UN refugee chief says reducing refugee targets is wise if it prevents backlash

The head of the United Nations refugee agency says it is wise of Canada to scale back the number of new refugees it plans to resettle if that helps stabilize the housing market and prevents backlash against newcomers.

Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, met with the prime minister in Ottawa on Monday.

His visit comes a little more than a week after the federal government announced plans to cut overall immigration levels by 20 per cent for 2025 — a cut that includes refugees and protected persons.

'Be ready for both': Canadians prepare for any outcome as Americans head to the polls

Millions of Americans are heading to the polls Tuesday as a chaotic presidential campaign reaches its peak in a deeply divided United States, where voters in only a handful of battleground states will choose the country’s path forward.

Vice-President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump have presented starkly different visions for America's future, but polling shows the two remain in a dead heat. 

Indian prime minister condemns violence at Hindu temple in Ontario

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is condemning violence that erupted Sunday when Indian consular officials visited a Hindu temple in Brampton, Ont., as police announced three people have been charged in the clash.

Visits by Indian officials to the temple in Brampton and another in Surrey, B.C., were met with protests from demonstrators seeking a separate Sikh nation called Khalistan.

'The best that we can be': Indigenous judge and TRC chair Murray Sinclair dies at 73

Murray Sinclair, who was born when Indigenous people did not yet have the right to vote, grew up to become one of the most decorated and influential people to work in Indigenous justice and advocacy.

A former judge and senator, one of Sinclair's biggest roles was chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into residential schools. 

He died Monday morning in a Winnipeg hospital, said his son Niigaan Sinclair. He was 73.

Sinclair was a father of five and a grandfather.

Poilievre asks premiers to axe their sales taxes on new homes worth under $1 million

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has written to the provinces' premiers, asking them to eliminate their sales taxes on new homes that are under $1 million.

It follows Poilievre's own pledge last week that if he becomes prime minister, he will axe the federal sales tax on new homes sold for under $1 million.

The Conservatives estimated that measure would reduce the cost of an $800,000 home by $40,000 and spur construction of another 30,000 homes per year.

B.C. port lockout to begin as no deal reached in labour dispute with foremen union

The provincewide lockout against a union of more than 700 foremen at all British Columbia ports is expected to begin at 8 a.m.

The BC Maritime Employers Association has said the lockout is meant to "facilitate a safe and orderly wind-down of operations" in light of "escalating and unpredictable strike action."

Last week, it said the move was being done "defensively" after International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 had issued a 72-hour strike notice for job action, which also starts at 8 a.m.

A look at U.S. presidential candidates' ties to Canada ahead of this week's election

Among the millions glued to their TV sets Tuesday night watching U.S. election results will be a group of people in Montreal with a particular connection to Democratic candidate Kamala Harris — her high school classmates. 

Kamala Harris lived in Canada

Long before she became an American vice-president and presidential candidate, Harris spent several years in Montreal and attended Westmount High School from 1978 to 1981.

While she doesn't talk much about that time, one of her former classmates believes her high school years helped shaped who she would become. 

Clocks fall back an hour as daylight time ends for much of Canada

Clocks turned back one hour across most of Canada this morning as daylight time came to an end.

While the shift to standard time offered many Canadians a chance to sleep an extra hour, it also means darkness will start arriving earlier in the evening.

Sunrise will come an hour earlier each morning except in Yukon, most of Saskatchewan and part of eastern Quebec where clocks stay unchanged year-round.

CSIS tracked intelligence flow across government in foreign interference leak probe

Canada's spy service tracked the flow of its intelligence reports across government and studied how other agencies handled them as part of an investigation into leaks of classified information about foreign interference, a newly released memo shows. 

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service described the "tireless efforts" in the memo prepared for staff who were keen for an update on the probe into unauthorized disclosures to the media.