National News

A former senior officer for the Ontario Provincial Police says the "Freedom Convoy" protests in Ottawa could have been ended without the federal Emergencies Act.

Former Chief Supt. Carson Pardy told the public inquiry examining the invocation of the act Friday that plans to clear the demonstrations were consistently delayed because of confusion and disorganization within the ranks of Ottawa police, and that the chief of police didn't trust his OPP team.

Pardy said emergency powers proved "critical," giving police power to tow and hold vehicles without laying charges. 

Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney says a global recession is likely, making it challenging for Canada to avoid a similar economic downturn. 

While testifying before the Senate banking committee on Thursday, Carney said Canada may fare better than others because of mitigating factors such as the country's ties to the U.S. as well as the strong labour market recovery after the pandemic.

A senior Ontario Provincial Police officer is expected to be cross-examined this morning at the federal government's inquiry into the use of the Emergencies Act.

Supt. Craig Abrams told the commission yesterday that his officers saw dysfunction in the ranks of the Ottawa Police Service even from the early days of the protest. 

He said Ottawa police failed to come up with an operational plan and were not properly deploying OPP officers sent to Ottawa to help patrol the "Freedom Convoy" protests in February.

A study suggests lower-income and younger people may be more at risk of developing lung cancer long-term because they can't afford to remove radon gas from their homes.

The study, from a multidisciplinary team of cancer researchers at the University of Calgary and University of British Columbia, was published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports at Nature.com.

The researchers interviewed those living in nearly 3,000 households across Canada who had tested for and found radon in their homes.

The "Freedom Convoy" had gridlocked Canada's capital city for more than two weeks before the "floundering" Ottawa police force approved a detailed plan to handle it, senior police officers have told the public inquiry into the Liberal government's use of the Emergencies Act.

Patricia Ferguson, the acting deputy chief of the Ottawa police, said Thursday that the force assumed protesters would not stay longer than a weekend and relied at first on a boilerplate plan that had been used for other downtown events involving big crowds, such as Canada Day celebrations.

An RCMP officer who was fatally stabbed Tuesday in a park in Burnaby, B.C., was there to notify the occupant of a lone tent that he wasn't allowed to live there, police said Wednesday. 

Sgt. Timothy Pierotti of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team told a press conference that Const. Shaelyn Yang, 31, volunteered to work on a mental health and homeless outreach team and she was helping a city worker deliver the news to the man, he said. 

Bad political blood appears to have been running hot through the crisis response to the "Freedom Convoy" that gridlocked Canada's capital city, the testimony of the city's former police board chair revealed Wednesday. 

And new evidence suggests that police forces were planning ahead for a weeks-long event even as Ottawa's then-chief of police privately speculated that they'd be gone after a couple of days. 

An RCMP mental health and homeless outreach officer stabbed to death in Burnaby, B.C., "died bravely," her superior said. 

RCMP Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald said 31-year-old Const. Shaelyn Yang had been a police officer since December 2019. 

McDonald said Yang was stabbed during “an altercation” while she partnered with a city employee officer at a homeless camp site around 11 a.m. Tuesday. 

She was pronounced dead at hospital. 

A suspect was shot and seriously injured and remains in hospital, he said during an emotional news conference.

Canada's annual inflation rate dropped slightly to 6.9 per cent in September but the cost of groceries continues to climb.

In its latest consumer price index report, Statistics Canada said the slight deceleration from 7.0 per cent inflation in August is mostly attributed to lower gas prices, which fell by 7.4 per cent in September.

Meanwhile, grocery prices rose at the fastest rate since August 1981, with prices up 11.4 per cent compared with a year ago.

Statistics Canada said food prices have outstripped the overall inflation rate for 10 consecutive months.

Mounties are mourning one of their own after an RCMP officer was fatally stabbed at a homeless campsite in Burnaby, British Columbia. 

Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald says the death Tuesday of Const. Shaelyn Yang, 31, will be felt by her colleagues who say goodbye to their loved ones each day when they go to work to serve their communities. 

Police say Yang was partnered with a city employee when an altercation broke out at a campsite and she was fatally stabbed. 

A suspect, who was shot and seriously injured, was being treated in hospital.