Canada Revenue Agency, union reach tentative deal, ending strike of 35,000 workers

The public-sector union representing Canada Revenue Agency employees has struck a tentative deal with the federal government, ending a strike of 35,000 workers just after the tax season wrapped up.

The announcement of a prospective agreement comes after the government and Public Service Alliance of Canada came to separate deals that ended a strike of more than 120,000 other public servants.

CRA employees represented by PSAC's Union of Taxation Employees were still on strike two days after the federal tax-filing deadline.

Tentative agreement reached with Treasury Board for workers

The Public Service Alliance of Canada has reached a tentative contract agreement with the Treasury Board covering more than 120,000 federal government workers across the country.

The national strike is now over for Treasury Board workers, who are required to return to work at 9 a.m. today or their next scheduled shift.

PSAC says strike action continues for 35,000 Canada Revenue Agency workers nationwide, with contract negotiations ongoing.

A timeline of the deadly stabbing rampage at James Smith Cree Nation in Saskatchewan

Eleven people were killed and 17 were injured during a stabbing rampage on the James Smith Cree Nation and in the nearby village of Weldon, Sask., last year. Myles Sanderson, who police say carried out the attacks, later died in police custody. RCMP have released more details about how the attacks unfolded. Here is a timeline:

Thursday, Sept. 1: 

Myles Sanderson arrives at James Smith Cree Nation and sells cocaine.

Friday, Sept. 2:

The latest on what RCMP say happened in the mass killing on James Smith Cree Nation

The RCMP are releasing details on a stabbing rampage last year in Saskatchewan. Eleven people were killed and 17 were injured on the James Smith Cree Nation and in the nearby village of Weldon on Sept. 4, 2022. Mounties have said Myles Sanderson, who later died in police custody, carried out the attacks.

Here are the latest developments from the police news conference (all times are CT):

12:30 p.m.

Trudeau says Canada to conduct airlifts out of Sudan, has two ships off its coast

A Canadian effort is underway to conduct airlifts out of Sudan and two military vessels have arrived off its coast, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday, as the government looked for a fragile ceasefire to help evacuation efforts in the embattled East African country.

Trudeau said the federal government is co-ordinating with its allies to get Canadian citizens out of Sudan, where fighting between the military and a rival paramilitary group erupted earlier this month, with hundreds killed and thousands more injured. 

Two people stabbed, injured at Dene High School in La Loche, Sask., mayor says

The mayor of a northern Saskatchewan village says her community has been shaken after two people were stabbed at the high school in La Loche. 

The Northern Lights School Division confirmed Friday a student and a staff member were attacked Thursday at the Dene High School.

The two victims were being treated in hospital in Saskatoon and the suspect was in RCMP custody, the division said.

Union leaves bargaining table as federal workers hit picket lines Wednesday morning

Canada's largest federal public-service union has left the bargaining table but says it is standing by to resume negotiations when the federal government comes back with a new offer. 

Federal workers were hitting the picket lines across the country on Wednesday after Canada's largest federal public-service union and the government failed to reach a deal by a Tuesday evening deadline.

On Wednesday morning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said negotiations had paused. 

Federal tax workers vote in favour of striking in middle of tax filing season

More than 35,000 federal workers who assess and approve tax returns will be in a legal strike position by April 14, just two weeks before the annual deadline for Canadians to file their taxes.

The strike vote comes after more than a year of haggling between the Canada Revenue Agency and workers represented by the Union of Taxation Employees within the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

A conciliator appointed last fall to help with the talks reported in January that the two sides were at an impasse.

Trump makes history, pleading not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records

Donald Trump has reportedly pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. 

Media reports say the ex-president entered the plea today in a heavily guarded New York courtroom — the first former commander-in-chief in U.S. history ever to do so. 

Live television coverage showed a stone-faced Trump, clad in his trademark dark suit and red tie, follow his legal team into the courtroom for his arraignment. 

He was equally stoic — and uncharacteristically silent — as he left the courtroom about an hour later.

Toronto MP Han Dong quits Liberal caucus amid Chinese interference allegations

Han Dong, the member of Parliament at the centre of allegations of Chinese meddling in Canadian affairs, has resigned from the Liberal caucus and will sit as an Independent.

"I'm taking this extraordinary step because sitting in the government caucus is a privilege," Dong told the House of Commons Wednesday night.

"And my presence there may be seen by some as a conflict of duty and the wrong place to be as an independent investigation pursues the facts in this matter."