By Steven Chase

The idea keeps coming back. A French politician mused about it in Berlin last month. A Finnish leader visiting Ottawa this April didn’t dismiss it out of hand.

Fresh polls show a majority of Canadians would support it.

And in an era when the United States has turned on its closest allies, the question has acquired a new urgency: Could Canada join the European Union?

The answer, in short, is not any …

By Samantha Fink Special to the Star

From the science of empathy to Jane Austen, talks at events like Brains & Barstools are selling out as adults embrace a social way to learn.

At 6:45 p.m. on a Wednesday, downtown Toronto professionals sat in a bar with drinks in their hands and pasta on their tables — just as a lecture about AI’s ability to empathize got underway.

The crowd was there for Brains & …

By Frances Robles

The Trump administration’s crackdown on oil shipments to Cuba is beginning to wreak havoc on the Caribbean island’s travel industry.

Disruptions to Cuba’s travel industry began this week after the government notified airlines that it would run out of aviation fuel, part of a crippling energy crisis triggered by the Trump administration’s strict measures, which have largely cut off the communist country’s access to foreign oil.

Air Canada announced that, starting Monday, …

By The Canadian Press

BEIJING -- The Liberal government has reached a deal with Beijing to slash tariffs on a set number of Chinese electric vehicles in exchange for China dropping duties on agriculture products, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday.

The deal marks a de-escalation in tensions with a country the Liberal government had, in recent years, branded as a disruptive power.

Carney described it as a “preliminary but landmark” agreement to remove trade …

By Susan Delacourt National Columnist

Opinion

If the theme of 2025 in Canadian politics was to expect the unexpected, the ways in which the political world turned upside down will reverberate into 2026. Everyone will have their own surprise developments of this truly tumultuous year, but here are my top five picks for the big country-shaking shifts of 2025.

The Liberal revival and the Conservative rupture
This time last year, Justin Trudeau was still prime …

By Phil Tsekouras

Toronto got an early blast of winter on Sunday to start November, and broke a pair of decades-old weather records in the process.

Environment Canada said 9.8 centimetres of snow fell in Toronto on Nov. 9, with more accumulation observed early Monday morning.

The storm marks the highest two-day snowfall total the city has seen this early in the year since October 21 and 22, 1981 (when 6 cm fell), and the …

By SMarie Woolf & Laura Stone

Prime Minister Mark Carney has broken his silence on jailed Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai, saying he supports his release on humanitarian grounds and also because he believes in freedom of the press.

Mr. Carney said “we would urge the release of Mr. Lai” when asked by The Globe and Mail at a news conference why he had not joined U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir …

By Suzanne Rowan Kelleher

A Canadian boycott of U.S. travel continued through August—anchoring an enormous economic loss for American tourism this year as visitors from around the world choose not to travel to the states amid President Trump’s aggressive tariffs and rhetoric.

Key Facts
The number of Canadians taking road trips into the U.S.—how most Canadians visit—dropped by 34% last month compared to August 2024, according to data released Wednesday from Statistics Canada, following a …

Rachel Gilmore / Yesterday /T he Tyee

Carney’s government awarded GardaWorld millions in contracts and isn’t ruling out more.

A Canadian company is providing the muscle for a new Florida detention centre dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” — and the Canadian government isn’t ruling out working with the security giant in the future.

This wishy-washy stance when it comes to jaw-dropping cruelty tied to the United States is yet another stroke in an increasingly clear portrait: one …

By Mark MacKinnon and Kristy Kirkup

A Canadian military aircraft joined the airlift of humanitarian assistance into Gaza for the first time on Monday, an international effort that resulted in a desperate scramble on the ground that saw hundreds of people converge on the drop sites, fighting with fists and sticks over the aid.

The direct Canadian participation began as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defied mounting pressure to agree to a ceasefire, vowing instead …

By Alex Ballingall Deputy Ottawa Bureau Chief

The prime minister’s statement is the latest sign of rising international alarm over the starvation and deaths of civilians in the besieged Palestinian territory.

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney is condemning Israel for failing to prevent the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, in the latest sign of rising international alarm over the starvation and deaths of civilians in the besieged Palestinian territory.

In a statement posted Thursday night …

By NYA Editorial Staff

The White House recently posted an image of a bald eagle standing triumphantly over what appeared to be a defeated Canada goose. As relations between the United States and Canada are becoming more hostile, the symbolism was obvious: America prevails over Canada.

It was also, as it turns out, historically incorrect.

A recent article in The Guardian points out that Canada played an important role in bringing the bald eagle back …

8/11/26

By Steffi Fillingham

When Mark Carney became Prime Minister of Canada on March 14, 2025, he didn’t just take on the task of leading the government of this vast and varied nation; he inherited the monstrous job of balancing Canada’s position in what was leaning toward becoming a truly precarious economic relationship between Canada and the United States.

On April 2, 2025, President Trump declared Liberation Day and announced a hurricane of tariffs to …

By Robert Reich

What can we say?

Friends,

Trump on Monday signed orders to impose a 50 percent tariff on a wide range of Canadian imports.

The White House claims the tariffs are a “punishment” for Canadian discrimination against American cars, dairy, and alcohol.

But the tariffs will also punish us. Remember, tariffs are import taxes — paid for by you and me and everyone else in America. So, we’re about to pay more for …

By Owen Scott

The move was inspired by Quebec filmmaker André Desrocher who said ‘a tree is like a human being’

A Canadian town has officially recognized trees as living beings with their own rights, with the mayor dubbing them “our biggest ally.”​

Terrasse-Vaudreuil, a municipality just 40 miles west of Montreal, declared that trees have “the right to life, to natural growth, to integrity and regeneration”.

The resolution, which was obtained by CBC, was …

By Kristjan Lautens - Staff Reporter

By Francesca RegaladoVjosa Isai and Yan Zhuang

Canada was reeling on Wednesday, a day after a shooter killed nine people and injured 25 others in a remote town in northeastern British Columbia, the third-deadliest shooting in the country’s history, which comes amid a wider debate about gun control.

Seven people were found dead in Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, including the person believed to be the shooter, who died from …

By Kristjan Lautens, Staff Reporter

The former catcher began calling games regularly in 1987.

Legendary commentator Buck Martinez announced he is retiring on Friday, after calling more than 4,000 Blue Jays games over his career.

“After the World Series, my wife Arlene and I had plenty of time to think about the past and look forward to the future. After many heartfelt conversations, we both decided it was time for me to step out of …

Prime Minister Carney

January 20, 2026
Davos, Switzerland

Thank you, Larry.

It’s a pleasure – and a duty – to be with you at this turning point for Canada and for the world.

Today, I’ll talk about the rupture in the world order, the end of a nice story, and the beginning of a brutal reality where geopolitics among the great powers is not subject to any constraints.

But I also submit to you that …

By Mark Johnson, Contributor

Opinion

“We must vigilantly stand on guard within our own borders for human rights and fundamental freedoms, which are our proud heritage … We cannot take for granted the continuance and maintenance of those rights and freedoms.”

These are not the words of some left-wing activist. They were spoken by Progressive Conservative prime minister John Diefenbaker. Long before Pierre Trudeau enshrined our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Diefenbaker was Canada’s champion …

10/13/25

By Steffi Fillingham

Last week I spent most of my time up in the maple tree, reading a remarkable book called ‘Hostage’. It was written by Eli Sharabi, a man who spent 491 days in Hamas’ captivity after being attacked and taken from his kibbutz home on October 7, 2023. On that day, members of Hamas crossed from Gaza into Israel and launched what became the most brutal attack on Jews since the Holocaust. …

By Stephen Marche

For centuries, Canada hasn’t needed to prioritize its military. But the US transformation calls for a Finland-style approach

The second Trump administration has been worse than Canada’s worst nightmare. The largest military force in the history of the world, across a largely undefended border, is suddenly under the command of a president who has called for our annexation. Canada could not be less prepared. The possibility of American aggression has been so …

By Paul Myers Special to the Star

Over the years, 1063 Avenue Rd. would become the home and social hub of various people associated with “Godspell,” the Second City Theatre, “SCTV” and “Saturday Night Live.”

In 1972, two recent graduates from Hamilton’s McMaster University moved to Toronto and began renting an unassuming three-bedroom, red-brick house at 1063 Avenue Rd., just north of Eglinton Avenue.

Martin Short and Eugene Levy signed the lease with another housemate, …

By Robert Reich

Could it have something to do with our politics? With the sociopath in the Oval?

Friends.

A survey released last Thursday by the Pew Research Center finds that 53 percent of American adults describe the morality and ethics of our fellow citizens as “bad” (ranging from “somewhat bad” to “very bad”).

This puts Americans way out front of other nations on the we-hate-our-compatriots scale. In the 24 other countries polled by Pew, …

By Lucy Campbell

'The nation mourns with you,' an emotional Carney tells victims' families

As he arrived at Parliament Hill in Ottawa a short while ago, Mark Carney was visibly emotional as he told reporters it was a “very difficult day” for Tumbler Ridge and for the nation.

Parents and grandparents, sisters and brothers in Tumbler Ridge will wake up without someone they love. The nation mourns with you. Canada stands by you.

The Canadian …

By Jim Harrington The Mercury News

The Bay Area rock legend, a founding Dead member and pillar of the jam band community, was 78.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Bobby Weir, a founding member of the Grateful Dead and one of the true pillars of the psychedelic rock/jam-band community, died on Saturday.

The Bay Area rock legend — who also carried the Grateful Dead’s songbook to whole new generations of listeners as a member of the …

By Joshua Chong - Arts Critic & Reporter

His notable projects include a new extension to the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.

Frank Gehry, the Canadian-American architect whose dynamic buildings defied convention, cementing him as one of the most important and influential designers of his generation, died on Friday at his home in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 96.

Meaghan Lloyd, his chief of staff, confirmed the death to the Star. …

By Mark Rendell & Brent Jang

The federal government will announce the next round of projects on the Major Projects Office list on Thursday in Prince Rupert, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Monday.

The office was established over the summer to fast-track the approval of what the government calls “nation-building” infrastructure and resource projects.

The first five MPO projects, announced in September, included an expansion of the LNG Canada export terminal in British Columbia, an …

By Dimitri Soudas Contributor

OPINION

The Conservative Party that was shaped by the nation-building of Sir John A. Macdonald, the moral conviction of John Diefenbaker, the bold ambition of Brian Mulroney, and the steady discipline of Stephen Harper is far greater than any one man. It is a party rooted in history, principle, and purpose, a party built to serve the country, not the ego of a single leader. No individual, no matter how loud …

By Olivia Bowden in Toronto

Numbers of return road and air trips continue to fall after trade policy row and threats to annex country

Travel to the US by Canadian residents has continued to drop significantly for the seventh month in a row, as new data confirms that Donald Trump’s threats have helped upend the summer tourism season.

Months of aggressive rhetoric from the White House have prompted widespread boycotts of US products by Canadians, …

By Darla Ponace

'It was so beautiful,' mother of disabled child says

Tina Rabbitskin and her husband Eugene wanted to create an event where everyone could feel like a winner.

Inspired by their 11-year-old son Emory Zane Rabbitskin, who was born with Down syndrome, they decided to hold a powwow special to honour children with disabilities. A special is a competition or event within a larger powwow that honours a person, group or cause.

After …