Politics

Thousands of U.S. Agency for International Development workers who have been fired or placed on leave as part of the Trump administration’s dismantling of the agency are being given a brief window Thursday and Friday to clear out their workspaces. USAID placed 4,080 staffers who work across the globe on leave Monday. That was joined by a “reduction in force” that will affect another 1,600 employees, a State Department spokesman said in an emailed response to questions.USAID has been one of the biggest targets so far of a broad campaign by President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency, a project of Trump adviser Elon Musk, to slash the size of the federal government. The actions at USAID leave only a small fraction of its employees on the job.Trump and Musk have moved s...

Canada deported more people last year to hit its highest annual level of removals in about a decade, overwhelmingly deporting people whose refugee claims were rejected, data obtained by Reuters showed. By late November, Canada’s removal numbers had reached their highest point since at least 2015, when the governing Liberals led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came to power. The government has also budgeted more money for deportations this year.Trudeau’s government, now in its final days, has sought to show Canadians it is getting tough on immigration amid a rising backlog of refugee claims and a backlash against immigrants over concerns that immigration is exacerbating a housing shortage.Canada’s border agency said the spike in deportations is tied to a “significant increase” in the numbe...

A new documentary makes the case that a change in Canada’s immigration policy more than 50 years ago has fuelled the country’s current boom in NBA players. “Inbound,” a short film on how Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s multiculturalism policy in the early 1970s brought an influx of immigrants to Canada whose children and grandchildren are now becoming professional basketball players premiered in Toronto last week. After a limited engagement in Cineplex theatres across the country, it’s now available to be streamed online through TSN, Crave and the NBA app.The family of Montreal’s Chris Boucher, a backup forward for the Toronto Raptors, is prominently featured in “Inbound.” He said that the documentary’s thesis reflected his lived experience.“My family was definitely part of the immigration...

The surprising resignation of two well-liked Atlantic premiers has left some political experts shaking their heads in disbelief — and marvelling at the mounting demands on anyone running a province. Andrew Furey said Tuesday he would step down as premier of Newfoundland and Labrador as soon as the Liberals choose a new leader; Dennis King resigned as premier of Prince Edward Island on Friday at noon. Furey’s resignation in particular was a “complete and utter shock,” said Alex Marland, a political science professor at Acadia University.“The thing that is a commonality — and that is a little perplexing — is the abruptness of both resignations,” Marland said in an interview Wednesday. “Usually, when leaders leave, they don’t want to leave … and when they do step down, it’s usually because th...

As the threat of a trade war with the United States looms and continues to dominate the news cycle, many Canadians are concerned about Canada’s relationship with its longest and closest ally, new polling shows. An Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News and published Wednesday showed the Canada-U.S. relationship was the third-most important issue facing the country today, with 11 per cent of Canadians who were surveyed ranking it as their top priority.Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Global Public Affairs, said Canada’s relationship with the U.S. is a new issue that has emerged in the debate and it stems from a “pride element” as well as a “potential personal risk element” in the face of tariffs threatened by U.S. President Donald Trump.Bricker said the polling suggests that Canadian...

In a series of press conferences in recent weeks, the federal Conservatives have demanded that Liberal leadership candidate Mark Carney comply with the conflict of interest rules that apply to members of Parliament and cabinet ministers. Carney, who is neither an MP nor a member of cabinet, has said he will comply with the rules when they apply to him.Here is what the rules say. What are the rules for members of Parliament? MPs are subject to the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons, which came into force in 2004 and has been updated five times, most recently in March 2023. Story continues below advertisement The code includes a process to disclose private interests to the ethics commissioner and procedures ...

Sweeping tariffs could hit Canada’s economy as early as next week, even as government leaders and labour groups meet to discuss further steps amid the uncertainty. Trudeau’s itinerary for Wednesday said he “will host a virtual meeting with provincial and territorial premiers.”The prime minister will also chair a meeting of the federal cabinet, though the Prime Minister’s Office did not say what time either of Trudeau’s meetings will take place.U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said tariffs were “on schedule” to arrive on March 4, although he did not clarify whether he meant the broad-based 25 per cent tariffs on Canada or the reciprocal tariffs he announced on all of America’s trade partners.A White House official speaking on background told Global News on Wednesday that the March 4 ta...

The state of the Canadian economy and U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade threats topped the agenda for the Liberal party’s English language leadership debate, the second in as many days and the last of the campaign. Presumed front-runner and former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney and former finance minister Chrystia Freeland clashed over the Liberal government’s record of economic management.“Our economy was weak before we got to the point of these threats from President Trump,” Carney said. “That’s why we need big changes to how we’re managing this economy.”He said the economy has relied in recent years on a big boost to the labour force caused by a surge in immigration, along with government spending that grew at a rapid clip.Freeland argued that Canada is in a “strong fiscal positi...

Descrease article font size Increase article font size Ukraine’s prime minister disclosed the details of a draft minerals deal with the United States on Wednesday, saying its wording showed Washington backed Kyiv’s effort to get security guarantees, but touting nothing more concrete for now. The deal is at the heart of Kyiv’s push to win over Donald Trump’s robust support as the U.S. president strives to reach a rapid end to the war with Russia that Ukraine’s supporters fear could come at the expense of its national interests. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Denys Shmyhal, Ukraine’...

For the first time since 2021, Ipsos polling now shows the federal Liberal party with a slight lead over the Conservatives. The poll, conducted exclusively for Global News by Ipsos Public Affairs, shows if a federal election were to take place tomorrow, the Liberals would get 38 per cent of decided voter support compared to the Conservatives’ 36 per cent, overturning what was a 26-point lead for the Tories just six weeks ago.According to the polling, conducted between Feb. 21 and 24 from a sample of 1,000 voting-age Canadians, the Liberals have increased their numbers by 10 points compared to the last poll by Ipsos released earlier this month. The polling is considered accurate within 3.8 percentage points, so the numbers are still within the margin of error.But the results echo multiple r...