In the news today: Liberal byelection sweep, Meet Canada’s new MPs, jail revamp

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

Liberals return to Parliament with majority after three byelection wins

Liberal MPs will now have more clout in the House of Commons after three byelection wins gave Prime Minister Mark Carney the numbers to form a majority government.

The Liberals now have 174 seats in the House, two more than the minimum for a majority. That makes Carney’s the first federal government in Canadian history to go from a minority to a majority between elections.

Canada hasn’t had a majority government since former prime minister Justin Trudeau swept to power with a landslide win in 2015.

Gaining a majority means the governing Liberals have more than half of the votes in the House, and can survive confidence votes without the support of another party.

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Liberals set to form historic majority government after sweeping three byelections

Danielle Martin, Doly Begum and Tatiana Auguste will soon head to the House of Commons after winning a set of byelections for the Liberals in two Toronto ridings and one in a suburb of Montreal.

A family physician, Martin told supporters in the University—Rosedale riding that she was humbled by the win and vowed to get right to work.

In Scarborough Southwest, Begum, a former New Democrat, secured her seat for the Liberals, which she said has a responsibility to build a country where opportunity is real.

And in the Quebec riding of Terrebonne, north of Montreal, Auguste told supporters in French that she pledged to work for her constituents.

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Ontario plans massive jail expansion, internal government documents show

Ontario is planning a massive expansion of jails over the next few decades.

Documents obtained by University of Ottawa researchers through freedom-of-information laws show that Ontario plans to add nearly 6,000 jail beds by 2050.

The plan comes as the province’s jails are bursting at the seams and have been significantly over capacity for years, with the situation only getting worse.

Criminology professor Justin Piché, who shared the documents with The Canadian Press, says it is an unprecedented expansion that will cost taxpayers billions of dollars.

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Mideast war, pipeline push serve as backdrop to oil and gas investment conference

Leaders of some of Canada’s biggest oil and gas producers are discussing the state of their industry with investors at a private conference as the war in the Middle East continues to roil commodity markets.

Presentations at the 2026 BMO CAPP Energy Symposium, which kicks off today, are closed to the public and media, but some speakers will be participating in press interviews.

The conference is taking place as the war embroiling much of the Middle East halts oil tanker shipments out of the Persian Gulf, driving global prices higher.

The conference is also being held amid a push in Canada to more speedily build oil and gas export infrastructure to serve markets beyond what has traditionally been this country’s biggest customer — the United States.

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Canada’s national orchestra to honour Indigenous music during Nova Scotia shows

The last time Ottawa’s National Arts Centre Orchestra performed in Eskasoni First Nation, Mi’kmaq singer-songwriter Emma Stevens was a young teenager volunteering at the show.

Almost nine years later, as the national orchestra embarks on its 100th tour, the 23-year-old musician will be performing original music alongside the prestigious band at their Nova Scotia shows.

The singer-songwriter gained international attention for her music in 2019, when her Mi’kmaq-language cover of the Beatles’ song “Blackbird” went viral.

At the NAC Orchestra shows, she will perform the Mi’kmaq cover of “Blackbird” and “The Ballad of Shubenacadie,” an original song she co-wrote about the Canadian residential school system.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 14, 2026.

The Canadian Press