In the news today: Carney to meet Trump in Washington today

By Canadian Press on May 6, 2025.

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

Carney to meet Trump in Washington today

Prime Minister Mark Carney will have to navigate a delicate balance during his first in-person meeting with Donald Trump today, following months of the U.S. president targeting Canada with tariffs and taunts.

Carney and Trump will meet at the White House and the prime minister has said he expects “difficult, but constructive” conversations.

Carney has said the meeting will mark the beginning of a larger economic and security agreement between Canada and the United States.

Since his return to the White House, Trump has repeated a list of complaints about Canada and said it would be better as a U.S. state, while also slapping America’s northern neighbour with early duties.

The two leaders agreed in late March that Trump, and whoever was prime minister after the election, would meet shortly after Canadians voted to begin talks on a new economic and security pact between the two countries.

Here’s what else we’re watching…

Conservative caucus set to meet in Ottawa

Newly elected Conservatives and returning MPs are set to meet in Ottawa this morning as the party charts its path forward after last week’s election loss to the Liberals.

Leader Pierre Poilievre, who lost his bid to continue representing the riding of Carleton after 20 years as the area’s MP, will not be in the House of Commons when it opens later this month.

In a video posted on social media Monday afternoon, Poilievre says he has a lot to be thankful for after the election, including an expanded coalition of Conservative voters.

He also pledged to “learn and grow,” and says his team needs to expand.

A number of high-profile Conservative MPs have expressed their support for Poilievre to stay on as leader in the last week.

Alberta premier says open to 2026 separation vote

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she will hold a referendum on provincial separation next year if citizens gather the required signatures on a petition.

Smith, in a livestream address Monday, said she wants a sovereign Alberta within a united Canada but there is a growing number of Albertans who are unhappy with Confederation, and are organizing petitions to push for an exit.

Last week, a day after the federal election, Smith’s United Conservative government introduced legislation that, if passed, would sharply reduce the bar petitioners need to meet to trigger a provincial referendum.

The bill would change citizen-initiated referendum rules to require a petition signed by 10 per cent of the eligible voters in a previous general election — down from 20 per cent of total registered voters. Applicants would also get 120 days, rather than 90, to collect the required 177,000 signatures.

Smith said Alberta has no choice but to take steps to combat a decade of hostile federal Liberal policies she says have not only taken an unfair share of Alberta’s wealth but in doing so have also undermined the oil and gas industry that drives its economy.

Search for missing N.S. children enters fifth day

The search for two young children missing from their home in rural northeastern Nova Scotia has entered a fifth day.

Police say that for four days ground teams have meticulously searched several kilometres in a heavily wooded area around Gairloch Road in the community of Lansdowne Station, where the children’s family home is located.

Six-year-old Lily Sullivan and four-year-old Jack Sullivan were last seen Friday morning.

Their stepfather Daniel Martell said Monday he worries they were abducted, but police say there is no evidence the children were taken and that investigators are acting under the belief both kids wandered from their home.

RCMP describe Lily Sullivan as having shoulder-length, light brown hair with bangs, and say she might be wearing a pink sweater, pink pants and pink boots; Jack Sullivan has short, blond hair and is wearing blue dinosaur boots.

Hockey players’ sexual assault trial continues

Defence lawyers are expected to continue cross-examining the complainant today in the sexual assault trial of five former members of Canada’s world junior hockey team.

The woman began testifying last Friday, laying out her account of what happened at a bar and a hotel in downtown London, Ont., in June 2018.

She told the court Monday that she went on “autopilot” while in the hotel room, and felt that she had to go along with what the men in the room wanted her to do.

Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Callan Foote have all pleaded not guilty to sexual assault. McLeod has also pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of being a party to the offence of sexual assault.

Court has heard the five accused and many of their teammates were in town for a few days in June 2018 to attend events marking their championship win.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 6, 2025.

The Canadian Press