Politics

By Staff The Canadian Press Posted November 25, 2024 2:56 pm 1 min read Descrease article font size Increase article font size Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says her government is looking for ways to encourage pipeline companies to boost capacity and increase Alberta’s oil and gas export volumes to the U.S. But Smith says her government is not interested in directly subsidizing a cross-border pipeline project, preferring instead to find ways to “de-risk” a potential private sector investment.Canada’s main oil-and-gas producing province is keen to expand its pipeline access to the U.S. in the wake of Donald Trump’s presidential...

Canada is on a “clear path” to hit NATO’s defence spending target over the coming years, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, as pressure ramps up on Ottawa in the wake of the U.S. election. Addressing the annual NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Montreal on Monday, Trudeau said Canada has so far made sure that its investments in targeted NATO spending “are as concrete as possible,” but added that more needs to be done.“We are on a clear path to reach two per cent in the coming years because we know that the world is changing and Canada, along with our allies, needs to be ready for it,” Trudeau said.Canada is one of just eight NATO members not meeting the alliance’s benchmark of spending at least two per cent of GDP on defence, but has pledged to get there by 2032. Story continues belo...

Canada’s chief of the defence staff says multiple global threats and military needs keep her up at night, but her top priority is boosting the number of people in the Canadian Armed Forces. Speaking to Mercedes Stephenson at the Halifax International Security Forum in an interview that aired Sunday on The West Block, Gen. Jennie Carignan said she’s pushing for recruitment to exceed 10 per cent of the military’s end-of-year goal if that target is met ahead of time, with an overall objective of returning to “full strength” in five years.“If we get close to the end of the year and we are at target, we’re not going to stop,” she said. “If we can go above, we will.”She added steps have been taken to streamline the recruiting process, and that work needs to be done to properly train those new re...

A bipartisan pair of U.S. senators say they expect Canada and the U.S. to work collaboratively on shared issues of defence and the border, but suggested Ottawa’s policies on military spending need to change to speed up progress. Speaking to Mercedes Stephenson from the Halifax International Security Forum in an interview that aired Sunday on The West Block, Republican Sen. James Risch of Idaho and Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire downplayed concerns that incoming president-elect Donald Trump will penalize Canada on things like trade if it doesn’t step up on defence spending.But Risch suggested Washington was growing impatient on Canada’s progress meeting NATO’s benchmark of spending at least two per cent on defence, which Ottawa says it plans to meet eight years from now.“If...

With two days left before Nova Scotians elect their next government, polls suggest Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston’s decision to call an early vote will pay off and the real battle will be between the Liberals and NDP for second place. The Progressive Conservatives are seeking a second consecutive mandate Tuesday after sweeping the Liberals from power in August 2021. Tory Leader Tim Houston called the snap election on Oct. 27 citing the need for a fresh mandate and ignoring his government’s election law, which for the first time in Nova Scotia set a fixed election date — July 15, 2025.In a recent interview, Alex Marland, a political scientist at Acadia University, said the final result is shaping up to be what Houston hoped for when he called the election. Marland said several ...

By Michael Tutton The Canadian Press Posted November 23, 2024 12:39 pm 1 min read Descrease article font size Increase article font size Canada’s top general firmly rejected the notion of dropping women from combat roles — a position promoted by U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary — at a security forum underway in Halifax Saturday. Gen. Jennie Carignan, chief of defence staff, was responding to Republican Senator James Risch’s comments yesterday at the Halifax International Security Forum about Pete Hegseth’s opposition to women in fighting units.Asked about Hegseth’s record of opposing women in th...

Former Liberal justice minister Irwin Cotler says an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate him should serve as a “wake-up call” for democracies around the world to combat transnational repression and violence by Iran and other hostile actors. In an interview with Global News, Cotler, a vocal critic of the Iranian regime, said he was informed by his RCMP security detail late last month they had received “information of an imminent assassination attempt within the next 48 hours” while he was in Montreal to attend an event marking the 60th anniversary of his law class at McGill University.“My security was intensified for those next 48 hours,” he said. His security was then lowered from the “highest level” several days ago, he added, though it’s unclear to him what changed.“I then read — I have ...

Defence Minister Bill Blair on Friday pushed back on U.S. critics of Canada’s defence spending, saying the eight-year plan to reach its NATO commitment was “credible and verifiable” despite reports saying otherwise. Speaking to reporters at the opening of the Halifax International Security Forum, Blair said “nobody has to argue with me” that Canada needs to spend more on defence, and that the federal government was making the necessary investments, but more international and industry collaboration is needed to reach the NATO spending target.“I’ve told (our allies) they are pushing on an open door,” Blair said. “We are going to make those investments.“We know that we need to do more, but it’s (about) getting there in a timely way. It’s going to require cooperation and collaboration with our...

As a nationwide Canada Post strike reaches the one-week mark, the federal government is being urged by some to immediately step in to end the labour disruption. The call from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business on Friday came as the Crown corporation reported yet another multi-million-dollar loss in the third quarter while it braces for a seventh successive annual loss this year.More than 55,000 Canada Post workers went on strike last Friday, halting mail and parcel services across the country. Some post offices have also been shuttered amid the job action.The Crown corporation and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers are holding talks this week with a special mediator, appointed by the federal government. But there has been little indication of an end to the labour dispute.The...

President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of his former acting attorney general Matt Whitaker to serve as U.S. ambassador to NATO likely signals a confrontational and “bullying” approach toward the military alliance he has long railed against, analysts say. That could present both vulnerabilities and opportunities for Canada, which has been under increased pressure to meet its defence spending commitments, those experts add. That pressure is expected to build further under a new Trump administration, whose representative to NATO is a relative newcomer to the diplomatic scene fully aligned with his president’s worldview.“Appointing a loyalist with limited foreign policy experience and expertise might signal an intention (by Trump) to keep pushing his more confrontational and unilateral agenda,”...