Rod Phillips

Record-breaking COVID-19 case numbers and hospitalizations are challenging Canadians

Some provinces announced new measures for long-term care homes as others reported record-breaking COVID-19 infections propelled by the highly contagious Omicron variant.

The 2021 Ontario budget won’t boost the bank balances of young people a few years out of high school nor help them pay off their education debt, but will help cover some training costs for a new job.

Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government will spend almost $1 billion on a third round of direct aid to parents, this one double the size of previous payments.

The federal government has ordered that anyone applying for COVID-19 benefits will need to report whether they have recently travelled outside of the country — though it isn’t clear how it will catch and penalize any cheaters.

When it comes to the Alberta government’s fondness for personal responsibility, one thing should be clear by now: They only think it applies to other people, not themselves, writes Max Fawcett.

A number of politicians have admitted to leaving the country over the December holiday period, even as their constituents adhered to public health guidance meant to curb the spread of COVID-19 and hunkered down at home.

The COVID-19 fallout from the festive season continues to emerge, with several provinces reporting spikes in infections as more jet-setting politicians are taken to task for flouting public health warnings discouraging non-essential travel.

A prominent member of the federal New Democrats has lost her cabinet critic positions after travelling to Greece in spite of widespread travel restrictions meant to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Anyone arriving in Canada starting Jan. 7 will need to have a negative COVID-19 test before boarding a flight, the federal government said on Thursday, December 31, 2020, as the Liberals urged vacationers abroad to prepare.

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc says cabinet ministers decided Wednesday morning to quickly enact the new requirement.

Ontario's Progressive Conservative government delivered a budget focused more on COVID-19 than the deep cuts it served up in 2019. But clean energy and green infrastructure were nowhere in sight, with recovery plans centred on tax cuts.

The province’s spending plan for the next three years has a focus on getting young people into the trades as Progressive Conservatives unveil their plan to “protect, support, recover” from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ontario’s opposition NDP challenged the top bureaucrats behind the Doug Ford government’s threadbare climate plan, but the civil servants — much like the political masters they serve — ducked and weaved and pointed mostly to policy actions yet to take effect when asked about Ford’s climate achievements.