The federal government says it will spend up to $1.5 billion over the next three years to improve access to drugs used to treat rare diseases.Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says up to $1.4 billion of that money will be used to help provinces and territories expand coverage of new and existing drugs that treat rare diseases.The federal government says it wants to create a list of new and emerging drugs for rare diseases that would be covered in a similar way by all provincial and territorial health insurance plans.Another $52 million will be used to gather evidence on the safety and effective

Families Minister Karina Gould announced today that the federal government has now "completely eliminated" the backlog of passport applications that caused major delays and major political strife last year.She also announced that Ottawa is launching a new digital tool that will allow Canadians to check the status of their Service Canada application online, as long as they provide an email address.The update comes after Gould said in late January that the backlog was "virtually eliminated," with the exception of some complex cases held back for reasons such as child-custody issues.The pandemic

Hundreds of police cars have lined streets in Edmonton as the bodies of two slain city officers are transported from the medical examiner's office to a funeral home.Blue ribbons are wrapped around street lights along the five-kilometre procession route.Civilians are also standing along the streets to show their support, some wearing blue ribbons and scarves.The bodies of Const. Brett Ryan and Const.Travis Jordan are to be kept at the Serenity Funeral Home until a public regimental funeral is held Monday at Rogers Place arena.Police have said the officers were responding to a family dispute at

RCMP in Kelowna, B.C., confirm the BC Hate Crimes Team has joined an investigation into an attack on an international student in the city.A statement from the Kelowna detachment says its general investigations team is leading the file and is seeking video from the area around a bus stop where the assault happened on March 17.Police say a suspect group has been identified, but no arrests have been made. The reason for the attack and the details linked to it are still being determined and the 21-year-old student is being supported by the Mounties' victim services unit.RCMP have released few deta

Approximately 75% of B.C. families with children will see more money in their bank accounts from the third enhanced BC Family Benefit payment.The monthly benefit was temporarily increased for families in B.C. for the first three months of 2023. From January through March 2023 combined, the extra BC Family Benefit payments have provided as much as an additional $350 for a family with two children."While global inflation is stretching most household budgets, it can be really tough for those already struggling to make ends meet," said Katrine Conroy, Minister of Finance. "Supporting people contin

The federal government is doling out more cash in B.C. this time to help the growth and innovation of 10 Vancouver-based companies.Harjit Sajjan, the minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada, announced eight companies will receive just over $16 million from a federal scale-up and productivity fund.Nearly $10 million from a jobs and growth fund will be split by two other companies and the government says businesses benefiting from the cash include one using bioprinting technology to find treatments for incurable diseases.The statement from Sajjan's office says

A Vancouver parent has launched a proposed class-action lawsuit against the makers of Fortnite, saying the popular video game is designed to be "as addictive as possible" for children.In the lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court on Friday, the plaintiff identified only as A.B. says her son downloaded Fortnite in 2018 and "developed an adverse dependence on the game."The statement of claim says the game incorporates a number of intentional design choices such as offering rewards for completing challenges and making frequent updates, which encourages players to return repeatedly.The statement say

Provincial police say a third person has died after a pickup truck crashed into pedestrians in an eastern Quebec town one week ago.Police say Simon-Guillaume Bourget, 41, died on the weekend after being injured last Monday.Two other men, Gérald Charest, 65, and Jean Lafrenière, 73, died after being struck in Amqui, about 350 kilometres northeast of Quebec City.Police have said eight others were injured in the crash, ranging in age from less than a year old to 77, and hospital officials in Quebec City say one person is in critical condition and two others are stable.Steeve Gagnon, 38, is faci

A new Punjabi bilingual program is set to start at the Seven Oaks School Division in Winnipeg next school year. Students will receive Punjabi instruction in core subjects for about half of the day.There will also be some focus on Indian culture and history.Amber Trails Community School will be offering the program to students in kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 2.This is the fourth non-French bilingual program offered in the school division, which currently runs similar programs in Ukrainian, Ojibway and Tagalog.