TORONTO — The Ontario Chamber of Commerce is calling on the provincial government to take steps to curb rising electricity prices. The organization representing the province’s businesses is issuing a report saying hydro costs are one of the most pressing challenges for Ontario’s economy. The report says industrial electricity pricesRead More

VANCOUVER – Finance Minister Joe Oliver says it’s too early to tell if Canada’s economy has slumped into a recession. Oliver says the country is well positioned to weather an economic battering but it is in a fragile environment with external factors like the price of oil and economic troublesRead More

MONTREAL — National Chief Perry Bellegarde is urging First Nations and other Canadians to push for reconciliation at the polls this fall. In the first keynote address to the Assembly of First Nations annual meeting, Bellegarde said First Nations voters need to make themselves heard on Oct.19. The advocacy groupRead More

TORONTO — Ontario must ramp up its efforts to curb greenhouse gases now if it hopes to hit its own ambitious 2020 targets, the province’s acting environmental commissioner said Tuesday. In her progress report, Ellen Schwartzel said car and truck emissions and energy-hogging buildings present the single biggest problem andRead More

OTTAWA — Canada’s trade deficit grew to $3.34 billion in May from $3.0 billion in April, increasing chances the Bank of Canada will cut its key interest rate next week, economists said Tuesday. BMO senior economist Benjamin Reitzes said Canada’s trade balance is on pace for a record deficit inRead More

Toronto: Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for Toronto and the GTA ahead of a heavy downpour that could see upwards of 50 millimeters of rain fall on some localized areas. According to the weather agency, a cold front moving through Southern Ontario will result in showers andRead More

HALIFAX — A preliminary inquiry began Tuesday for two people accused of plotting to open fire at a Halifax shopping mall. Twenty-three-year-old Lindsay Kantha Souvannarath of Geneva, Ill., and 20-year-old Randall Steven Shepherd of Halifax are each charged with conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit arson, illegal possession ofRead More

WASHINGTON: An F-16 fighter collided in mid-air Tuesday with a small civilian training aircraft over South Carolina, US officials said, casting fiery debris over a wide area. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the collision occurred late in the morning, about 11 miles (20 kilometers) north of Charleston. Shaw AirRead More

BRUSSELS: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday that there was still no basis for talks on a new Greek bailout, as she arrived in Brussels for an emergency summit of eurozone leaders. “We still do not have the basis for negotiations” for a new aid programme with the EU’s bailoutRead More

LONDON: Experts called today for urgent, root-and-branch changes to the World Health Organization after an inadequate response to West Africa’s vast and deadly Ebola outbreak. The UN agency “does not currently possess the capacity or organizational culture to deliver a full emergency public health response”, a panel of independent expertsRead More