House of Commons cancels sitting today as police operations get underway
CBC
The House of Commons is no longer sitting today, despite an agreement to debate the Emergencies Act, as a heavy police operation gets underway to end the protests occupying Ottawa's downtown core that have lasted three weeks.
After several warnings, police moved in to make arrests Friday morning just after 8 a.m.
Heather Bradley, director of communications for the Speaker's office, said given the exceptional circumstances, the issue was discussed with all parties and Friday's meeting is now cancelled.
House leaders had reached a deal to debate the use of the controversial Emergencies Act on Friday and through the weekend, from 7 a.m. ET to midnight, with a vote planned for Monday.
Government House Leader Mark Holland tweeted that he hopes the debate can resume Saturday.
"We are closely monitoring the police operation in downtown Ottawa today and will await further advice from security officials on Parliament Hill on when the House can reopen," he wrote.
WATCH | A timeline of the convoy protest that has gridlocked downtown Ottawa:
Meanwhile, a note sent to senators on Friday morning asks them to stay away from the downtown core.
"As per the Parliamentary Protective Service's (PPS) most recent email notification, a police operation is expected to take place on Wellington Street and other locations in the downtown core of Ottawa," reads the email, which was shared with Radio-Canada.
"Should you be already in the precinct, please remain in the building and await further instructions from PPS officers."
Ottawa's downtown core remains locked down Friday morning, with about 100 checkpoints preventing protesters from entering the zone.
Earlier this week, officers handed out notices to protesters and truck drivers, warning them that the new federal legislation bans travel to protest zones. It also prohibits people from bringing minors near unlawful assemblies and authorizes banks and insurance companies to freeze participants' accounts and cancel their vehicle insurance.
"We want people to peacefully leave. But I can tell you, if they do not peacefully leave, we have plans, strategies and tactics to be able to get them to leave," Bell said
On Thursday, police had arrested Chris Barber and Tamara Lich, key organizers of the protest convoy that began as a demonstration against vaccine mandates and other pandemic restrictions.
More Alberta seniors are now eligible for a provincially funded RSV vaccine.
More than 100 workers at a steel plant in eastern Ontario are being laid off either temporarily or permanently, as a company with facilities in Quebec and Ontario cuts its workforce due to challenging market conditions — including U.S. tariffs.
A small town northwest of Thunder Bay, Ont., has become the unlikely home for hundreds of foreign workers, but many may have to leave the community they've embraced after the end of a federal program put in place to fill gaps in Canada's labour market.
There's mixed reaction in Waterloo to an injuction allowing police to detain, arrest and charge anyone who is participating in unsanctioned street parties in that city this weekend.
Diabetes Canada is excited about Prince Edward Island's new pharmacare deal with the federal government, but hopes the province will reevaluate copays on diabetes supplies, says a senior manager with the organization.
After 26 years of accommodating guests from across the world, Faith Embleton says she and her husband Ken are ready to sell their bed and breakfast.
A group of big-name companies including Google, Meta and Dow have signed a pledge to support tripling the world's nuclear energy capacity by 2050, a signal of the technology's growing resurgence in popularity.
Five years on, Toronto-area doctors and public health officials are looking back at what they've learned since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic — and most agree the early experience will prove useful if the city faces another infectious disease crisis.
City staff would like Londoners to take a good look around their home and ask themselves a direct and possibly difficult question: Could everyone in your family survive at home, without leaving and with no other help, for a full 72 hours?
Liberal Leader Mark Carney will officially become Canada's next prime minister within a few hours, taking the reins as the country barrels toward a general election and continues to fend off verbal and economic attacks from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Recent cyberattacks in Newfoundland and Labrador should have been a wake up call for the federal government about the reality of an increasingly hostile world, says one cybersecurity expert.
A recent CBC News analysis found that Nova Scotia is rapidly losing some of its most affordable apartments, but housing experts say there are ways to prevent that.
Premier Susan Holt is defending her decision to not use electricity exports to Maine as leverage against U.S. tariffs, arguing the move might cause long-term pain for New Brunswickers.