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Written by Hanna Lee Copy Editor, Digital News
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Good morning. The Canada Revenue Agency is the subject of a CBC investigation — again. We'll get into that below, as well as look at the state of hospitalization rates for respiratory illnesses, and how U.S. crime guns get into Canada.
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(Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)
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Russian strikes kill 16 across Ukraine in worst attack this year
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Russia unleashed its deadliest attack so far this year on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities overnight, killing 16, including a 12-year-old child, and wounding scores, officials said on Thursday.
What's happening: Fires burned out of control in the capital following the drone and missile strikes which, by morning, left residents and emergency crews cleaning debris scattered around heavily damaged buildings. The attacks killed four people in Kyiv, nine in Odesa, and two in the southeastern city of Dnipro, according to officials.
Why it matters: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attacks prove Moscow does not deserve any easing of global policy or lifting of sanctions, saying: "There can be no normalization of Russia as it is today. Pressure on Russia must work. And it is important to fulfil every promise of assistance to Ukraine on time."
– This section compiled by Sean Davidson |
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FEATURED STORIES
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(Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
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CRA pays out another bogus $5M income tax refund, agency insider says
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Despite now alleging it was a bogus return, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has paid out another $5-million refund to a single taxpayer.
What's happening: This time, the recipient was a B.C. businesswoman named Teresa Wallace, according to court records obtained by the fifth estate and Radio-Canada. (She didn't respond to requests for comment.) The files say she usually makes $54,000 a year from her hemp- and grain-processing business. Two months after releasing the funds, the agency realized it had failed to look at whether the refund was legitimate, even though it had been flagged for a manual review. "Here we go again," said an agency insider. "I mean, how many times do you have to learn a lesson?"
Why it matters: CBC News has been on the CRA bogus claim file since 2024, with one case involving another $5-million potentially fraudulent refund. Agency auditors say Wallace falsely claimed earning $9,999,999 in foreign income in 2023, and she also said she paid that same amount in Canadian taxes. It's based on this information that she allegedly requested a refund of almost $5 million on the overpayment; the agency now believes no taxes were ever paid and she never earned the $10 million to begin with. The CRA told CBC it can't comment on individual cases but is adapting its safeguards to address changing risks.
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Hospitalization rates for illnesses like COVID, flu have doubled since pre-pandemic, report finds
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The virus that causes COVID-19 is still sending thousands of Canadians into hospital each year, alongside other respiratory infections.
What's happening: That's according to new data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information, which shows that hospitalization rates for vaccine-preventable respiratory diseases more than doubled in 2024 compared to pre-pandemic levels. It also comes as vaccination rates are backsliding. Influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, accounted for more than half of all such hospitalizations in 2024. COVID-19 alone contributed more than 40 per cent.
Why it matters: While you couldn't be blamed for never wanting to hear about COVID again, it's still having a major impact on Canadian hospitals. The data also shows how much it adds to the existing burden of illnesses like influenza. High-risk age groups — mainly the very young and very old — are bearing the brunt of these hospitalizations, and seasonal vaccination uptake for both COVID and flu shots has dropped.
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