Ottawa is being urged to take a harder line as countries such as China and Iran increasingly turn to digital technologies to target activists and dissidents living outside their borders, including in Canada.

Ottawa promised millions of dollars in additional military aid to Ukraine and closed Canada’s airspace to Russian aircraft on Sunday, February 27, 2022, as the drumbeat of nuclear war grew louder.

Shock and horror turned to anger on Thursday, February 24, 2022, as Canada and its allies responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with a barrage of new sanctions targeting the Russian economy and its leaders that they hoped would avert an all−out war.

""These unprovoked actions are a clear further violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Trudeau's promise to commit hundreds more troops to Europe came days after Defence Minister Anita Anand acknowledged concerns about stretching the military too far.

The federal Conservatives are ending their boycott of a special national security and intelligence committee made up of MPs and senators.

Putin on Monday signed a decree recognizing the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine’s eastern industrial land as independent republics. He then ordered Russian troops to cross the border into those areas, saying they were being deployed as “peacekeepers.”

"Even though the blockades are lifted across border openings right now, even though things seem to be resolving very well in Ottawa, this state of emergency is not over," Trudeau said at late morning news conference.

Police officers descended on anti-government protesters in Ottawa on Friday, arresting 70 people and towing vehicles in a push to end a three-week occupation that has reverberated across Canada and around the world.

Canada's foreign minister has accused Russia of trying to escalate the crisis with the West by shelling a kindergarten in eastern Ukraine.