The balance of power in Ottawa has shifted to the Bloc. So what does it want?

The balance of power in Ottawa has shifted to the Bloc. So what does it want?

When the NDP and Liberals signed the confidence and supply agreement in 2022, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said the agreement caused the pendulum of power to swing so far in one direction that the interests of Quebec were not being served. Since NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh terminated that governance agreement, Blanchet said, the pendulum has swung even harder back in … Read more

Canada Industrial Relations Board deems port strike vote illegal

Canada Industrial Relations Board deems port strike vote illegal

The Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) says a strike vote taken by a union representing ship and dock foremen is illegal. The B.C. Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) said Friday that Local 514 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) had served a notice of intended strike action against DP World Canada that was set to begin on Monday … Read more

LCBO employees will walk off job Friday, union says

LCBO employees will walk off job Friday, union says

Thousands of Ontario liquor store employees will walk off the job Friday after contract negotiations between the LCBO and its workers broke down, the workers’ union says. Representatives of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) blamed Premier Doug Ford’s government for the breakdown at a news conference Thursday evening, just hours before the midnight strike deadline … Read more

In videos and podcasts, Poilievre and Trudeau are eager to explain themselves — at length

In videos and podcasts, Poilievre and Trudeau are eager to explain themselves — at length

Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, the Liberal MP who made a name for himself as a backbencher with his own voice, posted a nine-minute video to YouTube this week about the federal government’s carbon pricing policy. It would be an exaggeration to say the video is setting the internet on fire. As of Friday afternoon, it had a … Read more

Home sales and prices edging up as housing market ‘could get interesting,’ reports say

Home sales and prices edging up as housing market ‘could get interesting,’ reports say

The housing market could soon get “interesting,” economists say, as home prices and sales start to edge up, according to a pair of new reports released Friday. In its latest quarterly Home Price Update and Market Forecast, Royal LePage is forecasting that the aggregate price of a home in Canada will increase nine per cent in the fourth … Read more

With ‘superhuman’ artificial intelligence looming, Canada needs law now: AI pioneer

With ‘superhuman’ artificial intelligence looming, Canada needs law now: AI pioneer

The federal government must move quickly to regulate artificial intelligence, said a top AI pioneer who warns the technology’s current trajectory poses major societal risks Yoshua Bengio, dubbed a “godfather” of AI, told members of Parliament Monday that Ottawa should put a law in place immediately, even if that legislation is not perfect. The scientific director … Read more

The environmental costs of EV batteries that politicians don’t tend to talk about

The environmental costs of EV batteries that politicians don’t tend to talk about

Along with the massive recent manufacturing investments in electric vehicle (EV) technology and talks of a greener, decarbonized future, there are some not-so-green problems.  In its latest New Energy Finance report, Bloomberg News predicts there will be some 730 million EVs on the road by 2040. The year before, Bloomberg predicted half of all U.S. vehicle sales would be battery electric by 2030.  … Read more