A man from Brampton, Ont. man is facing drug trafficking charges after opium was seized at a Saskatchewan border crossing.

Estevan RCMP, along with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), arrested a man trying to cross into Canada at the North Portal port of entry in southeast Saskatchewan on March 4.

Police say the man possessed around 67 grams of opium.

Following an investigation, Estevan RCMP charged the 53-year-old from Brampton, Ont. with one count of attempting to unlawfully import a Schedule I substance and one count of attempting to smuggle goods into Canada.

The accused is set to make his first appearance in Estevan Provincial Court on March 20.

Conservation officers in southeastern Saskatchewan are turning to the public for information on a truck that deliberately chased and ran over a group of deer.

According to an update from SaskTip, the incident was reported March 10 near the outskirts of Maryfield, Sask. when witnesses saw a truck chasing down the deer in a nearby field the night of March 9.

Upon arriving at the scene, conservation officers found the remains of two dead white-tailed deer fawns, along with the scavenged remains of a third deer.

“Evidence indicates that two trucks were involved, one actively pursuing the animals while the second watched. Both vehicles fled the scene when witnesses approached,” SaskTip said.

Conservation officers have collected evidence but are looking for the public’s help in identifying those responsible. A cash reward of up to $2,000 is being offered for what SaskTip described as a “serious wildlife offence.”

Anyone with information can submit details anonymously through the Turn-in-Poachers and Polluters (TIPP) line.

Maryfield is located approximately 250 kilometres southeast of Regina, near the Manitoba border.

A snowfall warning is in place for parts of southern Saskatchewan on Wednesday, with up to 20 centimetres expected in some areas.

According to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), snow will begin early Thursday morning and will continue into Friday morning, with total amounts of 15 to 20 centimetres.

Snow will taper off by Friday morning, the weather agency said.

Swift Current, Assiniboia, Tompkins, Weyburn, and surrounding areas are all included in the warning.

ECCC advises Saskatchewan residents to check alerts and forecasts before heading out, as travel will be challenging due to reduced visibility

A dangerous person has been reported in Weyburn, and residents are asked to shelter in place on Wednesday.

According to SaskAlert, at 3:52 p.m., Weyburn police were conducting an active operation in the 800 block of 5th Street North.

The public is asked to avoid the area while the operation is underway. Drivers and pedestrians are asked to find another route, the alert said.

Residents are also asked to follow directions from local authorities or the SaskAlert app for updates.

An Ottawa Valley parent is warning others after her 13-year-old daughter found herself hospitalized from taking part in a dangerous TikTok challenge.

The trend known as the “Benadryl challenge” emerged on the social media platform in 2020 and encourages young people to take large amounts of the allergy medication to achieve a high similar to alcohol, along with hallucinations.

The challenge has claimed the life of at least one American teen, according to local media in Oklahoma City.

Laura Wesbrook from Arnprior, Ont., says her daughter and a friend each took 36 tablets of the allergy medicine on Feb. 27, which caused her to spend four days at CHEO, including three days in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).

Wesbrook says the experience was “terrifying” and she was left with uncertainty about her daughter’s condition while she was in hospital. She spent several hours at the Arnprior hospital before being transferred to CHEO.

“I was scared I wasn’t going to have my daughter,” she told Newstalk 580 CFRA’s Ottawa at Work with Patricia Boal.

“It was all just a waiting game is how they described it to me. The way that it affects your body, you have to just wait it out.”

While she says her daughter has thankfully recovered from her injuries, Wesbrook wants to raise awareness of the dangers of the social media challenge.

“We have to put it out there to parents just to keep an extra eye on their kids, on what they’re watching and what they’re being influenced by,” she said.

She also says she’s concerned that minors are able to buy the medication over the counter.

“It’s mind-boggling to me that these kids can access that much medication and there not being a question as to why two 13-year-olds would be buying so much,” she said.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a statement in 2020 warning of high doses of Benadryl, also known as diphenhydramine. Taking higher doses than advised can lead to serious side effects such as heart problems, seizures, comas or even death.

Wesbrook says her daughter is very apologetic over the incident and ensures she did not intend to take her life.

“They’re both very lucky to be alive and I think learned to not follow TikTok trends,” she added.

“She just kept apologizing and still keeps apologizing. That gives me a sense of relief knowing that she realizes it was a silly decision and that she’s also realizing the seriousness of it.”

Canadian oil stocks are poised for a significant rally as the war in Iran continues to shake oil prices, according to an energy analyst.

Cenovus Energy, in particular, was upgraded to a “strong buy” on Wednesday by research analyst Darryl McCoubrey of Veritas Investment, with the company’s stock trading 3.4 per cent higher at $31.85 Wednesday midday, nearly reaching its yearly peak of $32.62.

In the event of a price spike, Canadian companies Cenovus and Canadian Natural Resources both “benefit disproportionately compared to the other oil sands majors,” because they are both sensitive to a West Texas Intermediate (WTI) price hike,” McCoubrey told BNN Bloomberg.

“So we increased both of those valuations by nearly 30 per cent,” he said.

Crude prices hovered around US$90 a barrel on Wednesday while Iran told the world to be ready for oil at $200 a barrel, because the oil price depends on regional security, which the U.S. has “destabilized.”

McCoubrey said he shifted from a supply glut outlook to a high-risk scenario.

He said Canadian Natural Resources, which was trading 2.5 per cent higher Wednesday midday, performed relatively well compared to Cenovus Energy over the last month, but Cenovus stands out as being relatively levered to the current high-price environment.

“I expect it to be the name that kind of performs best amongst the best four (oil companies),” said McCoubrey.

If things were to go the other way, he said Suncor is the best alternative because of its upstream exposure.

McCoubrey explained that Canadian Natural Resources and Cenovus Energy are more vulnerable to volatile oil prices because of a lack of downstream refining operations.

“It’s something we saw actually occur during the 12-day war last year, where, just like now, WTI prices spiked, and so too did crack spreads.”

Crack spreads, or the margins refiners make by turning crude into products like gasoline and diesel, can help producers offset weakness when oil prices fall.

After the Israel-Iran war ended on June 24, 2025, oil prices came down quickly, but those with downstream operations were able to soften that downward spike and hold onto higher crack spread margins for a longer period, said McCoubrey.

How does the IEA releasing reserves affect Canada?

On Wednesday, the International Energy Agency, which includes Canada, agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil from its emergency reserves, to address disruptions in oil markets stemming from the war in the Middle East.

In the short term, the 400 million barrel release will buy Canada months in which it would not experience a severe disruption in energy markets, says McCoubrey.

“I think the goal here is obviously to keep a lid on prices, so there isn’t a real urgency to end the conflict sooner,” says McCoubrey.

He said the relief is limited, as depleting strategic reserves by 50 per cent would create a severe supply crisis if the Iranian threat to the Strait of Hormuz continues.

He said that, in the short term, Canada also cannot do much with the infrastructure it has.

“The issue that Canada faces in its energy complex is that it’s captive. Getting these supplies out to these markets is challenged,” says McCoubrey.

On Wednesday, Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson said Canada will do its part to help lower the global cost of oil. While Canada is already producing at capacity, he said it could look into delaying facility maintenance or having refineries switch to domestic crude to free up supply.

The Trump administration on Wednesday opened a new trade investigation into manufacturing in foreign countries — an effort that comes after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down U.S. President Donald Trump’s previous use of tariffs by declaring an economic emergency.

Trump and his team have made clear that they’re seeking to replace the hundreds of billions of dollars in lost revenues after the Supreme Court’s February ruling by using different laws to establish new tariffs.

In this case, the administration is starting investigations under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which could eventually lead to new import taxes. But U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, in a Wednesday call with reporters, said he didn’t want to prejudge the outcome of the process.

“The policy remains the same — the tools may change depending on, you know, the vagaries of courts and other things, said Greer, stressing that the goal was to protect American jobs.

The start of the process to fully replace Trump’s prior tariffs could invite a return of much of the drama that rattled the global economy last year. The since-overturned tariffs led to new frameworks with U.S. trade partners — and it’s unclear what impact a new set of import taxes could have on those agreements. Greer described the trade frameworks as standing on their own and suggested they were separate from the new investigation.

This new set of tariffs could play out against the backdrop of a war in Iran and midterm elections in which Democrats are running against Trump’s Republican allies by emphasizing that the public is owed tariff refunds following the Supreme Court decision.

Greer said that the investigation would examine excess industrial capacity and government backing that could give foreign companies an unfair advantage over U.S. companies.

The entities subject to the investigation include China, the European Union, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam, the self-governing island of Taiwan, Bangladesh, Mexico, Japan and India. The government is looking for what it deems to be persistent trade surpluses with the U.S. and policies such as subsidies and the suppression of workers’ wages, among other factors.

The administration is also rolling out a Section 301 investigation to ban the importing of goods made by forced labor.

Greer indicated that there could be additional Section 301 investigations over issues such as digital service taxes, pharmaceutical drug pricing and ocean pollution, among other possibilities. The Commerce Department has separate trade investigations under Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act.

There are timeline pressures for the administration to complete its investigations. The administration has imposed 10 per cent tariffs on foreign-made goods under section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act, but those expire after 150 days on July 24. Trump said he planned to raise that import tax to 15 per cent, but he has yet to do so.

Greer said the administration is “keying off” the new investigation based on the 150-day deadline, saying that the goal is to bring “potential options” to Trump as soon as possible.

Greer said the investigations would be separate from the trade frameworks announced last year by Trump that set baseline tariff rates, which led to 15 per cent rates charged on goods from the European Union, Japan and South Korea, among other places, that have since been overturned by the Supreme Court. Still, he suggested that the frameworks could play a factor.

“My sense is that these countries continue to want to deal, and President Trump continues to want the deal,” Greer said, adding that since tariffs are in play the commitments that the countries have made and the implementation of the frameworks would be considered as they “bump” against the demands of the Section 301 process.

The CEO of Daily Bread Food Bank says products destined for the Toronto organization were on cargo ships that were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz near Iran.

According to the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Centre, three cargo ships were struck by some kind of projectile while passing through the strait on Wednesday. One was identified as a Thai-flagged vessel with 23 crew members on board.

In an interview with CTV News Toronto on Wednesday, Daily Bread Food Bank CEO Neil Hetherington claimed that one of those three ships was carrying food that was intended for the Toronto-based organization.

“Right now, we are purchasing dozens of containers with rice primarily,” Hetherington explained. “I don’t know the number of containers, but it would probably be in the neighbourhood of a half dozen containers. You think about that, and you think about the number of meals that would have provided for for the City of Toronto.”

“Our concern, obviously, is with the sailors that are (in the strait). And then we also want to make sure that the individuals who are supposed to get that food, get it. So, we have some redundancy plans in place so that every single person who was promised a meal by the Daily Bread will get that meal.”

Hetherington added that each container they order costs the food bank about $15,000, so he believes they lost about $90,000 worth of product.

“Our hope is that it was one of the ships that has not actually gone down, but there was a fire on it instead,” he said.

“So, perhaps there aren’t losses, but rather delays. But, a delay means a meal not on the table of somebody that needs it. Our hope is that the sailors are safe and that the food gets to the individuals, and if there are financial losses, we’ll need to absorb that. But in general, we’ve got these things insured.”

Iran has effectively stopped cargo traffic through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of all traded oil passes.

At least 12 incidents have been confirmed involving vessels in and around the strait since the Iran war began, according to two global trackers.

The International Maritime Organization says at least seven mariners have been killed.

EVO Radio Network – Scheduled Maintenance Notice

EVO Radio will be conducting a network-wide server migration and infrastructure update beginning Saturday, January 17, 2026 at 3:00 AM, with work expected to be completed by Sunday, January 18, 2026 at 8:00 PM.

During this maintenance window, the following services may be temporarily offline or intermittently inaccessible at various points:

Websites

• https://z1035.evoradio.ca/

• https://979thecowboy.evoradio.ca/

• https://101therockhound.evoradio.ca/

• https://887thegoat.evoradio.ca/

• https://advertiseraccess.evoradio.ca/

• https://vipclub.evoradio.ca/

• https://evomcorp.com/

• https://djspinderella.evomcorp.com/

Live Broadcasting

• Z103.5

• 979 The Cowboy

• 101 The Rockhound

• Classic 88.7 The Goat

Stream Relay Network

• All Stream Relay services will be unavailable during the migration.

Because this update involves server transfers, database installations, and name server changes, exact downtime periods cannot be guaranteed. Individual service interruptions may vary, with some components taking up to several hours to complete.

Our support and technical teams will work to keep all stations and websites online for as long as possible and will restore services immediately as each system becomes available. Broadcast services and station websites will be prioritized, followed by additional network services.

We appreciate your patience and understanding as we complete these upgrades, which are designed to improve performance, reliability, and long-term stability across the EVO Radio Network.

Thank you for your continued support,
EVO Radio Network

🎉 Update Completed Successfully! 🎉

We are thrilled to announce that our scheduled network update has been completed without any issues! 🚀 All our broadcast stations, streams, and websites are now fully operational and running better than ever.

What’s New?

Here’s what you can expect from this update:
✅ Improved Audio Player – No more interruptions or cutting off! Enjoy seamless streaming on our websites.
✅ Enhanced Stream Stability – Our radio streams are now more reliable than ever.
✅ Upgraded Security & Quality – Improved protection and enhanced broadcast quality for an unmatched listening experience.

Fully Operational Services:

🎵 Stations:

• Z103.5 – https://z1035.evoradio.ca/
• 979 The Cowboy – https://979thecowboy.evoradio.ca/
• 101 The Rockhound – https://101therockhound.evoradio.ca/
• Classic 88.7 The Goat – https://887thegoat.evoradio.ca/

🌐 Websites:

• EVO Radio Advertiser Access – https://advertiseraccess.evoradio.ca/
• EVO Media Corporation – https://evomcorp.com/
• DJ Spinderella – https://djspinderella.evomcorp.com/

Experiencing Issues?

While everything is running smoothly on our end, we’re here to help if you encounter any issues. If you’re having trouble with our broadcasts or websites, please report the issue to us immediately so we can address it.

📧 Contact Us:

If you have having any issues please reach out to us on our websites!

Thank you for your patience and understanding during this process. We’re committed to providing you with the best listening experience possible and appreciate your support!

🎧 Happy Listening!
The EVO Radio & EVO Media Corporation Team