The Canadian government has announced a full public inquiry into a mass shooting in April that killed 22 people in Nova Scotia. Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said Tuesday that the government is responding to calls from families, survivors, advocates, and Nova Scotia members of Parliament for more transparency. Thirteen of the victims were shot to death and nine died in fires set by the suspect, who was fatally shot by police a day later. The gunman wore a police uniform and drove a car that looked like a police cruiser. Earlier today, Nova Scotia Justice Minister Mark Furey said he would

A single life sentence of 25 years in prison has been imposed on 27-year-old Rocky Rambo Wei Nam Kam for the murders of a Vancouver couple two years ago. Kam was convicted of first-degree murder in the September 2017 deaths of 65-year-old Dianna Mah-Jones and 68-year-old Richard Jones. B.C. Supreme Court Justice Laura Gerow said during her decision Tuesday that the victims were innocent and defenceless strangers to Kam who murdered them in their own home in a prolonged and vicious attack. The Crown had asked that Kam serve two life sentences, ensuring he would be in prison for 50 years before

Health Canada has approved the use of remdesivir to treat patients with severe symptoms of COVID-19. The federal agency says the antiviral drug may be used to treat patients who have pneumonia and require extra oxygen to help them breathe. It's the first drug that Health Canada has authorized for the treatment of COVID-19. Health Canada approved its use in adults and adolescents. Remdesivir, which has been shown to shorten hospital stays, is administered intravenously and will be used only on patients that can be closely monitored. Until now, a small number of patients have been treated with

Park board commissioners in Vancouver have voted in favour of allowing alcohol consumption in 22 parks around the city, but relaxing with a cold one likely won't happen soon.Although commissioners capped a lengthy debate by approving a pilot project allowing park concessions to sell beer, cider and coolers, the board is seeking provincial involvement.It says in a social media post that the new bylaw will require an update to B.C.'s Liquor Control and Licensing Act, recognizing the park board as a governing body under a specific section of the act. At least on park commissioner says it means of

The co-founders of WE Charity testified before a House of Commons committee today as part of a parliamentary probe into a $912-million student-volunteer program. WE Charity co-founders Craig and Marc Kielburger say their organization was not tapped to run Ottawa's student-volunteer program because of any close ties to Liberal cabinet ministers. The brothers told a Parliamentary committee they regret not realizing how the deal would be perceived and that they would never have gotten involved if they had known it could jeopardize the work WE has done over 25 years. WE Charity backed out of ad

There are 114,597 confirmed cases in Canada. Quebec: 58,728 confirmed (including 5,667 deaths, 50,886 resolved) Ontario: 38,799 confirmed (including 2,764 deaths, 34,461 resolved) Alberta: 10,390 confirmed (including 186 deaths, 8,774 resolved) British Columbia: 3,500 confirmed (including 193 deaths, 3,043 resolved) Saskatchewan: 1,209 confirmed (including 16 deaths, 886 resolved) Nova Scotia: 1,067 confirmed (including 63 deaths, 1,004 resolved) Manitoba: 386 confirmed (including 7 deaths, 319 resolved), 14 presumptive Newfoundland and Labrador: 266 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 259 resolve

The law extending the federal government's emergency wage subsidy for employers hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic has passed the Senate.The package passed by the House of Commons last week also includes one-time payments for people with disabilities facing higher expenses, and extensions to legal deadlines for some court matters. Bill C-20 passed on a voice vote without changes. The extension to the wage subsidy program is the core of the Liberal government's plan to help the economy get back into shape through the fall.

British Columbia Premier John Horgan says drivers who have out-of-province licence plates on their vehicles should consider taking public transit or riding a bicycle if they're feeling harassed by people.Horgan also suggests drivers change over to B.C. licence plates to avoid trouble from residents who are concerned about the spread of COVID-19.He says he can't tell people how to respond when seeing out-of-province plates but judging people by where their vehicle is registered does not often tell a complete story of their circumstances.Horgan says people with out-of-province plates should be

Legal wrangling over release of documents in the extradition case of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou continued this morning in Federal Court via a virtual hearing in Ottawa. The Canadian government says it can't release the documents because they could compromise national security but lawyers for Meng disagree. They say a far more damaging document by a senior Canadian diplomat is already out there, and they also say the US wouldn't expect its correspondence to stay confidential because the FBI deals with law, not security. Meng is wanted on fraud charges in New York but denies the allegations