The federal government has finished issuing $500 million in bonds to support Ukraine, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday, pointing to the bond drive as another sign of Canada’s support for the embattled country.
“It’s been fully subscribed,” Trudeau said of the bonds while appearing at a Reuters Next conference. “Which points out how Canadians themselves know that we need to stand with Ukraine in absolutely reliable ways.”
The five-year, government-backed bonds were first announced last month. The money raised is expected to be channelled as a loan to Ukraine through the International Monetary Fund so the country can continue basic operations.
Those include non-military needs such as paying out pensions and keeping utilities working as Ukraine continues to fight back against a Russian invasion during the onset of winter. The exact terms will depend on negotiations between Ottawa and Kyiv.
The money raised by the bond drive is in addition to about $2 billion in other financial and military assistance that Canada has already disbursed to Ukraine, which was invaded by Russian forces in late February.
In a statement, Finance Canada said a combination of Canadian and foreign investors snapped up the bonds between Nov. 22-29. That includes $50 million purchased by individual Canadians, though a full breakdown was not provided.
The department indicated that Canadians who are interested in buying the bonds, which are sold in $100 denominations, can still purchase them from participating financial institutions.
The conclusion of the bond drive comes as the NATO military alliance offered fresh support to three countries shaken by the effects of Russia’s 10-month-old war: Moldova, Bosnia and Georgia.
That support came from NATO allies as the three countries’ foreign ministers met with their NATO counterparts in Brussels to discuss how the world’s biggest security organization could help them in the face of political, energy and territorial uncertainty precipitated by the war.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said after talks that the allies discussed shared security concerns with the three countries, which he said are facing Russian pressure. Stoltenberg said alliance members agreed to help train and improve the three nations’ security and defence institutions.
“If there is one lesson learned from Ukraine, it’s that we need to support them now,” Stoltenberg said at the Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has had a particularly troubling effect on Moldova, Ukraine’s neighbour, which is currently facing a severe energy crisis due to its reliance on Russian energy.
In recent weeks, the country has suffered massive power outages as a result of Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid. Russian missiles have also traversed its skies, missile debris has landed on its soil and, in April, blasts occurred in the country’s Russian-backed breakaway region of Transnistria — where Moscow bases some 1,500 troops.
Stoltenberg told reporters on Wednesday that Bosnia — which has long been wracked by political instability, Russian interference and ethnic tensions — is “important for stability in the whole of the Western Balkans.” Protests rocked the Bosnian Serb half of the ethnically divided country last month after some voters alleged that a pro-Russian Bosnian Serb leader rigged an election in the Serb entity, Republika Srpska.
Bosnian Foreign Minister Bisera Turkovic said her country, where a government is in the process of being formed following the elections, “is very concerned about the future.”
“We have proxies, or we had the proxies, in our government, Russian proxies. So division in the country is deep and we hope that we will be able to overcome it. NATO’s presence is extremely important for Bosnia-Herzegovina because it is a guarantor of our security,” she said.
NATO has promised Georgia that, like Ukraine, it will join the 30-nation alliance one day, but Russian troops swept into Georgia after that pledge was made 14 years ago. A breakaway Georgian region has this year threatened to hold a referendum on joining Russia.
This report by The Canadian Press was first publishedNov. 30, 2022.
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Dolphins will bring in another quarterback while starter Tua Tagovailoa deals with his latest concussion, coach Mike McDaniel said Friday.
For now, Skylar Thompson will be considered the Dolphins’ starter while Tagovailoa is sidelined. Tagovailoa left Thursday night’s 31-10 loss to Buffalo in the third quarter with the third known concussion of his NFL career, all of them coming in the last 24 months.
“The team and the organization are very confident in Skylar,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel said the team has not made any decision about whether to place Tagovailoa on injured reserve. Tagovailoa was expected at the team facility on Friday to start the process of being evaluated in earnest.
“We just have to operate in the unknown and be prepared for every situation,” McDaniel said, noting that the only opinions that will matter to the team will be the ones from Tagovailoa and the medical staff.
McDaniel added that he doesn’t see Tagovailoa playing in Miami’s next game at Seattle on Sept. 22.
“I have no idea and I’m not going to all of a sudden start making decisions that I don’t even see myself involved in the most important parts of,” McDaniel added. “All I’m telling Tua is everyone is counting on you to be a dad and be a dad this weekend. And then we’ll move from there. There won’t be any talk about where we’re going in that regard … none of that will happen without doctors’ expertise and the actual player.”
Tagovailoa was 17 for 25 passing for 145 yards, with one touchdown and three interceptions — one of which was returned for a Buffalo score — when he got hurt. Thompson completed eight of 14 passes for 80 yards.
Thompson said he feels “fully equipped” to run the Dolphins’ offense.
“What’s going to lie ahead, who knows, but man, I’m confident, though,” Thompson said after Thursday’s game. “I feel like I’m ready for whatever’s to come. I’m going to prepare and work hard and do everything I can to lead this team and do my job.”
TORONTO – Unifor says workers at a Walmart warehouse in Mississauga, Ont., have voted to join the union.
The union says it’s Walmart’s first warehouse to unionize in Canada.
Unifor national president Lana Payne says the employees stood up for their rights and the union is excited to get to work on their first collective agreement.
Unifor’s campaign at Walmart’s facility began in December 2023.
The vote was held from Sept. 10 to 12.
Unifor represents 315,000 workers across the country.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
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