Politics

Alberta’s governing United Conservatives stayed up into the early pre-dawn hours of Wednesday morning to pass a bill that marks the fourth time in under two months they have used the Charter’s notwithstanding clause. Members of Premier Danielle Smith’s caucus used their majority to pass on third and final reading a bill affecting transgender citizens.The UCP members pounded their desks and shouted “Hear, hear!” after the 2:20 a.m. vote while members of the Opposition NDP — who voted against the bill — shook their heads.Smith was not in the chamber for the final vote.The bill moved quickly through the evening as the United Conservatives used their majority to limit discussion to one hour in each of the final two debate stages.The bill confirms the government’s intention to use the notwithst...

By Kyle Duggan The Canadian Press Posted December 10, 2025 8:26 am Updated December 10, 2025 8:51 am 1 min read Descrease article font size Increase article font size U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra is downplaying concerns that America’s new national security strategy could lead to his government supporting politically aligned parties in Canada. While Hoekstra says he doesn’t see the U.S. getting involved in domestic politics, he accuses Ontario of doing just that by running an ad on America...

Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., Kirsten Hillman, said Tuesday she will be leaving her diplomatic post in the new year, after serving as the top envoy representing Canada in Washington, D.C., since 2020. Hillman this year has helped lead the on-and-off, sometimes tense negotiations for a new trade deal with the Trump administration.“I look forward to coming home and sharing more about my next steps,” she said in a statement posted on X.Hillman said she has informed Prime Minister Mark Carney of her decision.“Most recently, as the Canada-U.S. relationship is being rewritten, I have been deeply grateful for Prime Minister Carney’s strong leadership and for the confidence that he has placed in me,” she wrote in her statement.“While there will never be a perfect time to leave, this is the righ...

Descrease article font size Increase article font size Justice Minister Sean Fraser is set to announce updates to Canada’s Criminal Code on Tuesday, aimed at protecting minors and other victims against predators, his office said in a statement. The changes are “one of the most consequential updates to Canada’s Criminal Code in generations to confront modern threats and protect victims,” Fraser’s office said.The “generational reforms” are intended to “protect victims and keep kids safe from predators,” the statement added. 3:26 Liberals vote against Tory bail reform motion, vow opposition will be ‘happy’ with new legislation ...

An effort by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to force the Liberal government to reaffirm its commitment to a new pipeline to the West Coast will face a debate and recorded vote in the House of Commons on Tuesday. The motion also seeks to get a commitment from the Liberals to override the northern British Columbia oil tanker ban if necessary in order to get that pipeline built, despite opposition from Coastal First Nations and the B.C. government.It directly cites language in the memorandum of understanding signed between Ottawa and Alberta last month that sets the stage for a bitumen pipeline that will increase oil exports to Asia from a yet-unnamed deep-water port in B.C.The agreement includes a federal commitment to “enable” such a project, “including if necessary through an appropr...

U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday he may impose “very severe tariffs” on fertilizer from Canada “if we have to” in order to bolster domestic production. Trump made the comment while taking questions from reporters during a roundtable event at the White House where he announced a US$12-billion tariff relief fund for American farmers, who have been facing rising costs for agricultural inputs like seed and fertilizer amid Trump’s global trade war.“A lot of (fertilizer) does come in from Canada, and so we’ll end up putting very severe tariffs on that, if we have to, because that’s the way you want to bolster here,” Trump said.U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said her department and others were working on a plan to reshore fertilizer production to the U.S., while also directing f...

In the spring of 2013, B.C. NDP leader Adrian Dix was well ahead in the polls with days to go before the province’s 40th general election and was poised to beat the incumbent Christy Clark and the BC Liberals. But then Dix got nervous that the Green Party would siphon off New Democrat votes and allow the B.C. Liberals to win seats on vote splits. So Dix did what would become known as the “Kinder Morgan Flip Flop”. Kinder Morgan, which we now know as Trans Mountain, wanted to triple the capacity of the oil pipeline from Alberta to the Port of Vancouver. Dix had steadfastly refused to say yea or nay to this project, preferring to wait for an environmental assessment. But with the Green Party threatening, he decided, with three weeks to go in the campaign, to come out against the expansion of...

U.S. President Donald Trump answered “we’ll see” when he was asked Sunday whether he’d resume the trade talks he halted with Canada earlier this year. Trump made several comments about the ongoing trade dispute with Canada as he spoke with reporters outside a gala for the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors.He says he has a good relationship with Prime Minister Mark Carney, but that Canada, in his words, “makes a lot of things we don’t need because we make them also.”Trump then said, “We’ll work it out.” 1:52 Trump awards Kennedy Center Honors medals to Stallone, Gaynor, Strait, KISS members The president halted trade talks in October over an Ontario-s...

A judge from the Alberta Court of Kings Bench has issued a surprise ruling on the proposal for a referendum on Alberta independence. In a written judgement issued Friday, Justice Colin C.J. Feasby said the referendum proposal violates the Canadian constitution.Feasby’s ruling also included some harsh words for the UCP government that tabled legislation on Thursday, attempting to prevent the court from ruling on the constitutionality of the proposed referendum question. 1:52 Alberta bill aims to clear further obstacles to citizen-driven referendum questions Justice Minister Mickey Amery’s bill would allow such petition drives to go ahead regard...

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has set forth a new national security strategy that paints European allies as weak and aims to reassert America’s dominance in the Western Hemisphere. The document released Friday by the White House is sure to roil long-standing U.S. allies in Europe for its scathing critiques of their migration and free speech policies, suggesting they face the “prospect of civilizational erasure” and raising doubts about their long-term reliability as American partners.At the same time the administration is sharply critical of its democratic allies in Europe and carrying out a pressure campaign of boat strikes in South America, it chides past U.S. efforts to shape or criticize Middle Eastern nations and seeks to discourage attempts for changes in those countri...