Chinese election interference is a hot topic in Canada today. Yet, while it is indeed a matter of enormous importance, it is one that must be placed in the context of the new Cold War against the West.
Thousands of homes under evacuation order as wildfire burns out of control in the Tantallon suburb about 25 km northwest of Halifax. Several homes and buildings have been lost as the fire continues to spread.
The CAF is in crisis mode, attempting to deal with a lack of personnel and equipment, efforts to change its culture, operational pressures and reputational challenges. This huge machine cannot rapidly ramp up from dereliction when needed – it's time for Canadians to begin to recognize service to country as important, and give it the priority it deserves.
A federal government plan to make hybrid House of Commons sittings permanent was announced today by Liberal House Leader House Leader Mark Holland. Initially temporary during the pandemic, it has continued through a series of limited agreements with opposition parties but the government wants to revise House rules so that MPs can continue to attend remotely and vote electronically.
Measured as gross domestic product, the Canadian economy expanding by an annualized 3.1% in the first quarter, increasing the odds for another Bank of Canada interest rate hike. Statistics Canada said today that the quarterly surge exceeded expectations not only of the central bank but also private-sector economists.
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which manages the primary retirement program for working Canadians, has reported a 1.3% return in the 2022-2023 fiscal year compared with the previous year’s 0.2%. Gains in private investment offset weak performance by stocks and bonds.
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Chinese election interference is a hot topic in Canada today. Yet, while it is indeed a matter of enormous importance, it is one that must be placed in the context of the new Cold War against the West.
The CAF is in crisis mode, attempting to deal with a lack of personnel and equipment, efforts to change its culture, operational pressures and reputational challenges. This huge machine cannot rapidly ramp up from dereliction when needed – it's time for Canadians to begin to recognize service to country as important, and give it the priority it deserves.
Interference is typically an extremely valid and indisputable concern, but in the case of the NS shooting spree, that argument is being used to obfuscate the real issue of communication negligence which resulted in deaths that could have been avoided.
Alberta awarded third prize of “Her Vision Inspires” contest to an essayist who argues that women should pick babies over careers, writing that importing "foreigners to replace ourselves is a sickly mentality that amounts to a drive for cultural suicide.”
Despite opposition from Hungary and Poland as well as misgivings among other members, the European Commission has endorsed a common policy on handling immigrants and asylum seekers as well as creating a common approach to border controls European Council President Ursula von der Leyen, who, upon becoming president of the European Commission, called it a “huge milestone.”
Bill C-47, the federal government’s draft budget legislation, was approved June 8 by the House of Commons and referred to the Senate, which had already been studying it. It passed by a 177-146 with the Conservatives, who had pressed the Liberals to essentially redraft the bill, voting against it alongside the Bloc Québécois.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said June 7 that California-based social media companies are using “bullying tactics” to block draft legislation which would require payment for news content sourced from Canadian publishers. “That these internet giants would rather cut off Canadians’ access to local news than pay their fair share is a real problem,” he said. Bill C-18, the Online News Act, ws inroduced by the government in April 2022 and is currently before the Senate, having received House of Commons approval in December.
Amnesty International Canada is stepping up its campaign for the release of a Canadian human-rights activist imprisoned in China since 2006. Huseyin Celil fled China after being arrested for supporting Uyghur rights but was arrested during a family visit to Uzbekistan in 2006. Amnesty says “they refused to recognize Huseyin’s status as a Canadian citizen, and they did not allow Canadian officials to attend his trial.”
A federal government plan to make hybrid House of Commons sittings permanent was announced today by Liberal House Leader House Leader Mark Holland. Initially temporary during the pandemic, it has continued through a series of limited agreements with opposition parties but the government wants to revise House rules so that MPs can continue to attend remotely and vote electronically.
A float in a Sikh parade in Brampton, Ont., drew a sharp protest today from Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam. Its depiction of the 1984 assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is described by the minister as part of “a larger underlying issue about the space which is given to separatists, to extremists, to people who advocate violence.” Canada has the highest population of Sikhs outside their home state of Punjab.
Australia is planning legislation to criminalize the public display or sale of Nazi symbols and paraphernalia. “We’ve seen, very sadly, a rise in people displaying these vile symbols,” Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said today. “We will no longer allow people to profit from the display and sale of items which celebrate the Nazis and their evil ideology.”
A peer-reviewed study released today in Britain states that global greenhouse gas emissions have reached a record high as global warming accelerates. “Human-induced warming has been increasing at an unprecedented rate of more than 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade,” it says. The lead researcher warns that even though the world not yet at a 1.5-degree tipping point, “the carbon budget will likely be exhausted in only a few years.”
A 2020 attack which resulted in the death of a Toronto massage parlour employee was ruled by Ontario Superior Court Justice Suhail Akhtar June 6 as “incel-ideologically motivated terrorist activity,” the first such ruling in Canada according to the Crown. The online “involuntary celibate” community focuses on its members’ perceived inability to find romantic or sexual partners. The killer, 17 at the time of the attack, pleaded guilty last September to first-degree murder and is awaiting sentencing.
With global warming seen as a factor behind this year's wildfire season across Canada, Environment & Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault has suggested it could mean a more aggressive federal approach to achieving net-zero carbon emissions. The current target is 2050 but Guilbeault isn’t ruling out 2040. “I can't tell you now whether or not we can,” he said in a televised interview. “But what I can tell you is we will look at the possibility of doing that for sure.”