National News

The Quebec government says it is planning to ban prayer in public places as part of a move to strengthen secularism in the province. 

The announcement makes good on an idea first mentioned last winter by Premier François Legault, who said he didn't want to see people praying in public parks or on streets. 

Researchers are urging Canada, United States and Mexico to take immediate action to save the monarch butterfly as the migratory insect faces a growing risk of extinction amid habitat loss. 

The iconic butterfly's population has decreased by around 80 per cent in the past two decades, says the paper published in the journal Current Biology, with the loss of breeding habitat cited as the main reason behind the sharp decline.

The Assembly of First Nations' annual general meeting next week in Winnipeg will set the stage — and the tone — for engaging with governments on major infrastructure projects.

National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak says politicians will be paying close attention to the resolutions chiefs pass related to the federal major projects legislation. The bill, which passed in June, has seen strong opposition from some First Nations leaders and community members who fear it won't respect their rights.

A new poll indicates an overwhelming majority of Canadians are in favour of regulating artificial intelligence, and almost half are worried it will contribute to cognitive decline.

The Leger poll found 85 per cent of respondents believe governments should regulate AI tools to ensure ethical and safe use. More than half, 57 per cent, said they strongly agreed with that statement.

"It's very clear Canadians want government involved," said Jennifer McLeod Macey, senior vice-president at Leger.

A new national report on how abuse and maltreatment are handled in sport says "Canadian sport has lost its way" and the federal government must act to better protect athletes across the country. 

The Future of Sport in Canada Commission released its preliminary report Thursday, saying it heard that there are "deeply ingrained" issues across the country, from a culture of silence that has led to abuse and maltreatment to underfunding and a lack of diversity. 

Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said he left Washington Wednesday with a sense that progress was made after a meeting with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

"It was constructive in the sense it was an exchange of views that I think helped both us and the Americans understand the work we need to do to get, we hope, to an agreement," LeBlanc said in an interview with The Canadian Press after arriving in Montreal.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on Wednesday accused the federal Liberals of allowing temporary foreign workers to take jobs away from young Canadians while youth unemployment is high.

"As our young people have a quarter-century high in their unemployment, Mark Carney this year is expected to bring in a record number of temporary foreign workers to take the jobs of Canadian youth," Poilievre said. 

Statistics Canada data shows unemployment for youth, aged 15 to 24, hit 14.6 per cent in July. This is the highest it's been since 2010, outside of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Researchers say pediatricians, family doctors and parents need to learn more about what kind of performance-enhancing substances kids are using when they work out or play sports.

Seventeen per cent of more than 800 Canadian pediatric specialists surveyed say they saw adolescents who needed medical attention due to dietary supplements or performance drugs over the previous year.

The majority of cases were boys and more than half of them were between 13 and 15 years old.

Almost a third of the patients were even younger — between 10 and 12 years old.

Workers dangle from ropes as they brush the last bit of white paint on the trim of the Okhmatdyt children’s cardiac hospital in Kyiv.

Below them, a damaged children's stroller and construction supplies sit atop a tree-covered garbage heap. Windows of some surrounding buildings are still boarded up with plywood.

One year after a devastating rocket attack on Ukraine's largest children's hospital that killed four and injured a dozen, the century-old facility is getting ready to reopen — with help from the Canadian Red Cross.

The Canada Revenue Agency has offered contract extensions to around 850 call centre employees as their union sounds the alarm over staffing levels. 

CRA spokesperson Etienne Biram says the workers, whose contracts were set to expire in September, were contacted about the decision last week.

The federal union representing workers at the tax agency recently launched an online campaign denouncing staffing cuts.