Pressure has mounted on both sides of the border, and across the political aisle in Canada, for protesters blockading key crossings with the U.S. and others encamped by Parliament Hill to go home, or for officials to move them out of the way.
The federal government is restricting travel from the U.K. for 72 hours in an effort to keep a contagious new strain of the virus that causes COVID-19 out of Canada.
Opposition critics say they have been left in the dark about the federal government's preparations for a potential outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Canada.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has created a new cabinet committee to deal with the novel coronavirus outbreak, which began in China but now has spread around the world.
When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stepped in front of cameras last week to declare that barricades on rail lines and other major transportation routes had to come down, the move had been decided almost two days before.
An upcoming meeting in British Columbia is emerging as the focal point for hopes of a speedy and peaceful end to the blockades that have disrupted rail and road traffic across large swaths of the country for more than a week.
The prime minister is meeting with an emergency group today, February 17, 2020, to discuss anti-pipeline blockades that have shut down swaths of the country's train system.