Politics

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office intervened in 2019 to keep Han Dong off a House of Commons committee probing Canada’s relations with China, according to testimony from Trudeau’s most senior staff. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) briefed security-cleared Liberal officials during the 2019 election about “irregularities” related to Dong’s nomination as the party’s candidate in Don Valley North.Those irregularities included CSIS intelligence suggesting Chinese diplomatic officials leaned on international students to support Dong’s nomination, as well as the busing of people to the nomination meeting coerced into supporting the now-independent MP.Documents previously published by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue’s foreign interference inquiry suggest that CSIS was aware of tho...

A diplomatic row between Canada and India is back in the spotlight amid mounting foreign interference concerns and continued investigations of the 2023 killing of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia. In tit-for-tat moves, both countries expelled each others’ diplomats on Monday. Ottawa said it was expelling six Indian diplomats and consular officials “in relation to a targeted campaign against Canadian citizens by agents linked to the government of India.”The government acted “to disrupt the chain of operations that go from Indian diplomats here in Canada to criminal organizations, to direct violent impacts on Canadians right across this country,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.Global News has learned agents working out of India’s high commission in Ottawa and consulates in Va...

Donald Trump ‘s latest town hall in Pennsylvania turned into a spontaneous playlist concert Monday after two medical emergencies in the crowd interrupted the evening’s event. The 78-year-old Republican presidential nominee was about half an hour into the event in the Philadelphia suburbs when a medical emergency brought a question-and-answer session to a halt. Noticing a disruption in the crowd, he asked for a doctor to be brought in.As the man was treated by medics and taken out on a stretcher, Trump acknowledged how hot the rallies can get and asked for an instrumental version of Ave Maria to be played over the sound system.Just as he began to launch back into the Q and A, however, a second medical incident began taking place, and members of the crowd shouted for help.“It looks like, sir...

Canada has listed Samidoun, a pro-Palestinian group behind a rally where people chanted “death to Canada” and burned the Canadian flag in Vancouver earlier this month, as a terrorist entity. Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc made the announcement on Tuesday and noted that the listing was made alongside the U.S. Treasury Department’s own decision to list the group as a specially designated global terrorist entity.“Violent extremism, acts of terrorism or terrorist financing have no place in Canadian society or abroad,” LeBlanc said in a statement.“The listing of Samidoun as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code sends a strong message that Canada will not tolerate this type of activity, and will do everything in its power to counter the ongoing threat to Canada’s national security a...

Canadians are set to receive carbon pricing rebates Tuesday, as the Liberals defend one of their most embattled policies. The government says this is the first time all banks will label the payment as the Canada Carbon Rebate, after years of inconsistent and vague phrasing on bank statements.The quarterly rebate will go to Canadians who filed their income tax while living in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and all four Atlantic provinces.The payments vary by household size and province, while those in rural areas get a top-up.On Tuesday, rural residents will get a boost in their quarterly rebate, with a 20-per-cent top-up along with a retroactive 10-per-cent payment for April and July. 1:28 ...

India and Canada expelled six of each others’ diplomats in tit-for-tat moves after Ottawa accused Indian government agents of links to the 2023 murder of a Sikh separatist leader near Vancouver. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), which is investigating the case at the heart of Monday’s rupture in ties, accused Indian government agents of being linked to an organized crime group called the “Bishnoi group.”India’s top investigative body, the National Investigation Agency, describes the group as a criminal gang headed by Lawrence Bishnoi, whose lawyer says he contests more than 40 cases accusing him of crimes such as murder and extortion, with many trials yet to begin.India has not reacted to the accusations of links between government officials and the Bishnoi group. The foreign minis...

U.S. citizens living in Canada are being urged to request ballots and vote in the November presidential election, which is expected to be one of the closest on record. “This race is so tight,” Lee Strickland, chair of Democrats Abroad in Toronto and is supporting Kamala Harris for president, told Global News.“There’s about 700,000 U.S. citizens living in Canada whose permanent residence is here who are entitled to vote,” he said, while adding only about five per cent exercise their right.For months, Democrats Abroad chapters have been passing out pamphlets at street festivals and other public places, encouraging Americans living in Toronto to go online to VoteFromAbroad.org and request their ballot.“It’ll take you about 10 minutes to fill out,” Strickland said. ...

A job listing at a Toronto-area Burger King has prompted observers and experts to wonder whether the temporary foreign workers program is being used to avoid paying higher salaries to Canadians. On Sept. 25, a Burger King in Mississauga, Ont., posted an opening for a restaurant manager position on the federal government’s online job bank.The post drew criticism from some social media users, who noted that underneath the posting, a banner reads, “This employer has applied for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) to hire a foreign worker to fill labour or skills shortages on a temporary basis.”This means that the employer, unable to hire a domestic worker for the post, has requested permission from the federal government to open the position up to foreign workers.A spokesperson for Burge...

A prominent leader in British Columbia’s Sikh community says the community feels vindicated following explosive new RCMP allegations of foreign interference by agents of the Indian government in Canada. RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said Monday that the force had evidence of violent criminal activity in Canada, including homicides and extortion, being connected to Indian government agents. 1:24 Trudeau says Five Eyes allies have seen ‘similar pattern’ from India with ‘attempted extrajudicial killing’ The RCMP also alleged it has evidence of diplomats collecting information on Canadians for the Indian government, and said there was a significan...

New Democrat Leader David Eby is urging Green voters in British Columbia’s tight election to back the NDP to keep John Rustad’s B.C. Conservatives from forming government, but the Greens say people should support the candidate of their choice. Green and NDP voters must stick together this election to defeat the B.C. Conservatives, who are running a campaign of division, denial and plans to dismantle climate initiatives and cut health care and housing affordability plans, Eby said Sunday.The NDP leader, at a campaign event in Squamish, asked Green voters to consider their thoughts the day after the Oct. 19 election if Rustad’s B.C. Conservatives were going to form government.“I want you to just take a moment and think about how it would feel if on Sunday morning, the morning after the elect...