The Liberal government is entering into final negotiations on purchasing the F-35 fighter jet. Procurement Minister Filomena Tassi and Defence Minister Anita Anand are announcing the decision at a news conference this afternoon. The move doesn't mean a deal to purchase the stealth fighter from U.S. defence giant Lockheed Martin is officially done. The government still has the option to begin talks with Saab about its Gripen fighter should negotiations with Lockheed Martin stall. Canada plans to buy 88 new fighter jets to replace its CF-18s, budgeting up to $19 billion for the purchase. The go

Brampton, Ontario Fire Chief Bill Boyes says firefighters' hearts are breaking after battling an early morning house fire that killed three children and two adults and sent a third adult to hospital in critical condition.The children are believed to have been six, eight and 11-years-old, and the two adults who died are believed to be theirparents.Two children were pronounced dead at a local hospital, while the third was pronounced dead at the scene.

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says the federal government will commit another $2 billion to help provincial health systems work through their surgical and diagnostic backlogs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding, contained in the newly tabled Bill C-17, follows a $4-billion top-up to the federal health transfer last summer and is expected to be a one-time payment. Throughout the pandemic hospitals across the country had to delay non-emergency procedures to make way for urgent COVID-19 cases. That's led to delayed care for millions of Canadians, on top of already lengthy wait lists

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada is going to impose sanctions on 160 members of the Russian Federation Council. That brings the total number of sanctioned people with links to President Vladimir Putin to 964. Trudeau says Canada is going to increase its defence spending, but at a news conference in Brussels following NATO and G-7 leaders' meetings he wouldn't be pinned down on specifics. NATO's secretary-general says leaders have agreed to present plans by June on investing billions of additional dollars into their respective militaries.

Ninety of Canada's top climate scientists and forest researchers have written to the federal government urging protection for old-growth trees. A federal plan setting greenhouse gas emission reductions is expected to be announced soon and the scientists say ancient timber stands must be protected. They say old-growth trees store about 50 per cent more carbon than younger trees but old-growth is being harvested too quickly, releasing greenhouse gases and making forests less able to withstand wildfires. The letter also calls on federal watchdogs to do more to calculate the greenhouse gases rele

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is making a plea to European leaders to come together as democracies in the face of Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Trudeau is addressing the European Parliament for the first time since 2017. He says Putin's attack on Ukraine is an attack on the values that form the pillars of all democracies. Trudeau says Western countries must provide more humanitarian aid, send military equipment and lethal aid to Ukraine, and further tighten economic sanctions on Putin. Trudeau says democracies face a new threat from Russian President Valdimir Putin. Trudeau will joi

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the Liberals have reached an agreement that would see the New Democrats support his minority government through to 2025. Trudeau says the deal is a ``confidence and supply'' agreement and it takes effect today. This kind of agreement, which is a version of the deal the B.C. NDP struck with the Greens in that province in 2017, generally involves an opposition party agreeing to support the government on confidence motions and budget or appropriation votes for a certain period of time. Trudeau says it is about focusing on what each party agrees on, rather than

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will address the European Parliament in Brussels this week before meeting with other NATO and G7 leaders about Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Prime Minister's Office shared news of the coming speech to European lawmakers as Trudeau prepares to leave for his second trip across the Atlantic this month. Trudeau is set to arrive in Brussels Wednesday, where his speech will stress the importance of ties with North America and both continents working together to defend democracy. The prime minister will then join other NATO leaders on Thursday to co-ordinate the mil

Pressure is on the federal government to step in to resolve the work stoppage at CP Rail. Fertilizer Canada says Ottawa must take ``immediate action'' because disrupting rail service during spring seeding season will have devastating effects on farmers. But Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan is not ready to discuss the possibility of back to work legislation being tabled in the House of Commons. He says the company and the union are still talking.