The Canadian Press

Jean Charest spent the last official debate of the federal Conservative leadership race on Wednesday stressing that his experience as a political leader is what the party needs to unite.

But with six weeks left in the contest, the former Quebec premier, who once led the erstwhile federal Progressive Conservative party, would not say whether he plans to remain within the Conservative Party of Canada if another candidate is revealed as the winner on Sept. 10.

Ottawa police arrested a driver after what they describe as an unauthorized vehicle drove into the front gates of Parliament Hill early this morning. 

Police say a vehicle rammed into the gates outside the legislature at about 3:30 a.m. and security infrastructure prevented it from entering the grounds.

An officer was nearby and took the driver into custody without further incident, the police statement says, and no criminal charges have yet been laid. 

Pope Francis delivered on Monday an apology for the Roman Catholic Church's role in residential schools, saying many Christians supported the colonization of Indigenous people. He made the remarks at the former site of the Ermineskin Indian Residential School in community of Maskwacis, south of Edmonton.

Here is some of the reaction to the historic apology: 

A preacher and his brother have successfully appealed their convictions for hosting public gatherings during the pandemic and are to have their fines reimbursed.

Twice in 2021, Artur and Dawid Pawlowski of Calgary were ruled to be in contempt of a COVID-19-related Alberta Health Services injunction that limited the number of people permitted to congregate and required physical distancing and face masks.

Artur Pawlowski, a Street Church preacher, was sentenced to three days in jail and fined $20,000, while his brother's sentence was three days in jail and a $10,000 fine. 

Rogers Communications Inc. says in a submission to the federal telecom regulator that it could not have restored emergency services any faster during a widespread service outage earlier this month that crippled the company's networks and affected millions of customers across Canada.

New details about the extent of the disruption were also included in the filing and range from media outlets unable to produce news broadcasts to outages for all customers in critical infrastructure such as hospitals and energy providers.

A man accused of killing a Saskatchewan RCMP officer during a traffic stop has been ordered to stand trial for first-degree murder.

Alphonse Stanley Traverse, 42, of Winnipeg was originally charged with manslaughter in the June 12, 2021, death of Const. Shelby Patton.

The charge was upgraded in November to first-degree murder.

Judge Douglas Kovatch, at the end of a three-day preliminary hearing on Thursday, ruled there is enough evidence to proceed with a trial on the murder charge.

Due to a publication ban, evidence at the hearing cannot be published.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers were big winners on and off the field last season.

Winnipeg capped the CFL's return in 2021 with a second straight Grey Cup title. On Wednesday, the community-owned club reported an overall operating profit of $2.1 million for last season.

The CFL didn't play in 2020 due to the global pandemic. It returned to action last season with a shortened 14-game regular season, culminating with Winnipeg's 33-25 overtime Grey Cup win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Tim Hortons Field.

A parole hearing is scheduled to take place today for a former truck driver who caused the deadly Humboldt Broncos bus crash.

Jaskirat Singh Sidhu was sentenced to eight years after he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving charges for the 2018 crash that killed 16 and injured 13.

Singh went through a stop sign at a rural Saskatchewan intersection and drove into the path of the junior hockey team's bus as it was on its way to a playoff game.

Sidhu, who has been serving his sentence at a prison in Bowden, Alta., is asking to be released pending possible deportation.

Those with tickets to attend the Pope's mass northeast of Quebec City at the end of this month will have a very early start to their day, but a spokesman who questioned whether the schedule would be too hard on Indigenous elders now says it's the best plan.

Organizers for the papal visit to Quebec said only shuttle buses from two designated locations at Videotron Centre or Mont-Ste-Anne will ferry people to the shrine of Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré, northeast of Quebec City, for the July 28 mass. 

A community in northern Manitoba has issued an evacuation order due to an ongoing forest fire in the area.

Beverly Linklater with Mathias Colomb First Nation confirms an evacuation order for Pukatawagan was issued on community radio Thursday afternoon.

She says elders and chronically-ill people will be the first to evacuate, with evacuees heading to communities including Cranberry Portage, The Pas, Winnipeg and Swan River.

Northern Manitoba air charter service Missinippi Airways says it will work to help the evacuation.