The organization running Toronto's Pearson International Airport is ``urgently'' calling on the federal government to help alleviate major delays affecting passengers at clearance points due to a shortage of staff. The Greater Toronto Airports Authority says Ottawa needs to make investments to boost staffing levels as well as ``streamline'' COVID-19 public health requirements to deal with the issue.The Vancouver International Airport is also experiencing delays and on Sunday urged passengers to arrive two to three hours ahead of their flights in order to get through the security screening pro

A British Columbia Indigenous man and his granddaughter who were arrested as they tried to open an account at the Bank of Montreal have settled a human rights complaint.A statement says the settlement agreement includes a monetary payment from BMO to Maxwell Johnson and his granddaughter, a private apology, and a pledge from the bank to update its policies on how Indigenous status cards are handled.Johnson and his granddaughter, who are from the Heiltsuk First Nation, were trying to open an account when police were called over suspicion they were using a fake status card.A retired judge who le

Mounties say a piano teacher in Kelowna, B.C., has been charged with sexual crimes against a child and there could be more victims or people who can help their investigation. Police say in a news release that Neil Wong, also known as Nein-Nein Wong, offered private piano lessons in his home and online, but the total number of his students is not known. Cpl. Tim Russell of the RCMP's vulnerable persons unit says they are asking the families of students who have taken lessons from Wong to contact police. Police say the assaults are alleged to have taken place over an eight-month period while a

British Columbia's Opposition Liberal leader says he will target the New Democrat government's weak spots on the issues of crime, affordability and health care when he takes his seat in the legislature later this month. Kevin Falcon was elected Liberal leader earlier this year and won a byelection in the Vancouver-Quilchena riding over the weekend.Falcon says he'll pressure the NDP for answers on its failures to address crime in urban centres, doctor shortages, increasing health-care wait times and rising home, fuel and food costs.He says people in B.C. are feeling unsafe in communities due to

Over the past month, members of Prince George RCMP’s Street Crew Unit conducted an investigation into drug trafficking in Prince George. Police arrested two men in the course of the investigation, seizing over 70 grams of suspected fentanyl, cash and drug trafficking paraphernalia off one of the suspects. Both of the men are well known to police for their ties to the illicit drug trade in Prince George.Police executed two Controlled Drug and Substance Act warrants, one at a residence on the 2000 block of Pine Street, the other at an apartment building on the 1700 block of 17th Ave, where inv

Police in Saskatoon say five Surrey residents, all aged 19 or younger, are facing a total of 28 charges in that Saskatchewan city. Police say they were called yesterday to reports of vehicles racing and, when they arrived, a man told them he had been threatened by a suspect carrying a gun. The 5 BC residents were spotted near a BC registered minivan and a search of the vehicle turned up a knife, bear mace, an axe, BB gun, two baseball bats and bottles of alcohol. Two men aged 18 and 19, a girl aged 14 and a girl and boy both aged 15, are in custody and police say they are expected to appear i

Health Minister Adrian Dix says BC has almost wiped out the backlog of surgeries that developed during the pandemic and was made worse by last summer's heat wave and November's catastrophic floods. Dix says 400 nurses and 100 technicians have been trained through the province's surgical renewal program and efforts are underway to increase hiring. He made the announcement at a news conference this morning, saying most of the surgeries postponed during the fifth wave of COVID-19 have now been performed. Dix says 1,7000 operating room hours were added last year, allowing completion of more than5

Canada has become one of the first countries in the world to require online crowdfunding platforms to report to its anti-money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, government officials told a special committee examining the truck convoy protest and the steps the government took to end it. Finance department officials said new regulations went into effect last week, adding crowdfunding platforms and some payment processing companies to the list of companies obliged to report large or suspicious transactions to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre, Canada's financial in

The RBI on Wednesday raised its key lending rate by 40 basis points to 4.40 per cent with immediate effect. The central bank also hiked the cash reserve ratio by 50 basis points. The decision was taken by the monetary policy committee (MPC) in an off-cycle meeting with the central board held May 2-4. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the decision was taken in view of rising inflation, geo-political tensions, high crude oil prices and shortage of commodities globally, which have impacted Indian economy. The RBI cautioned that the economy faces global spillovers risks from geopolitical tensions,