WARSAW —
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau capped a weeklong European trip Friday by slapping new sanctions on the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who has become an international poster boy for the largesse that enabled President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.
Abramovich is a major shareholder in Evraz, a British multinational manufacturing company that operates a steel mill in Regina. Britain also sanctioned Abramovich on Thursday, as pressure continued to grow on Boris Johnson’s government to bring down the hammer on the owner of its famed Chelsea Football Club. Abramovich sent his super yacht into the Mediterranean Sea this week to avoid having it seized.
Abramovich is one of five new Russian oligarchs added to the Canadian sanctions list for their close ties with Putin as Trudeau ended a four-country European trip.
Their assets will be frozen, and restrictions placed on 32 military entities in Russia, Trudeau said in Warsaw before his planned departure on Friday, as the Russian war on Ukraine appeared to be entering an ominous new phase. Airstrikes on cities in western Ukraine signalled an attempt by its forces to expand its attack beyond the country’s other regions further north and south.
Trudeau also visited London, Berlin, and Riga, Latvia, to meet with leaders to ramp up pressure on Russia to end its invasion of Ukraine. Their measures included sanctions, tightening the economic noose around the neck of Putin and his enablers, and sending new arms to Ukraine’s military and civilian fighters who have so far defied all odds in holding off the onslaught of Europe’s biggest military force.
G7 leaders issued a joint statement Friday backing Ukraine, calling for an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of Russian troops and promising further sanctions and economic policies targeting Russia’s economy.
“We are united in our determination to hold President Putin and his regime accountable for this unjustified and unprovoked war that has already isolated Russia in the world,” they said.
That includes denying Russia “most-favoured nation” status for trading, which would prevent Russia from exporting goods to the G7 at favourable tariff rates. Canada already revoked that status for Russia and Belarus on March 3 and the G7 statement said a broad coalition of World Trade Organization members will follow suit shortly.
The leaders said they’re also pushing global financial institutions including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund from giving Russia any financing.
“Russia cannot grossly violate international law and expect to benefit from being part of the international economic order,” the statement said.
The G7 includes the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada.
However, Trudeau and his allies have not been able to give the Ukrainian leadership the one thing it wants to protect its civilian population that has been pummelled by Russian bombs for more than two weeks: a no-fly zone. Western politicians, NATO leaders and the Trudeau government all say that a no-fly zone would lead to all-out air war between them and the alliance.
Canadians may soon get to hear directly from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has agreed to address Parliament March 15.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland noted this week as she stood near the Berlin’s symbol of Cold War freedom, the Brandenburg Gate: “They’re fighting for all of us. But they’re fighting alone.”
Therefore Canada and its allies have resorted to an unprecedented economic war on Russia in the hopes the rich and powerful cronies of Putin might turn against him, or the pain inflicted on its citizenry will somehow drive them to change their government.
Trudeau said the government would try to ensure that the sanctions against Abramovich don’t hurt the Canadian workers in the Saskatchewan company in which he holds a stake.
“The sanctions on Russian officials and oligarchs like Abramovich are directed at them so that they cannot profit or benefit from economic activities in Canada or the hard work of Canadians working with companies that they have investments in,” Trudeau said.
The prime minister said he believes the value of the shares Abramovich owns in Evraz is less than 30 per cent. “We are obviously going to watch carefully but we are confident that this will not impact the hardworking Canadians who are doing good work in companies across the country.”
Trudeau also said he’s considering a Canadian airlift of Ukrainian refugees who may want to leave Europe to find a safe haven in Canada as the European continent buckles under its worst migration crisis in decades. But he wouldn’t say when.
“I’m not ruling that out at all,” Trudeau said. “We’re looking at all options ΓǪ Canadians want to be there for Ukrainians.”
The prime minister came face to face with the crisis when he spent time with more than a dozen refugees in a Warsaw hostel on Thursday. While Canada has one of the world’s largest Ukrainian diaspora communities, at 1.3 million people, many of those fleeing their country would prefer to stay in Europe so they can return to their homeland when the war there ends.
Polish President Andrzej Duda told Trudeau that 100,000 people are coming from Ukraine into Poland every day, swelling his population by 1.5 million refugees. Duda said his country is warmly welcoming its Ukrainian neighbours and wants to give them sanctuary until they can return home.
But Duda did not try to hide the fact that the pressure on his country from a continuing influx of Ukrainians across its eastern border was not stopping and that help from allied countries such as Canada would be essential.
Trudeau said Friday the government will be providing extra resources to support its expedited refugee application process for Ukrainians that eliminates many of the normal visa requirements.
Trudeau has not spoken directly to Putin as some of his allies have, such as Germany’s Olaf Scholz and France’s Emmanuel Macron, but he was asked Friday whether he has gained any insights in the Russian leader’s state of mind.
Trudeau said a central theme in the conversations of the allies with Putin was “what he wants, what the endgame is” rather than focusing on “his deeper motivations and justifications.”
He said the leaders are trying to make Putin understand that “what he is doing is not going to lead to benefits for him or for the Russian people. On the contrary, it has set back Russia’s path forward.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2022.
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LONGUEUIL, Que. – People in a part of Longueuil, Que., were being asked to stay indoors with their doors and windows closed on Thursday morning after a train derailed, spilling an unknown quantity of hydrogen peroxide.
Police from the city just east of Montreal said it didn’t appear anyone was hurt, although a CN rail official told a news conference that three employees had been taken to hospital as a precautionary measure.
The derailment happened at around 9 a.m. in the LeMoyne area, near the intersection of St-Louis and St-Georges streets. Mathieu Gaudreault, a spokesman for CN rail, said about eight cars derailed at the Southwark rail facility, including four that toppled over.
“As of this morning, the information we have is it’s hydrogen peroxide that was in the rail car and created the fumes we saw,” he said, adding that there was no risk of fire.
François Boucher, a spokesman for the Longueuil police department, said police were asking people in the area, including students at nearby schools, to stay indoors while experts ensure the air is safe to breathe.
“It is as a preventive measure that we encourage people to really avoid exposing themselves unnecessarily,” he told reporters near the scene.
Police and fire officials were on site, as well as CN railworkers, and a large security perimeter was erected.
Officers were asking people to avoid the sector, and the normally busy Highway 116 was closed in the area. The confinement notice includes everyone within 800 metres of the derailment, officials said, who added that it would be lifted once a team with expertise in dangerous materials has given the green light.
In addition to closing doors and windows, people in the area covered by the notice are asked to close heating, ventilation and air exchange systems, and to stay as far from windows as possible.
Gaudreault said it wasn’t yet clear what caused the derailment. The possibilities include a problem with the track, a problem with a manoeuvre, or a mechanical issue, he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia’s Liberal party is promising to improve cellphone service and invest in major highways if the party is elected to govern on Nov. 26.
Party leader Zach Churchill says a Liberal government would spend $60 million on building 87 new cellphone towers, which would be in addition to the $66 million the previous Progressive Conservative government committed to similar projects last year.
As well, Churchill confirmed the Liberals want to improve the province’s controlled access highways by adding exits along Highway 104 across the top of the mainland, and building a bypass along Highway 101 near Digby.
Churchill says the Liberals would add $40 million to the province’s $500 million capital budget for highways.
Meanwhile, the leaders of the three major political parties were expected to spend much of today preparing for a televised debate that will be broadcast tonight at 6 p.m. local time.
Churchill will face off against Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston and NDP Leader Claudia Chender during a 90-minute debate that will be carried live on CBC TV and streamed online.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.
TORONTO – A group of hotel service workers in Toronto is set to hold a rally today outside the Fairmont Royal York to demand salary increases as hotel costs in the city skyrocket during Taylor Swift’s concerts.
Unite Here Local 75, the union representing 8,000 hospitality workers in the Greater Toronto Area, says Royal York employees have not seen a salary increase since 2021, and have been negotiating a new contract with the hotel since 2022.
The rally comes as the megastar begins her series of six sold-out concerts in Toronto, with the last show scheduled for Nov. 23.
During show weekends, some hotel rooms and short-term rentals in Toronto are priced up to 10 times more than other weekends, with some advertised for as much as $2,000 per night.
The union says hotel workers who will be serving Swifties during her Toronto stops are bargaining for raises to keep up with the rising cost of living.
The union represents hospitality workers including food service employees, room attendants and bell persons.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.
