CanadaAug 19, 2021
Conservative Leader says his government would tackle the housing issue
The federal Conservatives are pledging to build a million homes in three years if they're elected next month.Party leader Erin O'Toole says the supply of homes has lagged behind the country's growing population and that investors abroad are parking their cash in Canadian residential properties.N-D-P Leader Jagmeet Singh has promised his party would build 500-thousand affordable homes in 10 years, while targeting money laundering and organized crime in the housing sector by making it harder to hide behind nameless companies.The Canadian Real Estate Association says the average home-sale price i
CanadaAug 18, 2021
Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin charged with one count of sexual assault
The military officer who led Canada's COVID-19 vaccine distribution campaign has been charged with one count of sexual assault.Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin presented himself to police in Gatineau, Que., this morning after a warrant for his arrest was issued earlier this week.Fortin then told reporters that he does not know the details of the allegation against him, despite repeated requests from his legal team.Fortin's lawyers have said the only information they received is that the charge relates to an alleged incident that happened in 1988.Fortin was abruptly removed from his post at the Public Hea
CanadaAug 18, 2021
Jagmeet Singh acclaimed the candidate in Burnaby South
Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has been acclaimed as the candidate in Burnaby South.Singh says the climate crisis has been ``ravaging'' communities across Canada, while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has presided over the purchase of the Trans Mountain pipeline and rising national emissions after the Paris climate agreement.He says he would normally encourage people to give money to help get New Democrats elected, but given the destructive wildfires burning across B-C's southern Interior, he encouraged donations to firefighting and relief efforts.Earlier in the day, Singh visited Novo Textile
CanadaAug 17, 2021
Trudeau defending his government's response to the crisis in Afghanistan
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau is defending his government's response to the crisis in Afghanistan, saying all Canadian diplomats have now left the country. During a campaign event in the Toronto area today, Trudeau revealed that a total of nine flights out of Afghanistan have arrived in Canada over the past few weeks. Trudeau reiterated his promise that Canada would accept 20-thousand Afghan refugees. Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is ruling out the prospect of working with the Taliban. At a campaign event in the Vancouver area today, Singh said Canada should not recognize the group that ha
CanadaAug 17, 2021
Seven Manitobans receive $100,000 for getting the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine
Seven Manitobans are $100,000 richer as the province today announced the first set of winners in its Vax to Win lottery program. The province started the incentive program in June as a way to encourage people to get vaccinated. The government put up $2 million in prizes broken down by health regions, along with scholarships for youth 12 to 17 years old. Today's winners were people who got their first dose on or before Aug. 2. The next lottery deadline is Sept. 6 for people who have received both doses on or before that date, with winners being announced later that month. The 10 winners of the
CanadaAug 17, 2021
Poll shows slight Liberal lead
New survey results suggest Justin Trudeau's Liberals were clinging to a five-point lead on the eve of the federal election campaign.Thirty-five per cent of decided voters who took part expressed support for the Liberals, 30 per cent for the Conservatives and 20 per cent the NDP.Seven per cent would vote for the Bloc Québécois, which is fielding candidates only in Quebec, while five per cent supported the Greens and two per cent the People's Party of Canada.The online survey of 2,007 Canadians, conducted Aug. 13 to 15 by Leger in collaboration with The Canadian Press, cannot be assigned a mar
CanadaAug 16, 2021
Canada plans to send military aircraft back into Afghanistan to evacuate Canada-connected Afghans: Liberal leader Justin Trudeau
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau says Canada plans to send military aircraft back into Afghanistan to evacuate Canada-connected Afghans. But Trudeau says the airport in the capital, Kabul, must be secured to combat the chaos that currently exists there. Trudeau says Canadian military aircraft are on standby in Kuwait, waiting until the Kabul airport can be secured so they can extract Afghan citizens who helped the Canadian mission there. Afghans have been flocking to the Kabul airport, desperately trying to get out of the country. Several people are reported to have been killed as they frantical
CanadaAug 16, 2021
First full day of Canada's election campaign begins with economic pledges
The federal parties are beginning to lay out their plans to revive the country's economy after months of pain from the COVID-19 pandemic.The Liberals are promising to extend a hiring credit first unveiled in their recent budget, aimed at boosting payrolls.Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole laid out his party's full platform, which similarly aims to create jobs, but also unwinds the Trudeau government's child-care system.Meanwhile, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is promising to pry money out of the pockets of CEOs who saw their compensation rise even as their companies received federal business aid.The
CanadaAug 14, 2021
COVID-19 vaccine to be mandatory for federal employees
Ottawa is requiring that federal employees be vaccinated against COVID-19. Dominic LeBlanc, president of the Privy Council, says the government expects employers in federally regulated industries to do the same. There are close to half a million people who work directly for the federal government, a Crown corporation, the military or the RCMP.Nearly a million more work in federally regulated industries, which includes banks and airlines.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a week ago that he had asked the clerk of the Privy Council, the nation's top bureaucrat, to consider the mandate. Tran