Two people have been taken to hospital in serious but stable condition after a blast destroyed multiple homes in an east Ottawa suburb.Reid Purdy of the Ottawa Paramedic Service says the two had to be extricated after the explosion in Orleans, while three other people were taken to hospital with minor injuries.Another five people were assessed at the scene and released.Ottawa deputy fire chief David Matschke says the explosion occurred around 6:18 a.m. local time and affected four homes that were under construction.The Ottawa fire service previously said the explosion was caused by a gas leak.

Canada's defence minister says the United States is still trying to determine whether a Chinese surveillance balloon collected any intelligence from either country when it flew over North America last week.Anita Anand says Canada opted against shooting it down over Canadian airspace because it was deemed not to pose a threat to public safety.And she says Norad, the Canada-U.S. continental defence system, tracked the balloon throughout its flight, but she won't say precisely where it was when it was first detected.Anand met today with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon as she w

Every community in British Columbia will be eligible for infrastructure grants coming from a one-time $1-billion government fund.Premier David Eby says the money has been set aside in the provincial budget surplus, which was estimated at $5.7 billion last fall.He says he expects the government's Growing Communities Fund grants to help local municipalities improve roads, build arenas and water facilities and improve recreation options for families.The premier says the grants are available to B.C.'s 188 municipalities and regional districts, and can be used to prepare for future growth and build

A search and rescue team from British Columbia has taken part in the successful rescue of a woman from earthquake rubble in Turkey, more than four days after the tremor hit.Footage by the CBC showed members of the Burnaby Urban Search and Rescue team being thanked and embraced by Turkish colleagues on the scene, moments after the dust-covered woman was taken to an ambulance in the town of Adiyaman.The volunteer Canadian team had earlier shared photos on social media showing them at work in Adiyaman, where Turkey's consul general in Vancouver said they had been deployed early Thursday.The Burna

The federal government is appealing a judge's declaration that four Canadian men being held in Syrian camps are entitled to Ottawa's help to return home.In a filing today in the Federal Court of Appeal, the government asks that a ruling last month by Federal Court Justice Henry Brown be set aside and be placed on hold while the appeal plays out.In his ruling, Brown directed Ottawa to request repatriation of the men as soon as reasonably possible and provide them with passports or emergency travel documents.Brown said the men are also entitled to have a representative of the federal government

A First Nation on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island has declared a state of emergency over what its leadership describes as the "unrelating impact of drugs and alcohol" on its members, particularly children and youth.A statement from the Ehattesaht First Nation says six young people have died from drug overdoses in the small village over the past few months.It says the nation's chief and council are calling on officials from the British Columbia and federal governments to sit down with them to help find the resources necessary to create a "survival plan."The nation's council has been try

Former British Columbia premier John Horgan says he is leaving politics, and gave an emotional farewell speech in the legislature.While he didn't give a specific time for his departure, he suggested St. Patrick's Day on March 17 might be a good day to go.Horgan, who's 63, has twice battled cancer, and announced last June that health reasons were forcing him to retire from the premier's job after five years.He did tell members of the house that he was healthy, and thanked all those who supported him during his battle with throat cancer.In his 35-minute speech, he also thanked several members of

Justice Minister David Lametti says he is giving "serious consideration" to reforming Canada's bail laws in response to a request from premiers to make changes.Provincial premiers unanimously called on the Liberal government in a letter to take "immediate action" on the bail system earlier this year.The letter from premiers says there are a growing number of calls for changes to prevent accused people who are out on bail from committing further criminal acts.Premiers called on the federal government to establish a "reverse onus" system for specific firearm offences that would require the perso

The British Columbia government has fined Teck Coal Limited more than $16 million for exceeding pollution thresholds as well as failing to build an active water treatment facility on time at one of its operations in southeastern B.C.The province's natural resources compliance and enforcement database shows three fines were issued at the end of January, including one penalty of nearly $15.5 million as a result of the company's failure to get its Fording River south water treatment facility operational by the December 2018 deadline in its permit.The decision document from the B.C. Environment Mi