
Canadian, European space agencies reaffirm relations amid political, economic anxiety
Leaders at both organizations signed a joint statement today at Canadian Space Agency headquarters south of Montreal reaffirming their co-operation.
Josef Aschbacher, director general of the European Space Agency, says space programs are having to contend with economic uncertainty and global conflicts.
His visit comes as the United States is pressuring NATO members to increase their spending on defence — a sector of the economy that is tightly linked to space.
As well, Aschbacher says the United States' space agency — NASA — could be facing deep budget cuts.
Monday Mornings
The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week.
Canadian Space Agency president Lisa Campbell says that in uncertain times it's important to reaffirm relationships with like-minded allies.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2025.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Global News
42 minutes ago
- Global News
New report suggests relief could be on the way for Calgary's housing market
A new report using AI-driven analysis suggests Calgary's housing market could see some relief. The study out of Concordia University looks at how policy reform could impact Canadian housing supply in Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, combining the latest data on housing starts and immigration along with risk factors like tariffs and supply chain volatility. The team behind the report says AI allows researchers to more easily analyze evolving data that can then be used to inform policy changes. 'Things change fast but every time there is new information we go back to the model and improve the model all the time and see where we are heading,' says Erik Yonder, one of the researchers at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Researchers say aggressive housing starts, coupled with changing immigration policies, are narrowing the gap between supply and demand in the Calgary housing market. The median home price in Calgary saw a peak in 2024 at roughly $740,000, but the study suggests it could fall by more than $100,000 in the next two years. Story continues below advertisement But researchers warn any softening in the market across the country could be short-lived. 'The demand cut is temporary,' says Yonder. 'We'll bring in three- to four-hundred thousand people again by the year 2026, which means the demand will come back.' Yonder says he hopes this data will help inform local development policy and change building permits to speed up the rate of housing starts, to help lower prices. Brian Hahn with BILD Calgary says the city is already seeing record starts. 'Year over year compared to 2024 which was a record year for housing starts, we are 25 per cent ahead of last year's pace to the end of July,' says Hahn. Hahn says the housing industry is on the cusp of changing technology to include prefabricated homes which is contributing to the increase in supply, along with a shift in perception of careers in trades meaning there is more labour to build homes. But Hahn does warn that momentum could run out if there is nowhere to build homes. 'We've done really good on the housing supply, but we're going to turn the corner here soon and run out of lot of supply,' explains Hahn. 'We're going to need to turn our attention to adding lot supply in both established areas and new communities.' Story continues below advertisement Meanwhile the Concordia report suggest Calgary home prices should stabilize to between $650-730,000 by 2032 if supply can keep up with demand.


Vancouver Sun
42 minutes ago
- Vancouver Sun
Air Canada flight attendants win breakthrough with pay for pre-flight work
Air Canada's contract offer to its 10,500 flight attendants includes payment for work done before the plane is in motion, a response to a major complaint by employees of the country's biggest airline. The airline and the union representing cabin crew struck a tentative agreement early Tuesday morning, ending a three-day strike that caused the cancellation of more than 2,000 flights. Union members must still vote on the offer, which includes 60 minutes of pre-flight pay for crew on narrowbody planes and 70 minutes on widebody jets, a union official said by phone. The pay for that work will start at 50% of flight attendants' hourly rate in year one of the contract, rising to 70% by year four, said the official with the Canadian Union of Public Employees. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. An Air Canada flight attendant's in-flight pay can be C$63 ($45) per hour after a decade of service, or C$41 an hour at its Rouge budget brand after fewer years, analysts at Jefferies said in a note published prior to the strike. The new provisions represent a breakthrough for Air Canada's flight staff. The union garnered much public sympathy during the dispute because it built a campaign, including television advertisements, to make people aware that they weren't paid for all of their hours. On the picket lines, they chanted: 'Hey hey, Rousseau — unpaid work has got to go' — a reference to Chief Executive Officer Michael Rousseau. To seal the agreement, Air Canada enriched its offer on pre-flight pay. Before, the airline said it was willing to pay for 45 minutes on narrowbody planes and 60 minutes for widebody aircraft at 50% of workers' usual hourly rate, said the union official, speaking on condition they not be identified speaking about matters that aren't public. 'The new flight attendant contract could trigger a similar move at other Canadian airlines,' said Francois Duflot, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. 'Not just on the monetary part of it, but also on the ground-pay part of the deal.' Rival airline WestJet's agreement with cabin crew expires Dec. 31 and 'I would suspect similar demands,' he said. Air Canada declined to comment. Mark Nasr, its chief operations officer, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. that 'ground pay is settled' in what he called an 'industry-leading deal.' Moody's cut its rating outlook on Air Canada to stable from positive, saying the new agreement 'will contribute to increasing wage costs for the company and be a headwind for margins.' The company's debt is rated Ba2. The Canadian government announced Monday that it would launch an investigation into unpaid work in the airline industry. Less than 12 hours later, the union and the airline reached their deal. Duflot suggested Air Canada may be following moves at other airlines to widen the scope of flight attendant pay. In 2022, Delta Air Lines Inc. became the first US carrier to pay its flight attendants during boarding time. Major US airlines negotiated multiyear contracts with their crews over the past 18 months, and some attendants secured boarding pay in the new deals. United Airlines Holdings Inc. is still negotiating. Now, 'unions at some US airlines may now look at Air Canada for their next move,' he said. 'Unions always look at what is going on in their neighboring countries.' —With assistance from Mary Schlangenstein. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .


Winnipeg Free Press
42 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Sen. Lindsey Graham says Trump ready to ‘crush' Russian economy if Putin avoids talks with Zelenskyy
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Tuesday that he believes President Donald Trump is prepared to 'crush' Russia's economy with a new wave of sanctions if Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the coming weeks. Graham, who spoke with Trump on Tuesday morning, has pushed the president for months to support his sweeping bipartisan sanctions bill that would impose steep tariffs on countries that are fueling Russia's invasion of Ukraine by buying its oil, gas, uranium, and other exports. The legislation has the backing of 85 senators, but Trump has yet to endorse it. Republican leaders have said they won't move without him. 'If we don't have this thing moving in the right direction by the time we get back, then I think that plan B needs to kick in,' Graham said in a phone interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday. The Senate, now away from Washington for the August recess, is scheduled to return in September. Graham's call with Trump came less than 24 hours after high-stakes meetings at the White House with Zelenskyy and several European leaders. Trump and the leaders emerged from those talks sounding optimistic, with the expectation being that a Putin and Zelenskyy sit-down will happen soon. Still, Trump's comments to Graham, one of his top congressional allies, mark the latest sign that pressure is building — not just on Putin, but on Trump as well. 'Trump believes that if Putin doesn't do his part, that he's going to have to crush his economy. Because you've got to mean what you say,' Graham told reporters in South Carolina on Tuesday. As Congress prepares to return to session in early September, the next few weeks could become a defining test of whether lawmakers and international allies are prepared to act on their own if Trump doesn't follow through. Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the lead Democrat pushing the bill with Graham, says there is a 'lot of reason for skepticism and doubt' after the meetings with Trump, especially because Putin has not made any direct promises. He said the Russian leader has an incentive to play 'rope-a-dope' with Trump. 'The only way to bring Putin to the table is to show strength,' Blumenthal told the AP this week. 'What Putin understands is force and pressure.' Still, Republicans have shown little willingness to override Trump in his second term. They abruptly halted work on the sanctions bill before the August recess after Trump said the legislation may not be needed. Asked Tuesday in a phone interview whether the sanctions bill should be brought up even without Trump's support, Graham said, 'the best way to do it is with him.' 'There will come a point where if it's clear that Putin is not going to entertain peace, that President Trump will have to back up what he said he would do,' Graham said. 'And the best way to do it is have congressional blessing.' The legislation would impose tariffs of up to 500% on countries such as China and India, which together account for roughly 70% of Russia's energy trade. The framework has the support of many European leaders. Many of those same European leaders left the White House on Monday with a more hopeful tone. Zelenskyy called the meeting with Trump 'an important step toward ending this war.' German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that his expectations 'were not just met, they were exceeded.' Still, little concrete progress was visible on the main obstacles to peace. That deadlock likely favors Putin, whose forces continue to make steady, if slow, progress on the ground in Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters after talks at the White House that Trump believes a deal with Putin is possible. But he said sanctions remain on the table if the process fails. ___ Associated Press reporter Meg Kinnard contributed to this report from Florence, South Carolina.