Marie Woolf

Marie Woolf

Immigration department halts skilled refugee jobs program, leaving employers in limbo

The federal Immigration Department halted a pilot program that matched skilled refugees with job vacancies and granted them permanent residency, leaving Canadian businesses and fresh hires in limbo days before Christmas. The unexpected decision to pause the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot, communicated last week in a letter to groups involved in the program, has dismayed and surprised non-profit recruiters matching...

Marie Woolf

More TV, radio stations could shutter if Online Streaming Act is scrapped, industry leaders warn

An increasing number of Canadian TV and radio stations could close if the federal Online Streaming Act becomes a casualty of the trade war with the United States, industry leaders are warning. The act, which became law in 2023 after a bitter parliamentary battle, compels foreign platforms such as Netflix to financially support Canada’s TV, film and music sectors. Kevin...

Marie Woolf

Hospital birth data suggests increase in birth tourism, says immigration expert

Births in Canada to foreign visitors and other non-residents have risen in the past year, an expert in immigration statistics has found after analyzing hospital data. The research, published in a report on Wednesday, shows a small increase in births at Canadian hospitals to temporary residents, such as international students and people here on work permits. The proportion of births...

Marie Woolf

NDP rejects Yves Engler as leadership candidate

The NDP has rejected Yves Engler, an author and left-wing activist, from standing for the leadership for the party alleging he had harassed, intimidated and confronted elected officials. It also expressed concern he had echoed Russian state propaganda about the invasion of Ukraine. Mr. Engler was told at the end of last month that his application to join the leadership...

Bill Curry, Marie Woolf

Federal Budget 2025: Liberals appear poised for possible omnibus bills for 75 legislative changes

The federal government plans to make 75 legislative changes through the budget process, adopting a practice that has been criticized as a way of curtailing debate by burying contentious measures in omnibus bills.

Marie Woolf

Former immigration minister rejected officials’ advice to shelve Sudan humanitarian program

Immigration officials advised shelving a special humanitarian program, designed to help Sudanese Canadians bring family members here to escape civil war in the African country, over concerns that plans to reduce immigration could be undermined, sources say. The officials argued that bringing in Sudanese could affect the government’s immigration levels plan: annual targets that the government sets for the number...

Marie Woolf

Nigel Farage hails Preston Manning as his ‘inspiration,’ as Reform UK surges in polls

Right-wing populist leader Nigel Farage, whose Reform UK party is surging in the polls in Britain, says he is modelling his strategy on that of Preston Manning, who led Canada’s Reform Party to eclipse the federal Progressive Conservatives in the 1990s. Mr. Manning received a standing ovation after speaking to Reform UK’s annual conference on Friday, where Mr. Farage paid...

Marie Woolf

Jimmy Lai’s lawyers launch urgent appeal to UN, saying his life is at immediate risk in prison

Lawyers acting for jailed Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai have launched an urgent appeal to experts at the United Nations, warning that his life is at serious and immediate risk in detention. Mr. Lai’s international legal team has presented research to UN rapporteurs showing that some other elderly patients with diabetes have died in custody in Hong Kong, after receiving...

Marie Woolf

Carney urged by coalition of experts, public figures to bolster digital sovereignty, scrap strong borders bill

Almost 70 public figures, academics and expert groups have written to Prime Minister Mark Carney urging him to defend Canada’s digital sovereignty against foreign tech giants and to scrap the strong borders bill that they say threatens Canadians’ privacy. The signatories, who include author Margaret Atwood, former head of the federal public service Alex Himelfarb and former governor-general Adrienne Clarkson...

Marie Woolf

Ottawa pressed to factor in 500,000 undocumented residents as it consults on immigration targets

Economists are urging the government to factor in the estimated 500,000 undocumented residents in Canada as it consults on its forthcoming immigration levels plan. Immigration Minister Lena Diab is consulting on targets for the number of temporary and permanent residents Canada plans to allow in the next three years, in what some consider a litmus test of Prime Minister Mark...

Marie Woolf, Claire McFarlane

Pro-Palestinian protesters gather outside Joly’s home, raising security concerns

A pro-Palestinian demonstration outside the home of Industry Minister Mélanie Joly has sparked calls for the government to consider security measures to protect politicians from protests at their residences. A group of up to 60 protesters chanted slogans, rang bells, banged pots and projected messages onto Ms. Joly’s house in Montreal on Wednesday evening, in an escalation of protest activity...

Marie Woolf

Canadians among journalists threatened by Iranian authorities, Britain-based outlet says

Two Canadian reporters for Iran International, a popular Persian-language news outlet, have been threatened by Iranian authorities in a bid to stop them reporting on Tehran’s regime, the organization’s legal team says. In the past six weeks, 45 journalists and 315 of their family members worldwide have been menaced by the Iranian authorities, including with death, unless they stop working...

Marie Woolf

Public Safety Minister in potential conflict of interest over planned ‘bubble zone’ protests bill

The Public Safety Minister will likely have to recuse himself from engaging on another government bill being planned to protect the public because of a potential conflict of interest with a prominent civil liberties group where his wife is a director. The government is planning a bill restricting protests near places of worship, schools and community centres and making it...

Marie Woolf

Ottawa’s hotel bill for asylum seekers reaches $1.1-billion

The federal government says it has spent $1.1-billion to house asylum seekers in hotels since 2017, on top of $1.5-billion it has given provinces and cities to help pay for refugee claimants’ upkeep. Ottawa began housing asylum seekers in hotels in 2017 as a temporary stop gap as shelters were overwhelmed by increasing numbers. It started block-booking rooms to help...

Marie Woolf

Thousands of foreigners’ criminal convictions forgiven by Ottawa over 11-year span, raising transparency concerns

More than 17,500 foreigners have had their criminal convictions forgiven by the Immigration Department over the past 11 years, removing a bar to coming to Canada, federal government figures show. The disclosure has raised transparency concerns about the type of offences they committed.

Marie Woolf

Government told Liberal MP to shelve motion on honorary citizenship for Jimmy Lai

The government’s leader in the House of Commons told the Liberal MP spearheading a drive to grant jailed Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai honorary citizenship to shelve a motion supporting its award, just before she was about to present it on Wednesday. Judy Sgro, a veteran Liberal MP, had gained the support of MPs from all parties for a unanimous...

Marie Woolf

How a political rookie wore out two pairs of shoes to unseat Pierre Poilievre

Bruce Fanjoy, the soft-spoken political neophyte who stripped Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of his seat in a stunning election upset, was greeted like a triumphant Roman emperor when he returned to his home village of Manotick on Thursday. “It‘s impressive. You’ve done well,” effused a man with a beard who stopped the new Liberal MP on the steps to a...

Marie Woolf

Discovery of secret list of alleged Nazi war criminals in Canada raises questions about government secrecy

U.S. researchers have found what they say is a late draft of a secret list of more than 700 suspected Nazi war criminals believed to have settled in Canada after the Second World War, prompting fresh calls for the federal government to finally unseal and release the full list. A research team led by UCLA historian Jared McBride, an expert...

Marie Woolf

Liberal plan to shore up CBC on ice with halt of Parliament, as Tories renew threat to defund it

Ottawa’s plans to sustain funding for the CBC, and update its mandate, have been derailed by the prorogation of Parliament, with the future of the public broadcaster unlikely to be resolved until after the coming election. The federal Conservatives have pledged to strip CBC of public funding, while preserving French services, if they form the next government. Legislation on the...

Marie Woolf

Watchdog to tighten rules on lobbying of ministers and MPs by corporations

Ottawa’s lobbying watchdog is planning to tighten the rules to force corporations to be more transparent about the people they are trying to influence in the federal government. In an interview at the start of her second term in office, Nancy Bélanger said one of her priorities will be to make corporations more fully register their lobbying of ministers, MPs...

Marie Woolf

Canada preparing for influx of U.S. migrants facing deportation after Trump’s victory

RCMP in Quebec say they have prepared contingency plans in case of an influx of migrants from the United States after Donald Trump’s victory, as Quebec Premier François Legault and Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet raised fears about asylum claimants streaming into the province. Mr. Legault warned about “turbulence” at the border, saying Wednesday that he expects a stream of...

Marie Woolf

UN Palestinian rapporteur faces backlash after press conference on Parliament Hill

A United Nations special rapporteur accused Israel of aiming “to erase the Palestinians” in a Parliament Hill press conference on Tuesday that drew a backlash, including from the Israeli ambassador. Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian Territories, alleged that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza as a deliberate strategy.

Marie Woolf

How Canadian Liberals had cameo roles helping Keir Starmer clinch victory in Britain

Keir Starmer’s landslide victory in the British general election was aided in part by Canadians working behind the scenes of his campaign, including the Liberal Party’s chief digital strategist Tom Pitfield who helped design tools Labour used to target key ridings. Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of England and the Bank of Canada who is considered a...

Marie Woolf

Ottawa considering buying hotels to house growing number of asylum seekers

Ottawa is considering buying hotels to house the growing number of asylum seekers and to cut the cost of block-booking hotel rooms to accommodate them, Immigration Minister Marc Miller says. The federal government has in the last few years taken out long leases on hotels to help provinces house thousands of refugee claimants. This year, Ottawa has been footing the...

Marieke Walsh, Sean Silcoff, Marie Woolf

‘The leader is the leader,’ Minister François-Philippe Champagne hedges when asked if he supports Trudeau

Pressure continues to mount on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to reconsider his future as leader, as he is receiving a marked lack of support from three senior Liberals in the wake of this week’s shocking loss in a Toronto by-election. On Thursday, The Globe and Mail spoke with a current federal minister, a recently ousted cabinet colleague and a former...

Marie Woolf

Jewish advocates question minister’s vetting of new head of human rights commission

Jewish advocates have raised concerns with the Justice Minister about whether he fully vetted the new head of Canada’s human rights commission after it emerged that Birju Dattani posted links on social media to articles comparing Israelis to Nazis, and Palestinians to Jews incarcerated in the Warsaw Ghetto.

Marie Woolf

Foreign music streamers appeal to heritage minister to intervene over Bill C-11 payments

Music streamers, including Spotify, Amazon and Apple Music, have appealed to Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge to intervene after being told by the broadcasting regulator to contribute 5 per cent of their annual Canadian revenues to support the country’s creative industries, warning the costs could be passed onto consumers.

Marie Woolf

Canada worst in G7 for targeted killings of Muslims, MPs told

MPs on a committee investigating Islamophobia and antisemitism heard Thursday that more Muslims have been killed in targeted attacks in Canada in the past seven years than in any other G7 country, and that Islamophobia has increased exponentially since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war last October.

Marie Woolf

Justin Trudeau resists MPs’ calls to recognize Palestinian state after announcement from Norway, Spain and Ireland

Justin Trudeau’s government is resisting calls from within the Liberal caucus and from the NDP to follow the lead of Norway, Ireland and Spain and immediately recognize a Palestinian state. In the House of Commons, challenged by NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson to “take a stand”, Mr. Trudeau said Canada is “prepared to recognize the state of Palestine at...

Marie Woolf, Matt Lundy

Ottawa under fire over not compelling companies to ask unions before hiring temporary foreign workers

Canadian jobs are being lost to temporary foreign workers because of a decision years ago by the federal government to drop the need for companies to consult unions before they can bring in people from abroad to fill vacancies, Ottawa is being warned. Union leaders in the construction industry, a significantly unionized sector, say the change has meant that Canadians...

Marie Woolf

Human Rights Tribunal member who would hear cases if online harms bill passes once filed a hate speech complaint

A lawyer who once made a high-profile hate speech complaint against Maclean’s magazine is a member of the tribunal that would rule on hate speech cases under a reinstated power in the government’s online harms bill. Immigration lawyer Naseem Mithoowani was appointed a part-time member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal by the government, serving for five years, in 2021...

Marie Woolf

Former NDP chief says Jewish members are feeling uncomfortable in the party

The former national director of the federal NDP says Jews are no longer feeling completely comfortable in the party, warning that this is a national problem for the New Democrats. Nathan Rotman, who was also chief of staff to former Alberta premier Rachel Notley, made his remarks after former B.C. minister of postsecondary education Selina Robinson resigned from the province’s...

Marie Woolf

Conservatives call for Trudeau to resign over invitation to Waffen-SS veteran to Zelensky reception

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced Conservative accusations Tuesday that he misled the House of Commons when he said in September that he had no knowledge of Yaroslav Hunka, a Ukrainian Waffen-SS veteran who was invited to attend a speech in Parliament by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Mr. Hunka was given two ovations in the House of Commons after former speaker...

Marie Woolf

Prime Minister invited Waffen-SS veteran Hunka to his official reception for Zelensky

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invited Yaroslav Hunka, the Ukrainian Waffen-SS veteran who received ovations in the House of Commons during a visit by Volodymyr Zelensky, to a reception he hosted in the Ukrainian President’s honour the same day. Mr. Hunka, who was 98 at the time, did not attend the Toronto reception, but the invitation by the Prime Minister to...

Marie Woolf

Hiring foreign workers at battery plant will cost Canadian contractors $300-million in lost wages, fees: union leader

The hiring of 900 temporary foreign workers to install equipment at the flagship EV factory in Windsor, Ont., will cost Canadian skilled construction workers around $300-million in lost wages and contractor fees, the leader of Canada’s Building Trades Unions says.

Marie Woolf

Industry Minister wants to ‘maximize’ number of Canadians working at EV battery plant

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne says he plans to hold face-to-face talks with the company setting up an electric-vehicle battery plant in Windsor, Ont., to ensure Canadians will not be sidelined in favour of foreign workers brought in to fit out the factory. Mr. Champagne said he wants to ask NextStar Energy about “the minimum amount of foreign workers we need”...

Marie Woolf

Trudeau’s antisemitism envoy faces criticism for silence on rising attacks on Jews since Israel-Hamas war

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s newly appointed envoy on combating antisemitism is facing criticism for failing to speak out publicly about rising attacks and intimidation of Jews in Canada since the Hamas attacks on Israel. Many Canadians, concerned about the upsurge in antisemitism, say they are baffled about why Deborah Lyons has so far not taken...