Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair says it is well past the time for the protest in Ottawa to come to an end. He is one of six federal cabinet ministers who held a news conference this afternoon to address the protests that have paralyzed the area around Parliament Hill for more than a week. Protesters and some MPs are urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to meet the protest organizers but he has been adamant that he has no intention of meeting with what he calls a ``fringe minority'' that holds ``unacceptable views.'' NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is calling for an emergency debate in Par

New Conservative Interim Leader Candice Bergen has done a clean sweep of former leader Erin O'Toole's leadership team in Parliament. Tory MPs were informed Friday of the major shakeup, which follows their decision to force O'Toole from the job by a vote of 73 to 45. Bergen announced that effective immediately Quebec MP Gerard Deltell, Ontario's Michael Barrett, Alberta's Blake Richards and fellow Manitoba MP James Bezan were off the team. She replaced them with Ontario MP John Brassard, who will serve as her House leader, as well as Tom Kmiec, who will be the Tories' deputy House leader. Both

Crowdfunding site GoFundMe will reimburse or redirect to charities the vast majority of the more than $10 million raised by demonstrators protesting COVID-19 measures in Ottawa, saying the event has become an occupation. The move could deny participants a vital source of funds as Ottawa braces for a new wave of protesters slated to arrive in the national capital this weekend. GoFundMe says it supports peaceful protest and that it believes that was the initial intention of the Ottawa event. The crowdfunding site says it now has evidence from law enforcement that the demonstration ``has become

Canadian flag-bearers Marie-Philip Poulin and Charles Hamelin waved the Maple Leaf together at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics. It was a cold and clear evening in Beijing as Chinese President Xi (shee) Jinping declared the Games open during a ceremony heavy on winter imagery. Canada didn't send any official representatives to the Games as part of a diplomatic boycott over human rights abuses. Competition began at the Games on Wednesday, and medal events are on tap tomorrow.

The Ottawa police are deploying a ``surge'' of about 150 extra police officers to the areas of the city most affected by the protest against COVID-19 mandates that has been going on for days. Police Chief Peter Sloly says the patrolling officers will be focused on dealing with mischief, hate, harassment, threats and other intimidating behaviours. Late Thursday, federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said the RCMP had approved Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson's request for Mounties to support city police. Mendicino said the convoy has caused significant disruptions to local residents including

Statistics Canada says the economy lost 200,000 jobs in January amid stricter public health rules put in place to slow the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. The decrease marks the largest drop since January 2021, when the economy shed 207,800 jobs. The loss also pushed the unemployment rate to 6.5 per cent in January compared with 6.0 per cent in December. As Omicron spread across the country, governments reintroduced capacity limits and closures for workplaces such as restaurants and gyms. Statistics Canada says the bulk of the job losses were in Ontario and Quebec, which impleme

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says a military response to the ongoing Ottawa protest against COVID-19 measures isn’t on the table at the moment. He says there were questions a few years ago regarding using the military to end other protests that were blocking critical infrastructure. He says his answer is the same today as it was then.Trudeau adds there has been no such request made to the federal government for military intervention. Trudeau says the federal priority remains "being there for the citizens of Ottawa." Trudeau says one must be "very, very cautious" about deploying troops on Ca

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he looks forward to speaking with Conservative MP Candice Bergen and congratulating her on her new role as the party's interim leader. But Trudeau says he also plans to highlight the importance of cross-party co-operation and support for public health measures. Bergen's predecessor, ousted Tory leader Erin O'Toole, struggled to bring his caucus together on issues like vaccine mandates. Manitoba MP Candice Bergen is the new interim leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. Conservative MPs chose Bergen for the role in a secret ballot Wednesday night after vo

Manitoba MP Candice Bergen is the new interim leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. Conservative MPs chose Bergen for the role in a secret ballot Wednesday night after voting to remove Erin O'Toole from the top job earlier in the day. She will serve as interim leader until the party membership chooses a new permanent leader. This will be the third leadership race since former prime minister Stephen Harper stepped down after losing to the Liberals in the 2015 election.