Advocacy groups decry federal government’s shutdown of mental health website, app

Mental health and addictions experts are slamming the federal government’s decision to shut down an online service that offered help with finding free counselling and peer support over the last four years. Health Canada announced in February that it would stop funding the Wellness Together Canada website and PocketWell app on April 3. Despite a … Read more

Poilievre calls on Trudeau to meet with premiers opposing federal carbon price

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should convene an emergency meeting with the country’s premiers to discuss the federal carbon price, Conservative Pierre Poilievre wrote in a letter Tuesday. Poilievre circulated the letter following the $15-per-tonne increase to the consumer carbon price that kicked in on Monday. The scheduled increase added about 3.3 cents to the carbon … Read more

Canada expands Haiti airlift to include permanent residents, relatives

Canada is expanding its evacuation of citizens from Haiti to include relatives and Canadian permanent residents, starting Wednesday if conditions allow. The government has also arranged for a charter flight for Canadians who pay a market rate to fly between the Dominican Republic and Montreal. Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly announced a week ago that … Read more

Hundreds of Canadian artists denounce ‘alarming’ anti-trans legislation in open letter

More than 400 Canadian artists from the worlds of music, film and literature are denouncing what they describe as “alarming and destructive” anti-trans legislation in an open letter released Sunday by music superstars Tegan and Sara. The list of stars who signed the letter includes actor Elliot Page, Great Big Sea frontman Alan Doyle, actress … Read more

Canada’s need to improve productivity has reached emergency level, says Bank of Canada official

A senior Bank of Canada official says the need to improve productivity has reached an emergency level as the economy faces a future where inflation may be more of a threat than in the past few decades. In a speech, senior deputy governor Carolyn Rogers says an economy with low productivity can only grow so … Read more

Denis Villeneuve explains how Quebec’s history plays into his sweeping vision for Dune: Part Two

Q23:12Denis Villeneuve: Dune 2, his vision for the sci-fi epic, and how the film reflects issues in the world today Denis Villeneuve grew up in the small village of Gentilly, near Trois-Rivières, Que., where he could see two structures from his home: the church and the nuclear power plant. That image is key to understanding … Read more

Wayne Gretzky to deliver eulogy at Brian Mulroney’s state funeral in Montreal

Wayne Gretzky will be among the high-profile figures to eulogize former prime minister Brian Mulroney at his state funeral on March 23, government officials announced Friday. Mulroney’s daughter Caroline will also speak, along with Canadian media baron Pierre Karl Péladeau, former Quebec premier Jean Charest and former U.S. secretary of state James Baker, who will address the … Read more

MPs to study controversial prison transfer of killer Luka Magnotta

A parliamentary committee voted Monday to look into why convicted first-degree murderer Luka Magnotta was quietly transferred from a maximum to a medium-security prison. The standing committee on public safety and national security passed an amended motion during an emergency debate to hold one meeting about Magnotta’s transfer. The committee is now calling for four witnesses to appear … Read more

Canada’s UN ambassador says gangs now control Haiti. What will the international community do?

Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations says the world must act as the situation in Haiti continues to deteriorate, ahead of major meetings of Caribbean nations and partners in Jamaica. Bob Rae will travel to Kingston to meet with other leaders at a gathering of CARICOM, the Caribbean intergovernmental organization, to discuss the chaos in Haiti. In … Read more

Trudeau says some Pro-Palestinian protests cross the line into hate, harassment

Pro-Palestinian protests that include expressions of hatred or harassing behaviour cross a line, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday. Trudeau told a press conference in Toronto that he’s heard from too many members of Canada’s Jewish community who have seen protests at synagogues and community centres and who now feel unsafe. Nobody can be indifferent … Read more