Politics

Organized crime cartel activity is “very prevalent now” compared to at least a decade ago, says a former national security advisor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and listing those groups as terrorist organizations may help prevent a “national crisis.” Jody Thomas says the government’s move to list seven transnational criminal organizations, including multiple drug cartels, as terrorist entities under the Criminal Code will give law enforcement more tools to go after cartel-affiliated criminal groups in Canada — particularly their finances — that will be “enormously helpful.”“Organized crime, no matter what shape it takes, is a threat to us, and we’re seeing an increase in it,” she told Mercedes Stephenson in an interview that aired Sunday on The West Block.“I would say that 10, 15, 20 y...

German opposition leader Friedrich Merz’s conservatives were on course for a lackluster victory in a national election Sunday, while Alternative for Germany nearly doubled its support, the strongest showing for a far-right party since World War II, projections showed. Chancellor Olaf Scholz conceded defeat for his center-left Social Democrats after what he called “a bitter election result.”Projections for ARD and ZDF public television showed his party finishing in third place with its worst postwar result in a national parliamentary election.It wasn’t immediately clear how easy it will be for Merz to put together a coalition government.The election took place seven months earlier than originally planned after Scholz’s unpopular coalition collapsed in November, three years into a term that ...

Archpriest Cornell Zubritsky sometimes hears the loud wailing of air raids thousands of kilometres away in Ukraine. The sirens screech from the cellphones of congregants at the Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Edmonton.“A lot of them have the air raid siren app on their phones here in Canada, and it will go off. They do that so that if it’s their city, they get on the phone immediately to see if their relatives are OK,” Zubritsky said in a recent interview.“For them, this is real. And then it makes it real for me because they’re connected. They are fighting the war every day.”Zubritsky said most of his 150-person congregation are immigrants from Ukraine. The church’s membership declined during the COVID-19 pandemic but has grown again with families from Ukraine. ...

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday he would be ready to give up the presidency if doing so would achieve a lasting peace for his country under the security umbrella of the NATO military alliance. Speaking at a forum of government officials in Kyiv marking the three-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskyy said, “If to achieve peace, you really need me to give up my post, I’m ready.”Responding to a journalist’s question on whether he’d trade his office for peace, Zelenskyy said, “I can trade it for NATO.”His comment appeared to be aimed at recent suggestions by U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that elections should be held in Ukraine despite Ukrainian legislation prohibiting them during martial law.Earlier on Sun...

U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated calls for Canada to become the 51st state aren’t being echoed by other Republicans in Washington, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S. says, though Trump’s allies aren’t disavowing the president’s rhetoric either. Ambassador Kirsten Hillman says her private conversations with members of the Trump administration and lawmakers on Capitol Hill remain focused on building the Canada-U.S. relationship under Trump and showing progress on border security in order to avoid looming tariffs.“For me here in Washington, (Canada’s sovereignty) almost never comes up in the substantive conversations that I’m having with the White House,” Hillman told Mercedes Stephenson in an interview that aired Sunday on The West Block.“People aren’t going to be contradicting their pres...

Presumed Liberal leadership front-runner Mark Carney faces a major test Monday in Montreal, when he and his rivals square off in person for the first time in a French-language debate. Carney is new to federal politics and his performance will be under the microscope. He’ll have to prove to Liberals that he can think on his feet in French — and since he has the most to lose, he’s expected to spend most of his time on defence.“Especially after his inaugural speech in Edmonton, some people criticized his French, saying it was not that good. He does speak French, there is no question about it, but I think it will be a test for him,” said Daniel Béland, political science professor and director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada.“People will be listening very carefully, especially p...

With Canadians – and even Quebecers – rallying around the flag in the face of threats from the Trump administration, the sovereigntist Parti Québécois is struggling to find its footing. The Quebec opposition party has been leading in the polls for more than a year, and leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon has promised to hold a third referendum by 2030 if his party forms government in next year’s election.But U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats of tariffs and annexation have shaken up the political landscape in Quebec. Support for independence is suddenly lower than it has been in years, raising questions about whether the PQ needs to pivot away from sovereignty.For now, the party insists it’s staying the course. “We believe it’s something that inspires Quebecers to have people who are faithf...

Alternative for Germany appears to be headed for the strongest showing by a far-right party since World War II in Sunday’s national election and is fielding its first candidate to lead the country. Other parties say they won’t work with the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, or AfD, and co-leader Alice Weidel has no realistic chance of taking the country’s top job. But AfD has become a factor other politicians can’t ignore and has helped shape Germany’s debate on migration.It has also become prominent outside Germany. The party has won enthusiastic support from Elon Musk, as well as attention from U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.AfD first entered Germany’s national parliament eight years ago on the back of discontent with the arrival of large n...

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump about the war in Ukraine Saturday as European allies fear a withdrawal of U.S. support for Kyiv’s efforts to defend against Russia’s invasion. A brief readout from Trudeau’s office Saturday afternoon said the two leaders spoke about the war, now entering its fourth year, ahead of a virtual G7 meeting scheduled for Monday.The conversation came as both Moscow and Washington have signalled that talks are progressing for a summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin — a remarkable change in U.S. diplomatic strategy that sought to isolate Russia after its wholescale invasion of Ukraine.It also comes as Ukraine and its European allies fear the U.S. president may scale back its support of Kyiv’s war effort.Russian ...

Liberal leadership candidates have contrasting plans for Canada’s federal public service — with presumed front-runner Mark Carney taking the most aggressive stance so far. Carney recently vowed to cap the size of the public service and rein in government spending.While he hasn’t said where this cap would be set or how much he would reduce spending, Carney told a press conference on Wednesday he would review program budgets and use new technology like artificial intelligence to improve efficiency.“As a result, we will balance the operational budget within three years,” Carney said.Rival candidate Karina Gould isn’t planning to trim the public service, her campaign said.“At a time when our country is under threat, on the brink of a major trade war and Canadians’ jobs are on the line, now is ...