National News

VANCOUVER — Pharmacies were given short notice about Wednesday's rollout of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in the Lower Mainland for those aged 55 to 65, says the president of the British Columbia Pharmacy Association.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault is moving three cities, including the provincial capital, into lockdown Thursday following a sharp rise in COVID-19 infections. Schools and non-essential businesses are to close and the curfew will move ahead to 8 p.m.

VANCOUVER — A 42-year-old man has been charged in relation to one of three fires at buildings operated by Freemasons in Metro Vancouver on Tuesday.

OTTAWA — The federal Liberals have appointed two former judges to lead consultations on the creation of an independent commission to review possible wrongful convictions.

OTTAWA — Tensions over anti-Semitism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict persist within the NDP ahead of next week's policy convention, threatening to divide New Democrats and overshadow domestic policy concerns that serve as points of cohesion.

OTTAWA — The 2021 flu season will go down in history as the epidemic that never was. By this time of the year, Canada has normally logged an average of more than 43,000 confirmed cases of influenza.

TORONTO — A new influenza vaccine facility will be built in Toronto to help bolster Canada's biomanufacturing capacity, the federal government said as it announced the new project Wednesday.

TORONTO — Quebec moved to place three cities into lockdown and Ontario weighed stricter public health measures Wednesday as the two provinces hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic sought to combat a recent surge in cases.

A new survey suggests grizzly bear numbers in Alberta's central Rocky Mountains have doubled since 2005.

OTTAWA — A parliamentary committee is ordering the Public Health Agency of Canada to turn over all documents related to the firing of two scientists from Canada's highest-security laboratory and the earlier transfer of viruses to China's Wuhan Instit