Politics

Israel’s defense minister said Wednesday that troops will remain in so-called security zones in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Syria indefinitely, remarks that could further complicate talks with Hamas over a ceasefire and hostage release. Israeli forces have taken over more than half of Gaza in a renewed campaign to pressure Hamas to release hostages after Israel ended their ceasefire last month. Israel has also refused to withdraw from some areas in Lebanon following a ceasefire with the Hezbollah militant group last year, and it seized a buffer zone in southern Syria after rebels overthrew President Bashar Assad in December.“Unlike in the past, the (Israeli military) is not evacuating areas that have been cleared and seized,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement. The military “...

The French-language federal leaders debate has been rescheduled two hours earlier on Wednesday, after calls by the Bloc Quebecois and NDP to change the time so it doesn’t conflict with a critical Montreal Canadiens game. The Canadiens are set for a puck drop against the Carolina Hurricanes at 7 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, with a spot in the NHL playoffs on the line.CBC/Radio-Canada, which was selected by the independent Leaders’ Debates Commission to produce the debates, confirmed to Global News that the French-language debate will now take place at 6 p.m. Eastern, and is set to conclude at 8 p.m. Eastern.On Tuesday, Bloc Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet suggested he’d like to see the day of the debate changed so Canadians won’t have to choose between watching the debate and watching the game....

Descrease article font size Increase article font size Fewer Ontarians are heading south of the border, according to new data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection that shows land border crossings into America are at their lowest levels since 2020. Around 1,082,182 million travellers crossed from Ontario into the U.S. by land in March 2025, down from 1,216,404 in March 2024. February saw a similar drop, with 946,527 crossings, compared to 1,070,491 during the same time last year.There are 14 official land border crossings between Ontario and the States, including major routes like the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor and the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie, which normally stay busy all year long. Get daily National news ...

U.S. President Donald Trump still wants Canada to become the country’s 51st state, the White House said Friday, a threat he has made repeatedly but had appeared to quiet on in recent weeks. Trump’s rhetoric toward Canada has appeared to soften since he spoke with Prime Minister Mark Carney last month, although he has occasionally brought up long-standing grievances on trade.Carney — who is running in the election as leader of the Liberal party but is serving as prime minister in a caretaker capacity — said after the call that Trump “respected Canada’s sovereignty” in his private and public remarks that day.The countries are set to hold talks after the federal election, which has been dominated by the economic and sovereignty threat posed by the U.S. administration.Asked Tuesday if there wa...

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is vowing to use the notwithstanding clause to allow judges to impose consecutive life sentences for mass murderers — a practice the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled is unconstitutional. The proposal has raised concerns about respect for court precedent and the rule of law in Canada, with some legal scholars saying using the notwithstanding clause in this case would represent a “sea change.”“Taking this step, based on this kind of rhetoric, I would argue is very concerning for both legal and democratic reasons,” said Debra Parkes, a professor at the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia.If Poilievre is elected prime minister and follows through on his plan, announced at an election campaign stop Monday, it would be the fir...

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he has been told that a media report about Honda planning to switch some car production from Canada to the United States is “not accurate.” Ford told reporters on Tuesday that he spoke to the president of Honda Canada, who will be making a statement to clarify the report from Reuters, which cited Japanese newspaper Nikkei and quickly stirred fears of job losses amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war.“They want to increase production down in the U.S., they’re at 100 per cent capacity right now, so they’re going to make a statement. I’ll let them make their statement, but they’re saying that’s not accurate,” Ford said about the report.“We’re going to keep Honda here, and I’ll do everything I can to protect the people and their jobs.” Story continu...

Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton is a federal riding located in Quebec.This riding is currently represented by Bloc Québécois MP Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay who first took office in 2019. Savard-Tremblay collected 25,165 votes, winning 47.45 per cent of the vote in the 2019 federal election.Voters will decide who will represent Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton in Quebec during the upcoming Canadian election on April 28, 2025.Visit this page on election night for a complete breakdown of up to the minute results. Candidates Bloc Québécois: Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay (Incumbent) Liberal: Mélanie Bédard Conservative: Gaëtan Deschênes ...

The federal government says it’s freezing more than US$2.2 billion in grants and US$60 million in contracts to Harvard University, after the institution said it would defy the Trump administration’s demands to limit activism on campus. The hold on Harvard’s funding marks the seventh time President Donald Trump’s administration has taken the step at one of the nation’s most elite colleges, in an attempt to force compliance with Trump’s political agenda. Six of the seven schools are in the Ivy League.In a letter to Harvard Friday, Trump’s administration had called for broad government and leadership reforms at the university, as well as changes to its admissions policies. It also demanded the university audit views of diversity on campus, and stop recognizing some student clubs.The federal g...

Descrease article font size Increase article font size Overall inflation eased for Canadians in March, but the end of the GST/HST holiday and U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war continues to stress consumers in Canada. Statistics Canada said Tuesday that the annual pace of inflation cooled to 2.3 per cent in March, compared to 2.6 per cent the month before.The numbers defied analysts expectations, who expected inflation to remain unchanged from February. Experts believe that Canada managed to keep the rate of inflation below two per cent until December because of the GST/HST holiday, which lasted from Dec. 9 to Feb. 15. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up fo...

As the federal party leaders prepare to face off in debates in Montreal this week, experts say they’re likely working on positive body language and polishing their French skills.Dan Arnold, chief strategy officer at Pollara and former pollster for the Trudeau Liberals, said the leaders probably have been taking part in “mock debates” in rented-out studios with their teams before the big show.Those debates are probably recorded, to allow the campaign teams to analyze what worked and what didn’t in terms of communication and body language.Arnold said Trudeau did “at least half a dozen if not more” mock leadership debates before the 2015 campaign actually started. Given his chaotic year, he said, Liberal Leader Mark Carney may not have had as much time to prepare as other candidates. ...