P.E.I. auditor general says province will have to face some tough decision as debt keeps soaring
Prince Edward Island's net debt is closing in on $3 billion, the highest level in the province's history. 'The only way to bring it down is to address it through increased taxes or decreased spending,' says auditor general Darren Noonan. 'It's a tough thing for politicians to have to do.' CBC's Wayne Thibodeau has more details.
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CBC
32 minutes ago
- CBC
Gold being recovered at Yukon's Eagle mine site to help pay for remediation
The company responsible for the Eagle Gold mine in central Yukon has begun recovering gold from the site to help pay for remediation. PricewaterhouseCoopers says it's collecting gold from cyanide water stored in ponds at the mine site. The process will destroy some of the cyanide in the ponds, and no additional cyanide will be introduced. No new mining activity is happening, the receiver said. "It is too early to say the value of the gold being recovered," says a Yukon government news release. It's been almost a year now since a catastrophic heap leach failure at the site caused the immediate closure of the mine, and the owner, Victoria Gold, to be forced into receivership. Since then, the territorial government's focus has been on containing and mitigating the environmental damage from the failure. The government says the proceeds from the gold recovery will offset public money being spent on remediation. The cost of remediation has gone up steadily since the receiver took over in August 2024. The initial cost was estimated at $100 million to $150 million. Last March, PricewaterhouseCoopers requested that the borrowing limit be increased to $220 million. The Yukon government said it was prepared to provide the $115-million top-up, according to a receiver's report. PricewaterhouseCoopers is planning to start the sales process for Victoria Gold's property, including the mine, this summer. Its most recent receiver's report says it will seek an order from the court allowing it to start that process before June 30.
CBC
43 minutes ago
- CBC
Canada to join major European rearmament deal as early as June 23: sources
Social Sharing Prime Minister Mark Carney plans on joining a sweeping European plan in Belgium this month to rearm the continent and provide more military aid to Ukraine, CBC News has learned. Last month, Carney signalled to CBC's Power & Politics that he hopes to sign on to the new defence initiative by Canada Day as he tries to move away from relying on the United States for weapons and munitions. Now sources with knowledge of the matter say Carney is expected to join the rearmament deal as early as June 23, when he meets with European leaders in Brussels at the EU-Canada summit. Carney hinted on Monday this summit will "be more important than ever." "Canada will arrive at this summit with a plan to lead, with new investments to build our strength in service of our values," Carney said. WATCH | Why ReArm Europe would want Canada: Why Europe would consider inviting Canada into a defence pact 3 months ago Duration 5:07 With the Western Alliance eroding under U.S. President Donald Trump, could Canada's defence support shift to Europe? As CBC's Evan Dyer explains, the country's understrength military doesn't offer much in the way of troops presence, but it does have other things Europe needs. The prime minister has said he's been in talks with European countries for months about closer defence co-operation. Carney wants to build up Canada's defence capabilities and expand its military suppliers beyond the U.S. as President Donald Trump wages a trade war on Canada and most of the world. "Over 75 cents on every dollar of capital spending for defence goes to the United States. That's not smart," Carney told Power & Politics host David Cochrane on May 27. Carney said it would be better to "spend more at home" with "diversified partnerships." CBC News is not naming the sources because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the deal. European Union President Ursula von der Leyen first proposed the plan called ReArm Europe in March to bolster the continent's military capabilities during global threats, Russia's ongoing invasion in Ukraine and uncertainty with the United States. 'The first step is joining the club' The plan, renamed Readiness 2030, includes boosting European defence spending by up to 800 billion euros, including a 150-billion euro loan program to pay for more military technology and weapons. It's unclear how much money Canada would contribute. Carney announced more than $9 billion in new military spending this fiscal year on Monday — and said Canada must further increase defence spending in the years to come. Once Canada joins the European deal, the government will have to decide what initiative it wants to launch and which countries it will partner with. The list of potential projects includes air and missile defence, drones and anti-drone systems, artificial intelligence and electronic warfare. "The first step is joining the club. The next step is deciding what projects you want to work on with other club members," said Dave Perry, president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. Support for Ukraine Ahead of the EU-Canada summit, Carney is also expected to announce more support for Ukraine. As part of Carney's promise to increase defence spending this year, supplementary estimates this week show the government has earmarked $2 billion for military aid to Ukraine and to expand defence partnerships. A source told CBC News the government is expected to reveal how much of that money will go toward Ukraine at the G7 meeting in in Kananaskis, Alta., next week. Carney is hosting this year's summit and invited Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who hopes to urge Trump to move forward with a stronger sanctions package on Russia. WATCH | Carney says Canada will hit 2% NATO spending target by March: Canada will hit 2% NATO spending target by March: Carney 4 days ago Duration 2:46 Canada will hit NATO's two per cent defence spending target this year, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Monday, promising billions in military upgrades. Three years into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it continues to push forward in the Donbas region where Ukrainians are progressively losing "more and more" territory, Perry said. Ukraine needs armoured vehicles, artillery systems, ground-based air defence systems and munitions, he said. "They need help repairing all of the critical infrastructure the Russians are going after," he said. "They need the funding to basically keep the government of Ukraine solvent … they need a whole range of things."
National Post
an hour ago
- National Post
Jesse Kline: Did Anita Anand get ChatGPT to write her Israel-Iran tweet?
When Mark Carney replaced Justin Trudeau as prime minister, he had the aura of a father coming in to clean up his son's mess, giving many Canadians hope that he would reassert Canada's influence over global affairs and increase its standing in the world. Article content But despite jetting off to Europe shortly after taking office and promising to vastly increase defence spending, it's becoming clear that Canada is still not prepared to lift a finger to support the outcomes we say we want to achieve. Article content Article content Article content As the Oilers were battling the Panthers in a thrilling come-from-behind overtime victory on Thursday night, Israel launched a series of preemptive strikes targeting Iran's nuclear and ballistic-missile programs, along with its senior military leadership. Article content Article content World leaders quickly scrambled into action. But not our leader. Carney's Twitter feed features not one, but two posts about the Oilers, yet absolutely nothing, as of this writing, about events taking place in the Middle East. Article content Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand did weigh in on Friday morning. The good news is that we can all sleep soundly knowing that 'Canada is closely following the escalation of tensions.' The bad news is that watching events unfold on CNN is about all the Liberals seem prepared to do. Anand went on to admonish Israel and Iran that, 'Further action risks triggering a broader regional conflict with devastating consequences. De-escalation must be the priority. We urge all parties to refrain from actions that further destabilize the region. The protection of civilians must be paramount.' Article content Article content To be fair, even Israel's staunchest allies have made boilerplate statements about the need to 'deescalate,' but Anand's lacked any sort of nuance, while her banal prose read like something churned out by a robot ('Danger, Will Robinson, danger in the Middle East!') Article content Article content In fact, even though I don't use artificial intelligence for writing, I asked an AI chatbot to 'craft a brief statement given by the foreign minister of a country with friendly diplomatic relations with Israel on the Israeli strikes against Iran's nuclear program,' and it spit out the following: Article content 'We are closely monitoring the situation and are concerned about the escalating tensions in the region. While we understand the legitimate security concerns of our friend and ally Israel, we also emphasize the need for a diplomatic solution to address the issues surrounding Iran's nuclear program. We urge all parties to exercise restraint and to work towards a peaceful resolution that promotes stability and security in the Middle East.'
