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
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.
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.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
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.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.
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.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.