Police checkpoints between Ottawa and Gatineau come down
Sporadic police checkpoints on the bridges between Ottawa and Gatineau have come to an end after more than eight weeks.
The Ontario government announced earlier this week that the restrictions on interprovincial travel from Quebec and Manitoba would end at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.
The restrictions came into effect April 19. Ottawa police were originally expected to spend 24 hours a day on the bridges and at ferry crossings to turn away non-essentially travellers, but quickly shifted to sporadic checks due to budgetary and staffing pressures.
Quebec responded by also keeping non-essential travellers from Ontario from visiting the province, with Gatineau police running occasional checkpoints on their side of the Ottawa River.
Ottawa mayor Jim Watson says the border checkpoints locally have cost the city as much as $800,000, a bill he intends to send to the provincial government.
The move was intended to help curb the spread of COVID-19, but Watson said all it did was waste time and resources.
Upon Ontario's announcement that the boundary between the two provinces would reopen, the Quebec government said it would allow Ontarians into the province again, and even said visitors are welcome to eat at local restaurants so long as they follow regional COVID-19 guidelines.
Gatineau is currently in Quebec's Level-2 or yellow zone, which allows for indoor dining with members of up to two households allowed per table.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.
U.S. flight attendant indicted in attempt to record teen girl in airplane bathroom
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States.