Here are five stories to know today, with a focus on Cornwall and the region, Ottawa, Canadian public policy, the United States and artificial intelligence.
Featured photo: Alex Carriere / Unsplash — Ottawa River, Ottawa, Ontario.
Free workshops put small-business support in the spotlight
Community Futures Ontario is marking Community Futures Week with free workshops aimed at entrepreneurs and small businesses, including practical information and resources for owners trying to start or grow a business. Cornwall Economic Development highlighted the program on September 21. For Cornwall and SDG&A, the broader local angle is worth watching: what help are small businesses actually using right now, and where are the gaps in financing, succession planning, digital skills and business development? Source: Choose Cornwall / Cornwall Economic Development.
Ottawa’s ByWard Market experiments with public space and downtown revival
Ottawa is continuing a series of changes around the ByWard Market, including upgraded lighting and planters at the Rideau-Sussex underpass, a new mural, public programming at ByWard Square and a broader arts and culture district. The City says ByWard Square programming continues through September 28. Beyond Ottawa, this is a useful local-government story about whether relatively modest investments in public space can improve downtown safety, activity and economic life — a question that could also be explored in Cornwall’s downtown and Le Village. Source: City of Ottawa / Engage Ottawa.
Canada pushes ahead with massive sovereign AI infrastructure investment
The federal government is backing a major expansion of Canadian-controlled AI computing infrastructure, with Bell planning an AI hub in Saskatchewan that could eventually reach 1.2 gigawatts of capacity and involve up to $52.5 billion in capital investment. Ottawa argues that keeping more computing infrastructure in Canada will give businesses and researchers access to critical AI capacity while keeping sensitive infrastructure under Canadian laws. The announcement raises questions that matter well beyond the technology sector, including electricity demand, data sovereignty, job creation and how much public policy should encourage the rapid expansion of power-hungry data centres. Source: Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.
News organizations challenge Trump White House access ban in court
CNN, MS NOW and Politico are asking a U.S. federal judge today to restore their White House access after President Donald Trump barred the outlets. According to Reuters, the organizations argue the ban violates constitutional free-speech protections and due-process rights. Whatever the court decides, the case has significance beyond the three organizations because access rules determine which journalists can directly question an administration and report from inside the White House. It is also a timely media story for Canadian newsrooms watching the relationship between governments and an increasingly fragmented press. Source: Reuters, September 23, 2026.
AI leaders head to the UN as safety concerns become a security issue
Executives from OpenAI, Anthropic and Hugging Face are due to brief the United Nations Security Council today as governments confront warnings that increasingly capable AI systems could create international-security risks. Reuters reports that the discussion comes amid concerns about systems becoming better at improving themselves and potentially moving beyond effective human control. The significance is that AI safety is moving from a technology-industry debate into the same international forum that deals with war, nuclear security and geopolitical threats. For local media, there is also a practical angle: how quickly are municipalities, schools, businesses and public institutions adopting AI while national and international rules are still being developed? Source: Reuters, September 23, 2026.
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