Canadian News

In roughly four minutes, officers confronted 20-year-old son Phoenix Ikner, a Florida State student, and shot and wounded him, Tallahassee police said.

Toronto police are investigating after a Liberal volunteer said she was harassed for wearing a hijab while door knocking and then followed down a street as she was walking away with other volunteers. The party's candidate for Scarborough Centre-Don Valley East says it was the woman's first day as a volunteer.

NIAGARA FALLS, ONT. — Standing against a background of the famous falls, Mark Carney was asked about his debate experience this week and turned to Charles Dickens’ famous opening line from A Tale of Two Cities.

“It was the best and worst of times as a participant,” he said, complimenting the moderators and structure of the French and English language debates but decrying the furor over the cancellation of post-debate scrums after arguments between Rebel News and other media outlets.

The Dickens quote continues that “it was the age of wisdom; it was the age of foolishness,” which sums up the tempest in a teapot nature of the scrap. Did voters really need to hear any more from the candidates after four hours of debate?

The conclusion of Dickens’ classic opening paragraph is that “it was the spring of hope; it was the winter of despair.”

• Jamie Sarkonak: Who won the debate? Poilievre, easy
• John Ivison: A debate Liberals can call a success, but not much else

The morning after the debates, the travelling Liberal contingent were on the sunny side of that paradox.

They feel that the rope-a-dope strategy of absorbing punches from three opponents, while allowing him to counter-attack when he needed to, persuaded the judges to score the bout as a tie, which is in line with the public polling.

The sun was shining as the Liberals left Montreal and headed into potentially vote-rich territory in the Niagara region, where the rupture in relations with the United States is an existential issue.

There are four seats here — Niagara Falls-Niagara on the Lake, Niagara West, Niagara South and St. Catharines. Prior to the writ drop, the first two were held by the Conservatives, Tony Baldinelli and Dean Allison; and the latter two by the Liberals, Vance Badawey and Chris Bittle.

The Liberals say they are “very positive” about picking up the Niagara Falls seat held by Baldinelli with regional councillor, Andrea Kaiser, who lost narrowly in 2019 and 2021. She was only persuaded to run again after Carney won the leadership. This is a seat that the Liberals haven’t won for 25 years.

They sound less optimistic about displacing Allison in next door Niagara West. But all the races in this region are tight and three months ago, every riding was expected to turn blue.

There are probably very few areas of Canada where Liberal fortunes have turned as dramatically. Liberal candidates who were being chased off doorsteps are now being greeted warmly.

If they don’t pick up this seat when their whole campaign is centred on border issues, and the NDP vote has collapsed, the party is destined for the opposition side of the House.

Carney, flanked by the American side of the falls and a still-busy Rainbow bridge, was in danger of being blown away by the strong wind that persuaded his team to ditch his teleprompters.

In his remarks, he talked about two towns with the same name straddling the shared border, each with a stake in the other’s success, but now divided by politics.

The Chamber of Commerce has ranked Niagara Falls as one of the most threatened communities — 16th out of 41 — because of its exposure to tariffs hitting tourism and manufacturing.

The reporter from the local Niagara Falls Review pointed out that people in the city have family and work connections over the border and asked Carney whether he thought things will ever return to normal.

The Liberal leader said the situation is fluid. “It will be better than it is now, but it will never go back to what it was before,” he said.

He ran through his greatest hits in relation to the tariff threat: “in a crisis, plan beats no plan”; “we have to act with overwhelming force”; and, who could forget?, “they’re trying to break us so they can own us.”

Still, as Churchill pointed out, if you have an important point to make, don’t be subtle or clever: “Hit it once, then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time with a tremendous whack.”

The Liberals are in the lead going into the final week of the campaign because they have not been subtle about the threat from the Trump administration.

They have been subtle about many things — such as their plans for an industrial carbon tax and an emissions cap — but they have been frank, some might say alarmist, about Trump’s designs on our land, resources and water. (The party platform is expected to be released on Saturday, which may add specifics on energy policy that have not been forthcoming to this point.)

Carney said he has been encouraged by Canadians coming together. “Americans are divided and that makes them weaker. We are uniting and that makes us stronger,” he said.

He was asked whether he believes people in the West really feel common cause with those in the East. He pointed to the agreement by first ministers, including the premiers of Alberta and Saskatchewan, to build a common strategy of one Canadian economy that includes trade and energy corridors.
“There is a shared sense of purpose,” he said.

He was also asked about the Conservative accusation that he is just like Justin Trudeau.

Carney has not been a politician long but he has quickly learned the art of kicking a fallen colleague in the guts for tactical advantage.

“I’m not Justin Trudeau. In the first month of my being the prime minister, you can see the differences: a huge focus on the economy; the ability to bring together the provinces; the diversification of security partnerships with France, the U.K., Australia and the EU. I have a totally different approach,” he said.

The four Liberal candidates in Niagara region are presumably very glad about that.

National Post
jivison@criffel.ca
Twitter.com/IvisonJ

Darcy Tucker gets stopped on the street from time to time.

With the spring wildfire season is underway, two men were arrested this week after a house was torched and grass fires lit along a road in a rural community south of Fort McMurray.

Hamilton Police said shots rang out on Thursday at around 7:30 p.m. near Upper James and South Bend Road.

John Tavares remembers watching the knife-edged action as a young hockey player dreaming of the big stage.

The PWHL's first expansion team will be based in Vancouver with an announcement scheduled for next week, a person with knowledge of the decision confirmed to The Associated Press on Friday.

BC Ferries says travellers should let traffic controllers know if they have a reservation as they may be turned away otherwise due to the heavy traffic volume.

The White House and Meloni's office on Friday issued a joint statement that said U.S. President Donald Trump would visit Italy “in the very near future.”

The Toronto Blue Jays have reinstated outfielder Nathan Lukes from the paternity list.

A 60-year-old woman died Thursday afternoon after a vehicle caught on a median and trying to get unstuck accelerated too quickly and hit her, according to Strathcona County RCMP.

Voters across the Ottawa region complained of long lineups at polling stations on the first day of advance voting, with some saying they faced hour-plus waits to cast their ballot. Read More

Brady Tkachuk will finally get to satisfy a seven-year itch. Read More

Hudson's Bay has asked a court to allow it to put the royal charter that launched the company 355 years ago on the auction block, along with its trove of art and historical artifacts.

On April 28, 2025, Canadians will head to the polls and elect members of the House of Commons to the 45th Canadian Parliament – and with it, a Prime Minister.

Canadians have a lot to weigh in this election—from the cost of living crisis and rising inequality, to the ongoing trade tensions with the United States, and a range of other pressing issues.

So, this month on our Off the Hill panel, we discussed Election 2025: What’s next for Canada? Joining us this month were former NDP Member of Parliament for Toronto—Danforth Craig Scott; poet and activist El Jones; community organizer and political commentator Jennifer Arp; and rabble’s senior parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg. Hosted by Libby Davies.

About our guests

Craig Scott is a professor of Law at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University and a former Member of Parliament for Toronto-Danforth from 2012-2015. While an MP, he served as the Official Opposition Critic for Democratic and Parliamentary Reform, during most of which period the government minister for this portfolio was Pierre Poilievre.

El Jones is a poet, author, journalist, professor and activist living in Halifax. She is the author of Abolitionist Intimacies (2022) and Live from the Afrikan Resistance! (2014).

Jennifer Arp is a community leader and non-profit professional. Previous roles include interim national president and CEO with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada and senior vice-president of the community at MS Canada. She had the privilege of representing her community on the Toronto District School Board as trustee and vice-chair from 2014-2018 where she led numerous initiatives including the Enhancing Equity Task Force. Other experience includes working at both the federal and provincial level for multiple cabinet ministers. She recently completed her Master of Arts in International and Intercultural Communications at Royal Roads University.

Karl Nerenberg is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster and filmmaker, working in both English and French languages. He is rabble’s senior parliamentary reporter.

If you like the show please consider subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts. And please, rate, review, share rabble radio with your friends — it takes two seconds to support independent media like rabble. Follow us on social media across channels @rabbleca.

The post Vote 2025: How will this election affect Canada’s future? appeared first on rabble.ca.

Debates matter in political campaigns. Or maybe they did, but no longer do? Or perhaps they hadn’t come to matter, but now do thanks to the massive interest in current events prompted by Donald Trump. Whatever the case, (INSERT YOUR PREFERRED CANDIDATE) won this week’s federal election debates. Unless they didn’t. In that case, the debates probably didn’t matter. Read More

Telus Digital workers in Turkey spend eight hours a day monitoring disgusting TikTok videos. They are asking for mental health services. The LabourStart report about union events. And singing: “A Union for the Workers.”

RadioLabour is the international labour movement’s radio service. It reports on labour union events around the world with a focus on unions in the developing world. It partners with rabble to provide coverage of news of interest to Canadian workers.

The post The Telus workers in Turkey who screen child abuse TikTok videos appeared first on rabble.ca.

Toronto police have released the identities of two young men who were the victims of a double fatal shooting in the city's Riverdale neighbourhood earlier this week.

Toronto Police Service says a vehicle hit a pole in the area of Eglinton Ave East and Brimley Road at 12:25 a.m. Friday.