In the news today: four soldiers killed, Alberta referendum, AI privacy fears

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

Canadians step up to give blood after fire at Alberta military base kills four

Canada’s defence minister says some Canadians are rolling up their sleeves to give blood as the military town of Wainwright, Alta., mourns the four soldiers killed in a weekend training exercise gone fatally wrong.

Strong and sudden winds on Saturday sent flames from a nearby grass fire across the Prairie landscape at lightning speed, stopping 84 soldiers at CFB Wainwright in their tracks and sending 39 to hospital, 19 critically.

Among the dead are Sgt. Morgan Wong of Edmonton, Pte. Shaun Farrell of Prince Albert, Sask., Pte. Aidan Goulding of North Vancouver, and Pte. Hayden Lykkemark of Langley, B.C.

Defence Minister David McGuinty says people have been lining up to donate blood, bring meals to first responders, and open their homes to those grieving.

—

Albertans head to polls in historic referendum on whether they want to stay in Canada

Albertans head to the polls today for a historic vote on whether they want to stay in Canada or hold a second, binding referendum on leaving Confederation.

More than 1.3 million Albertans have already cast ballots by mail or in advance polls in a referendum called by Premier Danielle Smith.

The vote caps months of rallies, speeches and analyses from both sides.

Smith says some Albertans were angry with the state of affairs under former Liberal prime minister Justin Trudeau, and a referendum is now necessary to resolve the matter once and for all.

The separation question is one of 10 on the ballot, as the first nine focus on immigration and Constitutional reform.

—

Statistics Canada set to release September inflation figures

Statistics Canada is set to report inflation data for September today.

A Reuters poll of economists expects inflation accelerated to 3.2 per cent last month, up from three per cent in August.

Economists say persistently high energy prices are the main forces pushing inflation higher right now and they’ll be looking for evidence of cost pressures broadening beyond the gas pumps.

The September inflation report will be the Bank of Canada’s last look at price data before its next interest rate decision on Oct. 28.

—

New Brunswick data centre debate highlights cross-country tension over AI facilities

A New Brunswick man fighting a data centre project near his Saint John home says he’s deeply disappointed by what he found in government records.

Chris Watson reviewed documents released by Opportunities New Brunswick and discovered an undisclosed proposal from a U.S. firm seeking power for a large-scale data centre campus in his area.

NB Power confirms it has 10 applications from data centre projects that would need up to 900 megawatts of power, but that applications are confidential.

The Liberal government sees the facilities as an economic opportunity and is developing a policy framework, though Watson wants a moratorium until stronger protections are in place.

—

AI agents are only as good as the personal information you share. That raises privacy concerns

A Toronto man says Meta’s new artificial intelligence agent shared his home address with a stranger without his knowledge.

Matt Robb let the AI agent, called Muse, handle a Facebook Marketplace listing for his keyboard, but within a day an unknown buyer showed up outside his house late at night.

The agent had accepted an offer, shared Robb’s address and even sent an automated message telling the buyer he was home, all without Robb’s approval.

Experts say AI agents perform better with more personal information, raising privacy concerns, since data the agents have already seen cannot be taken back even if users later withdraw access.

—

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2026.

The Canadian Press