British Columbia will soon be the first jurisdiction in Canada to implement a licensing requirement for asbestos abatement contractors.The Labour Ministry says workers must be licensed by Jan. 1.This comes following changes to the Workers Compensation Act last year, requiring that contractors who remove the cancer-causing material use only trained and certified workers.The ministry says required training for worker certification is scheduled to begin this summer.It says WorkSafeBC will begin to accept applications from contractors performing asbestos abatement work by September.The ministry sa

WestJet says it will wind down operations at its budget carrier Swoop by October.The move comes after ratification of a new collective agreement that brings pilots of both carriers onto a level pay scale, with a 24 percent pay bump over four years.The airline says it will integrate Swoop's operations into its main banner.WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech says keeping Swoop separate would make little sense financially given the higher labour costs.He says each WestJet flight will offer a portion of ultra-low-cost tickets.

A self-styled spiritual leader and his wife are facing additional charges for alleged sexual assaults between 2012 and 2019.Edmonton police say Johannes (John) de Ruiter, who is 63, has been charged with three counts of sexual assault in three separate cases.Leigh Ann de Ruiter, who is 64, was jointly charged with two counts of sexual assault.Police have said Johannes de Ruiter is the leader of an Edmonton group known as the College of Integrated Philosophy or the Oasis Group.Edmonton police have alleged that he would tell female members that he was directed by a spirit to engage in sexual act

A Senate report released today says Canada can make major strides in addressing suicide prevention if all levels of government develop strategies tailored towards men and Indigenous people, the groups facing the highest suicide rates.The Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology also says the Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention Act has done little to bring down the rate of suicides across Canada since it was adopted in 2016.The report says this is because the current framework does not prioritize evidence-based interventions for suicide prevention and does a poor job at t

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is showing no interest in compromising with Meta and Google over their online news bill that would make tech giants pay for journalism created by others that helps those companies generate revenue.Google says it wants to compromise with the Liberal government over the proposed legislation, known as Bill C-18, which would require tech giants to pay publishers for linking to or otherwise repurposing news content.But Trudeau says Meta and Google's bullying tactics will not work with his government, which he says is ensuring those companies do not weaken Canada's demo

The Bank of Canada has increased the interest rate by 0.25 percent today.This is the first hike since January this year.After the new rate hike, the central bank's prime interest rate has risen to 4.75 percent.This has made all types of loans expensive.In March this year, the central bank put a conditional pause on rate hikes and predicted that the Canadian economy would slow under the measures taken to control inflation, but the economy in the first quarter of this year was much stronger than the central bank's estimate. After which the interest rate has been increased again.The central bank

The Trudeau government is earmarking $1.5 million for LGBTQ community organizations to boost security measures at Pride parades and other events this summer.The money matches a request by a national umbrella group, Fierté Canada Pride, which will distribute it to local committees that apply.The funding can be used for expenses such as vehicle and crowd control, barricades, fees for paid-duty police or private security.Organizations supporting gender and sexual minorities across Canada have ramped up their security after a documented rise in hate crimes targeting LGBTQ people, and physical con

Former governor general David Johnston says he will begin holding public meetings next month on foreign interference attempts in Canada's elections.Johnston, whom Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed to investigate the issue, is appearing before a parliamentary committee today for a marathon three hours of testimony.Johnston released a report last month that found significant shortcomings in the way the federal government handles intelligence about alleged foreign meddling.Opposition parties agree that the 2019 and 2021 federal election results were not compromised, but they still say a pub

The Canadian Transportation Agency says Flair Airlines Ltd. has the highest number of complaints per 100 flights of all the major airlines in Canada, as airlines have had a rocky recovery year with delayed and cancelled flights. Between April 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023, Flair saw an average of 15.3 complaints per 100 flights.Back in March, Flair saw four of its leased planes seized because of overdue payments, causing hundreds of cancelled flights.Sunwing Airlines Inc. came second at 13.8 complaints per 100 flights, and Swoop Inc. was third at 13.2.Meanwhile, WestJet had 6.6 complaints per 100