National News

The latest developments on the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada (all times eastern): 7:15 p.m. British Columbia has recorded 559 new cases and one more death from COVID-19. The province has had 1,336 fatalities since the start of the pandemic.

EDMONTON — Alberta says public consultations on its plans to expand coal-mining will begin March 29 but there's no decision yet on how they will go ahead.

OTTAWA — The Trudeau government has agreed with the Senate that Canadians suffering solely from grievous and irremediable mental illnesses should be entitled to receive medical assistance in dying — but not for another two years.

OTTAWA — The parliamentary budget office says it could cost the federal government up to $15 billion to compensate First Nations families and children impacted by the child welfare system, as well as denials or delays of essential services.

OTTAWA — Canada's chief public health officer says results from COVID-19 vaccinations are so encouraging that she thinks the need for massive lockdowns could be over before the end of the summer.

OTTAWA — Judges peppered a federal lawyer with questions Tuesday as the Canadian government argued a refugee pact between Ottawa and Washington is consistent with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

OTTAWA — Crown prosecutors are asking that a Manitoba man who rammed a gate at Rideau Hall before arming himself and heading on foot toward Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s home last summer be sentenced to six years in prison, minus time served.

OTTAWA — Treasury Board President Jean-Yves Duclos is stepping aside due to illness. Duclos says in a statement that he felt persistent chest pain over the past several days. He went to hospital on Sunday and was told he had a pulmonary embolism.

TORONTO — A judge accused of lying to a disciplinary committee said on Tuesday that he did indeed give up all involvement with a Black federation he helped found out of fear he would be suspended from the bench.

OTTAWA — Canada's prison ombudsman is calling for alternatives to incarceration in a new report that shows the number of COVID-19 cases at federal facilities more than doubled in the pandemic's second wave.