CanadaFeb 18, 2020
Via to partly resume service between Quebec City and Ottawa starting Thursday
Via Rail says partial service is set to resume between Quebec City, Montreal and Ottawa beginning Thursday.Almost all other Via Rail services remain cancelled with the exception of Sudbury White River and Churchill The Pas, until further notice.Via trains have been disrupted by protests by people showing solidarity with the hereditary Wet'suwet'en chiefs opposing the Coastal GasLink project.Protestors have blocked rail lines across the country and disrupted freight and passenger traffic.Via says the partial resumption of service between Ottawa and Quebec City follows a notification received fr
CanadaFeb 17, 2020
Federal government asks court for four more months to amend assisted dying law
The federal government is asking for more time to amend the assisted-dying law, acknowledging that it can't meet a court imposed deadline to drop a provision that allows only those who are already near death to qualify for medical help to end their lives. Justice Minister David Lametti filed a motion Monday requesting a four-month extension on the court ruling. Quebec Superior Court Judge Christine Baudouin ruled last September that it is unconstitutional to limit the right to a medically assisted death to those whose natural death is "reasonably foreseeable." She gave the government until Ma
CanadaFeb 17, 2020
Anti pipeline emergency meeting ends, no signs on what's the way ahead
An emergency meeting of cabinet ministers to discuss anti-pipeline blockades has ended with participants giving no sign of what they are planning to do.
Hereditary chiefs are protesting a planned natural-gas pipeline that crosses Wet'suwet'en territory in northern British Columbia.
Sympathy blockades of rail lines across the country have shut down train traffic in eastern Canada for about two weeks.
After the meeting, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had only a brief comment for waiting reporters.
The Trudeau government has been criticized for not doing more to end the blockades, which have
CanadaFeb 17, 2020
Trudeau cancels Caribbean trip amid pipeline protests
The prime minister is calling off a planned trip to the Caribbean this week.
His office announced the cancellation less than 24 hours before Justin Trudeau was scheduled to fly to Barbados, where he was expected to sell Canada's bid to get a seat on the United Nations Security Council.
Back home, the P-M has been facing harsh criticism in the wake of anti-pipeline protests that have disrupted rail service.
He'd been accused of ''running around'' Africa and Europe as protesters opposed to the Coastal GasLink pipeline project blockade rail lines in B-C, Ontario and other parts of the country.
CanadaFeb 13, 2020
Former Conservative cabinet minister John Baird decides to stay out of leadership race
Former Conservative cabinet minister John Baird says he's not running to lead the federal Conservative party. His announcement puts an end to days of speculation that he could enter the race, talk that began late last month after both current MP Pierre Poilievre and former interim party leader Rona Ambrose decided not to run. Baird had been poised to run Poilievre's campaign, but Poilievre dropped out last month, saying his heart wasn't in it. The absence of what some in the party feel is a ``true blue'' voice in the contest a role some saw as belonging to either Poilievre or Ambrose _ put pr
CanadaFeb 13, 2020
Japan confirms 12 Canadians on cruise ship infected with novel coronavirus
Japanese authorities might soon allow people quarantined aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship near Tokyo, where 12 Canadians have contracted the novel coronavirus, to disembark and finish out their isolation on land. The 3,500 passengers on the ship have been under quarantine since last week, and so far 218 have tested positive for the disease, which the World Health Organization has dubbed COVID-19. Foreign Affairs Minister Francois Philippe Champagne says it's the biggest concentration of confirmed cases outside of mainland China. Champagne says emergency response teams and consular offi
CanadaFeb 13, 2020
Bombardier completes its exit of commercial aviation as it sells CSeries stake
Bombardier is selling its remaining stake in the A-220 jet for nearly 600 million dollars in a deal that involves Airbus and the Quebec government.The Montreal based company is transferring its shares to Airbus and the province as it tries to emerge from more than 9 billion dollars in debt.Quebec Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon calls the agreement a ``win-win'' for all partners.This morning Bombardier also reported a 2019 loss of 1.61 billion dollars.Rumours persist that it will sell one of its two main divisions later this year.
CanadaFeb 12, 2020
Ontario: Unions plan to stage walkout, more than two-million students out of class
The contract dispute between Ontario's four major teachers' unions and Premier Doug Ford's Conservative government is about to escalate. The unions plan to stage a one-day walkout next Friday, a move that will leave more than two-million students out of class. One union president says the Ford government is decimating the education system. The education minister is calling the walkout an irresponsible choice.
CanadaFeb 12, 2020
Trudeau to speak to federal ministers on B.C. protests
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Senegal today, wrapping up a trip through Africa, but he has been kept apprised of growing protests and blockades by opponents of the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline across northern BC. Freight trains bound for the Port of Prince Rupert have been stalled for days by a blockade near New Hazelton, and Via Rail and CN both say blockades in BC, Ontario and Quebec are affecting the movement of thousands of passengers and tonnes of goods. Trudeau says while the federal government respects the right to peaceful protest, the rule of law must also be respected.