Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Across Canada a blend of optimism and caution is emerging as provinces and territories revise their strategies for riding out the latest wave of the pandemic.
In Saskatchewan where rising hospital admissions and staff shortages due to COVID-19 are a growing concern, the provincial health authority says it is looking at redeploying staff from other government departments to bolster the health-care system.
Next door in Alberta, Premier Jason Kenney says there are signs the province has "reached and surpassed" peak COVID-19 cases in the fifth wave. But he is still warning that hospitalizations -- currently at record levels -- will continue rising and put more pressure on an already overwhelmed health system.
In an effort to cope with that scenario the province says it will create new pandemic response units in Edmonton and Calgary.
More than 2,100 new COVID cases were reported in British Columbia Thursday as the province announced that 200-thousand COVID-19 test kits will be distributed among elementary and high schools to try to keep them open.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said this week that he's confidant the latest COVID wave powered by the Omicron variant has now crested. However, Doctor Gerald Evan -- one of Ontario's COVID advisers -- has warned that Ford is acting too soon with his plan to start easing health restrictions at the end of January.
Quebec's Health Department reported a slight dip in COVID hospitalizations Thursday, its first since Dec. 16. But unlike Ontario, Premier Francois Legault said the situation in his province's hospitals remains too fragile to start loosening restrictions that have kept gyms, bars and entertainment venues closed since December.
In Atlantic Canada there are glimmers of optimism, with Newfoundland and Labrador announcing that students in kindergarten to Grade 12 will head back to in-class learning on Tuesday, and Prince Edward Island reporting COVID-19 recoveries are currently outpacing new cases.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 21, 2022.
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
A group of demonstrators were kicked out of the legislature after a second NDP motion calling for unanimous consent to reverse a ban on the keffiyeh failed to pass.
The RCMP says it has uncovered a plot by two men in Montreal to sell Chinese drones and military equipment to Libya illegally.
The U.S. Justice Department announced a US$138.7 million settlement Tuesday with more than 100 people who accused the FBI of grossly mishandling allegations of sexual assault against Larry Nassar in 2015 and 2016, a critical time gap that allowed the sports doctor to continue to prey on victims before his arrest.
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
A 35-year-old man wanted in connection with the murder of Toronto resident 29-year-old Sharmar Powell-Flowers nine months ago has topped the list of the BOLO program’s 25 most wanted fugitives across Canada, police announced Tuesday.
The Canadian Medical Association is asking the federal government to reconsider its proposed changes to capital gains taxation, arguing it will affect doctors' retirement savings.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a Grade 4 student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.