National News

Iryna Matsiuk checks the news as soon as she wakes up each morning, hoping the escalating Russian-Ukrainian crisis won’t put her family in harm’s way.

Matsiuk, who has been living in Saskatoon since 2011, has a sister living in the capital city of Kyiv and her mother and grandmother live in the northwestern area of Volyn.

“Last weekend, I actually was pressuring my sister, asking, ‘Do you have an evacuations plan?’” Matsiuk said. “(Kyiv) is a big city and it’s not the easiest city to get out of, especially if everyone starts leaving.”

A criminal anthropologist suggests looking to the West to find the heart of protests and blockades that gripped the nation for more than a month. 

Alberta appears to have been the epicentre of unrest that started with truckers over cross-border vaccine mandates, but quickly attracted other groups with their own agendas. Most prominent were demands to lift all pandemic public health measures, complaints about the federal Liberal government and rallying cries for freedom. 

The House of Commons has passed a motion to approve extraordinary, time-limited measures in the Emergencies Act, which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked last week in a bid to end blockades in Ottawa and at several border crossings.

The motion to confirm the declaration of emergency powers passed 185-151 on Monday evening with the New Democrats voting in favour alongside the minority Liberal government.

Almost two years after a gunman disguised as a Mountie went on a shooting rampage that claimed 22 lives in rural Nova Scotia, an independent public inquiry is set to begin public hearings today in Halifax.

The federal-provincial inquiry, which was supposed to start in October, is expected to hear opening statements from the three commissioners leading the proceedings at the Halifax Convention Centre.

Some of the most high-profile organizers of protests against government and COVID-19 mandates in Ottawa are facing charges that include mischief and counselling to commit mischief. What does that actually mean? Here's a look at the significance of mischief charges and the consequences the people charged may face:

What is a mischief charge?

A mischief charge under the Criminal Code is extremely flexible, covering a wide range of possible offences from interfering with computer data to mischief endangering life or causing death.

Some of the most high-profile organizers of protests against government and COVID-19 mandates in Ottawa are facing charges that include mischief and counselling to commit mischief. What does that actually mean? Here's a look at the significance of mischief charges and the consequences the people charged may face:

What is a mischief charge?

A mischief charge under the Criminal Code is extremely flexible, covering a wide range of possible offences from interfering with computer data to mischief endangering life or causing death.

Police clashed with anti-government protesters in Ottawa on Saturday, pushing deeper into the national capital and closing in on the heart of the site where they have been encamped since late January.

The second day of the massive police enforcement effort comes as members of parliament resumed debating the government's decision to invoke the Emergencies Act in a bid to quell demonstrations in Ottawa and further afield.

Rows of officers clad in riot gear and carrying batons massed along Wellington Street near the Prime Minister's Office in downtown Ottawa.

Police clashed with anti-government protesters in Ottawa on Saturday, pushing deeper into the national capital and closing in on the heart of the site where they have been encamped since late January.

The second day of the massive police enforcement effort comes as members of parliament resumed debating the government's decision to invoke the Emergencies Act in a bid to quell demonstrations in Ottawa and further afield.

Rows of officers clad in riot gear and carrying batons massed along Wellington Street near the Prime Minister's Office in downtown Ottawa.

Police clashed with anti-government protesters in Ottawa on Saturday, pushing deeper into the national capital and closing in on the heart of the site where they have been encamped since late January.

The second day of the massive police enforcement effort comes as members of parliament resumed debating the government's decision to invoke the Emergencies Act in a bid to quell demonstrations in Ottawa and further afield.

Rows of officers clad in riot gear and carrying batons massed along Wellington Street near the Prime Minister's Office in downtown Ottawa.

Ottawa police say officers have begun making more arrests of anti-vaccine mandate protesters who have occupied the city's downtown core for weeks.

Police say on Twitter there is a large police presence on Nicholas Street downtown and protesters are being advised to leave immediately.

They say some are surrendering and being arrested.

"We ask protesters to remain peaceful and lawful," police say.

The action follows several arrests made Thursday night including of key organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber.