Finance Minister Bill Morneau says the federal government is launching a new set of consultations with Indigenous groups. It will determine if and how they might take part in ownership of the Trans Mountain pipeline and its expansion project. Speaking in Calgary, the minister says up to 129 communities will be consulted over the next weeks and months to ensure they have a chance for ``meaningful economic participation'' in the pipeline. He says the groups will be asked their level of support for equity-based or revenue-sharing options, as well as whether groups are willing to work with each

The cost to Canadian taxpayers to build the Trans Mountain pipeline has ballooned to 12.6-billion dollars from its initial estimate of 7.4-billion dollars. The president and C-E-O of the federally owned company provided an update on the pipeline upgrade which will triple the amount of Alberta bitumen moving from the Edmonton-area to port in Burnaby and on to overseas markets by freighter. Ian Anderson says when spending committed so far is subtracted from the total budget, just over eight-billion dollars will be needed to complete the project plus nearly two-billion dollars in financial carry

A plane carrying Canadians from Wuhan, China, has landed at a military base in Ontario where they will spend 14 days under quarantine. The evacuation flight was arranged by the Canadian government. All of Canada's evacuees will stay at Canadian Forces Base Trenton in Trenton, Ontario, where they will be monitored for the virus that has caused hundreds of deaths in Wuhan. Several governments have arranged similar flights including the U.S. and are requiring quarantines for the maximum incubation period of the virus to prevent local outbreaks.

Canada has secured second charter flight out of Wuhan, set to leave next week. The federal government has chartered a second flight to bring Canadians home from the centre of the new coronavirus outbreak next week. Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says that second flight is scheduled to leave Wuhan on Feb. 10 and arrive in Canada the next day. People have already begun boarding the first flight that will soon take some Canadians out of Wuhan, a city under quarantine in central China. Champagne says some of the 211 people who were on the passenger list for that flight, whic

The Transportation Safety Board says it is ready to compile its report about a fatal train derailment near the Alberta-British Columbia boundary last year. A Canadian Pacific Railway grain train was stopped on a mountain slope near Field, B-C last February when it began moving and plummeted off a bridge. A conductor, engineer and trainee were killed. The safety agency says only the 13 cars and tail-end locomotive that remained on the track were recovered for examination. No data could be retrieved from the recorder in the lead locomotive because it was too damaged.

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois Philippe Champagne says that the first charter flight from Wuhan will bring 211 Canadians home. Addressing a media briefing he said that a second charter flight is being considered. Champagne informed that weather complications delayed the flight to Wuhan by 4 hours. The 211 people on the manifest have been asked to reach the airport by 5PM local time. 308 Canadians had applied to be evacuated from the infected area in China, out of which 280 are Canadian citizens. China has maintained that only the people with foreign passports will be allowed to fly out of C

A Calgary man is facing charges after nearly 100 kilograms of cocaine and meth was seized from a vehicle in southern Alberta last week. Calgary police say the bust resulted from an investigation launched in November 2019 into a man thought to be involved in drug trafficking across Canada. Officers stopped the suspect Thursday while he was driving near Dorothy, Alta. about an hour and a half east of Calgary. The suspect was taken into custody and police say a search of the vehicle revealed nearly 47 kilograms of cocaine bricks and 48 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine. Staff Sgt. Kyle Grant

Several First Nations in southwest British Columbia are promising to continue to fight the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion while business groups are celebrating a court decision that upheld the federal government's approval of the project. The Tsleil-Waututh Nation, Squamish Nation and Coldwater Indian Band were among four B.C. Indigenous groups that filed a legal challenge in the Federal Court of Appeal arguing that the government's consultation with them was inadequate. The court ruled in a unanimous 3-0 decision on Tuesday that the government met its duty to consult, clearing a major leg

The federal government has notified Canadians waiting to be evacuated from Wuhan, China that they will be flown back to Canada later this week. The Canadian Press has obtained a copy of a letter sent to Canadians and permanent residents currently in the city that is the epicentre of the novel coronavirus outbreak. The letter says a flight will depart from Wuhan's international airport early Thursday morning although no time has been given. It also says that due to high demand, the government can't guarantee that everyone who is eligible will be able to board the plane. Federal Health Minister