Former Conservative leader Erin O'Toole has been named as the president and managing director of risk advisory firm ADIT North America.The firm provides services to companies, investment funds and agencies that operate or invest globally.It describes itself as specializing in strategic intelligence, business diplomacy, due diligence, security and compliance.The regional branch of the Paris-based firm that O'Toole will helm encompasses operations in both Canada and Mexico.O'Toole, who served in the cabinet of former prime minister Stephen Harper, announced in March that he would not return to t

Immigration Minister Sean Fraser says deportation orders for international students caught up in a fraud scheme have been put on hold while a task force investigates each case.Hundreds of students might have been affected by the scheme, which saw immigration agents issue fake acceptance letters to get international students into Canada.Some students had no idea their documents were forged until it came time for them apply for permanent residency.Fraser says the department is aware of only few dozen who have been ordered to leave the country, and that process will be paused.A task force of seni

Justice Russell Brown is retiring from the Supreme Court of Canada effective immediately, ending a probe into alleged misconduct.The Canadian Judicial Council, the body tasked with disciplining judges, says it no longer has jurisdiction to continue investigating allegations of misconduct stemming from an event at an Arizona hotel in January.Brown has vigorously denied accusations that he was intoxicated and harassed a group of friends at an event in Scottsdale, Ariz., honouring another judge.The justice, who was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2015 by then-prime minister Stephen Harper, had

WestJet says it will wind down operations at its budget carrier Swoop by October.The move comes after ratification of a new collective agreement that brings pilots of both carriers onto a level pay scale, with a 24 percent pay bump over four years.The airline says it will integrate Swoop's operations into its main banner.WestJet CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech says keeping Swoop separate would make little sense financially given the higher labour costs.He says each WestJet flight will offer a portion of ultra-low-cost tickets.

A Senate report released today says Canada can make major strides in addressing suicide prevention if all levels of government develop strategies tailored towards men and Indigenous people, the groups facing the highest suicide rates.The Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology also says the Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention Act has done little to bring down the rate of suicides across Canada since it was adopted in 2016.The report says this is because the current framework does not prioritize evidence-based interventions for suicide prevention and does a poor job at t

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is showing no interest in compromising with Meta and Google over their online news bill that would make tech giants pay for journalism created by others that helps those companies generate revenue.Google says it wants to compromise with the Liberal government over the proposed legislation, known as Bill C-18, which would require tech giants to pay publishers for linking to or otherwise repurposing news content.But Trudeau says Meta and Google's bullying tactics will not work with his government, which he says is ensuring those companies do not weaken Canada's demo

The Bank of Canada has increased the interest rate by 0.25 percent today.This is the first hike since January this year.After the new rate hike, the central bank's prime interest rate has risen to 4.75 percent.This has made all types of loans expensive.In March this year, the central bank put a conditional pause on rate hikes and predicted that the Canadian economy would slow under the measures taken to control inflation, but the economy in the first quarter of this year was much stronger than the central bank's estimate. After which the interest rate has been increased again.The central bank

The Trudeau government is earmarking $1.5 million for LGBTQ community organizations to boost security measures at Pride parades and other events this summer.The money matches a request by a national umbrella group, Fierté Canada Pride, which will distribute it to local committees that apply.The funding can be used for expenses such as vehicle and crowd control, barricades, fees for paid-duty police or private security.Organizations supporting gender and sexual minorities across Canada have ramped up their security after a documented rise in hate crimes targeting LGBTQ people, and physical con

Former governor general David Johnston says he will begin holding public meetings next month on foreign interference attempts in Canada's elections.Johnston, whom Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed to investigate the issue, is appearing before a parliamentary committee today for a marathon three hours of testimony.Johnston released a report last month that found significant shortcomings in the way the federal government handles intelligence about alleged foreign meddling.Opposition parties agree that the 2019 and 2021 federal election results were not compromised, but they still say a pub