National News

Liberal leadership contender Karina Gould submitted her official paperwork to enter the race to replace Justin Trudeau today.

Gould said outside party headquarters in Ottawa that her party lost touch with Canadians at the end of the pandemic and needs to get better at listening.

Gould briefly touched on some of her policy ideas and said she thinks the party did not get the capital gains tax increase right.

Candidates only have until 5 p.m. EST today to declare they will run — although the party can take up to ten days to confirm them as candidates.

Canada's financial intelligence agency suspects online gambling platforms are being used to launder proceeds from fentanyl dealing and production.

In an operational alert, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada says there is reason to believe people are depositing and withdrawing funds at online casinos to disguise proceeds from the traffic in deadly fentanyl and other opioids as wagers and winnings.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says a government led by him would cut the number of federal public servants — but he doesn't mind if they work from home.

When asked by Radio-Canada on Tuesday if U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order sending federal workers back to the office five days a week is a good idea, Poilievre said that what matters is whether or not public servants do the work.

He said that work is not getting done now within the federal government, though he fell short of going into detail about public servants' productivity.

The Canadian Armed Forces is no longer automatically disqualifying applicants with certain medical conditions such as allergies and ADHD, as it works to improve its numbers and grow the size of Canada's military. 

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jennie Carignan said the four medical conditions that will now be evaluated when people apply are attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, asthma and allergies.

Carignan said previously any applicants that arrived with an allergy were immediately disqualified.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reached for a sales pitch instead of revealing any of his cards in his first public reply to U.S. President Donald Trump's suggestion that Canadian imports could face heavy tariffs as early as next week.

Trudeau insisted Tuesday that if Trump wants to usher in what he's called a "golden age" for the United States, he'll need the energy, critical minerals and resources that Canada is ready to provide.

Canada's annual inflation rate ticked lower in December, thanks in part to Ottawa's temporary GST tax break, but economists still see interest rate cuts on the horizon as potential tariffs loom.

Statistics Canada said Tuesday the annual inflation reading for December came in at 1.8 per cent, down from 1.9 per cent in November. 

The report noted restaurant food purchases and alcohol bought from stores contributed the most to the deceleration — items which were subject to the tax reprieve, along with children's clothes and toys, among others.

Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc says Donald Trump's suggestion that he will impose sweeping tariffs on Canada on Feb. 1 is "nothing new," and insists Canada has plans ready for several possible scenarios.

LeBlanc and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly stepped out of a cabinet meeting in Montebello, Que. to deliver a statement to reassure Canadians after the newly installed U.S. president signed a stack of unrelated executive orders Monday evening.

U.S. President Donald Trump suggested his administration could move ahead with with 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs on Canadian imports on Feb. 1. 

He delivered the deadline on Monday evening at the White House as he signed a stack of unrelated executive orders. 

"We are thinking in terms of 25 per cent on Mexico and Canada because they are allowing vast number of people, Canada is a very bad abuser also, vast numbers of people to come in and fentanyl to come in," he told reporters Monday night.

A new poll suggests more than a third of Canadians say they have no choice but to seek health information online because they don’t have access to a doctor, further highlighting challenges posed by an ongoing physician shortage. 

The online survey by the Canadian Medical Association and Abacus Data conducted last November found that 37 per cent of respondents used medical advice they found online because they couldn’t access a doctor or a medical professional for help. 

The federal privacy watchdog says he's "concerned" about a data breach involving a student information system used across Canada, and his office is seeking more information from the U.S.-based company behind the targeted software.

Privacy commissioner Philippe Dufresne says his office is in touch with PowerSchool, which provides the affected platforms to schools across North America.

Earlier this month, PowerSchool told school boards in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Alberta and elsewhere that it had experienced a data breach between Dec. 22 and 28.