Stelco owner, Ottawa at odds over layoffs and investment commitments. By 94.1 myFM News staff Oct 29, 2026 | 9:32 AM The dispute between Ottawa and Stelco's American owner continues, with Cleveland-Cliffs insisting it has met all the commitments made when purchasing the steelmaker in 2024. The company says a review found it fully compliant with its obligations, including employment requirements, despite plans for hundreds of layoffs at its Ontario operations, including Lake Erie Works in Nanticoke. Industry Minister Mélanie Joly disagrees, saying the federal government has a strong case and accusing Cleveland-Cliffs of failing to honour both employment commitments and obligations related to tariff-free access for Canadian steel. Ottawa has given the company a deadline to reverse the layoffs or potentially face legal action, while Cleveland-Cliffs says it wants to meet with Joly to discuss restoring jobs.

In the news today: Chow re-elected, MAID bill tabled, Eurovision finalists named. A look at what's in the news for today. * 2 hrs ago Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed... Olivia Chow re-elected as Toronto's mayor, staving off challenge from Brad Bradford Toronto voters have handed Olivia Chow her second term as mayor of Canada's largest city. Chow won with a commanding double-digit lead over her main challenger, Brad Bradford, in what polls had suggested would be a very tight race. Chow's re-election pitch rested largely on her track record, including the deal to upload city expressway costs to the province, tighter rules for bad-faith evictions, and reduced 911 wait times. Bradford conceded defeat last night and congratulated Chow on her victory. Liberals set to table bill restricting access to MAID in cases of mental illness The federal government is set to introduce changes to Canada's medical assistance in dying law today to bar people suffering solely from a mental illness from accessing MAID, and to allow for advance directives. Advance requests are documents that allow a person who suffers from a degenerative condition, such as dementia or ALS, to ask that an assisted death be carried out once they no longer have the capacity to consent. A news release from the Department of Justice says "rigorous safeguards" will be put in place for advance requests that follow a diagnosis of an incurable illness. The proposed bill will need to pass the House of Commons and the Senate before March 17 - the date on which the law states people with a mental illness as their sole underlying condition would become eligible for MAID. Alberta's Smith aims to turn the page after referendum as legislature returns Alberta's legislature is set to reconvene today - just over a week after the province voted overwhelmingly to stay in Canada. Premier Danielle Smith has said she considers the separatism debate settled, after it riled the province all summer. This fall, Smith's government says it's focusing on top-of-mind issues for Albertans like affordability and education, along with consumer protection rules for event ticket sales, changes to auto insurance, and stricter guidelines for artificial intelligence data centres. New provincial laws governing municipal bike lanes, illegal garbage dumping, and standards for school report cards are also expected before the legislature breaks for Christmas. American steel - not overseas dumping - dominates Canadian imports, trade data shows Federal trade figures show American steel makes up more than half of Canada's imports of galvanized and coated steel, complicating Cleveland-Cliffs' argument that an influx of cheap overseas steel is one of the top causes of Stelco layoffs. Global Affairs Canada steel import data shows that 54.1 per cent of the country's 625,726 tonnes of galvanized and coated steel sheet imports during the first nine months of 2026 came from the United States. Stelco owner Cleveland-Cliffs has blamed the idling of its Hamilton, Ont., steel plant partly on what it describes as dumped overseas steel imports in Canada, arguing that Ottawa's trade protections have failed to create a viable market for Canadian producers. In an Oct. 9 letter to Industry Minister Mélanie Joly, Stelco president and general counsel Paul Simon blamed the company's difficulties in part on the "market-depressing impact of dumped, offshore imports" and U.S. tariffs. Canada's Eurovision finalists to be announced today by CBC The musical acts vying to represent Canada at the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest are set to be announced today. CBC/Radio-Canada says it will reveal the five finalists at 3 p.m. ET. Artists from across Canada submitted applications for a chance to make history as the country's inaugural representative at the famed international music competition. A jury of professionals in the music industry decided on the shortlist, while the public will be invited to vote to determine Canada's Eurovision entrant. Eurovision is considered one of the world's largest live music spectacles. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2026. The Canadian Press

Stelco owner says he could sell plant next year after becoming 'persona non grata in Canada' Tue, October 27, 2026 at 4:34 p.m. PDT The head of Stelco's American parent company says he's willing to sell the Hamilton-based steel plant as a dispute with the federal government looks like it's headed to the courts. In a Tuesday interview with CBC's Power & Politics, Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves bristled at recent suggestions from Industry Minister Mélanie Joly that there are buyers interested in Stelco's assets. "I take a lot of exception on having the minister of industry talking openly to buyers. The company is not for sale," Goncalves told host David Cochrane. "I will sell the company after we operate the company for a while - and now that I know that I'm persona non grata in Canada, I will do that." Goncalves later floated the idea that such a sale would take place within "another year." The CEO's comments come after Cleveland-Cliffs responded to Joly's recent demands that it reverse layoffs announced last month or face potential legal action. The company said on Tuesday that it's in "full compliance" with the obligations it made under the Investment Canada Act when it bought the steelmaker in 2024. The government argues that the company agreed to keep the number of unionized Stelco employees at 2024 levels through to 2029 when the purchase was made. Joly indicated in a letter to the company last week that if the government proceeds with legal action, it would be asking the courts to issue monetary penalties against Cleveland-Cliffs and potentially direct the company to divest from Stelco. Goncalves said that his original aim when purchasing Stelco was to keep the plant from undercutting in the U.S. "I bought Stelco because I could not afford anymore having Stelco flooding the market here in the United States to the detriment of my own company," he said. In a separate interview on Power & Politics, Joly said she wants further explanation of Goncalves's original intentions for Stelco. "I think he needs to explain more what he means by that, because if he says that basically he bought it to ultimately keep the plant idle, he's proving our case," the minister said. Goncalves said that the company is prepared to "defend ourselves" if the federal government turns to the courts. When announcing the layoffs last month, the Stelco said it was in order to "ensure the survival" of the company, as U.S. tariffs on steel squeeze its sales. Goncalves has voiced support for U.S. tariffs on Canada in the past. When pressed on Tuesday about those comments, the CEO said his motivation is to protect the U.S. steel industry from cheaper products flooding the market from overseas. He said he wants Canada to take stronger action on foreign steel as well. "Block the border, allow me to bring the workers back. If you don't block the border there's no way to bring the workers back," he said. Joly argued that the government has taken measures to tighten the steel market, but that the country needs to maintain a certain level of access to overseas steel for now. "We need to make sure that across the country for our business and Canadians, they need to have access to some steel that is not made in Canada," she said. "That is something that is key for many of our manufacturers." The minister added that Goncalves knew the market conditions when he purchased Stelco in 2024. Despite the company insisting the layoffs are required to ensure its survival, Cleveland-Cliffs said last week that Stelco's third quarter this year was its "strongest" since it acquired the Hamilton plant.