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The five official candidates for the federal NDP leadership will get their first chance to sell themselves to party members at a forum in Ottawa on Wednesday evening. The forum is being hosted by the Canadian Labour Congress and will see CLC president Bea Bruske hold one-on-one discussions with each of the candidates.Documentary filmmaker Avi Lewis, Alberta MP Heather McPherson, union leader Rob Ashton, B.C. city councillor Tanille Johnston and organic farmer Tony McQuail have all been accepted as candidates in the race to replace Jagmeet Singh, who resigned after the last election.MP Don Davies is serving as the interim leader. 3:21 Indian agent alleged to be behind Jagmeet Singh surveillance ...

Opposition parties are being “cavalier” about the possibility of triggering another federal election, says Liberal House Leader Steven MacKinnon — something he believes Canadians do not want. MacKinnon made the comments Wednesday as opposition parties publicly laid out their demands for the upcoming federal budget, as well as their various red lines for supporting it.The minority Liberals need at least three additional votes to pass the budget, which is treated as a confidence vote. If it fails, the Parliament will be dissolved and a new election will be triggered — just over six months after the last one.“We have a minority Parliament, but we do believe we have a mandate,” MacKinnon told reporters ahead of the Liberal caucus meeting in Ottawa.“If there has to be an election, we will confi...

Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to deliver an economic speech to Canadians on Wednesday, just two weeks before the hotly anticipated federal budget. It will come as a new report from Desjardins estimates the federal budget deficit could be the highest in 30 years, outside of the Great Recession and Covid-19 pandemic years.The federal government is expected to deliver its budget on Nov. 4, which will include details on Canada’s defence spending commitments, as well as a clearer picture of how high the deficit could climb.It isn’t clear yet exactly what details for the economy Wednesday’s speech may include, but it comes amid growing warnings that Canada will see a significant deficit.Ottawa’s fiscal watchdog estimated last month that the annual deficit could climb to $68.5 billion this ye...

The Department of National Defence has quietly cancelled a contract with a Canadian firm to refurbish armoured vehicles to be delivered to Ukraine — but the federal defence minister won’t say why. Defence Minister David McGuinty was pressed about the contract at the House of Commons national defence committee on Tuesday as part of a general briefing on Canada’s defence spending and NATO commitments.Conservative defence critic and committee vice-chair James Bezan said the contract with Armatec Survivability in Dorchester, Ont., near London, was for 25 light armoured vehicles to be refurbished by the company, but that none of those vehicles had been delivered to Ukraine and the contract had been “paused or cancelled.”“A decision has been made to nullify the contract with that company present...