In the news: Premiers meet in P.E.I., Canada joins international fighter jet program

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

Trade, big projects top issues as premiers meet

Domestic trade and major projects will be on the agenda as Canada’s premiers gather Tuesday in Prince Edward Island for a three-day meeting coloured by a renewed tariff threat from U.S. President Donald Trump.

The annual summer gathering of provincial and territorial leaders will culminate with Prime Minister Mark Carney joining the discussion Thursday. The premiers will also meet with Indigenous leaders later Tuesday.

Key issues among the provinces have included efforts to cut down any remaining barriers to internal trade and advocating for big infrastructure projects that could bring investment and jobs to their regions.

But there’s also fresh economic uncertainty after Trump on Monday signed an executive order to impose 50 per cent tariffs on certain Canadian products within 30 days.

Minister of National Defence David McGuinty speaks during a visit to General Dynamics in London, Ont., on Thursday, July 16, 2026.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nicole Osborne

Canada to join fighter jet program as observer

While the federal government has yet to sort out what it’s doing with its order for a full fleet of fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets, it’s already looking to the next big thing.

Ottawa is widely expected to announce Tuesday it will join a sixth-generation fighter jet program run by the U.K., Japan and Italy — not as a participant but as an observer with access to internal information.

Defence Minister David McGuinty, currently in the U.K. for a major international air show, has said the government is interested in learning more about the Global Combat Air Program.

The three countries launched the Global Combat Air Program to replace Japan’s F-2 jets and the Eurofighter Typhoons used by the U.K. and Italy.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks in front of a live map of smoke movement during a press conference updating media on ongoing forest fires in Ontario, in Toronto, Friday, July 17, 2026.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston

Ontario’s worst fire season on record: estimates

Wildfires raging in northern Ontario appear to have pushed the province to its worst wildfire season on record.

The province’s latest numbers suggest fires have burned through more than 7,250 square kilometres of Ontario’s forest, surpassing the previous record set in 2021.

The preliminary estimate is likely to be revised once officials get a closer look at the devastation, but it stands as a sign of how quickly the season has worsened.

The vast majority of that fire has burned in the past 10 days, on the back of severe thunderstorms and a scorching heat wave around Thunder Bay where temperatures soared to around 15 degrees above seasonal.

Wildland firefighter Ty Feldinger works on steep terrain to put out hot spots remaining from a controlled burn the B.C. Wildfire Service conducted to help contain the White Rock Lake wildfire on Okanagan Indian Band land, northwest of Vernon, B.C., on Wednesday, August 25, 2021.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Firefighters work to contain Kimberley, B.C., fire

Firefighters in British Columbia are working to build containment lines between an out-of-control wildfire and the city of Kimberley in the province’s southeast corner, where the entire community of more than 8,000 residents has been told to prepare for evacuation.

The BC Wildfire Service says it will be using heavy equipment to build the lines and block the fire that’s about 10 kilometres west of Kimberley.

The service says the blaze is in steep terrain, making direct firefighting difficult, and has grown to about six square kilometres since being detected on Saturday.

It’s among about 35 fires burning out of control in B.C., where a total of about 100 blazes were active as of late Monday.

Global Container Terminals’ Deltaport facility and Westshore Terminals’ coal export terminal are seen in an aerial view at Roberts Bank in Delta, B.C., on Thursday, July 16, 2026.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Security fears at B.C. port flagged for fast track

George Harvie, mayor of Delta, B.C., has been sounding the alarm over security and crime at the province’s port facilities for years, and he has plenty of questions as the federal government pushes a massive port expansion project in his city.

The Roberts Bank Terminal 2 expansion project was referred to the major projects office last week for potential fast-tracking, in a bid to enable $100 billion in new trade capacity annually.

The proposed new three-berth terminal would increase the port’s container capacity by 50 per cent, potentially contributing $3 billion to Canada’s GDP each year.

But Harvie, who was not present at last week’s announcement at the port due to a scheduling conflict, is looking beyond those numbers.

A man stabbed and injured two tourists Tuesday morning near the ancient Acropolis in Athens, Greece’s top tourist attraction. The Parthenon’s restored west pediment as seen atop the Acropolis in Athens, Thursday, June 18, 2026, after Greece’s Culture Ministry unveiled the temple’s western side in its most complete form in more than 200 years. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Man stabs tourists near the Acropolis in Athens, Greece

A man stabbed and injured two tourists Tuesday morning near the ancient Acropolis in Athens, Greece’s top tourist attraction, police said.

The assailant attacked a man and a woman, both Greek Americans, with a knife near the entrance of the Acropolis Museum, which lies at the foot of the Acropolis hill.

The woman suffered light injuries to the leg, while the man was more seriously hurt with wounds to the arm, police said.

The attacker was detained, while the two victims were transported to hospital by ambulance, authorities said.

The identity of the attacker was not immediately clear, but police said he appeared to have been suffering from psychological problems.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 21, 2026

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