A senior State Department official says Canada's dispute with India could make for fertile ground for foreign efforts to sow disinformation.James Rubin, the co-ordinator of the Global Engagement Center, says the diplomatic standoff makes Canada "ripe" for manipulation, and not just from inside India.A new report from the centre describes in detail the lengths China is going to dominate the information space around the world, including in Canada.The report notes how Chinese operatives used the WeChat messaging platform in an effort earlier this year to discredit Ontario MP Michael Chong.Chong w

Statistics Canada says the economy added 64,000 jobs last month as the country's population continues to rapidly grow. The federal agency released its September labour force survey this morning, which finds the unemployment rate held steady at 5.5 per cent. Canada's labour market has cooled over the last year amid higher interest rates, but the unemployment rate remains below pre-pandemic levels. The job gains last month were concentrated in part-time work, while there were more people working in educational services and transportation and warehousing. Meanwhile, jobs were shed in finance, in

Canadians may soon see grocery prices stabilized.This has been announced by Industry Minister Francois Philippe Champagne on Thursday.The minister said that major grocery stores are going to take steps to control prices and Canadians can expect to see a reduction and stabilization of food prices soon.Loblaw's, Metro, Empire, Costco and Walmart have agreed to control grocery prices, resulting in lower grocery prices, Champagne said.He said that this is the initial step towards providing relief to Canadians, the government will do more.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave major grocers like Loblaw

Competition Bureau commissioner Matthew Boswell says new research from the bureau finds the competition intensity in the country has decreased over the last two decades.Boswell shared the initial findings of a new report during a speech he delivered today at the Competition Summit, a conference hosted by the bureau.The commissioner says the bureau has been studying competition across sectors between 2000 and 2020 and will be publishing a report in the coming weeks.He says that overall, the study finds the intensity of competition has decreased during that period of time.Boswell calls the findi

An award-winning travel magazine says British Columbia's capital city tops its 2023 list of the world's best cities.Condé Nast Traveller, a luxury and lifestyle travel magazine, says Victoria captured top marks in its annual Readers' Choice Awards of top cities.Victoria and Mexico's San Miguel de Allende, which ranked sixth, were the only cities in North America to make the list.Condé Nast Traveller says Victoria's restaurant and nightlife scene is "something to be celebrated," while the city "embraces adventure," and "draws outdoorsy types."Readers gave Victoria, San Sebastián in Spain, an

Federal New Democrats have rejected the Liberals' first draft of pharmacare legislation. The Liberals had promised to introduce pharmacare legislation this fall season, but NDP critic Don Davies said the first draft of the bill fell short of NDP expectations. He said he is looking forward to the next draft. Davies said the pharmacare program should be universal, single-payer and government-wide. The NDP will not accept a commitment of less than that. He said the NDP is willing to expand the program starting with essential drugs. But they demand that the schedule of expansion should also be inc

Italy has launched an investigation after a fully electric-powered bus with foreign tourists veered off a busy overpass on the Venetian mainland during rush hour. 21 people were killed.The bus with 35 tourists onboard crashed through a guardrail and a rusted fence on Tuesday night and plunged more than 10 meters (30 feet) to land upside down.The driver was among those killed and 15 people were injured.The bus was just a year old.The 40-year-old driver had an untarnished record and had just started his shift.Venice's mayor called the crash 'inexplicable' while the regional governor suggested th

WestJet is halting flights between Toronto and Montreal for the winter in a continuation of its retreat from short-haul routes in Eastern Canada to retrench in the West.The route will be suspended for six months, starting late October and resuming in late April.WestJet spokeswoman Madison Kruger says the decision was made as a result of performance and is in line with the airline's strategy to take on more of the longer routes between Eastern and Western Canada.The Alberta-based airline runs flights once a day along the busy Toronto-Montreal corridor, which currently sees four carriers operate

Sgt. Catherine Bernard says officers are still looking for another three suspects as part of an operation today targeting the alleged fraud network operating in the greater Montreal area.Grandparent scams generally target seniors and see fraudsters pretend to be grandchildren who need money to deal with an emergency.Bernard says the victims were primarily located in the United States.She says Quebec police worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other American agencies as part of the investigation.Those arrested are expected to appear in Quebec court later today and could face char