National News

OTTAWA — The government is poised to press ahead with a law combating racial and religious hatred, including online hate, according to Diversity Minister Ahmed Hussen.

OTTAWA — Canada's chief public health officer says provinces are going to have to find a balance between containing the virus with public health measures and returning to a sense of normalcy as the Omicron wave continues to crest.

Quebec Premier François Legault said Friday he was confident a trucker protest planned in Quebec City for the weekend against COVID-19 public health orders wouldn't be a repeat of what happened in Ottawa.

OTTAWA — A convoy of protesters against COVID-19 restrictions that has settled into downtown Ottawa has provided a test for the Conservative party as it rolls into a leadership race.

Nunavut's senator says he has left the Conservative caucus over its support for protests in Ottawa against vaccine mandates and COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

FREDERICTON — An unvaccinated New Brunswick man can no longer see his three children in person after a judge temporarily suspended his access because of the risk he poses to his 10-year-old immunocompromised daughter.

COUTTS, Alta. — The mayor of a village affected by protesters at Alberta's main United States border crossing says he decided to cross the divide and meet with those who have been disrupting traffic there for nearly a week.

HALIFAX — A Halifax woman who alleges investigators mishandled her sexual assault case says a charge laid this week shouldn't delay probes into police conduct.

WASHINGTON — The federal government is once again urging a Michigan judge to keep Line 5 operating while it works with the United States on negotiating an end to the impasse over the controversial cross-border pipeline. Gordon Giffin, the former U.S.

Riddled by Omicron's rapid spread, the Canadian economy lost 200,100 jobs in January amid stricter public health rules put in place to slow the COVID-19 variant, but most signs point to a quick recovery.