National News

Ottawa police say almost two dozen vehicles tied to an ongoing protest have left the city, just as a convoy disrupts traffic at the capital's airport.

In a release this morning, police said a dozen trucks left an area outside the downtown core after negotiations with protesters who have used the parking lot as a staging and logistics ground.

Police say 10 more trucks left streets near Parliament Hill, and another vehicle was towed for obstructing traffic.

Statistics Canada says the national population almost hit 37 million last year as it grew at the fastest rate among G7 nations.

The agency says Canada's population was just over 36.9 million on census day last year, growing by 5.2 per cent between 2016 and 2021.

The five-year growth rate was double that of any peer country in the G7, and Statistics Canada says most of the growth happened prior to the onset of the pandemic in 2020.

Ottawa police say 23 people have been arrested in the ongoing anti-vaccine mandate protest in the city's downtown, and there are 85 ongoing criminal investigations related to the nearly two-week-long demonstration.

More than 1,300 tickets have been issued to protesters.

Deputy Chief Steve Bell says officers are focused on hardening the perimeter around downtown and preventing fuel from getting to the trucks parked there, saying the 1,800 additional officers Ottawa has requested would help that effort.

The federal government is now warning against any travel to Ukraine and urged all Canadians currently in the country to leave Monday as concerns about war with Russia escalate.

Last month Global Affairs Canada warned only against non-essential travel to Ukraine, but stepped up its warning late Monday, suggesting growing concerns that a conflict is imminent.

“Avoid all travel to Ukraine due to ongoing Russian threats and the risk of armed conflict,” the advisory said. “If you are in Ukraine, you should leave while commercial means are available.”

Almost two-thirds of Canadians oppose the Ottawa protest against COVID-19 measures, with more than four in 10 saying they strongly consider the demonstration a selfish display, a new poll suggests.

But almost 30 per cent of Canadians surveyed by Leger disagreed with that characterization of the demonstration against COVID-19 measures that has seen hundreds of large trucks create gridlock and incessant noise in the national capital.

In addition, 44 per cent of those polled said they sympathized with the frustrations being voiced by the protesters.

The mayor of Canada's national capital declared a state of emergency in his city on Sunday in the face of ongoing protests that have overwhelmed local resources shortly before police moved to choke the convoy's supply chain.

In a late-afternoon release, the City of Ottawa said Mayor Jim Watson's declaration reflected the "serious danger and threat to the safety and security of residents" from protesters encamped through much of the downtown core.

The Canadian 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 marked the largest drop since January 2021, when the economy shed 207,800 jobs, Statistics Canada said Friday.

The job losses 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.

As downtown Ottawa residents brace for an eighth day of blaring horns and traffic gridlock there is still no end in sight to the anti-vaccine mandate protest by truckers who have parked their rigs in front of Parliament Hill.

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.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is playing down the notion of a military response to the ongoing Ottawa protest against COVID-19 measures, saying that sending in troops is "not in the cards right now."

Ottawa police Chief Peter Sloly said Wednesday that all options are on the table, including calling in the military, to end the ongoing demonstration that some city councillors have deemed an "occupation." 

Charles Hamelin's teammates were speculating recently about who might carry Canada's flag into the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

Hamelin had a hard time keeping a straight face.

Marie-Philip Poulin was finally able to break the good news earlier this week to her teammates, who wrapped their team captain up in a celebratory group hug.