Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says having an Indigenous person serve as the next commissioner of the RCMP is "an excellent idea." He made the comment in response to questions from reporters in Winnipeg today about a call from some First Nations leadership for the government to ensure the next top Mountie is Indigenous. RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki is set to retire from her post this month, slightly before the end of her five-year term. She was appointed in April 2018 and led the force during a chaotic few years that included the deadliest mass shooting in modern Canadian history, along with

The failure of a massive, multi-year money laundering investigation to yield charges is a "shocking" example of the shortfalls of federal financial crime law, British Columbia Premier David Eby said Thursday. Eby called for tougher laws a day after B.C.'s prosecution service announced no charges will be laid in the E-Nationalize investigation into millions of dollars that moved through B.C. casinos and Chinese bank accounts. "Obviously, there's a serious problem with federal criminal law that allows this conduct to continue in our province," he said.Special prosecutor Chris Considine issued wh

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and her Chinese counterpart had a testy exchange over allegations that Beijing's envoys may be interfering in Canadian matters. Joly spoke with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang during a G20 meeting in New Delhi this week, telling him Canada will not accept China meddling in Canadian democracy. The Liberal government has been under pressure to explain what it's doing about alleged interference in the last two federal elections, which came to light in recent media stories based on leaks from security sources. Canadian officials who were there for the excha

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is "as surprised as" British Columbia Premier David Eby after a firm received Health Canada licence amendments to produce and sell cocaine. Trudeau says the federal government is talking to Adastra Labs of Langley, B.C., about changing the language of its statements, after the company said it is looking for ways to incorporate cocaine into its business plan. This comes as a second B.C. company says it is now licensed to produce, sell and distribute cocaine and MDMA, also known as ecstasy, although Health Canada says they cannot sell products to the general

The federal government has stopped shipping rapid COVID-19 antigen tests to provinces as millions are set to expire within the year, and experts say the once-essential tool has lost its importance in the pandemic. There are 90 million rapid tests in the federal inventory, Health Canada said in an email. About 80,000 of those are set to expire within six months and 6.5 million within the year. The rest expire within two years. “Canada has robust inventories and is well prepared for COVID response,” Anne Génier, with Health Canada, said in an email. Ottawa has ordered more than 811 million

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says February's home sales were up 76.9 per cent from January, but down 47.2 per cent from the year before. The board says sales for the month totaled 1,808, roughly 33 per cent below the 10-year February sales average. The board says the numbers reflect a continued reluctance from prospective home sellers to list their properties, pushing sales well below historical norms. However, the number of homes for sale in the region have continued inching upwards, moving up by 16.7 per cent from February 2022 and 5.2 per cent from January. Ther

RCMP say a six-year-old boy is in hospital after being shot by a four-year-old in Manitoba. Mounties say the children were at a home on Peguis First Nation, north of Winnipeg, and were able to get access to a gun on Monday night. Police say the younger boy fired the weapon and struck the older child. The six-year-old was taken to hospital with serious injuries but is expected to survive. RCMP seized five firearms, a cross bow and ammunition from the house. They say a man was arrested and will be facing a charge of unlawfully storing a firearm.

RCMP confirm at least one person has been killed in an avalanche in southeastern British Columbia, about 150 kilometres southwest of Banff, Alta.Cpl. James Grandy says several other people among a group of heli-skiers were hurt when the avalanche hit near the B.C. community of Invermere.A statement from the B.C. Emergency Health Service says it was informed about the avalanche just before noon on Wednesday.The service sent four ambulances to Invermere to meet incoming helicopters and four patients were taken to hospital, but their conditions were not released.Grandy says he can't confirm how m

The provincial government is providing $150 million to upgrade B.C's 911 emergency communications system. Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, Mike Farnworth, says the money will be used to help local governments shift to Next Generation 911. $90 million will fund technological upgrades at E-Comm, which handles almost all of B.C's 911 calls and the rest of the money will go to the Union of B.C. Municipalities to cover staffing, training and quality assurance costs. Next Generation 911 is a countrywide emergency communications network that accepts all types of data, including real t