The number of planes landing in Canada carrying passengers with COVID-19 was cut by more than half in the two weeks after the federal government barred incoming flights from India and Pakistan on April 22nd. Transport Canada announced April 22 that direct flights from the countries would be halted for 30 days after high numbers of passengers were testing positive for the virus after landing. Health Canada data posted online show between April 10th and 23rd, 135 international flights arrived with at least one passenger who had COVID-19. 36 of those were direct flights from India and 2 were fro

The Liberal government whip says Bloc Quebecois MP Stephen Lemire should answer questions about a screenshot he took of a naked Liberal MP during virtual parliamentary proceedings last month. Liberal whip Mark Holland is calling for Lemire to appear before a House of Commons committee. Quebec MP William Amos has said he was changing his clothes after a jog on April 14th and did not realize his laptop camera was turned on as he was visible on an internal parliamentary feed. Lemire has apologized for taking the screenshot, but has said he has no idea how the image was released to the media and

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not breach the Conflict of Interest Act over failing to recuse himself from cabinet discussions to have WE Charity operate a federal student-volunteer program, Canada's ethics watchdog say in a report released Thursday. In a separate report, federal ethics commissioner Mario Dion found that former finance minister Bill Morneau did violate the rules and should have recused himself. He says Morneau ``gave WE preferential treatment by permitting his ministerial staff to disproportionately assist it when it sought federal funding.'' Dion says he was asked to inve

Greyhound Canada is permanently cutting all bus routes across the country, shutting down the intercity bus carrier's operations in Canada after nearly a century of service. The motor coach company says its remaining routes in Ontario and Quebec will cease permanently on Thursday. Its American affiliate, Greyhound Lines, Inc., will continue to operate cross-border routes to Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver once the border reopens. The decision comes a year after Greyhound Canada temporarily suspended all service due to a sharp decline in passengers and mounting travel restrictions amid the firs

The Globe and Mail is reporting that Alberta has stopped administering first doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in favour of other types of immunization. The newspaper quotes Kristin Klein, the co-lead of the province’s vaccine task force, as saying the province has decided to shift to mRNA vaccines for first doses.The report says the move is partly due to the greater supply of mRNA shots, such as the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna ones, and partly due to concerns over a rare blood clot condition linked to AstraZeneca.Klein says AstraZeneca shots will still be made available to t

Ontario will likely mix and match COVID-19 vaccine doses in light of uncertain future supply of all the shots approved for use in Canada. Health Minister Christine Elliott says it's likely that recipients of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine may receive a different shot for their second dose. The province is waiting for the results from a U.K. study on mixing different vaccines and on advice from a federal immunization panel. Quebec has also said that it plans to mix vaccines due to supply shortages, substituting the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for the Moderna vaccines in order to quickly give booste

Katie Telford says she has asked herself in recent months whether she could have done more to fight sexual misconduct in Canada's armed forces. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's chief of staff testified at a parliamentary defence committee today. Telford says she didn't learn the content of a 2018 complaint against Canada's former top soldier until February when it was reported publicly. She has told MPs she was only told it was a ``personal misconduct'' complaint. Telford says since then, she has replayed past conversations in her head with female soldiers and asked herself what more she could

Statistics Canada says the economy lost 207,000 jobs in April as a new rise in COVID-19 cases led to renewed public health restrictions that closed businesses. The unemployment rate rose to 8.1 per cent from 7.5 per cent in March. Statistics Canada says the number of employed people in April working less than half their usual hours increased by 288,000 or 27.2 per cent. The losses in April nearly wiped out the 303,000 jobs added in March when the economy outpaced expectations and put the country about half a million jobs below pre-pandemic levels. More losses were seen in full-time work than

Canada's expert panel on vaccines upset numerous doctors and health professionals this week when they expressed a preference for Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. But a new survey from Proof Strategies suggests lots of Canadians feel the same. More than eight in 10 people say that vaccines are safe and effective when asked specifically about Pfizer-BioNTech, and almost as many for Moderna. But trust falls to under 50 per cent for both Oxford-AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. Proof President Bruce MacLellan says weeks of warnings about a new and rare blood clotting syndrome have clearly taken