National News

OTTAWA — The federal government is being asked to give new and soon-to-be moms a Mother's Day gift by closing a hole in the safety net preventing some from having their maternity leave fully covered.

MONTREAL — Two groups that unsuccessfully challenged Quebec's secularism law in court said Thursday they will appeal last month's ruling.

WASHINGTON — Canada agreed Thursday to join World Trade Organization talks on waiving the rules that protect vaccine trade secrets — a measure drug companies and a number of world leaders say would only slow down production.

TORONTO — The failure of a coroner to fully investigate the death of a four-year-old Indigenous boy was part of a systemic dereliction of duty that ought to face legal scrutiny, Ontario's top court heard on Thursday.

IQALUIT, Nunavut — Nunavut's chief public health officer says house parties and visits between households are to blame for a rise in COVID-19 cases in Iqaluit, but vaccination rates have also climbed in the capital. Dr.

MONTREAL — Female victims of domestic and sexual violence in Quebec will be supported by a single, dedicated prosecutor from the start to the end of their legal proceedings, the Quebec government announced Thursday.

TORONTO — A finding that wine from the West Bank can be labelled as a product of Israel was not reasoned properly and should now be thrashed out again, the Federal Court of Appeal has ruled.

OTTAWA — The Trudeau government is adding a second heavy icebreaker to its plans for the Canadian Coast Guard, a move that will boost the shipbuilding industry in two key provinces for the Liberals — and which could come at a hefty cost to taxpayers.

HALIFAX — With Atlantic Canada's worst COVID-19 outbreak showing no signs of letting up, Nova Scotia's premier warned Thursday he might impose tougher restrictions to reduce the rapid spread of the deadly virus.

OTTAWA — NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is pledging a hefty foreign home buyers' tax and "massive" investment in housing to chill a boiling-hot real estate market.