Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge says that while the Online News Act isn't perfect, the media landscape is changing too fast for the government to wait any longer.Speaking at the MINDS international news agency conference in Toronto, St-Onge said that the government intends to stand firm with the law that will force Facebook and Google to pay for news links on their websites.She says Facebook is using intimidation tactics by removing all news links in Canada before the act is even in force, and encouraged other countries to also take action against tech giants to protect news.Facebook parent

Canada's highest court has ruled that media can't publish portions of a criminal trial that take place before a jury is constituted.In a unanimous decision released today, the Supreme Court of Canada has upheld lower court decisions that said those trial details cannot be made public until jurors begin deliberating or are dismissed.At issue were two cases in which judges imposed publication bans on proceedings that took place before juries were impanelled, leading media companies to appeal those bans directly to the Supreme Court.One case was heard in Quebec and involved Frédérick Silva, a h

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

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