Former Quebec Liberal cabinet minister Benoît Pelletier has died in Mexico at age 64. In a statement announcing his death, his family described him as an attentive husband and devoted father who was deeply committed to Quebec and the French language. Pelletier was a well-known University of Ottawa law professor when he made the leap into provincial politics in 1998 by winning a seat in the western Quebec Chapleau riding for Jean Charest's Liberals. He presided over the Liberal party's special committee on Quebec's political and constitutional future, and was considered the father of the Chare

The federal government's pre-budget charm offensive is back for a second straight day this time aimed at parents and child care providers. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the government plans to provide more than $1 billion in low-cost loans, grants and student loan forgiveness to expand child care across Canada. Trudeau made the announcement in Surrey, B.C., part of the Liberal government's effort to win back support among younger voters and middle-class families. He says an additional $60 million will be set aside for non-repayable grants for eligible child care centres to build new space

Four of Ontario's largest school boards have launched lawsuits against the parent companies of Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat and TikTok alleging the social media platforms are disrupting student learning. The lawsuits claim the platforms are negligently designed for compulsive use and have rewired the way children think, behave and learn, leaving teachers and schools to manage the fallout. The allegations in the lawsuits filed in Ontario Superior Court have not been proven. The school boards suing are the Toronto District School Board, the Peel District School Board, the Toronto Catholic Distr

Quebec provincial police are investigating after two bodies were found in a home in the Laurentians region. The bodies were found about 9:15 a.m. inside a residence in Lac-Supérieur, Que., about 105 kilometres northwest of Montreal. Provincial police spokesperson Camille Savoie says the two people were transported to hospital where they were declared dead. Savoie says the deaths are considered suspicious. The crimes against persons unit has taken over the investigation. Police are not commending on the cause or circumstances surrounding the two deaths.

The federal government wants to support those who rent their homes with a protection fund, a bill of rights and a plan to give reliable renters credit when they step up to by a home. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says there's something fundamentally unfair about paying $2,000 a month for rent, while those paying the same for a mortgage get equity and build their credit score. The measures are part of next month's federal budget and include a $15-million Tenant Protection Fund, which would pay provincial legal aid groups to help tenants against unfairly rising rents, 'renovictions' or bad landl

The Canada Revenue Agency has now fired more than 200 people for falsely claiming a federal income benefit during the COVID-19 pandemic. The CRA says as of March 15, 232 employees "inappropriately applied for and received" the Canada Emergency Response Benefit and have been terminated, an increase of 47 since December. The benefit, known as CERB for short, provided $2,000 per month to Canadians whose jobs were lost as a result of public health restrictions during the pandemic. They must repay the CERB funds they received if they have not already done so. The agency launched an internal review

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is pushing back against premiers who are asking him to cancel an upcoming increase to the federal carbon price, saying they have not proposed better ideas to fight climate change. Trudeau says in a letter to premiers today that the last time they discussed the issue in 2022, their governments either didn't propose alternative solutions or couldn't meet federal standards for reducing emissions. The premiers of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador have all asked to Trudeau to forgo the April 1

Statistics Canada says the country posted its highest annual population growth rate in more than six decades last year. The agency says the population grew 3.2 per cent, its fastest pace since 1957 when it grew 3.3 per cent. The increase brought the population to 40,769,890on Jan. 1, 2024. The total was up by 1,271,872 people compared with the start of 2023. Statistics Canada says most of the growth was due to temporary immigration last year. Without temporary immigration, it says Canada's population growth rate would have been 1.2 per cent.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says Canada is airlifting vulnerable Canadians out of Haiti by helicopter to the Dominican Republic as conditions continue to deteriorate. Haiti has been in a profound security crisis since mid-2021, when gangs took control of key infrastructure and started violent turf wars that have led to a collapse of most medical and food systems in the country. Two weeks ago, unelected Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry agreed to resign once a transitional council is formed to oversee an international military intervention led by Kenya. Earlier this month, Canada ai