Category Archives: Justin Trudeau

Canada spies under pressure over foreign meddling reports

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Prime minister testified at inquiry into foreign interference that agency’s report of China meddling wasn’t relayed to him

Canada’s spy agency is under pressure after Justin Trudeau and his closest advisers say they were never made aware of a report that Beijing “clandestinely and deceptively” interfered in both the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

Canada is in the midst of a contentious public inquiry “examining and assessing” foreign interference by China, Russia, and other foreign states and non-state actors, and this week the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, testified under oath about the steps his government took to respond to the threat of meddling. In his appearance, which lasted nearly four hours, Trudeau insisted that despite the efforts from hostile states, previous federal elections “held in their integrity”.

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Brian Mulroney, former Canadian PM, dies aged 84

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Mulroney, a Progressive Conservative PM, ‘never stopped working for Canadians,’ Justin Trudeau says after his death

Brian Mulroney, the former Canadian prime minister who struck a landmark free trade deal with the US and signed breakthrough environmental accords, but whose legacy was marred by revelations of improper business dealings with an arms dealer, has died at the age of 84.

His daughter announced the death in a social media post.

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‘Putin must lose everything’: defiant Zelenskiy hosts western leaders in Kyiv to mark two years of war

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Ukraine’s president met the prime ministers of Italy, Canada and Belgium in a show of unity after recent battlefield defeats

Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed western leaders to Kyiv on Saturday on the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, declaring that Vladimir Putin “must lose absolutely everything”.

Ukraine’s president met the prime ministers of Italy, Canada and Belgium – Giorgia Meloni, Justin Trudeau and Alexander De Croo – as well as the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

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Judge rebukes Trudeau for ‘not justified’ use of Emergencies Act to break convoy

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Canadian court rules government was ‘unreasonable’ when it used sweeping powers to block truckers protesting against Covid rules

A Canadian court has ruled that Justin Trudeau’s government was not justified when it used sweeping powers to break up what the prime minister called “illegal and dangerous” protest blockades across the country two years ago.

A federal court found on Tuesday the government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act in response to the so-called freedom convoy protests “was not justified in relation to the relevant factual and legal constraints that were required to be taken into consideration”.

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Justin Trudeau condemns shots fired at two Jewish schools in Montreal

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Canadian prime minister says ‘attacking each other is not who we are’ after clashes between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian groups

Justin Trudeau has condemned recent violence in Canada after shots were fired at two Jewish schools in Montreal and clashes broke out between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian students at a university in the city.

Police on Thursday said they were investigating overnight shootings at two Jewish schools in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood after staff reported finding bullet holes in the front doors of the schools.

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Canada to have first majority-female supreme court following nomination

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Justin Trudeau appoints Mary Moreau to bench of Canada’s top court, which will be made up of five women and four men

Justin Trudeau has nominated the Alberta judge Mary Moreau to Canada’s top court, setting up the first majority-female bench in the supreme court’s 148-year history.

The naming of Moreau will give Canada’s top court five female judges and four male judges. Moreau was most recently the chief justice of Alberta’s superior court, and has worked in that court for 29 years. She will fill a vacancy on the supreme court created by the resignation of Russell Brown in June.

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Canada tells of China-linked ‘spamouflage’ blitz on MPs’ social media

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Foreign ministry says bots posted conspiracy theories, lies and abuse as comments on feeds including that of prime minister Justin Trudeau

The Canadian government has said it has detected a China-linked campaign that involved bots posting disinformation and propaganda as comments on the social media feeds of members of parliament, including the prime minister, Justin Trudeau.

The “spamouflage” campaign, using networks of new and hijacked social media accounts to post bulk messages, took place in August and September, and targeted dozens of lawmakers from across the political spectrum, Canada’s foreign ministry announced.

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How should UK, US and Australia respond to Canada-India row?

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Justin Trudeau’s accusation that India may be behind Sikh separatist killing puts western leaders in awkward position

Canada’s accusation on Monday that India may have been behind the car park murder of the Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Najjar in June – which New Delhi rejects outright – comes at an uncomfortable and unwelcome time for Britain, the US and Australia.

London, Washington and Canberra have all been prioritising closer ties with New Delhi, seeing it not just as a strategic bulwark against the fast-rising China, but also as a partner in the economic isolation of Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.

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India urges its citizens to exercise ‘extreme caution’ in Canada

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India’s foreign ministry issues warning after rejecting Trudeau’s allegations government played role in murder of Sikh activist

The diplomatic row between India and Canada over the murder of a Sikh activist has continued to escalate as New Delhi warned its nationals of “growing anti-India activities and politically condoned hate crimes” in Canada.

Justin Trudeau alleged on Monday that there were “credible allegations” that the Indian government played a role in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was connected to a Sikh separatist movement, in British Columbia in June.

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Canada killing adds to suspicions of Indian crackdown on Sikh separatists

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Khalistani groups who want independence of Punjab accuse India of killings in UK and elsewhere

Months before Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead in a car park in Canada, three other Indians associated with the Sikh separatist movement had died on foreign soil – in circumstances deemed, at least by some, as suspicious.

On Monday, Justin Trudeau alleged there was “credible evidence” that the Indian government was behind the assassination of Nijjar, an explosive accusation that torpedoed already frayed diplomatic relations between India and Canada. India called the allegation “absurd” and both sides expelled senior diplomats in response.

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Canada and India make tit-for-tat envoy expulsions over killing of Sikh leader

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Top intelligence officials expelled after Trudeau accused India of involvement in assassination of exiled Hardeep Singh Niijar

Canada and India have announced tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions after Justin Trudeau’s explosive allegation that New Delhi was behind a state-sponsored assassination on Canadian soil – accusations that India derided as “absurd”.

Speaking on Tuesday, the Canadian prime minister stood firm on the allegations that India was implicated in the death of the Sikh independence advocate Hardeep Singh Niijar, who was shot dead in Surrey, British Columbia, in June.

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‘Credible evidence’ India behind alleged assassination of Sikh leader, says Trudeau

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India rejects as ‘absurd’ allegation by PM that it was responsible for fatal shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil

Justin Trudeau has said there is “credible evidence” India is responsible for the alleged assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Canadian Sikh leader, a claim Delhi dismissed as “absurd”.

The Canadian prime minister told the House of Commons of Canada on Monday that, in recent weeks, national security authorities had been probing allegations that New Delhi was behind a state-sponsored assassination.

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Keir Starmer arrives in Canada to set out stall on immigration policy

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Diplomatic and media blitz for Labour leader will include appearances on Sunday morning political shows

Keir Starmer has arrived in Canada to set out his doctrine for tackling international threats at a gathering of world leaders, the latest step in the Labour leader’s move to flesh out policy in politically turbulent areas such as immigration.

Amid continued efforts by Starmer and his team to push back against the “nonsense” that closer cooperation with the EU would involve the UK having to accept 100,000 asylum-seekers a year, the Labour leader was in Montreal for the Global Progress Action Summit of centre-left politicians.

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Canada PM Justin Trudeau stuck in India after plane breaks down

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Canadian PM was due to return home on Sunday after G20 summit in Delhi but a mechanical fault kept him in India overnight

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and his entire delegation have been forced to extend their stay in New Delhi for the G20 summit by an extra day after his aircraft broke down, Canadian officials confirmed.

Trudeau arrived in India for the meeting of the leaders of 20 leading economies on Friday.

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Justin Trudeau and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau announce separation

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Canadian PM’s office says in statement that pair ‘remain a close family’ and have signed a legal agreement

Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, and his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, are separating, the couple have announced on Instagram, with a statement that appeared to mark the end of their 18-year marriage.

Trudeau, 51, and Grégoire Trudeau, 48, were married in late May 2005.

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Zelenskiy appears to confirm Ukraine counteroffensive during Trudeau visit

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Ukraine president cites counteroffensive ‘actions’ as Canada PM offers relief funding after dam breach

Volodymyr Zelenskiy appears to have confirmed that Ukraine’s counteroffensive is under way, as Justin Trudeau visited Kyiv and accused Russia over flooding from the breached Kakhovka dam.

“Counteroffensive and defensive actions are taking place in Ukraine: at which stage I will not talk in detail,” Zelenskiy said at a joint press conference in Kyiv on Saturday with the Canadian prime minister.

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United Conservatives’ narrow Alberta win sets up conflict with Trudeau

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Party leader and Alberta premier Danielle Smith used victory speech to attack the prime minister’s climate policies

Alberta’s United Conservatives have scraped a majority government, narrowly defeating the rival New Democrats in what proved to be the province’s closest ever election.

The triumph for incumbent premier Danielle Smith foreshadows more friction between the western province and Canada’s federal government on environmental regulation, with Smith using her victory speech to attack the climate policies of the prime minister, Justin Trudeau.

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Trudeau’s wide-stance pose with Korean politician splits critics

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Korean media praises prime minister’s gesture, known as ‘manner legs’, while some Canadians say it is embarrassing country

Justin Trudeau’s hair has made international headlines, as have his fumbling handshakes and propensity to appear shirtless when cameras are near. Now, the Canadian prime minister’s well-mannered legs are getting their moment in the spotlight

Ahead of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Trudeau and a delegation of Canadian ministers were in South Korea to celebrate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, as well as an attempt to salvage a multibillion-dollar battery plant deal.

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Federal workers tell Trudeau to step in to pay and work-from-home dispute

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Largest strike in decades enters 10th day with workers enjoying public support despite disruption to government services

Striking federal workers in Canada are calling for the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, to get involved in stalled negotiations, as the largest job action in decades enters its 10th day and key government services grind to a halt.

More than 100,000 employees with Canada’s largest public sector union have been on strike since last week in a battle over wages and the ability to work remotely.

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Canada’s CBC ‘pauses’ Twitter use after government-funded media label

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Justin Trudeau has accused a rival of taking advantage of the decision by Twitter to attempt to defund the network

Prime minister Justin Trudeau has waded into a feud over Twitter’s decision to label Canada’s public broadcaster as “government-funded”, accusing his main political rival Pierre Poilievre of enlisting the help of tech executives in an attempt to defund the network.

Last week, the Conservative leader called on Twitter owner Elon Musk to label the English-language feed of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s “government-funded” – but stopped short of asking for the French arm of the network to also be given the same label.

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