Category: Canada

In Letter to Chow, Freeland Puts Toronto Budget Bailout on Province’s Shoulders

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says it’s the Ontario government’s responsibility to help backstop Toronto’s pandemic-ravaged finances, offering no new federal dollars in a letterresponding to Mayor Olivia Chow’s request for help. The two-page letter from Freeland to Chow says the province has the constitutional responsibility and fiscal capacity to support the city. Freeland, who…


Public Health Agency of Canada Budgets $17.6 Million for COVID Vaccine Passport Program Until 2025: Memo

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) budgeted millions for a vaccine passport program until fiscal 2024–2025, with a Department of Health memo saying the funding was needed to support federal public health measures “as needed going forward.” “The expected result would be that Canadians have continued access to the Canadian COVID-19 proof of vaccination…


Mental Health Minister Puts $156M Toward Launch of 988 Crisis Hotline in November

Mental Health Minister Carolyn Bennett says the government is putting $156 million over three years toward a new three-digit suicide-prevention hotline. Starting on Nov. 30, people in crisis will be able to dial 988 anywhere in Canada to be connected with trained responders 24 hours a day by phone or text message. The free service…


Canadian Chamber of Commerce Joins Calls for Extension of CEBA Repayment Deadline

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce and a coalition of industry associations have joined calls for the federal government to extend the deadline for small businesses to repay pandemic loans received through the Canada Emergency Business Account program. A letter to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on Monday urges her to push back the repayment deadline by…


Searchers Continue to Pump Water From Nova Scotia Field in Search for Flood Missing

Workers are continuing to pump water from a flooded field in Nova Scotia that is the focus of a search for four people, including two children, who went missing in a torrent of water Saturday. Abraham Zebian, mayor of West Hants Regional Municipality, was at the site earlier today and says search teams are pumping…


Principals Council Says TDSB Didn’t Protect Principal Who Committed Suicide Due to Bullying

The Ontario Principals’ Council (OPC) has issued a statement following the suicide death of retired Toronto District School Board (TDSB) principal Richard Bilkszto, stating that employers have an obligation to protect their staff from bullying and harassment and that the TDSB clearly failed to do so. The council said in a July 21 statement on Twitter…


‘We Take Pride in What We Accomplished’: Canadian Veterans Remember the Korean War

Bill Black still gets letters and cards thanking him and other Canadian veterans for their service in the Korean War. Quite a few of those notes from South Koreans have arrived lately at the Korea Veterans Association, where Black is president of an Ottawa chapter, as the 70th anniversary of the armistice in that conflict…


Man Shot and Killed in Toronto’s Greektown, Hours After Memorial for Mass Shooting

A man died after a shooting in Toronto’s Greektown early Sunday morning, just hours after a memorial marking the fifth anniversary of a mass shooting in the same neighbourhood. Gunshots rang out near Danforth and Carlaw avenues at around 3:30 a.m., city police said, and the man who was shot died in hospital a short…


Toddler Dies After Being Struck by Vehicle at Quebec Campsite: Provincial Police

Quebec provincial police say a toddler was killed after being struck by a car at a campsite in the Saguenay Lac-Saint-Jean region north of Quebec City. Provincial police say the boy, under the age of two, was struck around 11 a.m. while playing near the side of the road on Sunday at the site in…


Refugee Claims Followed Montreal AIDS Summit Marred by Visa Woes, Planning Issues

Almost one-sixth of guests at a major AIDS conference in Montreal last year who received Canadian visas ended up claiming asylum, according to internal data obtained by The Canadian Press. The documents also show Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada struggled to work with the International AIDS Society as both tried to avoid a mass refusal…