US President Barack Obama Visits Canada's Parliament

President Barack Obama waves as he arrives to address the Canadian Parliament in the House of Commons in Ottawa, Canada, Wednesday, June 29, 2016

U. S. President Barack Obama celebrated Canada, rallied the fight against inequality and jumped into the fractious presidential race in an extraordinary speech to Parliament Wednesday that had politicians cheering, applauding and wanting more.

In what is certain to be his last official visit to Canada before he leaves the White House, Obama turned in a memorable performance Wednesday that had politicians and dignitaries packed into a sweltering House of Commons repeatedly rising to their feet for standing ovations.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcomed Obama to Parliament, “to our house.” The prime minister reflected on the history that had been made in the chamber and now, he quipped, “gets to see a bromance up close.”

UK MP Mark Pritchard has been arrested over an allegation of rape.

Mark Pritchard is the Conservative MP for The Wrekin, in east Shropshire. Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian

Josh Halliday and Haroon Siddique | The Guardian,
The Metropolitan police confirmed that a 48-year-old man – understood to be the Tory MP for The Wrekin in east Shropshire – was arrested on Tuesday in central London.

Scotland Yard said he was arrested after voluntarily attending a police station and had been bailed until early January.

The news emerged after a letter from the Met to the Commons Speaker, John Bercow, about the arrest was referred to on a publicly available Commons order paper.

The letter said: “I write to inform you that on 2nd December 2014, Mark Pritchard MP was arrested at 6.14pm at Holborn police station in London by MPS officers.

After 25yrs Montreal massacre still divides Parliament

Ryan Remiorz A memorial plaque to the victims adorns a wall of the Ecole Polytechnique on December 6, 2011 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Jennifer DitchburnThe Canadian Press
Twenty-five years after Marc Lepine killed 14 women at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique, the massacre is still creating sharp political divisions on Parliament Hill over the nature of the crime and the proper response to it.

Gun control remains a polarizing element of Dec. 6 discussions. While families of the victims and supporters demand tighter regulations, the Conservatives have argued that law-abiding Canadian gun owners should not be treated like criminals.

A bill is currently making its way through the Commons that reclassifies certain weapons and eases transportation restrictions around firearms, among other measures. The government eliminated the long-gun registry two years ago.

“Only our Conservative government will always stand up for Canada’s hunters, trappers, and sports shooters,” MP Robert Sopuck said in the Commons Tuesday.

Ottawa Shooting: Gunman took Parliament Hill tour weeks before shooting

An armed Michael Zehaf-Bibeau races toward Parliament in a still taken from surveillance. The Canadian Press 

Media reports say the gunman who killed Cpl. Nathan Cirillo and stormed Parliament took a public tour of the House of Commons and Senate weeks before the attack.

Several reports cite sources saying that Michael Zehaf Bibeau can be seen on security camera footage taking a tour of Centre Block on Oct. 4.

The Ottawa Citizen says a spokeswoman for Speaker Andrew Scheer confirms there is video footage from Oct. 4 and that it is part of the security review of the events of Oct. 22.

Cirillo was on ceremonial guard duty at the National War Memorial when he was shot dead by Bibeau.

Bibeau then stormed onto Parliament Hill, where he died in a gunfight in the Centre Block.