Condolences are pouring in on Parliament Hill after a Laval, Que., city bus crashed into a daycare on Wednesday morning, with federal politicians of all stripes expressing their sympathies with the families affected and gratitude to the first responders.
As of 5:15 p.m. ET, two children are dead and six others are in hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. According to police, the 51-year-old bus driver has been arrested and is facing first-degree murder, attempted murder, and assault charges.
"I can't imagine what the families of the kids who were killed and indeed the ones who were seriously injured are going through right now," said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, appearing emotional on his way into the House of Commons on Wednesday afternoon.
Earlier in the day, when news of the crash first broke, Trudeau expressed hope that "the kids are alright, or that they pull through and get well soon."
"I know there are no words for parents who have lost their children this way. All Canadians are grieving with them, and we'll do whatever we can to support them in horrific pain through the coming days and months and years of grief," said Trudeau.
Inside the House of Commons, MPs throughout the chamber rose and bowed their heads as a moment of silence was held on Wednesday afternoon.
Asking for compassion for Laval residents as more information about the cause of the crash emerges, and as those injured start to heal, Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet rose in the House to express his condolences.
"The hearts of all parents in Quebec stopped today when they learned what happened in Laval," Blanchet said. "Our hearts go out to all parents, children and staff of the Garderie éducative Sainte-Rose. We thank the first responders, nursing staff, and all those who mobilized at this time to help but the little ones. Today the nation of Quebec is in mourning. Our hearts are with all those in the community of Laval."
Taking to social media to speak about what he called a "violent bus attack," Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he was "heartbroken."
"My heart goes out to the family members who lost loved ones and those injured in this tragedy. No parent should ever worry about the safety of their child," Poilievre said.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called it a "horrific tragedy."
"I don't have the words to express how horrible it is, I just want to acknowledge the first responders and send my thoughts to the families of the victims," Singh told reporters in the House foyer.
"As a parent, as a mom, you can't imagine dropping your child off at daycare and having something like this happen. So I just wanted to express my condolences and of course to express my gratitude to those who responded so quickly on the frontlines to this horrible, horrible tragedy," said Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Karina Gould on her way into question period.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said his thoughts go to the children, their families, and the daycare staff, speaking to how these facilities are supposed to be places where children can feel safe.
"This is obviously a very shocking and horrifying and traumatic moment," Mendicino said. "I do want to take a moment to thank local police for acting very, very quickly. They've apprehended the suspect and, and that is a good thing."
Directing questions about the investigation to local law enforcement, Mendicino said that as more is learned about what transpired, "it's important at this moment to offer whatever assistance that we can."
Mendicino said that he's reached out to his Liberal colleague Yves Robillard, whose Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, Que., riding is where the crash took place, to offer "whatever support that we can."
Stopping briefly to speak to reporters, Robillard said that while there is limited information, what's transpired is "really terrible."
Laval-Les Iles, Que. Liberal MP Faycal El-Khoury said that he will do everything in his power to provide comfort and services to his constituents.
"We have to have their backs and we have to be present on the ground with them," he said.
"We find it terrible… it's a crazy event, and our thoughts are with the families," said Conservative MP for Charlesbourg-Haute-Saint-Charles, Que., Pierre Paul-Hus.
Conservative MP for Louis-Saint-Laurent, Que., Gerard Deltell, said that as a father the situation was "very tough," and that his thoughts and prayers are with those impacted.
With files from CTV News Montreal
U.S President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have announced updates on a number of cross-border issues, after a day of meetings on Parliament Hill.
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.
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.
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.
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.'
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.'
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
The federal budget proposes an across-the-board three per cent spending cut for all departments and agencies, a belt-tightening move after years of massive growth in the federal public service.
The increase in excise duties on all alcoholic products is being temporarily capped at two per cent starting next month instead of a planned six per cent increase.
The federal budget shows the government's proposed dental-care insurance program will cost more than double what the Liberals originally thought, driving it up by another $7.3 billion over five years.
Tucked into the 2023 federal budget unveiled on Tuesday in Ottawa, the Liberals have announced plans to explore implementing a standard charging port across Canada, in an effort to save Canadians some money and reduce waste.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government plans to launch a National Counter-Foreign Interference Office, amid ongoing scrutiny of allegations that Beijing interfered in recent federal elections.
In the wake of another deadly mass shooting in America, that saw children as young as nine years old shot and killed, the gun control debate is going nowhere, writes CTV News political analyst Eric Ham.
Another American community is reeling after a shooter killed three 9-year-olds and three adults at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville. These are the three children and three adults whose lives were taken by the shooter.
Nashville police have released security camera footage of a suspected shooter entering the private Christian elementary school. The shooting claimed the lives of three children, all aged nine, and three adults.
Montreal police say they have identified two more victims found in the rubble of a fire in Old Montreal 12 days ago. Charlie Lacroix and Walid Belkahla, both 18, are the sixth and seventh victims of the fire.
Rima Rifai thought her furnace had exploded Monday when the house across the street burst into a ball of fire, sending 10 people to hospital with serious injuries.
New Brunswickers suffering from a mystery neurological disorder are calling for an investigation into potential environmental causes of the health problems they've been living with for more than two years.
Authorities are asking witnesses to come forward after security at Simon Fraser University discovered the head of the school's Mahatma Gandhi bust had been removed.
An influx of asylum seekers into Canada via unofficial border crossings has prompted the federal government to relocate refugees from Quebec as far as Atlantic provinces, some more than 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) away, and hire a risk mitigation company to deal with the record surge.
The federal budget proposes an across-the-board three per cent spending cut for all departments and agencies, a belt-tightening move after years of massive growth in the federal public service.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late Tuesday said his country's intelligence agency Mossad helped Greece prevent a terrorist attack planned against at least one Jewish site in Athens.
Another American community is reeling after a shooter killed three 9-year-olds and three adults at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville. These are the three children and three adults whose lives were taken by the shooter.
Nashville police have released security camera footage of a suspected shooter entering the private Christian elementary school. The shooting claimed the lives of three children, all aged nine, and three adults.
The Manhattan grand jury that has been hearing testimony about hush money paid on Donald Trump's behalf will not take up that inquiry again this week, meaning any potential vote on an indictment won't happen until next week at the earliest, two people familiar with the matter said Tuesday.
Six people were killed at a small, private Christian school just south of downtown Nashville on Monday after a shooter opened fire inside the building containing about 200 students, police said.
As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put his contentious judicial overhaul plan on hold this week, he vowed to pass the package through parliament eventually, but he may have a hard time keeping that promise.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
The federal budget proposes an across-the-board three per cent spending cut for all departments and agencies, a belt-tightening move after years of massive growth in the federal public service.
The Liberal government has continued to fulfil its promises to the NDP within its second federal budget since the parties struck a confidence-and-supply agreement in March 2022.
A new report investigating discrimination towards Muslim women in health-care settings has revealed a lack of Canadian data on the topic.
Shoppers Drug Mart Inc. is moving away from its medical cannabis distribution business and preparing to transfer patients to a platform run by biopharmaceutical company Avicanna Inc.
A new gene connected to hereditary breast cancer susceptibility has been identified in what researchers are calling a landmark study.
Tucked into the 2023 federal budget unveiled on Tuesday in Ottawa, the Liberals have announced plans to explore implementing a standard charging port across Canada, in an effort to save Canadians some money and reduce waste.
Scientists have discovered a new and renewable source of water on the moon for future explorers in lunar samples from a Chinese mission.
An Australian company lifted the glass cloche on a meatball made of lab-grown cultured meat using the genetic sequence from the long-extinct pachyderm, saying it was meant to fire up public debate about the hi-tech treat.
It's a surreal moment in an already surreal war: the grave but calming baritone of actor Mark Hamill, Luke Skywalker of 'Star Wars,' urging people to take cover whenever Russia unleashes another aerial bombardment on Ukraine.
Five-time Grammy Award winner Angelique Kidjo, Island Records founder Chris Blackwell and Estonian composer Arvo Part have won the 2023 Polar Music Prize, a Swedish music award.
Prince Harry returned to a London court Tuesday for a second day of hearings to see if the phone hacking lawsuit he brought with Elton John and other celebrities can withstand a challenge from the publisher of The Daily Mail.
Serious money is heading for Canadian industries looking to reduce emissions after the federal government unveiled its answer to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act.
Flair Airlines said Monday it has reimbursed virtually all 1,900 passengers whose flights were cancelled after the seizure of four of the carrier's planes earlier this month, but some customers say they are owed more money.
Canada's main stock index eked out a small gain Tuesday thanks to strength in the energy sector, while U.S. markets were slightly down.
It may seem improbable - even impossible to some - but each day for the last three years, a 71-year-old Toronto woman has laced up her shoes, put one foot in front of the other, and headed out for a run
Alex Jung found his way back to the water in 2018 and began instructing other trans swimmers. But, he says, it was a 'challenging pursuit' without a community. Now creating that sense of support is becoming more mainstream at local fitness centres.
A 12-year-old Manitoba girl is being hailed a hero after saving her two younger brothers from a house fire.
The brother of the late New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez is facing criminal and motor vehicle charges in Connecticut, accused of throwing a brick onto the ESPN headquarters campus and eluding police during brief pursuits in other towns.
Shohei Ohtani is among several players going into their final seasons before they are eligible for free agency. There is still time for signatures and press conferences before opening day, but history shows a new contract becomes less likely once the real games begin.
A gymnast says he was abused in his sport and then broken by a Canadian system that failed to address that abuse.
U.S. highway safety regulators have opened yet another investigation into problems with Teslas, this time tied to complaints that the seat belts may not hold people in a crash.
California lawmakers on Monday approved the nation's first penalty for price gouging at the pump, voting to give regulators the power to punish oil companies for profiting from the type of gas price spikes that plagued the nation's most populous state last summer.
Craig Pollock's latest project, Formula Equal, would be the first team in the sport that's 50 per cent men and 50 per cent women, he says, with that equal split applying across the whole organization -- from the cockpit to the engineers to the boardroom.
