Â鶹ӰÊÓ

Politics

    • PM Trudeau says foreign interference special rapporteur to be named soon, as Liberal filibuster persists

    Share

    A week after committing to name a new special rapporteur to take on assessing the allegations of federal election interference by China and the issue of foreign meddling overall, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canadians should know who he's picked "in the coming days or week."

    "We know how important it is for Canadians to have confidence in our system and to have the right independent expert, reassuring of that. Because this is not about what one political party says or another," Trudeau said, facing questions about the commitment from reporters during a media availability in Nova Scotia on Tuesday.

    "It's about making sure that experts are stepping up to reinforce the integrity of our democratic processes. We are working to appoint that special rapporteur, that special independent expert in the coming days or week. We're working extremely quickly on that," Trudeau said.

    That is essentially the same timeline he offered when he announced last Monday that the Liberals planned to tap an independent expert to take on making recommendations on combatting interference and strengthening Canada's democracy.

    One of the yet-to-be-selected independent official's first orders of business will be to recommend to the federal government whether a formal inquiry or other form of probe or judicial review is the best next step.

    Noting the mixed views among Canadians and experts around a public inquiry, Trudeau has vowed that the Liberals would "abide by" the guidance of the person chosen on whether an inquiry is needed and, if so, what its mandate and scope should be.

    "This is a serious issue that we have always taken seriously and therefore, we're making sure that Canadians will continue to have confidence by appointing an independent expert to look at the entire landscape around national security and election interference from Beijing and other places as well," Trudeau said. 

    This move, made as part of a suite of new measures aimed at addressing Canadians' concerns over alleged election meddling by China during the last two federal campaigns, has not satisfied opposition parties.

    They still want an inquiry called, and at minimum have been pushing for the prime minister to work with other parties in Parliament to come to an agreement on who the rapporteur should be. Trudeau has previously indicated that he was willing to consult the opposition parties on deciding which "eminent Canadian" takes on this new role.

    In a letter responding to what his office said was an invitation by cabinet to suggest names for who could take on the role of special rapporteur, Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet said Tuesday that his party wouldn’t be submitting any names of candidates until Trudeau confirmed he'll call a public inquiry. He also wants the prime minister to commit to allowing the House of Commons to decide who would lead it.

    "This is the only way to restore public confidence in our electoral system. Parliament is asking for this inquiry through a motion passed at the PROC committee and we believe that is what the public is asking for as well. Thus, it is no longer up to a special rapporteur to determine whether to investigate," Blanchet wrote to Trudeau in French.

    TRUDEAU HAS 'INSPIRED A LOT OF SUSPICION': POILIEVRE

    While confirming that "there was attempted interference from Beijing into our electoral processes," Trudeau once again sought to assure Canadians on Tuesday that ultimately the outcomes of the 2019 and 2021 elections were not affected.

    Asked by a reporter during an event on the other side of the country on Tuesday whether he was concerned about Conservative supporters viewing the electoral system as unfair, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Trudeau has "inspired a lot of suspicion" by refusing to answer questions about "his knowledge of Beijing's interference to help him in two successful successive elections." 

    Poilievre once again called out Trudeau for not calling a public inquiry and said Canadians want to know what he has to hide, after the prime minister repeatedly declined to offer details about what he knew and when in relation to some of the allegations being reported. 

    "If we want to restore faith in our democracy, we have to answer the questions and bring in transparency so Canadians know what happened, and we get direct action to make sure it never happens again," Poilievre said during an announcement in British Columbia.

    LIBERAL FILIBUSTER PERSISTS AT PROC

    In the meantime, a Liberal-led filibuster is ongoing at the Procedure and House Affairs Committee (PROC) over an opposition-led push to call top staffers to testify as part of its ongoing study of foreign interference.

    PROC's study was sparked by now-under-investigation leaks from intelligence officials to The Globe and Mail and Global News, alleging specific efforts from China to interfere in the last two federal elections.

    The latest push is to see Trudeau's chief of staff Katie Telford and other backroom campaign officials testify as this committee continues its probe, alongside the new investigations being undertaken by two national security bodies: the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) and the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA).

    Now into its second week, the Liberals have dragged on debate, putting off the vote on whether to call staffers by suggesting ways to pare down the proposal, voicing concerns about putting officials in such a position given the national security implications, while speaking at length about the issue of foreign interference generally.

    "Obviously the Canadian public would love to know, everybody would love to know what our intelligence institutions, what our executive branch of government, our cabinet knew? When they knew it? How they knew it? And what they did about it," said Liberal MP Anita Vandenbeld, one of a few members of Trudeau's caucus who was subbed in to take part in the hours-long meeting on Tuesday.

    "But you know, who else would like to know that? China. China would love to know what did we know or what didn't we know? And how did we find that out? And then more importantly… What did we do about it? These are not things that can be talked about, in a public, an open forum," she said.

    Suggesting that the concerns around foreign interference are not the most pressing issue that MPs are hearing about from their constituents, Liberal MP Wayne Long asked his colleagues to "not create a scandal where a scandal doesn't exist."

    "Let the rapporteur do its work. And truthfully, I can't wait to see who's appointed, because I'll bet you it's going to be somebody hopefully—and knocking on wood here—that all parties are going to be able to say 'oh, okay, oh… we respect them. Okay… we just, you know, wasted a week and a half in PROC here.'"

    When getting moments between Liberal monologues, Conservative MPs are imploring the committee to call the vote.

    "It's been now more than 14 hours, over four days, that the Liberal MPs on this committee have been filibustering. Drowning on for hours and hours and hours, on a very simple motion… It really begs the question, what does this prime minister have to hide? How much longer are you guys across the way going to continue this? Let's get it to a vote," said Conservative MP Michael Cooper around mid-day Tuesday. 

    As of 5 p.m. ET the filibuster continued, with PROC Chair and Liberal MP Bardish Chagger quipping just before a late-afternoon "health break" that she hopes MPs "will come to an understanding, or a way to call the question."

    "And I, too, look forward to that happening." 

    IN DEPTH

    Opinion

    opinion

    opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster

    A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?

    opinion

    opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike

    When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.

    CTVNews.ca Top Stories

    Days after a political sign was erected outside Lululemon founder Chip Wilson's Vancouver mansion, the waterfront property has been vandalized with graffiti.

    Toronto Coun. Michael Thompson 'forced himself on' a woman who awoke to find him standing over her after she fell asleep drunk, the Crown alleged Monday, as the five-day sexual assault trial of the six-term politician began in Bracebridge, Ont.

    A disgraced Winnipeg high school football coach convicted of sexual assault and luring will spend 20 years behind bars.

    Two people are in hospital after they were chased and shot at in what appears to be an act of road rage before eventually flipping their car while trying to escape, police say.

    Canada

    • A disgraced Winnipeg high school football coach convicted of sexual assault and luring will spend 20 years behind bars.

    • Toronto Coun. Michael Thompson 'forced himself on' a woman who awoke to find him standing over her after she fell asleep drunk, the Crown alleged Monday, as the five-day sexual assault trial of the six-term politician began in Bracebridge, Ont.

    • Days after a political sign was erected outside Lululemon founder Chip Wilson's Vancouver mansion, the waterfront property has been vandalized with graffiti.

    • The day after a minivan was set ablaze outside Vancouver City Hall, a 78-year-old man has been criminally charged.

    • Videos of a meteor streaking across the skies of southern Ontario have surfaced and small bits of the outer space rock may have made it to land, one astronomy professor says.

    • Two people are in hospital after they were chased and shot at in what appears to be an act of road rage before eventually flipping their car while trying to escape, police say.

    World

    Politics

    Health

    Sci-Tech

    Entertainment

    Business

    Lifestyle

    Sports

    Autos

    • A Pickering, Ont., student going to college to be a mechanic is shocked the engine in his two-year-old car will not be repaired under warranty after the dealership claimed he had been 'over-revving' the engine.

    Local Spotlight

    Videos of a meteor streaking across the skies of southern Ontario have surfaced and small bits of the outer space rock may have made it to land, one astronomy professor says.

    A unique form of clouds made an appearance over the skies of Ottawa on Sunday evening.

    Bernie Hicks, known as the ‘Batman of Amherst,’ always wanted to sit in a Batmobile until a kind stranger made it happen.

    Bubi’s Awesome Eats, located on University Ave West took to social media to announce the closure on Friday.

    Weeneebayko Area Health Authority and the Government of Ontario have awarded a $1.8 billion fixed-price contract to design, build and finance a new Far North hospital.

    Manitobans are in cleanup mode after intense winds barreled through southern parts of the province this weekend.

    Avry Wortman, 13, scored two touchdowns on Sunday during her team's win in the under 14 Greater Moncton Football Association.

    A gargantuan gourd – affectionately named ‘Orangina’ by the urban gardeners who grew it in the front yard of their Vancouver home – earned the massive honour of being named B.C.’s heaviest giant pumpkin Saturday.

    Chantal Kreviazuk is set to return to Winnipeg to mark a major milestone in her illustrious musical career.

    • Monday was a solemn and emotional day for Israelis and Palestinians. The Oct. 7, 2023, attack saw more than 1,200 Israelis killed and has since left more than 41,000 dead in Gaza.

    • A B.C. couple is getting desperate – and creative – in their search for their missing dog.

    • Child care was front and centre Monday for the BC NDP, its leader David Eby promoting the party's campaign promises.

    • A man has died after being shot on Monday night in North York, say police.

    • Toronto’s Jewish community is coming together to mourn and is calling for allyship as it marks one year since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel that triggered a war that is still raging on.

    • Two people are in hospital after they were chased and shot at in what appears to be an act of road rage before eventually flipping their car while trying to escape, police say.

    • Less than 48 hours after his Monterey Park townhome was gutted by a fiery explosion, Calgarian Owen DeFoe returned on Monday to see what was left.

    • Two meat stores and one restaurant have reopened after being closed by AHS. The stores were accused of selling uninspected meat -- a claim the owners denied, saying they produced all the paperwork required to prove their case.

    • A 17-year-old boy was killed in a motorcycle crash in southeast Calgary over the weekend.

    • An event was held in Ottawa to honour the victims on the anniversary of the worst attack against Jewish people since the Holocaust.

    • The Ottawa Police Service is investigating after a body was found along a road in Barrhaven. Emergency crews responded to a report of a deceased person at approximately 10:15 a.m. Monday in the 3100 block of Greenbank Road, at Strandherd Drive.

    • The Renfrew County Joint Transportation Consortium (RCJTC) and school bus operators have reached a contract agreement in principle.

    • Montreal students and supporters showed their grief and anger at protests and vigils as they marked the anniversary of the current war between Israel and Gaza.

    • Celine Dion introduced the marquee Dallas Cowboys - Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday Night Football game before getting drenched by orange Gatorade.

    • There is not one space in the Look family home that isn't somehow connected to Alexandre – from the paintings on the wall to the tequila bottles he collected, his parents have spent the last year gathering his things and bringing them home.

    • Provincial ministers testified before the House of Commons on Monday, asking the federal government to pay for the cost of the Jasper wildfire.

    • A Grande Prairie man has been charged with kidnapping after an assault on Sunday.

    • After four years of criticism, the Alberta government is considering changing how schools are funded

    • CTV Atlantic meteorologist Kalin Mitchell has details on rain and downpours expected Monday through early Wednesday in the Maritimes, plus an update on Hurricane Milton.

    • For the first time in years, a direct flight from Halifax touched down at the JD McCurdy Sydney Airport on Monday.

    • With exactly two-weeks to go until election day, New Brunswick’s three main political parties spent Monday on the campaign trail talking about crime and health.

    • A disgraced Winnipeg high school football coach convicted of sexual assault and luring will spend 20 years behind bars.

    • After concerns were raised in the summer, it appears some 7-Eleven stores in Winnipeg may be shutting down because of crime.

    • One year has passed since Hamas militants murdered 1,200 Israelis and took more than 200 people hostage. Since the horrific attack, nearly 42,000 people have been killed in Gaza, as the war between Israel and Hamas rages on.

    • Regina resident Murray Yagelniski says a city-owned tree on his property is the root of the issue behind his basement flooding.

    • The Saskatchewan NDP says the province's troubled payment and scheduling system for healthcare is only half implemented and has costed taxpayers nearly triple its original price tag so far.

    • The John Howard Society of Saskatchewan will appear in front of the Supreme Court of Canada on Tuesday challenging a regulation that it says lets correctional workers discipline inmates without sufficient proof.

    • Communities across Canada, including in Waterloo Region, are marking one year since the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the Israel-Hamas war.

    • In September, Â鶹ӰÊÓ Kitchener reported on Sandvine's deals with autocratic governments, including Egypt, where its tech reportedly helped inject spyware into the devices of government critics.

    • The penalty hearing for Guelph Police constable Corey McArthur has heard from two character witnesses, both supporting an eventual return to policing for the officer who has admitted to assaulting a teen who was handcuffed to a hospital bed.

    • Saskatoon’s Prairie Harm Reduction (PHR) says a staff member arrived to work on Thursday morning to find someone at its doorstep, unresponsive from a suspected drug overdose.

    • A 36-year-old woman accused of sexually assaulting, physically assaulting and threatening residents at a Saskatchewan care home, was not in court when her matters were spoken to Monday afternoon.

    • Saskatoon mayoral candidate Cynthia Block says the city needs a new deal with Ottawa to keep life affordable.

    • Ontario Provincial Police are investigating a fatal crash of a side-by-side off-road vehicle east of Parry Sound that killed one and injured another Friday.

    • For decades, Mississauga First Nation has known that human remains from their land were at the Canadian Museum of History.

    • The Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) is the latest organization to call on the Doug Ford government to re-open dialogue with an airline service that transports lower-income Canadians to crucial medical care far from home.

    • London police are investigating a break and enter and shooting incident that happened this past weekend and are looking for the two suspects involved.

    • Emotions have boiled over after a judge acquitted two out of three defendants in a manslaughter case, while the third accused has since died

    • Videos of a meteor streaking across the skies of southern Ontario have surfaced and small bits of the outer space rock may have made it to land, one astronomy professor says.

    • The cause of a fire that caused significant damage to a home in Oro-Medonte over the weekend is under investigation.

    • More than a hundred members of the Jewish community gathered at Barrie City Hall to commemorate the events of October 7, 2023, when Hamas abducted more than 200 Israeli civilians and today's ongoing war in the Middle East commenced.

    • One person was taken to the hospital with what police describe as minor injuries after a loose wheel caused a collision on Highway 400 in Bradford on Monday.

    • Chrysler’s parent company, Stellantis, has filed nine lawsuits against the United Auto Workers (UAW) and 23 individual local units, saying the union violated its contract by threatening to strike over the company’s future plans.

    • The Ambassador Bridge border crossing was 'temporarily closed' for a period of time, according to the Canada Border Services Agency website.

    • On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led militants launched air and ground attacks on Israel, killing nearly 1,200 and taking more than 250 hostages.

    • Major crime investigators have been called to the scene of a suspected homicide in the northern Vancouver Island community of Port Hardy.

    • The day after a minivan was set ablaze outside Vancouver City Hall, a 78-year-old man has been criminally charged.

    • A Canadian soldier who was exposed to toxic chemicals from burn pits while serving in Afghanistan has been awarded full medical compensation for testicular cancer after Veterans Affairs initially denied his claim.

    • Nearly two years after a man was stabbed to death in downtown Kelowna, RCMP have made an arrest in the case.

    • NDP Leader David Eby is promising to offer a $75-million loan forgiveness program to entice doctors, nurses and heath professionals to expand health-care services in rural British Columbia.

    • Three young suspects have been arrested in connection with a swarming attack on a teenager in B.C.'s Okanagan last week – and authorities have asked the public to stop circulating disturbing videos of the incident.

    • A Lethbridge police officer involved in a scandal involving former Lethbridge New Democrat MLA Shannon Phillips has been reprimanded.

    • Lethbridge police say a man who escaped from a psychiatric ward at the Chinook Regional Hospital has been found.

    • While the summer may be over, construction season in Lethbridge is not.

    • The Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) is the latest organization to call on the Doug Ford government to re-open dialogue with an airline service that transports lower-income Canadians to crucial medical care far from home.

    • For decades, Mississauga First Nation has known that human remains from their land were at the Canadian Museum of History.

    • Greater Sudbury in partnership with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, is hosting the organization's annual mining conference.

    N.L.

    Stay Connected
    Follow Â鶹ӰÊÓ