The Bank of Canada is cutting its overnight rate target by half a percentage point to 0.75 per cent in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The last rate cut was last week, when it dropped from 1.75 per cent to 1.25 per cent. @bankofcanada has slashed overnight lending rate by another 50 basis points to 0.75%. @Bill_Morneau announces a stimulus package of $10b to support small businesses.#COVID2019 #economy— Connectfm915 (@connectfm915) March" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/connectfm9... 13, 2020 Meantime, Finance Minister Bill Morneau says the government is making 10-

Canada's Parliament has agreed to shut down for more than a month. The move comes while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is governing remotely from his home, in self imposed quarantine after his wife tested positive for the new corona virus. Friday's vote is meant to to help ensure lawmakers do not contribute to the spread of for virus. The moves a day after Trudeau's wife tested positive. The prime minister himself has been in selfimposed quarantine. All parties in Parliament agreed to the suspension, which means lawmakers will miss two weeks of sessions since they had previously planned to be a

The Prime Minister's Office says Sophie Gregoire Trudeau has tested positive for COVID-19. Following medical advice, the prime minister's wife is remaining in isolation for the time being. The PMO says she is feeling well, is taking all the recommended precautions and her symptoms remain mild. The PMO says the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in good health with no symptoms. As a precautionary measure and following the advice of doctors, he will be in isolation for a planned period of 14 days.

Health officials in British Columbia are advising against all non essential travel outside of Canada including to the United States. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says anyone who chooses to travel outside of Canada will be required to stay away from work or school for 14 days upon their return. She is also recommending that organizers cancel any events for 250 or more people. Health Minister Adrian Dix says schools will remain open but officials will consult over the spring break to determine appropriate policies and procedures. Henry and Dix made the announcement as the province

Organizers have cancelled the 2020 Surrey Vaisakhi Parade, one of Metro Vancouver’s largest annual gatherings, citing COVID-19 health risks and advice from provincial officials. The event, hosted by Gurdwara Dashmesh Darbar, had been scheduled for April 25 and typically draws more than 500,000 people, making it the largest Vaisakhi parade outside India. Parade organizers said the decision followed consultations with Fraser Health and the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, adding that “public safety remains the highest priority.” The cancellation will have ripple effects across Surrey, wher

President Donald Trump says he is suspending all travel from Europe to the U.S. for 30 days beginning Friday as he seeks to combat a viral pandemic.Trump made the announcement Wednesday in an Oval Office address to the nation, blaming the European Union for not acting quickly enough to address the novel coronavirus and saying U.S. clusters were ``seeded'' by European travellers.Trump says the restrictions won't apply to the United Kingdom and the U.S. will monitor the situation to determine if travel can be reopened earlier.The White House has also cancelled a planned trip by the president to

Justin Trudeau and his wife Sofie Trudeau are in self-isolation after she exhibited flu-like symptoms on her return from London, U.K. The First Leaders meeting scheduled to begin today has been cancelled after this announcement. Trudeau was supposed to meet the premiers and indigenous leaders in Ottawa today for a two-day meeting to discuss various issues including COVID-19, national unity and financial crisis. Prime Minister Trudeau is not exhibiting any symptoms as of now and is isolating himself just for precaution as Sofie Trudeau awaits her test results.NDP leader Jagmeet Singh also tweet

British Columbia now has 46 cases of COVID-19, including its first one on Vancouver Island. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says seven of the newly diagnosed people include two workers at a long term care home where four other employees have been infected. The North Vancouver facility is also where a man in his 80s died earlier this week. Henry says three of the new cases are linked to Egypt and include a visitor in his 70s whose relatives in the Fraser Valley are now also in isolation. She says the province will put more focus on enhancing prevention of the novel coronavirus at lo

The World Health Organization says COVID-19 is officially a pandemic.WHO director general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the announcement at a news conference in Geneva, but is urging calm, saying with prevention, preparedness and political leadership it can be managed.He says calling the situation a pandemic doesn't change the organization's assessment of the threat from the illness or what countries should do to prepare and combat it.