The federal government has tapped a Quebec judge to head a public inquiry into allegations of foreign interference in Canada's affairs.Two government sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss matters not yet made public, confirmed that Quebec Court of Appeal Justice Marie-Josee Hogue will lead the probe.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who is also the minister for democratic institutions, is set to announce the public inquiry today.Opposition parties have been demanding a public inquiry for months over allegations the Liberals failed

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is continuing his tour of the Indo-Pacific region this week with a visit to Singapore to promote Canadian business and products.His two-day visit is expected to include meetings with business leaders in the region, as well as meeting with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.Trudeau is in Asia this week to promote trade as well as Canadian energy and products, meeting with Indo-Pacific leaders and attending two summits.The visit to Singapore comes after a stop in Jakarta, Indonesia, where Canada launched a strategic partnership with the Association of Southeas

Children in Quebec are becoming living speed cameras as a way to get drivers to slow down in school zones.Police in the Montreal area are equipping a handful of schoolchildren with backpacks that display passing vehicles’ speeds.The demonstrations are part of a series of measures municipalities are deploying to better secure school zones this year.The City of Montreal is launching biweekly police operations to crack down on dangerous driving around schools.It’s also raising sidewalks and reducing the size of lanes on streets by dozens of schools to improve safety and calm traffic.Efforts t

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says the federal government needs to review the mandate of the Bank of Canada to put people first.Singh's comment today comes as the bank holds its key interest rate steady at five per cent after raising it 10 times since March of last year.Singh says while interest rates won't rise, they're still higher than they have been in the last 20 years.Bank of Canada rates have taken on more of a political tone as Canadians struggle financially, with the Ontario and British Columbia premiers making direct appeals to the bank in recent days to not increase rates.Ford tweeted to

An evacuation order has been lifted for Yellowknife three weeks after a nearby wildfire forced the city's 20,000 residents out of their homes.The order for the capital of the Northwest Territories, which also included the First Nation communities of Dettah and N'Dilo, has been downgraded to an evacuation alert. The fire is now considered held, which means it isn't expected to grow under current conditions.Thousands of vehicles are expected to head to Yellowknife in the coming days.The city's airport is also expected to reopen today.Residents have been told to prepare to be self-reliant for 72

Air Canada says it has apologized to two passengers who were escorted off a plane by security after protesting that their seats were smeared in vomit.The airline said Tuesday that the passengers "clearly did not receive the standard of care to which they were entitled."The incident during boarding for an Aug. 26 flight from Las Vegas to Montreal was described in graphic detail by another passenger, Susan Benson of New Brunswick, who said she was in the row behind two women and a man."There was a bit of a foul smell but we didn’t know at first what the problem was," Benson wrote on Facebook t

The Bank of Canada held its key interest rate steady at five per cent today, citing recent evidence that suggests the economy is weakening.The central bank says it decided not to raise its key rate given demand in the economy is slowing and previous rate hikes need more time to take effect.Forecasters were widely expecting today's decision after recent data showed the economy shrank in the second quarter, while the unemployment rate has been on the rise for three consecutive months.The announcement comes after the Bank of Canada raised interest rates at its last two meetings, bringing a previo

India's envoy to Canada says he is satisfied the federal government is adequately protecting his country's diplomats after New Delhi raised concerns for their safety earlier this year.Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma says he's optimistic both countries can circumvent heated diaspora politics to form closer ties.Some members of Sikh communities in Canada advocate for part of Punjab to separate as an independent state but the Indian government perceives this as an extremist movement that endangers national security.The rhetoric escalated in June after the shooting death of the head of

Two premiers have sent letters to Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem urging the central bank to halt rate hikes ahead of its next rate decision tomorrow.Ontario Premier Doug Ford sent a letter on Sunday saying families and businesses cannot afford the "crushing impact of further rate hikes," echoing a letter British Columbia Premier David Eby sent on Thursday.Associate professor and founding director of McGill University's Max Bell School of Public Policy, Christopher Ragan says it's "unfortunate" that the premiers felt that sending these letters was useful.Ragan says it brings a political e