The Vatican says Pope Francis is willing to visit Canada, as Indigenous leaders call on him apologize for the Catholic Church's role in residential schools. The Vatican says in a statement that the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops invited Francis to travel to Canada, and that he indicated his "willingness" to do so at an undetermined date. The development comes ahead of a trip to the Vatican that First Nations, Metis and Inuit leaders plan to take in December to meet with the Pope in hopes of securing an apology. The 2015 final report from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Cana

The final results from Alberta's equalization referendum show a split between the province's two major cities on whether it shouldbe removed from the Constitution. Overall, 62 per cent of those who voted were in favour of getting rid of equalization, including 58 per cent in Calgary.But 52 per cent of voters in Edmonton were in favour of leaving the system alone. A second referendum on whether to stick with daylight timeyear-round failed by the narrow margin of 50.1 per cent to 49.9 per cent.

Alberta's top court has agreed to hear a sentence appeal of a man convicted of killing three people but a hearing date has been delayed indefinitely.Derek Saretzky was found guilty of first-degree murder in the 2015 deaths of Terry Blachette, the man's two-year-old daughter, Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette, and Hanne Meketech. He was sentenced to life with no chance at parole for 75 years. His lawyer, Balfour Der, asked the Alberta Court of Appeal for permission to challenge the constitutionality of consecutive parole ineligibility periods. The Appeal Court says it will hear the appeal, but only afte

Edmonton's first racialized mayor and a diverse city council sworn in Tuesday afternoon. Amarjeet Sohi, an immigrant from India and a former federal Liberal cabinet minister, won the municipal election last week. He will lead the capital's most diverse council yet. Eight of the 13 council members are women and four are people of colour.Sohi says in a statement that he is excited for the ceremony, which will abide with all public health orders related to COVID-19. Edmonton's council will have its first meeting following the swearing-in ceremony.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has tasked Minister Anita Anand with correcting the culture crisis in the Canadian Armed Forces. As the national defence minister, Anand says she plans to start by reviewing all recommendations that have been made to date, and will consult with men and woman in uniform. Former Procurement Minister Anita Anand will take up the challenge of addressing the culture crisis in the Canadian Armed Forces as the new minister of defence. She warned there is no one magical solution to the problem the Armed Forces faces.Trudeau praised Anand's governance expertise and says th

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his team of familiar and new faces will deliver on real change. Flanked by his new cabinet, Trudeau says the top-of-mind issue for Canadians is ending the pandemic for good. He says the country is not out of the COVID-19 pandemic yet, despite high vaccination rates. He says his government will move forward on legislation that specifically criminalizes harassment of health-care workers. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canadians are expecting big things from this Parliament and his government. He says they expect Canada to step up its efforts on fighting cli

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has given his cabinet a major overhaul, dropping Harjit Sajjan from defence, Carolyn Bennett from Crown-Indigenous relations, Marc Garneau from global affairs and Patty Hajdu from health. Sajjan was heavily criticized for his handling of sexual misconduct allegations in the military, and is moving to a new post in international development, making way for former procurement minister Anita Anand. She becomes just the second woman to serve as the country's defence minister. Just days before a crucial UN climate summit, Steven Guilbeault is taking over as environmen

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is tapping the former procurement minister to become Canada’s next defence minister.Anita Anand’s arrival in the position follows months of controversy surrounding the Liberal government’s handling of sexual misconduct allegations involving some of the military’s most senior officers.Opposition parties, experts and victims’ support groups had been calling for Trudeau to replace Harjit Sajjan, who was accused of having lost all credibility when it came to leading the fight against military sexual misconduct.Anand is only the second woman to serve as Canad

Canada's chief public health officer says the latest data shows a continued decline in the COVID-19 case count in most jurisdictions.Dr. Theresa Tam says Canada is approaching the level of 90 per cent of the population having at least one dose of vaccine.But she notes no vaccine is perfect and there will continue to be breakthrough cases.Tam says over the past week, a total of 28-hundred cases were reported daily across the country and the numbers of severe illness are stabilizing.