🇮🇱 U.K., Australia, Canada and others impose sanctions on far-right Israeli ministers

Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Norway jointly imposed the sanctions, which will restrict the right to travel and will freeze the financial assets of the Israeli security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir; and the finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich.

Mr. Smotrich and Mr. Ben-Gvir are among the most hard-line members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet.

The Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Saar, reacted defiantly, describing the move as “unacceptable,” and saying the government would meet next week to discuss a response.
#UK #Israel #Australia
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🪖Canadian military surpasses 2025 recruitment goal, hits 10-year high

The Department of Defence released numbers Monday, showing that 6,706 recruits enrolled in the regular forces between April 1, 2024 and March 31, 2025, surpassing its target of 6,496.

The figures represent a 55 per cent increase from the previous year and a 10-year peak.

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Visitors on expired visas expected to leave on their own: Immigration Minister

Visitors who have stayed in Canada well past their visa expiry dates are required to leave the country on their own, Immigration Minister Lena Diab said.

It is not up to the Immigration Department to enforce the removal of deportees, she added.

A 2024 government briefing note indicated there may be up to half a million undocumented migrants in Canada.
#immigration
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❌ Poilievre calls for ‘severe limits’ on Canadian population growth

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says the Canadian population has grown out of control and is calling on the Liberal government to further reduce immigration.

We want severe limits on population growth to reverse the damage the Liberals did to our system. The population has been growing out of control, our border has been left wide open. This has caused the free flow of drugs, illegal migration, human trafficking and much worse.

#Poilievre #immigration
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🚨 Almost $50 million in cocaine found hidden in trucks crossing into Canada from U.S., police say

A cross-border drug smuggling network using commercial truck drivers to haul large loads of cocaine across the border from the United States into Canada has been revealed by police in southern Ontario, leading to the arrest of nine men and the seizure of 479 kilograms of bulk cocaine bricks.

Of the nine arrested, six have since been released on bail while three are still awaiting bail hearings after what Peel Regional Police described Tuesday as the largest drug bust in the police service’s history.
#Ontario #US
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🇮🇳 Carney should rescind Modi’s G7 invite over surveillance of Jagmeet Singh: NDP

The NDP is calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney to rescind Narendra Modi’s invitation to the G7 Summit after it was revealed a suspected agent of the Indian government surveilled their former leader.

Jagmeet Singh was under surveillance by an agent suspected of working for the Indian government, which resulted in the former NDP leader being placed under RCMP protection in late 2023.
#India
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🇺🇸 ‘Stay away from demonstrations’: Canada updates travel advice for L.A.

The Canadian government is warning travellers to “stay away from demonstrations” in U.S. cities like Los Angeles.

Protests over immigration raids erupted in Los Angeles on June 6 and have since spread to other major U.S. cities like Chicago and New York.

In an update to its travel advice and advisories for the U.S. published late Wednesday, Global Affairs Canada urged travellers to Los Angeles and other impacted cities to “follow the instructions of local authorities, including curfew orders.”
#US
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🇺🇸 U.S. border officials say additional checks of Canada-bound vehicles are here to stay

U.S. border officials said that outbound searches of vehicles heading north into Canada are now the norm and will be happening indefinitely.

U.S. officials say that while the majority of Canadians heading north are bringing back the usual gas and groceries, on May 1 they stepped up vehicle searches for drug smuggling and human trafficking.
#US
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🗳Former MP Pablo Rodriguez chosen as new leader of Quebec Liberal Party

Quebec Liberals have chosen former MP Pablo Rodriguez as their next leader after voting closed Saturday.

Rodriguez bested opponent Charles Milliard in the second round taking 52.3 per cent of the points allocated.
#Quebec
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🇨🇦🇬🇧 Canada and UK set to restart trade talks

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Ottawa on Sunday, agreeing to restart trade talks between the two nations.

The negotiations, previously stalled by disputes over cheese and beef exports, will be handled by a new working group tasked with finding solutions within six months. Both governments emphasized cooperation in areas like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and critical minerals, highlighted by Canadian company Cohere Inc. expanding operations in both countries.

In 2024, the UK was Canada’s fifth-largest trade partner, with $38 billion in bilateral trade.
#UK
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🇺🇸 Trump says trade deal with Canada ‘achievable’ as G-7 opens

President Donald Trump expressed optimism about settling a trade dispute with Canada during his time at the Group of Seven summit, calling a deal in the coming weeks between the US and its northern neighbor “achievable.”

I think we have different concepts. I have a tariff concept. Mark has a different concept, which is something that some people like, but we’re going to see if we can get to the bottom of it today.

Trump said during a meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney.
#US
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💸 Cost of Canada hosting G7 Summit

Canada’s yearlong G7 presidency is culminating in a three-day meeting June 15 to June 17 in the Rocky Mountain resort town, hosted by Prime Minister Mark Carney. It will be the seventh time Canada has hosted the annual gathering of advanced economies.

The last time Canada hosted the G7 was in Charlevoix, Que., in 2018. That meeting, as well as related events over the course of that year, were estimated to cost $600 million.

That was double the estimated $300 million price tag the G7 Research Group placed on the 2002 Kananaskis summit.

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❌ Conservatives seek lifetime ban for ArriveCan contractor GCStrategies

The Conservatives have put forward a motion calling on the government to impose a lifetime ban on contracts for GCStrategies after the Auditor-General’s report that Ottawa paid the company millions of dollars, often without ensuring work was actually done.

The Liberal government announced last week that GCStrategies is banned from federal contracting for seven years, but a lifetime ban would extend that indefinitely.

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🇨🇦🇮🇳 India and Canada reach deal to share intelligence on terrorism, crime

The governments of Canada and India are set to establish a new structure to share information about cross-border crimes.

The new information-sharing arrangement, which includes law enforcement agencies from both countries, will allow them to swap intelligence on transnational crime and syndicates, terrorism and extremist activities, according to officials who asked not to be identified because the discussions are still private.
#India
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💉Canada’s top doctor Theresa Tam leaving position when term ends June 20

Dr. Theresa Tam prepares to leave her position next week. She’s held the role of chief public health officer for eight years.

Her term ends June 20 and she doesn’t have another job lined up, Tam said in a wide-ranging interview.

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👑 King Charles III approves ‘powerful symbol’ of Canada’s sovereignty and identity

King Charles III has approved the new Great Seal of Canada, the imprint of which is used to make the country’s most important documents official.

Charles approved the seal’s design during his royal visit in late May, according to a press release from the Governor General of Canada.

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🪖Canada to join major European rearmament deal as early as June 23: sources

Prime Minister Mark Carney plans on joining a sweeping European plan in Belgium this month to rearm the continent and provide more military aid to Ukraine.

Last month, Carney signalled that he hopes to sign on to the new defence initiative by Canada Day as he tries to move away from relying on the United States for weapons and munitions.

Now sources with knowledge of the matter say Carney is expected to join the rearmament deal as early as June 23, when he meets with European leaders in Brussels at the EU-Canada summit.

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💰$30-billion in investment needed by 2040 to meet Canada’s critical mineral demand, report finds

A newly released report estimates Canada will need at least $30-billion in new capital investments by 2040 if it wants to meet domestic demand for the critical minerals key to a green economy transition.

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💉Most Albertans will have to pay for COVID-19 shots starting this fall, province says

Alberta's government says that since provinces began taking on responsibility for procuring the shots, it wants to cut down on waste. It says an estimated one million COVID-19 vaccine doses, or just over half of Alberta's supply, were not used during the 2023-24 respiratory virus season. It says that means $135 million worth of shots were wasted.

The government says it hasn't yet determined how much Albertans would pay, but an estimated cost to procure each vaccine is $110.
#Alberta
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📝 Poilievre to undergo Conservative Party leadership review in January

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will face a mandatory leadership review in January, after the party failed to form government in the last federal election.

The Conservative Party's national council agreed that the leadership review would take place in Calgary.
#Poilievre
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