Politics

Israel’s parliament has passed two laws that could prevent the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, a main provider of aid to Gaza, from being able to continue its work. The laws ban the agency, UNRWA, from operating and cut all ties between the agency and the Israeli government. It’s the culmination of a long-running campaign against the agency, which Israel contends has been infiltrated by Hamas. But supporters say Israel’s real aim is to sideline the issue of Palestinian refugees. 1:47 Canada resumes UNRWA funding paused after alleged staff role in Israel attacks The agency is the major distributor of aid in Gaza and provides education, he...

As U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump fiercely battle for the White House in the U.S. election, they’ve largely focused their messages on the economy — and Canada is listening closely. More than 90 per cent of voters in a recent Ipsos poll said the economy and their personal economic situation will factor into how they cast their votes, far ahead of all other issues identified as important in the election.That reflects how most Americans, like Canadians, feel the cost of daily life remains difficult after two years of high inflation, which peaked in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic but has cooled more recently. 1:48 Economists warn of protectionism, escalating trade tensio...

It was a tight election race but Scott Moe secured the Saskatchewan Party’s fifth-straight majority, defeating challenger Carla Beck’s NDP that was looking to take back government for the first time since 2007. While the official count is still ongoing, Global News is projecting the Saskatchewan Party will form a majority government in the 61-seat legislature.This was the Sask. Party’s second election under Moe.Moe retained his seat in Rosthern-Shellbrook shortly after polls closed with 63 per cent of the vote, although he received less of the popular vote than in 2020, when he won 79.5 per cent of the votes in the riding.Many of Moe’s rural Sask. Party candidates jumped out to early leads in Monday’s provincial general election.The early results unfolded as expected, with the Sask. Party ...

Canada’s Indigenous Services minister refused to say Monday if non-Indigenous companies that won contracts by claiming to be Indigenous should pay back the value of contracts that were meant for First Nations, Inuit or Métis businesses. Under questioning by Conservative MPs during a parliamentary committee meeting, Patty Hajdu repeatedly stressed the value of the Indigenous Business Directory – a database of companies connecting Indigenous businesses to the lucrative world of federal contracts.A months-long Global News investigation, in partnership with researchers at First Nations University of Canada, raised questions about whether some of those companies are truly owned and controlled by Indigenous people.The investigation revealed significant loopholes in the Procurement Strategy for I...

Canadian seniors are set to receive a scheduled top-up in benefits as the Liberal government faces pressure to increase payments for those under the age of 75 years. October payments of the old age security (OAS) pension will roll out on Tuesday to eligible Canadians aged 65 years or older.OAS amounts are reviewed each year in January, April, July and October to reflect cost-of-living increases, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI).For the month of October, the benefits are increasing by 2.8 per cent compared with the previous year, based on CPI changes.For the October to December period, OAS benefits are rising by 1.3 per cent, according to the government.The OAS pension was permanently increased by 10 per cent for seniors aged 75 and above in July 2022. Story continues b...

Descrease article font size Increase article font size Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is proposing to scrap the federal sales tax on new build housing, claiming that this will help lower mortgage costs and speed up homebuilding. Poilievre said in a news conference in Ottawa on Monday that as prime minister, he would axe the goods and services tax or harmonized sales tax on new houses that are sold for less than $1 million.Poilievre claimed that this tax cut could save Canadians $40,000 in total or $2,200 per year in mortgage payments on a $800,000 house and help build 30,000 new homes each year.In Canada, homebuyers only have to pay the GST/HST when they purchase a new house directly from the developer.According to the Canada Revenue Age...

By Nojoud Al Mallees The Canadian Press Posted October 28, 2024 7:30 am 1 min read Descrease article font size Increase article font size Justin Trudeau is supposed to respond Monday to a group of Liberal MPs demanding his resignation as party leader, but the prime minister has already made his plans clear. At a Liberal caucus meeting Wednesday, 24 MPs delivered a letter to Trudeau asking him to resign and giving him until Monday to respond.But the prime minister told reporters the next day that he plans to stay on at the party helm. 1:43 ...

The revolt by some Liberal MPs against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s leadership may not have led to his ouster, but one political analyst says tensions within the party will last for some time — and may further hurt the Liberals’ electoral prospects. Trudeau made clear on Thursday he would remain as leader after some Liberals MPs signed onto an internal document calling on the prime minister to step aside, and those members voiced their frustrations to Trudeau at an hours-long caucus meeting on Wednesday.In an interview that aired Sunday on The West Block, Lori Turnbull, a political science professor at Dalhousie University, told host Mercedes Stephenson that Trudeau’s vow to stay on means nothing has changed from before the internal Liberal revolt began, with no ability for dissenting c...

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston fired the opening salvos of a snap election he called Sunday, saying he needs a strong mandate in order to help the province “stand up” to the federal government. Voters in the Maritime province will go to the polls on Nov. 26.That’s several months ahead of the province’s fixed election date of July 15, 2025 which Houston himself had previously set.“Nova Scotia needs a government with a renewed fresh mandate to stand up for our province,” Houston told supporters during a rally at a pub in the Halifax suburb of Bedford.“Otherwise our province risks becoming a political football in a federal election that could be held simultaneously with the current scheduled fixed election date. That is not in Nova Scotia’s best interest.” Story continues below adver...

TBILISI, Georgia — Georgia’s president said Sunday she did not recognize the results of this weekend’s parliamentary vote, which election officials say was won by the ruling party, adding that the country fell victim to a “Russian special operation” aimed at moving it off a path toward Europe. Standing alongside opposition leaders, President Salome Zourabichvili urged Georgians to rally Monday night on Tbilisi’s main street to protest what she called a “total falsification, a total stealing of your votes,” raising the prospect of further political turmoil in the South Caucasus nation.She spoke the day after an election which could decide whether Georgia embraces Europe or falls under the sway of Russia.“This election cannot be recognized, because it is the recognition of Russia’s intrusion...