National News

TORONTO — Touting the need for drastic action, Quebec became the first province to impose a curfew Wednesday as soaring COVID-19 infections across Canada intensified the strain on hospitals and prompted some Ontario morgues to run out of space.

OTTAWA — A union representing federal prison guards says vaccinating them against COVID-19 should be a priority, given their front-line role in correctional institutions.

OTTAWA — Industry groups say small businesses are being hammered by high credit-card fees on online purchases as the shift toward e-commerce continues. Visa and MasterCard reduced the fees they collect from businesses to an average annual rate of 1.

EDMONTON — Alberta Premier Jason Kenney's office has confirmed he is working out of a penthouse known infamously as the "Sky Palace" because of exterior renovations at the legislature.

OTTAWA — Canada's ban on flights from the United Kingdom is not being extended, replaced by a stringent COVID-19 testing program for air travellers. Canada halted most air travel from the U.K.

EDMONTON — A family member of two Somali women who were attacked in a mall parking lot says they thought they were going to be killed.

AMHERST, N.S. — The RCMP and officials in Nova Scotia are again being accused of failing to properly warn the public about a gunman on the loose.

MONTREAL — A group of seniors at one of the first long-term care homes in Quebec to receive COVID-19 vaccines have threatened to sue the provincial government if they don't receive their second doses in the coming days.

OTTAWA — The Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation is expanding its water system to deliver clean drinking water to hundreds of residents who have been grappling for more than a decade with seven drinking water advisories.

VANCOUVER — Electrical faults in underground utility cables set off a fire and a subsequent electric arc that the fire department says caused a three-metre crater in a new commercial area under Vancouver's Granville Street Bridge.