Politics

Service Canada has begun mailing out hundreds of thousands of passports that were held during the month-long Canada Post strike, but more delays could come. Employment and Social Development Canada told Global News on Monday that the strike had left approximately 215,000 printed passports and other passport program-related mail in the backlog since Nov. 8.As of Dec. 1, 185,000 passports were stuck in the mail as Service Canada put a temporary hold on mailing out passport packages ahead of the strike. That number went up to 215,000 passports by the time the labour disruption ended on Dec. 17.“Service Canada has worked with Canada Post on a plan for the resumption of mail service for passport delivery,” Liana Brault, an ESDC spokesperson, said in an emailed statement to Global News.Despite t...

The head of the North American Aerospace Defence Command says Chinese and Russian air co-operation in the Arctic has Norad’s “full attention.” Those two countries for the first time staged a joint patrol in the Arctic near the coast of Alaska last July.U.S. Gen. Gregory Guillot told The Canadian Press in a year interview that it potentially takes decades for two nations’ militaries to reach “full integration” at a level like the U.S. and Canada.“We see it right now as co-ordinated, meaning that they can safely operate in the same area (but) not near the level of integration that the Canadian Forces and the U.S. Forces have,” he said. “As they continue to operate up there more, it certainly has our attention and it’s something we watched very closely.”Norad’s strategic competitors — Russia,...

Former soccer player Mikheil Kavelashvili was formally inaugurated as president of Georgia on Sunday, cementing the ruling party’s grip in what the opposition calls a blow to the country’s European Union aspirations and a victory for former imperial ruler Russia. Outgoing pro-Western Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili said Sunday morning that she would vacate her residence at the Orbeliani Palace in Tbilisi, but insisted she was still the legitimate office holder.“I will come out of here, come out to you and be with you. … This presidential residence was a symbol as long as there was a president here who was legitimate. I bring legitimacy with me,” Zourabichvili told a crowd of supporters outside the palace.She called Kavelashvili’s inauguration a “parody.”Kavelashvili, 53, who was th...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to implement the “toughest” anti-U.S. policy, state media reported Sunday, less than a month before Donald Trump takes office as U.S. president. Trump’s return to the White House raises prospects for high-profile diplomacy with North Korea. During his first term, Trump met Kim three times for talks on the North’s nuclear program. Many experts however say a quick resumption of Kim-Trump summitry is unlikely as Trump would first focus on conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. North Korea’s support for Russia’s war against Ukraine also poses a challenge to efforts to revive diplomacy, experts say.During a five-day plenary meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party that ended Friday, Kim called the U.S. “the most reactionary state that regards anti-communism ...

A top British diplomat to Canada says the ever-important job of maintaining relationships and information sharing between key allies is not much different than what audiences can watch on a hit Netflix drama. Although The Diplomat is fictional, David Prodger, the British deputy high commissioner to Canada, says the ripped-from-the-headlines storytelling captures what it’s like to keep crises from spilling over from behind the scenes — particularly the “suppressed air of panic” around many of the characters.“I think a lot of those little vignettes were very, very true to to real life,” Prodger told Mercedes Stephenson in an interview that aired Sunday on The West Block.“You’re dealing with big issues, and you’ve got to deal with them quickly as well.”The thriller stars Keri Russell as a car...

Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk caused uproar after backing Germany’s far-right party in a major newspaper ahead of key parliamentary elections in the Western European country, leading to the resignation of the paper’s opinion editor in protest. Germany is to vote in an early election on Feb. 23 after Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party governing coalition collapsed last month in a dispute over how to revitalize the country’s stagnant economy. 2:09 German snap election looms after finance minister fired, ruling coalition breaks Musk’s guest opinion piece for Welt am Sonntag — a sister publication of POLITICO owned by the Axel Springer Group — pub...

A former chief adviser and close friend to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday he doesn’t think Trudeau will stay on to lead the Liberals in the next election. Gerald Butts wrote in a Substack newsletter that Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s surprise resignation from cabinet last week dealt Trudeau a staggering blow that loosened his already tenuous grip on the party.His post came the same day the Conservatives said they will move to bring down the government as early as the end of January, by first moving a non-confidence motion in a House committee that will sit Jan. 7.Trudeau is said to be thinking about his future during the holiday break, as an increasing number of current and former Liberal MPs publicly call on him to step down for the good of the party.Butts said Trudeau w...

By Staff The Canadian Press Posted December 27, 2024 5:20 pm 1 min read Descrease article font size Increase article font size A serial property flipper in British Columbia has been convicted of tax evasion and fined more than $2 million for failing to report nearly $7.5 million in earnings. The Canada Revenue Agency says in a statement that Balkar Bhullar of Richmond, B.C., was given a conditional sentence of two years less a day on Dec. 19 and fined about $2.15 million, matching the amount of unpaid federal income tax.The agency says Bhullar pleaded guilty on Aug. 3 last year to one count of tax evasion, relating to undeclare...

By The Staff The Canadian Press Posted December 27, 2024 10:04 am Updated December 27, 2024 11:43 am 1 min read Descrease article font size Increase article font size Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly are in Florida to meet with officials from president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration. A statement from LeBlanc’s office says the duo travelled to Palm Beach, where they planned to use those talks to underscore “Canada’s efforts to combat fentanyl trafficking...

By Kyle Duggan The Canadian Press Posted December 27, 2024 11:27 am 1 min read Descrease article font size Increase article font size Conservative MP Jonathan Williamson says he’ll get the ball rolling early in the New Year on a no-confidence vote that could bring down Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government in a little more than a month. Williamson says in a social media post he will put forward his non-confidence motion at a public accounts committee meeting on Jan. 7.He says the committee can debate it and then kick the motion over to the House of Commons to deal with when it returns on Jan. 27. ...