Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Iceland to meet with Nordic leaders, with the annual meetings likely to be overshadowed by Russia’s internal chaos and the war in Ukraine.
The prime minister’s office had said prior to the trip that Trudeau would look to discuss major issues like the environment and clean energy, as well as security.
But that last issue is likely to be front and centre given the recent rebellion in Russia by the mercenary Wagner Group, which was only resolved with a deal involving the exile of leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.
After landing in Iceland, Trudeau spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, discussing the latest developments in Russia.
Trudeau will meet over the course of two days with the leaders of major Nordic countries — Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden — in his role as a guest at an annual meeting of leaders. Greenland, the Faroe Islands and the Åland Islands are also represented.
The meetings come two weeks before a NATO summit in Lithuania, a particularly important moment given the war in Ukraine and the recent expansion of NATO to include Finland and, pending support from Turkey and Hungary, Sweden.
Trudeau to meet with Nordic leaders in annual summit, Wagner rebellion on the agenda
Rosemary Barton Live speaks with Iceland’s Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir ahead of the annual Nordic leaders’ meeting taking place in Iceland. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was invited and landed Sunday morning.
On Sunday, the PMO said Trudeau would look to advance Canadian interests around supporting multilateralism, human rights and democratic strength.
In an interview with Rosemary Barton Liveon Sunday, Icelandic Prime Minister� Katrín Jakobsdóttir said Canada had been invited because of its extensive common interests with Nordic countries, particularly when it comes to the Arctic and Ukraine.
Iceland is the only NATO country without a military, though it does have a coast guard. Jakobsdóttir said the invasion of Ukraine had prompted increased investment in infrastructure and things like cybersecurity, but she pushed back against the idea of creating an armed force.
“We try to do our bit differently … We do this not just through political stands and humanitarian stands but also through strengthening our civilian defence,” she told CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton.
Iceland shutting down embassy in Moscow
Trudeau may also be asked during the summit why Canada has yet to take major steps to reduce Russia’s diplomatic presence in Canada, or Canada’s own footprint in Moscow. Iceland recently announced it would shut down its embassy in Moscow, and Norway expelled 15 Russian diplomats accused of espionage earlier this year.
“I suppose the big question for Canada is if Iceland can do it, why are we really sitting on our hands in terms of taking a stronger line against Russia on the diplomatic representation side?” Wesley Wark, senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, said in an interview with CBC.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is greeted by Hlynur Gudjonsson, ambassador of Iceland to Canada, and Jeannette Menzies, ambassador of Canada to Iceland, as he arrives in Keflavik, Iceland, on Sunday. Trudeau is in Iceland to attend the Nordic prime ministers’ meeting. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
Speaking to Barton, Jakobsdóttir declined to push for other countries to make a similar decision to shut down embassies.
“Obviously circumstances can be different in different countries; this was our decision. I think other countries need to make their own decisions in this,” she said.
Nordic countries also have to grapple with their relationship with Russia on another major issue: the Arctic. Russia has been frozen out of the Arctic Council since its invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
Roland Paris, a former senior adviser to Trudeau and director of the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, told The Canadian Press that co-operation with Russia is still a major question mark.
“The Arctic has become a strategically more important part of the world as the ice melts,” he said.
“Each of these northern countries has a very clear interest in ensuring the security and sovereignty of their territory.”
Paris said Trudeau may be looking to champion Canada’s investments in the Arctic and in continental defence — through billions in dollars worth of upgrades to NORAD.
“The fact is we are far behind where we need to be in order to secure the Arctic in a world where it will increasingly be an area of geopolitical competition,” he said.
Lack of co-operation there has meant decreased monitoring of the effects of climate change, for instance, Observatory for Arctic Policy and Security director Mathieu Landriault told The Canadian Press.
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.
