Canada

The anthem singer who performed the Canadian anthem prior to the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game Thursday night changed a lyric in “O Canada” as a response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated remarks about making the country the 51st state.

Publicist Adam Gonshor in an email to The Associated Press confirmed Chantal Kreviazuk changed the lyric from “in all of us command” to “that only us command” and confirmed Trump’s 51st state comments were the reason why. During the game, Kreviazuk told the AP she did it “because I believe in democracy, and a sovereign nation should not have to be defending itself against tyranny and fascism.

“I’m somebody who grew up on music that spoke to the heart and the moment, and it shaped me as a songwriter and really as a human being. I don’t think it would be authentic to me to be given a world stage and not express myself and be true to myself.”

MBFC

The Greenbelt scandal is the elephant in the room of Ontario’s 2025 election, even as Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives try to leave it in the rearview.

It’s been more than a year since the RCMP opened an investigation into the boondoggle, which saw the Ford government open sections of environmentally protected land outside Toronto for housing construction in fall 2022. That move came at the request of a select group of well-connected developers who stood to make more than $8 billion from the deal. 

In early February, The Trillium reported that two former Ford government staffers — one a central figure in the Greenbelt changes who resigned amid the fallout, the other an employee of Ford’s re-election campaign — are being sued by a developer alleging they accepted money in exchange for promises to use “backchannel contacts” to rezone land, but did not deliver.

It also prompted attention from journalists, who soon revealed developers stood to be the main beneficiaries. Ontario’s auditor general and integrity commissioner released twin reports in August 2023 that were chock-full of bombshell revelations. The public was furious, while Ford remained defiant, even as Amato and Clark resigned from their roles. (Clark has remained an MPP in the Progressive Conservative caucus, and was named government house leader last June.)

But there were also spinoff scandals. One revolved around a pre-wedding stag-and-doe party for one of Ford’s daughters in the months before the Greenbelt changes — developers were invited, and attendees were encouraged to give cash gifts to the happy couple in addition to the $150 ticket price. Another involved a Las Vegas trip involving key Tory figures and a would-be Greenbelt developer that happened in 2020. There were also allegations about an alleged unregistered lobbyist dubbed Mr. X who had close ties to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Finally, in September 2023 — as new salacious details mounted about a Tory MPP getting a massage at the same time as a would-be Greenbelt developer during that Las Vegas trip, prompting more resignations in the Progressive Conservative government

The Ontario government sponsored Fox News host Sean Hannity’s prime-time interview with Donald Trump and Elon Musk, part of the multimillion-dollar advertising campaign the province is rolling out as the U.S. President repeatedly threatens to impose tariffs on Canadian goods.

While the campaign is expected to cost tens of millions of dollars, the province is refusing to say exactly how much money is being spent on the ads, including the one for Hannity, one of the highest-rated U.S. cable news shows. Fox also did not respond to requests for comment about the cost and frequency of the ads.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/33173756

If you're looking for the Hockey community, you can find it here: !hockey@lemmy.ca

UPDATE: After writing the report below, the Montreal police claimed that Engler was victimizing the police by writing the report below. Engler wrote this update before being taken into custody. Engler says that a new investigator has told him that the Montreal police will be charging me with intimidation, harassment,…

You Can't Take Our Country. And You Can't Take Our Game.

A smarter investment? Put that money towards a massive build-out of the nation’s electrical grid to reach projected energy demand instead.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/29860748

The Canada-EU Leaders’ meeting took place on February 12, 2025. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa met to discuss ways for EU and Canada to work more closely to promote global economic security and stability amidst rising geoeconomic tensions.

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With President Donald Trump confirming a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports—alongside a separate, still-pending tariff specifically targeting Canada and Mexico, which would be stacked to a whopping 50%—Trudeau arrived in Europe seeking to reinforce economic alliances and push back against US protectionism.

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Trudeau emphasized that partnerships like NATO and Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) thrive on trust. “You can always trust Canada,” he told reporters, highlighting how CETA has increased Canada-EU trade by 66% since 2017.

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Yet, as US protectionism escalates, Canada and Europe must look beyond existing agreements. Expanding cooperation in critical sectors like minerals, clean energy, and technology could help both sides reduce dependence on the US market and build a more resilient economic framework. ...

Though the EU and Canada have the CETA trade agreement—which they have touted as important for trade and investment—and a critical minerals partnership, in a hyper-competitive global economy they need to further deepen and strengthen economic ties.

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Canada utilized the meeting to further discussions on enhancing their security and defense cooperation. Since 2021, Canada’s participation in the EU’s Military Mobility project, alongside the United States and Norway, has boosted EU-NATO cooperation and has become yet more relevant since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/26284554

By Syma Mohammed
Published date: 20 February 2025 21:44 GMT

Alex Tyrrell, party leader of the Green Party of Quebec, who accompanied Engler to the police station on Thursday, spoke to the Middle East Eye about Engler’s arrest.

“I think it’s a shocking attack on free expression and democratic rights and criticism of Israel in Canada - a country that’s supposed to be a free, democratic society. We’re supposed to speak out about a genocide," Tyrrel told MEE.