In the news today: West Bank import ban, Bank of Canada rate hike, MAID backlash

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

Canada’s vow to ban imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, explained

Weeks ago, the government of Prime Minister Mark Carney promised to ban imports of products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

It’s not clear how or when Ottawa will implement that ban, with a group of MPs and senators urging quick action, while others say Canada should reconsider.

Tuesday’s election in Israel concluded a campaign that saw some Israeli candidates call for an expansion of West Bank settlements that Canada deems illegal.

There was no clear winner in the election, leaving the parties to jockey for power by forming various coalitions.

—

Bank of Canada expected to hike key rate for 1st time since 2023

The Bank of Canada is widely expected to move its benchmark interest rate this morning for the first time in nearly a year.

Financial markets and a Reuters poll of economists are betting that the central bank will deliver a quarter-point hike to its policy rate, the first increase in the key lending rate since July 2023.

The bank’s policy rate has stood at 2.25 per cent for nearly a year now, a level most economists see as giving the economy a bit of a boost.

But even as a tariff dispute with the United States threatens economic growth, the Bank of Canada has signalled it’s increasingly worried about inflation stemming from war in the Middle East.

—

Municipal elections held across Manitoba, 12 candidates running for Winnipeg mayor

Canada’s run of October voting continues with municipal elections today across Manitoba.

In Winnipeg, home to more than half the province’s population, Scott Gillingham is hoping to keep his job as mayor for a second term.

Key issues in the Winnipeg campaign have been housing, public safety and transit.

Almost all other Manitoba communities are holding elections, except for the resort areas of Winnipeg Beach, Dunnottar and Victoria Beach, which had votes in July.

—

Ontario pauses some skills training funding for unemployed people: career colleges

Ontario has paused some student loan funding for a program that helps unemployed people get skills training, though the province won’t say so explicitly.

This follows the government’s freezing of Ontario Student Assistance Program payments to all private post-secondary institutions pending an investigation into its handling.

There has been no public communication from the government about the status of the program that aims to move people off social assistance and into the workforce.

Reece Daniel was hoping to begin an HVAC program in London, Ontario, on Oct. 19, but delays by the government mean he missed that window and has to wait until May 2027.

—

‘A stab in the back’: How it feels to be barred from accessing MAID for mental illness

For Lisa Marr, the government’s decision to ban people from accessing medical assistance in dying for mental illness feels like “a stab in the back.”

Justice Minister Sean Fraser introduced a bill Tuesday that, if passed, will stop a scheduled expansion of MAID access to those suffering solely from a mental illness citing a lack of consensus about the irremediable nature of mental illnesses within the medical community.

Marr, a former paramedic from Eastern Passage, N.S., says for more than five decades, she has grappled with treatment resistant depression, suicidal ideation, generalized anxiety disorder, bipolar II disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

She says accessing MAID should be an option for those who cannot get better no matter how much therapy, medications, and other treatments one endures for years and years.

—

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 28, 2026.

The Canadian Press