Politics

Liberal MP Chrystia Freeland will move to Oxford, England, to take on a new position next summer administering the Rhodes Trust, the educational charity confirmed Thursday. The charity is famous for its prestigious Rhodes Scholarship, which offers students from around the world the chance to study at the University of Oxford.It announced Wednesday evening that Freeland has been appointed CEO of the Rhodes Trust and Warden of Rhodes House, a building on the university’s campus, starting July 1, 2026.Spokesperson Babette Littlemore confirmed by phone Freeland will move to Oxford for the role.But Freeland herself has not announced plans to resign as a member of Parliament.Freeland’s office did not respond to calls or emails Thursday. Story continues below advertisement ...

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s government plans to limit what behaviour professional regulators can police in the interest of strengthening freedom of expression. A bill introduced in the house Thursday aims to narrow what kind of behaviour regulated professionals — from architects to welders — can be disciplined for by their regulators.Smith is calling it Alberta’s “Peterson law,” after Ontario psychologist and social media personality Jordan Peterson, who was sanctioned by his province’s professional regulator for controversial public statements.“When regulators begin disciplining people for simply speaking their mind on their own time, that’s overreach and, at its worst, it becomes an outright threat to free expression,” Smith told reporters before the bill was introduced. ...

There is a lot of speculation in Ottawa that a new deal is imminent for a pipeline to move Alberta oil to B.C.’s North Coast. The Alberta and federal governments are said to be close to signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to move forward with the project.It would include new or expanded port facilities in Prince Rupert or Kitimat, which would require at least a partial repeal of the North Coast tanker ban.The federal government said it would seek support for the project from the B.C. government and the First Nations, who currently oppose the ban.“This government was elected to deliver nation-building projects, strengthen our economy, reinforce Canadian autonomy, advance Indigenous prosperity, while contributing to clean growth,” B.C. Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hod...

Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner said Thursday she plans to try and “amend the heck” out of the government’s border security bill, Bill C-12, with a host of measures targeting the asylum system. Her proposed changes include disallowing asylum claims from people who transited through Europe or another G7 country on their way to Canada and denying access to social benefits, except emergency medical treatment, for those with a failed asylum claim.“I think Canadians want some change in this regard. Canada’s system for allowing and accepting asylum claims is pretty generous,” Rempel Garner said at a press conference on Parliament Hill.“So somebody who’s failed a review, I think it’s fair that the only federal benefits that they receive is emergency health care and I think ...

Trade of tens of thousands of goods across Canada’s 14 jurisdictions will soon be free after an agreement has been signed between all provinces, territories and the federal government to allow businesses to sell their products across Canada. Ravi Kahlon, British Columbia’s minister of jobs and economic growth, announced the deal in Victoria, although it was signed by the country’s trade ministers at a meeting in Yellowknife on Wednesday.The B.C. government proposed and chaired the national initiative for the Canadian Mutual Recognition Agreement, and Kahlon said it’s an important step for cross-Canada trade.“And this is the largest red tape reduction in Canada’s history, and it’s just the beginning,” he told reporters.The agreement will take effect next month and applies to most products, ...

Prime Minister Mark Carney signed an investment-protection agreement Thursday with the United Arab Emirates, during a visit to Abu Dhabi that has involved limited media access as concerns grow the country is fuelling ethnic violence in Sudan. On Thursday, Carney announced the investment pact following a meeting with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and both also launched talks for a full trade deal, aimed at an eventual comprehensive economic partnership agreement.The prime minister also met Thursday morning with Industry Minister Sultan al-Jaber, before touring a palatial mosque in Abu Dhabi.On Thursday afternoon, Carney is set to meet with officials from sovereign wealth funds and investment companies in the UAE, including Mubadala, MGX, ADQ and ADIC, ahead of a dinner ...

Justice Minister Sean Fraser said he would be open to amending federal hate crime legislation to outlaw other “hateful” displays of symbols by groups not currently covered by the bill, including the Ku Klux Klan. Bill C-9, introduced in the House of Commons in September, makes it a crime to publicly display symbols associated with listed foreign terrorist organizations as well as the Nazi swastika and SS bolts, for the purpose of wilfully promoting hate. The new penalty would carry a maximum sentence of two years in prison.During an appearance by Fraser at Wednesday’s Senate question period, independent Sen. Paula Simons noted the list of terrorist entities does not include notable hate groups like the KKK, “which would mean that displaying a burning cross or a noose would not be captured ...

The U.S. ambassador to Canada on Wednesday warned federal and provincial governments to “seriously consider” whether anti-tariff advertising in the United States will help achieve Canada’s goals, adding he thinks the ads amounted to trying to “participate in our electoral politics.” Speaking at the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters’ national conference in Ottawa, Ambassador Pete Hoekstra took aim at an Ontario government-funded ad campaign that aired in the U.S. last month and quoted former U.S. President Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs.The ad prompted U.S. President Donald Trump to suspend trade negotiations with Canada.“As far as we can tell, it has never happened in America before,” Hoekstra said, saying Trump and his administration were right to be upset over the ad.“If Canada wan...

People who know Pierre Poilievre say that what you see is what you get, that Pierre is Pierre, and he’s not about to change now. Back in the 2022 Conservative leadership campaign, this was presented as a positive trait. Unlike Erin O’Toole, freshly ousted by the Conservative caucus, Poilievre wouldn’t tell the party’s base one thing and then moderate or change his positions to appeal more broadly to the general public.But while sticking to your principles can be an admirable thing, it doesn’t make the business of winning elections any easier — particularly when Canadian voters have already rejected you once.And while those principles might not change, context constantly does. Poilievre was trouncing then-prime minister Justin Trudeau in opinion polls earlier this year, only to lose a doubl...

Federal Industry Minister Mélanie Joly says she is troubled to hear the Parti Québécois (PQ) leader call for a “closer relationship” with the United States if Quebec were to become an independent country. Speaking to reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday, she said PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon wants “to make Quebec much weaker in the face of an America that is gaining enormous power,” adding that he risks “throwing Quebec into the arms of Donald Trump.”For several weeks, St-Pierre Plamondon has been gradually unveiling his Blue Book, which lays out his vision for a sovereign Quebec. Earlier this month, he presented an overview of its section on international relations. PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon with his wife, Alexandra Tremblay, in front of a crowd of PQ supp...