When Prime Minister Mark Carney quietly lifted most food-related countervailing tariffs on May 7, few Canadians noticed.
There was no press release, no public statement – just a discreet policy shift mid-campaign. Yet several symbolic tariffs remain, notably on orange juice, coffee, alcohol, and tea.
The rationale? Canadians can supposedly “find substitutes.”
On May 19, a joint statement was issued by the governments of the United Kingdom, France, and Canada whose principal points were: ”We call on the Israeli government to stop its military operations in Gaza and immediately allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. This must include engaging with the UN to ensure a return to delivery of aid in line with humanitarian principles.” “Israel suffered a heinous attack on October 7. We have always supported Israel’s right to defend Israelis against terrorism. But this escalation is wholly disproportionate.” “If Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, we will take further concrete actions in response.” “It is a ceasefire, the release of all remaining hostages and a long-term political solution that offer the best hope of ending the agony of the hostages and their families, alleviating the suffering of civilians in Gaza, ending Hamas’s control of Gaza and achieving a pathway to a two-state solution.”
The sidewalk outside Victoria’s Central Baptist Church was littered with trash on a recent visit. A woman was slumped like a resting marionette, her arms hanging from her waist. The smell of urine rose from the concrete. It was mid-week in the heart of the city’s central business district but Pandora Avenue was strangely quiet. Nobody was talking. No one was asking for change.
Central Baptist Church stretches almost an entire block along Pandora’s south side. Judged from the nave, it looks in good shape, with a new pastor, a banging house band, a popular youth ministry. On Sundays, 700 people pack the pews to hear Shawn Barden preach.
As soon as Magnus Mæland became mayor of a small town on Norway’s northern tip in late 2023, three delegations from China came knocking on his door.
“It’s because they want to be a polar superpower,” he tells me.
China might not instinctively spring to mind when you think about the Arctic – but it’s determined to be a big Arctic player. It’s been vying to buy real estate, get involved in infrastructure projects and hopes to establish a permanent regional presence.
China already describes itself as a “near-Arctic state”, even though its northernmost regional capital Harbin is on roughly the same latitude as Venice, Italy.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney ahead of the April 28 election may reflect a dynamic where ideological rivals are able to engage more openly, one of America’s best-known historians and conservative commentators says.
Trump’s preference for another Liberal prime minister in Canada, along with his public praise for Carney on multiple occasions, could stem from a common dynamic among ideological opponents where interactions can be more blunt and direct, said Victor Davis Hanson in a recent interview with Jan Jekielek, host of The Epoch Times’ program “American Thought Leaders.”
Very interesting interview.
A U.S. judge has provided Harvard University a temporary reprieve from the Trump administration’s move to block enrolment of foreign students, including Canadians.
In a lawsuit filed early Friday in federal court in Boston, Harvard said the government’s action violates the First Amendment, the Associated Press reports, and will have an “immediate and devastating effect” on its more than 7,000 international visa holders.
Why do I doubt she’ll be shown the door.
The number of terrorism charges laid in Canada jumped 488 per cent last year amid rising youth radicalization, the RCMP wrote to the public safety minister.
The RCMP’s ministerial briefing binder, posted on a government website this week, said violent extremism remained “a prominent national security threat.”
“Canadian police have foiled six terrorist plots in the last 12 months alone, with arrests spanning from Edmonton to Ottawa to Toronto,” the briefing said.
“This is a big deal for the King to do this,” says Jeremy Kinsman, former Canadian high commissioner to the UK, as King Charles prepares for a historic visit showing support for Canada, which is facing pressure from US President Donald Trump.
“I hope that Trump understands,” says Mr Kinsman, ahead of the King becoming the first monarch to open Canada’s Parliament in almost 70 years.
So what can we expect from his speech as Canada’s head of state, to be delivered in French and English in Ottawa on Tuesday?
I don’t think Woke King Charlie is the flex they imagine.
Conservative candidate Jonathan Rowe has defeated Liberal Anthony Germain by 12 votes in the Newfoundland district of Terra Nova-The Peninsulas following a judicial recount.
Rowe initially lost the seat on election night to Germain by 12 votes — 19,605 to 19,593, according to Elections Canada.
The margin of victory following the recount is the exact number of votes Germain initially won by.
The Trump annexation scare sure evaporated quickly
It was not that long ago, merely March, when Prime Minister Mark Carney, fresh off his Liberal party leadership win, began telling Canadians his party needed a “strong mandate” because Canadians were “facing the most significant crisis of our lifetimes because of President Donald Trump’s unjustified trade actions and his threats to our sovereignty.” He insisted a snap election was essential, as was electing him, the self-proclaimed “crisis manager,” to address it.
When Parliament passed a sweeping national security bill last June, the Liberal government promised to establish a foreign influence transparency registry to convict proxies trying to meddle in Canadian politics.
But nearly a year later, it remains unclear how soon the office will be up and running
“I think it’s a huge vulnerability that needs to be addressed and needs to be fixed,” said Dennis Molinaro, a former national security analyst with the federal government who now teaches at Ontario Tech University.
Carney’s cronies won’t want that.
Unless Carney addresses issues such as affordability and immigration, grassroots anger will eventually bring his government down
Canada’s populist moment did not come to pass — at least not yet.
Having deluded themselves into believing that the status quo is tenable, many on the left celebrated the result of the recent federal election as proof that Canada could withstand the wave of anti-establishment politics that has swept the West in recent years.
Anti-Israel activists have descended on Toronto from Amsterdam to join their Canadian counterparts in disrupting the annual Walk for Israel event on Sunday morning.
Israel supporters will walk approximately 3.5 kms along Bathurst St., heading north from Wilson Ave. to Sheppard Ave. at 9 am EST.
Tim Horton’s Has Been Placed On High Alert
The Toronto police just announced that they are going to allow Hamas supporters to be at the Walk for Israel on Sunday. These Hamas supporters praised the murder of Jews in Washington. pic.twitter.com/rKPgM3Xu6i
— Israel Now (@neveragainlive1) May 23, 2025
h/t Mauser
Canada’s tourism sector is taking a hit in the wake of world-wide economic uncertainties and political tensions, according to new data released by Statistics Canada.
Visits to Canada from overseas took a nose dive in March compared to the same month last year with a 17.4 per cent drop, a trend that has continued for six straight months, according to the data.
And fewer U.S. residents are crossing the border into Canada, with trips down 6.6 per cent in March on a year-over-year basis.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed “Golden Dome” missile defence system, which Canada has expressed interest in joining, is raising questions about the project’s cost and feasibility as well as concerns about a space-based arms race.
Trump’s plan is modelled after the Iron Dome that protects Israel — a land mass smaller than Vancouver Island — and aims to be more robust and hundreds of times bigger.
The Iron Dome is mainly built to defend against lower-flying threats like short-range rockets, mortars and shells, while Trump and other top U.S. officials say the proposed Golden Dome would block missiles fired from other countries and from space, weaving together existing technologies with future tech that still needs to be developed.
