Trudeau calls van attack ‘horrific and senseless,’ says no apparent terror link
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his public safety minister are delivering messages of sorrow — but not panic — in the aftermath of a Toronto man’s deadly rampage through city streets in a van. In an early morning statement, Trudeau said there is no apparent link to terrorism, adding that all Canadians are standing with Toronto as it […]
First of 10 victims of deadly Toronto van attack ID’d as Anne Marie D’Amico
One of the 10 people killed in Monday’s van attack on a busy Toronto street has been identified as Anne Marie D’Amico, CBC News has learned. D’Amico was reportedly an employee at Invesco, a U.S.-based investment management firm. Her next of kin have been notified. Invesco’s Canadian headquarters are on Yonge Street, between Sheppard and […]
Suspect in Toronto van attack described as socially awkward, tech expert
The suspect in the Toronto van attack was a man who travelled through the world with two identities: One as a socially awkward student who rarely spoke, barely functioned and had difficulty controlling tics, and another as an expert-level whiz who could lead classmates through the intricacies of computer chips. Police Chief Mark Saunders identified […]
Canada and its G7 partners are saying “enough is enough” to attacks by Russia and other authoritarian countries in their democratic institutions, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Monday. Freeland concluded talks with her G7 counterparts by affirming an organized effort to respond to foreign meddling and the spreading of false information — mainly by […]
Read MoreThe scene, which unfolded on a Toronto street Monday, is something straight out of a counter-terrorism officer’s worst nightmares. Security analysts call them “soft targets” — unsecured public spaces where a lone attacker can do maximum damage. The incident — in which man drove a van into a number killing 10 of them and injuring […]
Read MoreA judge in Minnesota has given a conditional green light to a Canadian energy company’s plan to expand a crude oil pipeline connecting the Alberta oilsands to American refineries — but not in the location Enbridge Energy wanted. The administrative law judge’s report recommends the expansion project be allowed to proceed, as long as it […]
Read MoreThe two founders of a B.C.-based company accused of misusing private data for foreign political campaigns and breaking election laws will speak for the first time to the allegations they face. Jeff Silvester and Zack Massingham, who started AggregateIQ (AIQ) five years ago, will appear on Tuesday before the parliamentary standing committee on access to […]
Read MoreCanada is taking over a key role in the peacekeeping mission in Mali, but United Nations officials worry it may not be able to fully implement its mandate because it plans to send limited helicopter support. Ottawa has said it will supply two CH-147 Chinook transport helicopters for logistical support and medical evacuations and four […]
Read MoreThe Saskatchewan government has introduced legislation that would allow the province to control its oil and gas exports, similar to a bill recently tabled in Alberta. Once passed, the law would establish a permitting process for people or corporations looking to export energy products outside the province. Energy Minister Bronwyn Eyre said the lone difference […]
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Why Trudeau may take a pass on universal pharmacare, despite his party’s wishes
Nothing obliges a Liberal government to act on any resolution of a Liberal convention. Party policies in Canada are not determined by party members, but by the party leader. That goes double for the Liberal party as it has evolved under Justin Trudeau, which is essentially a free-floating personality cult. So whether or not the […]
Federal Liberals latest exercise in vote pandering — identity trade missions
Just when you thought the Liberals had applied their brand of identity politics to every facet of public life, they surprise you with a new way of pandering for votes. Welcome to the concept of identity trade. François-Philippe Champagne, the trade minister, tweeted out Sunday that Canada will launch three “landmark” trade missions this year […]
Toronto van tragedy bonds city in blood. But no one will say the word ‘terrorism’
A sneaker. A purse. A tiny backpack. A cellphone. Personal possessions scattered along the path of a rampaging, careering white van, the maniacal and homicidal man at the wheel purposefully mowing down pedestrians. Heartbreaking artifacts now of a weaponized vehicle attack. And the bodies. My God, the bodies.
A Critical Year For Canada’s Aviation Ecosystem
This will be a critical year for Canadian aviation. Not since the transportation reforms of the mid-1980s and 90s has so much attention been focused on Canada’s commercial aviation system. There are a number of reasons. One is the 2016 Canada Transportation Act Review, also known as the Emerson report, which creates the political and […]
Peace’s Key Missing Component
The headlines have been fairly consistent. “Canada Introduces a New Era in Peacekeeping,” notes Legion magazine. “UN Peacekeeping in a New Era,” is the title of a policy piece by the Routledge Group. The Globe and Mail headline read, “Liberals Grapple with a New Era of Peacekeeping.” It’s remains a difficult thing to discern exactly […]
Liberals show their election hand by reaching left
Parsing a blind copy of the weekend’s Liberal resolutions, one would be forgiven for confusing it with an embryonic NDP election platform. From a national pharmacare initiative to a move to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of illicit drugs such as heroin, there are few of the Liberal grassroots priorities set out in Halifax that […]
Memo to Alberta: Get a grip
Sit down, Alberta. We need to talk. The other provinces are—I don’t know if worried is the right word—let’s say concerned. You don’t seem yourself. We get that you’ve been through a lot lately. Three years ago, the prime minister was an Albertan, your premier was a Progressive Conservative, there was no carbon tax and […]
Why not call election in B.C. to resolve pipeline impasse?
Could Jason Kenney be right? Is Canada broken? Or is it still “a great country,” as the prime minister insists? Kenney, who would be premier of Alberta, suggested the country’s been broken by problems getting a pipeline built to carry his province’s oil. It’s quite a call, considering everything that goes into making a country […]
Time to end double standard facing women in campaign trail
When Donald Trump entered the political arena, he broke all the rules. And his election in 2016 exemplified a frustrating double standard between men and women on the campaign trail. While men are encouraged to innovate and break the political mould, women are expected to learn the rules as they exist and follow them closely […]
What TV debate reveal about a candidate
One of the deep regrets of Abraham Lincoln junkies is that his famous debates with Stephen Douglas, 160 years ago this summer, pre-date the invention of audio recording. Lincoln’s book length excerpts of the nine debates were so powerful they are credited with helping him win his presidential nomination.
What is the worst part of the Supreme Court’s decision in R v Comeau? Is it the shoddy reasoning, the tendentious reading of simple declarative statements, the selective approach to history, the willful naivete? Perhaps it’s the grating hypocrisy: the lectures on the sanctity of precedent, from a court famous for discarding precedent when it […]
Read MoreAt a time when federal-provincial tensions are on the rise, two court rulings this week offer a timely reminder that the Constitution does not cast the provinces as junior partners of a unitary federation. In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court found that New Brunswick is within its rights to forbid its citizens to bring […]
Read MoreAs if the pipeline dispute between Alberta and British Columbia couldn’t get more muddled. Now, we’re throwing beer into the equation. I am talking about the “Free the Beer” Supreme Court of Canada ruling this week dealing with a New Brunswick man, Gerard Comeau, who in 2012 was stopped by an RCMP officer and fined […]
Read MoreOn Sunday morning, Jason Kenney — who would certainly be at the top of the board if there were betting on the next premier of Alberta — tweeted a link about the Trans Mountain pipeline crisis with the comment: “Canada is broken.” This seemingly flippant remark made a lot of people angry, and most everybody […]
Read MoreKathleen Wynne’s Liberals are desperate. So it wasn’t much surprise this week when they seized on the slightest chance to compare Doug Ford with Donald Trump – Ms. Wynne delivering an overwrought statement to the effect that a comment by the Progressive Conservative Leader about how more Liberals would be in jail for their accounting […]
Read MoreEarlier this week, Ontario PC leader Doug Ford made an announcement that sent a shock wave through the canyons of Bay Street. His first act, should he be elected premier, said Ford, would be to fire Mayo Schmidt, the president and CEO of Hydro One, and the company’s entire board of directors.
Read MoreJustin Trudeau will have an election in mind as he heads to Halifax convention. But it’s not his own
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hauled out not one, but three of his 2015 election slogans last weekend when he held his pipeline-crisis meeting with the premiers of Alberta and British Columbia. He talked of “hope and hard work” and declared that “better is always possible.” Trudeau even urged the warring provinces to see their rivals […]
Read MoreIt was never just about the beer — although, as an occasional cross-border suds shopper, there may be a conflict of personal interest here. The case of Gerard Comeau was a crucial legal fight aimed at ending protectionism for a myriad of goods and services controlled by provincial monopolies or regulations which impose higher prices […]
Read MoreFrancis Urquhart, the fictional chief whip in the original (and the best) House of Cards, described his role thus: “A pat on the head and a biscuit here; a short, sharp shock there – and a good boot up the backside where indicated.” In recent days, both the Conservative and Liberal whips’ offices have been […]
Read MoreOne feature of the debate about the idea of a guaranteed annual income — minimum income, basic income, call it what you will — is wide disagreement about what it means, even amongst its supporters. How high or low would the maximum benefit, paid to those with no other income, be? How sharply or gradually […]
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CTV Announces First-Ever Amazing Race Canada Heroes Edition
CTV announced Monday that the 10 teams competing in Season 6 of The Amazing Race Canada will be comprised of Canadian heroes.
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