Extreme cold near the start of this year in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan has led to a damage bill that the Insurance Bureau of Canada says is more than $180 million. The bureau says about 70 per cent of the insurance claims related to the extreme cold were for personal property and damage caused by frozen and burst water pipes. The cold moved in Jan. 12, breaking dozens of daily minimum records, including in Edmonton where there were four straight days of cold ranging from minus 40 to minus 45 degrees. Rob de Pruis, the national director, consumer and industry relations with the

There has been a major change in the politics of Haryana, the neighboring state of Punjab. Before the Lok Sabha elections, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has resigned and Naib Singh Saini has become the new Chief Minister of Haryana. He was the state president of Haryana BJP. Naib Saini is considered to be close to Manohar Lal Khattar. In Haryana, the BJP and Dushyant Chautala's Jannayak Janata Party had an alliance for 4 and a half years, but they could not agree on the distribution of seats, due to which their paths have now diverged. It is said that 5 out of 10 MLAs of Dushyant Chauta

Senior leader of Punjab Congress Partap Singh Bajwa has challenged the Bhagwant Mann government of the state to clarify its stand on the Center's CAA (Citizen Amendment Act). Bajwa also raised this issue in the assembly, he said that the month of Ramzan is a very holy month, the Muslim community considers it a month of worship, during these days the central government has violated the rights of the Muslim community by implementing the CAA law. It is to be noted that under the CAA law, only non-Muslim refugees seeking asylum in India from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will get Indian

Jail visits with founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Party and former Prime Minister Imran Khan have been banned. Local reports say that the Punjab Home Department has issued these orders on Tuesday citing security threats. Imran Khan is currently serving his sentence in Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail. The Punjab Home Department has imposed this ban for two weeks and media coverage in front of the jail gate number-5 has also been banned. According to reports, media teams have been instructed to stay 2 km away from Adiala Jail. It is to be noted that on the orders of the court, Tuesday and Thursday

Former SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur, who is angry with Shiromani Akali Dal Badal, is soon going to return home to Akali Dal. On March 14, Sukhbir Singh Badal and the entire core committee of the Shiromani Akali Dal will reach the residence of Bibi Jagir Kaur at Begowal and they will be brought back to the party. Recently, Bibi Jagir Kaur had hinted at returning to Shiromani Akali Dal, she also supported an alliance with BJP with some conditions. Currently, it is not clear whether the BJP and the Akali Dal are reuniting in the Lok Sabha elections or not.

Whistler Blackcomb ski resort says a Vancouver woman has died in a "serious incident" over the weekend. The resort says in a statement that the 32-year-old woman died Saturday after becoming separated from her partner while visiting at the resort. It says the partner alerted the ski patrol, who found the woman unresponsive on the Renegade trail, described as an advanced trail. No other details have been released by the resort, and the RCMP in Whistler, B.C., did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Whistler Blackcomb COO Belinda Trembath says in the statement that the resort is off

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today. Ariel Henry bows to pressure, saying he'll resign once a council is formed to lead crisis-hit Haiti Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry says he'll resign once a transitional presidential council is created. Haiti has been overwhelmed by violent gangs that some experts say have unleashed a low-scale civil war in the island country. Henry made the announcement hours after Caribbean leaders and officials from other countries including Canada and the U-S, met in Jamaica to discuss

Six contenders are competing for the helm of the Alberta New Democrats, with the successor to long-time party leader Rachel Notley to be chosen in June. Here are the candidates: Naheed Nenshi was mayor of Calgary from 2010 to 2021 and has made the colour purple a mix of Liberal red and Conservative blue a big part of his non-partisan political brand. Kathleen Ganley is the legislature member for Calgary Mountain View. She served as justice minister while the NDP was in government. In Opposition, she has been energy critic. Rakhi Pancholi, elected after the NDP's time in government, represent

Premier David Eby says the B.C. government has plans underway to build a new critical care tower at Surrey Memorial Hospital, adding capacity for surgical, pediatric, perinatal, women's health, mental health and stroke care. Eby says Surrey's health-care services need to grow along with its population. The premier says the province is at stage where it will soon start asking for feedback from health professionals who work at the hospital. The announcement comes after the B.C. government outlined 30 actions to improve access to health care for people in Surrey last June, a list that included re