Canada election: Liberals projected to form next government
I'm a reporter in the Nova Scotia riding of Central Nova. Tonight I'm at the watch party of Liberal candidate Sean Fraser.
For most of the night the Conservative candidate Brycen Jenkins was leading by a thin margin, and tension in the room was high.
People called it a 'nail biter' and said they were 'very anxious.' When the latest batch of polls showed Fraser ahead, a huge cheer went up. CBC's Decision Desk has yet to project a winner for this riding, however.
Moments later, CBC projected a Liberal government and an even bigger cheer erupted.
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Toronto Star
an hour ago
- Toronto Star
Why Toronto's streets keep ending up as a battleground — and what the fight should really be about
The big number 25 % the percentage of customers that business owners believed drove to access their stores along Bloor Street, according to a 2017 study. The actual number was less than 10 per cent. Hey, did you hear the story about the group fighting a proposed change to a Toronto street? They're really worked up about it, claiming that the proposal from Toronto city hall will devastate small businesses, bring traffic to a standstill, and maybe even usher in a 'Mad Max'-style apocalypse. 'Wait, which street?' you might be wondering. And the answer is, well, a whole lot of them. I've seen so darn many of these street fights in my decade-plus covering Toronto city hall, with the civic equivalent of knock-down drag-out brawls occurring again and again. And the street fighters just keep coming. Last week, an advocacy group dubbed the Downtown Concerned Citizens Association held a press conference to state its opposition to a bike lane extension planned for the Esplanade, between Yonge and Market Streets. 'Bike lanes restrict road space,' the group declared, according to a report by the CBC. 'Bike lanes have turned streets into parking lots, with residents unable to shop, get their kids to events, and seriously impact emergency services and Wheel-Trans.' Their opposition follows a similar — and at least partly AI-aided — uproar over city hall's plans to install transit-priority lanes on Bathurst Street and Dufferin Street. And a local tiff over a bit of bike infrastructure on North York's Marlee Avenue. And the ongoing fight over keeping bike lanes on Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue, where even Premier Doug Ford got involved. Go back further and there are more examples. Remember the street fighters who claimed prioritizing the King streetcar would mark the end of King West? Or the 'citizen's revolt' over bike lanes on Woodbine Avenue? Or the ' Save Our St. Clair' group that sued to try to stop the construction of the streetcar right-of-way on St. Clair? Heck, you can even go back to the '90s, when opposition groups along Spadina Avenue warned that removing the angled on-street parking to make way for dedicated streetcar lanes would somehow destroy the vibrancy of the street. They really loved those angled parking spaces. The frustrating thing isn't just the sheer repetition of the street fight stories, but also that the pile of accumulated data from these same fights never seems to change anything. Because when you do look at the record, the record is clear: where these kinds of projects have been allowed to go forward, and where traffic has been given enough time to adjust to the new street layouts, the result has been basically fine. The uproar and opposition inevitably fade away. People get used to the new bike lanes or the new transit lanes. The apocalyptic warnings are forgotten about. The apocalypse never arrives. At this point, with so many fights waged — not just in Toronto, but in other cities, too — you'd think there'd be at least a handful of examples where the dire warnings proved prophetic. Where bike lanes, bus lanes and the removal of some on-street parking led directly to boarded-up storefronts and permanently gridlocked traffic. But I've struggled to find real case studies that document that kind of catastrophic failure in any city anywhere in the world. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The repeated claim that transit lanes and bus lanes will destroy businesses deserves a special call-out because it seems to be based on a perception problem. The Centre for Active Transportation, for example, found via a 2017 study that Bloor Street retailers believed that about 25 per cent of their customers arrived via car. The actual percentage? Less than 10 per cent. Part of the issue might be that merchants were about five times more likely to drive to work than their customers. They drive, so they assume their customers do too. Meanwhile, data suggests the transit priority project on King Street and the bike lanes on Bloor Street actually led to increased retail spending. Go figure. None of this should be read as a suggestion that Toronto city hall and its plans are always perfectly on point. The transportation department tends to make change harder than it has to be. On Bloor West, for example, opposition to the bike lanes was likely made more intense by the baffling decision to install the lanes without making adjustments to signal timing at intersections. And the department is generally still not fast enough at addressing clear bottlenecks that could be eased with minor tweaks. Toronto's street fighters would be better served by focusing their energy on getting city hall to address those kinds of specific issues more quickly and efficiently, rather than always trying to land a knockout blow against any kind of change. When your punches are this weak, it's probably time to stop throwing hands.
Global News
4 hours ago
- Global News
Prime Minister Carney's G7 invite to Modi sends ‘wrong' message, Liberal MP says
Prime Minister Mark Carney is facing criticism from within his own party for inviting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the upcoming G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alta., despite allegations the Modi government orchestrated a campaign of violence in Canada. Liberal MP Sukh Dhaliwal, who represents a riding in Surrey, B.C. with a large Sikh community, disagrees with Carney and says dozens of his constituents have reached out to him in 'outrage.' 'It is sending the wrong message… that anyone can come into Canada and kill Canadians and they can walk away with impunity.' 1:28 Canada reaffirms RCMP's independence in ongoing assassination probe despite India's invitation to G7 'It's not only the Sikh Canadians I'm hearing from. I'm hearing from a wide range of constituents on this issue.' Story continues below advertisement Last fall, the RCMP accused India of homicide, extortion and violence on Canadian soil. 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 Former prime minister Justin Trudeau stood up in the House of Commons in September 2023, saying Canada had 'credible evidence' agents of the Indian government were involved in the murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. 3:02 Carney asked if he believes Modi was involved in murder of B.C. Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar '[India] has got to be held accountable… and fully cooperate with this investigation,' said Dhaliwal, pointing out that Nijjar lived in the his B.C. riding. New Delhi has long denied any involvement in the killing and accused Trudeau of pursuing a 'political agenda.' Carney defended reaching out to Modi, saying, 'There are certain countries that should be at the table' for G7 discussions and that India has agreed to 'continued law enforcement dialogue.' Story continues below advertisement 1:55 RCMP unveils security operation plans for G7 summit On Saturday, Carney unveiled Canada's 'priorities' for the summit, which will place between June 15 and 17. They include securing partnerships, building energy security, and protecting communities and the world by countering foreign interference and transnational repression. 'The fact that leaders from a number of countries have been invited to [G7] meeting does not and should not detract from the importance of the independent investigation that is ongoing,' Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand told journalists Saturday. Vina Nadjibulla, vice-president of research and strategy at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, says the Carney government made the right call giving Modi a seat at the G7 table. 'We're in a different moment when it comes to international relations,' said Nadjibulla. India — the world's fifth largest economy — has been invited to the last six G7 meetings. Nadjibulla says Canada needs to recalibrate its relationships in the Indo-Pacific to reduce its 'overreliance' on the U.S. Story continues below advertisement 'From tariffs to the trade agenda and to the realignment that we're seeing around the world of different powers, I think it's important for Canada to approach diplomacy differently,' she said.
Toronto Star
9 hours ago
- Toronto Star
Doug Ford won't be the only one feeling the heat this summer
Ontario's long, hot summer of 2025 just got hotter. And longer. Not just for Doug Ford. The premier's political rivals will also be facing the heat, each in their own way. MPPs headed home this week with a surprise: Ford's Tories told them to stay away until Oct. 20. That's a sweet summer break lasting nearly 20 weeks for provincial politicians who sat in their legislative seats for only six weeks this year. Another seven weeks of work awaits them upon their return, after which they're back home for the Christmas break. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Total time at work in the legislature: 13 weeks out of 52 for the whole year. The ready excuse? Ford's Tories argue they've produced so much 'ambitious' legislation to date that they need more time to recharge. The real explanation? The premier has provoked so much antagonism to his controversial plan for 'special economic zones' — a new law to dilute old laws — that he's better off lying low. Ford's mishandling of the issue sparked warnings from Indigenous leaders that protests will flare over the summer. Away from the daily question period in the legislature, Ford can talk about standing up to Donald Trump instead of taking questions about trampling on rights of First Nations. All that said, if tensions rise, it could complicate Ford's plans to host his fellow premiers in Muskoka at their annual summit meeting in mid-July. Instead of the usual banter, there could be blockades pitting protesters against politicians — and cottagers. Ford won't be the only one on the firing line. Any highway blockades would also put Ontario's opposition leaders on the spot, forcing them to pick a lane — or, more precisely, restate their stance when the stakes are high. New Democratic Party Leader Marit Stiles and Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie, choosing their words carefully, have said they won't side with civil disobedience on the highways. Not when motorists are fuming under the baking sun. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW As Ontario's populist premier has noted, blockades rarely win public support. Either way, Ford will spend much of the summer watching his rivals face the heat while he cools off at his cottage. With or without the drumbeat of First Nations protests, both Stiles and Crombie will be facing the music in leadership reviews mandated by their parties after every election. New Democrats will meet on Sept. 20 in Niagara Falls — Canada's honeymoon capital — to vote on the post-honeymoon future of Stiles after the Feb. 27 loss to Ford. Despite losing seats and stature in the election — her party stumbled and tumbled in the popular vote — Stiles seems sure to prevail. Most activists understand their party was predestined to decline in an election called early by Ford to capitalize on anti-American animus. Provincially as federally, New Democrats suffered from a political squeeze play as polarized voters opted for a binary choice between Tories and Liberals to cope with economic uncertainty. In the aftermath, the NDP fell from a competitive 23.7 per cent of the popular vote in the 2022 election to a dismal 18.6 per cent this time. The only saving grace was the final seat count. While New Democrats dropped to 27 seats from 31, the Liberals came third with only 14 seats — despite winning a far higher 30 per cent of the popular vote (up from 23.9 per cent in 2022). For Crombie, the failure to win her own riding — or any seats — in her home base of Mississauga, where she once served as mayor, proved an embarrassment. In truth, Stiles was dragged down by the declining fortunes of the federal NDP under former leader Jagmeet Singh. So too, Crombie was lifted up by the remarkable popularity of Carney's federal Liberals. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW While federal-provincial crossover is a constant in Ontario politics, Crombie's Mississauga shutout leaves her with a lot of explaining to do. Now, she too faces a party leadership review in September — and a long, hot summer of reaching out to provincial Liberals who are wondering who does what next. Yet her future depends less on past performance than on future prospects. The problem for both Stiles and Crombie is that if another election were held now, Ford would do even better. A key difference is that Crombie's Liberals are positioned to fare better than the New Democrats under Stiles. The latest Leger poll shows Ford's Tories preferred by 45 per cent of respondents (up from 43 per cent in the February vote). That compares to 32 per cent for the Liberals (up from 30 per cent), versus 15 per cent for the NDP (down from 18.6 per cent in the election). You can do the math. Crombie's Liberals are more than twice as popular as the New Democrats, and Ford's Tories are precisely three times more popular. Which explains why Ford will be sitting pretty this summer while Stiles and Crombie will be stuck in their respective hot seats, looking over their shoulders. Politics Headlines Newsletter Get the latest news and unmatched insights in your inbox every evening Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. Please enter a valid email address. Sign Up Yes, I'd also like to receive customized content suggestions and promotional messages from the Star. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Politics Headlines Newsletter You're signed up! You'll start getting Politics Headlines in your inbox soon. Want more of the latest from us? 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