National News

An Alberta mountain town has passed a bylaw banning smoking and vaping in most public places.

Banff's bylaw, which comes into effect in February, prohibits tobacco smoking and vaping in its municipal parks and green spaces, on trails and pathways, and at outdoor markets and events. It also covers bus stops, public sidewalks and in proximity to children.

"Making Banff smoke-free in public places is an effort to help residents and visitors to enjoy Banff without the health risks of second-hand smoke," Banff Mayor Corrie DiManno said in a statement Wednesday.

Ottawa police were so concerned about leaks from "Freedom Convoy" sympathizers in their ranks that they proactively shut off the email accounts of members on leave, but now the force has little to say about how real those fears turned out to be.

The Public Order Emergency Commission investigating the federal Liberal government’s use of the Emergencies Act learned there were several times when senior officers were concerned protesters who gridlocked downtown Ottawa for several weeks last winter were getting leaks.

The New Democrats are ready to withdraw from their confidence-and-supply agreement they signed with the Liberals if there is no federal action to address the health-care crisis, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Monday.

The deal reached in March would see the NDP support the minority government on key votes in the House of Commons to avoid triggering an election before 2025. In exchange, the Liberals have promised to make progress on a number of NDP priorities, including health care.

A Superior Court judge has authorized a lawsuit brought by Quebec parents who allege their children became addicted to the popular online video game Fortnite.

Justice Sylvain Lussier issued the ruling on Wednesday after hearing arguments in July regarding the class-action request from three parents who described how their children had symptoms of severe dependence after playing the game.

Canada's premiers plan to hold a news conference in Winnipeg today as children's hospitals struggle to deal with a wave of child illnesses. 

Hospitals across the country have been cancelling some surgeries and appointments as they redirect staff amid an increase in pediatric patients.

Admissions are surging under a triple-threat of respiratory syncytial virus, influenza and COVID-19 at a time when the health-care system is grappling with record numbers of job vacancies.

Canadian superstar Céline Dion's Instagram announcement that she has been diagnosed with stiff person syndrome is sparking questions about the rare and widely unknown disease. 

The condition is a "neurological disorder with features of an autoimmune disease," according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in the U.S.  

The name doesn't do justice to the pain and life-changing symptoms the syndrome causes, said Tara Zier, founder of the Stiff Person Syndrome Research Foundation.

The Mendelson family would love to find the envelope where their father, Lee, scribbled some lyrics to jazz musician Vince Guaraldi's composition “Christmas Time is Here” for an animated TV special featuring the “Peanuts” gang in 1965.

Calls from the daughters of a slain Indigenous woman to bring her remains home from a landfill that police in Winnipeg won't search turned into a rallying cry Wednesday to end the violence against their women and girls.

Cambria Harris, speaking before an Assembly of First Nations gathering in Ottawa, says her mother, Morgan, was a "bright and loving soul" who had her life stolen by a "monster."

The 39-year-old mother and grandmother is one of four victims police believe were killed by 35-year-old Jeremy Skibicki, now facing first-degree murder charges. 

Emergency shelters in Alberta haven't been able to provide refuge to thousands of women who were fleeing domestic violence due to a lack of space, a report shows.

The data, which runs from April 1, 2021 to March 30, 2022, was compiled by the Alberta Council of Women's Shelters from more than 50 member shelters across the province.

It shows shelters received 65,390 calls for help, and about 25,530 of those callers requested admission. About 16 per cent of those calls led to a woman being admitted, says the report released Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mint is issuing a new black-ringed toonie to honour Queen Elizabeth II. 

The mint says the coin's black outer ring is intended to evoke a "mourning armband" to honour the queen, who died in September after 70 years on the throne.  

The mint says it will start to circulate nearly five million of the coins this month, and they will gradually appear as banks restock inventories. 

Aside from the black ring, the mint says the coin retains the same design elements of the standard toonie.