National News

OTTAWA — A series of steps would need to happen before a judge can restrict a person's movement because of fears they could commit a hate crime, federal Justice Minister Arif Virani said Thursday as he defended a suite of tougher penalties to combat

EDMONTON — Health care and education came out ahead Thursday in a generally restrained Alberta provincial budget forecasting a paper-thin surplus that could easily go up in smoke.

MONTREAL — The Quebec Court of Appeal upheld Quebec's Bill 21 Thursday, finding the secularism law, which bans teachers, judges, police officers and prison guards from wearing religious symbols on the job, to be constitutional.

Saskatchewan's move to no longer remit the federal carbon levy on natural gas turned into a tit-for-tat of threats Thursday, with Ottawa saying the province's residents will no longer be getting rebates.

MONTREAL — The Quebec Court of Appeal ruled Thursday that the province's secularism law is constitutional and a lower court was wrong to exempt English school boards from the law, known as Bill 21.

MONTREAL — Extreme weather conditions were expected to continue in parts of northern Ontario and Quebec on Thursday evening after a sharp cold front with high winds hit both provinces, knocking out power lines and leaving tens of thousands of people

OTTAWA — The Montreal-based operator behind Pornhub and other pornographic websites broke the law by enabling intimate images to be shared without direct knowledge or consent, the federal privacy watchdog has found.

OTTAWA — The Liberal government tabled a bill Thursday that paves the way for a universal drug program.

OTTAWA — The Public Health Agency of Canada says it has taken steps to bolster research security after two scientists lost their jobs over their dealings with China.

OTTAWA — The governing Liberals took their first major step toward national pharmacare Thursday as the health minister tabled a bill that paves the way for a universal drug program and secures NDP support in the House of Commons.