A Florida man has pleaded not guilty to human smuggling charges after the frozen bodies of a family of four migrants were found near the Canada-U.S. border last year.Steve Shand, 48, entered the plea today via videoconference as part of his long-delayed arraignment in Duluth, Minn.Shand faces one count each of bringing people into the U.S. illegally and of transporting them inside the country.He was arrested in January 2022 in a remote area of northern Minnesota, where border agents encountered him with two Indian nationals in a rented passenger van.Just over the border, near Emerson, Man., RC

The British Columbia government is preparing to build a new cancer care centre in Kamloops.Health Minister Adrian Dix says the new centre at the Royal Inland Hospital will include radiation therapy, meaning patients will no longer have to travel the roughly two hour trip to Kelowna for that treatment.Dix says a 'concept plan' for the centre, which was promised as part of the 2020 election, has been approved, and a business plan will be completed this calendar year.Dix says he expects the building to be ready to see patients in 2027 and that cancer centres typically cost between $200 and $300 m

Quebec Premier François Legault says the province will require that the vast majority of economic immigrants to Quebec speak French before they arrive.Sixty-five per cent of immigrants to Quebec come through the economic immigration stream, which is controlled by the province.Legault says his government is also considering increasing the number of immigrants it accepts every year to 60,000 people from 50,000 people, by 2027.He says the rise in immigration would come from people arriving through the economic stream, adding that his government is not considering increasing the number of people

More than a dozen MPs in the Canada-Pakistan friendship group are urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to call out Pakistan's arrest of its former prime minister.Imran Khan, who is now the opposition leader in Pakistan, was arrested earlier this month on corruption and terrorism charges triggering violent protests.The country's supreme court ordered Khan released saying the arrest was illegal.Khan was ousted as prime minister last year in a non-confidence vote he claims without proof was part of an illegal plot orchestrated by Washington and his successor, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.Sixteen

The B.C. and federal governments have boosted their funding to a Vancouver-based company that helped develop the first antibody therapy treatment for COVID-19.AbCellera Biologics has announced a 700 million dollar plan to add lab space, equipment and technology at its manufacturing plant.B.C. will provide 75-million dollars to fund research and clinical trial projects while the federal government is contributing 225 million dollars.AbCellera says the latest expansion will help it turn basic research into usable medicines, while developing programs to get those medicines into clinical trials.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is leaving the door open should Independent MP Han Dong decide he wants to rejoin the Liberals.The Toronto MP resigned from the government caucus earlier this year, saying he wanted to clear his name following allegations published in media reports.Global News reported, citing unnamed national security sources, that Dong told a Chinese diplomat in February 2021 that releasing Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor would benefit the Conservatives.David Johnston, whom Trudeau appointed to investigate the government's response to foreign interference, said that allegation

The Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver has received about $5 million in new federal funding ahead of its opening on July 1.Federal International Trade and Economic Development Minister Mary Ng says the new funding will go toward renewal of the museum's permanent space at the Wing Sang Building in Vancouver's Chinatown, as well as supporting the facility's first exhibit.Ng made the funding announcement on the sidelines of the U.S.-Canada Chinatown Cultural Preservation and Revitalization Conference, which is hosting representatives from 18 Chinatowns from across North America.Ng says efforts

Former governor general David Johnston says there's no need for a formal inquiry into allegations of foreign meddling in the past two federal elections.While he says that could not be done transparently because of the sensitivity of the intelligence involved, he does believe public hearings should be held.Johnston says there are serious shortcomings in the way intelligence is communicated and processed from security agencies through to government.Based on access to classified documents and security agencies, he has concluded that specific accusations of interference were less concerning than m

Today is the 109th anniversary of the arrival of the Komagata Maru ship in B.C. On this occasion, B.C. Premier David Eby has issued a statement.According to this statement, 109 years ago today, a ship full of 376 Sikh, Hindu and Muslim passengers reached the coast of Vancouver.All of them came to Canada with the dream of living a big life.Where they should have been welcomed, Canada's immigration officers did not allow them to disembark.After 2 months of being stuck on the ship, the Komagata Maru was sent back to Asia.In 2008, B.C. apologized for racial discrimination against these passengers.