National News

More than half of Conservative party members have voted for its next leader, leaving one week for the remaining members to do the same. 

As of Tuesday, the party says over 350,000 mail-in ballots have been returned out of the 678,000 they sent to people who can vote in the contest. 

That means voter turnout is currently sitting at around 52 per cent so far. In the party's 2020 leadership contest, which was won by Ontario MP Erin O'Toole, around 65 per cent of members voted. 

Pete the peacock flew the coop on his first night in Kingsbrae Garden, on the southern shores of New Brunswick. That was about two months ago — and it's been a wild goose chase ever since.

The fowl arrived June 16 in the town of Saint Andrews and was placed in quarantine before the one-year-old peacock could be introduced to others. 

"The following morning — Saturday morning — the cage was empty," said Brad Henderson, managing director of Kingsbrae Garden, a public garden that describes itself on its website as a "multi-award-winning, 27-acre horticultural masterpiece."

Despite the test launch of NASA's new moon rocket being postponed on Monday morning, Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne said it was "still a good day for Canada."

Champagne, who was in Florida for a two-day trip that included meetings with Canadian astronauts and NASA officials, got up at 1:30 a.m. to head to the launch pad in Cape Canaveral only to see the mission delayed.

"Obviously we all wanted to be there to witness history," he told Canadian reporters in a teleconference from Orlando.

A single eagle feather sits on the kitchen table in Simon Monteith's home. 

Next to it is an array of household products including hydrogen peroxide, dish soap, food colouring and a baking dish. 

The scene depicts the two worlds the nine-year-old walks.

From a science perspective, feathers aid in thrust, enabling flight. From a First Nations perspective, an eagle feather is a symbol of respect. 

"I like to look at things from two or more perspectives," says Simon. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called for political leaders to take a united stance against threats of violence and intimidation on Sunday, days after his deputy was confronted in Alberta by a man who repeatedly yelled profanity at her and called her a traitor.

A video circulating online over the weekend shows Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland arriving inside City Hall in Grande Prairie, Alta., on Friday, and then being confronted by the man while she approached and entered an elevator.

The last time humans went to the moon, it was a destination.

But when NASA's Artemis 1 mission launches Monday, the moon will be more of a way station.

"It's really to learn how we can go further," said Isabelle Tremblay of the Canadian Space Agency, which is playing a big role in the Artemis missions. "It's really to learn how we can go to Mars."

Current and former politicians from across the Canadian political spectrum have condemned an incident in Alberta during which a man appeared to verbally accost Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland on Friday.

A 14-second video posted on Twitter by an account that voices opposition to COVID-19 public health measures shows Freeland entering an elevator while a large man approaches her, hurling profanities and calling her a "traitor."

A judge has handed fines to five Manitobans who repeatedly violated COVID-19 pandemic public health orders over a period of months — even after they were given tickets for each offence.

It was the second courtroom loss in a year for people trying to overturn restrictions the Manitoba government imposed.

"A message must be sent that public health orders … are meant to be respected," provincial court Judge Victoria Cornick said during her sentencing Thursday.

Vancouver police say a man who died after officers used a beanbag shotgun on Monday had asked bystanders for help following a “violent incident” that occurred moments earlier.

Police have not confirmed the man’s identity, but the family of Chris Amyotte, an Ojibwa man from Manitoba, says it was he who died on the Downtown Eastside.

Amyotte’s cousin, Samantha Wilson, said witnesses told her he had been bear-sprayed and was asking for help before police arrived at the scene, and Amyotte was unarmed.

The well-being of physicians across Canada has significantly decreased with many doctors reporting poorer mental health than before the COVID-19 pandemic, a new survey suggests.

The Canadian Medical Association's national physician health survey, released Thursday, indicates that 53 per cent of respondents reported symptoms of burnout, including emotional exhaustion.

The reported burnout rate among doctors was 1.7 times higher than it was in the association's previous survey in 2017.