Police say a man wanted in connection with a first-degree murder charge in British Columbia has been extradited back to Canada. Sgt. Frank Jang of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team in British Columbia says Brandon Teixeira arrived back on Canadian soil on Friday, after being held in custody in the United States since Dec. 1 following his arrest in Oroville, Calif.
Dozens more deaths in long-term care homes were reported Friday as new figures indicated the extent of the economic dislocation caused by isolation measures aimed at mitigating the spread of the highly contagious COVID-19 virus. The latest government figures showed more than seven million people had applied for the $2,000-a-month Canada Emergency Response Benefit, with the federal government having paid out $22.4 billion close to the amount budgeted.
The United States has cleared the way for its long-awaited trade agreement with Canada and Mexico to go into effect July 1. The U.S. notified its North American trading partners today that it has finished the domestic housekeeping work called for in the agreement, a step the other two countries completed earlier this month.
A poultry processing plant in Coquitlam, B.C., has been closed by Fraser Health after an outbreak of COVID-19 among its workers. The health authority says two workers at the facility operated by Superior Poultry Processors Ltd. have tested positive for the virus and all employees have been screened.
Expectant mothers who have been left out of a key COVID-19 emergency-aid program will receive financial help, and will qualify for federal benefits when they go on maternity leave, says Canada's employment minister. Pregnant women who applied for employment insurance at the outset of the pandemic have found that they weren't automatically transferred over to the Canada Emergency Response Benefit when it became available earlier this month.
The federal government is providing rent relief to businesses that can't afford to pay their landlords at a time when their operations are seriously curtailed or shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal help, expected to lower rent by 75 per cent for affected small businesses, will be provided in partnership with the provinces and territories, which have jurisdiction over rents.
