National News

An Ontario judge is delivering her ruling in the sexual assault trial for five former members of Canada's world junior hockey team.

Content warning: This live blog includes graphic descriptions of sexual acts and explicit testimony from a court proceeding that some readers may find disturbing or triggering. Reader discretion is advised.

A lawyer for one of two leaders of the Freedom Convoy facing sentencing told an Ottawa court Wednesday her client should not be left with a criminal record.

Crown prosecutor Siobhain Wetscher said Wednesday she is seeking stiff sentences for convoy leaders Tamara Lich and Chris Barber because of the broad community harm caused by the three-week 2022 protest in Ottawa's downtown core.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe wrapped three days of meetings with his fellow premiers and Prime Minister Mark Carney Wednesday with a message he admitted he wouldn't have sent over the past decade.

"We can be proud of the work our federal government is doing, in fairness," Moe said.

Moe has been one of the federal Liberal government's most vocal critics in recent years — and criticism of Ottawa is usually guaranteed when provincial leaders gather.

Now that the British government has vowed to lower its voting age to 16 by the next general election, one Canadian senator says it's past time for Canada to do the same.

The U.K. announced last week that it would lower its voting age from 18 to 16 in a bid to strengthen British democracy and restore trust in politics.

Sen. Marilou McPhedran said the issue has been her "top parliamentary priority" since she joined the Red Chamber. She said lowering the voting age to 16 would be good for democracy and that the only arguments against it are "based on stereotypes."

The man accused of ramming an SUV into a crowd and killing 11 people at the Vancouver Lapu Lapu Day festival is set to appear in court today, with a judge determining if he's fit to stand trial.

RJ Aquino, the chair of festival organizer Filipino BC, says the court proceedings could prove "traumatizing" for victims and members of the Filipino community.

He says many have expressed anger and frustration since the April 26 attack and still find it difficult to cope with the tragedy almost three months later.

The volume and severity of police-reported crime in Canada decreased four per cent last year after three annual increases in a row, the national statistics agency said Tuesday.

Statistics Canada said non-violent crime had a significant effect on the decline in the overall crime severity index in 2024.

The non-violent crime severity index — which includes such crimes as property and drug offences — dropped six per cent last year, following a nine per cent increase from 2021 to 2023.

One year to the day a wind-whipped fire forced thousands to flee in the dark of night along one smoke-choked road, the mayor of Jasper acknowledged it was a day of remembrance that some would much rather forget.

As five former Canadian world junior hockey players await a ruling in their sexual assault trial, legal experts say videos shown in court of the complainant saying she was OK with what had happened highlight a broader misunderstanding of consent and sexual assault law in Canada.

Two cellphone videos in which the woman says she’s “OK with this” and that “it was all consensual” were presented as evidence during the trial of Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube, and Callan Foote.

Several Conservative MPs are criticizing the Crown's approach to prosecuting two key organizers of the Freedom Convoy protests, with the party's deputy leader calling it an act of "political vengeance."

Tamara Lich and Chris Barber were convicted of mischief in April for their roles in organizing the demonstration, which blockaded streets around Parliament Hill for more than three weeks in early 2022.

Barber was also convicted of counselling others to disobey a court order.

Tariffs and trade are top of the agenda as the country's premiers arrive in Ontario's cottage country for a three-day meeting that comes at a pivotal time for both Canada-U.S. and domestic relations.

The premiers' summer gathering in Muskoka will also feature a Tuesday meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney, as trade talks with the United States are expected to intensify.