Police increase presence in downtown Ottawa as occupation nears 4th weekend
CBC
The latest on Day 21 of the protest:
Two formal warnings went out to protesters in Ottawa on Wednesday as the city's interim police chief said a safe end to the occupation is a matter of when, not if.
Now the city waits.
The warnings — posted online and handed out as flyers — gave protesters an updated list of rules that may apply to the occupation of some downtown streets and potential penalties under expanded federal and provincial powers.
On Thursday, the city's bylaw department explained what would happen with animals if "enforcement actions" separate people from their pets.
Speaking to city council on Wednesday, interim police Chief Steve Bell said police now have the resources and a plan to safely end the protest.
He would not share a timeline for that plan for operational reasons, but said police are prepared for several levels of "lawful" escalation, including "techniques [that] are not what we're used to seeing Ottawa."
On Thursday morning, fences were being set up in front of government buildings including Parliament Hill and the Senate.
WATCH | How police may try to end the occupation:
After the first of the two warnings, which directly told protesters that what they were doing no longer fell under a peaceful protest, spokespeople for the organizers said they needed more people to come to the core so police would be outnumbered.
Wednesday also brought comments from federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino that several of the individuals involved in the blockade at the border crossing in Coutts, Alta., have "strong ties to a far-right extreme organization with leaders who are in Ottawa."
Following Tuesday's resignation of police chief Peter Sloly, there were more leadership changes when Ottawa city council voted to overhaul its police services board Wednesday during a long and unusually emotional meeting.
It included the ouster of chair Coun. Diane Deans and the resignation of some board members in protest.
The police services board is set to meet Thursday to elect a new chair.
Ontario legislation that mandated air conditioning in all resident rooms in long-term care (LTC) homes has saved dozens of lives, according to a new study.
Gusty winds, rapid fall in temperature prompt special weather statement for Waterloo region and area
The mid-week warmup in Waterloo region, Guelph and area will abruptly come to an end on Friday, Environment and Climate Change Canada warns.
Water in two more schools in the N.W.T. show lead levels above Health Canada's guidelines for drinking water, according to the territorial government.
Ontario's ethics watchdog says it will investigate whether the province's labour minister contravened any laws in his handling of a controversial training fund.
Mitchell Rose, the 32-year-old man charged with three counts of attempted murder in St. John’s, will spend the next month on the forensic unit of a psychiatric hospital.
Nearly eight years after Halifax sold the historic Khyber building in the hopes it could be revived, the municipality says the site has become a “threat to safety” — and is taking it back.
The New Brunswick government has a strategy for reducing chronic homelessness in the province by 40 per cent over the next three years, Housing Minister David Hickey said Thursday.
Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé is stepping down.
A Winnipeg mother whose kids attend Winnipeg School Division schools says officials waited too long to let parents know classes would be cancelled on Thursday amid a winter blizzard that created dangerous road conditions across the city.
After one day of calm, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) says a second Alberta clipper storm will begin to hit western Saskatchewan early Friday morning.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's government is increasing how much it costs to apply for a citizen-initiated referendum by 5,000 per cent, saying it's about making sure applicants are serious.
A special unit established to solve cold cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people has solved the murder of a B.C. man in Washington State nearly a decade ago.
A judge ruled Thursday to remove an injunction in place since the summer against Alberta's law prohibiting doctors from providing gender-affirming care to youth.