Calgary UCP MLA says Alberta's COVID-19 inaction will 'cost us lives'

A Calgary UCP MLA says the government's inaction on rising COVID-19 cases "will cost us lives" and that there was ample warning to take decisive actions weeks earlier. Richard Gotfried, who represents Calgary-Fish Creek, made the remarks on Facebook late Wednesday in response to questions from commenters. "I am deeply apologetic that my persistent efforts and unequivocal internal advocacy have now proven to have lacked the required urgency," Gotfried wrote. "I am truly sorry, but even more wrack

Russia votes in parliament election without main opposition

MOSCOW (AP) — After a few weeks of desultory campaigning but months of relentless official moves to shut down significant opposition, Russia began three days of voting early Friday in a parliamentary election that is unlikely to change the country’s political complexion. There’s no expectation that United Russia, the party devoted to President Vladimir Putin, will lose its dominance of the State Duma, the elected lower house of parliament. The main questions to be answered are whether the party

Goodbye Pfizer, hello Comirnaty: top COVID-19 vaccines renamed in Canada

OTTAWA — It's pronounced koh-MIHR'-nuh-tee. Never heard of it? Well, get used to it. It's what Canada will be calling the Pfizer vaccine from now on, at least officially. Health Canada has approved new monikers for Pfizer, Moderna and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines and announced the change on social media today. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has now been dubbed Comirnaty, which the company says represents a combination of the terms COVID-19, mRNA, community, and immunity. The Moderna vaccine will go

Cambridge Bay celebrates 100 years with new arts studio and heritage park

Cambridge Bay unveiled a new arts studio and heritage park as part of its hundredth anniversary celebration on Tuesday. The earliest inhabitants of Cambridge Bay lived there some 4,000 years ago. The hundredth anniversary marks the establishment of the first Hudson's Bay trading post in the hamlet and when the RCMP first set up its base there as well. The new Red Fish Arts studio has opened at what was the fish plant in the 1950s and aims to teach community members a mixture of welding and other

COVID-19 in Sask.: province reports more than 400 new cases for 5th day in a row

For the fifth day in a row, Saskatchewan has reported more than 400 COVID-19 cases in a day. Thursday's count is 439. One more Saskatchewan resident has also died due to the virus. Meanwhile, there are 218 COVID-19 patients in hospital. Forty-eight of them are in Saskatchewan's ICUs, up from the 40 reported Wednesday. The province says that one-third of the new cases are in people under the age of 20. Saskatchewan has had 60,589 cases since the beginning of the pandemic and currently has 4,064 k

U.S. judge blocks expulsions of migrant families under Trump-era order

(Reuters) -A U.S. district judge on Thursday blocked the expulsion of migrant families caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border under an order put in place by former President Donald Trump's administration early in the COVID-19 pandemic. The order, invoking Title 42, was issued in March 2020 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which cited the need to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Judge Emmet Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colombia wrote the public health law the policy is based on does not authorize the expulsions of migrants.

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  Federal judge orders Biden to stop using pandemic emergency authority to turn away migrants

  Washington Examiner
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  Court halts use of health order to expel migrant families

  Associated Press

Anti-LGBT, abortion views at Bonavista church persist in certain groups, says former minister

A former evangelical minister is shedding light on how controversial religious views can persist in certain religious communities following a recent open-air church service in Bonavista, N.L., criticizing abortion and the LGBT community. Katherine Roberts, who now works as a marriage commissioner in central Newfoundland, spent years in the Pentecostal Church and preaching with Victory Churches International. She left the group to tend to her business in the region, but said her departure also ga

U.S. boosts security, warns risk of violence at pro-Trump Capitol rally

Travelers arriving at the airport nearest Washington, D.C., will face increased security in the run-up to a planned Saturday rally supporting people charged with taking part in the deadly Jan. 6 riot, the Transportation Security Administration said. "Travelers will notice increased law enforcement and canine presence along with a generally higher level of awareness in TSA’s intelligence-driven, risk-based approach to transportation security," a TSA spokesperson told Reuters, referring to Reagan National Airport in Virginia just across the Potomac River. Hundreds of far-right demonstrators are expected in the District of Columbia for the "Justice For J6" rally, a reference to the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump in an attempt to stop certification of President Joe Biden's election victory.

O'Toole campaigns in Saint John a day after Trudeau's Fredericton stop

One day after Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau dropped in on Fredericton, Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole made a last-minute stop in Saint John in a final scramble for votes ahead of Monday's federal election. O'Toole appeared with five of his New Brunswick candidates, including Saint John-Rothesay's Mel Norton, in the iceless ice shed of a local curling club. He sent a clear signal to supporters of the People's Party of Canada that they should be supporting him instead. "There is only one leader

O'Toole vow to never challenge provincial laws 'dangerous' for basic rights: expert

OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole has vowed to "never challenge" provincial laws, a sweeping statement that carries potential implications in areas ranging from abortion access to secession rights, markinga sharp break from the Liberal tack as the federal election campaign enters its endgame. Building on his pledge to stay out of provincial bailiwicks, O'Toole made the promise last week in the context of a question around a Quebec law banning religious symbols for certain state employees