Three federal Opposition parties are calling on the Trudeau government to halt expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline from the Edmonton area to port in Burnaby. Members of the N-D-P, Green party and Bloc Quebecois made the joint appeal this morning, arguing a recent poll shows Canadians are alarmed at the multi-billion dollar price hike for the work. The federal government bought the unfinished project from Kinder Morgan in 2018 for 4.5-billion dollars and planned to complete the twinning at a total cost of 7.4-billion dollars but recent estimates have pushed completion costs to nearly 13-b

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government's approach to ending rail blockades across the country might cause economic pain in the short term. But Trudeau told the House of Commons today the Conservative call for hard-line police action to end the protests would cause even more, longer term disruption. Via Rail announced this afternoon that it is laying off close to one thousand employees, calling the disruption an unprecedented situation in its 42-year history. CN Rail announced yesterday that it was laying off 450 of its employees. Quebec Premier Francois Legault is urging Trudeau to

Via Rail says it is temporarily laying off 1,000 employees due to blockades that continue to stop service on CN tracks in Eastern Canada. The Crown corporation has suspended passenger trains on its Montreal-Toronto and Ottawa-Toronto routes for about two weeks in the wake of protests that have disrupted rail service across the country. Via says it commends ongoing dialogue efforts between government and demonstrators at rail blockades in support of Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs who oppose a natural gas pipeline in British Columbia. Via says it is proceeding with temporary suspensions of the

The Conservatives may introduce a non-confidence motion linked to the Liberals' response to the rail blockades that have virtually shut down freight and passenger service across the country. Via Rail announced this afternoon it will temporarily lay off close to one-thousand employees due to the rail line closures. Conservative House Leader Candice Bergen says party members don't believe the Trudeau government's strategy of dialogue instead of issuing deadlines to protesters is going to solve the crisis. Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller says we are a nation of peace, order and good gov

A blockade has been set up on a CN rail line in Edmonton in support of Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs who opposed a natural gas pipeline in British Columbia.A group called Cuzzins for Wet'suwet'en says on Twitter that it's staging the protest "in solidarity with the Wet'suwet'en." It has posted photos showing a blockade of wooden crates on the train line, with signs reading "No Consent" and "No Pipelines on Stolen Land."A statement from CN says CN police and local police services are responding.The rail company says trains aren't moving on the track and CN will take necessary legal action unde

Pargat Singh joined Vijay Saini in 'Sver Wala Show' this morning and expressed hope that there will be some action on issues raised by him in his letter to and meeting with Chief Minister, Capt. Amarinder Singh. Singh said he hasn’t considered leaving the party and joining any other front yet. He said he meets Navjot Singh Sidhu often but hasn’t had a chance to meet Sidhu since this meeting with the Chief Minister. The complete audio of this interview will be available on Connect FM’s social media.

Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs say they won't meet with Crown Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett and BC Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser until a small, mobile RCMP detachment is removed from their land. That is one of the talking points in discussions aimed at bringing an end to rail and road blockades. The RCMP says discussions are underway on next steps. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe will hold a conference call with the rest of the premiers today and is criticizing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for not ending the blockades.

Hundreds of passengers began leaving the Diamond Princess cruise ship Wednesday after the end of a much criticized, two week quarantine that failed to stop the spread of a new virus among passengers and crew. Officials still were continuing tests for the coronavirus that has sickened tens of thousands of people in China and more than 540 on the ship. Some passengers said on Twitter they received health check forms asking if they had any symptoms such as headache, fever, cough. Passengers who tested negative and had no symptoms still had to get their body temperature checked before leaving. A J

The federal government says there are now 43 Canadians on a quarantined cruise ship in Japan who have contracted the novel coronavirus. Meantime about 225 others from the Diamond Princess are set to arrive home later this week. Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu says it's not yet clear just how many of those Canadians will be airlifted home. But she stresses that any sick people will have to stay in Japan for treatment. The healthy Canadians who come home will have to be quarantined for another two weeks in Cornwall, Ontario.