The Supreme Court of Canada has affirmed the constitutionality of a federal law that forbids companies from making people undergo genetic testing before buying insurance or other services.The Genetic Non-Discrimination Act also outlaws the practice of requiring the disclosure of existing genetic test results as a condition for obtaining such services or entering into a contract.The act is intended to ensure Canadians can take genetic tests to help identify health risks without fear they will be penalized when seeking life or health insurance.The law, passed three years ago, is the result of a

The Conservatives say they want a criminal investigation into the Liberal government's decision to have the WE organization run a $900-million program for student volunteers.Their call for police to step in comes after it was revealed that the group has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees to members of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's family.Trudeau is already under investigation by the ethics commissioner for potential conflict of interest with regard to the contract, as his long-standing family ties to the group are well known.But that review was launched prior to revelati

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's problems with the WE organization grew today. The organization has paid thousands of dollars in speaking fees to Trudeau's family. WE says Trudeau's mother received about 250,000 dollars for 28 speaking appearances at WE-related events between 2016 and 2020. It says his brother Alexandre has been paid 32-thousand dollars for eight events. The federal government initially selected on WE Charity to distribute the Canada Student Services Grant that's worth 900 million dollars. The agreement was cancelled over the Trudeau family's connections to the Toronto-based c

There are 106,805 confirmed cases in Canada. Quebec: 56,216 confirmed (including 5,609 deaths, 25,616 resolved) Ontario: 36,348 confirmed (including 2,703 deaths, 31,977 resolved) Alberta: 8,519 confirmed (including 161 deaths, 7,774 resolved) British Columbia: 3,028 confirmed (including 186 deaths, 2,667 resolved) Nova Scotia: 1,066 confirmed (including 63 deaths, 999 resolved) Saskatchewan: 813 confirmed (including 15 deaths, 750 resolved) Manitoba: 314 confirmed (including 7 deaths, 314 resolved), 11 presumptive Newfoundland and Labrador: 261 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 258 resolved) Ne

The Liberal government is updating the interpretation of ``parent'' to make it easier for some parents to pass Canadian citizenship on to their children. Previously, children born abroad to Canadians automatically received citizenship only if there was a genetic link between the parent and the child or the parent gave birth to the child. But couples who used assisted reproductive technologies to have kids had to go through a cumbersome process to secure citizenship even if one parent was Canadian. Laurence Caron, who is Canadian, and her partner Elsje van der Ven, who is Dutch, fought that ap

Canada's police chiefs are calling for decriminalization of personal possession of illicit drugs as the best way to battle substance abuse and addiction. The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police is proposing increased access to health care, treatment and social services to divert people away from the criminal justice system. This would apply to people possessing a small amount of illicit drugs for personal consumption. Chief Const. Adam Palmer of Vancouver, the association president, says Canada continues to grapple with the fentanyl crisis and a poisoned drug supply that has devastated

Canada is joining an international group of nearly two dozen other countries working to protect the world's oceans.The Global Ocean Alliance, founded by Great Britain last year, seeks to protect 30 per cent of the world's oceans by 2030. Its 22 members include European countries such as Italy, Germany and Sweden, as well as island states such as Fiji and the Seychelles.Fisheries and Oceans Minister Bernadette Jordan made the announcement in Ottawa this morning.Canada has announced a conservation target of 25 per cent of its marine and coastal areas by 2025, and has already protected 14 per cen

A new report from a committee of senators says the country is ill-prepared to handle a second wave of COVID-19. The Senate's social affairs committee says the federal government needs to pay urgent attention to seniors in long-term care homes where outbreaks and deaths in the pandemic have been concentrated. There are also concerns in the report about the vulnerability of low-income seniors should there be a second wave of the novel coronavirus later this year. The document made public this morning is the committee's first set of observations on the government's response to the pandemic, with

There are 106,434 confirmed cases in Canada. Quebec: 56,079 confirmed (including 5,603 deaths, 25,534 resolved) Ontario: 36,178 confirmed (including 2,700 deaths, 31,805 resolved) Alberta: 8,482 confirmed (including 158 deaths, 7,716 resolved) British Columbia: 3,008 confirmed (including 186 deaths, 2,645 resolved) Nova Scotia: 1,066 confirmed (including 63 deaths, 998 resolved) Saskatchewan: 808 confirmed (including 15 deaths, 746 resolved) Manitoba: 314 confirmed (including 7 deaths, 312 resolved), 11 presumptive Newfoundland and Labrador: 261 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 258 resolved) Ne