Section: National Newswatch (Canada)
Committee calls on Canada to co-operate with NATO to respond to Russia in Arctic
OTTAWA — A House of Commons committee is urging the government to work with NATO to determine Russia’s military intentions in the North and get help to protect the country’s Arctic sovereignty. That was the top recommendation of a report tabled Wednesday by the Commons foreign-affairs committee based on a study it began last June. It...
Canada can expect election meddling, but not on scale seen in U.S., spies warn
OTTAWA — Canadian voters will very likely experience some kind of online foreign interference related to the coming federal election, a new report from the national cyberspy agency warns. But the agency says the meddling is unlikely to be on the scale of Russian interference against the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In an assessment released...
Freeland says foreign election meddling in October federal vote is likely
OTTAWA — Malign foreign actors will likely try to meddle in Canada’s federal election in October, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says. “I think our judgment is interference is very likely and we think there has probably already been efforts by malign foreign actors to disrupt our democracy,” Freeland said Friday in...
Online misinformation stoking fear of vaccines: OMA
TORONTO — Doctors in Ontario are warning that misinformation being spread online is undermining public trust in vaccines. The Ontario Medical Association, which represents about 31,500 doctors in the province, has launched a public awareness campaign through Twitter, Facebook and traditional media in a bid to combat myths around vaccines. The...
Canada won’t extend peacekeeping mission in Mali: Freeland
OTTAWA — The Trudeau government will not extend Canada’s peacekeeping mission in Mali despite a direct appeal from the United Nations for it to stay longer to prevent a gap in the provision of lifesaving medical evacuations. Speaking to reporters at the end of a major peacekeeping conference in New York, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia...
UN, Canada at odds over restrictions on promised military transport plane
OTTAWA — The United Nations is pushing back against restrictions Canada wants to put on the use of a military transport plane it promised to deploy in Africa. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first announced in November 2017 that Canada would send a C-130 Hercules to Uganda as part of a larger package of pledges to the UN. The idea at the time was...
Israel-Canada close despite differences on Golan Heights recognition: envoy
OTTAWA — Israel disagrees with Canada’s stance towards the Golan Heights and the effectiveness of the Iran nuclear deal, but the country’s envoy still believes the Trudeau government’s broader Middle East policy is very supportive. Ambassador Nimrod Barkan said Canada-Israel relations are like a long-married couple: they may...
Ukraine’s top cop walks thin blue line between Russian meddling, free election
OTTAWA — Two weeks after Serhii Kniaziev’s military career ended, the Iron Curtain fell, the Soviet Union crumbled and the young ex-soldier returned to Ukraine and quickly found his calling — the thin blue line of policing. In the latter days of his military service, he was posted to the volatile Caucasus region, where ethnic conflict and...
Canada extends Iraq and Ukraine military missions to 2021 and 2022
OTTAWA — Canada is extending its military missions in Ukraine and Iraq, both of which were due to expire at the end of the month. The extensions shore up Canada’s contributions to the global effort to curb Russian aggression in Eastern Europe and to the fight against Islamic militants in the Middle East. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan and...
Council of Saskatchewan city apologizes for comments in group home debate
WEYBURN, Sask. — City council in Weyburn, Sask., has apologized to residents and other Canadians for using insensitive words after a controversial decision to reject a care home for people with disabilities. But the council hasn’t said whether it will reconsider the move. A letter from the council, which was posted online Friday, said...
