The federal government announced plans in the spring to develop the country’s first-ever federal law enforcement agency dedicated to investigating fraud and money laundering and recovering illicit proceeds.

Legislation to enact the new agency was tabled in April.

Provincial Finance Minister Craig Pardy says he and his counterparts were provided with more detail on what the agency will look like by federal minister François-Philippe Champagne.

“He referred to it as a new police force that would be in Canada to follow the money.”

Pardy says he can see the value in the new agency based on the numbers provided by Minister Champagne.

“One piece of data that he did throw out, was to state that in the past five years, we’ve had five convictions for money laundering…and he thought that was ridiculously low” given the activity that’s out there.

https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2026/05/minister-champagne-highlights-spring-economic-update-measures-to-fight-financial-crimes.html

As part of their Positive Ticketing Program, officers will be watching for children and teens demonstrating positive behaviours.

That could include being kind or helping others, wearing a helmet while biking, of being a good role model.

The young people will be issued a ticket for their positivity, which can be exchanged for a prize from a local sponsor.

The two not only got a free ride, but proceeded to cause damage to the taxi cab. RNC officers caught up with one of the girls, a 17-year-old, charging her with mischief, property damage, and fraudulently obtaining transportation. She was released to appear later in court.

RCMP say the driver had open alcohol and cannabis in the vehicle, and showed signs of impairment by drugs.

The man was arrested for driving with open alcohol, and a blood sample was taken to determine whether a charge of drug-impaired driving is appropriate.

The annual Pride parade gets underway in downtown St. John’s tomorrow at noon.

It will form at St. John’s city hall and proceed along Duckworth Street, turning by the Sheraton Hotel towards Military Road, and wrapping up at Bannerman Park.

A host of activities will take place at the park throughout the afternoon.

All relevant street closures begin at 7:00 a.m.

The first round of funding for community wildfire prevention and mitigation went out in April, with 58 communities receiving a share of $2.26 million.

Municipalities applied for the funding for projects to mitigate the threat of wildfires.

Among the recipients was the Lewisporte town council which received $223,000 to cut a fire break around the town.

Forestry Minister Pleaman Forsey says another round of applications will soon be available through the wildfire prevention and mitigation program for municipalities to avail of funding.

“We put efforts into some of those firebreaks….so we’re going to be putting out a new application process…pretty soon.  That will be up to the communities to do their assessments, and either firebreaks or other ways of protecting their communities.”

https://www.gov.nl.ca/releases/2026/fal/0407n01/

https://vocm.com/2026/04/13/town-of-lewisporte-to-build-fire-break/

Dekon Snow and Jared Grace met each other one year ago at a time when both were struggling in their respective careers.

Together, they decided to pivot and start the Next Step Growth Team.

As Grace explains, they are hitting the road and trying to reach businesses all across Canada.

He says they have set a goal of helping at least two local businesses in every province before moving on to the next one. Through social media, they are also hoping to inspire others to chase their dreams and show them that it is possible to take an idea and make it a reality.

People can follow their journey through their YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@NSGTTV

“We’re actually doing our due diligence. The previous Liberal Party had a thing about making announcements before anything was done. What we’re doing is actually the homework, and that’s part of the planning for this.”

“You have to be prepared, you have to understand what the capabilities are, and all I can tell you is that the people, the business people that I speak to are looking forward to that process.”

https://vocm.com/2026/07/10/province-looking-to-local-shipyards-to-build-three-new-ferries/

Local tech blogger Kevin Andrews says criminals can use technology to determine where a person is, and how long they might be gone, to determine whether a home is still empty.

He’s cautioning people against feeling compelled to post vacation pics while they’re away.

“Something as innocent as like ‘Day two of our vacation’ can tell people exactly how much longer you’ll likely be away, and even a location text can also reveal exactly where you’re staying in real time.”  He says the safest approach is to assume that “once something is online, you no longer really have complete control of it.”