Arif Virani

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not commit to holding a national inquiry on systemic racism in policing on Thursday morning even as he acknowledged the pain of First Nations mothers who have had to bury their children after an interaction with police.

After an independent review, Justice Minister Arif Virani announced on Wednesday that Birju Dattani has agreed not to begin his appointment as chief commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission on Thursday as planned.

Former public safety minister Marco Mendicino is calling for the creation of "protective zones" around political constituency offices to shield members of Parliament and their staff from a rising tide of threatening behaviour.

Chris Tenove, assistant director at the University of British Columbia’s Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions, said hate groups, such as white supremacist groups, "have been historically early adopters of new internet technologies and techniques."

The Leger online survey found 57 per cent of respondents who said free speech in Canada is under threat.  

The notwithstanding clause should only be used as a measure of last resort, Canada's justice minister said on Tuesday, after Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre suggested he wouldn't hesitate to wield it to enact tougher criminal laws.

Half of respondents said they are wary of the government's ability to protect free speech, and a majority said they support the controversial proposal to introduce stiffer sentences for hate speech crimes. 

A series of steps would need to happen before a judge can restrict a person's movement because of fears they could commit a hate crime, federal Justice Minister Arif Virani said on Thursday as he defended a suite of tougher penalties to combat hate.

The Liberal government plans to create a new digital safety regulator to compel social-media platforms to take action against online harms and remove damaging content — including child sex-abuse material and intimate images shared without consent — under penalty of millions of dollars in fines.

The federal government is expected to introduce legislation against online harms today, which the Liberals have promised will tackle issues such as online child endangerment and non-consensual sharing of intimate images.

Trust in the Canadian justice system depends on clear communication to the public, Canada's newest Supreme Court justice said as she was officially welcomed to the country's highest court.

As the case resumed Thursday after a lengthy adjournment, a Crown lawyer told the judge that the federal attorney general had ordered a stay of proceedings because the prosecutor handling the case was ill, leading to excessive delays.

Canadian vehicles are turning up in places like Ghana and Nigeria, with one particular family having their SUV stolen on three separate occasions.

Being ejected from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet last year took a heavy personal toll, former justice minister David Lametti conceded on Thursday as he announced his decision to leave public office.

Justice Minister Arif Virani says the government is weighing its options as the March deadline looms. The first step, he says, will be to see what members of Parliament and senators recommend after committee hearings that probed the issue this past fall.