Terry Glavin: Trump didn't belong at G7
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The Israeli operation was put in motion against the backdrop of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency finding last week of 'serious and growing concerns' that Iran has not been straight with IAEA inspectors since at least 2019. Iran has repeatedly failed to demonstrate that it wasn't diverting nuclear material for a clandestine nuclear-bomb program, the IAEA reported.
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As for Russia's war on Ukraine, that global catastrophe barely got a look-in. There was no G7 statement dealing with Vladimir Putin's war or his threats to Europe, and the big controversy about that was merely about whether the Trump administration had scuttled a draft statement or whether Carney's government hadn't even bothered to formulate a statement that Trump, whose pleadings on behalf of Russian strongman Vladimir Putin go back several years, could be persuaded to sign.
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Trump left halfway through the summit anyway, ostensibly to focus on the Israel-Iran conflict. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy didn't bother to stick around either, and it was just as well. All Ukraine got was a handful of passing mentions in Carney's 'chair's summary' to the effect that the G7 supports the idea of 'a strong and sovereign Ukraine' and that Russia should match Ukraine's commitment to an unconditional ceasefire. As if to soften the blow, Carney pledged a further $4.3 billion in military and reconstruction aid to Ukraine this week, along with more sanctions targeting Russia's 'shadow fleet' of dodgy oil tankers.
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And then there was this: 'G7 Leaders expressed support for President Trump's efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.'
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This is a sentence that stoops below obsequiousness to outright self-abasement.
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Trump's 'efforts' in this matter have consisted mainly in allowing himself to be conscripted as Vladimir Putin's propaganda conduit, grossly exaggerating the Biden administration's contribution to Ukraine, boasting about his good relations with Putin and generally sabotaging Ukraine's efforts to defend itself in the bloodiest war in Europe since the Nazi era. Trump also says the war would never have happened had he been president instead of Joe Biden.
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Trump's hubris got the better of him again on Monday, with Carney standing at his side. Trump repeated his wish that the G7 had not expelled Putin in 2014, a move he attributed to former prime minister Justin Trudeau and former president Barack Obama. Trump also repeated his nonsense suggestion that Putin would not have gone to war if Russia had not been expelled from the G8 (for good measure, Trump suggested on Monday that China should be added to the G7's membership).
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In fact, it was former Prime Minister Stephen Harper who led the charge to expel Russia, more than a year before Trudeau came to power, and Russia's ejection occurred after Putin invaded Donbas and annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula.
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Trump also claimed, again, that the U.S. had spent $350 billion on Ukraine's war effort. This is roughly three times the true amount, and significantly less than the funds the Europeans and Canada have contributed in military, humanitarian and military aid. Just over the past two months, the Kiel Institute's Ukraine support tracker shows that Europe has advanced $23 billion in aid to Ukraine, and the U.S. has contributed nothing.
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To date, the sum total of Trump's 'peace talks' consists of a minerals profit-sharing arrangement with Ukraine intended to recover the cost of U.S. contributions to date, no U.S. security guarantees or commitment for future military aid, and 'Crimea,' the main prize in Putin's 2014 invasion, 'will stay with Russia.'
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Adding to Ukraine's humiliation: While the heads of government of Canada, the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom were meeting in Kananaskis, Russia launched its deadliest drone attack on Kyiv this year, killing at least 18 people and wounding 151.
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CTV News
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an hour ago
Canada 'must remain vigilant' about Indian foreign interference, CSIS report cautions
Canada's spy agency is warning that India's government continues to be a foreign interference concern a day after the two countries agreed to reinstate their top diplomats. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) released its annual report (new window) on Wednesday, outlining some key concerns and threats to Canada's national security. India was listed as a potential source of foreign interference activities, alongside Russia, China and Iran. Canada must remain vigilant about continued foreign interference conducted by the Government of India, not only within ethnic, religious and cultural communities but also in Canada's political system, the report reads. The CSIS report comes just a day after Prime Minister Mark Carney and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to reinstate their high commissioners and are eyeing renewed visa services to each other's citizens and businesses. The two countries expelled each other's high commissioners, senior diplomats who are similar to ambassadors, last fall after the RCMP accused the Indian government of playing a role in a network of violence in Canada, including homicides and extortion. Most significantly, the RCMP have alleged Indian agents were involved in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Canadian Khalistani separatist who was brazenly gunned down outside a Sikh temple in B.C. in 2023. Canadian activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed in B.C. in 2023. Photo: CBC / Ben Nelms Nijjar and others in that movement have been calling for an independent Sikh homeland in northern India called Khalistan, which Modi's government has vigorously opposed and denounced as a national security threat. 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Gurpreet Sahota, the editor-in-chief at Channel Punjabi in Surrey, B.C., said members of his community feel betrayed after Carney agreed to reinstate the high commissioner without securing more co-operation from the Indian government. They are thinking that the Canadian government is more focusing on [the] economy than public safety, Sahota told CBC News. According to the prime minister's readout, Carney raised transnational crime and repression, security and the rules-based order with Modi during their meeting on Tuesday. He's talking about transnational repression, terrorism and Indian gangs. But he's very eager to go for the business first. So when people sitting in Surrey or Brampton, [Ont.], see Mr. Carney, they feel that he's more eager to do business than to take accountability, Sahota said. WATCH | Public safety minister on threats from India: Début du widget Widget. Passer le widget ? Fin du widget Widget. Retourner au début du widget ? Asked during the closing G7 news conference what he said to Modi about Nijjar's murder on Canadian soil, Carney did not directly answer. We have had a discussion, the prime minister and I, about the importance of having the law enforcement-to-law enforcement dialogue. Not just dialogue, but co-operation, the prime minister said. Colin Robertson, a former Canadian diplomat and current adviser for the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, said the federal government can re-engage with India while also taking a firm stance on foreign interference. I think that this government does mean business, he said. Whenever there's any indication that they're stepping out of line, we've got the capacity now through CSIS, the RCMP and other intelligence agencies to basically call them out. B.C. Premier David Eby said Tuesday that he wants the India-based Lawrence Bishnoi gang (new window) declared a terrorist organization in Canada due to their alleged links to criminal activities. Police in Surrey have said members of the South Asian community are being extorted under threat of death or violence, with the Bishnoi gang being linked to some of those threats. WATCH | B.C. premier responds to extortion reports: Début du widget Widget. Passer le widget ? Fin du widget Widget. Retourner au début du widget ? Eby said he would be writing to Carney to ask that the gang be given the terrorist designation to enable police to be able to use the necessary tools to investigate. Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said Wednesday that he has taken note of Eby's comments but hasn't received an official request. This is an independent process that goes through our public security agencies and upon their recommendation, I will be able to take that decision to cabinet, he told reporters on Parliament Hill. MP Jenny Kwan, the NDP public safety critic, also wrote to Carney on Wednesday calling for the government to list the Bishnoi gang as a terrorist group. She urged Carney to suspend any security and intelligence-sharing agreements with India. Darren Major (new window) · CBC Journalist Darren Major is a senior writer for CBC's Parliamentary Bureau. He can be reached via email at With files from Evan Dyer
