The agency responsible for approving and assessing energy development in Alberta is laying off staff as it deals with budget cuts.The Alberta Energy Regulator says it laid off ``a couple of dozen'' staff yesterday with more to come by the end of February.Gordon Lambert, interim CEO, says the changes are part of a restructuring that aims to make the regulator more effective, efficient, and resilient.Last October the government announced that the AER would lose about 22 percent of its operating budget.Lambert says while it is a difficult time for staff, the AER will continue to protect public s

Former Quebec premier Jean Charest has decided not to seek the federal Conservative leadership. In an interview with Radio-Canada today, he says the odds are stacked against someone from outside the party like he is. Charest had been testing the waters for a leadership attempt since current Conservative leader Andrew Scheer announced his intention to resign.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada will move next week to formally approve North America's new, long-delayed free trade pact.Trudeau says the government will introduce a ways and means motion Jan. 27 when Parliament resumes, and will table legislation to ratify the deal two days later.Trudeau says millions of Canadians depend on stable, reliable trade with their largest trading partners.That will effectively remove the final legal hurdle in preserving continent-wide trade after President Donald Trump foisted the acrimonious renegotiation of the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agre

Quebec's immigration minister has acknowledged the province's system to sponsor refugees needs reform after hundreds of people camped out in his department's Montreal offices over the weekend, hoping to claim one of the few available applications.The government said it would only accept 750 privately-sponsored refugee applications for the entire province.Most were reserved for organizations seeking to bring an asylum seeker to Quebec, while just 100 applications were reserved for groups of two to five people hoping to sponsor a refugee. The Immigration Department held to a first-come, first-s

Three possible cases of a new type of viral pneumonia have been investigated in Canada and ruled out as coronavirus, the country's chief public health officer said Monday.The World Health Organization, meanwhile, announced plans to hold an emergency meeting to decide whether the illness linked to three deaths in China is an international emergency.Dr. Theresa Tam declined to say where in Canada the potential cases were located, but she said the individuals had travelled to Wuhan, the Chinese province where coronavirus is believed to have originated in a now-closed seafood market before being d

It's now Day 5 of the state of emergency in the St. John's, N.L., as cleanup continues from Friday's massive blizzard that dumped 76 centimetres of snow in the area.Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan says 450 troops including about 175 reservists will be in Newfoundland today to help the province dig out from the storm.Travel remains difficult across eastern Newfoundland, and some residents are relying on each other for food. The City of St. John's says some stores will be allowed to reopen today to sell "basic foods."Most other businesses have to remain closed, with exceptions for gas stations a

Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister is warning Ottawa it will have to show some flexibility if it wants him to continue helping build bridges to Alberta and Saskatchewan. Pallister made the comment after a meeting in Winnipeg with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, where he said Manitoba will include a carbon price of some type in a new green plan aimed at exempting the province from the federal carbon tax. His initial flat carbon tax was rejected by the federal government, which has called for escalating prices. Pallister suggests he still wants a flat tax and repeated his demands that Ottawa must

The mayor of Winnipeg came out of a sit-down meeting with the prime minister on Monday saying that all levels of government need to work together to tackle a methamphetamine crisis plaguing the city. Brian Bowman said he asked Justin Trudeau to take stock of the federal government's efforts to make sure that they align with those of the city and the province. "We have to work together with our provincial and our federal partners to better address the root causes of crime, but also deal with the meth crisis that we are particularly affected with here in the Prairies and in the city of Winnipeg

The mayor of Winnipeg came out of a sit-down meeting with the prime minister on Monday saying that all levels of government need to work together to tackle a methamphetamine crisis plaguing the city.Brian Bowman said he asked Justin Trudeau to take stock of the federal government's efforts to make sure that they align with those of the city and the province."We have to work together with our provincial and our federal partners to better address the root causes of crime, but also deal with the meth crisis that we are particularly affected with here in the Prairies and in the city of Winnipeg,"