National News

A study suggests lower-income and younger people may be more at risk of developing lung cancer long-term because they can't afford to remove radon gas from their homes.

The study, from a multidisciplinary team of cancer researchers at the University of Calgary and University of British Columbia, was published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports at Nature.com.

The researchers interviewed those living in nearly 3,000 households across Canada who had tested for and found radon in their homes.

The "Freedom Convoy" had gridlocked Canada's capital city for more than two weeks before the "floundering" Ottawa police force approved a detailed plan to handle it, senior police officers have told the public inquiry into the Liberal government's use of the Emergencies Act.

Patricia Ferguson, the acting deputy chief of the Ottawa police, said Thursday that the force assumed protesters would not stay longer than a weekend and relied at first on a boilerplate plan that had been used for other downtown events involving big crowds, such as Canada Day celebrations.

An RCMP officer who was fatally stabbed Tuesday in a park in Burnaby, B.C., was there to notify the occupant of a lone tent that he wasn't allowed to live there, police said Wednesday. 

Sgt. Timothy Pierotti of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team told a press conference that Const. Shaelyn Yang, 31, volunteered to work on a mental health and homeless outreach team and she was helping a city worker deliver the news to the man, he said. 

Bad political blood appears to have been running hot through the crisis response to the "Freedom Convoy" that gridlocked Canada's capital city, the testimony of the city's former police board chair revealed Wednesday. 

And new evidence suggests that police forces were planning ahead for a weeks-long event even as Ottawa's then-chief of police privately speculated that they'd be gone after a couple of days. 

An RCMP mental health and homeless outreach officer stabbed to death in Burnaby, B.C., "died bravely," her superior said. 

RCMP Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald said 31-year-old Const. Shaelyn Yang had been a police officer since December 2019. 

McDonald said Yang was stabbed during “an altercation” while she partnered with a city employee officer at a homeless camp site around 11 a.m. Tuesday. 

She was pronounced dead at hospital. 

A suspect was shot and seriously injured and remains in hospital, he said during an emotional news conference.

Canada's annual inflation rate dropped slightly to 6.9 per cent in September but the cost of groceries continues to climb.

In its latest consumer price index report, Statistics Canada said the slight deceleration from 7.0 per cent inflation in August is mostly attributed to lower gas prices, which fell by 7.4 per cent in September.

Meanwhile, grocery prices rose at the fastest rate since August 1981, with prices up 11.4 per cent compared with a year ago.

Statistics Canada said food prices have outstripped the overall inflation rate for 10 consecutive months.

Mounties are mourning one of their own after an RCMP officer was fatally stabbed at a homeless campsite in Burnaby, British Columbia. 

Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald says the death Tuesday of Const. Shaelyn Yang, 31, will be felt by her colleagues who say goodbye to their loved ones each day when they go to work to serve their communities. 

Police say Yang was partnered with a city employee when an altercation broke out at a campsite and she was fatally stabbed. 

A suspect, who was shot and seriously injured, was being treated in hospital.

Different levels of government involved in trying to bring an end to the mass demonstrations in Ottawa and several border crossings last winter were not always on the same page, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged Wednesday.

But he says the important thing is that, in the end, there was unity between the city, the province and the federal government, including over the decision to invoke the federal Emergencies Act in mid-February to bring an end to the weeks-long events.

A British Columbia community has declared a state of local emergency as a drought drags on and the area risks running out of drinking water. 

The Sunshine Coast Regional District, the District of Sechelt and the shíshálh Nation issued the declaration Monday, saying the first order affects non-essential commercial uses of water, including for swimming pools, breweries and concrete, asphalt and gravel businesses. 

The inquiry into the federal government's use of the Emergencies Act will hear first-hand testimony Monday from top City of Ottawa officials about February's "Freedom Convoy" protest, including the mayor. 

Outgoing mayor Jim Watson, his chief of staff and the city’s manager are expected to detail for the commission the efforts they took to peacefully end protests in Ottawa.