Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Britain's Conservative government unveiled a 15 billion pound (US$19 billion) emergency aid package Thursday to ease a severe cost-of-living squeeze, announcing the plan a day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed to "move on" from a months-long scandal over government parties during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Treasury chief Rishi Sunak said the government would introduce a 25% temporary windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas firms. The tax is expected to raise around 5 billion pounds ($6.3 billion) over the next year to help fund cash payments to help millions of people cope with sharply rising energy bills, Sunak said.
U.K. inflation hit 9% in April, the highest level in 40 years, and millions of customers saw their annual energy bills jump 54% the same month -- amounting to an extra 700 pounds ($863) a year on average for each household.
Sunak said the government help will target the most vulnerable, including disabled people and retirees. Some 8 million of the country's lowest-income households will receive a one-time government payment of 650 pounds ($818). Every household will also receive a 400 pound ($503) discount on domestic energy bills in October.
The windfall tax announcement was a U-turn for Johnson's Conservative government, which had previously said that imposing one would deter investment in the U.K.'s energy sector. But the government is under heavy pressure to act as skyrocketing energy and food bills cause financial hardship for British households.
Sunak said the temporary levy would remain in place until "prices return to a more normal level" and would be accompanied by an "investment allowance" to motivate companies to invest in oil and gas extraction in the U.K.
Rain Newton-Smith, chief economist at big business group the Confederation of British Industry, said "the open-ended nature" of the windfall tax "will be damaging to investment needed for energy security and net zero ambitions."
But unions and opposition parties said the government's help was too little, too late.
"Across the U.K., families and pensioners are scared witless about not making ends meet," said general secretary Christina McAnea of the Unison union. "The support will make some difference, but not enough."
Britain's energy regulator said this week that domestic energy bills could shoot up another 800 pounds a year in the fall, as Russia's war in Ukraine and rebounding demand after the pandemic push oil and natural gas prices higher.
Johnson's government is trying to turn a page after an investigator's report on what has become known as the "partygate" scandal slammed a culture of rule-breaking inside the prime minister's No. 10 Downing St. office.
In the report published Wednesday, civil service investigator Sue Gray described alcohol-fueled bashes held by Downing Street staff members in 2020 and 2021, when pandemic restrictions prevented U.K. residents from socializing or even visiting dying relatives.
Gray said the "senior leadership team" must bear responsibility for "failures of leadership and judgment."
The prime minister said he was "humbled" and took "full responsibility" -- but insisted it was now time to "move on" and focus on Britain's battered economy and the war in Ukraine.
Johnson still faces an inquiry by a House of Commons standards committee over whether he lied to Parliament when he insisted no rules had been broken in Downing Street. Ministers who knowingly mislead Parliament are expected to resign.
The scandal leaves Conservative Party lawmakers in a quandary: Should they try to topple their leader amid a war in Europe and a financial crisis, or stick with a prime minister whose perceived willingness to flout rules he applies to others has caused public outrage?
Under party rules, a no-confidence vote can be triggered if 15% of party lawmakers -- currently 54 -- write letters calling for one. If Johnson lost such a vote, he would be replaced as Conservative leader and prime minister. It's unclear how many letters have been submitted so far, but the number is growing.
Two more Tory legislators, John Baron and David Simmonds, called Thursday for Johnson to resign. Baron said Johnson's previous claim "that there was no rule-breaking is simply not credible," and therefore he had misled Parliament.
____
With the emergence of a new COVID-19 variant of concern, labelled Omicron, CTVNews.ca wants to hear from Canadians with any questions.
Tell us what you’d like to know when it comes to the Omicron COVID-19 variant.
To submit your question, email us at dotcom@bellmedia.ca with your name, location and question. Your comments may be used in a CTVNews.ca story.
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
RCMP say human remains found in a rural area in central Saskatchewan may have been there for a decade or more.
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.