National News

After much hounding by federal officials, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control is giving Canadian dogs a slightly longer leash when it comes to new rules aimed at controlling the spread of rabies.

Health Minister Mark Holland said Wednesday that he's been able to secure some changes to the regulations for dogs entering the United States from Canada after a series of meetings in Washington, D.C.

"We made good progress, I think it significantly improves the situation, but it's not enough," he said.

Applications opened Wednesday for two streams in the federal government's new $30-billion public transit fund even though the money won't start flowing for another two years, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

The 10-year Canada Public Transit Fund has been in the works for months and was in the recent federal budget but more details were provided as Trudeau made a visit to a subway yard in Toronto.

The shadow of violence in the United States will be hanging over Canada's political scene this week in the wake of an attempted assassination on former president Donald Trump.

A shooting at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday left one rally attendee dead and two others critically injured, while the shooter was also killed.

Trump has said he's fine, and is now in Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was sickened by the shooting at former president Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania, as Canadian politicians condemned the attack.  

"It cannot be overstated — political violence is never acceptable," Trudeau said in a post on social media Saturday evening. 

"My thoughts are with former president Trump, those at the event, and all Americans."

Politicians denounced the attack in Butler, a city north of Pittsburgh. 

The Assembly of First Nations finalized a deal with Ottawa late Wednesday night that will see the federal government spend $47.8 billion to reform child welfare programs over the next 10 years.

AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak made the announcement on the final day of the AFN's annual general assembly in Montreal, just two days after she told chiefs there was an offer on the table but that she could not yet discuss it publicly.

Cheers erupted in a Winnipeg courtroom, spilling out onto downtown streets Thursday, as family members who lost their loved ones at the hands of a serial killer said they had finally received justice.

A judge convicted Jeremy Skibicki of first-degree murder in the 2022 slayings of four women in a case that put another bright spotlight on the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada.

Jorden Myran, whose sister Marcedes Myran was killed, said she held back tears when the judge delivered the verdict.

Federal Court in Vancouver is to hear a case today from the Saskatchewan government asking for an injunction to stop the Canada Revenue Agency from collecting millions in carbon levy money.

Premier Scott Moe's government argues it's unconstitutional for Ottawa to take from its bank account, and that it's unfair for Saskatchewan to pay.

Earlier this year, Saskatchewan had stopped remitting the carbon levy on natural gas to Ottawa, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau exempted home-heating oil users from paying. 

A man who admitted to killing four women in Winnipeg but claimed he was too mentally ill to be held responsible has been found guilty of first-degree murder.

Defence lawyers had argued Jeremy Skibicki was suffering from schizophrenia at the time of the slayings in 2022 and should be found not criminally responsible and detained in a hospital.

But Crown prosecutors said he had the mental capacity and awareness to commit and cover up the killings.

People in a packed courtroom cheered and clapped when the verdict came down Thursday. Skibicki showed little emotion.

First Nations chiefs have heard enough promises and "performative reconciliation," Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Thursday, adding they deserve a partnership based on honest conversations.

It was the first time Poilievre was addressing the Assembly of First Nations, an organization representing more than 600 First Nations that had a tense relationship with the Conservatives when former prime minister Stephen Harper was in power.

The head of the Assembly of First Nations has informed chiefs that a draft deal with Ottawa on child-welfare reforms is worth $47.8 billion, a source who was in the room says — more than double what was initially promised.

National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak revealed that number to chiefs and their proxies on Tuesday afternoon, says the source, who was granted anonymity because they were not authorized to share the details publicly.