Steep temperature drop could bring Ontario its first snowflakes - The Weather Network

Ontario is in for a classic fall storm, with heavy rain, strong winds, and a sharp drop in temperature that could bring the season's first lake-effect snowflakes to southern Ontario. A large low pressure system is expected to sweep across nearly the entire province beginning Thursday evening, bringing wet and windy weather. Rain will fall in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and Ottawa overnight, continuing into early Friday. There may also be a rumble of thunder along the Lake Erie shoreline Friday morning, adding to the unsettling start to the day. This may increase the rainfall amounts in locations where there is a thunderstorm. DON'T MISS: Polar night approaching as Canada quickly loses daylightRain gives way to a blast of cold airRainfall should subside by Friday, though scattered showers may persist as the storm moves away. Behind the system, much colder air will rush south, bringing wind gusts of around 50 km/h and a rapid drop in temperatures, particularly Friday evening. Some inland areas may experience temperatures approaching or the below freezing mark.

Eighteen months ago, in an off-the-cuff remark during a discussion on disability benefit cuts, Wes Streeting said mental health conditions were being “overdiagnosed”, riding headlong into another culture war. He later apologised for the comment, but at the time it seemed the then health secretary had endorsed a populist view that ordinary stresses and disappointments had become too often medicalised, resulting in a surge of bogus clinical diagnoses and creating a “snowflake generation” of fragile, avoidant and workshy young people. Prof Peter Fonagy’s mammoth review of mental health conditions, autism and ADHD in England, commissioned by Streeting nine months ago, has no truck with the snowflake generation caricature: the steep rise in the prevalence of mental health problems such as anxiety and depression is real, he says, and so is the distress and difficulties they can cause. double quotation markI am in awe of their courage. Young people are contending with more powerful forces than I ever faced

On Monday, Albertans vote on whether to stay in Canada or hold another binding referendum on quitting Canada. If the vote goes as polls suggest, a majority of Albertans will mark an X to stay in Confederation, and Premier Danielle Smith has said if that’s so, she expects everyone to accept it and move on. Leaders of the independence movement contest that. And political watchers are divided about whether separation — previously a fringe sentiment — will now be a prominent, permanent feature of Alberta’s political landscape, as in Quebec. Julian Castro-Rea, a political-science professor at the University of Alberta who studies the separation debates in Quebec and Alberta, believes as long as Alberta feels alienated from the Canadian capital — feeling that Ottawa benefits from Alberta’s resource economy without giving back — the movement will have fuel. “Even if the referendum is lost, the westernization will still be around, because it’s kind of a way which, traditionally, Albertans have related to the rest of Canada,” says Castro-Rea, who believes western alienation may remain indefinitely. Story continues below advertisement

It’s no secret the long-held Canadian consensus on immigration has fractured — pulled apart by a rapid increase in new arrivals post-pandemic and growing affordability challenges. Now, that fracture is starting to show up at the ballot box. The Parti Québécois won a minority mandate in Quebec on a platform that included promises of tighter immigration controls, which the party linked to protecting French culture and easing pressure on public services and housing. And when Albertans head to the polls Monday to vote on whether to hold a future referendum on separation from Canada, they’ll also be answering five separate questions on immigration being pushed by the government of Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. Those questions include:— Should the province should have more say over economic immigration?— Should provincially funded services should be restricted to citizens, permanent residents and those with “Alberta-approved” immigration status? Story continues below advertisement