Carney facing pushback for Modi invitation
Vancouver Watch
An invitation to India's prime minister is raising alarm in the Sikh community.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
42 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Leaders should ignore Trump outbursts at G7 summit: former PM Chrétien
CALGARY – Former prime minister Jean Chrétien says dignitaries attending the upcoming G7 leaders summit in Alberta should avoid engaging the 'crazy' from U.S. President Donald Trump. Chrétien, speaking Thursday at a conference in Calgary, said leaders can't predict what Trump might do. He said the president can be a bully and it would be best if the rest of the G7 leaders ignored any outbursts. 'If he has decided to make a show to be in the news, he will do something crazy,' Chrétien said. 'Let him do it, and keep talking normally.' Chrétien said leaders should follow the example set by Prime Minister Mark Carney when he visited Trump at the White House last month. 'When Trump talked about Canada to be part of the United States, (Carney) just said, 'Canada is not for sale, the White House is not for sale, Buckingham Palace is not for sale,'' Chrétien said. 'Trump said, 'Never say never,' (but Carney) didn't even reply. He just moved on with the discussion. It's the way to handle that.' Carney is hosting Trump and world leaders from France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, Italy and the European Union for the three-day summit starting Sunday in Kananaskis, located in the Rocky Mountains southwest of Calgary. Chrétien, speaking alongside his former deputy prime minister and finance minister John Manley, also said he supported Carney's decision to invite India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the summit. Carney has been criticized for the invitation, including by a member of his own Liberal caucus, due to ongoing tensions between Canada and India over foreign interference and the 2023 killing of Sikh separatism activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in B.C. The RCMP has said it has evidence linking members of the Indian government to Singh's death. 'It's always good to talk,' Chrétien said of the Modi invite. 'They will be able to talk, and they will see there are other problems. 'You have to navigate. You cannot always go on your high horse for every little problem you're confronted with.' Chrétien was one of two former Canadian prime ministers speaking at the conference, hosted by the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy and the G7 Research Group. The university says the conference is meant to bring experts and officials together to explain key issues G7 leaders are facing heading into the summit. Former prime minister Joe Clark, born in High River, Alta., closed out the conference by urging greater ties with the U.K. and France. He also offered similar advice not to entertain any public theatre Trump may engage in during the summit. 'I don't think there's any point in throwing up our hands or criticizing (Trump),' Clark said. 'I think it would be wise to have more private dealings and fewer public dealings until the proclivities of the U.S. president change.' Alberta Premier Danielle Smith also spoke at the conference. She said the possibility of an economic and security deal between Canada and the United States being signed at the G7 would be an extraordinary step. She urged Canada to continue finding new trading partners, even if the relationship between the two countries begins to smooth over. 'Let's not take our foot off the gas,' Smith said. David Angell, current foreign and defence policy adviser to Carney, said on a separate panel that the world leaders are meeting 'at a moment of enormous flux globally, when tensions among G7 members are especially pronounced.' Carney announced Monday he's planning for Canada to meet NATO's spending guideline by early next year. Angell, a former Canadian ambassador to NATO, said the country made a mistake in allowing the defence industry to 'shift onto a kind of assumption of peacetime footing.' He said the G7 can be exceptionally consequential and no other process allows for discussion about the 'wicked issues' core to defence issues. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 12, 2025.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Judge orders Trump to return control of California National Guard to state
A federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to return control of the California National Guard to the state after finding the U.S. president had overstepped his bounds with the "unlawful" decision to send troops to Los Angeles. In his ruling, Judge Charles Breyer of the Northern District of California said the troops' presence in Los Angeles has already caused "significant harm" and inflamed tension in the city. "The federal government cannot be permitted to exceed its bounds and in doing so create the very emergency conditions that it then relies on to justify federal intervention," Breyer wrote. "The citizens of Los Angeles face a greater harm from the continued unlawful militarization of their city." The order is set to take effect at noon on Friday. It was a loss for U.S. President Donald Trump, who has maintained thousands of National Guard troops to control protests over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the country's second-largest city. WATCH | Trump's pattern of governing by executive order: Protests, tariffs, borders: Why Trump says everything is an emergency | About That 11 hours ago Duration 12:03 Description: U.S. President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to respond to immigration protests in California with a rarely used law invoked when the government believes a rebellion is underway. Andrew Chang breaks down how Trump's framing of these protests as an emergency — along with everything from trade deficits to fentanyl — exists as part of a larger pattern of governing by executive order with unchecked power. California Gov. Gavin Newsom applied for a temporary restraining order to regain control of the troops, which are typically deployed either by the state or at the state's request. He celebrated the judge's decision on Thursday. "The court just confirmed what we all know — the military belongs on the battlefield, not on our city streets. This win is not just for California, but the nation," he wrote on X. "It's a check on a man whose authoritarian tendencies are increasing by the day. End the illegal militarization of Los Angeles now." Protests during the week have been largely peaceful and smaller in size than they were last Saturday. Eight National Guard officers standing on the steps to the Federal Building on Los Angeles Street on Thursday weren't immediately aware of the ruling.
Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
Canada's UN vote on Israel criticized as departure from past position
Canada joined 148 other countries in voting in favour of a United Nations resolution that calls for an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in the war in Gaza, despite opposition to the motion from the U.S. and Israel. The vote Thursday took place days after Ottawa imposed sanctions against two far-right Israeli cabinet ministers for 'inciting violence against Palestinians' in the West Bank, in a rare rebuke to an allied country. It's another example of how Canada's policy toward Israel appears to be shifting under Prime Minister Mark Carney, who took office in March. A major Jewish-Canadian lobby group condemned the Canadian government's vote, saying it marked a significant departure from Ottawa's previous position at the United Nations. 'The resolution makes no demand for Hamas to disarm or be excluded from Gaza's future. It ignores Israel's right to self-defence, dismisses its legitimate security concerns, and says nothing of the existential threat posed by a genocidal terrorist group,' the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) noted in a statement. CIJA noted that last September, when Justin Trudeau was still prime minister, Canada abstained from a similar UN resolution vote on the grounds, according to the Department of Global Affairs, that Canada could not 'support a resolution where one party, the state of Israel, is held solely responsible for the conflict.' The Jewish-Canadian group argued that Canada's vote will only embolden Hamas, the Palestinian militant group fighting Israel. Hamas is designated as a terrorist group by Ottawa. Canada, Western allies sanction two Israeli lawmakers for incitement of 'extremist violence' The resolution also called for the release of all hostages held by Hamas, and unrestricted access for the delivery of desperately needed food to 2 million Palestinians. The vote in the 193-member General Assembly was 149-12, with 19 abstentions. Speaking before the vote, Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon vehemently opposed the resolution. He denied that Israel was using starvation as a weapon of war, calling the accusation 'blood libel,' and insisted that aid is being delivered. Experts and human-rights workers say hunger is widespread in Gaza and that Palestinians are at risk of famine if Israel does not fully lift its blockade and halt its military campaign, which it renewed in March after ending a ceasefire with Hamas. Ottawa did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bob Rae, Canada's ambassador to the United Nations in New York, told the General Assembly Thursday that the Canadian government 'profoundly regrets' that the resolution 'does not with explicit language, condemn Hamas's horrific terrorist attacks on October the 7th, 2023, in which over 1,200 people were killed' in Israel. He said Hamas's taking of hostages, 'many of whom were killed, still remain in captivity, and is entirely unacceptable to us and frankly, I think, to this assembly.' Mr. Rae said he is sorry that an amendment could not be made to the resolution, adding that Canada continues to condemn Hamas and 'it is clear that Hamas must disarm and that the organization cannot have any role to play in the future governance of Gaza.' Thursday's vote also comes ahead of a UN conference next week that aims to reinvigorate an international push for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians. The United States has urged countries not to attend. NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson said voting for the resolution is the 'bare minimum' Canada should be doing to help Gaza. She said Ottawa should be suspending its free-trade agreement with Israel, take more action to end all weapons trade with Israel and recognize the state of Palestine. Asked about the criticism of the Canadian government from CIJA, Ms. McPherson said the group 'seems very out of touch' on some things. 'There are children that are dying right now of hunger.' With reports from the Associated Press and Reuters
