Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says the federal Liberals will table a budget on April 19. It will be the first federal budget in over two years, after the government opted not to introduce one in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in Canada. It will also be Freeland's first budget as finance minister. She took on the portfolio last summer following Bill Morneau's resignation. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced the budget date in the House of Commons today during question period. The budget is expected to provide a full accounting of all government spending through the pande

Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole says he's in charge. He's brushing off the idea that a weekend convention vote against a resolution that would have included the line "climate change is real" in the party's official policy document should colour opinions of his party. O'Toole is dismissing concerns that a vote by the party's grassroots on climate change should colour Canadians' opinion of his party. O'Toole says he and his caucus agree they need to take action to address climate change. Over the weekend, delegates to the Conservatives' policy convention voted against a resolution that would h

Cases of COVID-19 variants are on the rise, with Alberta, Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec reporting the highest numbers of the new, more contagious strains. Chief public health officer Doctor Theresa Tam says there have been more than 5,100 confirmed variant cases, the majority involving the strain first identified in the United Kingdom. The majority of those cases involve the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in the United Kingdom, which Tam says is responsible for 638 of the 655 cases of variants confirmed since March 18. The growing number is prompting concerns of a third wave of the p

Debbie Baptiste says she was never going to let the RCMP's response to the 2016 shooting death of her son be swept under the rug. A police watchdog's report into the death of the 22 year old Indigenous man on a Saskatchewan farm determined officers treated Baptiste so insensitively when they notified her of his death that it amounted to discrimination. Colten Boushie died in August of 2016 when the SUV he was riding in went onto farmer Gerald Stanley's property near Biggar, Saskatchewan. A review of the RCMP response by the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission found officers discriminat

There is silence out of Beijing on what happened to Canadian Michael Kovrig when he was put on trial on spying charges. The day ended with no announcement about the status of the proceedings, which are being held behind closed doors. Canadian Embassy officials were barred from the courthouse, as they were on Friday for the trial of Michael Spavor. Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau says the government is deeply troubled by the total lack of transparency. He also thanked diplomats from 26 countries who turned up at the courthouse to show their solidarity with Canada. Marc Garneau on Twitter

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government is putting the finishing touches on an agreement that will see the US send 1.5 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to Canada. The White House has confirmed the U-S will "loan" COVID-19 vaccine doses to Canada and Mexico. Counselor to the President and Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeffrey Zients says the vaccines will be the ones developed by AstraZeneca, which has not been approved for use in the US. Procurement Minister Anita Anand says the doses are expected to arrive by the end of the month. Trudeau also announced the Canadi

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denounced China's "lack of transparency" Friday following a brief trial for Michael Spavor, one of two Canadians detained by Beijing for more than two years. Canada said its consular officials were refused permission to attend the proceedings against Spavor, an entrepreneur with North Korea-related business, who is accused by China of stealing state secrets. Jim Nickel, the Canadian Embassy's deputy chief of mission, said he was told by Spavor's lawyer that the hearing ended at noon Friday after two hours. No verdict was announced. Nickel declined to give other d

A Chinese court says it will pronounce its sentence on detained Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor at a later date.Spavor's trial on charges of spying and illegally sending state secrets abroad lasted just two hours today and was conducted behind closed doors.Canadian consular officials were refused permission to attend. Ten diplomats from eight countries, including the US, Britain and Australia, stood on the street opposite the courthouse in Dandong, China.Former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig is due to go on trial on Monday.The detention of the ``two Michaels'' is seen as retribution for

Barring any issues, Major-General Dany Fortin says enough doses of COVID-19 should arrive in the country so that every adult could get a first shot before Canada Day. But due to the threat of vaccine production issues, the government's official line is that Canadians will be fully vaccinated by the end of September. And the calculations rely on the provinces continuing to delay second doses up to four months to get first doses to more people sooner. Health Canada anticipates a total of 36.5-million doses from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and the AstraZeneca vaccine from the Serum Institute of Ind