The Canadian Press

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."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office says his chief of staff, Katie Telford, will testify at a House of Commons committee on the issue of foreign interference in the last two Canadian elections.

The move came Tuesday as Trudeau's office issued the mandate for special rapporteur David Johnston, giving him until May 23 to recommend whether any additional mechanisms — like a formal public inquiry — are necessary.

People who have been convicted of a number of indecency and anti-abortion offences that are no longer on the books can now have those convictions expunged.

The list of "historically unjust offences" is being expanded to include a raft of charges that date back to 1892 and were largely directed at the LGBTQ community and women.

The government says police historically used certain indecency charges to target and raid bathhouses, LGBTQ nightclubs and swingers clubs.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Manitoba will achieve an average of $10-a-day child care by April 2, which is three years ahead of schedule. 

Trudeau says it is a great reminder of what can be done when governments work together.

Manitoba signed onto the Liberal government's national child-care plan in 2021, which saw Ottawa commit $1.2 billion to the province over five years. 

Premier Heather Stefanson says hitting the milestone early is important for the future of Manitoba families. 

The federal government says in a news release that it has signed an agreement in principle with Manitoba to invest more than $6.7 billion in the province's health-care system over 10 years. 

That includes more than $1.2 billion for a new bilateral agreement focusing on shared health-care priorities.

It also includes $72 million in an immediate, one-time top up to the Canada Health Transfer paid to Manitoba to address urgent needs, especially in pediatric hospitals and emergency rooms and for long surgical wait times. 

An audit commissioned by the federal government has found that Hockey Canada did not use public funds to settle sexual assault cases or pay for related legal fees.

Sport Minister Pascale St-Onge called for the audit in June after media reported that Hockey Canada had settled a $3.55 million sexual assault lawsuit. She requested the investigation to ensure that public funds had only been used to support amateur hockey.

A transit driver has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder after two children were killed and six were seriously injured when a city bus crashed into a daycare north of Montreal.

Pierre Ny St-Amand, 51, appeared in court by video late Wednesday afternoon from a hospital room and will remain detained. Court documents show he faces a total of nine charges, including attempted murder, aggravated assault and assault causing bodily harm. The dead children were both four years old, identified in the documents only by their initials.

Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos will ask the provinces today whether or not they intend to accept the new health-care funding deal tabled by the prime minister.

Duclos and Mental Health and Addictions Minister Carolyn Bennett are to write to the provincial health ministers seeking some clarity on their positions.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the premiers met in Ottawa Tuesday where he presented an offer that would see transfers to the provinces rise by $196 billion over the next 10 years.

The federal defence minister says Canada "unequivocally supports" the United States government's decision to shoot down a high-altitude surveillance balloon that was suspected of spying for China, noting the balloon violated Canadian airspace.

Fighter jets downed the balloon off the Carolina coast on Saturday afternoon after it had travelled over sensitive military sites across North America.

The federal Liberals withdrew an amendment to their guns bill on Friday that had introduced a controversial new definition of an assault-style weapon.

On behalf of the government, Vancouver MP Taleeb Noormohamed asked for and received unanimous consent to withdraw the amendment to Bill C-21 at the House of Commons public safety committee Friday morning.

The amendment introduced a new definition of an "assault-style" gun that includes semi-automatic rifles and shotguns with a capacity of more than five cartridges.