CanadaFeb 28, 2023
Northwest Territories pausing COVID-19 vaccines for children after doses expire
The Northwest Territories government says COVID-19 vaccines for children age six months to five years will be temporarily unavailable until a new shipment arrives in Canada.The territory says its current inventory of Moderna's Spikevax infant pediatric vaccine will soon expire.That vaccine will be available in the Northwest Territories until March 8.The territory says there will then be a gap of four to six weeks until a new supply is available for distribution.While Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine is also available for children in this age range, the territory says it does not have that va
CanadaFeb 28, 2023
Conservative, NDP leaders suspend use of TikTok video app as House brings in own ban
Some Canadian politicians have started deactivating their TikTok accounts after the federal government decided to ban the app from government-issued devices.Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has already suspended his use of the TikTok video app and a spokesman says all members of caucus will do the same.NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he plans to step away from the social media platform, although did not say whether all of his MPs would follow suit.The House of Commons is also prohibiting the installation or use of the app on its managed devices beginning Friday.Treasury Board President Mona
CanadaFeb 27, 2023
Canada banning video app TikTok on government-issued mobile devices
The federal government is banning TikTok from its mobile devices days after federal and provincial privacy commissioners launched an investigation into the social media platform.A statement from Treasury Board President Mona Fortier says the application will be removed from government-issued mobile devices on Tuesday.The statement says the decision follows a review by the chief information officer of Canada, who determined that TikTok "presents an unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security."Last week, the federal privacy watchdog and its counterparts in B.C., Alberta and Quebec announc
CanadaFeb 27, 2023
Four people die in three days on Quebec snowmobile trails
Four Quebec snowmobilers have died in separate crashes since Friday.Provincial police say a man in his 60s died in St-Cuthbert, Que., around 90 kilometres northeast of Montreal, after his snowmobile collided with a tree yesterday morning.A day earlier, a man in his 50s died in Saguenay, Que., from injuries he suffered after his vehicle hit a tree.On Friday, a snowmobiler in his 40s died after colliding with another snowmobile in Quebec's Beauce-Centre region, south of Quebec City.Also on Friday, a snowmobiler in his 30s died after his snowmobile swerved off a trail in Ste-Hélène-de-Bagot, Qu
CanadaFeb 24, 2023
Quebec tables bill to protect rights of children born of sexual assault
The Quebec government has tabled a bill that would make it illegal for someone who commits sexual assault to claim parental rights if the rape produces a child.Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette tabled Bill 12 on Thursday, permitting a mother who is the victim of sexual assault to refuse parental rights to her aggressor, or to have them revoked.The bill would also require the aggressor to meet certain needs of the child and to compensate the mother.It would also permit a child born of a sexual assault to be eligible to claim inheritance after the aggressor dies.Jolin-Barrette told a news co
CanadaFeb 24, 2023
Head of Canada's drug price regulator resigns same week as colleague steps down
The executive director of Canada's drug pricing regulator is stepping down, just days after another member resigned because of concerns that the federal government was undermining the regulator's work.Douglas Clark, executive director of the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board, announced today he will be leaving his post after almost a decade with the regulator.On Thursday, Matthew Herder, a professor of health law at Dalhousie University, announced he had resigned from the board, accusing the federal government of failing to implement critically important reforms that would lower the cost o
CanadaFeb 23, 2023
Canada to introduce open work permit for Iranians, simplify process to stay
The federal government is rolling out special temporary measures to make it easier for Iranians in Canada to stay.As of March 1, measures will come into effect to simplify the process for Iranians who are visiting, studying in or working in Canada to extend their stay and switch between temporary streams.For Iranians already in Canada, an open work permit pathway will be introduced as well.The federal government will waive fees for passports, permanent resident travel documents and citizen certificates for Canadian citizens and permanent residents in Iran who wish to come back, and for those i
CanadaFeb 23, 2023
No foreign interference report more than one year after Liberal government re-elected
A panel tasked with flagging incidents of foreign interference in Canada's elections has still not released a report evaluating its own work in the 2021 election, more than a year after the Liberals won a second minority government.The Critical Election Incident Public Protocol was created to monitor and report on threats to the 2019 election with a mandate to continue its work during future elections.It's also supposed to do a postelection assessment of how it communicated with Canadians.An assessment was made public about seven months after the 2019 election, but a similar report for the 202
CanadaFeb 23, 2023
Media advocate calls Google's move to block news content disrespectful to Canadians
Advocates for the print and digital media industry say Google is disrespecting Canadian readers by temporarily blocking news to some of its users.News Media Canada president Paul Deegan says the action is unbecoming of the leading global company.Google confirmed on Wednesday that it's blocking less than four per cent of Canadian users from viewing news content in a five-week test run of a potential response to the Liberal government's online news bill.Bill C-18 would require digital giants such as Google and Meta, which owns Facebook, to negotiate deals to compensate Canadian media companies f