Canada

TORONTO (AP) — A former U.S. ambassador to Canada said groups in the U.S. need to cease interfering in what many call an occupation in Canada’s capital as protesters opposed to vaccine mandates and COVID-19 restrictions held rallies in cities across the country in a show of solidarity with a week-long demonstration in Ottawa.

“Under no circumstances should any group in the USA fund disruptive activities in Canada. Period. Full stop,” Bruce Heyman, a former U.S. ambassador under President Barack Obama, tweeted late Saturday.

TORONTO, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Canadian cities, including the financial hub Toronto, are bracing for disruptions this weekend as protests against vaccine mandates spread from the capital of Ottawa.

The so-called "Freedom Convoy" began as a movement against a vaccine requirement for cross-border truckers, but has turned into a rallying point against public health measures.

Protestors have shut down downtown Ottawa for the past eight days, with some participants waving Confederate or Nazi flags and some saying they wanted to dissolve Canada's government.

OTTAWA, Feb 2 (Reuters) - The head of Canada's official opposition Conservatives, Erin O'Toole, lost a party vote of confidence on Wednesday amid a revolt of his fellow lawmakers who challenged his leadership after an election loss last year.

Legislators voted by 73 to 45 to replace O'Toole, the right-leaning party said in a statement. Internal rules stipulate that a leader who loses a confidence vote is removed immediately.

TORONTO (AP) — The leader of Canada’s Conservative party is facing a revolt by his party’s lawmakers and could be ousted as soon as Wednesday.

If successful, he would be the third main political rival Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has helped bring down.

Conservative leader Erin O’Toole, who angered some by trying to move the party more toward the center, said late Monday that lawmakers of his party have a choice between extremism or inclusion that better reflects the Canada of 2022.

OTTAWA, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday said Canadians were disgusted by the behavior of some people protesting against COVID-19 vaccine mandates in Ottawa and said he would not be intimidated by those hurling abuse.

Dozens of trucks and other vehicles have jammed up central Ottawa since Friday and thousands descended upon Parliament Hill to complain about Trudeau and COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

OTTAWA, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of trucks and thousands of protesters remained near Parliament Hill on Sunday for a second day to protest the Canadian government's vaccine mandate for essential workers crossing the Canada-U.S. border, despite Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson's call for them to "go back to your home."

The "Freedom Convoy 2022" protest began on Saturday as a rally of truckers against the requirement that Canadian truck drivers crossing the border into the United States be fully vaccinated as of mid-January.

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday he has tested positive for COVID-19, but is ``feeling fine″ and will continue working remotely.

The announcement came in a tweet in which he urged everyone to ``please get vaccinated and get boosted.″

Trudeau said on Thursday that he was going into isolation for five days after finding out the previous evening he had been in contact with someone who tested positive. He told The Canadian Press on Friday that person was one of his three children.

OTTAWA, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Trucks rolled into Canada's capital Ottawa on Saturday to stage what police say will be a massive protest against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's COVID-19 vaccine mandates in front of parliament on a frigid winter day.

The so-called "Freedom Convoy" - coming from east and west - started out as a rally against a vaccine requirement for cross-border truckers, but has turned into a demonstration against government overreach during the pandemic with a strong anti-vaccination streak.

OTTAWA, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Canada's beleaguered Conservative opposition leader is backing a trucker protest against the Liberal government's strict COVID-19 vaccine mandates, with critics warning the movement is led by far-right activists with a history of trying to incite violence.

New York/Toronto, Jan 28 (PTI) The family of four Indian nationals from Gujarat, found frozen to death near the Canada/US border, has been identified, with Canadian authorities saying they had moved around the country for a period of time and met with their tragic end when they were driven to the border by someone, in a case being described as that of human smuggling.