3 Ontario businesses fined for illegally employing hundreds of foreign workers, police say

Three Ontario businesses have pleaded guilty and been fined after a federal investigation into unauthorized employment uncovered more than 700 illegal foreign nationals.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) confirmed that CDA Landscape Services based in Ajax, Ont. was fined $400,000 after pleading guilty to 20 counts of employing foreign nationals without authorization.

The other businesses, TDA Landscape Services and SDA Services, pleaded guilty to two counts each and were both fined $25,000.
#Ontario
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Canada’s Joly aims for maximum pressure on Trump, Europe pivot

Canada is aiming to put maximum pressure on US President Donald Trump in response to his barrage of tariffs, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said, adding that it intends to pivot to Europe and Asia to find new markets.

We are putting maximum pressure on the Trump administration to pull back on any form of tariffs. We are looking to the European Union to be closer and we’re looking to partners in Asia.

#US #EU
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🪖🇺🇸Poilievre says Canada, not U.S., will set its own defence budget as Trump pushes for 5% NATO spending target

Pierre Poilievre said under a Conservative government Canada would make its own, sovereign decisions on increasing military spending as U.S. President Donald Trump once again puts pressure on NATO allies to boost defence budgets to 5 per cent of GDP.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a meeting of NATO foreign affairs ministers in Brussels said Washington expects all alliance members to commit to raising defence spending to 5 per cent of gross domestic product.

Canada currently spends about 1.37 per cent and has pledged to reach 2 per cent by 2030.
#Poilievre #NATO #US
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🇬🇧🇺🇸 Carney, Starmer discuss deeper trade ties in response to Trump's tariff war

Prime Minister Mark Carney says he spoke Sunday with his counterpart in the United Kingdom about the fallout from the United States’ global tariff campaign.

A readout from Carney’s office says he talked with U.K. Prime Minster Keir Starmer about the United States’ “unjustified trade actions” and the need to strengthen trade ties between Canada and the U.K.
#UK #US
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NDP faces possible collapse

A Global News seat projection model, based on an aggregate of polling done up to March 24, indicates the NDP may win just three seats.

To be recognized as an official party in the House of Commons — and qualify for more research funding and question period slots — a party must win 12 seats. The NDP won 24 in 2021.

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Alberta moves closer to creating optional provincial police force that could replace RCMP

Alberta’s government is taking another step toward giving municipalities the option of ditching the RCMP in favour of a new provincial police service.

If passed, a proposed bill would mean a new agency must operate under a Crown corporation that would be at arm’s length from the government.

An extra $6 million has been set aside for the agency’s leadership team, but Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis says if the province shifts about $136 million in annual Alberta Sheriffs funding for police work, there could be little startup costs.
#Alberta
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Ex-PM Stephen Harper endorses Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre

In his endorsement, Harper said Poilievre was the best candidate for a “better, stronger and more united future.”
#Poilievre #election
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🇺🇸 B.C. cancer patients will no longer go to U.S. for treatment, province announces

Cancer patients in British Columbia will no longer be referred to clinics in Bellingham, Wash., for care, Health Minister Josie Osborne announced Monday.

Osborne says the ministry's decision was not a result of the current U.S.-Canada trade war but due to declining participation in the program and shorter wait times for care in B.C.
#BritishColumbia #US
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Alberta premier suggests Mark Carney has issues with ‘strong conservative women’

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith responded Monday to Liberal Leader Mark Carney using her as a stump speech punchline, saying Carney has issues with assertive women of opposing ideologies.

I’ve noticed this with progressive men and how much they talk about how much they support women until they meet a strong conservative woman. The attitude is, ‘sit down and shut up.’ Well, I don’t shut up, I make sure that Albertans know exactly how I feel about issues — and I’m gonna continue advocating on behalf of my province, whether he likes it or not.

#Alberta #Smith #Carney
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Ontario announces $11-billion in promised tariff relief for businesses

Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced Monday that his government was offering Ontario businesses six months of tax deferrals as the levies weighed on the province’s auto, steel and aluminum sectors.

The move suspends interest payments and penalties for a list of provincial taxes that businesses face, including a health tax and levies on insurance, gas, alcohol and tobacco, with the relief worth up to $9-billion. Those tax bills are now set to come due on Oct. 1.
#Ontario
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🇺🇸🚙 Canada to impose tariffs of 25% on vehicles imported from U.S. starting Wednesday

The federal government said its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. vehicles, which it announced last week with no implementation date, would take effect early Wednesday.

The countertariffs are the first imposed by Mark Carney since he became Prime Minister, and the first enacted during Canada’s 45th general election campaign, which ends with voting on April 28.

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the retaliatory auto tariffs would apply as of 12:01 a.m. ET on Wednesday. The federal government had promised this response after Mr. Trump imposed tariffs on foreign-made automobiles, including from Canada, but had not yet followed through until Tuesday’s abrupt announcement.
#US
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🌲 B.C. premier urges Carney to prioritize forestry amid U.S. tariff hike

British Columbia Premier David Eby has urged Liberal Leader Mark Carney to prioritize the province's forestry sector following the U.S. decision to more than double tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber from 14.54% to 34.45%.

This move threatens thousands of jobs in B.C. Eby and Carney discussed a "Team Canada response" and explored using B.C. lumber in national affordable housing projects to offset trade losses.
#BritishColumbia #US
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☕️ How many coffees would you need to stop buying to afford a home in Ontario

A study calculated how long it would take to save a 20 per cent down payment using just your coffee savings.

🔹In the London-St. Thomas area, where the average home costs $608,500, a 20 per cent down payment sits at $121,700. That means it would take 90 years of coffee shop-free mornings to save enough.

🔹In Kitchener-Waterloo, the wait jumps to 106 years, where homes cost an average of $13,800. Over in Hamilton-Burlington, you’d be skipping your morning treat for more than a lifetime, or about 121 years, to cover a down payment of $164,160.

🔹And in Toronto? The average home costs an estimated $1,060,300, which would require a $212,060 down payment. At $1,350 extra saved a year, you would need to refrain from your daily coffee-shop run for more than 157 years.
#Ontario #housing
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🇺🇸💰White House says Canada exempt from Trump’s baseline reciprocal tariffs

U.S. President Donald Trump “authorized” a 90-day pause on some tariffs while vowing to raise levies against China to 125 per cent, effective immediately, he said Wednesday.

Carney says Trump’s pause on reciprocal tariffs are a “welcome reprieve for the global economy.”

As President Trump and I have agreed, the U.S. President and the Canadian Prime Minister will commence negotiations on a new economic and security relationship immediately following the Federal election.

Carney wrote on X.
#US
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🗳Over 130,000 Canadians already voted as election campaign hits halfway point

With 20 days to go before voting day, over 130,000 Canadians had already cast their ballots. That's more than double the number cast at this point in the 2021 election.

This leaves so much room for fraud.
#election
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🗳🇮🇳Can’t do ‘CSIS background checks’ on donors, Poilievre responds to ‘friends’ of Modi report

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre responded Wednesday to questions about money he received from self-described friends of India’s ruling party, saying he could not screen all donors.

I received 37,000 separate donations that anybody can make online. We don’t have the capacity to do CSIS background checks on every single person who makes those 37,000 donations.

#Poilievre #election #India
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Quebecer who killed wife, children must stay in men’s prison despite identifying as female

A Quebecer convicted last year in a domestic homicide that left a woman and two children dead must remain in a men’s prison despite identifying as a woman, federal corrections officials said Wednesday.

Mohamad Al Ballouz, who now uses the name Levana, was sentenced in December to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years.

No preferential treatment for murderers.
#Quebec
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🇺🇸 Former congressman Pete Hoekstra confirmed as new U.S. ambassador to Canada

Former Michigan congressman Pete Hoekstra has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the new United States ambassador to Canada.

While Trump has repeatedly claimed Canada should become a U.S. state, Hoekstra told his confirmation hearing that Canada is a sovereign country.

Hoekstra says Canada is America’s most valuable trading partner, its largest source of foreign investment and largest source of energy imports.
#US
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Carney says he will meet ministers to discuss tariffs

Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday said he would convene a meeting of top cabinet colleagues on Friday to discuss the threat posed to the economy by U.S. tariffs.
#Carney #USA
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