Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says having an Indigenous person serve as the next commissioner of the RCMP is "an excellent idea." He made the comment in response to questions from reporters in Winnipeg today about a call from some First Nations leadership for the government to ensure the next top Mountie is Indigenous. RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki is set to retire from her post this month, slightly before the end of her five-year term. She was appointed in April 2018 and led the force during a chaotic few years that included the deadliest mass shooting in modern Canadian history, along with

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and her Chinese counterpart had a testy exchange over allegations that Beijing's envoys may be interfering in Canadian matters. Joly spoke with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang during a G20 meeting in New Delhi this week, telling him Canada will not accept China meddling in Canadian democracy. The Liberal government has been under pressure to explain what it's doing about alleged interference in the last two federal elections, which came to light in recent media stories based on leaks from security sources. Canadian officials who were there for the excha

The federal government has stopped shipping rapid COVID-19 antigen tests to provinces as millions are set to expire within the year, and experts say the once-essential tool has lost its importance in the pandemic. There are 90 million rapid tests in the federal inventory, Health Canada said in an email. About 80,000 of those are set to expire within six months and 6.5 million within the year. The rest expire within two years. “Canada has robust inventories and is well prepared for COVID response,” Anne Génier, with Health Canada, said in an email. Ottawa has ordered more than 811 million

RCMP say a six-year-old boy is in hospital after being shot by a four-year-old in Manitoba. Mounties say the children were at a home on Peguis First Nation, north of Winnipeg, and were able to get access to a gun on Monday night. Police say the younger boy fired the weapon and struck the older child. The six-year-old was taken to hospital with serious injuries but is expected to survive. RCMP seized five firearms, a cross bow and ammunition from the house. They say a man was arrested and will be facing a charge of unlawfully storing a firearm.

The Northwest Territories government says COVID-19 vaccines for children age six months to five years will be temporarily unavailable until a new shipment arrives in Canada.The territory says its current inventory of Moderna's Spikevax infant pediatric vaccine will soon expire.That vaccine will be available in the Northwest Territories until March 8.The territory says there will then be a gap of four to six weeks until a new supply is available for distribution.While Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine is also available for children in this age range, the territory says it does not have that va

Some Canadian politicians have started deactivating their TikTok accounts after the federal government decided to ban the app from government-issued devices.Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has already suspended his use of the TikTok video app and a spokesman says all members of caucus will do the same.NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he plans to step away from the social media platform, although did not say whether all of his MPs would follow suit.The House of Commons is also prohibiting the installation or use of the app on its managed devices beginning Friday.Treasury Board President Mona

The federal government is banning TikTok from its mobile devices days after federal and provincial privacy commissioners launched an investigation into the social media platform.A statement from Treasury Board President Mona Fortier says the application will be removed from government-issued mobile devices on Tuesday.The statement says the decision follows a review by the chief information officer of Canada, who determined that TikTok "presents an unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security."Last week, the federal privacy watchdog and its counterparts in B.C., Alberta and Quebec announc

Four Quebec snowmobilers have died in separate crashes since Friday.Provincial police say a man in his 60s died in St-Cuthbert, Que., around 90 kilometres northeast of Montreal, after his snowmobile collided with a tree yesterday morning.A day earlier, a man in his 50s died in Saguenay, Que., from injuries he suffered after his vehicle hit a tree.On Friday, a snowmobiler in his 40s died after colliding with another snowmobile in Quebec's Beauce-Centre region, south of Quebec City.Also on Friday, a snowmobiler in his 30s died after his snowmobile swerved off a trail in Ste-Hélène-de-Bagot, Qu

The Quebec government has tabled a bill that would make it illegal for someone who commits sexual assault to claim parental rights if the rape produces a child.Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette tabled Bill 12 on Thursday, permitting a mother who is the victim of sexual assault to refuse parental rights to her aggressor, or to have them revoked.The bill would also require the aggressor to meet certain needs of the child and to compensate the mother.It would also permit a child born of a sexual assault to be eligible to claim inheritance after the aggressor dies.Jolin-Barrette told a news co