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Canada joined its NATO allies on Wednesday in agreeing to a new defence spending target of five per cent of GDP — but the details are more complicated. Members of the alliance will have until 2035 to reach the new spending goal, for one thing. And the five per cent is being split into two categories: “core defence requirements” and broader defence-related infrastructure and industry.Speaking to reporters at The Hague at the NATO summit, Prime Minister Mark Carney expressed confidence that Canada will achieve its new objectives after lagging behind the alliance’s spending goals for years.“We’ve arrived at this summit looking forward with a plan to help lead with new investments to build our strength,” he said.“The investments we’re making in defence and security, broader security, given the...

By Nick Murray The Canadian Press Posted June 25, 2025 2:20 pm 1 min read Descrease article font size Increase article font size Canada’s elections commissioner says she has no evidence the result of the federal election in April was affected by foreign interference, disinformation or voter intimidation. In a preliminary report Wednesday, Commissioner Caroline Simard says her office received more than 16,000 complaints about the spring campaign which ended on April 28.That number is seven times the number of complaints received in the 2019 and 2021 elections. ...

The Liberal government will table a bill this fall introducing stricter bail conditions and sentencing for some crimes, particularly those involving organized crime, human trafficking, home invasion and car theft, Justice Minister Sean Fraser said in an interview. “It’s perhaps obvious, given the tenor around the criminal justice system, that reforms are in order,” Fraser told The Canadian Press.The government will consider including additional reforms but “at minimum” will implement the crime policies the Liberals promised during the spring federal election, Fraser said.Fraser was named justice minister by Prime Minister Mark Carney in May, following an election campaign which saw Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre blame the Liberals for a wave of violent crime.In their campaign platfor...

By Kyle Duggan The Canadian Press Posted June 25, 2025 7:34 am Updated June 25, 2025 8:01 am 1 min read Descrease article font size Increase article font size Prime Minister Mark Carney’s controversial major projects bill could be in for a speedy trip through the Senate this week. Bill C-5 will be introduced at first reading in the upper chamber Wednesday after it was fast-tracked through the House of Commons and underwent a rare pre-study by the Senate.A programming motion adopted by the chamber fi...

NATO leaders are meeting to debate whether to more than double the alliance’s defence spending target. Prime Minister Mark Carney is among the leaders around the table at the annual leaders’ summit in The Hague, where a proposal is being discussed to increase the target to five per cent of annual GDP, up from the current two per cent.NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s proposal would break that into two parts. The first 3.5 per cent would be for core defence needs such as jets and weapons, while the remaining 1.5 per cent would be on defence-adjacent investments including infrastructure and cybersecurity.Before the official meeting of the North Atlantic Council, Carney held bilateral meetings with the prime minister of New Zealand, Christopher Luxon, and the prime minister of Estonia, Kris...