Vancouver looks at slow streets to create space for pedestrians amid pandemic Vancouver is considering plans to repurpose 50 kilometres of roadway in an effort to create more space for restaurant patios, lines outside of businesses, walking and cycling. The city says the so-called ``slow streets'' will have signs and barriers telling people to drive slowly and use the streets for local access only. It says the plans include expediting the permitting process for outdoor patios to give room to serve people as they maintain physical distancing requirements. A news release from the city says 12 k

Quebec is reporting 85 additional deaths linked to COVID-19 today, bringing the total number to 4,069 since the beginning of the pandemic. Premier Francois Legault says 42 of the newly reported deaths occurred more than seven days ago in Laval, a hard-hit city north of Montreal. The province now has 47,984 confirmed cases of COVID-19, an increase of 573 cases compared to Sunday. With a heat wave forecast for Montreal this week, the province says it's trying to come up with a plan to keep seniors in long-term care homes cool while avoiding more outbreaks. Legault says he's happy the province m

After photos of Toronto park this weekend showed people packed together with little regard for physical distancing, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canadians have a responsibility to follow public health rules to slow the spread of COVID-19. He says any reopening of public spaces and restoration of economic activity will have to happen gradually and carefully, with each community tailoring restrictions to local circumstances. PM Trudeau avoids responding to a few questions directly Prime Minister Justin Trudeau avoided responding directly to questions about why the Liberal party is using

Ontario says it has appointed hospitals to take over the management of two long-term care homes that have been unable to contain COVID-19.The province says Humber River Hospital will manage Downsview Long Term Care Centre, which has reported 52 deaths, up from 40 just a week ago.Southlake Regional Health Centre will manage River Glen Haven Nursing Home in Sutton, a 119-bed facility where there have been 20 deaths and 54 confirmed cases.The orders last for 90 days, but the government says they can be extended, if necessary.The government says that the homes have been receiving supports from th

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he'll push the provinces to give workers 10 days of paid sick leave a year as the country deals with the COVID-19 pandemic. That appears to meet a key demand from NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in exchange for the New Democrats' support for a motion to limit sittings and votes in the House of Commons through the summer. Singh laid out the demands on Monday morning, shortly before a small number of members of Parliament returned to the House of Commons to begin debate over the future of parliamentary sittings for as long as several months. The debate will revolve

Three-time Olympic gold medallist hockey player Balbir Singh on Monday passed away at the age of 95 after battling multiple health issues."Balbir Singh passed away this morning," Balbir's grandson Kabir said in a statement.The veteran player suffered a cardiac arrest on May 12 and after that, he suffered two more cardiac arrests during the course of his admission to the hospital.Balbir Singh was a three-time Olympic gold champion.He played a key role in India's Olympic victories in London (1948), as a vice-captain in Helsinki (1952) and as the captain in Melbourne (1956). In his illustrious p

Ontario Premier Doug Ford urged people to get tested for COVID-19 if they wanted to, while admonishing Torontonians who crowded into a popular downtown park yesterday. Ford said the only way to reach testing capacity in the province is for people to get tested, and said asymptomatic people will not be turned away at assessment centres during a televised address today. The new directive for asymptomatic people to get tested is a marked change from earlier guidelines that said only people displaying symptoms are able to be tested. Ford said the province will also unveil a new testing strategy th

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan took charge as the Chairman of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Executive Board. "When India decides, it performs. We eradicated polio and small pox in our country at a time when there was abject poverty. More recently, we faced the threat of COVID-19 in a proactive and pre-emptive way, with unmatched scale and determination. Today, we have a mortality of three per cent only. In a country of 1.35 billion, there are only 0.1 million cases of COVID-19. The recovery rate is above 40 per cent and the doubling rate is 13 days," said Dr Harsh Vardhan while a

Federal political parties are tapping into the emergency wage subsidy program to avoid laying off their staff as donations dry up during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Liberal and Conservative parties have both been approved to receive the 75 per cent wage subsidy. The NDP and Greens have both applied but have not yet been approved. The Bloc Quebecois says it has not applied for and does not need the subsidy. Under the $73-billion program, the federal government will cover 75 per cent of wages, up to $847 per week, per employee, for eligible companies and organizations. The program was initially i