In the news today: Carney meets Zelenskyy, Canadian booze ban, Oilers lose superfan

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

Carney’s cabinet huddles in Banff as trade war intensifies

Prime Minister Mark Carney is gathering his cabinet today and Friday in the mountain resort town of Banff, Alta., for closed-door meetings as U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war intensifies.

Trump lashed out again Tuesday by signing executive orders to ban certain Canadian imports later this month, after Ottawa’s latest tit-for-tat counter-tariffs on the United States.

Carney’s office says ministers at the retreat will hear from guest speakers on the economy, Indigenous partnerships and international affairs in closed-door sessions.

The cabinet retreat also comes as the Liberal government plans its agenda for the fall sitting of Parliament in less than two weeks.

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Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney meets with Volodymyr Zelenskyy president of Ukraine, during the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, on Tuesday, June 16, 2026.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

Ukraine’s Zelenskyy to meet with Carney in Calgary, address cabinet in Banff

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to meet Prime Minister Mark Carney in Calgary this morning before addressing cabinet members gathered in Banff, Alta.

Zelenskyy arrived in Calgary on Wednesday night after travelling to Iceland and Norway.

He and his wife, Olena Zelenska, are also set to visit Toronto and North Bay, Ont., before leaving Friday.

Carney says the meeting will focus on the countries’ shared priorities, including deepening defence, economic and energy co-operation.

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Canadian alcohol is seen at an LCBO store in Ottawa, on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Distilleries and spirit makers are likely to be the hardest hit among Canadian alcohol producers as the United States proposes a broad ban on Canadian booze starting later this month.

Craig Johnston, chief economist at Farm Credit Canada, says distilleries ship more than half of their overall products to the U.S., and many will find it hard to find alternative homes for them.

Cal Bricker of trade association Spirits Canada says the solution is not as simple as moving production to south of the border because legal agreements restrict distilleries from making Canadian whisky in the U.S.

Andrew Oland, chief executive of the Saint John, N.B.-based Moosehead Breweries, said he wasn’t surprised but still “very disappointed” to see alcohol dragged further into the latest trade escalation.

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Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, right, meets with Canada’s Foreign Minister John Manley at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2001. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

‘Consequences we live with’: How 9/11 changed Canada’s approach to national security

Before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Steven Backman could usually cross the Canada-U.S. border between St. Stephen, N.B., and Calais, Maine with a simple wave.

But going through the border would become less simple in the years after al-Qaida operatives crashed passenger planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

Starting June 1, 2009, U.S. law required Canadians to present a valid passport or another approved, secure document when entering the United States by land or sea.

Backman, now mayor of St. Stephen, says things have become more relaxed at the border since the tense period immediately following the attacks, though he still routinely pulls out his passport when crossing.

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Oilers fans cheers as they watch the Edmonton Oilers score a goal against the Florida Panthers during a watch party for Game 5 of the NHL Stanley Cup final, in Edmonton on Tuesday, June 18, 2024.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Edmonton Oilers lose support of superfan ‘Mama Stanley’ after Formenton signing

The Edmonton Oilers’ decision to sign a former Team Canada junior player acquitted of sexual assault comes as a massive bodycheck to one longtime superfan.

Mary Loewen, known among Oilers fans as “Mama Stanley,” took to social media on Wednesday to say she’d no longer support the N-H-L team after it signed forward Alex Formenton to a one-year contract.

Formenton is one of five players from Canada’s 2018 gold-medal-winning world junior hockey team who were accused — and later acquitted — of sexual assault.

Loewen, who’s famous for dressing as a bedazzled Stanley Cup at playoff watch parties, says she’s disappointed by the move and won’t support the Oilers so long as Formenton remains.

Loewen’s post does not say whether she’ll back another team, but that she is still “Mama Stanley.”

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2026.

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