National News

A group representing Canada's obstetricians and gynecologists says it has reviewed evidence on Tylenol use during pregnancy and maintains that the painkiller is safe. 

The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada said on Monday that it has revisited its position in light of reports questioning whether there is a link between mothers taking acetaminophen while pregnant and autism in children. 

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne says the government will table the federal budget on Nov. 4.

The long-awaited spending plan will be the federal Liberals' first under Prime Minister Mark Carney and comes as Ottawa's budget watchdog says he's worried about a lack of fiscal prudence.

It also will be Champagne's first budget as finance minister. He announced the date during question period Tuesday.

He said the plan will offer a "generational investment" in Canada's future.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has appointed Chrystia Freeland as Canada's new special envoy for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

While Freeland announced her resignation as transport minister on social media today, she will remain in the House of Commons as an MP until the next election.

She left today's regular cabinet meeting smiling and talking with Carney, but neither answered questions from reporters stationed outside the room.

Some stubbornness at the gas pumps pushed the headline inflation rate a couple ticks higher to 1.9 per cent in August, Statistics Canada said Tuesday.

Gasoline prices rose 1.4 per cent month-over-month in August as higher refining margins offset lower crude costs, StatCan said.

The price of gas was still down 12.7 per cent annually in August – the end of the consumer carbon price has deflated costs for motorists since the spring – but the decline fell short of July’s 16.1 per cent drop, pushing the headline inflation rate higher.

After talking up the prospect of cross-party collaboration in the House of Commons, Liberal and Conservative MPs wasted little time after Parliament resumed Monday before reverting to partisan attacks over housing and the cost of living.

The tone was set early Monday afternoon, when the first-ever question period exchange between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre began cordially before turning belligerent.

Elections Canada is launching a probe into problems with special ballots in the last federal election.

"We really have to look at the controls in place to make sure that they are sufficient," and make improvements where possible, Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault told reporters at a press conference on Parliament Hill on Monday.

Plans for the review were outlined on Monday in the agency's report on the 45th general election held on April 28. The report promises a "comprehensive review" that will examine training, control mechanisms and processes."

After talking up the prospect of cross-party collaboration in the House of Commons, Liberal and Conservative MPs wasted little time after Parliament resumed Monday before reverting to partisan attacks over housing and the cost of living.

The tone was set early Monday afternoon, when the first-ever question period exchange between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre began cordially before turning belligerent.

The newly created Build Canada Homes agency will oversee plans to build 4,000 homes on six federally owned sites, as part of a $13 billion agency budget to speed up affordable home building, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Sunday. 

Carney said that the $13 billion will offer financial incentives for builders to construct affordable homes and reduce upfront costs of affordable homebuilding.

Specific locations for the homes have not yet been announced, but Carney said they will be in Dartmouth, N.S., Longueuil, Que., Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg and Edmonton.

Members of Parliament are gearing up for their return to the House of Commons in what's expected to be a busy fall. 

Here is a look at some of the things to watch for as Parliament gets underway this week.

The budget

The Liberal government took some heat in the spring when it decided to delay the introduction of the federal budget, which is typically done in March or April, until this fall. 

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said his fiscal plan is set to be released in October. 

The early-1960s revelation that British spy Kim Philby had worked for Moscow alarmed Canadian intelligence officials who feared that he had betrayed confidences gleaned from Soviet defector Igor Gouzenko, once-secret archival records show.

Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby was recruited by Russian intelligence in the 1930s. He joined Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, known as MI-6, during the Second World War, rising through the ranks to become a senior liaison officer in Washington from 1949 to 1951.