Politics

If Canada decides to buy submarines from Germany, it would mean tightening ties with a “club of countries” in Europe as it looks to meet NATO defence spending goals and face an uncertain world, Germany’s ambassador says. Matthias Lüttenberg, Germany’s ambassador to Canada, sat down with The West Block‘s Mercedes Stephenson in an interview airing on Sunday and emphasized the value of working more closely together.“It’s up to the Canadian government to decide which direction they want to go,” said Lüttenberg.“The state of the art submarine that we are offering jointly with Norway, which is built in Germany, is a very good solution for Canadian security, especially when you look at the Arctic.”European countries are investing billions into their militaries and Prime Minister Mark Carney pledg...

Canada has unveiled its priorities for the G7 leaders’ summit just one week before it gets underway in Alberta as the government defends its decision to invite India to the summit. Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office says Ottawa’s top priority for the summit will be strengthening global peace and security, which includes countering foreign interference and transnational crime, as well as improving responses to wildfires.His office also says Canada will focus on spurring economic growth by improving energy security, fortifying supply chains for critical minerals and accelerating the use of artificial intelligence.Lastly, Canada will discuss creating jobs by securing partnerships to open new markets and generate large infrastructure investments.In addition, Canada plans to use its invitation...

By Staff The Canadian Press Posted June 7, 2025 3:22 pm 1 min read Descrease article font size Increase article font size Alberta is buying American alcohol and gambling machines again, three months after Premier Danielle Smith announced restrictions aimed at fighting back against U.S. tariffs. Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally said Friday that the move signals a “renewed commitment to open and fair trade” with the United States.Smith said in March that the province would no longer buy U.S. alcohol and video lottery terminals, or sign contracts with American companies. Alberta’s liquor stores are privately owned but must ord...

U.S. Vice-President JD Vance said Elon Musk was making a “huge mistake” going after President Donald Trump in a storm of bitter and inflammatory social media posts after a falling out between the two men. But the vice-president, in an interview released Friday after the very public blow up between the world’s richest man and arguably the world’s most powerful, also tried to downplay Musk’s blistering attacks as an “emotional guy” who got frustrated.“I hope that eventually Elon comes back into the fold. Maybe that’s not possible now because he’s gone so nuclear,” Vance said.Vance’s comments come as other Republicans in recent days have urged the two men, who months ago were close allies spending significant time together, to mend fences.Musk’s torrent of social media posts attacking Trump c...

“A white collar bloodbath” is how Dario Amodei, CEO of leading artificial intelligence firm Anthropic, recently described the impact of artificial intelligence on the labour market to American news site Axios. On May 28, he warned that the very technology his company is creating could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within the next five years.And he’s not alone.Micha Kaufman, CEO of Fiverr, the popular online marketplace for freelance services, shared on social media a company email from April 8 that says: “AI is coming for your jobs. Heck, it’s coming for my job too. This is a wake-up call.”He goes on to say that this will affect a variety of fields and “it doesn’t matter if you are a programmer, designer, product manager, data scientist, lawyer, customer support rep, s...

U.S. President Donald Trump has directed his administration to investigate his predecessor Joe Biden’s actions as president, including whether any orders or pardons he signed with an autopen are valid amid recent reporting that has raised questions around Biden’s “cognitive decline.” The move is the boldest yet in Trump’s campaign against his political rivals and the quest by Republicans to overturn Biden’s legacy, which has been marred by growing questions about his ability to run the country that Trump is further amplifying.Trump on Thursday called Biden’s alleged use of an autopen without his knowledge “the biggest scandal” in American political history, without providing any evidence.“It’s a very bad thing, very dangerous,” Trump said in the Oval Office, arguing that, “essentially, who...

By Staff The Canadian Press Posted June 6, 2025 2:54 pm Updated June 6, 2025 3:01 pm 1 min read Descrease article font size Increase article font size Quebec Premier François Legault says the economy is his top priority as the provincial legislature rises for the summer. Legault says he wants to see new projects launched across Quebec in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump’s economic threats, including in the mining sector. Get breaking National news For news ...

By Staff The Canadian Press Posted June 6, 2025 7:17 am 1 min read Descrease article font size Increase article font size Prime Minister Mark Carney and Chinese Premier Li Qiang have agreed to regularize channels of communication between the two countries. A readout from Carney’s office also says the leaders committed to working together to address the fentanyl crisis. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Canada and China have been involved in a trade di...

Ottawa is reviewing its defence spending plans “from top to bottom,” Defence Minister David McGuinty said Thursday, as Canada comes under pressure from allies to ramp up spending to levels not seen since the height of the Cold War. McGuinty said the federal government will have more to say “very soon” about its alliance spending commitments and will be “making announcements in this regard.”“Canada is revisiting all of its expenditures presently, from top to bottom,” he told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels.“Just recently, our prime minister announced a $6 billion new effort to secure our Arctic, Canada’s Arctic. So we’re working very hard now with colleagues to implement a series of changes. We’ll have much more to say about that financially in very short order.”McGuinty is in Be...

Canada has introduced legislation that would expand on who can become a Canadian citizen on the basis of descent, saying holding citizenship “lies at the heart of what it means to be Canadian.” The federal government introduced Bill C-3 on Thursday, which it says will extend citizenship by descent beyond the first generation.The new bill tackles issues that surrounds Canada’s current first-generation limit.Under that limit, a child born outside the country to a parent also born or adopted by a Canadian citizen while not in Canada does not receive citizenship upon birth, even though the grandparent was from Canada. While the parent could receive citizenship, their child could not.Bill C-3 would change that, the government says, by automatically giving Canadian citizenship to anyone who woul...