National News

OTTAWA — Canada's top military procurement official says he is optimistic the federal government will finally end its decade-long search for a new fighter jet for the Royal Canadian Air Force next year despite challenges and delays from the pandemic.

The latest numbers on COVID-19 vaccinations in Canada as of 10:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 31, 2021. In Canada, the provinces are reporting 218,596 new vaccinations administered for a total of 5,689,480 doses given.

MONTREAL — A Quebec coroner is recommending the province adopt legislation allowing authorities to quickly obtain cellphone data and other relevant information in missing persons cases.

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is pushing back against Ontario Premier Doug Ford's accusation that the federal government's procurement of COVID-19 vaccines is a joke.

The latest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 7:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 31, 2021. There are 982,116 confirmed cases in Canada. _ Canada: 982,116 confirmed cases (47,864 active, 911,293 resolved, 22,959 deaths).

The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times Eastern): 8:50 p.m. Yukon is reporting one new out-of-territory COVID-19 case.

VANCOUVER — A lawyer for Meng Wanzhou says payments between a Huawei affiliate and an HSBC client that were cleared in American dollars do not give the United States jurisdiction to charge the executive.

VANCOUVER — Pharmacies were given short notice about Wednesday's rollout of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in the Lower Mainland for those aged 55 to 65, says the president of the British Columbia Pharmacy Association.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault is moving three cities, including the provincial capital, into lockdown Thursday following a sharp rise in COVID-19 infections. Schools and non-essential businesses are to close and the curfew will move ahead to 8 p.m.

VANCOUVER — A 42-year-old man has been charged in relation to one of three fires at buildings operated by Freemasons in Metro Vancouver on Tuesday.