Two federal cabinet ministers and the country's top public servant will be grilled today about how a charity with close ties to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wound up administering a $912-million student grant program.The House of Commons ethics committee is scheduled to hear from Youth Minister Bardish Chagger, Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough and Ian Shugart, clerk of the Privy Council.The committee is ostensibly conducting a review of the existing safeguards in place to prevent conflicts of interest when the federal government is deciding how to spend taxpayers' dollars.But opposition M

British Columbia's provincial health officer says the public needs to do a better job at lowering the number of COVID-19 cases and encouraged younger residents to avoid large social gatherings. Dr. Bonnie Henry says a pandemic is a good excuse to skip a party. Dr. Henry says gatherings of young people, even if it is less than the 50 person limit, are a concern for health officials. She says when alcohol is involved, people often don't take the precautions they normally would. B.C. reported 131 new cases of COVID-19 since Friday, bringing the provincial total to 4,065. There have been no new d

Opposition MPs on the Commons finance committee want to know more about an agreement between Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and a company where the husband of the prime minister's chief of staff works.Katie Telford's husband Rob Silver is an executive vice-president at M-CAP, which the government tapped to administer a rent-assistance program for small businesses affected by COVID-19.The Prime Minister's Office says Telford established clear ethical walls between herself and M-CAP back in January. CMHC says it didn't have the internal capacity to quickly get the program running and t

Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, and Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, have issued a joint statement regarding updates on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) response in British Columbia. "Today, we are announcing 53 new cases, including three epi-linked cases, for a total of 3,934 cases in British Columbia. "There are 386 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 3,353 people who tested positive have recovered. "There are 11 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19, four of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation

Premier John Horgan says the decision by the US government to impose tariffs on Canadian aluminum is "disappointing for the people of BC". A statement from the premier's office says many people in BC earn their living from the province's aluminum industry and BC exports do no harm the US market. It says the 10-per cent tariff is "unfortunate" when countries should be helping each other recover from COVID-19 restrictions, and the Horgan government will fight for the industry and its workers. A newly modernized Rio Tinto aluminum smelter in Kitimat employs 1100 workers and contributed more th

Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, and Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, have issued a joint statement regarding updates on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) response in British Columbia. "Today, we are announcing 47 new cases, including one epi-linked case, for a total of 3,881 cases in British Columbia. "There are 371 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 3,315 people who tested positive have recovered. "There are 11 individuals hospitalized with COVID-19, five of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation. "

Canada is emphasizing the need for economic and political reform in Lebanon over the long term as it looks at immediate ways to help the country following this week's deadly explosion in Beirut.Canada has so far promised $5 million in emergency aid and International Development Minister Karina Gould says the federal government is committed to helping Lebanon as it begins to recover from the blast.Yet Gould emphasized long-standing Canadian calls for economic and political change in the country to address many of the root problems that have left Lebanon one of the most indebted countries in th

Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, and Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.'s provincial health officer, have issued a joint statement regarding updates on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) response in British Columbia. "Today, we are announcing 47 new cases, including one epi-linked case, for a total of 3,834 cases in British Columbia. "There are 351 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 3,288 people who tested positive have recovered. "Currently, nine individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19, six of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolatio

Canada is signing deals with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and U.S.-based biotech firm Moderna to procure millions of doses of their experimental COVID-19 vaccines.Procurement Minister Anita Anand is announcing the deals this morning in Toronto, which will see Canada get access to the vaccines if they prove to be both safe and effective.Both companies began Phase 3 clinical trials of their vaccine candidates in the last week, large-scale tests to determine how well the vaccines work.Earlier in July both Pfizer and Moderna reported positive results from smaller trials.The Phase 3 trials will both