New TTC head says he's focused on problem fare inspectors trying to fix rather than much-mocked new title
Mandeep Lali has officially taken the helm as head of the TTC, and just weeks into the job, is facing some serious headwinds for the transit system.
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CTV News
10 minutes ago
- CTV News
Canada's Islamophobia envoy says Mideast war is bringing back anti-Muslim tropes from 9/11
Amira Elghawaby, Canada's Special Representative on Combating Islamophobia, speaks during a news conference on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld OTTAWA — Ottawa's special representative on combating Islamophobia says she's alarmed by a recent revival of decades-old tropes about Muslims supporting terrorist violence. Amira Elghawaby also said Canadians should not be reluctant to speak out for the rights of one group because of a fear of being accused of ignoring the plight of another. 'In a country as pluralistic and as diverse as Canada, we should be able to get this right,' Elghawaby told The Canadian Press. She said she's seen 'extremely troubling' instances of people being maligned for peacefully expressing support for Palestinians and urging that Israel be held accountable for its restrictions on aid in Gaza and the high civilian death toll in the enclave. 'The same types of narratives that we had seen and we talked about post-9/11 have been resurfacing over the past two years,' she said. 'We're constantly being viewed as engaging in, for example, what some politicians and columnists and media folks will call 'hate marches' when involved in any type of protests for Gaza.' She said that kind of commentary is a grim echo of widespread claims in 2001 that 'Muslims are quintessential violent radicals, that they must be surveilled and disciplined by the state.' Elghawaby said police forces tell her that most of the protests on the war in Gaza take place without hate speech or calls for violence. 'There is consensus across the board that hate speech targeting any community — whether it's Muslims, whether it's Jewish people, whether it's Indigenous, any community at all — has to be taken fully seriously, with consequences meted out,' she said. 'But the reality here is that it's wholly unfair to racially profile, to brand all people with the same accusations.' Elghawaby spoke to The Canadian Press after the sudden retirement this month of Deborah Lyons, Canada's special envoy on preserving Holocaust remembrance and combating antisemitism. Lyons left her post early, saying she felt 'despair' over of a growing gulf in Canadian society related to violence in the Middle East, and the failure of many Canadians to find common ground against hate. Elghawaby said that she and Lyons worked to reinforce 'the soul of Canada — a Canada where all of us, with all of our diversities, can belong and fulfil our fullest potential and feel safe to do so.' Elghawaby said she shares Lyons's fear that Canadians have 'a sense of concern about appearing to be, for example, favouring one community over another.' She said fighting hate means advancing the shared principle that everyone in Canada should feel safe to express their faith or political views without retribution. 'We do have rules and policies, and we have a Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and we have human-rights codes that should help be our North Star on how we navigate a time of deep social challenge, when it comes to the rise of hate toward any community,' she said. But Elghawaby pushed back on Lyons's claim that some Muslims have been uneasy with seeing her work to combat anti-Jewish hate. Lyons told the Canadian Jewish News that she and Elghawaby tried to work together to counter hate, and had plans to visit provincial education ministers together. 'Neither my community, nor her community, were happy all the time to see us in pictures together,' Lyons said of Elghawaby. Elghawaby said she's not aware of Muslims opposing any of her work against anti-Jewish hate. 'I have had no pushback on condemning antisemitism. I have had very good conversations with members of Canadian Jewish communities,' she said. Elghawaby said many Canadians' discomfort with confronting the reality on the ground in Gaza is making it impossible to engage in 'good faith' dialogue about a path forward. 'Many Canadians of all backgrounds do believe that there is terrible oppression happening in Palestine, that there's an occupation,' she said. 'It's been described by human rights organizations as apartheid. Genocide scholars, and organizations have called what's happening now a genocide. 'If we are to have true dialogue, not being able to actually name the situation as it's being described ... by human-rights organizations and experts, it means that it's a discussion that can't be had in in fully good faith, because of the effort to almost make invisible or erase what various Canadians are seeing or describing for themselves.' While Elghawaby said she has no plans to quit before her term ends in February 2027, she acknowledged it's been 'very, very sad and difficult' to see the rise in hate. She said she told Prime Minister Mark Carney earlier this month that his goal of attracting the world's top talent requires ensuring everyone in Canada 'feels supported, and that they are not going to be discriminated against and that their human rights will be protected.' 'The reason this office exists is because members of our communities have been killed in this country because of Islamophobia,' she said. 'This is life-and-death for our communities.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2025. Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press
CTV News
10 minutes ago
- CTV News
A sweet advantage: U.S tariffs give Canadian chocolatiers opportunity
Tareq Hadhad, CEO of Peace by Chocolate, wants the next leader of Canada to remove interprovincial trade barriers. U.S. tariffs on cocoa imports are creating new business opportunities for Canadian chocolate makers. The chocolatiers are increasingly fielding requests from across the border as American manufacturers face rising costs. Tarek Hadhad, CEO of Peace by Chocolate in Nova Scotia, says his company has seen a wave of interest from American firms looking to outsource production. Maker house Ottawa "Elbows Up" chocolate for sale at the Maker House in Ottawa on Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (Katie Griffin/CTV News Ottawa) 'Basically, what is happening right now is the tariffs imposed by the U.S. administration, they are increasing the cost of importing cocoa into the United States,' said Hadhad. 'We are seeing all kinds of U.S. manufacturing companies reaching out to us here in Canada and asking us if we can produce products for them, which actually never happened before.' Cocao remains tariff-exempt under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), meaning Canadian companies can continue sourcing raw ingredients and exporting chocolate to the U.S. without added duties. Meanwhile, American producers are dealing with new tariffs that could rise as high as 35 per cent by August. 'Many firms down the border are basically struggling to make sure that they are absorbing all the extra costs on producing the product in the U.S.,' said Hadhad. 'Which is certainly the opposite of the intention behind these tariffs in the first place.' Hadhad said the company stopped tracking U.S. inquiries after receiving too many to count. Although Peace by Chocolate does not have the current capacity to fulfill every request, Hadhad said the company is still moving forward with its export strategy. 'Our goal at the end of the day is to certainly grow our operations right here in Canada, not only is the target the U.S., the target is the whole world.' Hadhad added that Canada's chocolate exports to the U.S. are far more significant than many assume. 'It's not Belgium, actually, the Canadian size of exports of chocolate to the U.S. is almost five to six times the size of exports of Belgium to the U.S.,' said Hadhad. 'We are around $2.7 billion of exports of chocolate made in Canada to the United States.' Smaller chocolatiers like Whim in Halifax say they're still figuring out how to scale up and ship efficiently. 'We don't export a lot of our chocolate to the United States, but Canada itself does,' said co-owner Marshall Parker. 'Canada is, I think, one of the largest sellers of chocolate into the United States. They're actually at a competitive advantage compared to the U.S. chocolate makers.' Whim moved its operations from Boston to Halifax two years ago, and Parker said the idea of expanding again is tempting, especially with former clients in Massachusetts reaching out. 'We did have a clientele in Boston who do miss our chocolate,' he said. 'We'd love to do that, but we really need to navigate the sort of shipping into the United States, and we haven't really quite got there yet.' Shipping remains one of the biggest hurdles, explained Parker, especially during the summer months. 'It's a little bit tricky to send chocolate in the summertime, because you have to worry about it melting,' he said. 'Usually what we do is try and calculate what is the cost of the shipping going to be, and are you willing to spend that before we actually send it.' Although shipping and logistics remain a challenge, Parker acknowledges the opportunity created by U.S. tariffs. 'Does it benefit us that chocolate is being sent into the United States? Yes absolutely,' he said. 'But are we going to price our Mars or Hershey? I doubt it. I'm sure they're going to figure out a way to handle this.' At Peace by Chocolate, Hadhad said the company is still focused on growing its operations in Nova Scotia, but that international demand, including from countries beyond U.S. is rising. Despite the high global cocoa prices, he's optimistic. 'We are seeing the trend go in the better direction than we had even imagined in the beginning of this year, which is really good for our industry,' he said. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
CTV News
10 minutes ago
- CTV News
MAGA-supporting Christian singer Sean Feucht to perform in Saskatoon, despite other Canadian cancellations
Christian musician Sean Feucht, of California, sings during a rally at the National Mall in Washington, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Jose Luis Magana A controversial Christian concert, scheduled in Saskatoon next month, is set to go ahead as other cities pull the plug. Sean Feucht, a supporter of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement with Christian nationalist views, is currently on his Revive in '25 worship tour across Canada. Winnipeg, Halifax, Charlottetown, Moncton, Gatineau, Quebec City and Vaughn have either revoked Feucht's permits or cancelled his events. Officials have cited Feucht's clash with community values, and concerns around public safety. Feucht has publicly spoken against the 2SLGBTQ+ community, abortion and called the Black Live Matter movement 'a fraud.' Despite the backlash, Feucht's concert in Saskatoon — planned for Aug. 21 at Diefenbaker Park — is scheduled to go ahead. During Wednesday's city council meeting, Ward 9 Coun. Bev Dubois inquired about the event. City of Saskatoon Solicitor Cindy Yelland confirmed the city approved the concert permit. 'Currently, there are no public safety concerns that would require the event to be cancelled,' Yelland said. 'However, as with any special event, the situation may change as we get closer to the event. To be clear, allowing an event to occur in public space does not mean the city is endorsing any event, any message of the event, or organizers.' The Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) said it's aware of the event and is working with organizers to ensure public safety. 'At this time, we're not aware of any immediate safety concerns,' a spokesperson with the SPS told CTV News. Feucht is also scheduled to perform in Edmonton, Kelowna and Abbotsford in August.
