Sep 23 2018 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will promote Canada’s commitment to female education, tackling climate change and unlocking private-sector investment in the developing world at the United Nations this week – attractive priorities for many countries that Canada is seeking support from in its bid for a UN Security Council seat.
Sep 18 2018 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — More than 100 legal experts, civil-society organizations and human-rights advocates are urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government to declare the violent campaign against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar genocide. In a letter to Mr. Trudeau on Monday, the signatories called on the Liberal government to “live up to Canada’s international legal obligations under the […]
Sep 13 2018 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — Border Security Minister Bill Blair says money set aside in this year’s federal budget to hire 64 new adjudicators for the refugee system will reduce the 20-month wait for a hearing, but the independent tribunal that oversees the process says the extra staff will at most slow the growth of the queue.
Sep 12 2018 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — The wait time for a refugee claim hearing in Canada increased more than a third over the past two years, to 19 months, as more than 30,000 asylum seekers arriving via unauthorized border crossings placed significant pressure on the system. Overwhelmed by the number of migrants, the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) has only managed […]
Sep 7 2018 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will pitch his government’s efforts to unlock private-sector money needed to help meet a set of ambitious United Nations sustainable-development goals as a key part of Canada’s bid for a UN Security Council seat in New York later this month. In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Canada’s ambassador to […]
Aug 30 2018 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — Renowned international human-rights lawyer and former Liberal Justice minister Irwin Cotler is asking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to consider giving Raif Badawi permanent residency, as a part of a larger effort to free the high-profile Saudi political prisoner. Mr. Cotler made the pitch to the Prime Minister during a meeting on Parliament Hill Thursday, where […]
Aug 30 2018 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — Two more former Liberal cabinet ministers have joined calls for the federal government to strip Myanmar’s embattled de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, of her honorary Canadian citizenship, despite concerns the move could harm Canada’s efforts to help resolve the Rohingya crisis. Lloyd Axworthy and Allan Rock said it is time for the Liberal […]
Aug 29 2018 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — Renowned international human-rights lawyer and former Liberal cabinet minister Irwin Cotler is calling on the government to revoke Aung San Suu Kyi’s honorary Canadian citizenship amid mounting criticism of Myanmar’s de facto leader for her failure to prevent the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims.
Aug 15 2018 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — The number of border crossers spiked by nearly 23 per cent between June and July, following a brief decrease in the number of asylum seekers illegally crossing into Canada between official border posts earlier this year. The RCMP intercepted 1,634 asylum claimants along the Canada-U.S. land border in July – mostly in Quebec – according […]
Jun 21 2018 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — Canada’s top public servant says Parliament needs to consider legislative changes that would give the government more power to fire public servants for poor performance amid a debate over who to blame for the Phoenix pay system failure that botched the pay of tens of thousands of civil servants.
Jun 20 2018 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — A Canadian-Palestinian doctor, who was recently shot on the Israeli-Gaza border, met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Tuesday and asked for $15-million in government funding to support the installation of solar panels on hospitals in Gaza. Dr. Tarek Loubani met Mr. Trudeau on Parliament Hill, where he talked about his ordeal and the ongoing health […]
Jun 15 2018 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — The three public servants blamed by the Auditor-General for the Phoenix pay system problems were not fired for mismanagement of the massive technology project that botched the pay of tens of thousands of public servants for more than two years. Marie Lemay, deputy minister for Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), said two of the […]
Jun 12 2018 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — Canada’s top public servant went on the offensive against the Auditor-General on Tuesday, saying the Phoenix public-service pay system is not the “incomprehensible failure” it was recently called in a scathing report. Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick challenged Auditor-General Michael Ferguson’s assertion that the problems with the system, which has failed to pay tens of […]
Jun 6 2018 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland called her Iranian counterpart directly and demanded he help resolve a high-profile consular case involving an Iranian-Canadian widow that has become a source of tensions between the two countries. After months of requests from Canada, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif finally agreed to speak with Ms. Freeland by phone on […]
May 24 2018 — Michelle Zilio — Globe and Mail — The Immigration Minister is refusing to say whether the federal government will seek the power to automatically turn away thousands of refugee claimants who walk across the border under an asylum agreement with the United States. Speaking to the House of Commons during a marathon session on Thursday night, Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen faced repeated […]