Health Minister Mark Holland says he hopes to launch a national pharmacare program by April 1, 2025. A pharmacare bill drafted by the Liberals and the NDP has made its way through the House of Commons, but still needs to be studied by the Senate. The idea is to make birth control and diabetes medication available to anyone with a health card as part of a universal, single-payer program. The Liberals budgeted $1.5 billion for the program over five years. Once the bill receives royal assent, Holland can start negotiating deals with provinces and territories to administer the program. But he says

Congress has announced former Deputy Mayor Surinder Kaur as its candidate for the by-election in Jalandhar West Vidhan Sabha constituency of Punjab. Surinder Kaur has considerable influence in the western constituency. She is the first ever woman councilor who has not lost any election. Aam Aadmi Party and BJP have already announced the names of their candidates for this seat, while Shiromani Akali Dal is still churning for it. The state's Aam Aadmi Party has declared Mahendra Bhagat, who came from the BJP, as its candidate, while the BJP has given ticket to Sheetal Angural, who left the Aam

The Shiromani Akali Dal has urged the central government to order a high-level inquiry into the activities of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. Bikram Singh Majithia said that having a video call with Pakistani gangster Shehzad Bhatti while he was incarcerated in Gujarat Jail in Lawrence is a violation of national security. Majithia said that the series of such incidents that have been happening for the past several years shows that the gangster has a free rein in jail, whether he is incarcerated in Delhi or in Punjab or in Gujarat. A senior leader of Shiromani Akali Dal said that this needs

Statistics Canada says the country's population topped 41 million people in the first quarter of this year as it grew by 0.6 per cent. The agency says the population reached 41,012,563 on April 1, a gain of 242,673 people in the first three months of the year. Statistics Canada said the increase came as the country welcomed 121,758 immigrants in the first quarter. Net emigration amounted to 12,613 people for the quarter. Canada also added 131,810 non-permanent residents to the population. Statistics Canada noted that for temporary immigration, most of the growth happened before an announcement

Balkaur Singh, father of Sidhu Moosewala, has accused the government of saving Bishnoi after the video of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi talking to a Pakistani gangster on a video call went viral on social media. He said that the Center and the Punjab government have failed to break Bishnoi's network and he is running the entire network from jail. Bishnoi is currently lodged in Gujarat Jail. Balkaur Singh said that Bishnoi gave two interviews to a news channel in March 2023, which Punjab Police F. I. R. registered but that too against unknowns, no one's name is registered in it which suggests that

Gurmeet Singh Meet Hare, who won the Lok Sabha elections from Sangrur in Punjab, became MLA from Barnala Vidhan Sabha seat. has resigned, along with this, the seats of 4 MLAs who won the Lok Sabha elections in the state have become vacant and by-elections may be announced soon. It is to be noted that Dera Baba Nanak, Giddarbaha, Chabewal Constituency of Hoshiarpur and Barnala were the Vidhan Sabha constituencies, from where MLAs are now MPs. have reached the Lok Sabha as per the rules and it was mandatory for them to give up one seat. Gurmeet Singh Meet Hair was a minister in Bhagwant Mann's

British Columbia's worker safety agency is moving to address "gaps" in construction crane safety after recent accidents, including fatalities. WorkSafeBC says in a statement that it developed safety plans after bringing together 130 groups and individuals, including tower crane operators, unions, employers, contractors and the B.C. Association for Crane Safety. It follows a series of incidents and accidents involving tower cranes in B.C., including the death of a worker in Vancouver in February when a load fell on them, and a crane collapse in Kelowna in 2021 that killed five men. WorkSafe's T

British Columbia Premier David Eby says construction of an $85-million expansion of kidney hemodialysis services in Surrey is set to start in August. Eby says a new unit at Surrey Memorial Hospital will add 21 renal hemodialysis beds to treat patients with kidney disease, bringing the hospital's total to 60 stations. The stand-alone unit is expected to open in 2025 and the province will pay $84 million, while the Surrey Hospitals Foundation will pay $1 million. Health Minister Adrian Dix says kidney concerns are one of the leading health issues in Surrey, where residents are already having to

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has resigned from Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha seat on Tuesday. Lok Sabha Secretariat has issued a notification in this regard. Rahul Gandhi gave a formal notice to the Lok Sabha Speaker's office about retaining the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat and leaving the Wayanad seat. Earlier on Monday, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge had announced the candidature of Priyanka Gandhi from Wayanad. If Priyanka Gandhi wins the election from Wayanad, then three members of the Gandhi family will be in Parliament. Sonia Gandhi will be seen in the Rajya Sabha and Rahul Gandhi and