Ottawa Daily Digest — March 10, 2026

Quick-thinking rescue: Durham Regional officers pulled a 55-year-old man from the freezing waters at Bowmanville Pier after a Feb. 11, 2026 911 call — body‑worn camera shows officers arriving within minutes, hauling him onto the pier; Sgt. Janalyn Dowdle said EMS treated him and he was taken to hospital.

New mpox variant found: Toronto Public Health confirmed two travel-related cases of mpox clade Ib this week — officials urge eligible people to get the free vaccine (two doses recommended); Toronto recorded 155 mpox cases in 2025, mostly downtown.

Retraining for tariff-hit workers: Ottawa is providing $228.8 million to Ontario over three years to retrain more than 27,000 workers affected by U.S. tariffs, Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu said; Ontario’s unemployment was 7.3% in January and the federal plan builds on earlier $450M and $5B measures.

Frantic rescue after ice breaks: About 23 fishermen were stranded when several kilometres of ice broke off Georgian Bay after they walked 4–5 km out on Sunday morning (they set out ~8:30 a.m.); OPP airlifted everyone back with minor injuries and hypothermia, but many lost thousands of dollars in gear.

Wiarton Willie has died: The Town of South Bruce Peninsula announced the death of the famous groundhog, who gave an early-spring prediction a month ago; Mayor Jay Kirkland said the 70‑year festival brought the community joy and a search for a successor will start soon.

Budget date set — no cuts promised: Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said Ontario’s budget will be tabled on March 26, and Premier Doug Ford insisted it will not include spending cuts despite worries about rising health-care costs.

Province to take over island airport: Premier Doug Ford said his government will expropriate the city’s share of Billy Bishop/Toronto Island Airport and compensate Toronto (including about $5M a year in lost revenue) to study and potentially extend the runway for smaller jets; Mayor Olivia Chow has expressed concerns about noise.

Big shake-up for conservation authorities: The Ford government will merge Ontario’s 36 conservation authorities into nine, Environment Minister Todd McCarthy said — a move the government says will cut duplication and speed permits after 14,000 messages in consultation, while critics warn it may weaken protections.

Witness at Stronach trial: Jennifer Jackson, who was Frank Stronach’s assistant from 1977 to about 1981, testified as the defence begins presenting witnesses; Stronach, founder of Magna International, has pleaded not guilty to charges dating to the 1970s and prosecutors are now pursuing seven charges tied to four complainants.

Fatal crash in Lakeshore: A 60‑year‑old died in a single‑vehicle collision on Mariner’s Drive in the Lighthouse Cove area of Lakeshore around 9 p.m. Monday; OPP are investigating and asking anyone with dashcam footage or witnesses to come forward.

Shots at U.S. consulate called national security incident: Police said shots were fired at the U.S. consulate at 360 University Ave. at about 5:29 a.m.; a white Honda CR‑V was seen leaving, no injuries were reported, and the RCMP and federal teams are treating it as a national security matter while security around embassies is increased.

Ransom paid after home-care vendor hack: Ontario Medical Supply — a vendor for Ontario Health atHome — had servers locked by ransomware in April 2025, affecting data for up to 200,000 patients; internal documents show a ransom key was used to unlock some servers and Ontario Health atHome reported the incident to privacy officials by May 30, 2025.