Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says he has repaid two mortgages with a Chinese state bank and refinanced them with a Canadian financial institution.Champagne disclosed the development during testimony today before the House of Commons health committee, saying he decided to refinance the mortgages to avoid a distraction.Earlier this month, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer called on Champagne to explain how the mortgages with a Chinese state bank would not compromise his ability to handle Canada's tense relations with the People's Republic.Champagne says he disclosed the t

The federal government will make the case to the Trump administration that Canadian aluminum is no threat to the American market, as the mercurial president reportedly prepares to slap on tariffs anew.Treasury Board President Jean-Yves Duclos says federal officials will push back against any new protectionist effort by the U.S. administration to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum.A report from Bloomberg says the Trump administration is planning to impose a 10 per cent tariff on aluminum imports from Canada.Duclos would not say whether the government is aware of a new round of tariffs, but sa

Aurora Cannabis Inc. is continuing to restructure with more layoffs and facility closures. The Edmonton-based cannabis company says it will reduce its selling, general and administrative workforce by 25 per cent immediately.Another 30 per cent of production staff will be laid off from the company over the next two quarters.Aurora has also decided to cease operations at five facilities over the next two quarters in order to focus production and manufacturing at the company's larger scale and more efficient sites.The affected facilities are Aurora Prairie, Aurora Mountain, Aurora Ridge, Aurora V

The parliamentary budget officer estimates in a new report that it will cost $17.9 billion to provide eight extra weeks of payments through the Canada Emergency Response Benefit. The report this morning from budget officer Yves Giroux says that would bring the total cost of the benefit program to $71.3 billion. The CERB, now budgeted at $60 billion, has paid out $43.51 billion to 8.41 million people as of June 4 as demand surges past federal expectations. With the first cohort of CERB applicants set to hit the 16-week limit on the payments early next month, the Liberals have promised to increa

There are 101,637 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada. Quebec: 54,835 confirmed (including 5,417 deaths, 23,506 resolved) Ontario: 33,637 confirmed (including 2,609 deaths, 28,933 resolved) Alberta: 7,736 confirmed (including 153 deaths, 7,041 resolved) British Columbia: 2,822 confirmed (including 169 deaths, 2,471 resolved) Nova Scotia: 1,061 confirmed (including 63 deaths, 998 resolved) Saskatchewan: 751 confirmed (including 13 deaths, 643 resolved) Manitoba: 303 confirmed (including 7 deaths, 293 resolved), 11 presumptive Newfoundland and Labrador: 261 confirmed (including 3 deaths,

Canada's employment minister says the country's most recent job figures suggest that low-wage workers will go back to a job if one is available instead of remaining on federal aid.Carla Qualtrough says the growth in jobs from May gives her confidence that workers will choose to work when they get an offer and are able to do so.Statistics Canada's labour force survey for May showed that lower-wage jobs rebounded at a faster rate than the national rate as restrictions meant to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus started to ease.Speaking at the Senate's finance committee today, Qualtrough sa

Canada's top central banker says there will be long-term economic damage from the COVID-19 pandemic as the country charts a bumpy and prolonged course to recovery.Governor Tiff Macklem says the central bank expects to see growth in the third quarter of this year as people are called back to work and households resume some of their normal activities as restrictions ease.But he warns that Canadians shouldn't expect the short and sharp economic bounce-back expected over the coming months to last.The combination of uneven reopenings across provinces and industries, the unknown course of consumer c

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is rebutting Chinese officials for calling him "irresponsible" by linking the spying charges against two Canadians to the arrest in Canada of a Chinese high tech executive. He said today Chinese officials were the ones who initially linked the arrests of the Canadians to the arrest in Canada of a Huawei executive at the request of U.S. authorities. Trudeau rejected the notion of a prisoner exchange of sorts to win the release of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig. Earlier today, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on China to release two Canadian men that h

Canada's roughly 250,000 federal public servants are being primed for an eventual return to their workplaces, though many are expected to continue working remotely for the foreseeable future. The preparations, which include the distribution of a 30-page guidebook, come as provinces continue easing restrictions imposed due to COVID-19 and more Canadians return to their offices and other places of employment. The vast majority of federal public servants have been working from home since mid-March, during which time many have been called upon to help roll out new support programs for Canadians af