An excess of expired hand sanitizer is proving quite costly for some provinces. The federal government spent 376 million dollars to get 20 million litres of hand sanitizer out to the provinces during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Saskatchewan says it will have to spend roughly 100 thousand dollars to dispose of more than 350 thousand litres of the expired germ killer. Manitoba says it spent more than 462 thousand to re-purpose its extra hand sanitizer. Both provinces say they received more sanitizer from Ottawa than was necessary during the pandemic because they'd procured their own su

A Nova Scotia politician has been threatened with legal action over a social media post about a woman who died in hospital after waiting to be seen for several hours. Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin, an Independent member of the legislature, says the province's justice department told her to take down a letter from her Facebook page that she had written to Health Minister Michelle Thompson. In the letter, Smith-McCrossin names 37-year-old Allison Holthoff, and describes her as a wife and mother of three who died on New Year's Eve. In an email dated January 6th, the Justice Department warned that th

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has told US President Joe Biden that Canada is buying a U-S surface-to-air missile system for Ukraine. The pair spoke today at a summit in Mexico City. Trudeau's office did not immediately provide a cost estimate or timeline on buying the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System. Ukraine Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba says his country welcomes the recent aid, saying it would help ward off Russia and bring about peace sooner.

Defence Minister Anita Anand says Canada is officially buying the F-35 fighter jet to replace its aging CF-18s, ending the years-long search where it first began. Canada had announced plans to buy the F-35 back in 2010, before politics and government mismanagement scuttled that decision. The government says Canada will ultimately buy 88 F-35s at an estimated cost of $19 billion, with the first aircraft to be delivered in 2026. The Canadian Press reported last month that the Defence Department had been authorized to spend $7 billion on an initial set of 16 F-35s and associated gear. Officials

The family of a Nova Scotia woman who died in hospital in Amherst after waiting hours for care on December 31st is calling for immediate action to address the provincial health care crisis. Independent MLA Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin says Allison ``Ali'' Leah Holthoff had to wait hours for care at the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre's emergency department despite showing signs of medical distress. The MLA from Cumberland North has sent a letter to Premier Tim Houston asking for assistance in urgently implementing a plan to help ensure safe and timely care for people living in the area. N

Canadian tourists remain barricaded in their hotel today amid violence in the streets after the arrest of a major drug cartel leader. Tina Dahl, an Edmonton woman with relatives stranded in the popular resort town of Mazatlan, says her six family members remain safe. But she says they're definitely shaken by what's happened. She says the hotel lobby was full of people who slept there overnight after their flights were cancelled. The beaches are full of military vehicles patrolling up and down as helicopters patrol the skies. Dahl says her family went to their room Thursday afternoon and have

Ontario's premier was among those who spoke today at the funeral for a provincial police officer who was killed in what the OPP has called an ambush. Doug Ford says the death of Constable Greg Pierzchala is a painful reminder that policing is a ``family calling.'' Police have said the 28 year old Pierzchala was attacked as he responded to a call for a vehicle in a ditch west of Hagersville on December 27th. Two people have been charged with first-degree murder.

A 19 year old man is facing terrorism-related charges for allegedly posting threatening tweets targeted at Parliament Hill, the Department of National Defence and two embassies. Daniel Houde is charged with four counts each of a terrorist hoax, threatening to cause death or bodily harm to a person and threatening to burn, damage and destroy property. Police say he allegedly targeted the embassies of the United States and the People's Republic of China in Ottawa.

Officials say there were no working smoke alarms in a Hamilton townhouse where a fire killed four people, including two children, last week. Ontario Fire Marshal Jon Pegg says the on-scene portion of his office's investigation is complete and confirmed the fire's origin as an upholstered sofa on the house's ground floor, though its cause is still being investigated. Pegg says the location of the fire and layout of the house blocked the victims' ability to descend down the stairwell from the second floor. Police have said they were called to help with the townhouse fire in southeast Hamilton l