Canada's defence minister is calling out China over what he describes as its ``hostage diplomacy'' and says the NATO military alliance needs to keep tabs on the increasingly assertive Asian giant. Harjit Sajjan's comments came during a online panel discussion with counterparts from Slovakia and Latvia as two Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor remain in Chinese custody. The two Michaels were arrested in apparent retaliation for Canadian authorities' having detained Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver in December 2018 to face fraud charges in the United States. Sajjan said China

Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says six single-use plastic items that aren't easily recycled and already have more environmentally friendly alternatives will be the first to go under Canada's new restrictions on plastics. That means the end of next year will be the end of the road for plastic straws, stir sticks, carry-out bags, cutlery, dishes and takeout containers and six-pack rings for cans and bottles. Wilkinson says many of the items that aren't on that list, such as plastic bottles, will be getting new standards to require them to contain a minimum amount of recycled material

A former Liberal MP facing charges of fraud and breach of trust related to his time in office has had his case adjourned until early next year. Lawyers for Raj Grewal and the Crown agreed to have the case return to court Jan. 6 during a brief virtual hearing on Tuesday. Grewal's lawyer Zachary Al-Khatib said during the hearing that his team received 10 gigabytes of disclosure materials from investigators. He added that he has made a request for more evidence from the Crown. The RCMP charged Grewal almost one month ago with four counts of breach of trust and one count of fraud over $5,000 stem

A state funeral for former Liberal prime minister John Turner is underway in downtown Toronto.About 170 invited guests are in attendance, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Toronto Mayor John Tory, and federal minister Carolyn Bennett.Attendees are spaced out in the pews at the recently renovated St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica to maintain physical distancing.Organizers limited the guest list in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.Turner died at age 91 on Sept. 19.He had spent decades in politics, serving as solicitor general and justice and finance ministers before his brief stint as prime

A popular immigration program that allows people to sponsor their parents or grandparents to come to Canada is reverting to a lottery system.Federal Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino announced the relaunch of the parent and grandparent program today, saying it will open for applications on Oct. 13. It ordinarily opens in January but was delayed this year as officials sought to revamp the system after a first-come, first-served approach buckled under excessive demand last year. A lottery system had been used before that but it led to widespread frustration that people's efforts to bring the

Former Green leader Elizabeth May slammed the New Democrats this morning for refusing stand down their candidate in a coming byelection so the first Black woman elected to lead a federal party in Canada can win a seat. Annamie Paul is the new leader of the Green party after winning on the eighth ballot of the contest Saturday. Paul says she is not surprised none of the other parties will offer what's sometimes called "leader's courtesy" in the upcoming byelection in Toronto Centre but that she is used to overcoming obstacles. But May says in 2019, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said it was "classy"

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is offering his family's best wishes to U.S. President Donald Trump and the first lady. Trudeau says he and his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, hope the president and Melania Trump recover fully from COVID-19. Trump announced early this morning that both he and his wife have tested positive for the coronavirus. Gregoire Trudeau tested positive for COVID-19 in March after returning from a trip to England. She recovered within weeks, and the prime minister never contracted the virus. But Trudeau points out it's the same news many Canadians are getting. British Prime

Health Canada says it's begun its first review of a possible vaccine for COVID-19. The agency says it's evaluating the vaccine candidate being worked on by pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford. The possible vaccine is undergoing what's called a ``rolling review,'' in which Health Canada accepts data and results from the company's trials as it comes in, rather than waiting for everything to be complete. Health Canada cautions that starting a rolling review is just one step on the road to approval. The federal government has put in an advance order for 20 million dose

Canada is forming its own forensic examination and assessment team to examine evidence and information after Iran's Revolutionary Guard shot down a Ukrainian jetliner in January, killing all 176 people on board. The office of Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne told The Associated Press the team will collect, organize and analyze all available information, evidence and intelligence about after the Jan. 8 crash near Tehran, and will advise the Canadian government on its credibility. Canadian experts have been present as observers in the probe of the crash being carried out under inter