Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says the Canadian government will be imposing more sanctions on the Russian economy “in the coming days,” intended to choke off the country’s ability to further fund its war against Ukraine.
Freeland remarked that Russian President Vladimir Putin has become an “international pariah” and that Russia’s actions are not that of a superpower, but of a “failing kleptocracy.”
The minister provided an update on the government’s actions to punish Russia on Tuesday afternoon following a meeting with her G7 colleagues.
Freeland noted that the upcoming sanctions will target institutions and individuals enabling Putin, similar to those already imposed.
Ottawa has imposed penalties on high profile Russian leaders including Putin himself, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Justice Minister Konstantin Chuychenko, Defence Minister Sergey Shoygum and Putin’s chief of staff Anton Vaino.
The government has also barred all financial institutions from engaging in any transaction with the Russian Central Bank, which Freeland deemed Putin’s “war chest.”
In total, 32 Russian entities and 382 individuals have been sanctioned.
Absent from that list is Russian billionaire and owner of Chelsea football club Roman Abramovich.
He is one of many Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny has recommended targeting for his alliance with the Kremlin. Abramovich has substantial financial holdings in Canada.
Asked why the government hasn’t yet gone after the oligarch, Freeland said only that all options are being considered.
“We are looking carefully at the holdings of all Russian oligarchs and Russian companies inside Canada, we’re reviewing them and everything is on the table,” she said.
Freeland said the economic sanctions imposed so far are having an impact, referencing the plummeting Russian ruble as proof.
“We have already seen the impact of these measures on the Russian economy, on the ruble. Those sanctions were necessary. This morning, with the G7 finance ministers… we discussed a series of measures that we will implement to maintain pressure on Russia,” she said, speaking in French.
In terms of what other tools Canada has at its disposal to levy at Russia, the finance minister said her Ukrainian counterpart has shared “creative and thoughtful” ideas.
“Russia is not the Soviet Union. Russia is an economy and a society which is deeply integrated into the West and deeply integrated into the global economy. What we are seeing here from Vladimir Putin is an attempt to have his cake and eat it too. He wants to behave like a communist dictator,” Freeland said.
“You don’t get to do that. If you make war on a rules based international order, we’re going to cut you out of the global economy.”
In response to what Putin called “aggressive statements” by NATO allies, the Russian president put nuclear deterrent forces on high alert on Sunday.
Diplomats are dubbing the move a “tactic” to persuade the West to “back off.
Freeland did acknowledge the likelihood of “collateral damage” on Canada’s economy as sanctions continue to be applied.
“At the end of the day, if we are truly determined to stand with Ukraine, if the stakes in this fight are as high as I believe them to be, we have to be honest with ourselves, I have to be honest with Canadians, that there could be some collateral damage in Canada,” she said.
“Of course that is much, much, much more true for our European partners than it is for us, but it’s the reality.”
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
