National News

A water expert says heavy rainfall forecast for southern Alberta could cause damage in some areas, but it doesn't appear as if a repeat of deadly flooding in 2013 is coming.

John Pomeroy, a University of Saskatchewan hydrologist and Canada Research Chair in water resources and climate change, says there's an interesting combination of events taking place.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has tested positive for COVID-19 for a second time.

"I feel OK, but that’s because I got my shots," Trudeau said Monday on Twitter.

"So, if you haven’t, get vaccinated — and if you can, get boosted. Let’s protect our health-care system, each other, and ourselves."

Trudeau said he will be following public health guidelines and isolating.

He was scheduled to appear at a garden party for Liberal party donors in Ottawa on Monday evening.

Canadian Blood Services says it is struggling to replenish a critically low national supply caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The organization says the virus that has persisted since March 2020 has resulted in the smallest donor base in a decade.

"The number of people across Canada who donate regularly has decreased by 31,000 donors since the start of the pandemic, which has put a strain on the existing donor community," said Rick Prinzen, chief supply chain officer and vice-president of donor relations for Canadian Blood Services.

Chiefs from two First Nations in Manitoba say their communities are still looking for answers after finding possible graves using ground-penetrating radar at the sites of former residential schools that were run by the Roman Catholic Church. 

Sagkeeng First Nation found 190 anomalies in the soil and Minegoziibe Anishinabe First Nation located six. Initial data shows the irregularities fit some of the criteria for graves, but both communities say more information is needed.

The news was recently shared with community members.

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra has announced that the government will pause all mandatory random COVID-19 tests at Canada's airports for vaccinated travellers from Saturday until the end of the month.

For now, unvaccinated travellers will still be tested at airports, but the government plans to move that testing off-site next month.

The government previously said current public health measures would remain in place until the end of June, but has been facing mounting pressure from industry and opposition to improve the chaotic situation playing out in Canada's airports.

The economy added 40,000 jobs in May, driven by a gain in full-time jobs as the labour market continued to tighten and wages pushed higher, Statistics Canada said Friday.

The increase came as the unemployment rate fell to 5.1 per cent, the lowest rate since at least 1976 which is as far back as comparable data goes. The unemployment rate was 5.2 per cent in April.

TD Bank senior economist James Orlando said as Canadians headed out to patios and hit the road for overdue vacations, employers continued to search for workers to meet heightened demand.

The United Nations committee on the rights of the child has released a report expressing serious concerns about the welfare of children in Canada — particularly those who are Indigenous. 

"The committee is deeply concerned about the discrimination against children in marginalized and disadvantaged situations," said the report, made public Thursday.

The committee cited structural discrimination against Indigenous and Black children, "especially with regard to their access to education, health and adequate standards of living," 

The number of new coronavirus cases and deaths reported globally fell everywhere last week except the Middle East and Southeast Asia, according to the World Health Organization.

In its latest weekly update on the pandemic, the U.N. health agency said Wednesday that confirmed cases dropped 12% to more than 3 million and reported deaths declined 22% to about 7,600.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the continuing decline of COVID-19, which peaked in January, as “a very encouraging trend.”

It’s the inflation you’re not supposed to see.

From toilet paper to yogurt and coffee to corn chips, manufacturers are quietly shrinking package sizes without lowering prices. It’s dubbed “shrinkflation,” and it’s accelerating worldwide.

In the U.S., a small box of Kleenex now has 60 tissues; a few months ago, it had 65. Chobani Flips yogurts have shrunk from 5.3 ounces to 4.5 ounces. In the U.K., Nestle slimmed down its Nescafe Azera Americano coffee tins from 100 grams to 90 grams. In India, a bar of Vim dish soap has shrunk from 155 grams to 135 grams.

A senior official in the department of public safety says the minister has been "misunderstood" in saying police asked the federal government to use the Emergencies Act in February.

Deputy minister Rob Stewart appeared before the special joint committee that’s examining the Liberals' decision to invoke the act on Tuesday evening. 

In April, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino told the same committee that after weeks of blockades in downtown Ottawa and at several border crossings, the government was in regular consultation with law enforcement including the RCMP.