nation in brief

And boom goes the wedding When a Nova Scotia couple’s wedding plans went up in flames, they soldiered…

It’s a Canadian family affair As of Nov. 4, the federal government has stopped accepting immigration sponsorship applications for parents and grandparents until 2014 in a bid to reduce a backlog of 165,000 applications. According to the Toronto Star, the government hopes to halve that number in two years. The federal government will accept 25,000 parents and grandparents in 2012, 43 per cent more than this year, but is lowering its quotas in other categories. While the family reunification count will be up from 65,500 this year to 69,000 in 2012, the quota for spouses and children is being reduced from 48,000 to 44,000. Immigration Canada will hold consultations next year to redesign the process to avoid future backlogs next year.

212,000 animals used in UBC research As part of an attempt to become more transparent about animal experimentation…

York whistleblower fired York University fired whistleblower Ken Tooby, sources confirmed Friday, but would give no explanation why…

Accidental baby swap discovered 12 years too late It’s a parent’s worst nightmare come true: finding out the…

Fore! An old German space telescope that’s set to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere around the end of October…