Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy early Sunday on the margins of the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan, where the two men embraced and exchanged words of support and appreciation.
It was one of a series of whirlwind meetings for the Ukrainian leader as he tries to solidify international support for his country ahead of a planned counteroffensive to drive Russian troops out of his country.
Trudeau told Zelenskyy that Canada stands with Ukraine.
“We talk every few weeks. It’s so nice to see you in person,” Trudeau said. “It’s so nice to be able to actually talk directly like this.”
‘I want to thank you’
For his part, Zelenskyy was gracious and appreciative.
“It’s good to see you,” Zelenskyy told Trudeau after a handshake and hug. “I want to thank you, your government, also Canadian people for supporting us.”
The G7 host, Japan, has said including Zelenskyy came following the “strong wish” of the Ukrainian president to be at the table with the nations that will influence his country’s defence against Russia and eventual reconstruction.
Trudeau and Zelenskyy exchanged pleasantries and a hug. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
“Japan. G7. Important meetings with partners and friends of Ukraine. Security and enhanced cooperation for our victory. Peace will become closer today,” Zelenskyy tweeted following his arrival Saturday aboard a French government jet.
While Zelenskyy was meeting with world leaders, the Russian defence ministry and the head of the Russian Wagner mercenary force claimed that Bakhmut — the Ukrainian town that has been the scene of the costly and likely the most deadly battle of the war — had fallen to Russian forces.
The head of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said in a Telegram post that the city came under complete Russian control around midday Saturday.
Ukraine’s military command denied the claim.
Russian claims a distraction, Zelenskyy adviser says
A few hours later and using the Soviet-era name for the city, the Russian defence ministry said: “The assault teams of the Wagner private military company with the support of artillery and aviation of the southern battlegroup has completed the liberation of the city of Artyomovsk.”
Mykhailo Podolyak, a Zelenskyy adviser, also denied the Wagner claim, saying, “It is not the first time Prigozhin has said ‘We seized everything and are dominating.'”
He suggested that the Wagner chief’s statement was aimed at drawing attention away from Zelenskyy’s recent highly visible trips overseas, including the G7 summit.
The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War, which has tracked the fighting in Ukraine daily, quoted Ukraine’s deputy defence minister Hanna Malyar as saying Ukrainian forces continue to hold positions near the city’s MiG-17 monument.
The organization added that if Prigozhin’s claim is true, the seizure is merely “symbolic” because Ukrainian forces continue to pressure and push back Russian troops on the northern and southern flanks of Bakhmut.
“The last few urban blocks of eastern Bakhmut that Prigozhin claimed that Wagner Group forces captured are not tactically or operationally significant,” the institute said in its nightly update.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
