Year in review: A look at news events in February 2022

2 – Eighteen months after it dropped a name that was offensive to Native Americans, Washington’s NFL team announced it would now be called the Commanders.

2 – Erin O’Toole was ousted as Conservative Party of Canada leader after 73 members of the Tory caucus voted to replace him. Forty-five endorsed O’Toole’s leadership. Manitoba MP Candice Bergen was named interim leader.

3 – The group of truckers and their supporters clogging the streets of downtown Ottawa were now calling their movement Freedom Convoy 2022. Police were estimating they had spent more than $3 million to manage the protest, which some Ottawa city councillors were now calling an occupation.

5 – Canada won its first medal at the Beijing Olympics. Ottawa speedskater Isabelle Weidemann won bronze in the women’s 3,000 metres.

5 – Canadian freestyle skier Mikael Kingsbury was dethroned. The defending champion settled for moguls silver with a score of 82.18 at the Beijing Olympics after being upset by Sweden’s Walter Wallberg in the final. Kingsbury won moguls gold at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games and silver at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

5 – John Honderich, the former editor and publisher of the Toronto Star, died. He was 75. The Canadian businessman was the publisher of the Star from 1994 to 2004.

6 – Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson declared a state of emergency to better handle the street-clogging protest that was in its ninth day.

6 – Canadians dominated the men’s snowboard slopestyle competition in Beijing, with Max Parrot winning gold and teammate Mark McMorris claiming bronze.

7 – Canada pulled off a surprise medal performance in the mixed team ski jumping competition at the Olympics. The Canadian team of Alexandria Loutitt, Matthew Soukup, Abigail Strate and Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes placed third, with Boyd-Clowes securing the bronze on Canada’s final jump. Canada had never won an Olympic medal in any ski jumping discipline. Kim Boutin also blazed her way to a bronze medal in women’s short-track speedskating.

8 – The federal government stepped up its warnings to Canadians about Ukraine due to the threat of Russian invasion. Ottawa warned all Canadians against travelling to the country, and urged any Canadians in Ukraine to leave. Russia had amassed more than 100,000 troops on Ukraine’s border, though it insisted it had no plans to attack.

9 – Canada’s Meryeta O’Dine raced to a bronze medal in the women’s snowboard cross at the Beijing Olympics. The 24-year-old from Prince George, B.C., held off Australia’s Belle Brockhoff in the big final to claim a place on the podium. Veteran Lindsey Jacobellis of the United States crossed the finish line in front for her first Olympic title. Chloe Trespeuch of France took silver.

9 – The first data from the latest census showed Canada’s population hit 36.9 million last year, growing by 5.2 per cent between 2016 and 2021. That five-year growth rate was double that of any other G7 country.

10 – Canada’s mixed aerials team of Marion Thenault, Miha Fontaine and Lewis Irving won a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics. Their podium finish followed two other medals won by Canadians — a bronze by Toronto’s Jack Crawford in alpine combined, and silver for Quebec’s Eliot Grondin in men’s snowboard cross. Speedskater Isabelle Weidemann also won silver in the women’s 5,000 metres.

10 – The Ontario government froze access to millions of dollars donated through an online crowdfunding platform to the convoy protesting COVID-19 restrictions in Ottawa and elsewhere. Ontario’s attorney general brought the application to the Superior Court of Justice seeking an order prohibiting anyone from distributing donations made through the website’s “Freedom Convoy 2022” and “Adopt-a-Trucker” campaign pages.

11 – Protesters blocking one of Canada’s busiest border crossings at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont., were dealt a one-two punch. A court granted an injunction banning their blockade and Ontario’s premier declared a state of emergency. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he would use legal measures to protect international border crossings, 400-series highways, airports, ports, bridges and railways. Ford said anyone breaking the law could face fines of up to $100,000 and up to a year in jail.

12 – Canada shuttered its embassy in Kyiv and relocated its diplomatic staff to a temporary office in the western part of the country amid fears of a war with Russia.

12 – Ivan Reitman, the influential Canadian filmmaker and producer behind beloved comedies from “Animal House” to “Ghostbusters,” died at age 75. Reitman passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in Montecito, Calif.

13 – The Ambassador Bridge border crossing officially reopened. Officers in Windsor, Ont., arrested some two dozen protesters and moved others from the foot of the bridge earlier in the day. Police towed five vehicles at the site where protesters brought traffic to a halt for nearly a week and barred others from arriving on scene.

13 – The mayor of Ottawa said the city struck a deal with protesters who had jammed downtown streets for more than two weeks that would see them move out of residential areas in the next 24 hours. Jim Watson’s office said the organizers of the so-called “Freedom Convoy” agreed to confine their protest activities to an area around Parliament Hill.

13 – Canada was moving troops out of Ukraine as worries grew of a Russia invasion. The Defence Department said it didn’t signal the end of the training mission meant to bolster that country’s security forces. It said the move allowed the military time to refocus efforts in the face of Russian aggression against Ukraine.

14 – Police arrested 11 protesters at the border crossing at Coutts, Alta., after seizing 13 long guns, handguns, multiple sets of body armour, a machete, a large quantity of ammunition and high-capacity magazines. The RCMP said a small organized group was willing to use force if officers tried to disrupt the blockade. Police also said an officer managed to avoid a crash when a large farm tractor and a semi-truck tried to ram a police vehicle the night before.

14 – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took the unprecedented step of invoking the Emergencies Act to try to end anti-government blockades. It was the first time the act was used since it came into force in 1988.

14 – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada would give a half-billion-dollar loan to Ukraine as the threat of a Russian attack grew. That was on top of a previously announced $120-million loan. Trudeau also said Canada would provide $7.8 million worth of lethal equipment. Canada so far had not been giving Ukraine weapons to kill with.

14 – The federal government expanded anti-money laundering rules to cover crowdfunding sites that it said were being used to support illegal blockades. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said companies with trucks involved in the blockades would also face consequences. The move also gave banks the power to suspend or freeze accounts of blockade supporters without a court order.

15 – Canada won two more medals at the Beijing Olympics, putting the medal count at the Winter Games to 17. Canada won gold in the women’s long-track speedskating team pursuit competition. Valerie Maltais, Ivanie Blondin and Isabelle Weidemann teamed up to beat Japan in the final. Earlier, Quebec snowboarder Max Parrot won his second Beijing medal, taking bronze in the big air event to go with his gold in the slopestyle competition.

15 – Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly resigned, just as the federal government prepared to introduce a motion to enact the Emergencies Act. Sloly had been widely criticized for how the police handled the protest on the streets of downtown Ottawa, with little enforcement over the past several weeks. Residents grew increasingly frustrated at the street party atmosphere that included a gym, bouncy castles, a hot tub and stage being set up as officers appeared to stand and watch.

15 – A First Nation in eastern Saskatchewan said it discovered 54 possible unmarked graves on two former residential school sites using ground-penetrating radar. Ted Quewezance of the Keeseekoose First Nation said he believed many images are children.

16 – Ottawa deputy police chief Steve Bell began his first full day as interim chief after the resignation of embattled chief Peter Sloly the day before. Ottawa Police Association president Matt Skof said rank-and-file officers had been frustrated with a lack of direction on anti-mandate protests that had seized the downtown core for nearly three weeks.

16 – Charles Hamelin skated his way into the record books. Hamelin was now Canada’s most decorated male Winter Olympian after the short-track speedskating team won the gold medal in the men’s 5,000-metre relay. It was Hamelin’s sixth career medal — tying him with Cindy Klassen. Hamelin, Steven Dubois, Jordan Pierre-Gilles and Pascal Dion skated the 45-lap race with a time of six minutes 41.257 seconds. South Korea was second and Italy won the bronze.

17 – Canada’s women’s hockey team captured Olympic gold, defeating their American rivals 3-2. Marie-Philip Poulin scored twice and assisted on Sarah Nurse’s goal to add another chapter to her legacy as “Captain Clutch” for the Canuck squad. Marielle Thompson of Whistler, B.C., won the silver medal in women’s ski cross.

17 – Health Canada approved the use of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine. Experts said the protein-based, non-mRNA vaccine could win over some vaccine-hesitant people. Novavax shots had already been cleared for use in Britain, Europe, Australia and Singapore, and the company had built a manufacturing plant in Montreal to produce the vaccine.

17 – Police arrested two of the main organizers of the anti-government demonstration on Parliament Hill. The new development came as large trucks continued to ignore demands they leave the blockade that has antagonized residents for weeks.

17 – Dallas Good, singer and guitarist of Canadian rock/alternative country band the Sadies, died of natural causes at age 48. The Sadies posted the news on their social media accounts, saying Good had been under doctor’s care for a coronary illness discovered earlier in the week. The band was made up of Good, his singer/guitarist brother Travis Good, bassist Sean Dean and drummer Mike Belitsky. The band was formed in Toronto in 1994 and released their first album “Precious Moments” in 1998.

18 – Canadian athletes picked up four more medals in Beijing. Brad Gushue’s rink won bronze in men’s curling with an 8-5 victory over American John Shuster. Speedskater Laurent Dubreuil raced to a silver medal in the men’s 1,000-metre event. Calgary’s Cassie Sharpe won silver in the women’s freeski halfpipe ahead of Rachael Karker from Erin, Ont., who took the bronze. Canada now had 24 medals.

20 – Ottawa police said 103 people were facing criminal charges after they were arrested during police operations to disperse protesters who oppose pandemic health restrictions. Of those who were charged, 89 were released with conditions that included a boundary, requiring them to stay out of certain designated areas, while the rest were released without condition. At least 191 people had been arrested since law enforcement operations began in the city last week to end a weeks-old protest of COVID-19 health measures.

21 – Russian President President Vladimir Putin recognized the independence of separatist regions in eastern Ukraine.

21 – The Emergencies Act was passed in the House of Commons. The motion to confirm the declaration of emergency powers passed by a vote of 185-151, with the New Democrats voting in favour alongside the minority Liberal government. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the act last week in a bid to end blockades in Ottawa and at several border crossings.

22 – An Ontario judge denied bail to one of the key organizers of the anti-vaccine mandate protests in Ottawa. Justice Julie Bourgeois said she wasn’t convinced Tamara Lich would not reoffend. Lich was charged with counselling to commit mischief and had promised to stop her protest activities and return to Alberta if she was released.

22 – Russia’s upper house of Parliament rubber-stamped President Vladimir Putin’s request to use military force outside the country. The U.S. said an invasion was already underway in eastern Ukraine. Putin laid out three conditions to end the crisis. He wanted Kyiv to recognize Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea, renounce its bid to join NATO and partially demilitarize.

23 – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the Emergencies Act was no longer needed now that demonstrations in Ottawa and at some border crossings had ended or slowed down. He said while threats remained, police and existing legislation would be enough to prevent other occupations.

23 – The state of emergency in Ontario that Premier Doug Ford declared to deal with anti-vaccine mandate blockades was lifted. However, Ford’s office said emergency tools provided to police would stay in place for now for ongoing enforcement. Ford declared the emergency on Feb. 11, nearly two weeks after the Ottawa protest began.

24 – Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a wide-ranging attack on Ukraine. Putin justified the military invasion in a televised address, saying it was needed to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine. Russia claimed it had knocked out Ukraine’s air defence assets and airbases. Big explosions were heard in some cities, and security cameras showed a line of Russian military vehicles also crossing into Ukraine from Russian-annexed Crimea. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared martial law and was urging world leaders to provide defence assistance. NATO’s chief convened a meeting of NATO ambassadors, as Ukraine borders several NATO members.

24 – Health Canada authorized the use of the first made-in-Canada COVID-19 vaccine. Medicago’s two-dose vaccine was approved for anyone in the 18-to-64 age group. The company is headquartered in Quebec City.

24 – Britain joined Canada, the U.S. and the European Union in launching a new set of sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the restrictions would harm Russia’s economy and disrupt President Vladimir Putin’s “war machine.” Russia’s foreign minister was defending his country’s invasion of Ukraine as a pre-emptive move against an imminent attack by Ukraine upon Russia, and was calling for diplomacy with the West to avoid escalation. Ukraine officials said at least 57 people had been killed so far in the attack.

24 – Shocked Russians turned out by the thousands to decry their country’s invasion of Ukraine as emotional calls for protests grew on social media. Some 1,700 people in more than 50 Russian cities were detained. Emotional social media posts condemning the move, open letters demanding the attack stop and calls for protests poured in. Russian authorities cracked down on activists who spoke out against the invasion and pressured the country’s media into toeing the official line.

24 – Three former Minneapolis police officers were convicted of violating George Floyd’s civil rights. A federal jury rejected their arguments that inexperience, improper training or the distraction of shouting bystanders excused them from failing to prevent the Black man’s killing. Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane were convicted of depriving Floyd of his right to medical care as he was pinned under fellow officer Derek Chauvin’s knee. Thao and Kueng were also convicted of failing to intervene to stop Chauvin in the videotaped killing that sparked protests against racial injustice around the globe.

25 – The Russian military pressed its invasion of Ukraine to the outskirts of the capital of Kyiv. The advancement came after Russia unleashed airstrikes on cities and military bases around the country. Troops and tanks from three sides were staging an attack. Explosions sounded before dawn in Kyiv.

25 – Canada brought in stronger sanctions against Russia in the wake of its military strikes against Ukraine. Fifty-eight people and entities connected to Russia, including key political leaders, oligarchs and their families, as well as the paramilitary organization known as the Wagner Group, were being sanctioned by Canada, along with several major Russian banks

25 – Johnson & Johnson and distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson finalized settlements over their role in the U.S. opioid addiction crisis. The settlements cleared the way for US$26 billion to flow to nearly every state and local government in America, but none of it would be going directly to victims of opioid addiction or their survivors. Experts said some of the money should be used to provide housing to people with addictions who are homeless and to put more drug counsellors onto the streets.

25 – A prominent organizer of the three-week convoy protest near Parliament Hill was denied bail. Pat King was arrested a week ago and faced charges of mischief, counselling to commit mischief, counselling to commit the offence of disobeying a court order and counselling to obstruct police. Justice of the Peace Andrew Seymour said he was not satisfied that King, if released, wouldn’t commit offences similar to those he was accused of. Seymour said he also lacked confidence in King’s proposed surety, an Alberta woman who has known King for about four weeks.

25 – Another round of Canadian sanctions targeted Russian President Vladimir Putin along with his chief of staff and foreign minister. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also said Canada was confirming its support to remove Russia from SWIFT, a critical part of the global banking system. He said excluding Russian banks from the system would make it even harder for Putin to “finance his brutalities.” Canada was also levying additional sanctions on Belarus and its leaders for helping Putin’s invasion, targeting 57 individuals, in addition to existing sanctions against Alexander Lukashenko’s regime for human rights violations.

27 – Canada banned Russian aircraft from entering its airspace. Transport Minister Omar Alghabra announced the flight ban, saying the move was being taken in retaliation for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to attack neighbouring Ukraine. The announcement followed similar moves by most European countries, led by Britain, Poland, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic.

28 – Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced an immediate ban on all Canadian financial institutions from conducting transactions with the Russian Central Bank. Canada also imposed an asset freeze and a dealings prohibition on Russian sovereign wealth funds. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada has stopped importing any Russian oil, though he conceded the country imports very little. In addition, Trudeau announced more weapons for Ukraine, including anti-tank guns and ammunition.

28 – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed an application for Ukraine to join the European Union and sent the documents off to Brussels. The UN General Assembly opened an extraordinary emergency session with pleas for peace in Ukraine, starting a day of frenzied diplomacy at the UN.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Year in review: A look at news events in February 2022

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