Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland is appealing to the official Opposition Conservatives to hasten passage of a COVID-19 relief bill through the House of Commons.The appeal is in a letter from Freeland to Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole in which the deputy prime minister says the Tories are dragging their feet on the proposed legislation for no good reason.Freeland goes on to say the bill should not be "a political football," and asks O'Toole to support its passage to help Canadians struggling during the pandemic.The Liberal government introduced the proposed legislation at the beginnin

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined Canada's top doctors in warning that more infectious COVID-19 variants threaten to spark a third wave, even as he announced Canada would receive millions more vaccine doses than previously expected. Trudeau urged the public to refrain from unnecessary travel and gatherings as the long weekend approached, noting a fast-tracked shipment of millions of COVID-19 vaccines in coming months will not be enough to combat worrisome variants that have overtaken other countries. "Nobody wants a third wave to start, particularly not one comprised of new, more communica

Strict new quarantine and testing measures for travellers arriving in Canada will begin Feb. 22. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the new measures are necessary to protect Canadians and help stop the spread of COVID-19, especially new variants. The government had previously announced incoming travellers will have to pay the cost of a 72-hour hotel stay and a COVID-19 test. More details of how that will work and who will be covered will come later today. Trudeau says there will be exceptions for some essential workers but says no one should be travelling for any non-essential reason right no

A month-long slowdown in Canada's COVID-19 vaccine deliveries will finally be over. In a virtual roundtable with nurses and doctors from around Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged that the rollout of vaccines across the country has been lagging. But federal officials now say the pace will pick up starting next week. Trudeau says things are about to get better in the fight against the coronavirus, with Canada approaching something he called "the big lift" with millions of vaccines about to reach our shores. Pfizer will ship 400,000 doses to Canada starting MondayThe single bigge

The Manitoba government is committing to buy two million doses of a prospective Canadian vaccine that is in clinical trials. Premier Brian Pallister says his government has signed with Providence Therapeutics, which operates in Toronto and Calgary and started the trials last month. He says the deal includes a best-price guarantee and hinges on the vaccine being approved for use in Canada. Premier Brian Pallister says his government has signed a term sheet with Providence Therapeutics, which operates in Toronto and Calgary and started the trials last month. Pallister says provinces have had to

Voting is being postponed in parts of Newfoundland in Saturday's provincial election. The elections officer is delaying voting in 18 districts across the Avalon Peninsula, including in St. John's. Officials say with a record 53 new COVID-19 cases and 32 presumptive cases reported yesterday, they can't hang on to enough workers to staff the polls. Voting will go ahead as planned in other parts of the province, but the results won't be released until all the voting has been completed. Mail-in voting options have been extended. Prof. Michael Pal, a University of Ottawa law professor who speciali

Bombardier Inc. said Thursday it will reduce its overall workforce by about 1,600 jobs as it moves to cut costs.The company said it is making the cuts as it consolidates its Global aircraft completion work in Montreal and reviews options for underutilized hangar and industrial space at its Quebec facilities.``Workforce reductions are always very difficult, and we regret seeing talented and dedicated employees leave the company for any reason,'' Bombardier chief executive Eric Martel said in a statement.``But these reductions are absolutely necessary for us to rebuild our company while we cont

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi says his country "will do its best" to help Canada get COVID-19 vaccines but stopped short of making any specific guarantee that India would ship doses to Canada.Canada is also not among 25 countries cleared by the Indian government to receive exported doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine this month, though federal officials indicated last week Canada's shipments weren't expected to start arriving until at least April.The Serum Institute of India has a contract with AstraZeneca to make at least one billion vaccine doses, and Health Canada is currently reviewing th

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government will provide nearly $15 billion for public-transit projects across the country — though most of the money won't arrive until later in the decade.Trudeau says the promised $14.9 billion in new public-transit funding will be spread over eight years, though most of the money won't start flowing until 2026.The government says the new funds will provide cities with predictable funding to plan for their long-term needs while helping Canadians move around easier and fight climate change.Trudeau announced the new funding during a teleconfere