Canada's chief public health officer is reacting to accusations from a Conservative leadership candidate that she is working for China's Communist party, and not Canada, in the fight against COVID-19. Dr. Theresa Tam says she has but one focus during her very long work days. Conservative leadership candidate Derek Sloan says Tam should be fired. He also accuses her of working for China's Communist party, and not Canada, in the fight against COVID-19. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggests Sloan's comments were racist and must be denounced.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says we are failing our parents and grandparents in long term care homes. Trudeau says the government is sending the military to help in long-term care homes in Ontario and Quebec. But he says it should never have come to this, and there are tough questions to be asked once the crisis is over. The outbreak of COVID-19 in long term care homes has outraged many Canadians and Trudeau says that outrage is not misplaced.

Nova Scotia is reporting four more deaths related to COVID-19, bringing the total number of deaths in the province to 16. Health officials say three of the deaths occurred at the Northwood long-term care home in Halifax Regional Municipality, and the other occurred at Harbourstone Enhanced Care in Sydney. Nova Scotia is reporting 55 new cases of the virus and has a total of 827 confirmed cases. There are 10 licensed long-term care homes and unlicensed seniors' facilities in Nova Scotia with cases of COVID-19, involving 158 residents and 79 staff.

Police say they are investigating the discovery of a dead infant in a portable public toilet in Vancouver. A statement from the police department says the remains were found Wednesday on the city's Downtown Eastside. Const. Tania Visintin says officers were called to the area at around 6 p.m. She says it was obvious to responding officers that the baby was deceased. Visintin says there's concern for the physical and mental well-being of the mother and police are searching for her. She says the discovery was a ``extremely tragic.''

Ontario is reporting 634 new cases of COVID-19 today and 54 more deaths. That brings the total number of cases in the province to 12,879, a 5.2 per cent increase over Wednesday. The total includes 713 deaths and 6,680 cases that have been resolved.

Quebec is reporting 109 new COVID-19 deaths today, bringing the total to 1,243. There are now a total of 21,838 positive cases in the province, including 873 reported over the last 24 hours. Premier Francois Legault says a big concern is finding health-care personnel as 9,500 staff are off the job due to illness or other reasons. He's asking all workers who are not in quarantine and able to return to work to do so.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government will spend more than $1 billion to help develop, test and manufacture a COVID-19 vaccine, as well as to determine how widely the virus has spread through Canada. The cash announced today is on top of $275 million in research funding the Liberals announced in March at the outset of the pandemic. Most of the new money is aimed at funding vaccine development and clinical trials, including $600 million over two years through a federal innovation fund that the government says could help the country's biomanufacturing sector. Smaller amounts

International students are not currently eligible for the newly announced Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB), according to Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough, who spoke in an exclusive interview on Connect FM’s Sver Wala Show. Qualtrough confirmed international students can work up to 40 hours per week until the end of August – a temporary relaxation of the 20-hour cap normally in place during the school year. She noted, however, that the legislation for CESB is still being finalized and did not rule out the possibility that eligibility rules could change before it passes Parliament

An evacuation alert has been issued for people who live in a small village in central British Columbia as flood water levels rise.Wendy Coomber, communications director for the Cache Creek Emergency Operation Centre, says about 400 people in 160 residences along the Bonaparte River have been told they may have to leave on short notice.She says people in at least 10 properties were evacuated Wednesday, including two motels and one campground.Coomber says there are other properties along the river that are not yet included in the alert but that could change depending on water levels.Cache Creek