By Canadian Press

In the news today: Leaders stumping coast to coast, drug test strips pros and cons

Apr 24, 2025 | 2:16 AM

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed…

Party leaders campaigning across the country today

Federal leaders are making campaign stops across the country today as election day inches closer.

Liberal Leader Mark Carney will deliver remarks and hold a media availability in Port Moody, B.C., in the morning and hold a rally in Winnipeg in the evening.

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh will make an announcement in Winnipeg in the morning before travelling to Toronto for a campaign event.

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Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will hold a press conference in Halifax in the morning and later hold a rally in Saskatoon.

Canadians will choose their next prime minister on April 28.

At-home drug test strips could save lives: experts

Canadians are dying alone from toxic drugs, and experts say easier access to at-home drug-testing strips could help prevent deaths. But they warn the strips have limitations.

Dr. Nash Denic, Newfoundland and Labrador’s chief medical examiner, says that though the strips aren’t perfect, they can be useful in detecting if some toxins are present. He would like to see a government-led pilot project to distribute the strips along with naloxone kits, which reverse the effects of opioid overdoses.

“There is a possibility that harm can be reduced. Especially if you’re a novice and you’re trying a different type of drug, you want to test it first,” Denic said in an interview, adding that if used properly, test strips “can save your life.”

The strips can be part of a larger strategy to stay safe, which includes not consuming drugs alone, he said.

Canadian health data could be valuable for Trump’s AI goals, experts warn

Medical researchers and lawyers say our rocky relationship with the U.S. creates an urgent need to protect a critical Canadian resource: patient health information that can be used to train artificial intelligence.

“Our health data is the most valuable health data set in the world,” said Natalie Raffoul, an intellectual property lawyer in Ottawa.

“You can’t go to any other jurisdiction and be able to pool a data set like this because no one else has a public health system like this with the kind of ethnic diversity that we do.”

Many Canadian institutions use cloud servers run by American companies to store health data, experts say. That, combined with President Donald Trump’s stated objective to make the U.S. a world leader in AI and his desire to make Canada a 51st state, means it’s possible that his administration could come after our data — perhaps citing national security concerns as he has with tariff executive orders, experts say.

Hudson’s Bay to seek court permission for auction

Hudson’s Bay is expected to seek court permission today to auction off its art, artifacts and the 355-year-old royal charter that launched the company, which announced Wednesday it will liquidate all its remaining stores.

The department store company, which is Canada’s oldest business, filed a notice of motion last week asking to separate the charter along with 1,700 pieces of art and more than 2,700 artifacts from an ongoing sales process.

An auction “is the most transparent, fair and efficient approach to monetize the art collection while recognizing and protecting its cultural and historical significance,” the company said in the motion it filed.

The move was meant to ensure the items get the “care, consideration and expertise” they need.

Did B.C.’s Airbnb rules make rent cheaper?

Marv Gandall says living in one of Victoria’s largest residential buildings a year ago meant a parade of people with suitcases, stuffed visitors parking and slow elevators.

Gandall, who has lived in the Era on Yates complex for a decade, described long waits, packages going missing and scratched walls from the high number of visitors using some of its 157 units as short-term rentals.

He said residents began to call their building a “ghost hotel.”

“The major concern was the disruption, the maintenance issues and the issue of theft. We did have more frequent break-ins in our storage lockers,” he said.

Special teams struggles costing Oilers in playoffs

There’s been one stark difference in the battle between the Edmonton Oilers and L.A. Kings this post-season: special teams.

Three power-play goals lifted the Kings to a 6-2 victory over the Oilers in Game 2 of their first-round series on Wednesday. L.A. now leads the best-of-seven matchup 2-0.

The Kings have scored on 5-of-10 power plays across the first two games. The Oilers have been shut out on all five of their man advantages.

“If we have an opportunity to turn this thing around, it’s special teams,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said after Wednesday’s loss.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 24, 2025

The Canadian Press

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