Trump's Canadian molasses ban has a loophole. Here’s why our sugar industry is breathing easy - Toronto Star

A species can be assessed as endangered in Canada and still spend years waiting for Ottawa to decide whether to protect it — while the habitat it needs to survive keeps changing. A new study found that of 288 species assessed as at risk since 2017, just 17 reached the Governor in Council — the federal cabinet body that makes the final listing decision — within the recommended timeline. Another 153 — more than half — were overdue and still waiting as of Jan. 25, 2025. That includes populations of caribou, beluga whales and lake sturgeon that have been assessed as endangered or threatened while they wait for listing decisions that can trigger habitat protections and a recovery plan. The researchers say the bottleneck falls in a gap in the Species at Risk Act (SARA). Ottawa has recommended timelines for moving assessments forward, but no statutory deadline for one crucial stage of the process. The study doesn't say why the delays happen. Critics say the gap allows governments to put off tough choices between conservation and economic interests. Peter Thompson, a postdoctoral researcher in biology at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.

The 20th annual Cape to Cabot road race is taking place tomorrow. The grueling 20 km trek sees participants running from one historic landmark to another: From Cape Spear to Cabot Tower on top of Signal Hill. The race starts at 8 a.m., and because of that there are a few related road closures in St. John’s. Between 7:45 and 11a.m. there will be numerous road closures along the route. A full list can be found online at VOCM dot com. Expect traffic impacts from 7:45 a.m. to 11 a.m. on routes including Blackhead Road, Southside Road, Water Street, Harbour Drive, Duckworth Street, Temperance Street and Signal Hill Road.

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