Ford had tried to have the Toronto Al Quds event cancelled altogether by asking the Ontario Attorney General to file a court injunction against the event, a motion that was denied by a judge of Ontario’s Superior Court on the day of the event, March 14, allowing it to go ahead.

Other groups like the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) called out the premier for trying to violate the Charter Rights of Canadian citizens through his attempt to stop the Al-Quds day event.

“Seeking to shut down an entire protest before it has even begun is an extraordinary and dangerous step. It is a pre-emptive attack on freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly, both of which are fundamental Charter-protected freedoms in a democratic society,” a statement from the CCLA reads.

For decades, David Suzuki has been a familiar face and voice in Canada — known for his rare ability to make complex scientific and environmental issues understandable.

That gift reached millions through The Nature of Things, the iconic CBC television series he began hosting in 1979.

Over time, he became known not only as a scientist and broadcaster, but as a passionate and outspoken environmental advocate — one of the first major public figures to call for urgent action on global warming.

He deepened that commitment in 1990 by founding the David Suzuki Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to developing practical solutions to some of the planet's most pressing environmental challenges.

The surge was driven primarily by activity in the bond market. International investors acquired $51.3 billion in Canadian bonds during the month, an all-time high, although some of these gains were offset by sales of money market instruments.

Corporate debt was the main attraction, with foreign investors purchasing $31.5 billion in corporate bond issues. This included euro-denominated offerings sold abroad by Canadian chartered banks. Government debt also drew significant interest. Non-resident investors added $12.9 billion in federal bonds and bought $6.8 billion in provincial securities, marking the largest monthly inflow into provincial debt since May 2025.

The strength of global appetite for Canadian fixed income highlights the continued appeal of domestic bonds in an environment where investors are seeking yield and relative stability.

...

Foreign demand also extended to equities. Non-resident investors purchased $5.7 billion worth of Canadian shares, with buying concentrated in energy and mining companies. Activity in the secondary market remained firm, building on strong inflows seen late last year. Canadian equities posted modest gains during January, with the S&P/TSX Composite Index rising 0.7%.

...

A Canadian graphite company is ready to take on China in the global market, and just got a step closer with a hefty federal funding boost as Canada ramps up its critical mineral strategy.

Earlier this week, Nouveau Monde Graphite (NMG) secured a $459 million financing package from the Canada Infrastructure Bank and Export Development Canada to support the construction and commissioning of its Phase-2 Matawinie Mine in Quebec.

Matawinie Mine is projected to become the largest graphite mine in the G7 once it is operational. It will also be the first in Canada to mine and refine graphite into battery-grade material on a large scale.

“We are super competitive against China and against any other mining project in Africa or any other countries,” says Eric Desaulniers, founder and president of NMG.

Desaulniers says the project’s cost structure and long-term offtake agreements position it to compete with China, which dominates the world’s critical mineral processing.

He says about 75 per cent of the project’s future production from the Matawinie Mine has already been committed through offtake agreements. The company has major customers like Panasonic Energy committed to a quarter of the production for lithium-ion batteries, as well as Traxxas in Texas for refractory bricks

...

The company is now working toward a final investment decision after securing debt financing, with equity still to be finalized, says Desaulniers.

He says the project is largely de-risked.

“We have 80 per cent of detail engineering done on the project. Over 50 per cent of the capex contracts are now signed,” says Desaulniers, adding that construction could begin as early as May if the remaining financing is secured.

A recent survey among Quebec healthcare workers demonstrated that the cumulative risk of developing long COVID from an acute infection is 17% and increases with each infection. The estimated prevalence of long COVID in this population was 5.6%. Other research places the global risk as high as 40% among healthcare workers who have contracted an acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. …

Nevertheless, many healthcare workers still don’t believe that long COVID is real, despite dramatically disabling symptoms in people with no preexisting risk factors. “The me before and the me now are such opposites,” said Pinard. “I would swim three mornings a week before going to the office. I was running 40 km. I was traveling every second week. Now I leave my house only every 2-3 months….I was where I was supposed to be [with COVID vaccination]. I was in good health. I wasn’t depressed; I wasn’t anxious.” …

Hulme and other interested parties have tried to help build the infrastructure needed to provide care for patients with long COVID, but they have faced many barriers. Although the condition shares many features with fibromyalgia, myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, guidelines for those conditions could not mention long COVID by provincial government decree. “There are many, many political reasons as to why [long COVID] should not become a big deal,” said Hulme. “There are still little pockets of money for research, but they are very small.”

...

What is surprising is the lack of scrutiny around foreign ownership of this country’s natural resources. Who owns and controls Canada’s natural wealth has implications far beyond a balance sheet. It affects who benefits and who bears the risk in an increasingly volatile world.

The share of foreign-controlled assets outside the financial sector sits at 22.9 per cent. In the oil and gas industry, that rises to 33 per cent. In forestry and logging, foreign-controlled enterprises have been reported as accounting for up to 40 per cent of revenues, though lack of transparent reporting makes accountability difficult.

It’s hard to notice ownership structures when companies have deceptive names such as “LNG Canada,” which has no Canadian ownership but is a massive joint venture between five multinational corporations, some state-owned, including PetroChina and Korea Gas Corporation.

This is not an argument for xenophobia or economic isolation. Canada’s participation in global markets is vital to its economy, while foreign companies bring capital and expertise and employ countless people who live here.

Ownership matters, as does the long-term accountability that follows.

Companies not headquartered here direct more profit out of the country with little concern or accountability for the ecological consequences of their actions.

...

When we prioritize multinational corporations over Indigenous stewardship models rooted in ecological responsibility and community benefits, we undermine reconciliation and the potential for a sustainable future.

...

Most Canadians want limits on foreign ownership. A recent survey found almost 60 per cent believed outside possession of Canada’s critical minerals was a greater threat than “missing out on development and jobs because of a lack of investment.”

...

Sovereignty can’t matter in one context and be dismissed in another.

We should all be asking the important questions: Who makes decisions around Canada’s natural wealth? Who benefits? And who is left holding the bag?

...

Opinion piece by David Suzuki, a scientist, broadcaster, author and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. Written with David Suzuki Foundation Communications Manager Stefanie Carmichael.

Canada announced $20 million in federal investment through Genome Canada and regional Genome Centres to launch 33 new genomics R&D projects across the country.

Spanning applications from AI-powered precision cancer care to helping farmers target drought-tolerant canola crops, these industry-academic partnerships are designed to accelerate adoption of genomics in sectors critical to Canadian health and economic competitiveness.

The investment will generate more than $45 million in additional private and other public sector co-investment—demonstrating how targeted federal funding can catalyze broader business growth, job creation and the deployment of genomics-enabled technologies at scale.

...

Made through Genome Canada’s Genomic Applications Partnership Program (GAPP), this investment will support projects aimed at delivering:

• Faster, more precise diagnoses and personalized care for cancer, rare and chronic diseases
• Accelerated, cost-effective drug development
• New therapies for currently incurable diseases
• Healthier, higher-yield crops for stronger food security
• Improved food safety and reduced agri-food waste
• Lower emissions and greater resilience in agriculture and livestock
• Smarter, faster ecosystem monitoring
• More efficient pollution cleanup

...

Through the Canadian Genomics Strategy, Canada is investing $175.1 million over seven years in genomics commercialization, data coordination and talent—cementing genomics as a cornerstone of Canada’s bioeconomy. The CGS committed a total of $96 million in investment support for commercialization and adoption through Genome Canada’s Genomics Application Partnership Program (GAPP).

The projects announced today are based across Canada.

...

The New York Times now requires about 1/10 of people clicking a gift link like this one to register in order to access the article. You can either:

• Register — you don't need to pay — but you do need to give up an email address
• Open the gift link in a private browsing window or use Reader mode in your browser
• Use archive.today to skip the paywall entirely. Be aware that archive.today sometimes modifies archived pages, and generally fails to archive complex multimedia content.

Edmonton police (EPS) chief Warren Driechel was in the hot seat at Thursday’s police commission meeting over his Israel trip in February. Driechel faced pushback from more than a dozen speakers who said the chief’s trip has broken the community’s trust in EPS.

Thursday’s tense meeting at the City Hall came after Muslim and Palestinian communities said they were upset with Driechel for not apologizing for his trip.

Steve Shafir, co-chair of community relations committee at Jewish Federation of Edmonton, said, “I came because I felt it was important to show the chief that he has support from Edmontonians, has support from our community.”

Mousa Qasqas of the Canada Palestine Cultural Association said Driechel was not consistent in the meeting and what he said in public.

“It felt like he was speaking to us with one voice, calling our communities and saying, but then in public saying a completely different thing saying, ‘I stand by my decision,’” Qasqas said.

The survey lasts until April 20. I'm glad transport Canada is looking into it.

Edit: thanks @Quilotoa@lemmy.ca for pointing out that I got the date wrong.

Federal programs aimed at addressing climate change are facing significant cuts as the government shifts to artificial intelligence (AI) and slashes thousands of jobs, according to recently released departmental plans.

In its latest budget, Prime Minister Mark Carney's government said it would partly rely on AI to eliminate 40,000 public service jobs

When you cut jobs, the workload doesn't go down. How are you going to continue maintaining a quality service to Canadians?" asked Alex Silas, PSAC's national executive vice-president.

"That's the big piece that's missing out of this, and the big piece that the Carney government's not taking into consideration."

Silas also raised concerns about a "lack of transparency" by the government, saying the departmental plans are short on detail about how services will be delivered in the wake of significant job cuts.

For example, Employment and Social Development Canada will have 15,629 fewer public servants in 2029 than it had last year.

The department says it will be "leveraging artificial intelligence to automate internal processes and streamline operations," and plans to merge program delivery "to lower administrative costs."

Archived link

• While 16 F-35 fighters remain contractually committed for delivery starting this year, the full 88-jet procurement is stalled amidst trade friction with the Trump administration.

• Rising program costs—now estimated at $30 billion—have reopened the door for Saab’s JAS 39 Gripen E.

• The Gripen offers superior industrial benefits, including 12,600 domestic jobs and Arctic-optimized maintenance.

• Ottawa must now balance the F-35’s unmatched NORAD interoperability against the Gripen’s economic sovereignty as the aging CF-18 Hornet fleet reaches its structur

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/44810743

The Philippines and Canada must work together to develop “democratic” supply chains for critical minerals and reduce its dependence on China.

This was according to experts and diplomats who spoke during a high-level conference organized by the Stratbase Institute and the Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada (APF Canada) last Friday, which sought to discuss how Ottawa and Manila could strengthen their bilateral ties and cooperate to improve their economic security.

Vina Nadjibulla, APF Canada vice president for research, specifically identified critical minerals – which underpin high-tech industries and advanced defense systems – as a cornerstone of the two nations’ deepening partnership and said the two countries must leverage their complementary strengths to build a more resilient economic future in the region.

“This is the moment to deploy our critical minerals, both for our digital needs and our sustainability goals, as well as obviously defense industrial actions,” Nadjibulla said.

She also underscored the strategic necessity of “building supply chains that are democratic, that are not just dependent on China,” to be able to navigate an increasingly “divided and dangerous” global landscape.

Stratbase Institute president Victor Andres Manhit reinforced this perspective, asserting that “economic security is national security” and that the Philippines is moving toward a new tax regime on mining and a “future mining fiscal framework for critical markets” to facilitate these strategic investments.

...

Philippines Trade Undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo said Manila is eyeing to hammer out a critical minerals deal with Ottawa ... “We hope that with Canada, we can also have a critical minerals agreement given the prominence that we’re putting on critical minerals,” Rodolfo said, adding that the deal was brought up during the 2026 Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada Convention in Toronto early this month.