The Toronto International Film Festival says it’s not pulling a controversial documentary about Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine from its schedule, despite outcry from Ukrainian officials and community groups who say the film amounts to propaganda. TIFF’s statement comes a day after Ontario’s public broadcaster TVO, which helped fund Russians at War, announced it was no … Read more
It initially took Canada four months to get into the queue after deciding to join a plan by the United States to buy urgently needed National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) for Ukraine. Defence Minister Bill Blair insists the lag did not contribute to the slow pace of acquiring the high-tech defensive capability, which is … Read more
A new agreement between Canada and the United States is reigniting the possibility of a spaceport in rural Nova Scotia. Federal cabinet minister and Nova Scotia MP Sean Fraser announced in Halifax Friday that the two countries have negotiated a Technology Safeguards Agreement, which would allow the use of U.S. space launch technology, expertise and data … Read more
Canada’s defence department and military are approaching the implementation and use of artificial intelligence in a “fragmented,” unco-ordinated manner, says a newly prepared federal strategy. The long-awaited overview of how to deal with rapidly evolving machine-learning technology is being met with mixed reviews by some high-tech and civil society experts who had been expecting more clarity on … Read more
Ukraine’s minister of foreign affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, says his country is in urgent need of weapons and wishes the air defence system Canada promised more than a year ago was already in Ukraine. Canada announced plans in January 2023 to donate a $406-million surface-to-air missile defence system, but there’s still no delivery date. “Of course, we … Read more
Bombardier is now the second large Canadian corporation known to have been granted an exemption from federal government sanctions on Russian titanium. The Montreal-based aircraft manufacturer, along with its European partner Airbus, can continue to use parts containing titanium produced by Russia’s VSMPO-AVISMA, based in Verkhnyaya Salda. During a conference call Thursday with reporters following the release of Bombardier’s quarterly results, CEO … Read more
A military unit of foreign fighters in the Ukraine war had taken up covert missions against Russia when its Canadian commander was killed, says a researcher who studies war in the former Soviet Union. Jean-François Ratelle, who led the Norman Brigade under the nom de guerre Hrulf, was one of two Canadians to die within … Read more
The shortened version of the international broadcast of the 96th Oscars faced harsh criticism in Ukraine for omitting the segment announcing the documentary feature award, which went to Mstyslav Chernov’s 20 Days in Mariupol. The documentary, a collaboration between The Associated Press and PBS’s Frontline, is a harrowing first-person account set in the Ukrainian port city during … Read more
As the two-year anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine nears, the federal government says it’s spending almost $500,000 to help expand access to basic legal advice for Ukrainians looking to settle temporarily in Canada. The three-year funding envelope will not pay for lawyers to advocate on behalf of individual clients, but will be used … Read more
Defence Minister Bill Blair says NATO countries like Canada must ramp up their aid to Ukraine as support from the United States languishes in a legislative quagmire. In an interview that aired Sunday on Rosemary Barton Live, Blair expressed optimism that the U.S. would eventually pass a significant aid bill to provide billions of dollars worth … Read more
