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Politicians decry ‘shameful’ incident on domestic flight in which Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak’s headdress was taken by airline staffCanada’s largest airline has apologized to a prominent First Nations chief after her ceremonial headdress was removed from the plane’s cabin, wrapped in a plastic bag and moved to the baggage hold.Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, national chief of the assembly of First Nations, was flying domestically on Wednesday...

Dozens of firearms also seized after 6,600 gold bars worth C$21m and C$2.7m in cash stolen at Pearson international airportPolice investigating a brazen multimillion-dollar gold heist at Toronto’s main airport have arrested six men and seized dozens of firearms linked to the case which officers said “belongs in a Netflix series”.Six thousand six hundred gold bars, worth C$21m, and C$2.7m in cash were stolen...

Notorious for drawing large crowds, Emerson was removed by officials who were surprised to find him back in Victoria in a weekLast week, gun-wielding conservation officers stuffed a 500lb elephant seal in the back of a van, drove him along a winding highway in western Canada and left him on a remote beach “far from human habitation”.The plan was to move the young seal...

Patrice Runner, 57, of Canada was convicted in June of multiple counts of defrauding ‘millions of older and vulnerable Americans’A Canadian conman, who swindled more than US$175m (C$241m) from his North American victims through “a massive psychic mass-mailing fraud scheme” has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.Patrice Runner, 57, who holds citizenship with both Canada and France, was convicted by a jury in...

Nearly half a million hectares of Crown land on Haida Gwaii will be returned to Indigenous people in first-of-its-kind agreementFor centuries, the Haida people have known that the impenetrable forests and bountiful waters of Xhaaidlagha Gwaayaai – “the islands at the boundary of the world” – were both a life-giving force and their rightful home.Now, after decades of negotiation, the province of British Columbia...

Prime minister testified at inquiry into foreign interference that agency’s report of China meddling wasn’t relayed to himCanada’s spy agency is under pressure after Justin Trudeau and his closest advisers say they were never made aware of a report that Beijing “clandestinely and deceptively” interfered in both the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.Canada is in the midst of a contentious public inquiry “examining and...

Worst-ever fire season in 2023 saw 15m hectare burned, eight firefighters killed and 230,000 people evacuatedCanada risks another “catastrophic” wildfire season, the federal government has warned, forecasting higher-than-normal spring and summer temperatures across much of the country, boosted by El Niño weather conditions.Last year, Canada endured its worst-ever fire season, with more than 6,600 blazes burning 15m hectares (37m acres), an area roughly seven...

Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon speaking loudly and often after party win over Coalition Avenir QuébecQuebec separation is back among the living.Years after many considered it dead, the prospect of removing Canada’s second-most populous province from the federation has re-entered the political debate. And though Quebecers aren’t exactly marching in the streets in its support as they once did, they are certainly taking...

Rare celestial event on Monday will see the moon block out the sun for a few minutes and day turn to night, with fans hoping the clouds don’t spoil the viewAcross the US, Mexico and Canada, people have rushed to stake out spots to witness a rare total solar eclipse, while forecasts for cloudy skies worry some hopeful spectators.The phenomenon happens when the moon...

CSIS intelligence report suggests growing number of countries targeting country’s large diaspora populationsCanada’s spy agency has declared that the governments of India and Pakistan probably attempted to meddle in its elections.As a closely watched public inquiry investigates the scope of foreign interference, on Thursday night the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) released a report suggesting a growing number of countries see Canada – and...

Justin Trudeau says allegations ‘extremely troubling’ after officers arrested First Nations men and confiscated their boots and phonesTwo First Nations fishermen have said they were forced to walk shoeless for hours in the dark and cold after Canadian federal officers seized their boots and phones.The prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said the allegations were “extremely troubling” amid mounting anger over the treatment of the Mi’kmaw...

Total solar eclipse on 8 April will be first to touch province since 1979, and Niagara Falls is declared one of the best places to viewThe region of Canada surrounding the city that contains a side of – and shares a name with – Niagara Falls has declared a state of emergency as it prepares to welcome up to a million visitors for the...

‘Momentous change’ will permit lawmakers in Canadian province to address chamber in ‘first languages’Lawmakers in Ontario will now be able to address the province’s legislature using Indigenous languages, in a “momentous change” that belatedly recognizes the “first languages” of the region.The Ontario government house leader, Paul Calandra, this week moved to amend a standing order that previously required lawmakers to use either English or...

Police initially said they did not have resources to search for women believed to have been murdered by an alleged serial killerCanada has pledged tens of millions of dollars to search landfill for the remains of two Indigenous women believed to have been murdered by an alleged serial killer, but experts and community groups have warned that the figure still may not be enough...

Residents and marine officials in British Columbia hope a changing tide will save her orphaned calfA killer whale stranded off Canada’s west coast has died despite efforts to rescue her, but residents and marine officials hope a changing tide will save her orphaned calf.On Saturday, members of the Ehattisaht First Nation, a coastal community along the north-western reaches of Vancouver Island, spotted an orca...

Man says he ended up in ‘a crazy situation’ after he began taking in cats abandoned during Covid pandemicAn animal welfare charity in western Canada is scrambling to secure the resources needed to care for about 300 cats – all of them seemingly in good condition – after a call came in from a man who described himself as being “overwhelmed” by the sheer...

Year of devastating wildfires meant Canadians were breathing worse air than southern neighbours for first time everCanada’s pristine air quality has been long praised by its citizens and prized by its government. But the thick plumes of smoke and miles of haze released by a record-breaking season of wildfires deteriorated the country’s air so much that it has fallen behind the United States for...

Industry minister says review of popular video app that is planning to expand in country has been ongoing since September 2023Canada is conducting a national security review of Chinese-owned TikTok’s proposed expansion of the popular video app in the country, the industry minister, François-Philippe Champagne, said on Friday.In a teleconference from Italy after meeting with his G7 counterparts, Champagne said the review under the...

CBC aired an investigation into the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, whose killing the Canadian government suspects India was behindIndia has ordered prominent video-sharing platforms to block access to a new Canadian documentary probing the assassination of a prominent Sikh activist in Vancouver, in a move that highlights India’s mounting frustration with the allegations its government was behind the high-profile killing.The request marks the...

Father calls on judge to block medically assisted death in case that highlights limits on family members’ ability to interveneA Canadian man has called on a judge to block his 27-year-old daughter’s medically assisted death, arguing she lacks the ability to fully consent to the procedure in a case that highlights the limits on family members’ ability to intervene when a person has decided...

Monument has long been a source of tension between Canada’s Ukrainian diaspora and Jewish and Polish communitiesA controversial memorial to Ukrainian soldiers who served in a Nazi unit during the second world war has been removed from a Canadian cemetery following years of protests by community groups who described the shrine as “painful” and offensive.The cenotaph, which had stood in the privately owned St...

Cruise ships offer crucial income to poverty-hit village of Pond Inlet but opponents say it is vicious cycleAn increase in “last chance tourism” in Canada’s melting Arctic is causing a row between those who warn of the devastation it is causing to the environment and those who rely on income from tourists to survive as hunting becomes increasingly difficult.Pond Inlet, a village of about...

Man, 19, charged with six counts of first-degree murder as police condemn ‘senseless act of violence’ in Barrhaven neighbourhoodPolice in Canada say two adults and four young children, the youngest of whom was less than three months old, are dead in a mass killing in what Ottawa’s mayor described as “one of the most shocking incidents of violence” in the city’s history.A 19-year-old male...

Spavor was one of two Canadians detained in China in 2018 amid a broader diplomatic feud between the two countriesCanada’s federal government has reached a million-dollar compensation settlement with Michael Spavor, a businessman who was held by China for nearly three years amid a broader diplomatic feud between the two countries.Spavor and Michael Kovrig, who became known as “the two Michaels”, were detained by...