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Al Etihad
3 days ago
- Climate
- Al Etihad
Fires continue to rage out of control across large parts of Canada
31 May 2025 21:03 Berlin (dpa) In large parts of Canada, dangerous wildfires continue to spread: Of more than 120 fire hotspots nationwide, about half were burning out of control, according to the latest national wildfire report from the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, residents in the westernmost provinces of Alberta and British Columbia have now also been urged to evacuate the affected areas for safety. There were also isolated fires in the province of Ontario, located in the mid-east. According to information from the Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail, thousands of people were affected by the exceptional drought, along with wind, has favoured the ignition and spread of wildfires. "Pray for rain," Manitoba's Premier Wab Kinew urged the population, according to broadcaster he said that significant rainfall, which could help extinguish the flames, is not yet in sight. The province of Manitoba declared a state of emergency on Wednesday and requested international assistance. In neighbouring Saskatchewan, a state of emergency is also in effect due to the scale of the fires. Although wildfires occur in Canada every year, particularly between May and September, Saskatchewan's Premier Scott Moe assessed the situation as worse than ever before.
Hindustan Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Carney govt seeks to build ties with India, says Canadian minister amid strained relations
Canadian foreign minister Anita Anand has said that Prime Minister Mark Carney's government looks forward to building its partnership with India as part of diversifying and building relationships globally, even as she acknowledged that pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar's killing continues to cast a shadow on bilateral ties. She said Ottawa was taking the relationship forward one step at a time. 'At the same time, we are looking forward to continuing to build this partnership, and we're looking forward to that as a Government – it's not just me,' Anand, an Indo-Canadian, told the Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail. Anand emphasised that the rule of law will never be compromised. The alleged links between Indian officials and the Nijjar's killing led to a diplomatic rift. The then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the Canadian House of Commons that there were 'credible allegations' of a potential link between Indian agents and the killing three months after Nijjar was murdered in June 2023 in British Columbia's Surrey. India dismissed the accusation as 'absurd' and 'motivated'. Four Indian nationals were arrested in connection with the murder last year. Anand said that Nijjar's killing continues to impact the bilateral ties. 'We are certainly taking it one step at a time. As I mentioned, the rule of law will never be compromised, and there is an ongoing investigation regarding the [Nijjar] case that you mentioned.' Anand echoed Carney about renewing the relationship with India. She added that the investigation into Nijjar's murder will continue under the auspices of an independent agency. On May 25, Anand spoke to her Indian counterpart, S Jaishankar. She thanked him for the productive discussion on strengthening Canada–India ties, deepening economic cooperation, and advancing shared priorities. Anand said she looked forward to continuing their work together. Jaishankar said they discussed the prospects of India-Canada ties. This was the first formal contact between the foreign ministers since February 2024, when Anand's predecessor, Mélanie Joly, met Jaishankar on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany. The ministers remained in contact before Ottawa in October last year asked New Delhi to waive diplomatic immunity for six Indian officials posted in Canada so they could be questioned about 'violent criminal activity'. New Delhi dismissed Ottawa's move to designate six officials as 'persons of interest' in the investigation and expelled six Canadian diplomats. India withdrew the six officials, including high commissioner Sanjay Verma. There have been indications of a potential thaw in the ties after Carney became Prime Minister in March and appointed Anand as the foreign minister. Modi congratulated Carney as it became clear on April 29 that he would lead the new government in Ottawa. In April, Carney called ties with India 'incredibly important' on many levels. 'On the personal level, with Canadians having deep personal ties, economically, strategically.' Anand made a similar remark while seeking re-election from the Oakville East constituency in March. 'We will make sure we have strong ties with nations whose people have immigrated here and settled here, including my mother's and father's homeland of India.' There has been little clarity on whether Canada will invite India and Modi as a partner country for the G7 summit in Alberta from June 15 to June 17. Carney is yet to publicly respond to Modi's congratulatory message.
Toronto Star
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Star
Whoa, Canada! Why do we fear dissent among our politicians?
Could there be a more Canadian headline than the one on the front page of Monday's Star? 'Liberals reject power to oust leader,' it proclaimed. Given the opportunity to assert some control over their leader if things go sideways, with the memory of the impasse over Justin Trudeau's leadership fresh in their minds, the party's members of Parliament meekly said 'no thanks.' Apparently, they're fine with the current situation, in which they have no established way to pass judgment on their leader's performance or challenge his position if it comes to that. Or maybe not. They wouldn't say, invoking the sacred concept of 'caucus confidentiality.' The full pageantry of Canada's parliamentary system will be on display on Tuesday as King Charles reads the Carney government's Speech from the Throne. But beneath the glitz and glamour there are real problems with how the core institutions of our democracy are functioning — or not functioning. The Liberal MPs' failure to step up even when offered the chance is a reminder of that. A more comprehensive one comes in the form of a new book by the Globe and Mail's marquee political columnist, Andrew Coyne. In 'The Crisis of Canadian Democracy' he makes a powerful case that Canada's version of parliamentary democracy has been hollowed out to the point where 'we are not a fully functioning democracy.' The system, he argues, does not work the way we think it works — or at least the way we're told it's supposed to work. Instead of the government answering to the House of Commons, it's the Commons that is dominated by the government. Instead of party leaders being accountable to their MPs, it's the other way around (and in the case of the Liberals, they clearly like it that way). Instead of the prime minister being first among equals in the cabinet, the cabinet has become 'an extension of the prime minister.' I don't think Coyne overstates the case. He just points out what everyone who pays attention to these matters already knows, but most think is just the way it is — like bitter weather in a Canadian February. We've become so accustomed to managed elections, docile MPs and puppet-like cabinet ministers that we can't imagine another way. For me this was driven home in the last couple of weeks by the almost universally negative reaction to a couple of Mark Carney's ministers uttering stray remarks on the day they were sworn in. In particular, Steven Guilbeault's comment to the effect that Canada should maximize the use of existing pipelines before building more was seized upon as evidence of disarray in Liberal ranks. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW I can't count how many political panels I sat through where Guilbeault's remark was condemned as proof that Carney better get his new cabinet in line. Almost no one bothered to discuss whether Guilbeault had a valid point. All that mattered was it showed a lack of 'message discipline' — i.e. every minister must say exactly the same thing on every subject. This is the essence, it seems, of an effective 'comms strategy' in our system. The media (as Coyne notes) is very much part of this problem. Any minister or MP who steps a centimetre out of line is taken as evidence that the leader isn't doing his job — which is apparently to make sure his cabinet and party behave in the most sheeplike way possible. The question arises: if this is the expectation, what kind of person would aspire to rise in such a system, or indeed to flourish in it? These are not particularly fresh observations, but it's important that someone keeps reminding us that what Canadians are accustomed to isn't inevitable, or even normal. One of the most useful aspects of 'The Crisis of Canadian Democracy' is Coyne's observation that other countries operating under the Westminster (i.e. British-style) parliamentary system haven't taken top-down authority and 'message discipline' nearly to the extremes we have. That includes Britain itself, where party leaders don't dominate their caucuses to the same extent ours do and dissenters in party ranks are considered a normal part of political life. What a radical concept. Coyne has a lot of suggestions on how to make Canada's system more truly democratic, such as mandatory voting and moving toward proportional representation. Those prescriptions are more debatable. But his diagnosis of what ails us is spot on.
National Observer
27-05-2025
- Politics
- National Observer
Is this really the end of the federal NDP?
The eulogies for the federal NDP have come fast and furious since the April 28 election. 'It's not too soon to start gathering notes for an obituary,' opined a sneering Globe and Mail editorial the following weekend, with numerous other mainstream pundits offering similar assessments. With the Liberals and Conservatives both securing more than 40 per cent of the popular vote this election for the first time in decades, and the NDP reduced to just seven MPs and losing official party status, many are suggesting that Canada may now be moving to a two-party system, much like our American neighbours. Not so fast. We will not stand up to the US by becoming more like the US, least of all by replicating their two-party system. Indeed, it is our multi-party system – particularly when the federal NDP was in a position of strength – that has won us some of the key programs, policies and institutions that differentiate us from the US, not least public health care, equality rights, labour rights, paid parental leave, medical assistance in dying, or decisions to stay out of foreign wars like Vietnam and Iraq. As the new Carney-led government takes shape, it is quickly becoming apparent that Carney will govern to the right of the Trudeau Liberals, which potentially opens up political terrain for a revived NDP. Either by ideological orientation and/or in a political attempt to peel support from the Conservatives, the new Liberal government is rapidly implementing what have until now been Conservative policies: restoring the 50 per cent exclusion rate for capital gains taxes and an across-the-board tax cut that will bestow the greatest benefit to the wealthiest; ending the consumer carbon tax; tightening up immigration levels and reversing promises to regularize migrant workers; and increasing spending on the military and law enforcement. The Carney government surprised many when it recently confirmed it was in discussions with the US administration about Trump's idea for a 'Golden Dome' missile defense system. Writing in the Globe and Mail, former Liberal foreign policy minister Llyod Axworthy rightly called the plan a 'cockamamie idea… that could cost hundreds of billions of dollars, turbocharge a dangerous arms race in space, and entangle us in a sprawling and speculative technological morass.' Axworthy decried engagement with the Trump administration on the scheme as 'a betrayal of the vision Canadians [just] voted for.' For those of us in the climate movement, it's already feeling like this defining fight of our lives is getting short shrift from the new Carney government, having received only scant mention – 'We will fight climate change' – at the end of the Prime Minister's single mandate letter to his new cabinet. With the NDP reduced to just seven MPs and losing official party status, many are suggesting that Canada may now be moving to a two-party system, much like our American neighbours. Not so fast. Listening to Tim Hodgson, the new federal minister of energy and natural resources – and arguably the cabinet minister with the closest relationship to the prime minister – does not bode well. Last week, echoing long-standing talking points from the oil sands, Hodgson told a business audience in Calgary, 'Energy is Canada's power. … Every barrel of responsibly produced Canadian oil and every kilowatt of clean Canadian power can displace less clean, riskier energy elsewhere in the world. Our exports can help our allies break dependence on authoritarian regimes and help the world reduce our emissions.' Uh oh. If this view holds sway, the Carney government is about to take us backwards on climate policy. In an era in which the economic and political might of oligarchic corporations is defining our lives, is this new Liberal government prepared to actually take on corporate power, from the fossil fuel corporations to corporate landlords and mega-grocery chains? Will it truly do what it takes to confront the climate crisis? I'd say the odds are slim. And if not, the political space to do so will be vacant. That's a gift for the federal NDP, but only if it is prepared to audaciously claim the space. The forthcoming NDP leadership race will be a battle for the soul and rebirth of the party. Will it see the party continue its long march towards centrist 'respectability' and 'pragmatism,' or will it see the re-emergence of a proudly left party that seeks to confront corporate power and build public wealth? Will it see a move towards restored grassroots democracy, less centralization, and a casting out of the corporate and fossil fuel lobbyists who have long dominated the party's backrooms, or will it see these interests reassert and consolidate their grip? Some of those fossil fuel-connected insiders and pundits blame the NDP's poor outcome, at least in part, on a purported abandonment of working people by becoming too green and opposing fossil fuel projects. Nonsense. The NDP should absolutely re-assert itself as the defender of working people. But in a world in which declining fossil fuels is inevitable, the party will most fruitfully defend fossil fuel workers and communities by refusing to consign them to the scrapheap of history – by pressing for robust just transition plans that genuinely leave no one behind. The NDP's curse hasn't been that it's too radical, but rather, that it hasn't been radical enough; it has not brashly and unabashedly defended its views in nearly the way we have seen from the new Conservatives and far right. Having failed to truly distinguish themselves from the Liberals, it wasn't too hard a stretch for many of the NDP's traditional voters – desperate to avoid a Poilievre win – to line up behind Carney in April. Ironically, for many, it was a frantic act to protect and preserve many of the very policies and programs for which the NDP deserve historic credit. For now, what the NDP most needs is a truly robust race with many contenders, and a long enough timeline that those contenders are encouraged to sign up tens of thousands of new members. At this stage, however,.
Ottawa Citizen
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
B.C. could face huge challenges if Alberta declares independence
Article content A vote for independence in Alberta would divide Canada at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening the country's sovereignty and could pose headaches for B.C. Article content Article content The trading relationship between B.C. and Alberta is estimated at well over $30 billion annually and 'Wild Rose Country' is B.C.'s most important economic partner within Canada. Article content Ports in B.C. rely on railways, pipelines and highways that cross Alberta to move goods to and from the rest of the country, and there could be enormous challenges if these routes are disrupted. Article content Article content Premier David Eby has been reluctant to weigh in so far on the possibility of a sovereign Alberta outside of comments calling for national unity in the face of Trump's 51st state threats. Article content Article content However, he's not been shy about calling out his displeasure with outside actors becoming involved. Article content 'It is a tired trope. It is a waste of time, and it is an attack on the unity that we have right now as a country standing up to the Trump administration, for political, partisan gains,' Eby said in April in response to former Reform Party leader Preston Manning's column in the Globe and Mail suggesting a victory for Mark Carney's Liberals in the federal election could lead to Western secession. Article content Conservative Leader John Rustad has been more supportive of Alberta's grievances, saying Carney needs to 'step up to the plate' after his victory. Article content The fires of separatism leading up to the April 28 federal election have been exacerbated in the weeks since by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's move to lower the number of signatures needed to trigger a referendum, from 600,000 to 177,000. Article content Article content A new Alberta Republican party has also been organizing to get those signatures in time for a 2026 referendum. Article content Article content Those developments could cause tension this week as the premiers of B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are meeting in Yellowknife for their annual conference. Article content As that meeting began on Wednesday, Eby lamented separatism, without using the word 'Alberta,' saying it's hard to 'imagine a worse time to be tacitly or overtly supporting voices' that want to break Canada apart. Article content Stewart Prest, a University of B.C. political scientist, said the challenge for Eby is to balance his belief in Confederation with an understanding of Alberta's, and to a lesser extent Saskatchewan's, concerns they aren't receiving their fair share. Article content 'If I were the premier, I would be finding ways to say that Alberta is heard and seen as part of Confederation, but also that this federation is stronger for Alberta's presence than if Alberta is separated,' said Prest.
