Politics

The Quebec government is planning to expand the province’s ban on religious symbols to everyone who interacts with students in an effort to reinforce secularism in schools. A bill tabled Thursday would prohibit anyone who works in a school or on school property from wearing a religious symbol — including a hijab or a turban — on the job. It would also forbid students and staff from covering their faces.The proposed law would be a significant expansion of the province’s existing secularism rules, and comes after a controversy over allegations of religious practices appearing in certain Quebec public schools. Education Minister Bernard Drainville has been promising for months to introduce new legislation to fight the spectre of religious influence in schools.“I’m aware that this bill will ca...

The British and German governments have updated their advice for travellers seeking to enter the U.S. with fresh warnings about the risk of arrest or detention. The updates come after recent reports of British and German nationals being detained at the border amid an immigration crackdown by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.The U.K. travel advice page on the British foreign office’s website currently warns travellers to “comply with all entry, visa and other conditions of entry.”“The authorities in the U.S. set and enforce entry rules strictly. You may be liable to arrest or detention if you break the rules,” it continues.Archived versions of the same website showed that at the beginning of February, the guidance only stated: “The authorities in the U.S. set and enforce entry r...

The uncertainty Canada faced during U.S. President Donald Trump‘s first term “doesn’t come close” to the current uncertainty around his tariffs, Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem said Thursday. Speaking at an event in Calgary, Macklem said that while the Canadian economy entered 2025 on a strong footing after years of COVID-19 disruptions and inflation, the outlook for the year is not rosy.“The Canadian economy managed a soft landing. Unfortunately, we’re not going to stay on the tarmac for long,” he said.Macklem said Trump’s first term in office created uncertainty in the relatively stable trading relationship between the U.S. and Canada. However, his second term is causing far more.“After more than 50 years of high predictability in trade policy, there was a sharp increase in uncertai...

By Nick Murray The Canadian Press Posted March 20, 2025 2:06 pm 1 min read Descrease article font size Increase article font size Environment Minister Terry Duguid says a Mark Carney government will maintain a cap on oil and gas production emissions. In an interview with The Canadian Press, Duguid says Canada wants the energy but not the pollution that comes with its production.The Liberals introduced draft regulations back in November that require producers to cut emissions by about one-third over the next eight years. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world...

By Jack Farrell The Canadian Press Posted March 20, 2025 12:04 pm Updated March 20, 2025 12:13 pm 1 min read Descrease article font size Increase article font size Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Prime Minister Mark Carney are meeting on Thursday for the first time since he was sworn into office last week. The visit comes a day after Smith’s United Conservative Party government tabled a bill that seeks to ban federal employees from accessing oil and gas facilities and the emissions data they contain.Critics ...

The U.S. on Thursday issued new Iran-related sanctions, targeting one individual and several entities including a Chinese “teapot” oil refinery for purchasing and processing Iranian crude oil, the Treasury Department website showed. It was Washington’s fourth round of sanctions on Iran’s oil sales since President Donald Trump said in February he was re-imposing a “maximum pressure” campaign including efforts to drive down the exports to zero. Trump aims to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and funding militant groups. 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. China is the largest importer of Iranian oil.The refi...

Descrease article font size Increase article font size Prime Minister Mark Carney will call a federal election no later than Sunday, Global News has confirmed. Carney will make the call to avoid facing the required return of a prorogued Parliament on Monday. That’s the date the House of Commons is set to reconvene, with opposition parties vowing to vote non-confidence in the Liberals at the earliest opportunity.The earliest a federal election can be held is 37 days after it is called, and no later than 51 days after.The Globe and Mail reported Thursday that Carney will call the election Sunday for a vote to be held on April 28. The Globe cited two anonymous sources who were not authorized to speak to the media. Global News, though, has been to...

By Lisa Johnson and Jack Farrell The Canadian Press Posted March 19, 2025 6:33 pm 1 min read Descrease article font size Increase article font size Alberta’s government is proposing a law it says would ban federal employees from going on any oil-related sites — from wellheads to corporate head offices — but the NDP says it’s an illegal and performative distraction. Premier Danielle Smith said the goal is to keep federal staffers away from any place where oil and gas production and emissions data might be located.Smith said the Critical Infrastructure Defence Amendment Act is necessary because she doesn’t trust how the federal g...

The Conservative party is breaking from tradition and will not be allowing media onboard planes and buses to cover Pierre Poilievre’s election campaign. In an email Tuesday, national campaign director Jenni Byrne said costs for travel have “risen considerably,” as has the capacity for digital and remote access to public events.Byrne also said in recent years, media outlets have chosen to tag staff from local bureaus to cover events rather than fly journalists from Ottawa across the country for the entire duration of the campaign.Byrne said her team wants to stress that the campaign will ensure “strong, fair, and equitable media access.”For decades, federal election campaigns for the main political parties have provided seats on leaders’ tours, with the media organizations paying the party ...

Descrease article font size Increase article font size Canadian parents will receive the latest child benefits from the federal government this week. March payments of the Canada Child Benefit will roll out Thursday to eligible families with children under the age of 18 years.The tax-free monthly payments are calculated based on the adjusted family net income, as reported in the previous year’s tax return, as well as the number of children and their ages, according to the Canada Revenue Agency.The CCB amounts were increased by 4.7 per cent in July 2024 after a routine annual recalculation based on a family’s net income from the previous year and inflation.Maximum monthly amounts have remained unchanged since then and will be recalculated in Ju...