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Mark Carney is the new Liberal leader, replacing Justin Trudeau – National
Mark Carney, former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, has been elected as the new leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.
At a convention that saw crowds in red and white waving mini Canadian flags in Ottawa on Sunday, Carney was announced as the winner and is set to replace Trudeau as prime minister once he is sworn in.
Speaking at the convention, Carney said his guiding principles of governance would be “fiscal responsibility, social justice and international leadership.”
He also thanked his predecessor for being “a fighter for Canada.”
“You have led us through some of the hardest challenges that this nation has ever faced,” Carney said to Trudeau.
All eyes will now be on when he will choose to launch a federal election, with the House of Commons set to return on March 24 and Canada facing what Trudeau described as an “existential crisis” from the U.S. trade war in a speech at the convention.
“Who’s ready to stand up for Canada with me?” Carney asked the crowd, drawing cheers and applause.
He added, “Two months ago, I put up my hand to run for leader because I felt we needed big changes. But big changes, guided by strong Canadian values.”
Carney in his speech made a pitch for unity, saying: “We are strongest when we are one economy, not 13.”
He added, “I know that these are dark days. Dark days brought on by a country we can no longer trust. We are getting over the shock, but let us never forget the lessons. We have to look after ourselves, and we have to look out for each other. We need to pull together in the tough days ahead.”
Mark Carney’s plunge into politics had been rumoured since the summer, when Trudeau acknowledged that he has been speaking with Carney “for years about getting him to join federal politics.”
Talking about the days to come, Carney said he will “put into action our plan to build a stronger economy, to create new trading relationships with reliable trading partners, and to secure our borders.”
![Click to play video: 'Who is Canada’s new prime minister? What you need to know about Mark Carney']()
Carney reiterated that he would roll back two key fiscal policies of the Trudeau government.
“I am a pragmatist above all. So when I see that something’s not working, I’ll change it. My government will immediately eliminate the divisive carbon tax” on consumers, and stop the hike in capital gains tax,” he said.
He added, however, that he would keep Canada’s retaliatory tariffs against the United States and any proceeds from those tariffs would be used to support Canadian workers.
“My government will keep our tariffs on until the Americans show us respect,” he said.
Carney said Donald Trump was trying to weaken Canada’s economy.
“In trade, as in hockey, Canada will win,” he said.
What did Carney say about Poilievre?
Carney drew a contrast between himself and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in his speech.
“There’s someone else who, if he succeeds, will weaken our economy. Pierre Poilievre,” Carney said, as the crowd booed and Carney called Poilievre “a lifelong politician who worships at the altar of the free market despite never having made a payroll himself.”
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“Unlike Pierre Poilievre, I’ve actually worked in the private sector. I know how the world works, and I know how it can be made to work better for all of us.”
He added, “Trump thinks he can weaken us with his plan to divide and conquer. Pierre Poilievre’s plan will leave us divided and ready to be conquered. Because a person who worships at the altar of Donald Trump will kneel before him, not stand up to him.”
![Click to play video: '‘Elbows up’: Trudeau warns Canada of ‘existential’ threat from U.S. in final speech as PM']()
When he is sworn in, Carney will be the first prime minister since John Turner in 1984 to not be a member of Parliament. Incidentally, Turner stepped in to replace Trudeau’s father Pierre Trudeau.
Trudeau said last week he does not intend to be a caretaker prime minister.
Born in Fort Smith, N.W.T., and raised in Edmonton, Carney earned an undergraduate economics degree from Harvard University and followed that up with master’s and doctoral degrees from Oxford University.
Four contenders were in the race to replace Justin Trudeau for the top job in the party and as prime minister of Canada. Carney finished in first place 85.9 per cent of the vote, followed by former finance minister Chrystia Freeland in second place, former cabinet minister Karina Gould in third place and businessman Frank Baylis coming in fourth.
Speculation is swirling in Ottawa that the new leader could replace Trudeau as prime minister within a matter of days and then within weeks call an early election.
Justin Trudeau was introduced on stage by his daughter.
“I’m looking forward to seeing more of him at home and less of him online,” said Ella-Grace Trudeau in a speech to the convention. “Dad, I’m so proud of you.”
![Click to play video: 'Former PM Jean Chrétien ‘very confident’ in Mark Carney after Liberal leadership win']()
“Being prime minister of this country has been the honour of my life,” Trudeau said, adding he was looking forward to the next chapter and being with his family.
“Liberals are dedicated to making this country even better not because we think it’s broken but because we have an opportunity and therefore a responsibility to make sure that Canada stays the best country on earth.” Trudeau said.
Reflecting on his time in office, Trudeau said, “These past 10 years have been challenging. Crisis after crisis have been thrown at Canadians. But through every crisis, Canadians have shown who they are … every single time, we’ve emerged stronger.”
He also warned of the “existential crisis” Canada faces from the United States, where U.S. President Donald Trump has said he wants Canada to become the 51st state.
“We are a country that will be diplomatic when we can, but fight when we must – elbows up!” Trudeau said, drawing chants and cheers of “elbows up!” from the crowd.
The phrase, which is a hockey term for being ready to defend yourself when a game is getting rough or unruly, has become a rallying cry for many Canadians as the country readies for a trade war with the U.S.
![Click to play video: '‘Dad, I’m so proud of you’: Trudeau’s daughter Ella-Grace offers emotional tribute to father’s time as PM']()
‘Stop this nonsense’: Chretien to Trump
Former prime minister Jean Chretien, who also addressed the convention, said Canada’s relationship with the U.S. was “falling apart before our eyes and is becoming something that is difficult to name.”
However, he said Canada was ready for the challenge.
“In Canada, our elbows are up. We’re working together to unite to deal with this threat, the threat to our economy and our sovereignty. In other words, our very existence as a country,” Chretien said.
In his speech, Chretien directly addressed Trump.
“From one old guy to another old guy: stop this nonsense,” Chretien said to Trump. “Canada will never join the United States.”
He added that Canada could weather the storm of a trade war and threats to its sovereignty.
![Click to play video: 'What Mark Carney’s victory means for Canada’s upcoming federal election']()
“Nobody will starve us into submission. Canada is and will remain the best country in the world. Vive le Canada!”
On Jan. 6, Trudeau said he plans to step down
as Canada’s prime minister and leader of the Liberal party.
Trudeau said he would stay on until a replacement is chosen, while also asking the governor general to prorogue Parliament until March 24.
“Despite best efforts to work through it, Parliament has been paralyzed for months after what has been the longest session of a minority parliament in Canadian history,” Trudeau said, speaking in front of his residence in Ottawa.
“That’s why this morning I advised the governor general that we need a new session of Parliament. She has granted this request and the House will now be prorogued until March 24.”
![Click to play video: 'A lookback at Justin Trudeau’s 10-year leadership as Canada’s PM']()
–with files from Canadian Press
Enola Gay, which dropped Hiroshima atomic bomb, hit in Pentagon DEI purge – National
References to a World War II Medal of Honor recipient, the Enola Gay aircraft that dropped an atomic bomb on Japan and the first women to pass Marine infantry training are among the tens of thousands of photos and online posts marked for deletion as the Defense Department works to purge diversity, equity and inclusion content, according to a database obtained by The Associated Press.
The database, which was confirmed by U.S. officials and published by AP, includes more than 26,000 images that have been flagged for removal across every military branch. But the eventual total could be much higher.
One official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details that have not been made public, said the purge could delete as many as 100,000 images or posts in total, when considering social media pages and other websites that are also being culled for DEI content. The official said it’s not clear if the database has been finalized.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had given the military until Wednesday to remove content that highlights diversity efforts in its ranks following President Donald Trump’s executive order ending those programs across the federal government.
The vast majority of the Pentagon purge targets women and minorities, including notable milestones made in the military. And it also removes a large number of posts that mention various commemorative months — such as those for Black and Hispanic people and women.
But a review of the database also underscores the confusion that has swirled among agencies about what to remove following Trump’s order.
![Click to play video: '‘It just turns your stomach’: Democrats slam Trump for blaming D.C. plane crash on DEI']()
Aircraft and fish projects are flagged
In some cases, photos seemed to be flagged for removal simply because their file included the word ”gay,” including service members with that last name and an image of the B-29 aircraft Enola Gay, which dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II.
Several photos of an Army Corps of Engineers dredging project in California were marked for deletion, apparently because a local engineer in the photo had the last name Gay. And a photo of Army Corps biologists was on the list, seemingly because it mentioned they were recording data about fish — including their weight, size, hatchery and gender.
In this image provided by the U.S. Air Force, the Boeing B-29 named the “Enola Gay” is seen on Tinian in the Marianas Islands.
U.S. Air Force via AP
In addition, some photos of the Tuskegee Airmen, the nation’s first Black military pilots who served in a segregated WWII unit, were listed on the database, but those may likely be protected due to historical content.
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The Air Force briefly removed new recruit training courses that included videos of the Tuskegee Airmen soon after Trump’s order. That drew the White House’s ire over “malicious compliance,” and the Air Force quickly reversed the removal.
Many of the images listed in the database already have been removed. Others were still visible Thursday, and it’s not clear if they will be taken down at some point or be allowed to stay, including images with historical significance such as those of the Tuskegee Airmen.
Asked about the database, Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot said in a statement, “We are pleased by the rapid compliance across the Department with the directive removing DEI content from all platforms. In the rare cases that content is removed that is out of the clearly outlined scope of the directive, we instruct components accordingly.”
He noted that Hegseth has declared that “DEI is dead” and that efforts to put one group ahead of another through DEI programs erodes camaraderie and threatens mission execution.
In some cases, the removal was partial. The main page in a post titled “Women’s History Month: All-female crew supports warfighters” was removed. But at least one of the photos in that collection about an all-female C-17 crew could still be accessed. A shot from the Army Corps of Engineers titled “Engineering pioneer remembered during Black History Month” was deleted.
Other photos flagged in the database but still visible Thursday included images of the World War II Women Air Service Pilots and one of U.S. Air Force Col. Jeannie Leavitt, the country’s first female fighter pilot.
Also still visible was an image of then-Pfc. Christina Fuentes Montenegro becoming one of the first three women to graduate from the Marine Corps’ Infantry Training Battalion and an image of Marine Corps World War II Medal of Honor recipient Pfc. Harold Gonsalves.
In this image provided by the U.S. Marine Corps, Pfc. Christina Fuentes Montenegro prepares to hike to her platoon’s defensive position during patrol week of Infantry Training Battalion near Camp Geiger, N.C. Oct. 31, 2013.
Sgt. Tyler Main/U.S. Marine Corps via AP
It was unclear why some other images were removed, such as a Marine Corps photo titled “Deadlift contenders raise the bar pound by pound” or a National Guard website image called “Minnesota brothers reunite in Kuwait.”
The database of the 26,000 images was created to conform with federal archival laws, so if the services are queried in the future, they can show how they are complying with the law, the U.S. official said. But it may be difficult to ensure the content was archived because the responsibility to ensure each image was preserved was the responsibility of each individual unit.
In many cases, workers are taking screenshots of the pages marked for removal, but it would be difficult to restore them if that decision was made, according to another official, who like the others spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide additional details that were not public.
A Marine Corps official said every one of its images in the database “either has been taken down or will be taken down.” The Marines are moving on the directive as fast as possible, but as with the rest of the military, very few civilian or contractor employees at the Pentagon can perform content removal, the official said.
In the Marine Corps, just one defense civilian is available to do the work. The Marine Corps estimates that person has identified at least 10,000 images for removal — and that does not count more than 1,600 social media sites that have not yet been addressed.
Many of those social media sites were military base or unit support groups created years ago and left idle. No one still has the administrative privileges to go in and change the content.
The Marine official said the service is going through each site and getting new administrative privileges so it can make the changes.
On Feb. 26, the Pentagon ordered all the military services to spend countless hours poring over years of website postings, photos, news articles and videos to remove any mentions that “promote diversity, equity and inclusion.”
If they couldn’t do that by Wednesday, they were told to “temporarily remove from public display” all content published during the Biden administration’s four years in office.
AP reporters Nicholas Riccardi in Denver, Christina Cassidy in Atlanta, Will Weissert and Ayanna Alexander in Washington and Christine Fernando in Chicago contributed to this report.
Ontario votes: Crombie projected to lose Mississauga race, will stay on as Liberal leader
Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie says she will stay on as head of the party even though Global News is projecting she will not get elected to Ontario’s legislature.
Crombie, who took the helm of the party in 2023, lost to Progressive-Conversative candidate Silvia Gualtieri in Mississauga East—Cooksville by just under 1,200 votes, preliminary data shows.
Gualtieri, a financial services professional and long-time Conservative organizer, has sought political office before, most recently running in the 2022 Mississauga municipal election where she finished third in the Ward 2 race. Gualtieri is also the mother-in-law of Brampton mayor Patrick Brown, and the sister of Rudy Cuzzetto, incumbent PC candidate in Mississauga–Lakeshore.
Even though the party is making gains, it has fallen short of becoming the Official Opposition, with that title being retained by Marit Stiles and the Ontario New Democratic Party, Global News projects.
As of 11 p.m., the Liberals were leading or elected in 14 seats, just two above the 12-seat threshold for official party status. Before dissolution, the Liberals had just nine seats in the legislature.
Official party status comes with additional funding and debate rights within the legislature. The party lost such status after the 2018 election when they were decimated after 15 years in government.
Crombie told the crowd at her Thursday night election party that regardless of the result, she is staying on as party leader.
“I know tonight isn’t exactly the result we were looking for, but you should be very, very proud of what we did tonight,” she said.
“People counted us out. They said the Ontario Liberal Party was dead. Tonight, you proved them wrong.”
![Click to play video: 'Ontario election: Doug Ford’s PC party projected to form majority government']()
Stiles’ electoral victory – both in the Toronto riding of Davenport and for the NDP – maintains a somewhat status quo in the legislature with Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives securing another majority government. As of 11 p.m., the NDP were leading or elected in 25 seats. Before dissolution last month, the NDP had 28 seats in the legislature.
The sudden winter campaign was Stiles’ first as leader of the NDP. In 2023, she took over from Andrea Horwath, now mayor of Hamilton. Horwath stepped down after the 2022 race after her party lost a significant number of seats to Ford, who made rare gains after four years in government.
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Meanwhile, Mike Schriener’s Green Party is leading or elected in two ridings. Schriener also secured reelection in Guelph.
“Our job is to hold this government to account, and that is the job that we are going to do with our usual fight and our determination but also with love, hope and optimism,” Stiles told the crowd at her election night gathering.
“You know what? In another few years, we are going to face a rematch, and I’m there for it my friends.”
![Click to play video: 'Ontario election: NDP projected to form official opposition']()
Crombie, the former mayor of Mississauga, announced in January she was running in Mississauga East—Cooksville for the snap election — a riding held by Kaleed Rasheed, a former Progressive-Conservative (PC) minister who left the party in 2023 over a Greenbelt-adjacent scandal.
Crombie has been without a seat in Queen’s Park since her successful leadership bid for the Liberal Party in December 2023. Before her tenure as the city’s top elected official, Crombie was a city councillor and an MP for Mississauga-Streetsville.
Crombie has been hoping to poke a hole in the PC’s stronghold of Mississauga as the party holds five of the six provincial ridings in the city.
She didn’t congratulate Ford during her remarks Thursday, but acknowledged his win.
“Look, voters have given Doug Ford another mandate tonight, smaller but nonetheless. Many of you are asking for a strong voice to hold him accountable as premier, and you can count on me,” Crombie said.
“So I’ll say this tonight: Doug, we’ll be watching. We know Ontario can do so much better.”
![Click to play video: 'Ontario election: Green Party leader Schreiner vows to hold Ford accountable as ‘unofficial official opposition’']()
U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats were used by Ford as his primary reason to call the snap election at the end of January. Ford, who has served as premier for nearly seven years, said the threat meant that he needed a new, stronger mandate than the 79 seats he had at dissolution.
Stiles cited the Trump threat in her remarks.
“I congratulate tonight, Premier Ford, on his victory. I really do want to offer him any possible help that we can provide in the face of the threat of Donald Trump,” she said.
“The threat is real, and I deeply believe that we can overcome it with a strong team Ontario and a strong team Canada approach.”
Ford’s early election call did send his opponents scrambling.
While Ford focused on Trump, Crombie’s team put together a campaign with health care at its core, promising to connect everyone in the province with a family doctor.
![Click to play video: 'Ontario election: Moment Doug Ford, PC party campaign HQ watches election call']()
Meanwhile, Stiles and the NDP picked affordability and pledged to introduce a grocery rebate. Schreiner kept his activity to a few seats where his Green Party stood a good chance of expanding its caucus.
At the beginning of the campaign, polling conducted for Global News by Ipsos Global Affairs put Ford in a commanding position with a massive 26-point advantage over both the Liberals and the NDP. That poll had the PCs at 50 per cent, the Liberals at 24, the NDP at 20 and the Greens at six per cent.
Towards the end of the campaign, another poll conducted by Ipsos showed Ford holding onto the lead he had at the start of the campaign.
The poll showed the PCs at 48 per cent and the Liberals at 28 per cent. The NDP were at 16 per cent and the Greens at eight.
— with files from Isaac Callan
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Alberta surgical company’s fees double public costs, according to AHS documents
A private surgical company at the heart of allegations the Alberta government interfered to secure overpriced medical contracts was billing taxpayers more than twice as much per procedure than it would cost in a public hospital, according to Alberta Health Services documents.
An internal chart included in an email sent by the former head of Alberta Health Services to a Health Ministry bureaucrat, obtained by The Canadian Press, indicates estimates for hip replacements in Edmonton at the public health agency’s hospitals was just over $4,000 as of last fall.
The chart says the firm Alberta Surgical Group was charging the government $8,300. The company has a surgical facility in south Edmonton.
The cost listed for another private competitor was just over $3,600.
Rose Carter, a lawyer for the company, said its contract prohibits it from discussing details, so “ASG is unable to publicly defend itself.”
She pointed to numbers from a 2021-22 Canadian Institute for Health Information report listing the average cost for a hip replacement in Alberta at $10,700.
The AHS chart notes that its pricing does not include costs covered by the agency, including implant devices, diagnostic imaging and clinical lab services.
In a wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed last week, former AHS head Athana Mentzelopoulos alleges the premier’s then-chief of staff, Marshall Smith, repeatedly put pressure on her to sign deals with the Alberta Surgical Group, despite concerns about costs and who was benefiting.
![Click to play video: 'New orthopedic centre in Edmonton to relieve surgical wait times']()
Alberta’s auditor general, Doug Wylie, has since initiated an investigation into contracting and procurement at both AHS and Alberta Health, and the United Conservative Party government said it would also conduct an internal review alongside a probe by an unnamed third party.
The email containing the pricing chart, sent by Mentzelopoulos in October, indicates Alberta Surgical Group proposed slightly reduced rates for hip, knee and shoulder surgeries as part of a six-month contract extension it sought for November through to April 2025. But those rates were still significantly higher than AHS internal costs.
Premier Danielle Smith on Wednesday made reference to many of the prices but did not provide the cost for hip surgeries under AHS as listed in the chart.
She instead offered an average cost for hip surgeries, citing the Canadian Institute for Health Information.
“We also want to understand why there are differences, and we hope that the (auditor general) is able to shed some light on that,” said Smith.
![Click to play video: 'Premier Smith defends health minister amid corruption scandal, accuses Alberta Health Services staff of blocking changes']()
Alberta Surgical Group’s existing two-year contract expired at the end of October, and AHS was in the process of negotiating the extension when Health Minister Adriana LaGrange issued a directive stripping the health authority and Mentzelopoulos of their authority to approve contracts.
LaGrange’s directive also required AHS to issue the extension for Alberta Surgical Group at rates set by the minister.
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Those rates are slightly less for hip and knee procedures listed in the chart as first proposed by the Alberta Surgical Group — at about $7,000 — although the shoulder surgery rate is higher than what the group proposed at $10,500.
Mentzelopoulos alleges in her lawsuit that she had undertaken a review of the Alberta Surgical Group’s first contract after a meeting with company representatives last summer left her with significant concerns.
![Click to play video: 'Ex-Alberta Health Services CEO sues provincial government']()
“I have identified provisions that materially differ from similar arrangements between AHS and other contract surgical providers,” Mentzelopoulos wrote in a letter to then-deputy health minister Andre Tremblay in August.
In that letter, Mentzelopoulos said Alberta Surgical Group was under the impression that its contract included a provision promised by AHS representatives that the firm didn’t need to “adhere to the terms of the contract.”
According to the chart, the group’s contract also guaranteed it would be paid for patients to stay for two nights after surgery, which Mentzelopoulos’s letter says was not required and was unique compared to other private surgical providers.
Mentzelopoulos wrote that she initiated an external review of AHS procedures that led to the contract being awarded in the first place.
Her lawsuit alleges Mentzelopoulos was pressured to sign off on the contract extension at rates the company proposed, as well as new contracts for two new private surgical facilities in Red Deer and Lethbridge.
The chart also contained proposed rates for the new facilities, which are labelled as being owned by Alberta Surgical Group. The proposed rates are identical to rates given to the group as part of its contract extension.
“(Chartered surgical facilities) continue to demand higher pricing than the equivalent comparable cost within AHS and with other surgical providers,” Mentzelopoulos wrote in October.
According to the chart, the Red Deer and Lethbridge facilities are owned by two separate numbered companies under the Alberta Surgical Group name.
Corporate records show Sam Mraiche, CEO of MHCare Medical, is a 25 per cent stakeholder in both companies.
MHCare Medical secured a $70-million contract with the province to import pain medication in 2022.
![Click to play video: 'Alberta government looks to recoup $80M from children’s medicine shipment']()
Alberta received about 30 per cent of the order, despite paying the full cost.
Following that contract, Mraiche provided multiple cabinet ministers and government staff with luxury box tickets to Edmonton Oilers playoff games.
The lawsuit says AHS estimates Mraiche-related firms have completed $614 million in government contracts for goods and services.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, front second left, and B.C. Premier David Eby, front right, watch the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers play Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Vancouver on May 10, 2024.
Darryl Dyck/ The Canadian Press
MHCare’s lawyer has said any allegations of wrongdoing on the part of the company are “unwarranted and unjustified.”
The premier, LaGrange, Alberta Surgery Group and Marshall Smith have also denied any wrongdoing.
The premier said Wednesday she and LaGrange weren’t involved in awarding the contracts at the centre of the allegations. Danielle Smith instead accused AHS leadership of stymieing the government’s mission to expand publicly funded, private surgical delivery.
Smith said AHS would rather keep all surgeries in its hospitals, “either because of ideology, or to protect their interests.”
She also said the decision to strip AHS of its responsibility to negotiate surgical contracts was to prevent the agency from being in a conflict of interest by drafting contracts for competitors.
Lawyer Dan Scott, who represents Mentzelopoulos, rejected the implication that she opposed private surgical facilities and expanding role the facilities are to play the health system.
He said concerns Mentzelopoulos raised last year were about making sure there was proper due diligence before finalizing the contracts.
![Click to play video: 'Private surgery clinic contracts paused amid health-care corruption allegations']()
TikTok ban: all the news on the app’s shutdown and return in the US
After briefly going dark in the US to comply with the divest-or-ban law targeting ByteDance that went into effect on January 19th, TikTok quickly came back online, but it was still missing from app stores.
That persisted even after Donald Trump issued an executive order “instructing the Attorney General not to take any action to enforce the Act for a period of 75 days from today” on January 20th, but on February 13th, Google and Apple both restored TikTok’s listings in the App Store and Google Play.
The ban law is still on the books as politicians and business leaders work on what to do next, and the clock is ticking on the current extension.
Read on for all the latest news on the TikTok ban law in the US.
- TikTok is back in the App Store
- How to get TikTok back on your phone if you deleted it after the ban
- JD Vance, America’s TikTok dealmaker.
- TikTok disappeared from TV app stores, too.
- TikTok now offers its Android app for download outside of Google Play
- Trump orders a ‘sovereign wealth fund’ for the US.
- TikTok traffic is recovering, but it’s still not back in app stores
- Marvel Snap’s developer will bring most publishing duties in-house.
- Marvel Snap is back in the App Store.
- Trump denies working with Oracle and others on a TikTok deal.
- Oracle and Microsoft are reportedly in talks to take over TikTok
- Marvel Snap is coming back to app stores soon, says developer
- TikTok still isn’t in the App Store
- I can’t believe I have to say this.
- The Supreme Court’s TikTok ruling is an ominous turn for online speech
- Substack is spending $20 million to court TikTokers
- Trump is absolutely going to make ByteDance sell TikTok or shut down again.
- Trump says he’s open to Musk or Ellison buying TikTok
- Two lawmakers introduce a bill to repeal the TikTok ban.
- CapCut is back online in the US
- TikTok isn’t back in the App Store yet
- Instagram is reportedly trying to attract TikTok creators with large bonuses
- Marvel Snap is back in the US
- All those kissy-faces at Trump didn’t get TikTok anything.
- Trump signs order refusing to enforce TikTok ban for 75 days
- TikTok’s CEO sat next to Trump’s national intelligence director pick at the inauguration.
- Thanos will soon un-snap Marvel Snap.
- Trump touts his plan to save TikTok during his victory rally
- The TikTok lock-out effect.
- TikTok is back, but where are Marvel Snap, CapCut, and Lemon8?
- TikTok’s service providers still risk billions in penalties for bringing it back online
- Instagram announces a blatant CapCut clone
- Sen. Tom Cotton warns TikTok’s service providers of “ruinous liability” for hosting the app.
- TikTok makes more kissy-faces at Trump.
- One possible reason mobile app stores took TikTok down.
- How to bulk download and save your TikTok videos
- TikTok’s president warns advertisers to expect ‘temporary service instability.’
- TikTok hasn’t returned to the App Store or Google Play just yet.
- TikTok is partially back online in the US, but it’s not back in the App Store yet
- Did TikTok forget to lock Vision Pro owners out of the app?
- TikTok is loading on the web.
- TikTok’s new error message doesn’t mention Trump.
- The TikTok shutdown is locking out non-US users, too
- Trump says he’ll delay TikTok ban, but the platform must be sold
- Apple says it’s following the law by removing TikTok from the App Store
- Marvel Snap is banned, just like TikTok
- TikTok ban and shutdown recap.
- TikTok shuts down in the US
- TikTok warns US users it will be ‘temporarily unavailable’
- Biden White House says TikTok’s threat to go dark is a ‘stunt’
- TikTok says it will go offline on Sunday if Biden doesn’t intervene
- How TikTok backed itself into a corner
- TikTok tells advertisers it’s ‘optimistic about finding the best path forward.’
- The Supreme Court ruled on TikTok — and nobody knows what comes next
- TikTok CEO flatters Trump ahead of US ban deadline
- Supreme Court upholds TikTok ban law
- Trump says he talked to China’s President Xi about TikTok.
- 6 TikTok creators on where they’ll go if the app is banned
- Biden punts the TikTok ban to Trump
- Will RedNote get banned in the US?
- As Americans flock to RedNote, privacy advocates warn about surveillance
- Donald Trump is reportedly considering an executive order to delay the TikTok ban.
- Can Elon Musk really save TikTok?
- RedNote: what it’s like using the Chinese app TikTokers are flocking to
- TikTok is ‘planning for various scenarios’ ahead of possible US ban
- TikTok could get a 270-day extension to make a deal
- The TikTok ban, and what comes next
- Elon Musk may be in the mix to buy TikTok.
- ‘Goodbye to my Chinese spy’ might be the last great TikTok trend
- Chinese social media app RedNote tops App Store chart ahead of TikTok ban
- “Nice shot, Mr. President! Can I buy TikTok?”
- TikTok still seems headed for a ban after its Supreme Court arguments
- TikTok has written to creators about tomorrow’s Supreme Court hearing.
- What it will take for TikTok to survive in the US
- The trend machine’s swan song.
- Trump spoke with TikTok’s CEO after asking the Supreme Court to delay the ban.
- Trump asks the Supreme Court to let him rescue TikTok
- Just thinking about TikTok.
- TikTok finally scores a win: the Supreme Court will hear its case
- Civil society groups to SCOTUS: stop the TikTok ban to preserve free speech.
- TikTok CEO meets with Trump as the platform tries to avoid a ban
- Tick tock, TikTok.
- Federal appeals court won’t stop the TikTok ban from taking effect on January 19th.
- The long-shot plan to save TikTok from a US ban
- Apple and Google must prepare to stop distributing TikTok by January 19th, lawmakers warn.
- TikTok failed to save itself with the First Amendment
- TikTok may actually get banned.
- TikTok on verge of ban after losing in court
- Remember the TikTok ban?
- TikTok’s Canadian arm has been ordered to shut down by the government.
- A potential US ban doesn’t seem to be slowing TikTok down.
- TikTok faces a skeptical panel of judges in its existential fight against the US government
- NetChoice’s shadow is looming over the TikTok hearing.
- The government is up in TikTok’s defense hearing.
- “Do you have a First Amendment interest in who owns TikTok?”
- TikTok’s lawyer hints at the government’s secret evidence for wanting to ban the app.
- The TikTok ban hearing is streaming on YouTube.
- TikTok is about to get its day in court
- DOJ is trying to convince a court to let it file classified evidence that TikTok’s lawyers can’t see.
- The DOJ enters its defense of the TikTok ban-or-divest law.
- Donald Trump likes TikTok, not Zuckerberg.
- TikTok makes its First Amendment case
- TikTok is aware of a ‘potential’ exploit being used to take over brand accounts.
- TikTok is reportedly splitting its source code to create a US-only algorithm
- TikTok will have its day in court this fall.
- TikTok is suing the US government — can it beat the ban?
- Eight TikTok creators file their own suit against the divest-or-ban law
- TikTok sues the US government over ban
- CBP is interrogating TikTok employees
- The legal challenges that lie ahead for TikTok — in both the US and China
- What happens to TikTok?
- Patreon weighs in on the potential TikTok ban.
- TikTok doesn’t seem very high on the US / China priority list.
- ByteDance would rather shut TikTok down than sell it, according to Reuters.
- Why the TikTok ban won’t solve the US’s online privacy problems.
- Anyone want to buy TikTok?
- Biden signs TikTok ‘ban’ bill into law, starting the clock for ByteDance to divest it
- Senate passes TikTok ban bill, sending it to President Biden’s desk
- The great conundrum of campaigning on TikTok
- TikTok ‘ban’ passes in the House again, moving to the Senate in foreign aid package
- Apple ordered to remove WhatsApp, Threads, Signal, and Telegram from the App Store in China.
- TikTok’s infamous algorithm and its link to a failed real estate app.
- TikTok divest-or-ban legislation could suddenly be fast-tracked in the Senate
- The president could delay a TikTok ban an extra six months under a reported House proposal.
- TikTok Notes starts rolling out as a new rival to Instagram
- The claims of a “former TikTok employee turned whistleblower.”
- Is TikTok still TikTok without the algorithm?
- What about other Chinese-owned apps?
- Kamala Harris insists “we do not intend to ban TikTok.”
- Senators push to declassify TikTok briefings
- Senators will get a closed door security briefing on TikTok.
- TikTok’s (formerly) favorite congressman is really, really sorry.
- How the House quietly revived the TikTok ban before most of us noticed
- Zoomers are turning on the TikTok famous congressman who voted to ban the app
- Steven Mnuchin is working to create a buyer for TikTok.
- TikTok CEO tells users to “make their voices heard” against a bill that could ban the app in the US.
- If Congress wants to ban TikTok it should probably show us the evidence of Chinese interference.
- Nancy Pelosi is playing TikTok-toe.
- TikTok’s fate now lies with the Senate
- I’ll have what she’s having!
- House passes bill that could ban TikTok
- Donald Trump has even more to say about the TikTok ban.
- Former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick is apparently eyeing TikTok.
- President Biden says he’ll sign a TikTok ban, if passed.
- Republicans ignore Trump criticism, and plan to vote next week on a bill that could ban TikTok.
- Turns out Congress might still want to ban TikTok.
- The TikTokers are revolting.
- TikTok is urging users to call Congress about a looming ban
- Lawmakers introduce bill that would punish app stores for hosting TikTok
- Senators find tech CEOs’ responses hollow after four-hour hearing
- TikTok’s CEO can’t catch a break from xenophobia in Congress
- Rep. Ro Khanna on what it will take for Congress to regulate AI, privacy, and social media
- Iowa sues TikTok for setting its App Store age rating too low
- Judge upholds Texas TikTok ban on state employee devices.
- TikTok’s biggest hits are videos you’ve probably never seen
- Indiana’s lawsuit against TikTok has been dismissed.
- A US judge has blocked Montana’s TikTok ban.
- TikTok is committing €12 billion to data security in Europe.
- TikTok is ‘aggressively removing’ videos promoting an Osama bin Laden manifesto
- Nearly one-third of young adults are regularly getting news from TikTok.
- Social media giants must face child safety lawsuits, judge rules
- The EU is looking into Meta and TikTok’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war
- Judge questions Montana’s ban on TikTok
- VPNs, Verizon, and Instagram Reels: how students are getting around the TikTok ban
- In a bid to please regulators, TikTok opens its first EU data center
- TikTok’s algorithm will be optional in Europe
- TikTok sues Montana over controversial state ban
- Montana TikTok users file lawsuit challenging ban
- Can you even watch this video in Montana?
- Montana bans Telegram, WeChat, and Temu from government devices
- TikTok is now banned in Montana
- TikTok’s head of US trust and safety is leaving
- Republicans demand a ban on lawmakers using TikTok
- Montana state legislature votes to ban TikTok from app stores in the state.
- The TikTok ban is a betrayal of the open internet
- The Vergecast watched the TikTok hearing so you don’t have to.
- HELP.
- Congress seems more determined to ban TikTok than ever
- There are a lot of legitimate criticisms of TikTok, but this hearing is deeply embarrassing.
- #drugs.
- “I don’t think ownership is the issue here.”
- “Any TikTok or ByteDance data that is viewed, stored, or passes through China is subject to the laws of China.”
- We’ve reached a break.
- “It’s our understanding that they’re looking at the eyes.”
- “Unfortunately, we only have four and a half hours with you.”
- CitizenLab to TikTok: stop citing us to claim you’re secure!
- We’re an hour into TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew’s hearing before Congress.
- The TikTok hearing’s first printed-out screenshot!
- “They could get devastatingly incorrect information.”
- “Do you believe TikTok deserves this liability protection under Section 230?”
- “Why would the Chinese government sidestep their own law?”
- Would China even let ByteDance sell TikTok?
- “Is it accurate to say that you are in regular communication with the CEO of ByteDance?”
- “I could talk all day about how TikTok enriches people’s lives.”
- The TikTok hearings start with broadsides on Big Tech.
- We’re on the ground at the TikTok ban hearing.
- TikTok comes to Capitol Hill.
- How to watch this morning’s TikTok ban hearing
- TikTok CEO appears on TikTok to warn users about the TikTok ban
- TikTok now has 150 million monthly active users in the US.
- Get ready, Washington.
- The UK government doesn’t find TikTok to be Tip-Top.
- Biden administration reportedly demanding that TikTok sell or face a ban
- Congress rolls out new bill allowing nationwide TikTok ban
- A GOP plan to ban TikTok nationwide advances out of committee
- Now the European Commission is banning TikTok from staffers’ phones, too.
- Here’s a video of TikTok’s new transparency center.
- TikTok’s transparency theater
- Apple and Google face mounting pressure to remove TikTok from app stores
- TikTok CEO to testify before Congress in March
- Why TikTok’s future has never been so cloudy
- TikTok is now banned on mobile devices issued by US House of Representatives
- TikTok’s parent company accessed the data of US journalists
- Marco Rubio pushes TikTok ban in Congress
- TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew explains how US data will be kept out of China
- Is TikTok’s time running out?
- TikTok to provide researchers with more transparency as damaging reports mount
- TikTok’s security chief steps down as company moves US data to Oracle servers
- TikTok assures Republicans it’s working to protect US data security
Ukrainians in Canada react to Trump’s comments on the prospects for peace
Frustrating. Devastating. That’s how Tetiana Prykhodko reacted when she heard about U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans to end the war in Ukraine, following his telephone conversation this week with Russian President Vladamir Putin.
During the election campaign, Trump promised to quickly end the war.
On Wednesday, Trump said he and Putin spent an hour on the phone and agreed to begin peace negotiations — and they promised to meet soon face to face.
At first non-committal about Ukraine being given a seat at the negotiating table, on Thursday Trump said Ukraine would be there. But officials with his administration have also said NATO membership will not be on the table and it is unrealistic for Ukraine to expect to given back all the land it has lost to Russia during the war — about a fifth of Ukrainian territory.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladamir Putin spoke by phone on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025 and agreed to start negotiations on a peace deal in Ukraine.
Photo by JIM WATS(Photo by JIM WATSON,EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images
Prykhodko, one of tens of thousands of Ukrainians who fled to Canada following the start of the war, said all Ukrainians want peace, but she asks, “At what cost?”
“People are still being killed and are suffering — especially in the eastern parts of Ukraine,” said Prykhodko who was forced to flee her home town of Chernihiv, near the border with Russia and Belarus, on the day Putin ordered his army to invade.
Volunteers clear the rubble from a home near Chernihiv, Ukraine that was destroyed by Russian bombs on Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022.
(AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
“When all the talking on TV was about, ‘you have to pack,’ I didn’t actually take it seriously,” added Prykhodko. “After I heard the sirens, and after I saw smoke from my window (I realized) it’s not a joke and we decided to move out. I have a sister in the western part of Ukraine and she called me that day and said. ‘You are coming to our place,’ so that is what we did.”
“Lots of nearby villages suffered. Little girls being raped, people were killed, those who were imprisoned — awful things. I know really bad stories and it’s really hard to talk about them,” said Prykhodko.
![Click to play video: '‘I don’t see any logic in this war except to destroy and kill people’: The trauma for survivors in war-torn Chernihiv, Ukraine']()
Realizing the war would last a lot longer than Putin originally boasted about, her family applied for, and were granted, visas to come to Canada. “My husband has a sister here and she told us, ‘You are coming here.’”
Tetiana Prykhodko, who fled to Canada from Ukraine following the outbreak of war, reflects on the prospects for peace as looks at pictures of happier times at her home in Ukraine, before the Russian invasion.
Global News
The reception her family has received in Canada has been “amazing,” said Prykhokdo. “Canada has been a wonderful place to come, and we received so much support and care.”
While she, like most Ukrainians, yearns to one day return home, she is not optimistic about the prospects for peace under Trump’s and Putin’s terms.
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It is “like a feeling of no way out — it will never end in a good way and that makes me sad — that is frustrating and devastating,” said Prykhokdo.
Tetiana Prykhodko, seen here during New Years celebrations with her family in Ukraine, just weeks before Russia invaded, fears even if a peace deal is reached, they will have no home to return to.
Global News
“An overwhelming sense of disappointment — utter betrayal,” is how Stephania Romaniuk, vice-president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, describes the reaction of Calgary’s Ukrainian community to Trump’s comments on the terms for peace.
“There’s so many lives that have been lost, not just people who’ve been killed, civilians, the military in Ukraine, but lives that have been shattered and destroyed,” said Romaniuk.
“Perhaps we’re going to negotiate a peace, but at the cost of everything that these people have been fighting for.”
While she is pleased Ukraine will be at the negotiating table, she fears Trump is “falling into Putin’s trap” — adding NATO membership for Ukraine is really the only guarantee against future Russian aggression.
“We know that Russian diplomacy means nothing when Putin comes to the table,” said Romaniuk. “You can probably be guaranteed that he’s going to do the exact opposite of what he commits to — any peace deals are only going to be temporary, they’re going to be an opportunity for Russia to strengthen its forces, to prepare once again to mobilize.
“Whether it’s five, 10, 15 years from now, they’re going to come again.”
“Utter betrayal” is how Stephania Romaniuk, vice president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, describes the reaction of Calgary’s Ukrainian community to Trump’s comments on the terms for peace in Ukraine.
Global News
Romaniuk believes what’s happening in Ukraine should also be a warning for Canada.
“We share a border with Russia. As Russia feels emboldened, if the results of these peace talks show to them that they can take what they want, they are not going to stop there.”
“There are resources in the Arctic — certainly the changing environment is going to have an impact on what can be extracted from there, so I think that Canada needs to be prepared.”
For Prykhodko and her family, it’s like a horror movie that won’t stop.
“The peace that the Russians are offering — my biggest fear is I will have nowhere to come back to. The territories that are close to the eastern border, they are devastated, there is no house — just ruins. I’m scared about that.”
“The place of your childhood, your best memories. My biggest fear is that the Ukraine will become Russia.”
![Click to play video: 'Video shows moments after Russian troops allegedly shoot civilians standing in line for food in Chernihiv']()
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Liberal leadership candidates Freeland, Carney lay out visions during B.C. tour
The Liberal Party of Canada will choose its next leader — and by extension, the country’s next prime minister — on March 9.
As the leadership race heats up, two of the frontrunners made campaign swings to British Columbia, where they spoke with Focus BC about their visions for the country.
Here is a little bit of what each of them had to say.
![Click to play video: 'Justin Trudeau to step down as Prime Minister, Liberal leader']()
Chrystia Freeland
For former finance minister and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland, the current moment is all about U.S. President Donald Trump, who has threatened massive tariffs on Canadian goods and mused repeatedly about annexing the country as the 51st state.
“Trump is posing an existential threat to Canada. He has declared economic warfare on us. And I know how to meet that challenge and turn it into an opportunity,” Freeland said.
![Click to play video: 'Chrystia Freeland to set aggressive timeline for 2% defence spending']()
Freeland touts her experience as Canada’s lead negotiator on the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement when Trump tore up NAFTA during his last administration, and says she is ready to do it again.
“We have to have dollar-for-dollar retaliation, we have to publish the specifics of that retaliation right now, because that activates the American stakeholders, we have to make Americans see, ‘Canada actually has leverage over us,’” she said.
![Click to play video: '‘Buy Canadian’: Freeland suggests ‘boycott’ of US goods amid Trump tariffs']()
Freeland said her plan would involve targeted tariffs intended to make U.S. businesses feel pain while sparing Canadian consumers as much as possible — citing a 100 per cent tariff on Teslas as an example.
Freeland, who was one of outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s closest allies, has faced criticism that she represents a continuation of his agenda.
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Trudeau announced his plans to resign in January as the party faced historically low polling numbers.
“I did resign. I was the minister who had the courage to do that,” she responded.
“I wasn’t prime minister. That’s the job I am running for.”
![Click to play video: 'Freeland Liberal leadership campaign targeted by foreign interference: task force']()
Now that she is out of cabinet and running for leadership, she said, she is free to be her “own person” and pursue her own policy agenda.
Key planks of that agenda, she said, include scrapping the consumer carbon tax, a $500 middle-class tax cut and removing GST for first-time homebuyers.
Mark Carney
Mark Carney, former governor of both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, says those jobs along with his time in the business world have given him the experience necessary to manage the current moment of crisis.
“By accident or design, everything in my career has really prepared me for this moment,” he told Focus BC.
![Click to play video: '‘We must be masters in our own home’: Carney warns Canada amid looming trade war with U.S.']()
Carney said he’s dealt with Trump before and knows the president respects strength. Part of showing Canada’s strength is investing in our own economy and moving away from our dependence on the U.S., he said.
“We do not have to do a deal with the Americans, they want to do a deal with us. We’ll want to do one. It would be better for everyone involved, but we also have options here at home.”
“Sit down, do big things, people will rally behind it.”
That could take years, Carney acknowledged, but said he’d supercharge the economy in the short term with a middle-class tax cut and a focus on tearing down interprovincial barriers to trade.
![Click to play video: 'Mark Carney aims to beat Trudeau’s NATO spending target by two years']()
Like Freeland, Carney is not just campaigning against his political rivals but also what polling has suggested is voter fatigue with a Liberal government now in its 10th year.
Carney said part of the reason he stepped into politics was a drive to prioritize the economy.
“Let’s be candid, that has not been the main focus of the prime minister,” he said.
“He and I are very different people. I have extensive experience in the economy, I have extensive experience in business, I have extensive experience in making the private sector work for the public sector,” Carney said.
![Click to play video: 'Liberal leadership candidate Mark Carney draws large crowd in Kelowna']()
Carney is also proposing to eliminate the consumer carbon pricing, and to replace it with a carbon price for large emitters with proceeds funding consumer rebates on green technology — a scheme he said was more “efficient.” Doing so would allow Canadian companies to “leapfrog” their U.S. counterparts on decarbonization during the Trump administration.
Nearly 400,000 Liberal supporters are estimated to have signed up to vote in the leadership contest.
Freeland and Carney will join rival candidates former Liberal House leader Karina Gould, former Liberal MP Frank Baylis and former Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla for two leadership debates later this month.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
After 40 years in politics, Mississauga’s newest mayor says she’s not done yet – Toronto
When Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish resigned from a regional police board, citing the need to be openly critical of the largest budget increase in the force’s history, her decision took many by surprise.
But to those who’ve known her long enough, this is how the 78-year-old former member of Parliament has always approached politics –outspoken, bold and sometimes controversial.
After quitting the Peel Police Services Board last fall, Parrish said the $144-million boost to the police budget – 62 per cent of which is covered by Mississauga taxpayers – was “unreasonable.”
“The reason I had to quit is you have to sign a pledge when you go on the police services board never to disagree with a decision made at the board – publicly,” she said in an interview in her office last month. “I had no choice but to resign.”
The unusual move has been one of the hallmarks of her early mayorship.
Parrish was elected to lead Canada’s seventh largest city in a June 2024 byelection, succeeding Bonnie Crombie who had resigned to run for leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party.
Parrish, a former high school teacher, first became interested in politics 40 years ago after a “head-to-head” with her children’s school principal motivated her to start attending Peel District School Board meetings, and eventually become a board trustee in 1985.
She was elected to the House of Commons as a Liberal in 1993 and left federal politics more than a decade later as an independent, after getting kicked out of the Liberal caucus over her anti-American remarks during the invasion of Iraq and criticism of her own party and then-prime minister Paul Martin.
Parrish then served on Mississauga’s city council for years before winning the mayoral race.
She said four decades in politics isn’t enough for her, as she gears up to run for a full term as mayor in 2026.
“I have lots of things I want to finish,” she said.
Some of the things she has accomplished so far, and the way she did that, have attracted attention.
On the campaign trail, Parrish said that she would try to avoid using the so-called strong mayor powers – a provincially granted authority that allows mayors to override bylaws and fire and hire department heads, among other moves.
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However, she used the powers several times in her first week in office, which included firing the city’s chief administrative officer and hiring interim leaders of certain departments.
Parrish said she reinstated the power to make hiring and firing decisions back to the new CAO, Geoff Wright, after he was made permanent.
Mississauga, a city of around 800,000 people just west of Toronto, is struggling with a housing crisis, rising cost of living, property tax increases and worsening traffic congestion. Parrish said one in 13 Mississauga residents used food banks last year.
“It is a massive problem. It’s a hidden problem.”
One of the first moves she made as mayor was to form a housing task force, with input from the Greater Toronto Area’s top developers, to speed up home building.
Mississauga council has approved the task force’s recommendations, which include reducing development charges, transforming zoning, and updating building and design standards – with the goal of building more than 124,000 new housing units.
“I’m really proud of it,” Parrish said of the initiative.
Before council voted on the issue, she said she was prepared to use her strong mayor powers again to push the recommendations through.
“Carolyn Parrish has been, I think, the same person she has been throughout her political career,” said Mississauga councillor Alvin Tedjo, who ran against Parrish in the mayoral race.
“She is outspoken, she has strong opinions and she wants to get things done.”
Just as it did on Parliament Hill two decades ago, Parrish’s outspokenness has courted controversy in her new role.
Last November, she drew sharp criticism for mentioning Nelson Mandela as she spoke about Hamas militant leader Yahya Sinwar, who was killed in the Gaza Strip.
“Your terrorist and somebody else’s terrorist may be two different things,” she said at a council meeting in response to concerns raised over a planned vigil for Sinwar at Mississauga’s Celebration Square, which was ultimately cancelled by the organizers.
Parrish had also said the group planning the event had the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
She denies that she intended to compare Mandela and Sinwar, but critics say that is how most people interpreted her comments.
“Mississauga is a very diverse place and we have to be careful with our words,” Tedjo said in an interview. “The comparison itself, I don’t think, is justifiable.”
But Parrish said her comments were informed by her years of experience as an MP, when she made visits to Israel and Gaza.
Tedjo, who had promised he would freeze property taxes for two years when he ran in last year’s mayoral race, was among three Mississauga councillors who voted in favour of the 23.3 per cent budget increase for Peel police. It was an unprecedented hike approved by Peel regional council after hours of heated debate in late January.
Parrish said it was “quite devastating” to see members of her own council had joined “the other team in the middle of fight.” She said she had pushed for a smaller police budget hike of 14 or 18 per cent, to no avail.
Parrish said the new cost of policing will raise property taxes in Mississauga by an additional six per cent – without producing better results in tackling crime.
“The impact on our taxpayers is going to be horrendous,” she said.
But Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown, who sits on the Peel Police Services Board, has argued that public safety outweighs concerns over tax hikes.
Police need more officers and resources to address rising crime rates in the region, particularly intimate partner violence, Brown told a recent regional council meeting.
Several other members of the Peel police board did not respond to requests for comment from The Canadian Press.
Parrish may have lost her battle over policing costs, but she warned that doesn’t mean the fight is over.
She said her next move will be to work with the province to make sure her city’s tax dollars are spent transparently by the police.
“The whole process of police budgets has to change, there’s too much secrecy,” she said.
Battle of Ontario: What election stops tell us about party hopes
Voters in southwestern Ontario are getting used to the sight of orange and blue battle buses swinging into their towns and cities, with party leaders visiting ridings they think they have a chance of flipping ahead of election day.
Ontario’s election campaign is playing out on several fronts, with canvassers knocking on doors all over the province and ads promoting social media users to consider certain candidates.
Where the leaders go — and the locations they choose to hold big policy events or photo ops — is another facet of the campaign, hinting at which areas the central campaign is optimistic or nervous about.
Over the opening two weeks of the campaign, Global News has tracked the locations of public events all four party leaders have held and which ridings they’re appearing in most.
Southwestern Ontario battleground
Progressive Conservative Party Leader Doug Ford launched his re-election campaign deep into territory the Ontario NDP won in 2022.
His first event of the campaign in Windsor West was a riding the NDP won in 2022, as were his next stops in London—Fanshawe and London North Centre.
A photo opportunity in St. Catharines took Ford into a riding the NDP’s Jennie Stevens won in 2022, while two separate trips to Niagara Falls also took the PC onto the NDP’s patch.
Southwestern Ontario ridings appear to be on the target list for the PCs, who are promoting trade union endorsements in blue-collar areas, promising construction jobs and funding skills development training.
It’s also a part of the province the NDP could be worried about.
In Niagara Centre, the NDP’s Jeff Burch won with a two per cent margin in 2022 and, in Niagara Falls, Wayne Gates had a 12 per cent margin. Lisa Gretzky in Windsor had a seven per cent win for the NDP in 2022 and London’s Terence Kernaghan had nine per cent.
Polling conducted on the opening two days of the campaign for Global News found the NDP vote strongest in southwestern Ontario but still trailing the Progressive Conservatives.
The PC campaign ignored questions for this story before publication.
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Ford isn’t the only leader visiting the southwest, with several NDP stops already in the area and more on the agenda for the coming days.
On the third day of the campaign, NDP Leader Stiles visited Gretzky’s campaign for a photo opportunity in Windsor, also holding a news conference in Windsor—Tecumseh, which the PCs won last time around.
On Monday, she began driving west, stopping in Niagara Centre where Burch is seeking re-election.
She made a separate stop in Hamilton Centre, where a new NDP candidate is hoping to win the riding back from independent Sarah Jama, who was removed from the party in 2023.
Tuesday sees Stiles canvassing in London.
Both Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie and Stiles have made trips to northern Ontario during the campaign, appearing in ridings their parties failed to win last time around.
The NDP chose to launch its health-care platform in Sault Ste. Marie. It’s a northern city where the party is hoping to make gains and blame the previous government for an incident at the start of this year when local Steelworkers lost access to a family doctor.
The riding was won by the PCs’ Ross Romano in 2022 but the former chief whip chose not to run again. The NDP is running a local councillor in the riding, hoping for a name-recognition boost.
One campaign source told Global News the NDP is feeling particularly optimistic about the riding. They say roughly 100 people came out in the snow to see Stiles when she arrived.
Sault Ste. Marie is one of several PC wins from 2022 that the NDP hopes it can flip. The vast majority of places Stiles has visited in the first two weeks of the campaign voted either NDP or PC in 2022 — the leader has visited one lone Liberal riding so far.
Beyond Sault Ste. Marie, hours up the Trans-Canada Highway in Thunder Bay, Crombie has also been campaigning. She made a series of visits to two ridings in the northern hub, one won by the NDP and the other by the PCs in 2022.
Ford’s campaign is yet to make a stop in the north.
Toronto and Peel Region fight
Seat-rich Toronto and the surrounding 905 are key battlegrounds in every election and 2025 looks set to be no different.
In 2022, the PCs completed a sweep of every suburban riding around the city with the exception of Oshawa, won by the NDP.
This time around, the Ontario Liberals hope to mount a suburban battle, especially in Brampton and Mississauga. Their leader, Crombie, was mayor of Mississauga for a decade before entering provincial politics, something the party hopes to leverage.
One Liberal campaign source said Crombie’s name recognition in the region was “second to none” with canvassing stops slowed by requests for photos with the former mayor.
Crombie, who didn’t hold a seat at dissolution, is running in Mississauga East—Cooksville, where she spent the entire second day of the campaign.
She’s also stopped in Brampton for an announcement, although the riding in which she held that event didn’t yet have a party candidate nominated to run.
The PCs — who won all 11 of Peel Region’s seats in 2022, up from eight in 2018 — have also sent Ford to the region. The Progressive Conservative leader made two stops at the beginning of February in Brampton ridings, holding a news conference and launching a local campaign.
The Liberals and NDP have made several visits to the ridings in Toronto’s 416 area. Both held news conferences in Spadina—Fort York on Monday — the riding was won by the NDP’s Chris Glover in 2022.
Focused Green Party campaign
Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner, who has an electric car instead of a battle bus, has been focused on a select few ridings in his campaigning.
Schreiner won Guelph in 2022 and added a second MPP to his party’s fold at the end of 2023 when his party won the Kitchener Centre byelection. He has devoted significant time already in the campaign to those ridings as he looks to win both again.
He’s also headed north several times to Parry Sound—Muskoka, where the Greens came within striking distance of winning in 2022. In the last election, the PCs’ Graydon Smith won 20,216 votes and the Greens’ Matt Richter won 18,102.
Both are running again.
Additionally, Schreiner has spent time in Wellington-Halton Hills. The rural riding was represented by Ted Arnott, who ran under the Progressive Conservative banner but served as the Speaker.
4 Nations Face-Off tournament set against backdrop of Canada-U.S. political tensions
Canada and the United States share the world’s longest border at nearly 9,000 kilometres.
The countries have interlinked economies and plenty in common culturally. The Peace Arch, straddling British Columbia and Washington state, is meant to symbolizes that friendship. The Peace Bridge, meanwhile, links Ontario and New York state.
The last few weeks haven’t felt all that peaceful.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced crippling tariffs — a 30-day reprieve was negotiated Feb. 3 — and continues to muse about making America’s northern neighbour its 51st state.
![Click to play video: 'Trump declares new tariffs, repeats threats to annex Canada']()
Despite the pause on a blanket tariff on Canadian goods, Trump said on Sunday that he will formally announce 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the U.S. on Monday, including those coming from Canada.
There have been, of course, plenty of disagreements and flashpoints in the past. Away from the political arena, that rivalry has perhaps been the fiercest when the countries’ athletes compete — especially on the ice.
The 4 Nations Face-Off, a tournament involving NHL players and featuring the North American rivals, starts Wednesday in Montreal.
Canada players (left to right) Connor McDavid, Sam Reinhart, Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby talk on the bench during 4 Nations Face-Off hockey practice in Montreal on Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. Canada will face Sweden on February 12.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi
So what will the current unease and tit-for-tat threats mean for a matchup that already has plenty of fuel?
“Canadians are nationalistic and proud,” said Daniel Rubenson, a political science professor at Toronto Metropolitan University. “They don’t want to be told they’re going to be subsumed by another country. The chances are pretty slim, but that rhetoric puts things on edge.”
Canadian crowds booed the American anthem at both NHL and NBA games in response to Trump’s tariff threats.
![Click to play video: 'Majority of Canadians think less of U.S. amid Trump tariff threat: Ipsos']()
That trend slowed after both sides — Canada indicated it would respond with retaliatory tariffs if the U.S. followed through — took a step back from the ledge. Fans in Halifax didn’t jeer the anthem ahead of the countries’ recent women’s Rivalry Series hockey games.
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The crowd in Montreal for a pair of Canadiens’ contests over the weekend were largely respectful of the anthem.
But the city, where the Canadians and Americans square off Saturday in 4 Nations action, has a history of booing The Star-Spangled Banner, including in 2003 after the U.S. invaded Iraq.
“The political landscape is so unstable in the United States,” said Amy Bass, a professor of sports studies at Manhattanville University in Purchase, N.Y. “Having a definitive idea of what this game is going to mean and how it’s going to go down … we don’t know.”
![Click to play video: 'Trump’s tariff threats making border towns nervous']()
Aaron Ettinger, an associate political science professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, said nationalism is always the subtext of international sports.
“That’s what makes it fun,” he said.
“It’s our country and our people against your country and your people.”
Ettinger, whose published work includes the intersection of sports and politics, added pride can play a big factor.
“Canadians like beating Americans at sports because we’re not really going to beat them at much else,” he said. “This time around, there’s some real stakes because the United States and its president are (threatening) something harmful to Canadian national interests.”
Canada’s main hockey rival was once the Soviet Union. Russia picked up the banner, but the U.S. has nudged its way to the top of the list over the last 30 years.
![Click to play video: '1972 Summit Series: Marking 50 years since iconic Team Canada-Soviet Union battle']()
Canada hasn’t been unseated in the men’s game — at least not yet. The women have gone back and forth, while the Americans own three of the last the world junior hockey championships.
“That’s one place, maybe the only place, where Canada has been the big brother,” Rubenson said of the rink. “It’s been easy for Canadians to be generous toward Americans there.”
The rivalry has been tough yet friendly, he added, but the change in tone from the White House might signal a change in that relationship.
“Political and social issues can spill over,” Rubenson said.
Fans and politicians could get riled, but will the players actually care?
Many Canadians suit up for American-based teams. U.S. captain Auston Matthews, meanwhile, wears the ‘C’ for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“I don’t know if they live in the real world,” Ettinger said of NHL stars. “They generally live in the elite republic of hockey without much sense of what’s going on in the real world.”
Rubenson, whose specialization includes sports and politics, doesn’t expect much change in terms of the on-ice clash.
“That rivalry is already super intense,” he said. “Hardcore fans don’t need excuses. The media is going to drum this up and the fans are going to get riled up.
“Might make for great atmosphere — nothing wrong with that.”
While not a direct comparable or on the same scale, Bass said a Canadian victory at the 4 Nations could have a feel north of the border similar to the Americans’ triumph over the Soviets — the “Miracle on Ice” — at the 1980 Olympics.
“It was a Cold War victory,” she said. “Has the United States become the ‘big bad’? Taking down the United States is going to feel good for a whole new reason.”
Ettinger said that, in the end, the current cooling of relations is not so much Canada versus U.S. as Canada versus Trump.
“Americans, generally, have very favourable views of Canada,” he said. “The economic relationship is extraordinarily beneficial to both. It just happens to be that the guy manning the White House has really antagonistic orientations towards most foreign countries.
“Especially Canada.”
© 2025 The Canadian Press
