The federal government says its preliminary deficit for the last fiscal year was $314 billion, an unprecedented figure caused by an equally unprecedented economic shock.The early deficit figure for the 12-month period between April 2020 to March 2021 compares to a deficit of $21.8 billion over the preceding fiscal year.The government says in its monthly fiscal monitor that the deep deficit reflects the unexpected shift in economic activity and emergency spending in response to the pandemic.The government said in its April budget that the deficit in the last fiscal year would be $354.2 billion,

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he supports the call by the United States and others to better understand the origins of COVID-19. He says these efforts will not only ensure accountability but also full understanding of how to protect the world from any future pandemics. Trudeau says he knows there are ``a lot of theories out there,'' but a full and complete airing of the facts is necessary to actually understand what happened and prevent it from happening again. President Joe Biden has ordered U.S. intelligence officials to ``redouble'' their efforts to investigate the origins of COVID-19

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the Italian Canadian community has carried the weight of the unjust policy of internment during the Second World War. Trudeau delivered a formal apology in the House of Commons this morning to Canadians of Italian descent. He says more than 600 men were arrested and sent to internment camps, and four women were detained and sent to jail. Trudeau points out they did not face formal charges, have the ability to defend themselves in a fair trial or a chance to present or rebut evidence. He says 31,000 Italian Canadians were labelled ``enemy aliens'' after Canad

A federal audit says the Trudeau government was able to get desperately needed medical equipment to provinces and territories last year despite long-standing stockpile issues. Auditor General Karen Hogan says before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Public Health Agency ignored warnings that its supply of emergency medical equipment wasn't properly managed. But she says when the pressure mounted, Ottawa got the supplies to the provinces anyway. The government spent more than seven-billion dollars on medical supplies and personal protective equipment last year. The federal auditor general says the gov

Canada's vaccine milestones continue today, with the country surpassing 20 million people getting at least their first dose. Ontario reports that 135,308 people got vaccinated yesterday, 81 per cent of them receiving their first dose. Those vaccinations put Canada up to 20.05 million people vaccinated. That is about 63 per cent of eligible Canadians over the age of 12, and almost 53 per cent of everyone, including children under the age of 12 who won't become eligible to be vaccinated for several more months. Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam has set a marker of 75 per cent of e

Procurement Minister Anita Anand says Moderna has assured her it will deliver millions of doses of its COVID-19 vaccine next month but still hasn't confirmed the exact amount or timing of deliveries. Anand says she has been on the phone to Moderna repeatedly, including this morning, to push for an actual delivery schedule for June and July. Moderna was originally supposed to ship 12.3 million doses between April and June. Later, that figure was revised to between 10 million and 12 million doses. However the company has only shipped 3.7 million since April 1 and has no confirmed deliveries in

The Department of National Defence says a military officer is facing charges after allegedly urging other members of the Canadian Armed Forces not to help with the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. Officer Cadet Ladislas Kenderesi has been charged with one count of persuading another person to join in a mutiny and one count of behaving in a scandalous manner unbecoming of an officer. The charges follow a speech at an anti-lockdown rally in Toronto in December in which a man appeared in full military uniform and spoke out against what he called ``killer'' vaccines. The man, who is introduced a

Today, in an effort to support India’s COVID-19 response, senior executives from FreshCo and Chalo! FreschCo presented a cheque for $50,000 to the Canadian Red Cross at the Chalo! FreshCo Brampton store on Airport Road. These funds will directly support preparedness, response and recovery activities on the ground in India, helping communities that have been affected or are at risk of being affected by the deadly virus. Today’s donation cheque was presented by Tony McGrath, VP Operations, Discount Format, Sobeys Inc., Donny Sandher, National Chalo Operations District Operator, Discount Form

Four people in Canada have now died from a rare blood-clotting event linked to the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. The latest person was in their 50s in New Brunswick. The province's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Jennifer Russell, says the person received a first dose of AstraZeneca on April 11th. They developed blood clot symptoms 17 days later and died recently. This latest death comes as Ontario is resuming use of the vaccine, but only as a second dose. More than 2.1-million Canadians have received at least one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.