National News

Ottawa will end evacuation flights from Israel next week, citing decreasing demand and increasingly available commercial options now that a number of Canadians have successfully left the country since the latest Israel-Hamas war began.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says in a statement that the last scheduled assisted departure flight from Tel Aviv will leave on Monday.

Joly says Canadian Armed Forces aircraft will remain on stand-by in the region in case conditions change and the demand for evacuation flights ramps up again.

The RCMP has told owners to turn in fully automatic military surplus firearms after hundreds were misidentified and allowed into Canada for commercial sale.

The Mounties say the registrar of firearms immediately froze records relating to the 245 prohibited guns upon discovery of the issue to prevent further sale or transfer of the firearms.

The registrar believes three firearm businesses imported and registered the guns as semi-automatic Tavor X95s that are classified as restricted firearms and can be sold in Canada.

Wab Kinew was sworn-in as Manitoba premier and named his lineup of cabinet ministers Wednesday in a colourful ceremony filled with the music and customs of the many Indigenous communities in the province.

There was Métis jigging accompanied by a fiddle, Dakota singing and drumming and the lighting of an Inuit qulliq -- an oil lamp -- during the two-hour event that marked the inauguration of the first First Nations premier of a Canadian province.

The parliamentary budget officer says the implementation of a digital services tax would raise $7.2 billion over five years.

The Liberals' spring budget confirmed their intention to implement the tax, which is designed to ensure that tech giants pay their fair share of taxes in countries where they earn revenue without having a physical presence.

The tax would apply to businesses with annual worldwide revenues of 750 million euros and more, as well as annual Canadian digital services revenue of more than $20 million.

A Winnipeg woman who suffered life-threatening injuries after her coworker stabbed her more than a dozen times told a judge she is haunted by the attack and fears being in public nearly two years later.

"My life was so very close to ending that day," Candyce Szkwarek read from a victim impact statement in court on Tuesday.

"I have a constant daily reminder when I look in the mirror and see all these scars from the stab wounds and surgeries. They all take me back to that day."

The bombing of a hospital in Gaza was "absolutely unacceptable," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday, as federal officials confirmed Canada stands ready in Egypt to help people in the besieged territory get out amid a worsening humanitarian crisis. 

A police liaison officer who communicated directly with "Freedom Convoy" protesters during the winter 2022 demonstrations is expected to testify today in the criminal trial of two of its organizers.

Const. Isabelle Cyr had been expected to address the court on Tuesday, but defence lawyers said they needed time to review notes and emails between Cyr and her colleagues during the protests.

The court wrapped up the testimony of five Ottawa residents on Tuesday.

Manitoba's new premier, Wab Kinew, is scheduled to be sworn in today and appoint his cabinet.

You can watch the ceremony live on this page at 10 a.m. CDT.

Some legal experts say a Supreme Court of Canada ruling that found much of Ottawa's environmental assessment law unconstitutional will have no impact on other federal moves such as clean electricity regulations or oilsands emissions caps. 

"It will be an uphill fight for Alberta to challenge new greenhouse gas emission law, and Friday's decision doesn't change that," said Stewart Elgie, a professor of law and economics at the University of Ottawa. 

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says the federal government is still working to get Canadians out of the besieged Gaza Strip as the Palestinian territory braces for an expected ground invasion by Israel.

Joly also announced a plan to begin evacuating Canadians from the West Bank territory by bus as early as next week.

"We're extremely concerned about the situation in Gaza," she said Saturday at a news conference from Jordan. "Gaza is one of the worst places on Earth to be right now."