CanadaOct 16, 2020
Number of homes sold across the country last month set a September record
Metro Vancouver isn't the only housing market in Canada where sales are surging. The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold across the country last month set a September record, while the average price soared 17.5 per cent over the same period last year. But the association says the average price of 604,000 dollars would be about 125,000 dollars lower if trends in the Vancouver and Toronto markets were excluded. Strong sales on Vancouver Island also helped buoy the national market, as sales there and across Greater Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa and the Hamilton area of On
CanadaOct 15, 2020
'Discovery by little Nathan:' 12 year old makes fossil find in southern Alberta
A 12 year old Calgary boy has found a young dinosaur fossil that paleontologists say can fill a significant gap in their knowledge of dinosaur evolution. Nathan Hrushkin was hiking with his dad in the badlands of southeastern Alberta, when he discovered the fossil of a juvenile hadrosaur. Since then, paleontologists have uncovered between 30 and 50 bones in the canyon's wall. A Calgary based paleontologist is excited about the discovery of a young dinosaur fossil by a 12 year old boy which could help experts understand how dinosaurs lived through severe climate change millions of years ago. F
CanadaOct 15, 2020
Ontario woman charged for violating quarantine rules, returning to work at care home
Ottawa police say they have charged a woman with violating the Quarantine Act after she went to work four days after returning from a trip outside Canada. They say she came back to Canada on Sept. 26 and went to her job at a long-term care facility on Sept. 30 rather than self-isolating for the legally required 14 days. Her bosses sent her home upon learning of the situation and no cases of COVID-19 there have been traced to her, according to a police statement. The 53 year old is charged with two counts under the Quarantine Act: one of violating the self-isolation requirement and a separate
CanadaOct 15, 2020
Chinese envoy warns Canada against granting asylum to Hong Kong protesters
The Chinese ambassador to Canada is warning the Trudeau government not to grant asylum to Hong Kong residents fleeing a widely criticized national security law imposed by Beijing. Ambassador Cong Peiwu brands pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong as violent criminals and says if Canada grants them asylum that amounts to interference in China's internal affairs. Cong says if Canada cares about 300,000 Canadian citizens in Hong Kong and the Canadian companies doing business there it should support Chinese efforts to fight what he calls fight violent crime. Cong also flatly rejects Prime Ministe
CanadaOct 15, 2020
Online hate, racist hiring practices among targets of $15M federal anti-racism funds
At least a dozen new projects to go after online hate are being funded through Ottawa's anti-racism strategy today. Diversity Minister Bardish Chagger says 85 projects are getting money through the anti-racism action program. That program is part of the $45 million the federal government set aside in 2019 for the anti-racism strategy. The Liberals promised to double the funding for the strategy in the 2019 election campaign but that has not yet happened. Projects to target online hate were given priority in the action program and a dozen were approved, including one by the Canadian Anti-Hate
CanadaOct 15, 2020
Opposition MPs brace for marathon Liberal filibuster over WE documents demand
Opposition MPs are bracing for another marathon meeting of the House of Commons ethics committee today as they ramp up efforts to revive their investigation into the WE Charity affair.
Indeed, Conservative MP Michael Barrett says he and his colleagues are prepared for the meeting to drag on for days, if that's what it takes to finally force an end to a filibuster by Liberal committee members who've been blocking opposition demands for more documents.
At issue is a motion put forward by Barrett last week calling on Speakers' Spotlight, the agency that arranged speaking engagements for Prime Mi
CanadaOct 15, 2020
Canadians spend more money and time online during COVID pandemic: StatCan
The COVID-19 pandemic has Canadians spending more time and money online. Statistics Canada says a survey conducted last month found that 44 per cent of Canadians had dropped more money on technology, including computers, laptops and tablets, and 42 per cent had sprung for more video streaming services. The survey also found about a third of Canadians say they've received attempted identity-theft attacks and 14 per cent reported at least one attack related to COVID-19 test results, a potential cure for the virus or about the Canada Emergency Response Benefit. Analyst Christopher Collins says t
CanadaOct 14, 2020
WestJet cutting 100 flights to Atlantic Canada
WestJet's CEO says the lack of travel demand combined with domestic quarantines means the airline can no longer maintain its full Canadian network. In a video post, Ed Sims says WestJet is, ``out of runway,'' and is suspending operations to four cities in Atlantic Canada and slashing service to others in the region.WestJet says it will indefinitely halt routes to Fredericton and Moncton, New Brunswick, Sydney, Nova Scotia, and Charlottetown, while dramatically paring down service to Halifax and St. John's, Newfoundland. PEI Premier Dennis King is expressing ``deep disappointment'' that WestJe
CanadaOct 14, 2020
Automobile traffic into Canada remains low in September, Statistics Canada says
Statistics Canada says vehicular traffic coming into Canada from the U.S. remains low as travel restrictions remain in place. The agency says the number of U.S. travellers who crossed into Canada by car in September is down 94 per cent, to a total of 64,700 trips, compared to the same time last year. Last month, it said U.S. residents made 72, 800 trips across the border.Statistics Canada also says the number of Canadians returning to the country in September was down 93 per cent, to 151,900, compared to the 2.2 million recorded in September 2019. Restrictions on non-essential travel due to CO