Ottawa-Gatineau border checkpoints to end Wednesday
Border restrictions between Ontario and Quebec will end this Wednesday, allowing Ottawa and Gatineau residents to freely cross the river without going through police checkpoints.
Ontario's order preventing non-essential travel into Ontario from Quebec and Manitoba will expire on Wednesday at 12:01 a.m. and will not be renewed, Solicitor General Sylvia Jones’s office said Monday.
And the Quebec government says it will also reopen its border to Ontarians who wish to travel as of Wednesday.
"This reopening applies to anyone wishing to travel between the two provinces, without exception," the office of Quebec's public safety minister said in a release.
Ottawa police have been establishing checkpoints to curb travel between the provinces, turning away Quebec drivers who weren’t coming into Ontario for work or another essential reason.
Police started setting up the checkpoints April 19. As of the end of May, they had cost the service about $600,000. On Monday, Ottawa mayor Jim Watson said the cost had risen to $800,000.
"It's costing $800,000, we anticipate as promised, the province will pay for that, it should not be local taxpayers," he said.
In a tweet, Watson applauded the decision."After months of wasted police resources to control travel around the NCR, our two integrated economic regions will greatly benefit from this decision," he tweeted.
The new rules mean as of Wednesday, Ottawa residents who want to eat indoors at Gatineau restaurants will be allowed to do so. Ontario restaurants aren't yet open for indoor dining.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.
Humanist group threatening to sue Vancouver over council prayers
The B.C. Humanist Association has threatened legal action against the City of Vancouver for allowing prayers at council, following a similar warning issued earlier this month to a smaller community on Vancouver Island.
LHSC performs a Canadian first in robot-assisted direct lateral spine surgery
Spine surgery may never be the same for people with chronic back pain and other physical ailments.