Deachman: Should new housing be built on iconic Sussex Drive?
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The crisis, after all, isn't about a lack of NON-affordable housing, and despite the NCC's stated practice 'to seek opportunities to include affordable units for residential or mixed-use projects on its lands,' it's hard to imagine that if your next address is 37 Sussex Drive, for instance, you'll be agonizing each morning over whether to pay the hydro bill or feed your kids breakfast.
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That said, when opponents of the proposed development raise the iconic status of Sussex Drive as an important ceremonial route, which they say shouldn't be sullied by the living quarters of the (well-to-do) hoi polloi, I'm similarly left scratching my head. Ceremonial route? I can't recall many occasions when I've seen people line its sidewalks for a passing head of state, mechanical dragon or Stanley Cup parade. Are we worried that the next time French President Emmanuel Macron rolls by in a limousine, he'll look out at a four- or five-storey apartment block across from his embassy and say, 'Eww, résidents locaux'? He'll more likely still be recoiling from the sight of the late-modern brutalist eyesore known as the Lester B. Pearson Building (a.k.a. 'the sphinx'), or massaging his derrière if his journey from the airport took him along much of Bronson Avenue (a.k.a. the Pothole Promenade), or tsk-tsking the sorry state of 24 Sussex. Or all three.
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As things stand, the land in question is zoned for development with institutional use — i.e., embassies. A new Core Area Plan that allows for a variety of uses will be submitted to the NCC's board of directors on June 19. If approved, according to NCC official Benoît Desjardins, a development plan would be created, with further public consultation.
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The idea behind the potential development is to bring some liveliness to the area bound by Sussex Drive, Stanley Avenue, and MacKay and Thomas streets, by adding people, in the form of residents, businesses and retail. This would additionally support tourism at nearby Rideau Hall. Retail establishments that could be included — the NCC imagines cafés, restaurants and small shops as examples — would serve not just tourists, but nearby Global Affairs and National Research Council workers, as well as local residents.
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Toronto Sun
2 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
Netanyahu slams Macron for fuelling 'antisemitic fire'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said antisemitism had "surged" in France Photo by Ronen Zvulun / POOL/AFP JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upbraided President Emmanuel Macron in a letter seen by AFP on Tuesday, blaming the French leader's move to recognize a Palestinian state for fuelling antisemitism. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Late last month, Macron said France would formally recognize a Palestinian state during a UN meeting in September, drawing a swift rebuke from Israel. By announcing the move, France was set to join a growing list of nations to have recognized statehood for the Palestinians since the start of the Gaza war nearly two years ago. In the letter sent to Macron, Netanyahu said antisemitism had 'surged' in France following the announcement. 'Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on this antisemitic fire. It is not diplomacy, it is appeasement. It rewards Hamas terror, hardens Hamas's refusal to free the hostages, emboldens those who menace French Jews and encourages the Jew-hatred now stalking your streets,' Netanyahu wrote in the letter. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The Israeli premier went on to call on Macron to confront antisemitism in France, saying he must 'replace weakness with action, appeasement with resolve, and to do so by a clear date: the Jewish New Year, September 23.' According to an AFP tally, at least 145 of the 193 UN members now recognize or plan to recognize a Palestinian state, including Australia, Britain and Canada. Canberra joined the list earlier this month, announcing its intention to recognize a Palestinian state in September. Netanyahu slammed his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese on Tuesday, labelling him a 'weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia's Jews,' in an angry post on his office's official X account. The personal attack came amid a diplomatic spat between the two countries after the Australian government on Monday cancelled the visa of far-right Israeli politician Simcha Rothman. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Rothman, whose ultranationalist party is in Netanyahu's governing coalition, had been scheduled to speak at events organized by the Australian Jewish Association. Hours after his visa was cancelled, Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he had revoked the visas of Australia's representatives to the Palestinian Authority. In a statement, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said revoking their visas was an 'unjustified reaction' by Israel and that Netanayahu's government was 'isolating Israel and undermining international efforts towards peace and a two-state solution.' Read More Toronto Blue Jays Canada Sunshine Girls World Columnists
Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
This conversation is being recorded: Trump's hot mic moment is the latest in a long global list
LONDON (AP) — Behold the power of the humble hot mic. The magnifier of sound, a descendant of 150-year-old technology, on Monday added to its long history of cutting through the most scripted political spectacles when it captured more than two minutes of U.S. President Donald Trump and eight European leaders chit-chatting around a White House news conference on their talks to end the war in Ukraine. The standout quote came from Trump himself to French President Emmanuel Macron even before anyone sat down. The American president, reflecting a his comments after meeting in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin: 'I think he wants to make a deal for me, you understand, as crazy as it sounds.' How politics and diplomacy sound when the principals think no one is listening can reveal much about the character, humor and humanity of our leaders — for better and sometimes for worse. As public figures, they've long known what the rest of us are increasingly learning in the age of CCTV, Coldplay kiss cams and social media: In public, no one can realistically expect privacy. 'Whenever I hear about a hot mic moment, my first reaction is that this is what they really think, that it's not gone through the external communications filter,' said Bill McGowan, founder and CEO of Clarity Media Group in New York. 'That's why people love it so much: There is nothing more authentic than what people say on a hot mic.' Always assume the microphone — or camera — is turned on Hot mics, often leavened with video, have bedeviled aspiring and actual leaders long before social media. During a sound check for his weekly radio address in 1984, U.S. President Ronald Reagan famously joked about attacking the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War. 'My fellow Americans,' Reagan quipped, not realizing the practice run was being recorded. 'I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.' The Soviet Union didn't find it funny and condemned it given the consequential subject at hand. Putin, too, has fallen prey to the perils of a live mic. In 2006, he was quoted in Russian media joking about Israel's president, who had been charged with and later was convicted of rape. The Kremlin said Putin was not joking about rape and his meaning had been lost in translation. Sometimes a hot mic moment involves no words at all. Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore was widely parodied for issuing exasperated and very audible sighs during his debate with Republican George W. Bush in 2000. In others, the words uttered for all to hear are profane. Bush was caught telling running mate Dick Cheney that a reporter for the New York Times was a 'major-league a–hole.' 'This is a big f———- deal,' then-U.S. Vice President Joe Biden famously said, loudly enough to be picked up on a microphone, as President Barack Obama prepared to sign his signature Affordable Care Act in 2010. Obama was caught on camera in South Korea telling Dmitri Medvedev, then the Russian president, that he'll have 'more flexibility' to resolve sensitive issues — 'particularly with missile defense' — after the 2012 presidential election, his last. Republican Mitt Romney, Obama's rival that year, called the exchange 'bowing to the Kremlin.' 'Sometimes it's the unguarded moments that are the most revealing of all,' Romney said in a statement, dubbing the incident 'hot mic diplomacy.' Live mics have picked up name-calling and gossip aplenty even in the most mannerly circles. In 2022, Jacinda Ardern, then New Zealand prime minister known for her skill at debating and calm, measured responses, was caught on a hot mic tossing an aside in which she referred to a rival politician as 'such an arrogant prick' during Parliament Question Time. In 2005, Jacques Chirac, then president of France, was recorded airing his distaste for British food during a visit to Russia. Speaking to Putin and Gerhard Schroder, he was heard saying that worse food could only be found in Finland, according to widely reported accounts. Britain's King Charles III chose to deal with his hot mic moment with humor. In 2022, shortly after his coronation, Charles lost his patience with a leaky pen while signing a document on a live feed. He can be heard grousing: 'Oh God I hate this!' and muttering, 'I can't bear this bloody thing … every stinking time.' It wasn't the first pen that had troubled him. The British ability to poke fun at oneself, he said in a speech the next year, is well-known. 'Just as well, you may say, given some of the vicissitudes I have faced with frustratingly failing fountain pens this past year.' Trump owns perhaps the ultimate hot mic moment The American president is famously uncontrolled in public with a penchant for 'saying it like it is,' sometimes with profanity. That makes him popular among some supporters. But even he had trouble putting a lid on comments he made before he was a candidate to 'Access Hollywood' in tapes that jeopardized his campaign in the final stretch of the 2016 presidential race. Trump did not appear to know the microphone was recording. Trump bragged about kissing, groping and trying to have sex with women who were not his wife on recordings obtained by The Washington Post and NBC News and aired just two days before his debate with Democrat Hillary Clinton. The celebrity businessman boasted 'when you're a star, they let you do it,' in a conversation with Billy Bush, then a host of the television show 'Access Hollywood.' With major supporters balking, Trump issued an apology 'if anyone was offended' and his campaign dismissed the comments as 'locker room banter.' On Monday, though, the chatter on both ends of the East Room press conference gave observers a glimpse of the diplomatic game. Dismissed unceremoniously from the White House in March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy now sat at the table with Trump and seven of his European peers: Macron, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finland's President Alexander Stubb, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. Trump complimented Macron's tan. He said Stubb is a good golfer. He asked if anyone wanted to ask the press questions when the White House pool was admitted to the room — before it galloped inside. The European leaders smiled at the shouting and shuffling. Stubb asked Trump if he's 'been through this every day?' Trump replied, 'All the time.' Meloni said she doesn't want to talk to the Italian press. But Trump, she noted, is game. 'He loves it. He loves it, eh?' she said.
Vancouver Sun
3 hours ago
- Vancouver Sun
Trump plans for Putin-Zelenskyy meeting as he notes 'tremendous bad blood' between them
President Donald Trump said he's begun arrangements for a face-to-face meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss a pathway to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Trump affirmed that the U.S. would back European security guarantees but stopped short of committing U.S. troops to a collective effort to prevent Moscow from reinvading its neighbour. Yesterday, important talks took place in Washington with the President of the United States and European leaders. This was truly a significant step toward ending the war and ensuring the security of Ukraine and our people. We are already working on the concrete content of the… Here's the latest: Putin's arrest warrant complicates a Zelenskyy meeting French President Emmanuel Macron said it could happen 'in Europe' and he's advocating for Geneva in Switzerland, although he said it could be another 'neutral' country. He noted in an interview with French television TF1-LCI broadcast Tuesday that Istanbul hosted the most recent bilateral discussions, in 2022. Meanwhile, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said his country would be prepared to organize such a summit, Swiss public broadcaster SRF reported. Asked about the complication posed by the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for Putin, Cassis said 'the aim of receiving Mr. Putin in Switzerland without him being arrested is 100% achievable … of course, if he comes to Switzerland for the purposes of peace, for such a multilateral conference, not if he comes for private matters.' Cassis said arranging for Putin to avoid arrest would require 'a certain procedure,' but it could be done 'in a few days.' A call for speeding up Ukraine's membership in the European Union European Council President Antonio Costa called for 'Russia must immediately end the violence' in Ukraine after a virtual meeting of the 27 heads of state of the European Union's member nations. 'Our top priority must be to stop the killings — whether we call it a ceasefire or a truce is secondary,' Costa told reporters Tuesday. I spoke with the @eucopresident , António Costa. He has just chaired a meeting of the European Council dedicated to the outcomes of our negotiations that we and our European colleagues held with President Trump in Washington. We have taken an important step toward ending this war… Economic pressure via sanctions should be maintained on Russia to end the war, and Ukraine's candidacy to join the EU should be accelerated, he said: 'Ukraine's future is not only about strong security guarantees and their finding a potential peace deal with Russia, but also about its European path. This is why we must move forward with the enlargement process.' Views from Ukraine: No illusions for sudden peace A Ukrainian political analyst says this Zelenskyy meeting with Trump 'went satisfactorily.' 'The task of this meeting was to prevent Trump from pressuring Ukraine with Russian demands. We managed to achieve that 100%. We managed to explain that the issue of territories is not just about land — it's about people. There can be no exchange,' Oleh Saakian said. 'For Ukraine, the meeting with Putin is important to show Trump whether Russia is really ready to end the war. It is important to demonstrate that Ukraine has done everything possible on its side,' Saakian said. 'I don't think anyone in Ukraine has the illusion that a meeting with Putin could suddenly bring peace. It's not as if at a meeting with Zelenskyy, Putin will suddenly say: 'Yes, I was mistaken, I confess, I withdraw the troops, I give back the territories.'' Trump says leaders of Russia and Ukraine unlikely to become 'best friends' Trump says Putin and Zelenskyy are getting along 'a little better than I thought,' noting the 'tremendous bad blood' between them. He said his perception of their relationship is why he's arranging for them to meet one-on-one soon, instead of a three-way meeting with himself as sort of a mediator. 'I think they're doing OK. I wouldn't say they are ever going to be best friends, but they're doing OK,' the president told Fox News Channel's 'Fox and Friends.' 'You know, they're the ones that have to call the shots,' Trump said. 'We're 7,000 miles away.' Trump says he didn't speak with Putin with European leaders in the room The president said he thought it would have been disrespectful to handle the phone call that way since Putin and the European leaders meeting with him at the White House haven't had the 'warmest relations.' But despite that, he said during an interview on Fox News Channel's 'Fox and Friends' that he has managed to maintain a 'very good relationship' with Putin. Trump was holding talks at the White House on Monday with Zelenskyy and the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Finland, the European Union and NATO on ending Russia's war on Ukraine Trump says admitting Ukraine into NATO and the return of Crimea are 'impossible' The president, in a morning interview on 'Fox & Friends,' said that he's optimistic a deal can be made to bring an end to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But Trump underscored that Ukraine will have to set aside both its hope of a returned Crimea, which Russia seized by force in 2014, and its aspirations to join the NATO military alliance. 'Both of those things are impossible,' Trump said. Putin, as part of any potential deal, is looking for the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as recognition of Crimea as Russian territory. Next steps in the negotiations turn back to Putin Trump, who bragged on numerous occasions during the campaign that he could settle Russia's war in Ukraine in a day, said repeatedly Monday that it was far more complicated than he ever thought it would be. But he also suggested — likely implausibly — that the fighting that has raged for years could wind down quickly. 'A week or two weeks, we'll know whether we're going to solve this, or if this horrible fighting is going to continue,' said Trump, even suggesting the issues yet to be hammered out weren't 'overly complex.' Still, much remains unresolved, including red lines that are incompatible — like whether Ukraine will cede any land to Russia, the future of Ukraine's army and whether the country will ultimately have lasting and meaningful security guarantees. Zelenskyy says meeting with Putin should be held 'without any conditions' Zelenskyy says that if he starts to set conditions for the meeting, regarding a potential ceasefire or other matters, then Russia will want to set conditions, too, potentially jeopardizing those talks. 'That's why I believe that we must meet without any conditions,' he told reporters. Zelenskyy said Trump showed him a map of the Ukraine front lines in the Oval Office and they got into a little debate about territories it showed. But they didn't argue, he said. 'We had a truly warm, good and substantial conversation,' Zelenskyy said. NATO leader says 'Article 5 kind of security guarantees' will be discussed in coming days NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte says Trump agreed that the United States would contribute to Ukraine's security following a peace deal, a development he called 'a breakthrough.' Membership in NATO is not on the table, but the U.S. and European leaders are discussing 'Article 5 kind of security guarantees for Ukraine,' Rutte said in an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham. Article 5 of the NATO treaty says an attack on one member nation is an attack on all members, the heart of the transatlantic defense compact. Details around U.S. involvement in Ukraine 'will be discussed over the coming days,' which will give Zelenskyy the clarity he needs to decide whether Ukrainians can remain safe following a peace deal. 'It is important to also know what the situation will be with the security guarantees to prevent Vladimir Putin from ever, ever trying again to invade parts of Ukraine,' Rutte said. The possibility of U.S. troops in Ukraine was not discussed Monday, he said. Zelenskyy deploys gratitude diplomacy for second visit to Oval Office Zelenskyy made sure to show his gratitude to Trump during Monday's meeting. In fact, he said thanks nine times to Trump and others in the first minute of their brief public meeting that preceded a short news conference. 'Thanks so much, Mr. President,' he said. 'First of all, thank you for the invitation and thank you very much for your efforts, personal efforts to stop killings and stop this war. Thank you.' In February, Zelenskyy's meeting with Trump quickly spiralled into a public relations disaster when Vice President JD Vance berated him for not being sufficiently thankful. 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 .
