Category Archives: Canada

‘Disrupt or be disrupted’, mainstream parties warned as voters turn to populists

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Research shows voters losing faith in traditional centre-left and centre-right to deliver meaningful change

Voters in western democracies are turning away from mainstream political parties and towards populists because they are losing faith in their ability to implement meaningful change, a major report based on surveys of 12,000 voters has found.

The popularity of traditional centre-left and centre-right parties across major democratic countries has plummeted from 73% in 2000 to 51% today, according to research by the Tony Blair Institute.

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First Nations to fight for billions in treaty payments in Canadian court

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Group in northern Ontario argues crown failed to honour agreement and capped annual payments in 1874 at $4

A group of First Nations in Canada is turning to the courts in the hope of securing billions of dollars in compensation, after accusing the government of failing to engage in “meaningful negotiations” for money owed under a 175-year-old treaty.

“The governments’ refusal to come to grips with their treaty obligations has continued 175 years of broken promises, lies and neglect,” Wilfred King, chief of Gull Bay First Nation, said in a statement announcing plans to seek compensation that is “just, liberal, generous and honourable”.

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Canada and Mexico can avoid tariffs before Saturday’s deadline, says Trump’s commerce pick

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Howard Lutnick testified at his US Senate confirmation hearing for his nomination to head commerce department

Donald Trump’s nominee to run the commerce department, Howard Lutnick, said on Wednesday that Canada and Mexico can avoid looming US tariffs if they act swiftly to close their borders to fentanyl, while vowing to slow China’s advancement in artificial intelligence.

Lutnick, a billionaire Wall Street CEO, at his US Senate confirmation hearing said he has advised Trump to pursue across-the-board tariffs country by country to restore “reciprocity” to America’s trading relationships and said he would erect stronger curbs on China’s access to US technology, including advanced AI semiconductors.

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Canada report on foreign interference: no evidence of ‘traitors’ in parliament

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Commission finds democratic institutions ‘robust in the face of foreign interference’ but some MPs behaved ‘naively’

Canada’s democratic institutions are “robust in the face of foreign interference” attempts and there is “no evidence of ‘traitors’” in the country’s parliament, a landmark report into election meddling has found.

But the commission’s lead said on Tuesday that the federal government should take steps to better safeguard democratic institutions and better inform the public of foreign interference threats.

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Woman charged after death of US patrol agent in gunfight near Canadian border

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Teresa Youngblut, 21, charged with weapons crimes over highway shootout in which German man also died

A Washington state woman has been charged in the fatal shooting of a US border patrol agent during a Vermont traffic stop that happened days after authorities began watching her and a German companion, who also died in the highway shootout, the FBI said on Friday.

Teresa Youngblut, 21, faces two weapons charges in connection with the death of the border patrol agent David Maland, 44, who died on Monday during the shootout in Coventry, a small town about 20 miles from the Canadian border.

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Ontario premier Doug Ford to call snap election to fight Trump tariff threat

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Progressive Conservative leader of Canada’s most populous province seeks ‘strong mandate’ to counter 25% tariff plan

The Ontario premier, Doug Ford, has said an early election is needed in the Canadian province in order to fend off an income “attack” from Donald Trump as a trade war looms between the close allies.

But opposition parties criticized the move, calling it a “distraction” from an ongoing criminal investigation into the government’s handling of a controversial multibillion-dollar land swap.

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How the world has responded to Trump’s Paris climate agreement withdrawal

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From Europe to Africa and South America, countries reaffirm commitment to tackle crisis

World leaders, senior ministers and key figures in climate diplomacy have, one by one, reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris agreement this week, in response to the order by Donald Trump to withdraw the US from the pact.

The prospect of the world keeping temperatures to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, as the treaty calls for, was damaged by the incoming US president’s move. Hopes of meeting the target were already fast receding, and last year was the first to consistently breach the 1.5C limit, but the goal will be measured over years or even decades and stringent cuts to emissions now could still make a difference.

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Canada’s top court to hear challenge to controversial Quebec secularism law

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Federal government appeals against law critics say disproportionately affects hijab-wearing Muslim women

Canada’s top court has agreed to hear a challenge to Quebec’s controversial secularism law, paving the way for a fierce debate over provincial powers and the fundamental rights of ethnic and religious minorities.

The supreme court signaled on Thursday that it would grant leave to appeal against the 2019 law which prohibits certain public workers in positions of authority – including judges, police officers, prison guards and teachers – from wearing religious symbols while at work. Other public workers such as bus drivers, doctors and social workers must only keep their faces uncovered.

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Garth Hudson, founder member of the Band and Bob Dylan collaborator, dies aged 87

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Hudson was the last remaining member of the folk-rock group, releasing 10 studio albums with them and touring with Dylan in his newfound electric period

Garth Hudson, the last remaining founder member of the Band, has died aged 87.

The multi-instrumentalist, who played keyboards and saxophone for the bestselling 1960s folk-rockers as well as Bob Dylan, died peacefully in his sleep at the Woodstock nursing home he lived in, the executor of his estate confirmed to the Toronto Star.

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Chrystia Freeland warns of Trump’s ‘existential risk’ to Canada in campaign launch

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Freeland casts herself as ‘battle tested leader’ and most capable of negotiating with an unpredictable White House

Chrystia Freeland has warned of the “existential risk” to Canada posed by Donald Trump, casting herself as a “battle tested leader with the scars to prove it” during the formal launch of her bid to be the country’s next prime minister.

Freeland, who has presented herself as the figure most capable of negotiating with a protectionist and unpredictable White House, held her formal campaign launch the day before the incoming president’s inauguration and pledged “dollar to dollar” retaliation for any tariffs that would amount to the “largest trade blow the US has ever endured”.

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‘All hands on deck’: Bird flu in US poultry puts state cooperation to the test

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Unusually late migration season means poultry operations may continue to see H5N1 outbreaks, officials say

Maryland has detected bird flu among three different commercial poultry flocks in the past week, marking the state’s first outbreak in more than a year. The discoveries come shortly after the establishment of a joint command with Delaware following the latter state’s detection of H5N1 in two other poultry operations.

Although the deadly bird flu has circulated in North America since 2022, the past few months have been especially brutal for the poultry industry. More than 20 million egg-laying hens died in the fall, the worst rates since the outbreak began, and egg prices have risen as a result.

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Meteorite strike captured in rare video from Canadian home’s doorbell camera

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Sound was also recorded in footage of space rock hitting house entranceway, producing cloud of smoke and a crackle

A doorbell camera on a Canadian home has captured rare video and sound of a meteorite striking Earth as it crashed into a couple’s walkway.

When Laura Kelly and her partner returned home after an evening walk, they were surprised to find their walkway littered with dust and strange debris, according to the Meteoritical Society, which posted the video with its report.

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Chrystia Freeland will run to replace Trudeau as Canada’s prime minister

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Ex-journalist and senior government minister dubbed a ‘nasty woman’ by Trump aims to lead ailing Liberal party

A former journalist turned senior government minister – who was dubbed a “nasty woman” by Donald Trump after bruising trade negotiations with the US – has announced that she will run for leadership of Canada’s ailing Liberal party.

Chrystia Freeland declared her intention to become the next Liberal leader – and the country’s next prime minister – on Friday with a post on social media, with plans for a formal campaign launch in Toronto on Sunday.

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Sibling rivalry: parents favour older children and daughters, study finds

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International research also reveals conscientious or agreeable children are likely to receive preferential treatment

As Philip Larkin once noted, your mum and dad have a lasting effect on you. Now, researchers have revealed which siblings in a family are more likely to be favoured: it is bad news for sons.

Researchers have found daughters, older children and those who are more conscientious or agreeable are likely to receive preferential treatment.

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Canada’s provincial leaders in disarray over response to Trump tariff threats

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Responses range from conciliation to retaliation, including cutting off electricity and halting the purchase of US liquor

Canada’s provincial premiers are sharply divided on how to prepare for US trade tariffs, less than a week before Donald Trump takes office with a threat to dramatically reshape the relationship between the two countries.

Canadian officials have sought to defuse the crisis with personal appeals to the president-elect, multimillion-dollar advertising sprees and targeted threats, but the country remains gripped by uncertainty over how Trump’s tariffs might take effect. On Monday, Bloomberg reported that the incoming US administration is weighing hiking tariffs by 2%-5% a month to avoid spiking inflation.

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Ontario leader warns of ‘pain’ for US if Trump imposes tariffs on Canada

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Premier of most populous province says rhetoric clouds trade relationship worth hundreds of billions of dollars

The United States will “feel pain” if Donald Trump doesn’t back down from his threat to impose steep tariffs on its northern neighbour, the leader of Canada’s most populous province has warned.

After a tumultuous week that left Canadian leaders flailing for a coherent national response to Trump’s provocations – including the suggestion that the US would annex its closest ally – the Ontario premier, Doug Ford, told the Guardian: “We will never be for sale.”

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Justin Trudeau’s reluctant departure will leave his Liberal party in freefall

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His protracted refusal to quit as PM could even result in the demise of Canada’s ‘natural governing party’

Justin Trudeau’s decision to resign as prime minister has jolted his ailing Liberal party, kicking off a leadership race that could determine the future – or the demise – of Canada’s “natural governing party”.

On a frigid Monday morning, Trudeau said that while “every bone in my body tells me to fight”, a procedural standstill in parliament, as well as his dismal polling numbers, meant there was no path forward to contest a fourth term as leader.

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Grieving killer whale who carried calf’s body spotted again with dead baby

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Experts say sighting of orca in Puget Sound with second deceased calf is ‘devastating’ for ailing population

An apparently grieving killer whale who swam more than 1,000 miles pushing the body of her dead newborn has lost another calf and is again carrying the body, a development researchers say is a “devastating” loss for the ailing population.

The Washington state-based Center for Whale Research said the orca, known as Tahlequah, or J35, was spotted in the Puget Sound area with her deceased calf.

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Mexico says Canada wishes it had its ‘cultural riches’ amid tariffs feud

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Leaders cast the other as ill-prepared after Trump threatens to apply 25% taxes on goods from both countries

Mexico’s president has said Canadians “could only wish they had the cultural riches” of her country as tensions mount between the two nations, caught in a feud over tariffs and trade exacerbated by Donald Trump.

The US president-elect threatened in a social media post last week to apply devastating levies of 25% on all goods and services from both countries, and to keep them in place until “such time as drugs, in particular fentanyl, and all illegal aliens stop this invasion of our country!”

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Three climbers from the US and Canada missing on New Zealand’s highest mountain

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Several climbing-related items which police believe belonged to the trio found, as bad weather will likely delay search efforts until Thursday

Rescue teams looking for three climbers who went missing on New Zealand’s highest mountain have expressed “grave concerns” over the party’s welfare in the rugged terrain, as bad weather hampers search efforts for the second day in a row.

US nationals Kurt Blair, 56, and Carlos Romero, 50, and a Canadian man flew by helicopter on Saturday to a camp on Aoraki Mount Cook with plans to summit the 3,724 metre (12,218 ft) mountain.

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