Canada

OTTAWA, March 20 (Xinhua) -- The Canadian government on Tuesday unveiled its 2019 budget titled "Investing in the Middle Class" with a total spending of 22.8 billion Canadian dollars (about 17 billion U.S. dollars) in new spending over the next five fiscal years.

The government is projecting a deficit of 19.8 billion Canadian dollars (about 15 billion U.S. dollars) in 2019-2020, which is scheduled to fall to 15 billion Canadian dollars (some 11 billion U.S. dollars) two years later, then to 10 billion (roughly 7.5 billion U.S. dollars) in 2023-2024.

OTTAWA, March 4 (Xinhua) -- The crisis facing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government over the SNC-Lavalin affair deepened on Monday with the sudden resignation of one of his most solid cabinet ministers.

Jane Philpott, who served as president of the Treasury Board that oversees federal government spending, wrote in a publicly released letter to Trudeau that she had "lost confidence" in the way the government has dealt with the issue of alleged political interference in the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin.

04 Mar 2019; DW: In a civil lawsuit filed in the British Columbia Supreme Court, Meng's lawyers alleged that her constitutional rights were violated when she was detained, searched and interrogated for three hours.

Meng's lawyers argue that Canadian authorities interrogated her "under the guise of a routine customs" check and that they seized and searched her electronic devices after obtaining her passwords.

The suit alleges that she was only told that she was arrested after she was questioned.

01 Mar 2019; DW: The Canadian government has allowed for the extradition process of Huawei's chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou to proceed, Canada's Department of Justice said on Friday.

She was arrested in Vancouver last December and has been living in one of her two mansions under house arrest. The United States has requested the extradition of Meng, who has been charged, along with Huawei, with stealing trade secrets and technology and conspiring to violate US sanctions in Iran.

Toronto, Feb 27; PTI/GANASHAKTI: Canada's flag carrier Air Canada Wednesday temporarily suspended its flights to India due to the closure of Pakistani airspace, amid escalating tensions between the two countries.

Pakistan Wednesday closed its airspace for commercial flights and suspended flight operations across major airports. India also closed nine airports in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab for civilian air traffic and the entire airspace north of New Delhi was vacated.

09 Feb 2019; DW: A Quebec City court handed a life sentence on Friday to the gunman who fatally shot six members of a Quebec mosque in 2017.

Alexandre Bissonnette had already pleaded guilty to six counts of first-degree murder and another six accounts of attempted murder.

Judge Francois Huot rejected a request by the prosecution for Bissonette to be given a 150-year sentence, which would have the longest-ever in Canada.

30 Jan 2019; AFP: A Canadian landscaper on Tuesday pleaded guilty to the murders of eight men with links to Toronto's gay community and the mutilation of their bodies, most of them chopped up and hidden inside planters.

The plea entered by Bruce McArthur, 67, was a surprise -- he had been scheduled to stand trial next year.

30 Jan 2019; AFP: The extradition hearing for a top Huawei executive at the center of a diplomatic row between Ottawa and Beijing was pushed back to March on Tuesday, after the US unveiled sweeping charges against her and the Chinese tech giant.

Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer and the daughter of its founder, was indicted along with Huawei and two affiliates in a US case related to alleged Iran sanctions violations that has inflamed tensions with China.

27 Jan 2019; DW: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has fired Canada's envoy to China. Ambassador John McCallum had said it would be "great" if the US dropped its extradition request for a top Huawei executive arrested in Vancouver.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has fired Canada's ambassador to China following comments the envoy made to media about the case of a Huawei executive detained in Canada on a US arrest warrant.

Montreal, Jan 26 (AFP) A minor has been arrested in Canada and charged with two terrorism-related offenses, police said on Friday after the seizure of a suspected explosive.

Superintendent Peter Lambertucci of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police told reporters that Canadian investigators received in late December "credible FBI information regarding an attack plot with no specific time, date, or location affixed to it".