National News

One of two men sentenced Monday to 6 1/2 years for firearms violations and mischief at the border blockade at Coutts, Alta., says the time he has already spent behind bars has changed him and his "solemn weapon” is now love.

"Stay strong, live free, spread love — not war," Anthony Olienick, reading from a prepared statement, told a Court of King’s Bench judge before sentencing.

“I've gained a stronger understanding into what divine destiny awaits me," he added.

Former fashion mogul Peter Nygard has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for his sexual assault convictions in Toronto.

His time behind bars will work out to 6.7 years after accounting for credit he received for time already spent in custody.

Nygard’s lawyer had argued for a six-year sentence, citing the 83-year-old’s age and poor health, while the Crown sought a sentence of 15 years.

Nygard was convicted of four counts of sexual assault last November but acquitted of a fifth count as well as one of forcible confinement.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau may be bracing for an earful from his caucus when Liberal MPs gather in Nanaimo, B.C. today to plot their strategy for the coming election year.

It will be the first time he faces them as a group since MPs departed Ottawa in the spring.

Still stinging from a devastating byelection loss earlier this summer, the caucus is now also reeling from news that their national campaign director has resigned and the party can no longer count on the NDP to stave off an early election.

A Saskatoon high school student remembers the pungent smell of burned hair going up her nose, and something like the strong scent from a Sharpie marker, moments after she watched a schoolmate being set on fire.

She had just stepped out of her Grade 9 social studies class for lunch on Thursday, she says, when she saw two other girls in a hallway. A girl in a crop top poured liquid from a black canister onto the head of the girl standing next to her.

When a father and son were arrested this summer in Ontario over an alleged terrorist plot, U.S. authorities say the news spooked a 20-year-old Pakistani national and Canadian resident named Muhammad Shahzeb Khan.

They say Khan used encrypted messaging to warn that because of the arrests "here in Toronto," there was a need to "lay low" on his own alleged plans: killing as many Jewish people as possible in New York around the Oct. 7 anniversary of Hamas' attack on Israel.

Tributes poured in Friday for Grand Chief Cathy Merrick of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, who died after collapsing outside the Winnipeg Law Courts building. 

Merrick, the first woman elected to the role, was talking to reporters about two court cases when she said she felt dizzy and fell to the ground. 

Fire and paramedic crews arrived, performed chest compressions and carried Merrick away on a stretcher to an ambulance, which sped off with its siren on.

Public health agencies are encouraging people who received a first dose of mpox vaccine over the last two years to make sure they get a second dose. 

Many people at risk for mpox exposure got vaccinated in Canada beginning in spring 2022, when a global outbreak of the virus was declared, Canada's chief public health officer said in a recent interview with The Canadian Press.

But a lot of them never got a second dose, which is recommended at least 28 days after the first shot.

A 15-year-old girl is in hospital with serious injuries after she was lit on fire at a Saskatoon high school, police said Thursday. 

Sgt. Ken Kane told reporters that a school resource officer, who was at Evan Hardy Collegiate for a different matter, apprehended a 14-year-old girl as a suspect.

He did not say how the victim was lit on fire or the extent of her burn injuries. 

"Our officer that was on scene was at the immediate area of the event within 30 seconds and had someone in custody within 60 seconds," he said.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has ripped up the supply and confidence deal with the Liberals that helped keep the minority government in power. 

In a social media video posted Wednesday afternoon, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said he notified Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of the decision. 

"Canadians are fighting a battle.  A battle for the future of the middle class.  Justin Trudeau has proven again and again he will always cave to corporate greed," Singh said in the video directly addressing Canadians. 

The NDP's supply and confidence deal with the Liberals in Ottawa will get heavy scrutiny when leader Jagmeet Singh meets with his caucus in Montreal next week, with the Liberals' decision last month to force binding arbitration to end a work stoppage at the country's major railroads potentially triggering the end of the pact.