Politics

Marc Garneau, who served as a federal cabinet minister after becoming the first Canadian astronaut to go to space, has died at the age of 76. His former chief of staff Marc Roy said he was “saddened beyond words” to share the “gut wrenching news” in a post that included a statement from Garneau’s wife confirming his death.“It is with deep sadness that I share the news of my husband Marc Garneau’s passing,” the statement from Pam Garneau says.“Marc faced his final days with the same strength, clarity and grace that defined his life. He passed away peacefully, surrounded by the love of his family. We wish to express our heartfelt thanks for the outpouring of support, concern and kind words received over the past few days.”Pam Garneau also thanked the medical team that cared for her husband d...

Safeguards have been written into the government’s border bill to ensure civil rights and due process are upheld in proposed immigration regulations, Immigration Minister Lena Diab said Wednesday. Critics and advocacy groups are calling the wide-ranging border security legislation a threat to civil liberties in the immigration and asylum system.One proposed change in the legislation would prevent people from making asylum claims if they’ve been in Canada for more than a year.That change would not affect applications that have been submitted already but would be retroactive to June 3, assuming the bill becomes law.Diab said there would still be opportunities for asylum seekers who have been in Canada for more than a year to make their case through measures like pre-removal risk assessments....

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Wednesday defended the doubling of steel and aluminum tariffs by claiming the United States “can’t fight a war” without domestic production of those materials. Lutnick made the comments while denying the immediate real-world implications that steep tariffs will have on U.S. manufacturing during testimony in front of the U.S. Senate appropriations committee that focused in part on U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policy.“The big issue is, you can’t fight a war without steel and aluminum production in America,” Lutnick said during an exchange with Democratic U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, who was asking if he or Trump consulted with the Pentagon before raising those tariffs.“If you don’t have the ability to make your own steel and alu...

Justice Minister Sean Fraser apologized Wednesday for comments he made about the government’s duty to consult with Indigenous leaders on major projects. Fraser said Tuesday that the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples requires consultation but does not amount to “a blanket veto power” over projects.Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Fraser said Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak called him Tuesday night to express her frustration with his comments, and he apologized.“Despite innocent intentions, I think my comments actually caused hurt and potentially eroded a very precarious trust that has been built up over many years to respect the rights of Indigenous people in this country,” Fraser said.“I’ve come into a position that I think is essential in ...

By Staff The Canadian Press Posted June 4, 2025 7:02 am 1 min read Descrease article font size Increase article font size The Liberal minority government’s first real test comes today as MPs are scheduled to vote on the government’s throne speech. The Liberals lost a vote Monday evening when opposition members successfully amended the speech to call on the government to table an economic update before Parliament breaks for the summer.Government whip Mark Gerretsen insisted nothing went wrong with that vote despite the Liberals losing it by a count of 166 to 164. ...

Populist far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders plunged Dutch politics into turmoil Tuesday by withdrawing his party’s ministers from the ruling coalition in a dispute over a crackdown on migration. The remaining ministers will run a caretaker administration until new elections can be organized. The decision means the Netherlands will have a caretaker government when it hosts a summit of NATO leaders in three weeks.Prime Minister Dick Schoof held an emergency Cabinet meeting to discuss the crisis and then visited King Willem-Alexander to offer him the resignations of ministers from Wilders’ Party for Freedom.Schoof, a career civil servant who was handpicked by Wilders a year ago to lead the government, said he had repeatedly told coalition leaders in recent days that bringing down the government...

The federal government introduced new legislation Tuesday that aims to both strengthen and streamline the immigration process, including new limits on asylum claims, while also cracking down on cross-border fentanyl trafficking. The proposed bill addresses not only several of the border security priorities highlighted by Prime Minister Mark Carney, but also some of the long-standing complaints voiced by U.S. lawmakers, diplomats and Canadian police organizations.“This new legislation will ensure Canada has the right tools to keep our border secure, combat transnational organized crime and fentanyl, and disrupt illicit financing,” Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree told reporters in Ottawa after tabling the legislation.The minister said he planned to brief U.S. border czar Tom Homan...

The current trade war sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies is expected by many experts to have wide-ranging impacts across the world, including on economic growth and labour markets, and a new report has been released that further highlights this warning. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s latest outlook report outlines its dim forecast for global economies as well as key areas to help revive growth.The group of 38 countries changed its outlook to reflect a worse-than-expected path for global economies compared with a previously released report.“In this challenging and uncertain environment, we have downgraded our growth projections,” the report says. “Weakened economic prospects will be felt around the world, with almost no exception. Lower gr...

Government whip Mark Gerretsen insists nothing went wrong Monday evening when opposition parties successfully amended the throne speech to call on the government to table an economic update before Parliament breaks for the summer. The Liberals were defeated 166 to 164 after four Liberal MPs did not vote because of paired abstentions.Paired abstentions happen when parties agree to have a member sit out a vote because someone from another party is not able to attend.Gerretsen told reporters on his way into a cabinet meeting Tuesday morning that everything went according to plan.“Every single person who was supposed to vote yesterday voted,” he said.The amendment, tabled by House of Commons Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer, added a passage to the throne speech calling for a spring economic upd...

Domestic travel is increasing at Canada’s airports, new Statistics Canada travel data shows, while the number of people travelling by air to the U.S. dropped in April. The data released Monday looked at the total number of passengers who passed through pre-board security screening at Canada’s eight largest airports, finding a total of 4.5 million people made their way through those checkpoints, a 3.6 per cent overall increase from April last year.However, the number of those travelling to the U.S. dropped — again — as the U.S. trade war continues.The agency found that of these travellers, 1.1 million were those heading to the U.S., also known as “transborder” traffic.That figure was 5.8 per cent lower than the number seen in the same month last year. Story continues below advertise...