Politics

Hamas freed three hostages in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday and Israel released 183 Palestinian prisoners in the fourth round of exchanges during the Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. The six-week phase one truce calls for the release of 33 hostages and nearly 2,000 prisoners, as well as the return of Palestinians to northern Gaza and an increase in humanitarian aid to the devastated territory.Israel and Hamas are set next week to begin negotiating a second phase of the ceasefire, which calls for releasing the remaining hostages and extending the truce indefinitely.The war could resume in early March if an agreement is not reached.Palestinian health authorities in Gaza also announced that the long-shuttered Rafah border crossing with Egypt would reopen on Saturday for tho...

“We’re trying to solve both the short term and the long-term things. We put a bunch of money on the table. We’re just looking for permission to do all that good,” said Ric McIver, Alberta’s Minister of Municipal Affairs. The message hasn’t changed since the province first declared it was at an impasse with the town of Jasper and federal government over interim housing plans.Back in October, the province promised $112 million to build 250 housing units for the town, which lost a third of all buildings in a devastating wildfire last summer.The province, however, has tied that money to building permanent single-family homes, which would need to follow rules for parking and setbacks.“We still have available $112 million, which we hope to be able to build 250 homes with it if we are provided se...

Liberal leadership contender Mark Carney is backing away from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s consumer carbon pricing regime but will keep industrial pricing in place. Carney said the country has become divided over the policy because Canadians have been fed “misinformation” by Conservative Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre.“Since Canada’s current climate policy has become too divisive, it’s time for a new, more effective climate plan that everyone can get behind,” Carney said at an event in Halifax Friday morning.“It’s a plan that makes our economy more competitive. It grows good jobs today and will grow better ones in the future.”He sketched out broad points of a plan that largely swaps the stick for the carrot for Canadian households. It includes financial incentives for purchases of m...

U.S. President Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs on Canada are still set to come on Saturday, the White House has confirmed. With Ottawa expected to respond with retaliatory tariffs, how long will it take before you feel the impact on the foods and items you purchase?“The impact could be immediate depending on the sector,” said David Dienesch, the CEO of Allianz Trade in Canada, a company that specializes in supply trade insurance.He added, “There are concerns that any oil and gas tariffs will result in a potential increase in gasoline prices in the USA by $0.75 a gallon. Therefore, any transportation costs for goods coming into Canada from the USA would be impacted. Companies need to pass on the increases, especially for lower margin products.”On Thursday, Trump said Canadian oil and gas ...

In 2024, Donald Trump denied multiple times he had anything to do with the conservative policy agenda known as Project 2025, going so far as to claim he’d never read the Heritage Foundation’s 900-plus-page book of policy recommendations that’s sold itself as a blueprint for the “next conservative President.” But an early barrage of executive orders signed by the president in the first weeks of his second term align with many ideas promoted in Project 2025.In some cases, overlap is to be expected — Project 2025 outlines some standard Republican policies and builds on some of the ideas Trump has proposed and talked about over the years, like tougher border enforcement, slashing regulations and lowering taxes. Other policies Trump has acted on predate Project 2025, as well.But, as an analysis...

More than two million Canadians will be able to file their taxes automatically this year. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) said in a news release Thursday that it is opening up its SimpleFile by Phone service to more Canadians this tax season, while also for the first time making a digital option available for people who have filed their taxes in recent years.This free automatic tax filing service will be offered to “individuals with low or fixed incomes and simple tax situations that remain unchanged from year to year,” Déborah Cléry, a CRA spokesperson, told Global News.She said the invitation letters to eligible Canadians will be sent out via mail or their CRA account over the next couple of months.Last year, the CRA invited more than 1.5 million people with a recent tax filing history t...

The mayor of an Ontario city home to one of Canada’s most notorious prisons says converting it one day into housing could eat at its economy. Bryan Paterson told Global News that while Kingston does have housing needs, transforming the site of Kingston Penitentiary – which Ottawa says can be suitable for housing – would be a loss for the city’s finances.“This particular property has huge benefits for tourism and film, and we want to make sure that isn’t impacted,” he said.“We’re always happy to have more discussions about opportunities for housing, but again, there are lots of other federal government properties that we think would be great candidates for.”Paterson’s comments come after the federal government publicly revealed Thursday that Kingston Pen – a former maximum-security prison t...

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has warned the United States of a “forceful but reasonable immediate response” as the clock ticks down on tariffs on Canadian goods expected to come from the U.S. this Saturday. A day before that looming measure, Trudeau is meeting with the newly formed Canada-U.S. relations council in Toronto on Friday.In his opening remarks before the meeting, Trudeau said Canada is in a “critical moment” as U.S. President Donald Trump doubled down on his threat Thursday, saying that a 25 per cent tariff on goods coming from Canada and Mexico will be imposed on Saturday.“If the president does choose to implement any tariffs against Canada, we’re ready with a response — a purposeful, forceful but reasonable immediate response,” Trudeau said.“It’s not what we want but...

The federal government is delaying plans to raise the inclusion rate on capital gains, offering a degree of clarity on the legislation stuck in limbo that was causing some confusion for the upcoming tax season. Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc announced Friday that the Liberals will not implement a planned hike to the capital gains inclusion rate until Jan. 1, 2026, pushing back the original date of June 25, 2024.The Liberals had initially introduced the proposed changes to capital gains taxes in the 2024 federal budget this past spring.Capital gains are proceeds from the sale of an asset, like a stock or property. The Liberals had pitched to raise the inclusion rate or the taxable portion of capital gains sold in a year to 66.7 per cent, up from 50 per cent.The changes would apply to all ...

By Staff The Canadian Press Posted January 31, 2025 7:56 am 1 min read Descrease article font size Increase article font size A trio of federal cabinet ministers is in Washington Friday making a last-ditch attempt to stop U.S. President Donald Trump from imposing economically devastating tariffs on Canadian imports. Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, Public Safety Minister David McGuinty and Immigration Minister Marc Miller are all in the U.S. capital, making a final diplomatic push to convince Republican lawmakers and Trump’s team to sway the president. ...