Margaret Atwood has been called prescient — particularly when it comes to her famous 1985 dystopia "The Handmaid's Tale" and the recent rollback of reproductive rights in the United States — but the renowned Canadian author says her predictive powers failed her ahead of last week's U.S. election, which delivered Donald Trump another White House win.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pushed back on Wednesday on growing demands from premiers to dump the planned April 1 hike to the consumer carbon levy, saying leaders must tackle both affordability and climate change.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 no longer need to wear masks outdoors and in most indoor settings, but one of Canada's top public health officials suggests a different approach would be taken here.

Canada's procurement minister says a deal is close to receive Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine doses from the U.S., while the military commander in charge of the rollout here says all adults who wish could be able to get their first shot by July 1.

New U.S. guidelines say people fully inoculated against COVID-19 can drop some precautions when gathering with others, but at least two provincial health ministers say existing public health advice holds for now.

Officials expressed growing concern on Wednesday, February 17, 2021, over highly transmissible new COVID-19 variants taking hold in Canada's biggest cities and in First Nation reserves across the country.

A court has been told that a man leading an inquiry into alleged foreign-funded anti-Alberta energy campaigns should be allowed to continue his work because accusations of bias are unfounded and his investigation is in the public interest.

A judge is to hear arguments this week over whether Alberta's public inquiry into the purported foreign funding of environmental charities is a valid defence of the province's ailing oil industry or an attempt to silence dissent.

The prime minister on Friday, February 5, 2021, sought to quell angst over delays in vaccine delivery while British Columbia extended restrictions on gatherings to stem the spread of new, more transmissible variants of the COVID-19 virus.

Advocates say homeless people should get priority to COVID-19 vaccines given how at risk they are to the virus and how much more likely they are to get severely ill if infected.