Politics

Donald Trump says he has chosen his former acting U.S. attorney general Matt Whitaker to serve as U.S. ambassador to NATO, the bedrock Western alliance that the president-elect has expressed skepticism about for years. Trump, in a statement, said Whitaker was “a strong warrior and loyal Patriot” who “will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended” and “strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability.”The choice of Whitaker as the nation’s representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an unusual one, given his background is in law enforcement and not in foreign policy. Whitaker had been considered a potential pick for attorney general, a position Trump instead gave to Matt Gaetz, a fierce loyalist ...

By Staff The Canadian Press Posted November 20, 2024 2:57 pm 1 min read Descrease article font size Increase article font size The union representing port supervisors in British Columbia is formally challenging the legal and constitutional authority of the federal labour minister to order them back to work. In a legal document dated Tuesday, International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 says it’s questioning whether the order issued by Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon last week violates the right to collective bargaining and the right to strike.The union says these rights are protected by the Charter of Rights and Freed...

Randy Boissonnault is out of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet after months of controversy surrounding his former medical supply business. In a brief statement Wednesday, Trudeau said Boissonnault “agreed … (to) step away from cabinet effective immediately.” Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. “Mr. Boissonnault will focus on clearing the allegations made against him,” Trudeau’s office said.Those allegations, first reported by Global News, involve Boissonnault’s former business Global Health Imports, co-founded with Stephen Anderson in early 2020 after Boissonnault lost his seat in the 2019 election. Tre...

Families of victims who were murdered by notorious serial killer and rapist Paul Bernardo have been barred from attending his upcoming parole hearing in person, according to the families’ lawyer. Bernardo, who is serving a life sentence and was transferred from maximum- to medium-security prison last year, is scheduled to appear for a parole hearing next week at Quebec’s La Macaza prison.Tim Danson, the lawyer representing the families of Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy, who were murdered as teenagers by Bernardo, argued in a letter sent to officials on Tuesday that his clients have a legal right to attend the hearing and read their statements in person.The letter, shared with Global News, was addressed to Joanne Blanchard, the chairperson of the Parole Board of Canada, Correction Servic...

A new poll suggests Canadians are supportive of government intervention in the labour disputes at ports and at Canada Post. Polling firm Leger found 63 per cent of respondents to a new survey were in favour of the Liberal government’s move to step in and ask the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order a resumption of port operations and move negotiations into binding arbitration. Nineteen per cent were opposed, and another 19 per cent said they didn’t know.Just over half of respondents, 57 per cent, said they would be in favour of the government doing the same in the ongoing Canada Post strike. Twenty-one per cent were opposed, and 22 per cent said they didn’t know.About 55,000 employees represented by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers have been on strike since Friday, shutting down ...

The U.S. and some other Western embassies in Kyiv said that they would stay closed Wednesday for security reasons, with the American delegation saying it had received a warning of a potentially significant Russian air attack on the Ukrainian capital. The precautionary step came after Russian officials promised a response to President Joe Biden’s decision to let Ukraine strike targets on Russian soil with U.S.-made missiles — a move that angered the Kremlin.The U.S. Embassy said its closure and attack warning were issued in the context of ongoing Russian missile and drone attacks on Kyiv and anticipated a quick return to regular operations.The Italian and Greek embassies also shut to the public for the day, but the U.K. government said that its embassy remained open.The war, which reached i...

Governance in Yukon’s second-largest municipality has been at a standstill since its newly elected mayor and council refused to pledge allegiance to King Charles during their swearing-in ceremony. Stephen Johnson, the mayor-elect of Dawson City, said he and the four-member council refused to take Canada’s official oath to the monarch on Nov. 5 because of the Crown’s history with Indigenous populations.He said council hasn’t been able to proceed with municipal duties and is eagerly waiting for the territory’s Department of Community Services to respond to its request to take an alternative to the Oath of Allegiance.“We can’t do anything legally required of us under the Municipal Act … so we are sort of, kind of council, and I’m sort of, kind of the mayor,” Johnson said.“It’s a bit of a stic...

A significant increase in the number of refugees and asylum seekers in Canada has prompted some cities to start building temporary housing for new arrivals. The city of Ottawa is working to establish what’s known as a sprung structure that serves as both a temporary shelter and a centre to provide settlement services such as language training and employment assistance.These centres are meant to house refugees only for their first few weeks in the city before they move on to more suitable housing in Ottawa’s settlement infrastructure.The city has identified two potential locations for these centres, both in the city’s west end. Planning documents describe them as “modular tension fabric buildings.”The planned locations for these structures have been a point of tension in the affected neighb...

A new report is warning youth unemployment has reached a “troubling” high, hitting a level not seen since 2012, and it could cost the Canadian economy billions in the next decade. The report by Deloitte, commissioned by The King’s Trust Canada, a national youth charity founded by King Charles III when he was Prince of Wales, noted youth unemployment hit 14.5 per cent in August — the highest since 2012.Failure to address the issue could cost the country $18.5 billion in real GDP growth by 2024, it found.“The report is troubling on several levels,” Farah Mohamed, CEO of the King’s Trust Canada, said in an interview. “What it comes down to is I think we really have to understand that if we do not invest in young people, if we do not create pathways to employment, how is this country going to ...

Treasury Board President Anita Anand is warning that if the House of Commons doesn’t get back to regular business, some government departments might be in financial trouble. On Monday, Anand tabled a supplementary estimates request for $21.6 billion to fund programs including housing, dental care and the national school food program.One of the biggest-ticket items is $970.8 million for compensation adjustments for civil servants as a result of collective bargaining agreements.But some of the money requested by the government is to repay departments for what they’ve already spent, and it must be voted on by Dec. 10 in line with House procedures. 2:27 Conservatives say Liberals ‘paralyzed Parliam...