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

New Brunswick RCMP say a 29 year old man has been charged with second-degree murder following the death of a well-known journalist in the province. The RCMP said in a news release that Philippe Hebert, who was arrested Dec. 29 after fleeing from police, was charged Tuesday with the killing of Rejean Hebert. Police say Philippe Hebert also faces charges of resisting arrest, dangerous driving, flight from police and indecently interfering with human remains. Donald Noel, the general manager of the radio station where Rejean Hebert worked, confirmed the accused is Hebert's son. The 60 year old j

Details are emerging about a criminal past of one of the two suspects charged in the killing of an Ontario Provincial Police officer. Both 25 year old Randall McKenzie and 30 year old Brandi Crystal Lyn Stewart-Sperry are facing a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Greg Pierzchala. Police say Pierzchala responded to a call for a vehicle in a ditch just west of Hagersville yesterday afternoon and was shot dead when he got there. Court documents show McKenzie has a history with the justice system, including an almost three-year sentence for robbery and other charges.

Jim Carr, a Liberal MP from Winnipeg and a former cabinet minister, has died. He was 71. Winnipeg MP Kevin Lamoureux asked the House of Commons for a moment of silence before question period today. The parties then agreed to suspend the House for the rest of the day. Carr had represented the riding of Winnipeg South Centre for the Liberals since 2015. He served as the minister of natural resources and then the minister of internal trade diversification between 2015 and 2019. In 2019, the day after being re-elected as an MP, he was diagnosed with the blood cancer multiple myeloma, and he under

Winnipeg police have released more details of their decision to not search a landfill for the remains of two Indigenous women believed to have been the victims of a serial killer.Police believe the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran ended up in the Prairie Green landfill north of the city in the spring.Insp. Cam MacKid, head of the forensics unit, says police have no starting point to search the 1.6-hectare site, where trash is compacted with heavy mud at a depth of about 12 metres.MacKid also says given the compacting and the passage of time, any human remains might not be discernibl

Protesters interrupted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as he addressed a United Nations climate conference in Montreal this afternoon. Trudeau had just begun his speech at the COP-15 conference when he was disrupted by the sound of drumming and singing.Trudeau paused for several minutes as protesters continued their demonstration. He resumed by telling attendees, "As you can see, Canada is a place of free expression."

Canada's auditor general says COVID-19 benefits were delivered quickly and helped mitigate economic suffering, however, the federal government hasn’t done enough to recover overpayments. Karen Hogan says the programs delivered relief to workers and employers and helped the economy rebound. At the same time, the report says the Canada Revenue Agency and Employment and Social Development Canada have not followed up by verifying payments.Hogan estimates 4.6 billion dollars was paid to people who were not eligible, while another 27.4 billion dollars in payments to people and businesses should be

Major-General Dany Fortin has been acquitted of sexual assault over an allegation dating back to 1988. At the time, both Fortin and the complainant were attending a military college in Quebec. The complainant told the court that she was certain ``without a doubt'' that the perpetrator was Fortin. But Fortin's lawyer cited inconsistencies between the complainant's testimony and her previous statements to investigators last year, including details of the incident. Fortin is the former head of the federal government's COVID-19 vaccine rollout campaign.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford are celebrating the opening today of Canada's first full-scale electric vehicle manufacturing plant. Trudeau says electric delivery vans have started rolling off the line today at the General Motors CAMI production plant in Ingersoll, Ont., which has been retooled to build the company's BrightDrop all-electric vehicle brand. The prime minister was joined by Ford and the province's Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli to mark the milestone. The provincial and federal governments each invested $259 million toward GM's $2-billion pl