Trudeau accuses far-right website of spreading vaccine misinformation

Canadian PM’s response to Rebel Media goes viral after court victory allows them to attend election debate

Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has slammed a far-right website in the final days of the country’s federal election, accusing it of spreading misinformation about coronavirus vaccines and contributing to the growing number of protests across the country.

After Wednesday night’s French language debate between federal leaders, Trudeau was asked by a member of Rebel News – a website whose contributors have included Katie Hopkins and Tommy Robinson – if he would continue to exclude the group from covering the election.

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Canada: anti-vaxxers hit Justin Trudeau with a handful of gravel

Protesters also hit bodyguard but prime minister plays down incident on election campaign stop

Justin Trudeau has been hit by a handful of gravel as anti-vaccination protesters targeted the Canadian prime minister’s campaign for re-election.

A CTV camera captured what appears to be white gravel hitting Trudeau and one of his bodyguards as he walked toward his campaign bus in London, Ontario. The Liberals cancelled an event late last month because of safety concerns linked to anti-vax protesters.

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Afghanistan: what does each nation hope to get out of the G7 meeting?

Analysis: Tuesday’s meeting called by Boris Johnson may include postmortem on Joe Biden’s handling of crisis

The emergency meeting of G7 nations on Tuesday – called by Boris Johnson as this year’s chair of the G7 – is in essence a gathering of the vanquished but faces a threefold agenda: how to ensure as many Afghans as possible can leave Kabul, and whether the US is prepared to stay beyond the original 31 August deadline for the withdrawal of all US forces; how a resettlement programme can be coordinated for the medium term; and finally, how to encourage the Taliban to form an inclusive government, including by threatening sanctions or withholding recognition.

But each country will bring its own concerns and an ugly postmortem on Joe Biden’s handling of the crisis cannot be ruled out.

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Trudeau calls for snap election in hopes of winning back voters

Polling suggests Canadian PM’s Liberals are in the position to capture close to the 170 seats needed for majority government

Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has called a snap election, gambling that voters will reward his administration’s handing of the coronavirus pandemic with a parliamentary majority as he pulls the plug on a two-year minority government.

On Sunday morning, Trudeau met with Governor General Mary Simon to request she dissolve parliament — a request she approved.

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‘Historic’ step as Trudeau appoints Canada’s first Indigenous governor general

Mary Simon takes post at time of strained relations between Canada and First Nations after discoveries of unmarked graves

Canada will have its first ever Indigenous governor general after prime minister Justin Trudeau appointed Inuk leader Mary Simon as the Queen’s representative in Canada.

Describing the move as a “historic” step, Trudeau announced Simon’s appointment on Tuesday after coming under mounting pressure to choose a new viceregal. His previous selection resigned after allegations of bullying in January.

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How residential schools in Canada robbed Indigenous children of their identity and lives – video

In Canada, more than 1,000 unmarked graves have been discovered on the grounds of three former church-run residential schools, where an estimated 150,000 First Nations children were sent as part of a campaign of forced assimilation for more than a century until 1996. 

On Wednesday, the remains of 182 people were found at a former school in British Columbia – weeks after 215 unmarked graves were found at an institution in the province and 751 in Saskatchewan.

A historic truth and reconciliation commission was conducted in the 2000s. In 2015 it concluded that the residential school system amounted to cultural genocide and that unmarked graves would be found in the former school grounds, but the recent findings still shocked many Canadians and prompted calls for a new investigation. Leyland Cecco explains how the discovery is just the tip of the iceberg in uncovering Canada's traumatic colonial past

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Trudeau says Canadians ‘horrified and ashamed’ of forced assimilation

• PM responds to discovery of graves at Indigenous schools

• Trudeau stops short of ordering national investigation

Justin Trudeau has said that Canadians are “horrified and ashamed” by their government’s longtime policy of forcing Indigenous children to attend boarding schools where nearly 1,000 unmarked graves have now been discovered – but stopped short of launching a national investigation.

An estimated 751 unmarked graves were recently discovered on the grounds of the former Marieval Indian residential school in Saskatchewan which operated from 1899 to 1997. Last month, 215 remains were reported at a similar school in British Columbia.

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Trudeau is no feminist, says Green party leader as she battles party revolt

Canada’s first black party leader denounces ‘sexist’ and ‘racist’ efforts to oust her after Green MP defected to Trudeau’s Liberals

Justin Trudeau is “no ally and no feminist”, the head of Canada’s Green party has alleged, as she denounced a “sexist” and “racist” campaign to oust her as party leader ahead of a looming federal election.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday afternoon, Annamie Paul said efforts to remove her were being led by a handful of Green party veterans “who are on their way out” and didn’t reflect the majority who elected her as leader in October.

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New Israeli government is just as bad as the last, says Palestinian PM

Mohammad Shtayyeh condemns Naftali Bennett’s announcements in support of Israeli settlements

Benjamin Netanyahu’s ousting closes one of the “worst periods” of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but the new government headed by a settler advocate, Naftali Bennett, is just as bad as the last, the Palestinian prime minister has said.

“We do not see this new government as any less bad than the previous one, and we condemn the announcements of the new prime minister Naftali Bennett in support of Israeli settlements,” Mohammad Shtayyeh said, referring to hundreds of thousands of Jewish Israelis who have taken land in the occupied West Bank.

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Trudeau pays tribute to Canadian Muslim family killed in ‘terror attack’ – video

Three generations of the same family who migrated from Pakistan 14 years ago died on Sunday after a 20-year-old man drove his pickup truck at them in London, Ontario.

Speaking in parliament after a minute of silence for the family, the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, described it as a ‘terrorist attack, motivated by hatred’

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Chinese diplomat calls Justin Trudeau ‘running dog of US’ as tensions escalate

China and Canada have clashed repeatedly in recent months over Beijing’s treatment of its Uighur minority

A Chinese diplomat has dismissed Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau as a “boy” in a social media attack marking a new low in the fractured relationship between the two countries.

China and Canada have clashed repeatedly in recent months, and last week the two countries imposed sanctions on each other in a growing row over Beijing’s treatment of its Uighur minority.

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US and Canada hit back at China’s ‘baseless’ sanctions as Xinjiang row deepens

Washington says Beijing’s tit-for-tat sanctions will only focus attention on its ‘genocide’ against Uighurs

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has warned that China’s tit-for-tat sanctions against two Americans in the growing dispute over Beijing’s treatment of Uighurs were “baseless” and would only shine a harsh spotlight on the “genocide” in Xinjiang.

“Beijing’s attempts to intimidate and silence those speaking out for human rights and fundamental freedoms only contribute to the growing international scrutiny of the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang,” Blinken said in a statement on Saturday.

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Canadian Conservative party votes not to recognize climate crisis as real

  • Delegates vote 54%-46% against policy change request
  • Leader O’Toole has sought ambitious climate change agenda

Canada’s main opposition Conservative Party members have voted down a proposal to recognize the climate crisis as real, in a blow to their new leader’s efforts to embrace environmentally friendly policies before a likely federal election this year.

Related: 'Climate facts are back': EPA brings science back to website after Trump purge

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Trudeau condemns closed-door espionage trial of Canadian in China

Michael Spavor has been detained in China since 2018 in apparent retaliation for Canada’s arrest of a Huawei executive

Justin Trudeau has reacted angrily to the closed-door trial of a Canadian man detained in China for more than two years on espionage charges, dismissing it as “completely unacceptable”.

Businessman Michael Spavor, whose hearing finished after less than three hours on Friday, is one of two Canadians detained, in apparent retaliation for Canada’s arrest on a US extradition warrant of the Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, and formally charged last June with spying.

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Justin Trudeau says US leadership has been ‘sorely missed’ during first meeting with Biden

Canadian PM congratulates US president on rejoining Paris accord, saying ‘it’s nice when the Americans are not pulling out all the references to climate change’


Justin Trudeau has praised Joe Biden for rejoining the Paris climate accord during their first bilateral meeting, saying: “US leadership has been sorely missed over the past years.”

The Canadian prime minister added: “And I have to say as we were preparing the joint rollout of the communique on this, it’s nice when the Americans are not pulling out all the references to climate change and instead adding them in.”

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Joe Biden to meet Justin Trudeau of Canada after Keystone pipeline order

  • Allies seek to turn page on strains of Donald Trump era
  • Oil permit revocation and US goods order complicate picture

Joe Biden will hold his first bilateral meeting with the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, on Tuesday, the White House said on Saturday.

Related: Alberta leader says Biden's move to cancel Keystone pipeline a 'gut punch’

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Majority of Canadians think royal family ‘no longer relevant’

Tumultuous exit of Canada’s governor general prompts questioning of role and monarchy

The tumultuous exit of Canada’s governor general has left Canadians questioning the need for a constitutional monarchy, according to new polling which shows that 55% of respondents believe the royal family is no longer relevant.

In Canada, the governor general is the representative of Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. The role has long been seen as largely ceremonial, but moved to the political centre stage last month when Julie Payette stepped down from her position amid allegations of bullying and harassment of staff.

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‘We’re double-dipping’: Trudeau pressured to speed vaccine distribution amid Covax backlash

Government faces accusations it is taking Covid-fighting supplies intended for developing countries

Justin Trudeau is facing growing pressure to speed up Canada’s sluggish distribution of the coronavirus vaccine, as the country fends off accusations that it is taking supplies of the drug meant for developing countries.

The federal government drew sharp criticism last week when it announced that it would draw on Covax, a mechanism created to fairly distribute Covid-19 around the world, for its supply of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

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Biden and Trudeau agree to cooperate on Covid and climate change

In phone call, US and Canadian leaders discuss collaboration on vaccines and plan to meet next month

Canada’s Justin Trudeau and President Joe Biden plan to meet next month, the prime minister’s office said, following a call between the two leaders in which they agreed to join forces to combat coronavirus in North America.

The White House said in a statement that the two leaders highlighted the “strategic importance of the US-Canada relationship” and discussed cooperation on a wide-ranging agenda including combating the Covid-19 pandemic and addressing the climate crisis.

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Canada’s governor general resigns after report finds workplace harassment

Anonymous staff members say they were berated by Julie Payette to the point of tears, prompting an independent investigation

Canada’s governor general has resigned after an external report found that the Queen’s representative had overseen a toxic work environment in which staff were bullied to tears.

The report, which was to be released early next week, painted a damning picture of Julie Payette’s leadership and had raised concerns among senior government figures over her ability to continue in the vice-regal role.

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