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Edmonton Journal
21 hours ago
- Politics
- Edmonton Journal
Ottawa Jewish leaders decry 'brazen act of desecration' at National Holocaust Monument
Article content 'Young Israeli revellers came together that day to dance and celebrate, and were targeted by inconceivable violence,' Carney wrote. 'I came to witness accounts of the atrocities committed — and hear directly from survivors and families of those murdered and taken hostage.' Also on X, Conservative Party of Canada Leader Pierre Poilievre said 'antisemitic thugs… should be caught and locked up' while deputy leader Melissa Lantsman called it 'a disgusting cowardly act.' 'Parliament is just steps away — that's where dissent belongs. Defacing sacred ground in honour of the millions of victims of the Holocaust in the middle of the night with spray paint isn't protest, it's vandalism,' she posted to X Monday morning. Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe said he was shocked and disturbed to see the memorial defaced. 'Protests and demonstrations are an essential part of our democracy,' he wrote on X. 'Disfiguring a sacred monument in a way that will traumatize victims, survivors and their families is not.' Deborah Lyons, Canada's special envoy for preserving Holocaust remembrance and combating antisemitism, vowed to immediately contact authorities about the 'disgusting display of Jew Hatred' in the capital.
Vancouver Sun
5 days ago
- Politics
- Vancouver Sun
The newest Tory senator is a Trudeau appointee. What to know about about David Adams Richards
Less than two weeks after becoming a non-affiliated member of Canada's Senate, New Brunswick Sen. David Adams Richards elected to join the Conservative Party of Canada's caucus in Parliament's Upper House this week. The 74-year-old declined an interview with National Post, but an emailed statement illustrated an obvious frustration with both Justin Trudeau and Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal Party of Canada. 'For years, so many of the concerns I and others had about our country were dismissed by an insular, self-absorbed government, with an almost blind indifference to ordinary men and women,' wrote Richards, an award-winning and celebrated Canadian writer. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'Now the Liberals are insisting on policies that certain senators pleaded for and who were so often ridiculed and refused.' Richards didn't elaborate on specific policies, but Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said during the recent federal election campaign that Carney and the Liberals were 'plagiarizing' ideas from the Tory platform. In a statement posted to X, Sen. Leo Housakos, newly acclaimed Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, welcomed Richards to a group 'that is home to diverse opinions and healthy debate, consensus and cooperation, grounded in common-sense principles and committed to the important work of a robust and healthy opposition.' BREAKING 🚨 'The Honourable Leo Housakos, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, is pleased to welcome Senator David Adams Richards to the Conservative Senate Caucus.' 'L'honorable Leo Housakos, Leader de l'opposition au Sénat, est heureux d'accueillir le sénateur David Adams… Here's what to know about Richards. Richards the writer Born in 1950, Richards was raised in New Castle, N.B., a suburb of Miramichi, where his parents operated a local movie theatre. He's married to Peggy McIntyre, with whom he has two sons, John Thomas and Anton Richards. While his first published work after studying literature and philosophy at St. Thomas University in the early 1970s was a small book of poems, Richards became an acclaimed Canadian novelist with 16 titles on his resume, along with six non-fiction books and two collections of short stories. His writings have been translated into 12 languages and are part of the curriculum of Canadian and U.S. universities, according to the Senate of Canada. In a style said to be influenced by the likes of Leo Tolstoy and compared to William Blake, his fiction work is mostly set in the Miramichi Valley where he grew up and the characters are inspired by the lives and experiences of its poor and working-class people. 'Through the characters of his fictionalized Miramichi, David Adams Richards explores conflicts between families with long community histories, the long-term consequences of errors in judgment, the complexity of making moral choices, and humanity's unfortunate willingness to remember faults sooner than virtues,' per his bio in the Canadian Encyclopedia. Richards has been a writer-in-residence at multiple universities and colleges across Canada, three of which have awarded him honorary doctorates — the University of New Brunswick (1995), Mount Allison University in Sackville (2008), and St. Thomas University in Fredericton (1990). He received the same honour from the Atlantic School of Theology in 2010. In 1998, he became one of just three Canadian writers to win a Governor General's Literary Award in both fiction and non-fiction for Nights Below Station Street (1988) and Lines on the Water: A Fisherman's Life on the Miramichi (1998). Writers Laura G. Salverson and Hugh MacLennan are the others. Meanwhile, his 1993 fiction novel For Those Who Hunt the Wounded Down and 2007's The Lost Highway were also nominated for the government honour. In 2000, his Mercy Among the Children was a co-winner of the Giller Prize along with Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje, the only time two recipients have shared the honour in its 31-year history. Lost Highway and The Friends of Meager Fortune (2006) were both longlisted for the Giller. Richards has also been awarded two Gemini Awards for scriptwriting (Small Gifts and For Those Who Hunt the Wounded Down), the Alden Nowlan Award for Excellence in the Arts, the Canadian Authors Association Award for his novel Evening Snow Will Bring Such Peace, the 2011 Matt Cohen Award for a distinguished lifetime of contribution to Canadian literature and the Canada-Australia Literary Prize. He is a member of the Order of New Brunswick (2005) and the Order of Canada (2009). Richards the Senator When first appointed to the Senate by Trudeau in 2017 , two years after the then-prime minister established the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments to make the Upper House less partisan, Richards joined the relatively new Independent Senators Group (ISG). The cohort had come together the year prior, not as a political party, but to work together on procedural and administrative matters, and had quickly grown to be the largest group in the Senate at 43 members. Its size is what led to his departure to sit as a non-affiliated senator. 'There was certainly a leaning toward government bills which I thought at certain times I didn't completely support,' he told Jason VandenBeukel in an interview for his doctoral thesis in political science from the University of Toronto. 'And so I decided I will be an independent and come to my own conclusions about things.' Today I was pleased to preside over the swearing-in of the Hon. David Adams Richards to the @SenateCA . Welcome to the Upper Chamber. #SenCA In November 2019, he was one of the founding members of the new Canadian Senators Group (CSG), which was established in part to address centralization within the Senate, particularly in the ISG, and to reinforce senators' roles as regional representatives. He remained with the second-largest ensemble in the upper house until May 21 this year, when he left to again sit as a non-affiliated member. He's the only Liberal-appointed Senator to have joined the Conservative caucus, which now counts 12 s enators. As of Thursday, ISG leads the way with 45 members, CSG follows with 21, the Progressive Senator Group has 18, and there are eight non-affiliated. There's one vacancy — the seat left behind upon Don Plet's mandatory retirement at the age of 75 earlier last month. He'll soon be joined in retirement by Richards, who turns 75 on Oct. 17. In the Senate, Richards has been critical of Trudeau's Liberal government at times, particularly regarding Bills C-11, the Online Streaming Act, and C-22, Ottawa's controversial firearms legislation. On the latter, in June of 2023, he stood in the Senate to lament Canadians being lectured 'by a government that assumes and presupposes a superior moral nature against certain members of its own citizenry, and acts with uppity condescension toward so many who have done no wrong, suspecting them — without evidence — of things they would not do, while being unable to stop those who will continue to do wrong despite the regulations they continuously and tiresomely propose.' He voted against it, but C-21 would receive royal assent in December. As for the Online Streaming Act, he called it 'censorship passing as national inclusion' and then read from an essay explaining how it puts freedom of speech and thought under threat. 'This is not opening the gate to greatness but only to compliance,' he said. 'The writers I know don't need to advance to fit an agenda, and neither do the songwriters or bloggers. When this bill mentions how we have evolved, it is simply a suggestion to comply.' It, too, received Royal Assent. Years earlier, it wasn't legislation that Richards fervently spoke out against; it was how the uninformed vernacular used by U.S. hockey play-by-play broadcasters was changing how their Canadian counterparts call a game. Reading from a statement, he said players don't wear jerseys, they wear sweaters, and they put them on in the dressing room, not the locker room. There's no such thing as a half wall, he insisted, it's just the boards. And don't call it a slapper, it's a slapshot. 'These odious phrases are all momentary inventions by American play-by-play announcers who have never played or understood the game, and worse, almost sacrilegious, have no respect for millions of Canadians who do understand and love the game. Sayings now adopted by Canadians who have no sense of tradition,' Richards said. 'The first thing lost is the game's essential genius.' Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
National Observer
5 days ago
- Business
- National Observer
Mark Carney's grand climate bargain comes into view
In a political fight that seems destined to go many rounds, the first one went to the Prime Minister. He emerged from the high-stakes first ministers' meeting with many of Canada's premiers — including Conservative ones like Doug Ford — singing his praises. Even Smith had to concede that Carney's performance had won over the room, describing him as a 'dramatic improvement' over his predecessor. That's because Carney didn't take the bait that Smith so obviously laid out around pipelines. Instead, he smartly called the bluff she's been getting away with for years now. Smith has talked up and down about her government's commitment to decarbonizing oil production in Alberta, one that involves reaching net-zero province-wide by 2050. As you read the official communiqué from the meeting it becomes clear that this is where Carney is going to dig in for the real fight — and where Smith is least prepared to defend herself. 'First Ministers agreed that Canada must work urgently to get Canadian natural resources and commodities to domestic and international markets,' it reads, 'such as critical minerals and decarbonized Canadian oil and gas by pipelines, supported by the private sector, that provide access to diversified global markets, including Asia and Europe. First Ministers also agreed to build cleaner and more affordable electricity systems to reduce emissions and increase reliability toward achieving net zero by 2050.' No new pipelines without decarbonization, in other words. This immediately shifts the onus to the oil industry, which has been slow-playing its promised investment in carbon capture and storage technology for years now. If it doesn't finally move ahead there, the conversation around new pipelines is effectively over — and the blame will fall squarely on them. This also makes it more difficult for Smith and Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre to continue their recent campaign against industrial carbon pricing, given its obvious role in decarbonizing upstream oil and gas production. Not everyone is buying what Carney is selling here, mind you. Catherine Abreu, the director of the International Climate Politics Hub, described the idea of decarbonized oil and gas as 'a complete contradiction in terms, and a dangerous lie that Canadian government after Canadian government has tried to spin under the spell of industry lobbying.' This tracks with the broader environmental movement's longstanding skepticism of carbon capture and storage, which is informed by the underwhelming performance of early stage projects. It's worth noting, I think, that the performance of early-stage wind and solar were equally dispiriting. Technologies can and often do improve with time and scale. More to the point, if Canada is willing to sink billions in tax credits into EV factories in Ontario and Quebec, the same sort of opportunity should probably be afforded to Alberta's largest industry — especially if we're trying to prevent the Alberta separatist movement from escaping political containment. Yes, these large carbon capture and storage projects might fail, just as some of the battery plants in central Canada already seem to have. But carbon capture technology also might succeed — and if it does, that's an unalloyed boon to both our economy and environment. Either way, Carney isn't biting on Smith's demands for new pipelines 'in every direction.' Instead, he's moving the conversation onto political ground that's far more favourable to his government, both in terms of the raw politics and its enduring (if evolving) commitment to fighting climate change. He will, as Smith demanded, create the conditions for a more rapid assessment of infrastructure projects. But it's clear that one of those conditions will be the net-zero targets that Smith and Alberta's oil and gas industry have repeatedly committed themselves to. If they can't or won't reach them, they'll finally have to come out and say as much. Mark Carney's first meeting with Canada's premiers resulted in an agreement to pursue projects that export "decarbonized oil and gas". How that helped avoid a confrontation with Danielle Smith — and why it puts the pressure squarely on her. If I had to guess, the only new oil export project we'll end up seeing is another expansion of TMX, one that can be accomplished with upgrades to the existing line and some dredging of Vancouver's Burrard Inlet, an idea that has been mooted by Carney and supported by BC's Minister of Energy and Climate Solutions Adrian Dix. That's in part because the combination of the increasingly imminent arrival of peak demand for oil will make new infrastructure projects like a revived Northern Gateway (which have to operate for decades to deliver an adequate economic return) a non-starter for the private sector. It's also because OPEC's declining interest in artificially supporting prices raises the prospect of another price war like the one in 2014 that devastated the Canadian oil patch. Carney knows all of this, and understands it better than any elected official in the country. His real interest, I suspect, is building the sorts of projects that will best position Canada in the low-carbon economy that so clearly lies ahead. But he also understands that getting into a pitched battle with Alberta by explicitly crushing its pipeline dreams gets in the way of that objective — and helps advance Smith's political agenda in the process. Sometimes, the best way to win a fight is by not fighting it at all.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Affordable housing report card gives Alberta gets a 'D+' grade, lowest in Canada
A new report reviewing efforts to address affordable housing has given Alberta the lowest grade among Canadian provinces. Alberta gets an overall D+ on the Report Card on More and Better Housing for failing to adopt better building codes, encourage factory-built housing and regulate construction in flood-prone areas, said author Mike Moffatt. The Task Force for Housing and Climate, a group dedicated to tackling housing and climate concerns across Canada, created the criteria last year and commissioned the report released Thursday. Quebec, British Columbia and Prince Edward Island scored the highest among the provinces with a C+, while the federal government got a B. "Alberta needs to build more social housing but there's also a lot of red tape in home building in Alberta that comes from the provincial government that could be addressed," Moffatt said during a news conference Wednesday. "It's also a lack of leadership from the provincial government when it comes to building code reform, when it comes to climate risk." The federal government earned the highest overall grade for federal tax incentives for rental construction, leasing federal land for housing and motivating municipal zoning reforms, the report says. Moffatt, also the founding director of the Missing Middle Initiative at the University of Ottawa, assessed and graded each province and the federal government in five categories. Lisa Raitt, former deputy leader of the Conservative Party of Canada is a co-chair of the Task Force for Housing and Climate. "Canada needs more homes, and they must be homes that meet the needs of today — affordable, climate aligned, and resilient to floods, wildfires and extreme heat," Raitt said in a news release. "Currently, no government is doing enough to get these homes built." Five criteria The report card focuses on five categories: Legalize density: allowing fourplexes and small apartments. Alberta scored a C- with the federal government got the highest grade of B. Improve building codes: allowing a variety of housing forms with higher energy efficiency, and things like single-stair-case apartments. Alberta got a D, while British Columbia scored an A. Accelerate factory-built housing: moving toward a manufacturing industry that can use better materials at lower cost. Alberta got a D- while the federal government received an A. Avoid building in high-risk areas: hazard maps and avoid areas prone to extreme weather events. Alberta got the lowest score of D, along with B.C., while Ontario and Saskatchewan got the highest grade of A. Fill in market gaps: finding ways to build more affordable, below market-rate housing. Alberta was again in the middle of the pack with a C, with the highest grade of A going to P.E.I. Former Edmonton mayor Don Iveson co-chairs the task force with Raitt. "Particularly in a number of the provinces and particularly when it comes to the climate outcomes there, there are huge gaps that have to be addressed," Iveson said. LISTEN | Task force aims to tackle housing crisis: While Alberta ended up with an overall D+, Moffatt praises Edmonton and Calgary for their efforts. "There are a lot of great things happening in Alberta. Housing starts are quite high. We have a lot of fantastic reforms at the municipal level in both Edmonton and Calgary, but they don't have much to do with the provincial government." The cities have made a number of moves to improve zoning and increase density, Moffatt added. Edmonton was the first city in Canada to develop an automated approvals process using artificial intelligence, reducing permit processes from six weeks to six hours, Moffatt said. Moffatt said he hopes to do another report next year to highlight progress made among provinces. "Partly this is an accountability exercise, but we also want to highlight things that provinces are doing well with the hope that they could be adopted in other provinces," Moffatt said.
Time of India
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
‘We nearly missed forming govt...': Poilievre promises united Canada in Conservative caucus address
Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada Pierre Poilievre addressed party member caucus, saying they missed forming government by a narrow margin. Prime Minister Mark Carney led Liberals to a fourth term in power after former PM Justin Trudeau stepped down in January this is demanding the Liberals present a spring budget, which Carney has refused owing to tariff pressures and trade uncertainty triggered by US President Donald Trump. He promised a united front in the face of Trump's trade war on Canada over fentanyl and border issues, but has after the election loss targeted Carney for 'stealing' his ideas. Show more Show less
