National News

Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia's ports since Monday. 

The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.

The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year. 

The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans' fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world. 

Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies. 

Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as "We Remember" lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion's Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families. 

Here's a look at some of this week's top news photos as selected by editors.

A dancer with Slice of Bollywood By Shikha wears a peacock feather and floral jewelry in her hair as she waits to perform at the Diwali and Bandi Chhor Divas on the Hill celebration in Ottawa, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake has struck in northern Yukon, but Natural Resources Canada says there have been no reports of damage and none would be expected.

The quake struck about 167 kilometres north of Keno, Yukon, and 519 kilometres from Whitehorse, just after noon Pacific Time at a depth of 27 kilometres.

Natural Resources Canada had initially reported a magnitude of 5.8 for the quake, and says tremors were felt in Keno, which has a population of about 20 people.

Canada’s unemployment rate held steady at 6.5 per cent last month as hiring remained weak across the economy.

Statistics Canada’s labour force survey on Friday said employment rose by a modest 15,000 jobs in October.

Business, building and support services saw the largest gain in employment.

Meanwhile, finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing experienced the largest decline.

Many economists see weakness in the job market continuing in the short term, before the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts spark a rebound in economic growth next year.

Today is the day to remember the sacrifices made by Indigenous veterans in Canada.

Indigenous Veterans Day is celebrated this year on Nov. 8 in recognition of Indigenous people who have fought for the freedom of Canada through military service.

Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) remembers the long and proud history of service by First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Canadians.

A veteran Ottawa Citizen journalist who was accused by a former cabinet minister of being a Russian asset said it is the "height of irony" that a parliamentary committee studying disinformation has fallen for it. 

David Pugliese told the House of Commons security committee on Thursday he found it astonishing that none of the MPs challenged the allegations when they were made last month. 

Applications opened Thursday for a $1-billion federal program to help municipalities and Indigenous communities build critical infrastructure.

The government set aside $1 billion through the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund in direct funding to communities to build or improve infrastructure to support drinking water, wastewater, stormwater and solid waste.

Applications are available online for municipalities and Indigenous communities. Those applicants will need to demonstrate how their proposals will support the building of more homes.

The Royal Canadian Legion branch in Montreal’s Verdun borough meets once a week in a community centre space it rents by the hour, less than 500 metres from the elegant brick building it sold over a decade ago when maintenance costs got too high. 

After years of rising rents, a forced move and general instability, its members are happy to have somewhere to meet. But president Darlene Harrison says one question keeps coming back: “When are we going to have our own home again?”

Stories passed down from elders tell how First Nations from afar would paddle their canoes to bathe in the hot springs on the territory of the Sts'ailes First Nation.

They believed the water contained medicine, said Sts'ailes Grand Chief William Charlie.

“Our people have been using it for tens of thousands of years," he said of the springs he called Qwólts, meaning boiling medicine water.