The National Advisory Committee on Immunization has expanded eligibility guidelines for booster shots of COVID-19 vaccines.The committee now recommends mRNA boosters to people who received two doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, adults over the age of 70, front-line health-care workers with a short interval between their first two doses, and people from First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities.The latest recommendation says the emerging evidence suggests vaccine effectiveness against asymptomatic infection and mild COVID-19 disease may decrease over time, and a booster could help resto

A neo-Nazi group member has been sentenced to nine years in prison in a case that highlighted a broader federal crackdown on far-right extremists. FBI agents arrested former Canadian Armed Forces reservist Patrik Jordan Mathews and two other members of a group called The Base four days before a pro-gun rally in Virginia in January 2020. Surveillance equipment installed in their Delaware apartment captured Mathews and fellow Base member Brian Mark Lemley Jr. discussing an attack at the rally at Virginia's Capitol in Richmond. The judge who sentenced Mathews to prison concluded that he and Leml

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is embarking on a six-day trip to Europe. He'll attend planned climate discussions at the upcoming G-20 summit and United Nations COP 26 meeting. It's the first time Trudeau will be at a COP meeting since the Paris agreement was signed just weeks after he first became prime minister in 2015.Catherine Abreu, executive director of Destination Zero, says there's been a growing recognition of the disconnect between Canada's climate promises and actual progress.Canada's emissions have risen more than three per cent since 2016, the most of any G-7 nation.

Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole says his caucus has accepted a requirement that members of Parliament be vaccinated against COVID-19 or have a medical exemption to sit in the House of Commons. But he dodged multiple questions from reporters about what will happen with his MPs who are not vaccinated. An all-party committee that governs how the House of Commons operates decided last week to make vaccines mandatory for everyone entering the House precinct who doesn't have a medical exemption. O'Toole says only the House of Commons itself, not the board of internal economy, can determine its com

York regional police say a small plane has landed on a toll highway north of Toronto. Const. Maniva Armstrong says provincial police called shortly before 11 a.m. and let the force know the plane was on Highway 407 in Markham, Ont. She says the plane took off from the Buttonville Airport, just a few kilometres away from where it landed. Armstrong says the plane appears to have suffered mechanical issues, but was able to land safely. She says there are no reported injuries. She didn't say how many vehicles were on the highway at the time.

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.