Category: Canada

The busiest PWHL off-season yet will begin next week, as the league prepares to welcome four new teams ahead of next season.

The existing eight teams can begin negotiating with players on Monday, and with a significant portion of the league on expiring contracts, your favourite team’s roster is about to be thrown in a blender.

High-profile players across the league who are about to hit free agency include Taylor Heise (Minnesota Frost), Sarah Nurse (Vancouver Goldeneyes), Kendall Coyne Schofield (Minnesota Frost), Renata Fast (Toronto Sceptres), Daryl Watts (Toronto Sceptres), Brianne Jenner (Ottawa Charge), Hilary Knight (Seattle Torrent), Lee Stecklein (Minnesota Frost) and Kelly Pannek (Minnesota Frost), just to name a few.

It will all shake out through a complex, six-phase process, which was outlined by the league on Wednesday, after weeks of negotiation with the PWHL Players Association.

“When we set out to build the expansion roster distribution process, our priorities were clear: to give players a meaningful voice throughout the process while maintaining competitive balance across the league for all 12 teams,” Jayna Hefford, the PWHL’s executive vice president of hockey operations, said in a statement.

“We believe this framework accomplishes both goals and reflects the collaborative and forward-thinking approach that has helped shape the PWHL since day one. Expansion is a major milestone for our league, our players, and our fans, and we’re excited to welcome Detroit, Hamilton, Las Vegas, and San Jose as we continue building for the future.”

Here’s how it will go down:

Phase 1

Each existing team will be able to protect three players from signing with expansion teams during the first phase of the league’s process.

The eight existing teams will each submit a list of 10 free agents that the teams are interested in signing. That can include free agents from their own team or other teams.

They can start signing players to contracts on June 2 at 12 p.m. ET, and those players will count toward the three protected players. Existing teams can only lose one free agent during this phase.

Teams must submit their list of three protected players by next Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET.

For some teams, that list of three is clear: Montreal Victoire GM Danièle Sauvageau told reporters on Wednesday that Montreal will protect Marie-Philip Poulin, Laura Stacey and Ann-Renée Desbiens, according to Radio-Canada Sports. Those three are under contract through the 2027-28 season.

After the protection lists are submitted, expansion teams can get in on the action.

Phase 2

GMs of expansion teams must submit a list of 20 players they’d like to target during the second phase.

Each of the four new teams will get be able to give one free agent an “expansion foundational offer,” which is a contract up to four years in length and worth at least $100,000 US per year. It’s a binding contract that the player has to sign.

Expansion teams can also hand out non-binding “foundational player offers,” which are two years in length at minimum.

Expansion teams can sign up to five players each during this phase. Existing teams can’t lose any more than three players each during phase two.

Phase 3 and beyond

All unsigned and unprotected players are free to negotiate with all 12 teams during phase three, which begins on June 10.

Expansion teams can only add three more players each during phase three, for a total of eight. Existing teams, meanwhile, can protect an extra three players.

There will be another window for expansion teams to sign additional players beginning on June 14, followed by a phase that will allow existing teams to re-sign more of their own free agents.

It all leads up to the entry draft on June 17, where there’s plenty of top talent available. The Vancouver Goldeneyes will have the first pick, with American defender Caroline Harvey the top player available on the draft board. The rest of the order has yet to be determined.

The 236 players that have declared for the likely six-round draft give Hefford confidence the league can maintain its level of play while adding four teams.

“The top end talent coming through the draft this year are players who are going to immediately impact this league in a significant way across multiple markets,” Hefford told CBC Sports earlier this month. “So from a depth of talent perspective, we’re really confident that we can support that.”

Big changes for players

For general managers, it will be a busy few weeks of navigating contract negotiations, all while making sure their team has an average cap hit of just over $60,000 US, something required by the collective bargaining agreement.

Many GMs will watch players they drafted and developed just last season head to expansion teams, for the second year in a row.

“In the environment that we’re in with where the league’s at and the expansion, it feels like we’re serving up some players on a silver platter,” Boston Fleet GM Danielle Marmer said earlier this month.

For players, it’s the second summer of upheaval. It will provide big opportunities for some players. With four extra teams, there will be more jobs and ice time to go around.

On the other side of the coin, teams like the championship-winning Montreal Victoire won’t look the same next season.

But players went into the season knowing things were about to change, Montreal forward Laura Stacey told reporters at the Victoire’s locker cleanout day on Wednesday.

“I think coming into this year, we knew this was potentially a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, a team that is only going to be around for one year,” Stacey, who is also the president of the PWHLPA’s executive board, told reporters. “Hopefully after winning a championship, a lot of people want to be in Montreal and stay in Montreal. But with that being said, I think we’re all really excited for this league to continue to grow and to see how big it can get.”

Players’ salaries from this past season were published on the PWHL Players Association’s website on Tuesday.

That wasn’t coincidental timing. The union wanted the figures out in the public realm before the expansion signing period begins, with players facing important negotiations, Stacey said.

“I think it just helps a lot of players figure out what their next steps are, and be able to see other people’s contracts and determine what theirs should look like,” she said.

Kennedy brawled his way out of the NHL in 1969.

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Published May 26, 2026  •  Last updated 6 hours ago  •  2 minute read

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The Forbes Kennedy NHL timeline reached an abrupt halt on April 2, 1969.

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A certain vintage of Maple Leaf follower knows exactly how it ended for the pugnacious Prince Edward Islander, who brawled his way out of The Show that day in Boston with a record eight playoff-game penalties.

That mayhem match in Boston was already noteworthy for the lopsided score, a 10-0 loss that historians pinpoint as the end of Toronto’s 1960s glory days, and Pat Quinn’s violent check that knocked Bruin great Bobby Orr cold, nearly causing a Boston Garden riot on its own.

But it was a later exchange between Kennedy and Bruins goalie Gerry Cheevers that boiled over and involved every player, including backup netminders. Taking exception to a Cheevers slash, Kennedy fought him and then several black-and-gold challengers. In the emotion of trying to be pulled to the dressing room, things erupted again and Kennedy knocked down linesman George Ashley. He was immediately suspended by league president Clarence Campbell.

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It was only a four-game sentence, but in those days enough that Kennedy never got another chance in the NHL, done at age 34 after 603 appearances. A couple of final flings in the minors, winning the Calder Cup with Buffalo and the Central League title with Omaha preceded years of coaching junior in Charlottetown where he eventually operated a bar.

But highlights of that bench-clearing slugfest in Boston still get many YouTube views. Known as ‘Forbie’ to many Islanders, he died at age 90 on Monday. The Philadelphia Flyers, one of his five NHL teams, posted an obituary, while his passing was mourned across his home province.

“Every summer I came home from the NHL, he’d always have good words for you and definitely checking in on you,” NHL player and coach Gerard Gallant told CBC. “He was a guy who cared about P.E.I. and all the players that played there, and he probably had a good part to do with a lot of us getting the opportunity to play in the NHL.”

At 5-foot-8, the Dorchester, N.B.-born Kennedy racked up 888 NHL regular season penalty minutes, maintaining that fighting was a necessity in the sport.

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“I don’t believe in cross-checking, I don’t believe in spearing,” he said during induction to the PEI Sports Hall of Fame. “I believe in good hitting, and a good fight sometimes clears the air.

“I don’t knock fighting. You take fighting out of the game, then you’re really going to get the spear jobs and the chopping. It’ll be a bloodbath out there.”

Kennedy carved a career with the Chicago Blackhawks, starting in 1956 via the Montreal Junior Canadiens, went on to Detroit, spent time in Boston as a fan favourite, the expansion Flyers and then the Leafs, where Cheevers had begun his NHL journey.

For years, Cheevers felt terrible about Kennedy getting suspended as he felt he had initiated the original incident. He contacted Campbell to urge leniency, but to no avail.

Ironically Kennedy wore 22 in Toronto. A few years later, Tiger Williams would make that sweater synonymous with penalties as the league’s leader in career penalty minutes with 3,966.

Lhornby@postmedia.com

X: @sunhornby

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Marie-Philip Poulin’s trophy case now includes a Walter Cup championship and Ilana Kloss Playoff MVP award.

Arguably the best female hockey player in the world, they’ll be added to Poulin’s resumé, which is already full of accomplishments.

But being the best player in professional women’s hockey still pays less than one-seventh of the NHL’s minimum salary of $775,000 US, a sign of the vast disparity that remains between the best male and female athletes.

Poulin’s salary was $110,216 during the 2025-26 season, according to salary figures released by the PWHL Players Association on Tuesday. All PWHL salary amounts are in US dollars and don’t factor in any bonuses that players may receive.

The disclosure comes after players voted to release the information to the public. You can find a searchable database of player salaries below.

“This decision reflects our belief that greater salary transparency gives players clearer information and stronger context in individual negotiations, while also supporting a more transparent and credible marketplace for the league overall,” PWHLPA executive director Malaika Underwood said on Tuesday.

“Given that players had previously approved disclosure among players and agents, and that minimum and average salary figures are already public in the [collective bargaining agreement], this is a natural next step.”

Poulin was the fifth-highest paid player in the league last season, behind Ottawa’s Emily Clark ($126,090), New York’s Sarah Fillier ($125,000), Ottawa’s Brianne Jenner ($122,003) and Poulin’s Montreal teammate, Abby Roque ($116,699).

There’s a wide gulf between the top-paid players and a big chunk of the league. Ninety-seven players made less than $50,000 last season.

That includes 17 players on league-minimum contracts of $37,131.50, a figure that increases by three per cent each season, according to the collective bargaining agreement players signed with ownership back in 2023.

No salary cap

That collective bargaining agreement, which is in place until July 31, 2031, doesn’t assign a salary cap to individual PWHL teams, nor is there a maximum salary players can make.

Instead, each team as a whole must meet an average, annual base salary, which increases by three per cent each season — last season, the number to hit was $58,349.50. There is wiggle room of up to 10 per cent due to new signings and player movement, according to the CBA.

The figures released by the PWHLPA show one team, Ottawa, surpassed the average salary figure ($58,929.23), while New York had the lowest average salary ($54,892.06).

Each team in the PWHL is owned by the same entity, The Walter Group, meaning every team has the same resources. The salary figures shed clearer light on how teams are spending that money.

The new data comes at a turning point for the PWHL. With a significant portion of the league on expiring contracts and four new teams set to enter the league next season, every roster is set to undergo a transformation.

But with the union locked into this salary structure until 2031, players aren’t likely to see bigger pay days any time soon, beyond the annual three per cent increase all players receive.

In an anonymous player poll conducted by The Athletic’s Hailey Salvian ahead of last season, nearly one-third of the players polled identified salaries as the biggest issue facing women’s hockey.

“I think there are people who think that we’re making millions,” Montreal Victoire forward Catherine Dubois told The Canadian Press earlier this season. “I think that maybe this will make people realize that we’re not doing this for the money, and maybe they’re going to understand our reality a little more.”

Victoire stars took pay cut this season

The PWHL launched in 2023 with the collective bargaining agreement in place.

For the first time, it gave players the right to things like maternity leave, meals and per diems, and a monthly housing stipend, which will go up to $1,800 per month per player next season.

The length of the agreement provided security for players signing on to play in a new league. But with the league’s success, it also means players are locked into low salaries as the league continues to grow. The PWHL started with six teams and will balloon to 12 next season.

“I think you have to remember that the goal here was to sort of set a bar,” Underwood said in an interview with CBC Sports last season, before the league officially expanded. “We’ve set that bar. And then as we continue to see success and have growth, we will then be in a position to raise that bar and that will always be a key priority for us.”

An example to look to could be the WNBA, which just signed a landmark CBA with players that has elevated average salaries up to $585,000 — though the ownership structure of the WNBA is different and the league has been around since 1997.

In the meantime, PWHL GMs must lean on creativity when building their teams.

Ahead of this past season, Poulin, Ann-Renée Desbiens and Laura Stacey all agreed to renegotiate their contracts to take less, so GM Danièle Sauvageau could add more depth. That included Roque’s contract, which was acquired in a trade with the New York Sirens during the draft last June.

Standing on the ice after her team won the Walter Cup, Stacey described the decision as “pretty damn worth it.”

“[Sauvageau] was on a mission last offseason to help us win the Cup,” said Stacey, who is also the president of the PWHLPA’s executive board. “We had been in first place, we had been to the playoffs, but we couldn’t find a way to get that Cup. She did whatever it took to find a way to do that. She talked to us and we were all in with her. I’m so, so happy that it paid off.”

What better way to celebrate a love of French fries than by honouring them ahead of the International Day of the Potato, which just happens to be on May 30

Published May 26, 2026  •  Last updated 5 hours ago  •  3 minute read

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Want fries with that? According to a new report, you definitely do.

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More than 12,000 people across 11 countries, including Canada, were surveyed for McCain’s inaugural Spud Report.

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Not only did the data determine how deep the love of fries goes for people all over the world, but it also found out when the favourite time to eat them is and, more importantly, whether or not eaters are willing to share them. (It’s OK, we won’t judge.)

And what better way to celebrate a love of French fries than by honouring them ahead of the International Day of the Potato, which just happens to be on May 30.

This spud’s for you

The survey found that more than three-quarters (78%) of respondents around the world say fries improve their mood, with 55% saying fries make them feel happy, while 46% say they make them feel relaxed.

Potatoes are a go-to ingredient for most people but as far as spud lovers go, 27% of Canadians said fries is their favourite way to prepare them, while 14% preferred mashed potatoes and another 12% love their poutine unconditionally.

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In fact, fries were the top spud choice among all the countries including the United States, France, Brazil, the Netherlands, India, Japan and Australia.

Much of the world may be on fire but if there’s one thing everyone seems to agree on, it’s fries, with 35% ranking a classic, straight-cut as their favourite fry style.

Sharing means caring

When it comes to sharing the tasty treat, 1 in 3 respondents were bold enough to declare that letting others in on fries feels more intimate than holding hands.

In Brazil and China, that number rises to 1 in 2, while 1 in 6 Canadians would go that far.

Now, if you can get someone to share their fries, the question of double-dipping came up.

Firstly, Canadians’ dip of choice was ketchup with 63%, those in the Prairies and Atlantic Canada prefer gravy (45% and 42%, respectively) while 30% of Quebecers opt for mayo.

Another 29% of Canadians they are more than happy to dip their fries in a milkshake.

Respondents in India and Brazil were the biggest double-dippers, at 75% and 69%, respectively, while Japanese fry-lovers were more restrained as just 20% confessed to the double dip.

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Meanwhile, a respectable 68% of Canadians say that double-dipping in a no-no; that said, 44% of those in Canada revealed they do it anyway.

Don’t even think about it

Speaking of no-nos, for some, taking fries off someone else’s plate is like a crime.

Nearly three-quarters (71%) of Canadians said it irks them when someone steals fries from them, while more than one-third (38%) confessed to being a fry thief.

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Just say when

The question of whether fries constitute dinner was a bit of a heated debate.

Nearly half (41%) of those in the Netherlands say their make fries their main entrée, compared to 24% in Japan, 23% in the U.K., 20% in France and just 7% in Canada.

In India more than half (51%) admit to eating fries for breakfast. In fact, it’s the only country where fries beat hashed browns as their first meal.

The Dutch are all over the place, with 34% also digging fries to start the day. (Only 13% of Canadians want fries first thing.)

Around the world, 41% said they have fries with dinner, 27% responded that lunchtime fries as a side is their go-to and 18% enjoy them as a daytime snack.

Overall, just 5% called it their late-night snack and 4% say it’s a breakfast thing, while another 5% say all the time is the right time to have some fries.

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Five-year-old Axel Luchsinger was having a regular day at school, until an announcement came over the intercom system: He was officially a world-record breaker.

“Everyone was hugging me,” he told CBC News.

It turns out everyone’s favourite childhood toy is actually a record-breaking stair master — and not the type we collectively dread seeing at the gym. According to Guinness World Records, the record for the most stairs descended by a slinky has been shattered, at 53. They beat the previous achievement by 23 stairs.

And behind the feat are Axel and his parents, Joe and Christelle Luchsinger, a family of three from Connecticut.

Seemed ‘beatable’

Axel is “really interested in what is the biggest, fastest, strongest of everything,” Joe Luchsinger told CBC News. 

He said his son recently became interested in slinkies and knew his dad had attempted to break records before, including a 20-hour practice run for longest handshake that unfortunately ended in a disqualification at the New York City event, when his friend lost consciousness.

So when they looked up the slinky record, the previous milestone of 30 stairs set in 2014 seemed “beatable.”

They purchased seven slinkies of different heights, diameters and springiness to find the right one. The winner: a plastic multicoloured variety.

Then in May 2025, the family went on a trip to visit Joe’s parents in Ohio. While there, he checked his maps app and found what he thought would be the perfect venue for the trick: a large dam with a “huge run of stairs.” But they soon found the steps were too big, and the slinky couldn’t make it down a single stair. So they scrambled for a backup.

What first came to mind, Joe said, was Ohio Stadium, but they couldn’t get in. Instead, he called up the athletic director at Otterbein University in Westerville, after having driven by and seeing a steep set of bleachers there. The director agreed to let them try it out, and that was where they cheered on the historic rainbow slinky descent.

Beating the storm

The team of three each had a job to do. Christelle was the designated launcher, Axel was the official stair counter and Joe was tasked with bringing the slinky back up after each run.

For a couple of hours, they threw the toy down the stairs repeatedly.

“Initially we’d only get runs of 10,” Joe said. “We almost gave up. There was a storm coming in, and we heard thunder in the distance.”

But their luck began to turn when Christelle started getting some longer runs in.

“At that point we were in it, and eventually one went all the way,” Joe said. “We barely beat the rain.”

A live adjudicator can verify records on the spot, but it was just the family present that day, who caught it on video in May 2025. They found out they had been certified for it over an email about 10 months later this past March.

Finding time to play

“Even though it might sound goofy, it’s pretty cool,” Christelle said of the record.

“Maybe one day we’ll make it to 150,” Axel said to his parents, with a grin and a giggle. 

For now, they’ve got their eyes on their next goal: the highest launch from a Galilean cannon, where one essentially drops several stacked balls of decreasing mass to see how high the lightest one on the top can bounce. The current record sits at 13.08 metres, set in March 2020.

In the meantime, Joe says it’s a good reminder that finding time to play as an adult is important.

“Though this is not a serious activity, we took it pretty seriously and it’s been sort of a magical thing,” he said.

“[We] have had a memorable experience doing something fun that [Axel] thought up.”

Published May 25, 2026  •  Last updated 5 hours ago  •  2 minute read

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THE HANDS THIS HOUSE BUILT
Canadians are embarrassed that U.S. President Donald Trump will have his White House renovation, of adding a beautiful new ballroom to their national residence, completed long before the renovation of 24 Sussex Drive, the Official Residence of the Prime Minister of Canada, which is just sitting vacant like a decrepit haunted house waiting to be condemned! Take a bow, America, this is what happens when you have a real leader leading your nation!

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Chris Robertson
Stony Plain, Alta.

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(A decision was made, they are executing, and it will be done. Meanwhile we can’t even decide to renovate the PM’s residence)

LIBS FAIL ON SNOWBIRDS
Re “Snowbirds to be grounded following 2026 season” (Eddie Chau, May 19): More like, Snowbirds grounded by our political propeller heads. Canada’s Snowbirds jet precision aerobatic team of speed, maneuverability and synchronization will have replacement planes sometime in the far future. And be what? Their outdated CT-114 Tutor jets will be replaced by the turbo-prop CT-157 Siskin II. Talk about flying backwards! The propeller head politicians have outdone themselves. All other national air display flying teams use jets but not Canada. We bring up the rear. If it goes around and around and generates hot air, it must be PM (Propeller Man) Carney. Why not go all the way back to a fleet of the Red Baron’s First World War Fokker triplane for the Snowbirds?

L.D. Cross
Ottawa

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(It’s difficult to shake the impression the Liberals will do nothing to bring the Snowbirds back)

REPLACEMENTS NEEDED
Re “Snowbirds grounded by incompetence” (Editorial, May 20): The Mark Carney government wants to make a mockery of Canada’s famous Snowbirds. It will be yet another embarrassment to our country on the world stage. Replacing their jet aircraft in for Sopwith Camels (Second World War planes with propellers) is like telling your teenage boy that instead of upgrading his first bike for a 10-speed racer, he is getting a tricycle with a bell. Snowbird pilots should refuse to volunteer for the team. Go big or go home!

Larry Sylvester
Acton, Ont.

(This whole thing is an embarrassment)

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It’s 6:59 a.m. PT on a chilly spring morning exactly three months before the day you’ve decided you want to go camping. You’ve chosen a campsite and your mouse is hovering over the reserve button on the B.C. Parks website, heart racing as the seconds tick down to 7 a.m., when the sites become bookable.

It’s a unique brand of anxiety well known to anyone who’s ever tried to book a campsite in this province.

But before you even get to that point, you have to decide whether to risk trying a new campground, or sticking with a tried and tested favourite. 

Most years, B.C. Parks conducts visitor satisfaction surveys that poll park users on their experiences. 

CBC News requested those reports and crunched the numbers on what people like and don’t like about every B.C. Parks campground to help campers, and potential campers, know before they go. The data is from 2023 and 2024, as B.C. Parks did not conduct the survey in 2025.

The data reveals the places parkgoers were happiest with things like noise levels, cleanliness and the small, roadside campground rated highest in the province — but only by just 20 visitors who filled out the survey.

What people liked … and didn’t

On average, satisfaction scores were higher outside the South Coast region, which includes Metro Vancouver. Large parks within a couple of hours of Metro Vancouver, such as Cultus Lake and Golden Ears, tended to score lower than large parks in other parts of the province.

Visitors to B.C. Parks campgrounds generally found them safe, clean and accessible. The average satisfaction scores for ease of access, cleanliness and sense of security in parks were all over 90 per cent.

Overall satisfaction around noise levels also improved from an average of 83 per cent in 2023 to 91 per cent in 2024.

At the bottom of the satisfaction list was the B.C. Parks call centre, with an average satisfaction score of 34 per cent in 2024, down from 44 per cent in 2023. 

Other things park users tended to rate lower were the availability of first come, first served campsites (69 per cent satisfied) and the reservation website (81 per cent satisfied, up from 79 per cent in 2023). 

Demand for camping reservations has more than tripled over the past decade, making securing a spot increasingly competitive, the Ministry of Environment and Parks said in an emailed statement.

Of B.C. Parks’ more than 11,000 frontcountry campsites, about 3,000 are first come, first served (FCFS) year round and around 7,500 are a mix of reservable and FCFS depending on the time of year, the statement said.

Reservations, it said, reduce safety concerns around large numbers of people lining up outside park gates or driving through sites.

Here are the highest rated parks, by region.

South Coast

Emory Creek Park, Hope
2024 Net Promoter Score: 95
Number of survey responses: 20

If you’re rushing to book a campsite at this riverside spot north of Hope, just off the Trans Canada, don’t bother. This small campground with just 35 sites is entirely first come, first served.  

Visitors rated this park highly for cleanliness, including washrooms, accessibility and noise levels.

The campground with the highest score in the province is also the one with the fewest survey respondents, so the margin of error on the Net Promoter Score is plus or minus 22 per cent.

Garibaldi Park, Sea-to-Sky
2024 Net Promoter Score: 71
Number of survey responses: 389

Beloved by backcountry campers and hikers for its stunning mountain panoramas and brilliant turquoise lakes, it’s no surprise Garibaldi Park is close to the top of this list. 

Garibaldi scored highly on amenities, value for money, accessibility and cleanliness. Park visitors were less enthusiastic about the reservation website for day-use passes, which will be required for all visitors to this park as of June 12.

Joffre Lakes Park, east of Pemberton
2024 Net Promoter Score: 69
Number of survey responses: 49

Another mountain park featuring stunning lakes and vistas, Joffre Lakes is so popular that in 2021, B.C. Parks began issuing day-use passes to cut down on the number of visitors. The ease of reserving these passes was one of the pain points for visitors to Joffre Lakes. Day-use passes are required in the park from May 11 on.

Joffre Lakes scored highly on maintenance, cleanliness and ease of access.

Kootenay-Okanagan

Kettle River Recreation Area, Okanagan
2024 Net Promoter Score: 83
Number of survey responses: 224

One of the Okanagan’s largest campgrounds, Kettle River is popular with cyclists and beachgoers keen to float down the river on a hot summer day. 

Kettle River scored highly on maintenance, cleanliness, accessibility — both for the general public and people with disabilities — and noise levels. 

Summit Lake Park, Kootenays
2024 Net Promoter Score: 83
Number of survey responses: 112

Summit Lake is a medium-sized, lakeside campground surrounded by mountains just east of Nakusp. It scored highly on accessibility, noise levels and cleanliness, both in the park in general and in washrooms specifically.

Martha Creek Park, Kootenays
2024 Net Promoter Score: 81
Number of survey responses: 313

This park, located on a reservoir lake about 20 minutes north of Revelstoke, has a sandy beach with a wharf and a boat launch. It scored highly on noise levels, maintenance and accessibility. 

Thompson-Cariboo

Bowron Lake Park, Cariboo
2024 Net Promoter Score: 85
Number of survey responses: 65

Best known as a canoe circuit, Bowron Lake Park also has a 25-site campground. Visitors rated the park high on amenities, noise levels and value for money.

Horsefly Lake Park, Cariboo
2024 Net Promoter Score: 78
Number of survey responses: 32

Despite being named after a biting insect, visitors gave Horsefly Lake Park, northeast of Williams Lake, high marks for washroom cleanliness, cleanliness in general and noise levels. There is a high margin of error around these results due to a small sample size.

Herald Park, Shuswap
2024 Net Promoter Score: 74
Number of survey responses: 393

Billed by B.C. Parks as a base camp for exploring the Shuswap and featuring forest, lakeshore and waterfalls, visitors rated this park highly on many points, including washroom and general cleanliness, amenities and ease of access for people with disabilities.

North/Central/Skeena

Ta Ch’ila/Boya Lake Park, north of Dease Lake
2024 Net Promoter Score: 86
Number of survey responses: 44

Ta Ch’ila/Boya Lake is a lakeside campground surrounded by mountains about halfway between Dease Lake and the Yukon border. The lake is noted for its bright turquoise waters. It scored highly on cleanliness, both in general and for washrooms specifically, noise levels and value for money.

Kleanza Creek Park, Terrace
2024 Net Promoter Score: 78
Number of survey responses: 42

This park, just off Highway 16 east of Terrace, is known for its rock canyons and emerald-green waters. It scored highly on cleanliness, accessibility, noise levels and crowding.

Tyhee Lake Park, Bulkley Valley
2024 Net Promoter Score: 77
Number of survey responses: 67

This park, 10 kilometres east of Smithers, features a sandy beach where visitors can swim and paddle board. It scored highly across many areas, including cleanliness of both washrooms and the park in general, amenities and accessibility of the trails and the park.

Omineca Peace

Gwillim Lake Park, southeast of Chetwynd
2024 Net Promoter Score: 79
Number of survey responses: 24

Gwillim Lake is nestled in the Rocky Mountain foothills and is a popular spot for boating, swimming and fishing. Due to the low number of survey responses, the margin of error around the 2024 score is high. 

Liard River Hot Springs Park, Alaska Highway
2024 Net Promoter Score: 74
Number of survey responses: 105

Any northern B.C. park that features hot springs is going to do well on a satisfaction survey. Liard River Hot Springs Park, located off the Alaska Highway about 90 minutes from the Yukon border, also did well on cleanliness, maintenance, accessibility and value for money.

Muncho Lake Park, Alaska Highway
2024 Net Promoter Score: 74
Number of survey responses: 40

Just under an hour south of Liard River Hot Springs, Muncho Lake is another Alaska Highway park rated highly by visitors, albeit with a high margin of error. The mountain park offers two lakeside campgrounds, and scored highly on park cleanliness, maintenance and accessibility.

West Coast – Vancouver Island

Cape Scott Park, North Vancouver Island
2024 Net Promoter Score: 78
Number of survey responses: 85

Located at the top of the Island and also topping the satisfaction scores for the region, Cape Scott is a backcountry park featuring pristine rainforest and isolated sandy beaches. Cape Scott scored highest on cleanliness, amenities and — crucially for a backcountry park — clarity of park/trail signage.

Morton Lake Park, North Vancouver Island
2024 Net Promoter Score: 77
Number of survey responses: 41

All campsites — 12 reservable, 12 first come, first served — are lakeside at this park, which is popular with anglers. This park, located northwest of Campbell River, scored highly on crowding, cleanliness and value for money.

Montague Harbour Marine Park, Galiano Island
2024 Net Promoter Score: 76
Number of survey responses: 158

Located on Galiano Island, Montague Harbour is both a marine park and a campground with vehicle accessible and walk-in, oceanside sites. Among Montague Harbour’s many areas of strength were cleanliness, amenities, noise levels and value for money.

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How satisfaction is measured

B.C. Parks uses a metric called a Net Promoter Score to measure visitor loyalty. It’s based on responses to a question asking visitors to rate their likelihood of recommending the park on a scale of 0 to 10. 

People who answer 9 or 10 are seen as promoters, or loyal enthusiasts, likely to recommend the park. Those who answer 7 or 8 are passives who may or may not recommend the park, while those who give 6 or less are detractors, likely unsatisfied visitors who may discourage others from visiting.

Net Promoter Scores range between -100 (every visitor is a detractor) and 100 (every visitor is a promoter).

The average Net Promoter Score for B.C. Parks as a whole is 51.

An important caveat to these scores is sample size. The number of survey responses ranges from 20 to 1,121 per park. The lower the number of responses, the bigger the margin of error around the satisfaction score. The margin of error for some parks is plus or minus 20 per cent 19 times out of 20.

Larger parks with more respondents tended to score lower.

The data compiled by CBC News is from 2023 and 2024. B.C. Parks did not conduct visitor satisfaction surveys in 2025.

The Ministry of Environment and Parks said it balances the survey results along with finances, sustainability and First Nations reconciliation to determine where there may be issues and where resourcing should go.

The satisfaction surveys only measure things that are within the control of B.C. Parks or their contracted operators. So for things like the bug situation, best to stick to internet reviews.

Russell also won the afternoon sprint race

Author of the article:

Published May 23, 2026  •  3 minute read

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MONTREAL — George Russell said he and championship-leading Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli had “respect for one another” after clashing on Saturday and then locking out the front row of the grid for Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix.

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The 28-year-old Briton, who was pre-season favourite to win the drivers’ title, took pole position with a spectacular late flying lap to foil his precocious 19-year-old Italian teammate in the final seconds of a tense and closely-fought qualifying session.

That followed Russell’s lights-to-flag win in the sprint which included a robust defensive move that resulted in Antonelli going off and dropping from second to third, leaving the teenager angry and claiming he had been “pushed off.”

“We’ve had a good chat since this morning,” said Russell.

“We’re both racing drivers and we both respect one another.”

With rain forecast for Sunday’s race, the start could see a spectacular scrap between the two Silver Arrows drivers as Russell bids to regain his place as the senior driver after seeing Antonelli reel off three wins in succession from pole position.

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Antonelli qualified second behind Russell whose pole lap in one minute and 12.578 seconds lifted him top by just 0.068 seconds.

“It’s always challenging coming back after a sprint race,” said Russell. “The car feels very different in the qualifying format.

“We made some changes as a team. It’s such a great feeling when it’s a challenging session and you pull it all together for the last lap. It was epic.”

Russell added that Mercedes had changed their set-ups in anticipation of a wet race -– the first since the start of the hybrid new era –- on Sunday.

“Kimi was definitely more competitive than I was in that session, but we weren’t as clear ahead as everybody else like yesterday,” he said.

“So it’s definitely a challenge, but as I said, I just managed to redial in for that last lap and put it together.”

Antonelli, who had been ranting on team radio during the sprint race, claiming that Russell should have been penalized, was more subdued after qualifying.

“It’s been very difficult this weekend with the tyres and putting them in the right window,” said the Italian.

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“I was quite happy and I think there was a bit (of lap time) left on the table, but George did a great lap at the end.

“Now we’ll see what the weather is going to be, but we’ll try to be ready for everything.”

Recaptures momentum

For Russell it was a very satisfying Saturday that saw him re-set the narrative around his status in the team following Antonelli’s spectacular surge of success that had carried him into a 20-point lead in the title race.

His sprint win trimmed that advantage to 18 points, but he knows he needs to convert his third consecutive Canadian pole into a repeat of his 2025 win to re-establish his authority in the team.

World champion Lando Norris was third for McLaren ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri with Ferrari’s seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton taking fifth ahead of the Red Bulls of four-time champion Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar.

Charles Leclerc was eighth in the second Ferrari ahead of Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad and Franco Colapinto of Alpine.

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Four-time world champion Verstappen was baffled by his Red Bull’s lack of pace.

“I just don’t know what the problem is,” he said, claiming it felt as if he was “driving on ice”.

Hamilton finished fifth having at one stage looked likely to start on the front row of the grid.

“It’s so tough to stay with the Mercedes when they hit the straights,” said Hamilton, having praised Ferrari for producing an agile and enjoyable chassis.

Team-mate Leclerc was frustrated after finding it difficult to warm up his tyres sufficiently to be competitive in the cool conditions.

Check out our sports section for the latest news and analysis. Care for a wager? Head to our sports betting section for news and odds.

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U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday that a deal with Iran, including reopening the Strait of Hormuz, has been “largely negotiated” after calls with Israel and other allies in the region.

Trump said on social media that final aspects and details of the deal are being discussed and will be announced “shortly.”

He was not more specific about the timetable for an announcement.

Trump said he had spoken with leaders from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain, along with Israel.