In the news today: Tumbler Ridge memo, Western premiers meeting ends, Stratford adieu

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

Memo warned PM of public anxiety about mental health, firearms after B.C. shootings

Three days after the February mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., government officials warned Prime Minister Mark Carney in a memo that online sentiment was shifting from collective grief toward “emerging accountability narratives.”

These narratives included questions about mental health intervention, firearms access and whether warning signs were missed.

The memo said the overall public reaction was dominated by a sense of shock and national mourning, and also advised that confidence in first responders remained intact after the violence that claimed nine lives and injured more than two dozen.

On Feb. 10, 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar killed her mother and half-brother in their home, then shot six others at a school before taking her own life.

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Leader of the Conservative Party Pierre Poilievre in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, April 28, 2026.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Majority of MPs vote down Conservative motion calling for private property protection

A majority of the House of Commons on Monday voted against a non-binding motion calling on the federal government to take action to protect private property from First Nations land claims.

The Conservatives introduced and voted for the motion, while the Liberals, the NDP and Bloc Québécois all voted against it.

The issue stems from a 2025 B.C. Supreme Court ruling that confirmed the Cowichan Tribes hold Aboriginal title over about 300 hectares of land in Richmond, B.C.

The federal Conservatives wanted to create a special committee to study the legal, constitutional and political steps that could be taken to protect private property rights.

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Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe speaks to the media at a meeting of western premiers in Kananaskis, Alta., Monday, May 25, 2026.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

As Alberta battles with separation, Saskatchewan’s Moe affirms party wants to stay

Canada’s western premiers wrap up their two-day meeting near Calgary today, concluding a debate dominated by separation.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and her B.C. counterpart David Eby opened the meeting with some caustic barbs over each other’s motives.

Eby wonders why premiers should meet to try to build things while Smith is busy pushing the envelope on blowing it all apart, and Smith says it’s because of policies from Eby and his predecessors that have sabotaged efforts to get Alberta oil to market.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says he understands the frustration out there and says it’s there in his home province, but he says his party stands four-square behind the Maple Leaf.

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Edmonton Police Const. Travis Jordan, 35, left, and Const. Brett Ryan, 30, right, seen in a composite image made from two undated handout photos, were killed March 16, 2023, while responding to a call at an apartment complex in Edmonton.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout — Edmonton Police Service (Mandatory Credit)

Verdict expected for man who sold gun to teen who killed two Edmonton police officers

An Alberta judge is to decide today whether Dennis Okeymow is guilty of manslaughter for selling a rifle that was later used to kill police.

The 21-year-old is on trial in Edmonton Court of King’s Bench relating to the deaths in 2023 of police constables Travis Jordan and Brett Ryan.

The officers were responding to a domestic disturbance at an apartment building when they were ambushed and shot to death by 16-year-old Roman Shewchuk, who then killed himself.

The Crown prosecutor says there must be accountability for selling a weapon to a minor knowing some harm could result, but Okeymow’s lawyer says his client is being scapegoated for a tragedy despite not pulling the trigger.

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Actor Paul Gross photographed at the Stratford Normal School building at the Stratford Festival Theatre in Stratford, Ont., Thursday, May 7, 2026.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ian Stewart

After 39 years, Antoni Cimolino prepares to take his final bow at Stratford

The Stratford Festival’s longtime artistic director, Antoni Cimolino, is saying farewell on a reflective note.

The 65-year-old theatre executive started at the festival in 1988 as an actor and says he wanted his final year at the festival to celebrate the power of the stage amid more “division in society” exacerbated by what we see on our phones.

His farewell season will open with a production of William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” directed by Cimolino himself.

As it was the last play written by the Bard alone, so too will it be part of Cimolino’s goodbye.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 26, 2026.

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