spiritual teacher accused of falsely confirming abuse memories

In part three of its five-part investigation "Fake Filtered Cult Leader," CTV's W5 examines a self-described spiritual teacher based in Hawaii whose online presence helped attract followers around the world. Former followers describe being "confirmed" in memories of abuse that they now say never happened.

Riley Lawson, from Saskatchewan, was an online "student" of Liana Shanti. After listening to a meditation titled Journey to the Chamber of Wounds, guided by Shanti's recorded voice over a hypnotic soundtrack, she says a horrifying thought occurred to her in a trance-like state: could her father have sexually assaulted her as a child? She messaged Shanti on Instagram, asking, "I think I saw my dad molest me as a kid. Is that what I saw?" Shanti replied, "Yes, I'm so sorry. He did." Shanti claimed to be psychic. The fallout was catastrophic: Riley told her mother, who believed her, her parents divorced, and both she and her mother temporarily cut her father out of their lives. Riley now says the memory was false.

Amanda Brady, also from Saskatchewan, followed Shanti for eight years and says she witnessed Shanti confirm sexual abuse many times. W5 reviewed screenshots: one follower said she had a "gut feeling" she was abused and asked whether it was her grandfather or her father, and Shanti replied, "I see your father." Another asked whether a cousin who used to babysit her had abused her, and Shanti wrote, "Yes, a molestation that occurred that you can now clear." Amanda says Shanti charged a fee for sessions to "clear" followers of past traumas. Cult expert Kacey Baker, who has interviewed more than 30 former followers, says social proofing combined with confirmation bias created "almost like a perfect storm" for belief.

Shanti refused W5's interview requests, writing in emails that she is campaigning to advocate for people who have been abused and to publicly reveal alleged abusers. In August, Shanti, whose real name is Liane Wilson, sued three Canadians for defamation in a Honolulu court, alleging they called her a cult leader and a "fake, con artist master manipulator." The Canadian defendants counter-sued, saying she called them child abusers, pedophile supporters and Satanists. A jury rejected her claim and awarded the Canadians C$56 million. W5 verified numerous social media posts in which she claims to be psychic; in court she testified, "I don't use the word 'psychic.'"

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