The Supreme Court of Canada will not hear a challenge of a British Columbia law intended to preserve public health care through measures against extra-billing and certain private insurance.Two Vancouver private health facilities and four patients argued that provisions of the Medicare Protection Act violate constitutional rights due to long waits for care in B.C.'s publicly funded system.They said this amounted to a breach of the patients' life, liberty and security of the person under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.Three years ago, the Supreme Court of British Columbia dismissed the const

Akwesasne Mohawk police say are suspending the organized search of local waterways for a man linked to the eight migrants whose bodies were pulled from the St. Lawrence River last week.Police say they believe they have exhausted search efforts on the water for 30-year-old Casey Oakes and are set to resume normal patrol operations, unless they receive "actionable intelligence".Oakes was last seen on the night of March 29 operating a boat found next to the bodies of two migrant families, one from Romania and the other from India.Police say the families were trying to cross into the United States

A former Liberal cabinet minister who has been sitting in British Columbia's legislature as an Independent is the new leader of the provincial Conservatives.John Rustad, the member of the legislature for Nechako Lakes, was acclaimed leader of the Conservative Party of B.C. as the only candidate who entered the race.Rustad, who is 60 years old, replaces former leader Trevor Bolin, who was serving as interim leader.Opposition Liberal Leader Kevin Falcon said he dumped Rustad from the party caucus last August for his public statements and social media posts suggesting climate change is not caused

The search is expected to continue today after six bodies (including a child under age of three) were discovered Thursday in the St. Lawrence River near Akwesasne, Quebec.The Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service says the first body was located around 5:00 p.m. in a marsh area, which searched later Thursday evening by a police marine unit with the help of the Canadian Coast Guard and the Hogansburg Akwesasne Volunteer Fire Department.Air support units with the Quebec provincial police and Ontario Provincial Police are expected to assist with further investigation of the area.Post-mortem and toxicolo

Former Conservative leader Erin O'Toole says he will not seek re-election and plans to resign his seat this spring.The Ontario MP led the Conservatives and served as official Opposition leader from August 2020 until February 2022, when a majority of his caucus voted to remove him from the post.That followed months of tensions over O'Toole's management of caucus and attempts to moderate the party's image.Those efforts led to concerns that he flip-flopped on key policy positions, including on carbon pricing and gun control.O'Toole has kept a low profile on Parliament Hill since his ousting and

The fatal stabbing of a 37-year-old father outside a downtown Vancouver Starbucks is casting a pall over the normally bustling block.Passersby have been pausing to pay their respects to Paul Stanley Schmidt at a makeshift memorial of flowers, pictures and notes outside the café.Police say Schmidt was stabbed after a brief altercation shortly after 5:30 p.m. Sunday.They say Inderdeep Singh Gosal was arrested at the scene moments later when bystanders flagged down a constable patrolling the area.The 32-year-old has been charged with second-degree murder and a hearing has been scheduled in Vanco

The B.C. government is taking aim at organized crime through its members unexplained wealth, such as luxury homes or vehicles.Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth announced the government is changing the Civil Forfeiture Act to include unexplained wealth orders, requiring people to tell a court how they got the assets if there is suspicion of crime.It means the Civil Forfeiture Office would be able to ask a B.C. Supreme Court for an order against people or companies to explain where they got their wealth and if a three-part test is satisfied, that property can be seized.The changes are based

The inquiry into a mass shooting that left 22 people dead in Nova Scotia in 2020 is calling on the federal government to ban all semi-automatic handguns and many types of semi-automatic rifles and shotguns.The Mass Casualty Commission released its final report today, making a series of recommendations aimed at tightening gun laws.That includes developing a "standardized schedule and definitions" of 206 prohibited firearms in the Criminal Code.Parliament is still debating gun-control legislation introduced last May by the Liberals, which included a proposed amendment to enshrine a definition of

The Quebec government has tabled a bill that would prevent children under the age of 14 from working most jobs.Labour Minister Jean Boulet says Bill 19 is the result of a recommendation from a legislature committee and on recent reports noting a rise in workplace injuries involving children.Bill 19 would ban people under the age of 14 from the workforce except for certain jobs, including newspaper delivery, babysitting, day camp monitoring or tutoring.The legislation would also prohibit youth between the ages of 14 and 16 from working more than 17 hours a week during the school year, including