Politics

There’s less than two weeks left in the federal election campaign, but while the parties have put out various announcements, some industry leaders and experts say rural communities are being left out. About 20 per cent of Canadians live in rural, remote, Indigenous, coastal or northern communities, according to Rural Economic Development Canada.These communities are facing many of the same issues as their urban counterparts: health care shortages, crime rates and the impact of tariffs on important sectors.The way those issues impact rural communities, though, can be very different.“They’re discussing it as if how it looks and what the solutions would be are going to be the same in all places, which is incorrect,” said Sarah-Patricia Breen, the B.C. innovation chair in rural economic develo...

In the French language election debate Wednesday night, the four main federal party leaders were asked to lay out policy priorities that have nothing with the United States. But the conversation quickly turned to the elephant in the room — Donald Trump — and how the leaders would deal with the U.S. president.The leaders began the debate by sparring over how to respond to the trade war with the United States and pitching themselves as the best one to negotiate with Trump.Poilievre said that on his first day in office, he would open negotiations with Trump on an agreement put an end to tariffs.“We can’t control Trump. So at the same time, we need to control what we can,” Poilievre said.“That means reversing the Liberal economic policies which have weakened our country, unlocking out (natural...

Descrease article font size Increase article font size Anyone who wants to register to vote in the April 28 federal election has to be able to prove who they are and where they live.Elections Canada realizes both of those things can be a challenge for someone without a home or standard ID cards, said spokesperson Diane Benson.If an unhoused person uses services at a shelter or community kitchen, that facility may be able to provide a letter saying the voter resides there, she said. For example, someone living in an encampment who frequents a soup kitchen could get a letter of confirmation from that facility, said Benson. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affair...

Canada’s relationship with the United States and President Donald Trump will likely dominate this week’s leaders’ debates for the federal election, but experts say there will be other issues to watch for. The leaders of the Liberals, Conservatives, New Democrats and Bloc Québécois will gather in Montreal Wednesday evening for the campaign’s only French-language debate, followed by the English-language debate on Thursday.The federal debate commission rescinded an invitation to the Green Party, saying that “the Commission concludes that because the Green Party of Canada has intentionally reduced the number of candidates running in the election for strategic reasons, it no longer meets the intention of the participation criteria to justify inclusion in the leaders’ debates.”You can find detai...

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...