National News

The federal government is planning to create a new agent of Parliament to oversee modern treaty implementation, which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says will ensure Ottawa is held to account no matter who is in power.

He announced the plan to appoint a commissioner for modern treaty implementation Tuesday in Gatineau, Que., at a second annual meeting of self-governing Indigenous governments.

"This is a lasting commitment to be a better treaty partner," he said. 

The long-awaited Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is complete and the Canada Energy Regulator has given the go-ahead for the project to open.

The regulator said Tuesday it has approved the last remaining "leave to open" applications submitted by Trans Mountain Corp., the Crown corporation behind the project. Approval of these applications was required before the expanded pipeline could begin shipping oil. 

Also on Tuesday, Trans Mountain confirmed that Wednesday, May 1 will mark the commercial start date for the expansion. 

Officials at McGill University are awaiting word from Montreal police, following a request to help clear a pro-Palestinian encampment on the school grounds.

The call for assistance comes after efforts to persuade the protesters to end what the school has called an illegal action failed.

The demonstrators say they have no intention of dismantling their tents until McGill, as well as nearby Concordia University, divests from all companies that are "profiting from genocide."

London Drugs has temporarily closed all of its stores in Western Canada as it grapples with a "cybersecurity incident."

In a statement Monday, the retailer and pharmacy chain said it learned it was the victim of a cybersecurity incident on Sunday, when it first closed its stores "out of an abundance of caution."

McGill University says the camp set up by pro-Palestinian student activists on the institution's grounds in Montreal violates both school policies and the law.

More than two dozen tents had been pitched at the school's downtown campus as of Sunday afternoon, with a steady stream of visitors stopping by to drop off donations and supplies.

McGill said Monday morning that the number of people who have set up tents on campus has tripled since Saturday, and many of them, if not the majority, are not members of the school community.

Jury selection is set to start today for the trial of a Winnipeg man accused of killing four women. 

Jeremy Skibicki has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder.

The partial remains of Rebecca Contois were found in a garbage bin and at a city-run landfill in the spring of 2022.

Police have said they believe the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran are at a different, privately owned landfill outside the city.

Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman weren't expecting a "pivotal moment" in their sons' lives when they visited Scotland's Loch Ness earlier this month, but that's exactly what happened.

"Our youngest is turning three next week," said Wiseman from the family's home in London, England. "And he tells everyone there have been two pivotal moments in his life: Seeing the world's largest dinosaur, which he did at the Natural History Museum in January, and seeing Nessie.

"He tells everyone he encounters. He tells the postman, he tells the guys in the shops and the cafés."

A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.

Just shy of half the respondents to Leger's latest survey said they had a negative opinion of the federal budget, which was presented last Tuesday. 

Only 21 per cent said they had a positive opinion, and one-third of respondents said they didn't know or preferred not to answer. 

Travellers would be able to use facial recognition technology to identify themselves through their smartphones when crossing the border under a planned federal project.

The Canada Border Services Agency says the initiative would allow for a faster and more seamless travel experience.

The federal government recently issued a notice seeking technical solutions from possible vendors, an opportunity worth up to US$25 million.

The system would match a photo from a traveller's passport with a selfie taken via a mobile device.

Justin Trudeau says residents in Saskatchewan will continue to get carbon rebates while the province says it's not worried by the prime minister's push to get the Canada Revenue Agency to collect money owed.

The Saskatchewan government decided earlier this year not to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas to Ottawa, a move that breaks federal law.

Trudeau said Tuesday in Saskatoon that the Canada Revenue Agency has mechanisms to collect the money from the province.