Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said Friday that Canada strongly condemns a new surge of "horrifying violence" perpetrated by gangs in Haiti. Gang violence has increased in the Caribbean nation in recent weeks and the UN says gangs now control 85 per cent of the capital city of Port-au-Prince.

The federal government is expected to boost the minimum hourly wage that must be paid to temporary foreign workers in the high-wage stream as a way to encourage employers to hire more Canadian staff.

Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon has rejected CN Rails request for binding arbitration in the company's labour dispute with Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) one week before alockout couldshut down the rail network.