Canada’s foreign affairs minister is embarking on a five-day trip to the Middle East and the Mediterranean where she will focus on peacekeeping and aid. Global Affairs Canada says Mélanie Joly is set to leave today and will visit Cyprus, Lebanon, Turkiye and Greece where she will meet with her counterparts and other government officials. In a statement, Joly says rapidly evolving situations in the Middle East and Caucuses continue to have repercussions in Canada. She says she looks forward to engaging with officials and to see how Canada can continue to provide support. Details of her trip

Federal and provincial ministers are meeting in Montreal Friday to hash out how to shrink the number of temporary residents in Canada. Immigration Minister Marc Miller is expected to meet with his provincial and territorial counterparts in person for the first time since he announced an unprecedented plan to set limits on the number of new temporary residents. The aim is to rein in Canada's runaway growth by decreasing the number of temporary residents, from 6.2 per cent of Canada's population in 2023, to five per cent over the next three years. The new targets will be developed over the summe

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is slamming the federal Liberals for giving nearly $26 million to Costco and Loblaw for energy-efficient appliances. In 2019, the Liberals faced heat from Conservatives after the government announced it was giving $12 million to Loblaw for energy-efficient refrigerators and freezers. Newly released data from Environment and Climate Change Canada shows Costco was also given more than $15 million for fridges and to reduce emissions. Loblaw was given more than $10 million. The payments were made to the two grocery chains between 2019 and 2023. Singh says while people are

After Bharatiya Janata Party in Punjab, now farmers have started opposing Aam Aadmi Party candidates.Aam Aadmi Party candidate Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, who was campaigning in Amritsar, was surrounded by farmers on Tuesday. He was campaigning in Lopoke under Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency. The farmers allege that all the promises made by the Punjab government have not been fulfilled. The Punjab government had talked about bringing the MSP guarantee law before coming to power. Apart from this, the Punjab government has not taken any decision regarding the support price of many crops, after whic

Mental Health and Addictions Minister Ya'ara Saks says the federal government has granted British Columbia's request to scale back its drug decriminalization pilot program.Saks says the change takes effect immediately. The province requested that Health Canada amend an exemption allowing the decriminalization of small amounts of drugs such as heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine. B.C. Premier David Eby said his NDP government was looking to recriminalize the use of those drugs in public spaces such as hospitals and parks. Saks says she expects police to direct people who need help to

The federal Liberals are trying to crack down on a scourge of auto thefts across the country. Recently released data show the federal government, too, is struggling to keep its own vehicles away from thieves. Documents tabled in the House of Commons this week show 48 government vehicles were stolen between January 2016 and February of this year, most of them in Ontario. Vehicles from 14 departments and agencies were reported stolen, and the RCMP was hit hardest with 19 vehicles taken, mostly in the Prairies. Ministers are not immune, either: the government tracked at least three thefts of a ju

Canada's foreign minister says Israel's invasion of the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip is "completely unacceptable," and she's holding out hope that ceasefire talks will prevail. Israeli officials announced Monday that the country approved a military operation into the border city, and Israeli forces began striking targets in the area. The move came hours after Hamas announced it had accepted an Egyptian-Qatari ceasefire proposal, which Israel says does not meet its essential demands. Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says the situation in the Palestinian territory is catastrophic, and t

Three Indian nationals accused of murdering Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar are due to face court today over the killing that triggered a major diplomatic rift with India. Karanpreet Singh, Kamalpreet Singh and Karan Brar were arrested in Edmonton last week and are scheduled to appear in Surrey Provincial Court at 9:30 a.m. All are facing charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder. Nijjar, an advocate for an independent Sikh homeland and president of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, was shot dead in his pickup truck while leaving the Surrey temple's parking lot last June. In Septe

Three suspects accused of murdering British Columbia Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year are scheduled to appear in court in Surrey on Tuesday. Indian nationals Karanpreet Singh, Kamalpreet Singh, and Karan Brar are due to face charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to murder at Surrey Provincial Court. Their arrests in Edmonton were announced on Friday in the killing of Nijjar in June last year outside the Surrey gurdwara where he was president. The killing of Nijjar, who campaigned for a separate Sikh homeland known as Khalistan, threw Canada's relationship with India into di