Canada

Here is an Invidious link to the video (1 min).

Hollywood actor [and Tibet activist] Richard Gere says Canada should not pivot to a stronger relationship with China just because of its currently strained relationship with the United States.

He says he is worried about that strain but says that won’t last forever and it is problematic for Canada to make “corrections” in its relationship with China as a result of the issues with the U.S.

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"If you look what's happened around the world with the arrangements the Chinese have made, [it is clear that] they haven't turned on well for anybody," Gere said. "I'd be very, very sceptical of these arrangements."

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Gere was on Parliament Hill on what is known as Tibet lobby day, an annual event that advocates for the rights and freedoms of Tibetans.

Gere’s philanthropy work includes advocating for human rights in Tibet and supporting the Tibetan independence movement.

The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of Tibet and the head of Tibetan Buddhism who was forced into exile in 1959 after an uprising by Chinese troops.

Liberal MP James Maloney, whose Ontario constituency is home to the Tibetan Canadian Cultural Centre, welcomed Gere in a statement before question period today, before most MPs gave the actor a standing ovation.

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In the video, Gere warns of

In Eidlin's opinion, the employer had little reason to meaningfully bargain with workers, knowing that in short order the government would intervene to end the strike and bail them out. "This employer was banking on the strike creating enough of a crisis to justify government intervention," Eidlin said.

The union's president echoed this sentiment, indicating that the impending law meant that the STM "no longer had any incentive to negotiate with us." As in so many examples over the past several years, government interference on the side of the employer undermined collective bargaining and shielded STM from the pressure of the union's strike.

Canadian politicians have increasingly taken to social media to campaign as well as communicate with constituents, sharing updates on policies, local events, emergencies or government initiatives.

But stories have emerged of constituents being blocked by their representatives. Should Canadian politicians be free to block their own constituents?

Some politicians claim the blocking is to combat increased online harassment, while constituents have claimed that simply being critical of policies or initiatives is enough to get them blocked.

Some recent cases in Canada include federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault being asked to unblock Ezra Levant on X in 2023, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith blocking constituents on X in 2023 and Montréal Mayor Valérie Plante blocking comments on X and Instagram in 2024. In 2018, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson was sued by three local Ottawa activists after blocking them on X.

Canadian trade officials have launched anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations into Chinese-built truck bodies after imports surged more than tenfold in three years, hammering pricing and order books for Canadian manufacturers.

Chinese suppliers are allegedly selling bodies at deeply discounted prices and benefiting from government support, undercutting domestic builders serving OEM dealers, leasing companies and mid-sized fleets.

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Imports from China represented just 4% of Canada’s truck body volume in 2022. By the first half of 2025, they climbed to 54%. Domestic manufacturers reported price depression, lost sales, reduced capacity utilization and softer hiring as lower-priced imports gained traction.

The CBSA estimates preliminary dumping margins at 51.4% and subsidies worth 36.6% of export prices. It also triggered a Section 20 inquiry, signalling concerns that China’s truck body sector may not operate under market economy conditions — a move that could lead to higher duties.

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The Canadian International Trade Tribunal is reviewing whether the surge in imports is injuring domestic producers. A decision is due by late December. If injury is confirmed, provisional duties could be imposed as early as January, raising costs for importers and potentially tightening supply for fleets relying on lower-cost Chinese van and reefer bodies.

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Currently, there are 158 special import measures in force in Canada, covering a wide variety of industrial and consumer products. In 2024, these measures have directly helped to protect approximately 45,000 Canadian jobs and $18.4 billion in Canadian production.

Re: https://lemmy.ca/post/55130644

Health Canada says more than $20-million worth of pharmaceutical products were lost from the national stockpile this year because of a temperature-control issue, spurring a call from the federal Conservative health critic for a House of Commons investigation.

The department confirmed the incident on Thursday after figures were identified in the public accounts, an annual financial report on government revenues and spending, and reported by The Canadian Press.

In response, Health Canada said in a statement that there were two specific losses documented.

The first involved damage to lab equipment that resulted in its loss, totalling around $1.2-million.

The second involved the loss of pharmaceutical products, such as vaccines, held in the National Emergency Strategic Stockpile. A “temperature deviation” resulted in the loss of product, totalling more than $20-million, the department said.

Health Canada said the losses will not affect the capacity of the stockpile to respond to public health events. It also said the Public Health Agency of Canada could not disclose details on assets held by the stockpile, including types and volumes, because of national security implications.

The head of Canada’s intelligence service described his fight against the national security challenges posed by China, Russia, Iran and India on Thursday in his first public speech on the threats facing the country.

The normally guarded director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Dan Rogers, named the four countries as he catalogued the espionage and transnational repression efforts of Canada’s adversaries.

Russia has been spying on the government and private sector in the Arctic, trying to send intelligence officers to Canada and procuring goods in the country for its war in Ukraine, he said in his first annual speech.

“Illicit Russian procurement networks seek to illegally acquire Canadian goods and technologies, which they move to Russia through a complex series of front companies based around the world,” Rogers said, adding those goods are used to support Russian militar efforts in “Ukraine and elsewhere.”

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Driving extremism are “eroding social cohesion, increasing polarization, and significant global events,” he said, adding that radicalization is often happening online, without direction.

There have been 20 violent extremist attacks in Canada since 2014, resulting in 29 deaths, he said. At the same time, CSIS has disrupted two dozen “violent extremist actions” since 2022.

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Canadian so called values when will we ever start opposing settler colonialism