1) Carney announces 20% increase in military starting pay

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Kyle Duggan, Aug 8, 2025

Prime Minister Mark Carney says his government will boost entry-level pay for Canadian Armed Forces privates by 20 per cent for the regular force and 13 per cent for reservists.

Other military members will also receive pay raises, with smaller increases for higher ranks — part of a plan to boost recruitment and operational readiness.

The federal government says the new compensation package is expected to cost around $2 billion annually and is part of a planned $9.3 billion budget boost this year to get to NATO’s defence spending benchmark target of two per cent of GDP.

The government says it’s creating new military allowances and enhancing existing ones to help it retain personnel and drive up recruitment in a competitive job market.

Those allowances include $50,000 in bonuses for people entering and working in what the government calls “stressed occupations” — critical jobs in sectors that are seeing too many vacancies.

The government says staffing levels in 53 of 116 critical occupations, which include vehicle and maritime technicians, are now below 75 per cent

2) Advance polls open in Alberta byelection with 214 candidates, historic blank ballots

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Canadian Press Staff, August 8, 2025

Advance polls in a historic federal byelection for Alberta’s Battle River-Crowfoot open today.

For the first time ever, Elections Canada says voters must fill out a blank ballot.

The agency lists a record 214 candidates running in the rural riding, with voting day on Aug. 18.

The majority are part of the Longest Ballot Committee, a protest group calling for various changes to Canada’s electoral system.

Prime Minister Mark Carney called the byelection in June after Conservative Damien Kurek, who handily won the seat in the April general election, stepped down so Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre could run.

Poilievre lost his long-held Ottawa seat of Carleton.

The byelection also features Liberal candidate Darcy Spady, the NDP’s Katherine Swampy and Independent Bonnie Critchley.

Elections Canada says there have been some exceptions to its regular ballot. Adapted ballots with two columns have been used in elections with a higher-than-usual number of candidates.

In this byelection, it’s not just marking an x. Voters must handwrite the name of their preferred candidate in a blank space.

“Their vote will be counted, even if they misspell the candidate’s name,” said agency spokesperson Matthew McKenna.

“They can also include the name of the political party. However, if they write only the name of a political party, their ballot cannot be counted. The candidate’s name has to be there.”

A list of all candidates in large-print will be at polling stations for electors to refer to, he added. The agency’s website also said magnifiers and large-grip pencils will be available.

Poll workers have been given extra training. McKenna said there are ways they can assist electors with ballots, and the counting process will be different.

Poilievre repeated his frustration Thursday with the longest ballot initiative. More than 90 candidates were on the ballot when he ran in Carleton.

“I don’t have a problem with anyone who wants to run for office, even if they’re not known or not wealthy,” he said at an unrelated news conference in Calgary.

“But that’s not what these people are doing … they just want to inundate the ballot to confuse the situation, make it harder for people to vote. People with vision problems, the elderly, others who have difficulty now will have a harder time voting.”