Commission probing use of Emergencies Act for 2022 trucker protests granted extension
The commission investigating the federal government's use of the Emergencies Act to quell the trucker protests last winter in Ottawa has asked for more time to complete its report.
A government source, who was granted anonymity to discuss matters not yet public, says the order-in-council establishing the Public Order Emergency Commission will be modified to change the Feb. 6 deadline to submit its report to the government.
The source, however, says the commission will abide by the deadline imposed by the Emergencies Act, which requires the report to be submitted to Parliament -- and released to the public -- within 360 days of the emergency declaration being revoked.
That deadline is Feb. 20.
Headed by Justice Paul Rouleau, the commission is investigating the federal Liberal government's use of the Emergencies Act last winter to end the "Freedom Convoy" protests that gridlocked downtown Ottawa for more than three weeks.
The government invoked the law on Feb. 14, 2022, which granted extraordinary powers to police and governments to limit the protesters' right to assembly and freeze their bank accounts in the hopes of clearing the demonstrations and preventing protesters from returning.
IN DEPTH
Border concerns, defence priorities: Wide range of topics to discuss during Biden's official visit to Canada
U.S. President Joe Biden heads north next week for his first visit to Canada as president. Ahead of the visit, both countries are laying out a wide range of potential topics spanning from migration policy to continuing support for Ukraine.

FACT CHECK | Popular e-petition calling for Canada to allow trans people to claim asylum, but that right is 'already established'
More than 130,000 people have signed an e-petition calling on Canada to give transgender and non-binary people fleeing harmful laws in their home countries the right to claim asylum, but that's already possible in this country. Advocates say the popularity of the proposal shows politicians that Canadians want the government to affirm its welcoming position.
Trudeau met threshold to invoke Emergencies Act, commission finds
The Public Order Emergency Commission has concluded that the federal government met the threshold for invoking the Emergencies Act to bring an end to the 'Freedom Convoy' protests and blockades.
PM Trudeau presents premiers $196B health-care funding deal, with $46B in new funding over the next decade
The federal government is pledging to increase health funding to Canada's provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over the next 10 years, in a long-awaited deal aimed at addressing Canada's crumbling health-care systems with $46.2 billion in new funding.
Canada may be turning corner on inflation, but Bank of Canada governor not ruling out 'mild recession'
Governor of the Bank of Canada Tiff Macklem says he thinks Canada is 'turning the corner' on inflation, but he isn't ruling out that the country could enter a 'mild recession.' In an English-language broadcast exclusive interview with CTV National News Ottawa Bureau Chief Joyce Napier, Macklem encouraged Canadians to prepare a 'buffer' to withstand 'tougher times.'
Opinion
opinion | Don Martin: Beware the friendly face of Joe Biden. He's just not that into us.
Joe Biden comes for a sleepover next week to make Canada the 18th country he has visited since being sworn in as U.S. president, quite the protocol slippage from that fading, if not forgotten, tradition of Canada being the first foreign presidential pitstop, writes Don Martin in a column for CTVNews.ca.

opinion | Don Martin: Finally and inevitably, Trudeau waved the white flag
After weeks of refusing to look further into foreign election interference, Justin Trudeau surrendered to intense pressure and appointed a 'special rapporteur' to review China's actions. In his exclusive column for CTVNews.ca, Don Martin writes this 'startling change of heart' suggests the PMO is in panic mode and reflects badly on the prime minister's decision making.
opinion | Don Martin: The Trudeau tipping point is within sight
The Trudeau tipping point is within sight. The moment when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau knows he has to quit for the good of the party or the Liberals realize they can't survive re-election with him at the helm is almost upon us, Don Martin writes in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca.
opinion | Don Martin: Trudeau can't ignore the dangers of Chinese meddling in Canada's elections
Bombshell revelations that suggest Chinese agents actively, fraudulently and successfully manipulated Canada's electoral integrity in the last two federal elections cannot be dismissed with the standard Justin Trudeau nothing-to-see-here shrug, Don Martin writes in his exclusive opinion column for CTVNews.ca.
opinion | Don Martin: Alarms going off over health-care privatization? Such an out-of-touch waste of hot political air
The chances Trudeau's health-care summit with the premiers will end with the blueprint to realistic long-term improvements are only marginally better than believing China’s balloon was simply collecting atmospheric temperatures, Don Martin writes in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca, 'But it’s clearly time the 50-year-old dream of medicare as a Canadian birthright stopped being such a nightmare for so many patients.'
ANALYSIS & INSIGHTS
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
China and Russia: A long, complicated friendship
Chinese leader Xi Jinping just concluded a three-day visit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a warm affair in which the two men praised each other and spoke of a profound friendship. It's a high point in a complicated, centuries-long relationship.

'I'm a Canadian': MP named in foreign interference report speaks out, refutes claims
The Liberal MP who allegedly benefitted from Chinese election interference is speaking out against the report, categorically stating the foreign government did not help him in his nomination campaign.
Doctors expected to testify in Gwyneth Paltrow's ski trial
More witnesses are expected to testify on Wednesday in a trial about a 2016 ski crash between Gwyneth Paltrow and a retired Utah man suing her and claiming her recklessness left him with lasting injuries and brain damage.
So many doctors are being driven away by Idaho abortion ban that this hospital can't deliver babies anymore
An Idaho hospital has announced that it will no longer be able to deliver babies because the state’s near-total abortion ban — one of the most extreme in the U.S. — has driven so many doctors away.
Calgary doctor performs spine surgery on conscious patient
Last month, Dr. Michael Yang, a spine surgeon at Foothills Medical Centre, performed a discectomy to remove the damaged part of a herniated disc in the spine, on a patient who was wide awake.
Don't assume U.S. minds are made up about Safe Third Country treaty: Canada's envoy
President Joe Biden's administration is not dismissing out of hand the idea of renegotiating the bilateral 2004 treaty that governs the flow of asylum seekers across its northern border, says Canada's ambassador to the U.S.
Shake Shack to come to Canada in 2024 with first location set for Toronto
Canadians with a hankering for Shake Shack's juicy burgers soon won't have to cross the border to satisfy their cravings. Toronto-based private investment firms Osmington Inc. and Harlo Entertainment Inc. announced plans Wednesday to bring the U.S. fast food giant to Canada.
'A very, very difficult odour': Senate adjourns early after foul smell in the building disrupts proceedings
The Senate adjourned early on Tuesday afternoon after a foul smell in the building caused headaches in the chamber and disrupted proceedings.
Asteroid discovery suggests ingredients for life on Earth came from space
Two organic compounds essential for living organisms have been found in samples retrieved from the asteroid Ryugu, buttressing the notion that some ingredients crucial for the advent of life arrived on Earth aboard rocks from space billions of years ago.