Politics

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump about the war in Ukraine Saturday as European allies fear a withdrawal of U.S. support for Kyiv’s efforts to defend against Russia’s invasion. A brief readout from Trudeau’s office Saturday afternoon said the two leaders spoke about the war, now entering its fourth year, ahead of a virtual G7 meeting scheduled for Monday.The conversation came as both Moscow and Washington have signalled that talks are progressing for a summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin — a remarkable change in U.S. diplomatic strategy that sought to isolate Russia after its wholescale invasion of Ukraine.It also comes as Ukraine and its European allies fear the U.S. president may scale back its support of Kyiv’s war effort.Russian ...

Liberal leadership candidates have contrasting plans for Canada’s federal public service — with presumed front-runner Mark Carney taking the most aggressive stance so far. Carney recently vowed to cap the size of the public service and rein in government spending.While he hasn’t said where this cap would be set or how much he would reduce spending, Carney told a press conference on Wednesday he would review program budgets and use new technology like artificial intelligence to improve efficiency.“As a result, we will balance the operational budget within three years,” Carney said.Rival candidate Karina Gould isn’t planning to trim the public service, her campaign said.“At a time when our country is under threat, on the brink of a major trade war and Canadians’ jobs are on the line, now is ...

A private surgical company at the heart of allegations the Alberta government interfered to secure overpriced medical contracts was billing taxpayers more than twice as much per procedure than it would cost in a public hospital, according to Alberta Health Services documents. An internal chart included in an email sent by the former head of Alberta Health Services to a Health Ministry bureaucrat, obtained by The Canadian Press, indicates estimates for hip replacements in Edmonton at the public health agency’s hospitals was just over $4,000 as of last fall.The chart says the firm Alberta Surgical Group was charging the government $8,300.The cost listed for another private competitor was just over $3,600.Rose Carter, a lawyer for the company, said its contract prohibits it from discussing de...

As Canada stares down U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated threats of devastating tariffs, roughly half of Canadians and Americans believe their countries are in an economic recession right now, a new poll suggests. The results of the Leger survey — which polled both Canadians and Americans — suggest that Canadian and Americans hold many similar views on the state of the economy and their personal financial status.The poll also suggests that 39 per cent of Canadians who are currently employed are worried about losing their jobs within the next 12 months — a three-point increase since last month.Sébastien Dallaire, Leger’s executive vice-president for Eastern Canada, said that the results “add up to a long series of difficult moments.”The poll was conduced between Feb. 14 and Feb. 17 and ...

President Donald Trump on Friday fired the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General C.Q. Brown, and pushed out five other admirals and generals in an unprecedented shake-up of U.S. military leadership. Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he would nominate former Lieutenant General Dan “Razin” Caine to succeed Brown, breaking with tradition by pulling someone out of retirement for the first time to become the top military officer.The president will also replace the head of the U.S. Navy, a position held by Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to lead a military service, as well as the air force vice chief of staff, the Pentagon said. He is also removing the judge advocates general for the Army, Navy and Air Force, critical positions that ensure enforcement of milit...

If there’s one sector in the Canadian economy that has faced the particular focus of U.S. President Donald Trump‘s tariff threats, it’s Canada’s auto industry. Trump has said that he wants to “make the cars in Detroit,” indicating that he wants to replace Canada’s industry with a fully domestic American car industry.But experts say it could end up costing the U.S. tens of billions of dollars and in the end, the squeeze might not be worth the juice.åIn an interview with Fox News earlier this month, Trump said Canada “stole” the automobile industry from the United States.“If you look at Canada, Canada has a very big car industry. They stole it from us. They stole it because our people were asleep at the wheel,” Trump said.He added, “If we don’t make a deal with Canada, we’re going to put a b...

The Liberal party has kicked Ruby Dhalla out of the leadership race just days before the contestants were to face off in two debates in Montreal. Party national director Azam Ishmael says in a statement published late Friday that the decision was made unanimously by the Liberal Leadership Vote Committee.He says a “thorough investigation” concluded that Dhalla’s campaign had 10 violations of the national leadership rules, the vote rules and the expense rules.He said those include alleged violations of the Canada Elections Act, not disclosing “material facts,” inaccurate financial reporting and other election finance violations.The committee determined the violations were “extremely serious,” Ishmael added. 2:40 ...

Highway 2 is the main arterial road connecting north and south Alberta, but now along its shoulder stands a billboard that is dividing Albertans. The advertisement encourages Albertans to let Premier Danielle Smith know they want to become the 51st state of America.“Tell Danielle! Let’s join the USA!” the billboard says alongside a photo of the Alberta premier posing with U.S. President Donald Trump at his golf resort in Florida last month.The sign across the highway from the town of Bowden in central Alberta has the Town’s office fielding calls, including some serious threats of violence.“The town phones and the email went off the charts,” said Robb Stuart, who grew up in Bowden and has been the mayor for the past 14 years.He said the community has nothing to do with the sign along the QE...

A township in Ontario is moving to remove permanently affixed American flags from municipal facilities, citing growing tensions with the U.S. over trade and political relations. Council voted 4-3 on Tuesday directing staff to take down the flags, though the decision still requires final approval from the township council on Feb. 24.During the meeting, Coun. William Reilly questioned why the American flag remains up year-round at the West Lincoln community centre while Ontario’s provincial flag is absent.“We have an American flag that seems to be fixed in our community centre and we don’t even have an Ontario provincial flag that’s up even one day a year,” Reilly said. “I feel disrespected by our American neighbours. It kind of strikes a nerve that here we are in our country, in our facilit...

If Canada is hit by sweeping, broad-based tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump, the hit to the Canadian economy could be permanent, Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem is warning. Speaking to the members of the Mississauga Board of Trade and the Oakville Chamber of Commerce on Friday, Macklem said the shock from the tariffs would be very different from the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.“In the pandemic, we had a steep recession followed by a rapid recovery as the economy reopened,” Macklem said. “This time, if tariffs are long-lasting and broad-based, there won’t be a bounceback.”Macklem said while Canada could recover part of the growth, the damage would be long-lasting.“We may eventually regain our current rate of growth, but the level of output would be permanen...