Paul Boucher

The federal government has added 56 properties to a new public lands bank of locations that are suitable for long-term leases so developers can build housing, a move the Housing Minister says will help boost the supply of homes Canadians can afford.

The Liberals are in a make-it-or-break-it moment, following more than a year of slumping polling numbers and at most a year left before the next federal election.

In a first for Canada, freight traffic on its two largest railways has simultaneously stopped, threatening to upend supply chains trying to move forward from pandemic-related disruptions and a port strike last year.