Articles by Michelle Zilio

May 15 2019 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy says he welcomes Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer’s commitment to move Canada’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and recognize the city as the Israeli capital if elected later this year. Jason Greenblatt, an assistant to President Trump and special representative for international negotiations at the White House, said that while Canada […]

May 3 2019 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — Canadians have more a positive opinion of the country’s relationship with some major European powers and with Mexico than they do of ties with the United States, according to a new survey. A Nanos poll found that 86 per cent of Canadian respondents said they have a positive or somewhat positive opinion of Canada’s relationship […]

Apr 29 2019 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — Amnesty International is sounding the alarm over the Trudeau government’s tougher line on asylum seekers, saying Canada risks its global reputation as a welcoming place for refugees and would become another country to close its border to the world’s most vulnerable if it changed its asylum policy. Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International’s Americas director, is in […]

Apr 29 2019 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — Canadians’ views on immigrants and refugees have held steady over the past six months despite increasing political rhetoric about asylum seekers, a new survey shows. A poll by the Environics Institute for Survey Research, provided exclusively to The Globe and Mail, shows the question of whether immigration levels are too high continues to produce a […]

Mar 21 2019 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — The leaders of Canada’s largest labour organization and a prominent national Muslim group say Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is emboldening far-right extremists by failing to call out Islamophobia following the New Zealand mosque shootings and attending events with people who promote hate speech.

Mar 6 2019 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — Liberal MPs blocked an effort by the opposition on Wednesday to immediately invite Jody Wilson-Raybould back to a parliamentary committee to speak further about the government’s effort to put pressure on her to shelve the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., despite the former justice minister’s willingness to testify again. Rather, Liberal members of the […]

Mar 4 2019 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — More than half of Canadians say fraud and corruption charges against SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. should go to a criminal trial rather than a negotiated settlement where the Montreal engineering and construction giant would pay fines and avoid prosecution, according to a new survey. The numbers, provided exclusively to The Globe and Mail and CTV News, […]

Jan 25 2019 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland spoke with Juan Guaido to congratulate him on unifying opposition forces in Venezuela, two weeks before he declared himself interim president. Separately, Ottawa was told by opposition groups, former diplomats and Venezuelan émigré to expect a major announcement on Wednesday, the 61st anniversary of the end of a Venezuela military […]

Jan 11 2019 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — A Canadian delegation was among a group of high-profile targets that a man now convicted of terrorism planned to attack in Jerusalem last year, according to the Israel Security Agency. Muhammad Jamal Rashdeh was sentenced to 11 years in prison in connection with the plot, The Times of Israel reported on Thursday. Israel’s internal security […]

Jan 3 2019 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — Thirteen Canadians have been detained in China since the high-profile arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on Dec. 1, according to a Canadian government official. A Global Affairs Canada spokesperson, Guillaume Bérubé, confirmed the detentions in a statement to The Globe and Mail. Until Thursday, only three Canadians – Michael Kovrig, Michael Spavor […]

Dec 6 2018 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen’s office says the federal government will temporarily extend the one-year period for Yazidi genocide survivors in Canada to reunite with their surviving family members who are still languishing in Iraq. Mr. Hussen’s press secretary, Mathieu Genest, said the government is developing a temporary extension of the one-year window for survivors of […]

Oct 30 2018 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale says Canada has no legal responsibility to repatriate Canadian citizens detained by Kurdish forces in Syria, despite pleas from their families to help get them out of the war zone. Mr. Goodale said on Tuesday that Canada will not put its officials at risk by sending them into Syria to […]

Oct 25 2018 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — When he was justice minister in 2014, Peter MacKay signed off on Hassan Diab’s extradition to France without any guarantees that consular officials would monitor the Canadian academic’s high-profile trial and despite concerns he could face an unfair process in the European country. Mr. Diab, an Ottawa sociology professor, went on to spend three years […]

Oct 22 2018 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — Renowned international human-rights lawyer Irwin Cotler is nominating Syria’s famed White Helmets, a group of volunteer humanitarian workers Canada helped rescue from the war-torn country, for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Oct 22 2018 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — Germany is freezing arms exports to Saudi Arabia as Riyadh faces a growing chorus of international condemnation over the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in its Istanbul consulate and near-universal disbelief over the kingdom’s shifting explanations for his death. Leaders in the world’s capitals, from Washington to Berlin to Ottawa, lined up on the […]