Canadian in the conclave + India-Pakistan tensions
The National's Adrienne Arsenault speaks with Cardinal Michael Czerny — one of four Canadians voting for the next pope — just before he entered the Sistine Chapel. Plus, what pushed India and Pakistan to the brink of a wider conflict.
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CTV News
22 minutes ago
- CTV News
Netflix doc about Rob Ford tells story of ‘underdog' mayor and his public struggles
City of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford leaves his office for the day in Toronto on Friday, Nov. 8, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette London native Shianne Brown still remembers her disbelief when she heard, half a world away, that Toronto mayor Rob Ford had been caught on video smoking crack cocaine. 'What the hell is happening in Toronto? That's crazy,' the filmmaker recalls thinking when the news broke in 2013. The late mayor quickly became an international spectacle, first for the bombshell allegation that he eventually admitted to, and then for the flaming rollercoaster of scandals that followed — which included allegations of public drunkenness and physically knocking over a city councillor. More than a decade later, Brown is the director behind 'Trainwreck: Mayor of Mayhem,' a new Netflix documentary chronicling Ford's rise to power and his chaotic time in office. The episode, out Tuesday, is part of the streamer's 'Trainwreck' anthology series, which, according to a logline, examines 'some of the most disastrous events ever to blow up in mainstream media.' 'I wanted to really tap into the human being that is Rob Ford, not the political headline that is Rob Ford,' says Brown on a video call from London. 'There is a side of this story where you just go full force into the scandal, but that didn't feel like it did the story justice or it did Rob Ford and his many supporters and his friends and family justice.' Brown asked Ford's brother, Ontario premier Doug Ford, to participate in the film but he 'kindly declined.' 'It's such a tragic story because of the way he died and you've really got to respect the family's wishes, particularly with a project like this, where you're going to tap into the scandals and the difficult side of the story,' says Brown. Ford died of cancer in 2016 at age 46. The film weaves together archival footage and interviews — with local journalists including Robyn Doolittle and insiders from Ford's circle, including his former driver Jerry Agyemang — to trace the populist wave that swept Ford into office in 2010 and the public unraveling that made him infamous. Brown found Ford — who built a largely suburban base of voters with his tax-cutting, anti-establishment agenda — had a way of making the 'disenfranchised feel emboldened.' 'He would often be the person who speaks to the cleaner, janitor, the people who keep our lives going but might not always get a thank you from everyone else.' She says Ford's rhetoric of standing up for 'the people' against the 'downtown elites' resonates today, speaking to a broader global shift in how power is won. 'It's a story about the underdog. I think we've seen it in elections around the world,' she says, pointing to the Brexit referendum in the U.K. and Donald Trump's first presidential election in the U.S., both of which many initially dismissed as unlikely outcomes. 'There's a story of listening to everyone around you, not just in your echo chamber, and understanding what are the issues that are impacting everyone, not just your own microcosm… I think that's something this story of Rob Ford brings in 2025 — this idea of, 'Let's listen to people who feel disenfranchised, marginalized and unheard.'' While some politicians employ a 'divide and conquer' approach, says Brown, 'I felt Rob Ford wasn't necessarily a person who had malicious, vindictive (intentions). He actually seemed like he was a man who wanted to help people, but half the city just didn't agree with his politics.' At the same time, says Brown, Ford was 'quite antagonistic to people. He went after the media.' The film captures Ford's often hostile relationship with local reporters, showing him repeatedly lashing out at those he saw as adversaries. 'I think if he just admitted it (smoking crack) first up, that would have really helped his cause. The back and forth with the media, calling them liars — going up against an establishment as big as the media is pretty tough, and I think that's partly where he'd gone wrong.' Brown says that the deeper she dug into the story, the more she saw how frequently cameras captured Ford spiraling in a cycle of substance abuse. Viral videos of his bizarre public behaviour made him easy fodder for late-night American TV. He even appeared as a guest on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' amid the crack scandal. 'This was a man battling addiction in an intensely public arena. It's a disease. I really wanted it to come across that this was a man who was struggling and he had to confront the media every single day,' she says. 'If it were to happen today, would it be the same outcome? Would the media react in the same way? (Ford was in) a flash point in time where there weren't conversations about mental health as widely as there are today.' Brown hopes the film makes people consider the circumstances that culminated in the now-notorious crack video. 'You've got to think about where he was at that point in his life. How did he even get in that situation in the first place, with people that aren't necessarily his friends? What led him to that moment?' she says. 'It's not really for us to judge and obviously I'm telling this story, but I just hope it makes people think a bit differently about who he was and what happened to him.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 16, 2025. Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press
CTV News
36 minutes ago
- CTV News
Trump in Alberta for meeting with Carney, G7 summit. Live updates here.
World leaders are gathering today in the mountain-flanked pastures of Kananaskis, Alta. for this year's G7 summit. Presidents and first ministers will discuss sensitive topics ranging from the war in Ukraine to artificial intelligence over the next three days. Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump are scheduled to meet in-person for the first time since Carney visited the White House in early May. Follow for live updates. Trump's arrival U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Kananaskis yesterday evening. He is expected to meet the prime minister for a one-on-one meeting today at around 9 a.m. GMT (11 a.m. EDT). Trump stormed out of the last G7 summit that Canada hosted in 2018. Though, despite tensions between the president and former prime minister Justin Trudeau, Carney and Trump appear to have broken the ice since the former rose to Canada's top job. The two have had regular calls and text messages in recent weeks as they try to resolve their ongoing trade war against a range of sensitive and deeply-integrated industries, including metals manufacturing and auto assembly. Luca Caruso-Moro, journalist. With files from The Canadian Press. U.S. President Donald Trump arrives at the G7 U.S. President Donald Trump arrives at the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alta., Sunday, June 15, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld Fighter jets scramble to intercept aircraft A civilian aircraft violated Kananaskis airspace restrictions late Sunday morning, Mounties say. RCMP issued a release about the incident Sunday evening. The incident happened just after 11 a.m. 'North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), in support of the RCMP-led Integrated Safety and Security Group (ISSG), had to deploy air assets after a private, fixed-wing, civilian aircraft violated the air restrictions centered above Kananaskis airspace,' RCMP say. According to RCMP, the situation met the criteria for CF-18 Hornet fighter jets to be deployed to intercept the aircraft. Damien Wood , journalist. Read the full story here . A civilian aircraft violated Kananaskis airspace restrictions late Sunday morning, Mounties say. A civilian aircraft violated Kananaskis airspace restrictions late Sunday morning, Mounties say. Hundreds protest in Calgary Hundreds of protesters took to the streets around city hall in Calgary on Sunday, hoping to draw attention from G7 dignitaries to a variety of issues. There were protests against the conflicts in Ethiopia and between Israel and Hamas, as well as Pakistan and India's latest conflict in Kashmir. There was a protest against climate change, coal mining and Indigenous issues, including water security–and Trump. 'We are here to protest for justice and peace for Kashmir, because Kashmir is a flashpoint right now between the three nuclear powers, India, Pakistan and China,' said Majid Ishfaq, who organized for Calgary's Kashmir community. Stephen Hunt , journalist. Read the full story here .
CTV News
43 minutes ago
- CTV News
The Daily Chase: Carney and Trump to meet at G7
Here are five things you need to know this morning Carney and Trump to meet at G7: The eyes of the world have turned to Kananaskis, Alberta, as the G7 meeting gets underway. Prime Minister Mark Carney will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at the summit this morning. The meeting comes weeks into regular calls and text messages between Carney and Trump as they try to resolve an economic spat caused by Trump's various tariffs. Carney is also leading discussions today on safety issues and artificial intelligence, while meeting with leaders from places including Japan, France and Italy. Over the weekend, Carney met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, with the two agreeing to establish a new working group to deepen trade ties. BNN Bloomberg will have extensive coverage of the G7 meeting, including live hits with reporters from Bloomberg News and CTV News. Airbus kicks off Paris Air Show: Airbus has kicked off the first day of the big Paris Air Show with two orders from Saudi Arabian customers valued at as much as US$17 billion. The deals give the European planemaker an early lead over Boeing, which scaled back its activity at the event following a recent crash involving one of its jets. As Bloomberg News reports, even before the disaster set back Boeing's plans, Airbus was set to have a strong showing in Paris. A number of Boeing deals were announced during Trump's tour through the Middle East last month, leaving Airbus on the sidelines as the U.S. president played the role of head salesman for his U.S. rival. U.S. Steel deal gets go-ahead: Shares of U.S. Steel traded higher in the premarket after Trump approved its controversial merger with Japan's Nippon Steel. Trump issued an executive order on Friday that allowed U.S. Steel and Nippon to finalize their merger so long as they signed a national security agreement with the U.S. government. U.S. Steel says the national security agreement includes a golden share for the U.S. government, without specifying what powers the government would wield with its share. Trump says that the golden share gives the U.S. president 'total control.' Renault CEO trying on some Gucci: Kering SA shares surged as the owner of the struggling Gucci fashion label prepared to name the chief executive officer of Renault SA as its next CEO in a bid for a turnaround. Luca de Meo will be appointed to the job in the coming days, people familiar with the situation told Bloomberg News. Renault shares slumped as it wasn't immediately clear who will succeed De Meo, who is credited for bringing the company back from tough times. WestJet cybersecurity incident: WestJet continues to manage an ongoing cybersecurity incident that started interrupting access to some of its systems on Friday. The Calgary-based airline says its mobile app was affected with several users having difficulty accessing the platform. The airline says employees and guests should take caution when entering personal information. WestJet says its operations remain safe and unaffected.
