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

Alberta’s Smith to answer questions on referendum

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is set to hold a news conference today about her referendum question on separation, which separatist leaders are dismissing as “spineless” and ineffective.

Smith, in a televised address Thursday, announced Albertans would vote in an Oct. 19 referendum on separation.

However, they won’t directly vote on whether Alberta should leave Canada.

They will be asked if the province should later hold a binding referendum to separate.

Jeff Rath, the lawyer for Stay Free Alberta, the group that collected signatures to try to force a separation referendum, called the move an insult to those seeking independence.

Cam Davies, leader of the pro-independence Republican Party of Alberta, agreed and called Smith’s referendum question “spineless.”

Canadian flotilla members land in Turkey: Anand

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says Canadians who were on board a flotilla heading to Gaza that was intercepted by Israel are now in Turkey, after being deported.

Activists say 12 Canadians were among the Global Sumud Flotilla participants detained by Israel.

In an updated statement, Anand said in a statement posted on X overnight that says she has received information from her officials detailing the “appalling abuse of Canadians who were detained in Israel.”

She also noted, “Global Affairs consular officials on the ground are ensuring that they receive urgent medical care as required so that they can return home as soon as possible. Canada unequivocally condemns the grave mistreatment of Canadians in Israel. Those responsible for this egregious abuse must be held accountable. We will continue to provide additional information as it becomes available.”

Banks poised for ‘solid growth’ in Q2 results

As Canadian banks get set to report second-quarter results next week, analysts expect year-over-year gains despite a “challenging” operating environment and slowing loan growth.

Even with “serious potential headwinds,” Canadian banks are still seeing near historically high valuations, a trend that should continue this quarter, said Jefferies analyst John Aiken in a note on Tuesday.

But he said any uncertainty “surrounding promised robustness of the second half of 2026 could potentially upset the apple cart.”

“While the results should be solid, much will hinge on the conviction of management’s commentary to support current levels,” Aiken said.

HBC painting with mysterious past sells for $217K

A Prince Rupert painting with a mysterious backstory has sold for $217,250 in an auction.

The 361-year-old portrait was once owned by collapsed department store Hudson’s Bay Co., which has hired Heffel Fine Art Auction House to sell its 4,400 pieces of art and artifacts.

For most of its life, the portrait of HBC’s first governor, Prince Rupert, was believed to have been painted by the studio of Flemish portraitist Anthony van Dyck.

But when Heffel was preparing to sell the work last November, it wondered how a piece that looked so masterful could be attributed to van Dyck’s studio assistants.

Cemetery research into Halifax’s buried history

The gravestones in Halifax’s oldest cemetery mark the final resting place of judges, privateers and even the British commander who had the White House set on fire two centuries ago.

Now, anthropology students at Saint Mary’s University are using 21st-century technology to scan underground and into the lives of the estimated 10,000 people buried there with no grave markers at all.

“I’ve walked past this site, the cemetery, a million times and never once really looked twice at it,” Kye Felix, an undergraduate anthropology student studying the city’s Old Burying Ground, said in an interview.

She’s one of a dozen students who recently spent a week using ground-penetrating radar over a section of the cemetery, experiencing field work at a real archeological site.

Canadiens pounce as Hurricanes emerge from long playoff break with breakdowns, miscues

The off days added up for the Carolina Hurricanes after they swept their way to another Eastern Conference Final, leading to the longest between-rounds playoff break in more than a century.

They started out Thursday night like a team that had been waiting around for nearly two weeks, too. And that has them in yet another hole in the playoff round that keeps growing into a bigger roadblock.

The Hurricanes emerged from their 11-day break, the longest rest for any team before starting the next playoff run since at least 1920, by watching the Montreal Canadiens pounce for four goals in the first 11-plus minutes. That set the tone in what would become a 6-2 victory to open the best-of-seven series.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 22, 2026