In the News

Citing unspecified “frequent violent actions” by Canadian police,China has warned its citizens to exercise caution in travelling to Canada. The advisory was posted on social media 6 July by its embassy in Ottawa. Bob Rae, the newly-appointed ambassador to the UN, calls the warning “bizarre” and suggests it should not be taken seriously.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau isn’t joining Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and President Donald Trump in Washington 7 July to celebrate the new North American trade agreement. “While there were recent discussions about the possible participation of Canada, the Prime Minister will be in Ottawa this week for scheduled Cabinet meetings and the long-planned sitting of Parliament,” a spokesperson explained. Also, Trudeau told reporters he is concerned about rumourfs of new U.S. aluminum and steel tariffs.

Veteran federal and Ontario politician Bob Rae, 71, has been appointed Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations. He replaces Marc-Andre Blanchard who has served since April 2016 and who had indicated earlier that he would be leaving. Rae, 71, most recently served Trudeau as a special envoy for humanitarian and immigration issues.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau, scheduled to present a federal government “economic and fiscal snapshot” on Wednesday 8 July, says that “as hard as it’s been over the last few months,” mainly due to COVID-19’s economic impact, “the really tough choices will still be to come.” The challenge, he explained, is that “we'll need to think about where we invest and how we support people without creating bad incentives.”

In response to China’s increasing crackdown on Hong Kong, the Canadian government has suspended an extradition treaty with the former British colony and is restricting exports of sensitive goods. “This process demonstrated disregard for Hong Kong's basic law and the high degree of autonomy promised for Hong Kong under the 'one country, two systems' framework,” Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne said 03 July. “Hong Kong's role as a global hub was built on that foundation. Without it, Canada is forced to reassess existing agreements.”

An audio recording obtained by the Canadian government suggests that Iran permitted air traffic in and out of Tehran’s international airport during a period of intense military activity that saw a Ukrainian airliner downed by missiles six monhs ago. The recording is of a conversation between Iran’s accident investigation team and a Canadian family member of one of the 17 victims. The investigator, who explained that closing Tehran airspace could have exposed an imminent missile attack on U.S. bases in Iraq, has since been removed.

A bill drafted by Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies to require masks in public during a growing COVID-19 crisis has been vetoed by President Jair Bolsonaro, a persistent pandemic denier. His country ranks second only to the U.S. globally in terms of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths. Bolsonaro also rejected a proposal to distribute masks to the poor.

Manitoba resident Corey Hurren, a Canadian Ranger and former regular member of the Canadian Armed Forces, is being held by RCMP after a pickup truck was used 02 July to ram through the games at Rideau Hall. The driver, who was reportedly armed with a long gun, was arrested without incident after moving on foot toward the official residences of the Governor General and the Prime Minister, neither of whom was home.

Nearly 78 per cent of Russian voters have backed constitutional reforms which, among other things, are designed to keep President Vladimir Putin in office until 2036. He is already the longest-serving leader in modern Russia since Soviet-era dictator Joseph Stalin and his political opponents say his aim is to be “president for life.”

The renegotiated North American trade agreement came into effect on Canada Day. Signed in November 2018 and then reworked slightly to satisfy some protectionist U.S. interests, the new agreement includes some sector-specific changes from the original 1994 accord.

Former U.S. national security adviser John Bolton says his country continues to use its global clout to support Canada amid tensions with China, notably over Beijing’s continued detention of Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig in response to Canada’s arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at Washington’s request. “When they put pressure on a small country like Canada, it's important for all of us to stand together.”

A series of flight tests involving software updates designed to correct a controls conflict on Boein737 MAX airliners has been completed by the company and the Federal Aviation Administration. The results are key to returning the aircraft to service after the global fleet was grounded in the aftermath of fatal crashes in Malaysia in October 2018 and in Ethiopia March 2019.

U.S. President Donald Trump and 35 others accused by Iran in the January death of a senior military officer in January are the targets of an arrest warrant issued in Tehran, which is vowing to pursue Trump whenever he leaves the White House. While Interpol has said it would not consider Iran’s request, the development underscores the growing tension between Tehran and Washington.

Auditor General Karen Hogan has been asked by the Conservatives to look into a government decision to have an international charity manage a $900-million student support fund during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Conservatives say “outsourcing” to WE Charity undermines Parliament's ability to monitor the aid program. Prime Minister Justin, who a personal tie to the charity, says a public service review of potential managers concluded that WE was uniquely suited.

As expected, China has adopted a contentious security law tightening its grip on Hong Kong. President Xi Jinping’s signature on the measure effectively amends a constitutional arrangement dating to 1997 when Britain returned colonial sovereignty. British Foreign secretary Dominic Raab has described any move to tighten control as “a grave step.”

Even though Covid-19 remains a global threat, Canada is on a European Union list of 14 from which visitors are deemed “safe” due to the success of their governments in dealing with the pandemic. So, too, are Australia and Japan, among others, but the U.S., Brazil and China are not.

A 2021 National Defense Authorization Act endorsed by a U.S. House of Representatives panel includes no mention of a proposal for a national security coordinator as recommended by the Cyberspace Solarium Commission. A Senate version of the bill simply calls for a study of the benefits of having a coordinator who would report directly to the White House.

Democrats in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have tabled drft legislation designed to prohibit federal agencies’ use of facial recognition technologies without explicit congressional approval.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s rejection of calls to intervene in the extradition case of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, in the hope of China reciprocating by releasing detained Canadian Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, has majority support among Canadians. Some 72 per cent of respondents to an Angus Reid Institute poll agree that the Meng case should be allowed to play out in the courts while 28 per cent want the government to negotiate an exchange.

A Transport Canada plan to permit some types of remotely piloted aircraft system to be flown out of sight of their operators, and at higher altitudes, is a concern for the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association. Drone advocates complain that current regulations have not kept up with advances in drone technology but COPA “is taking a position against the proposed amendments on safety grounds.”

Colin Robertson, a former Consul in Hong Kong and now vice president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, says the federal government has three broad options for securing the repatriation of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig from arbitrary detention in China. They are: continue having allies speak out, stop the U.S.-requested extradition of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, or respond to China’s “bullying” by revoking the prized visas of Chinese students in Canada.

Effective 3 July and barring any COVID-19 resurgence, the four Atlantic provinces plan to permit their residents to travel between and within them without any requirement for self-isolation.

The German chemical giant Bayer is to pay the equivalent of up to more than $14 billion to settle cancer claims linked to the herbicide Roundup, which it acquired in a 2018 takeover of Missouri-based Monsanto. The glyphosate-based product, which has been banned in many countries, has been subject to about 125,000 lawsuits over its alleged carcinogenicity and while Bayer has agreed to a settlement, it denies any wrongdoing.

A special prosecutor at The Hague has accused Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and others of war crimes during the country’s 1998-1999 independence war with Serbia, which resulted in more than 10,000 deaths and ended only after NATO intervention. The accusations are being assessed by a judge.

Faced with a resurgence of COVID-19 diagnoses since it relaxed its lockdown earlier this week, Texas began freeing up hospital space 25 June. More than 4,300 victims are hospitalized, more than double the count at the beginning of June and Gov Greg Abbott has suspended elective hospital procedures in four counties. “The last thing we want to do as a state is go backwards and close down businesses,” he said. “This temporary pause will help our state corral the spread until we can safely enter the next phase of opening our state for business.”

Justice Minister David Lametti is being urged by a group of former parliamentarians and senior diplomats to end U.S.-requested extradition proceedings for Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. In their letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 23 June, they say Canada has a legal right to intervene and also should take time to “re-define its strategic approach to China.”

In their latest annual summit, held by by videoconference 22 June, the European Union and China discussed not only bilateral issues in their complex relationship but also regional and international issues, including COVID-19 and economic recovery. The EU also raised concerns about human rights in general, including the detention of a Swedish citizen as well as Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it has long been “obvious” that China’s detention of former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor since December 2018 is linked to the Vancouver arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou for possible extradition to the U.S. “This was a political decision made by the Chinese government and we deplore it, and have, from the very beginning,” he said. The “Two Michaels” were only recently charged with espionage.

An extension of its ban on the issuance of green cards outside the U.S. has cast a cloud of uncertainty among Canadians and other nationals employed by multinational companies, notably in the tech sector. In announcing his decision, President Donald Trump characterized it as a way to free up jobs in the U.S. economy for Americans.

China has orbited the final satellite in its 35-platform BeiDou-3 navigation system, which means it no longer relies on the U.S.-managed Global Positioning System used by militaries and civilians worldwide.

The largest single-day increase in global COVID-19 cases has been reported for last Sunday by the World Health Organization. There were more than 183,000 new cases, topping the previous record of 181,232 reported just two days earlier. The biggest surge was in Brazil, followed by the U.S. and then India.

European Union countries are considering banning visitors from the U.S. because that country has fundamentally failed to control COVID-19. This is according to draft lists which would lump Americans with the citizens of Russia and Brazil, two other countries with rising infection rates.

Seven U.S. citizens permitted to travel to Alaska from the southern states have been ticketed by police and face stiff fines for unauthorized stopovers in Banff National Park. “They’re not criminal violations or criminal charges or anything,” an RCMP spokesperson said 22 June. “Those are fines under the Public Health Act. . . . It’s up to the discretion of the RCMP officer.”

Tension between the two perceived front-runners to replace Andrew Scheer as Conservative Party leader heightened over the weekend with former Veterans Affairs Minister Erin O’Toole accusing former Defence Minister Peter Mackay’s campaign of stealing confidential information. The allegation is being dismissed as preposterous even though a member of MacKay’s team has been specifically named.