O'Toole, Ambrose, Baird and others call on Carney to take action against Iran
The letter, sent by pro-Israel group Allies for a Strong Canada, urges Carney to take decisive action to counter Iran's 'malign influence' on the Middle East and broader global landscape.
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'In light of Iran's persistent aggression, including its support for terrorist organizations and its attempts to undermine stability in the Middle East, we urge Canada to take a leadership role against it in the international community,' reads the letter.
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The letter calls for Carney to tighten sanctions on Iran's regime, root out Iranian agents operating on Canadian soil and bar fleeing Iranian officials from taking refuge inside the country.
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Signatories include former foreign affairs minister John Baird, Retired General Rick Hillier and ex-Conservative leaders Rona Ambrose and Erin O'Toole. It also includes former B.C. premier Gordon Campbell, former Alberta premier Jason Kenney and former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall.
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Michael Westcott, the executive director of Allies for a Strong Canada, told National Post that the fight against Iran belongs to Canada as much as anyone else.
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'Whether it was the recent threats against (ex-justice minister) Irwin Cotler, or the shooting down of Flight PS752 that left 55 Canadians dead, Iran is bad for Canada and bad for the world,' said Westcott.
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Signatory Kaveh Shahrooz, a lawyer and senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, said that Carney must acknowledge the existential threat Iran presents to ally Israel.
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'It is important that Canada's government begin from the premise that Israel, like every other state, should have the right to firmly defend itself against continuous and credible threats to its very existence.'
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'While U.S. military action taken last night was designed to alleviate (a nuclear) threat, the situation in the Middle East remains highly volatile. Stability in the region is a priority,' wrote Carney in a statement.
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Vancouver Sun
an hour ago
- Vancouver Sun
A convicted priest is back at work. Child advocates want Pope Leo to act
VATICAN CITY – He was the personification of shame in the Vatican, the lone prisoner in the three-cell jail of the world's smallest sovereign state. Now, the Rev. Carlo Alberto Capella – convicted of possessing and distributing a 'large quantity' of child pornography while serving as a Vatican diplomat in Washington – is presenting Pope Leo XIV, the new American pontiff, with one of the first challenges of his papacy. Capella, a 58-year-old Italian priest, was investigated by U.S. and Canadian authorities for almost two years for gathering and sharing child pornography while a senior diplomat at the Holy See's embassy in Washington. In 2017, the U.S. State Department asked the Vatican to waive his diplomatic immunity, a request it denied. Instead, Capella was recalled to Rome, where he admitted to tracking down 'repugnant' images and, in a rare Vatican criminal trial a year later, was found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. In recent weeks, reports have emerged on Catholic blogs of his 2022 release and quiet return to work at the Holy See's Secretariat of State. His restoration to the powerful department has outraged advocates for the survivors of abuse by Catholic clerics. They insist that even though he was never accused of sexual abuse, a convicted priest who consumed child pornography has no place in a prominent Vatican office. 'Why not give him a job scrubbing floors, or bathrooms, at the Vatican,' said Peter Isely, a member of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP. 'Why is he still an official member of the state department? It's wrong on every level.' As Pope Leo is confronted with demands to act, he becomes the fourth pontiff since the 1990s to face scrutiny, and potentially judgement, over how he handles the still-emerging cases of sexual crimes committed by clerics. Pope John Paul II faced both contemporary and posthumous criticism for his handling of abuse cases. The issue dogged Benedict XVI even more, with a chorus of complaints seen as one of several factors contributing to his historic decision to retire. Pope Francis enacted reforms aimed at addressing the scandals, yet survivor groups routinely took him to task for failing to adopt a policy of zero tolerance including mandatory reporting to civil authorities. Now advocate groups are looking to Leo to chart a different course, and even reverse Francis on the Capella case. Capella's attorney, Roberto Borgogno, said in an interview that his client was released a year early, in the first part of 2022, for 'good behavior' and resumed work at the secretariat in January 2023. Pope Francis, Borgogno said, approved Capella's return and had at least one direct post-release conversation with him about his contrition. 'These are certainly decisions made logically, rationally, by the pontiff at the time,' Borgogno said. The direct involvement of Francis and the specifics of Capella's living arrangement and monitoring have not been previously reported. Capella, whose work is limited to checking translations and doing archival work, now lives just outside the Vatican, in a center for retired diplomats, his lawyer said. His work computer is monitored by Vatican officials, though he has an unmonitored personal cellphone. Borgogno noted that while Capella had not been defrocked, Vatican authorities stripped him of his elevated title of monsignor. Though he returned to the secretariat in 2023, Capella was considered to be 'on probation' and only recently appeared on the Holy See's official personnel registry. 'It's merely a desk job,' Borgogno said. 'He won't be carrying out pastoral work; he won't be in contact with people on the outside.' Through Borgogno, Capella declined an interview request. The renewed focus on Capella comes as Archbishop Guy de Kerimel of Toulouse, France, faces criticism for appointing a priest, convicted of raping a 16-year-old boy in 1993, to the senior post of archdiocesan chancellor, citing the moral imperative of forgiveness. Victims groups are now calling on Leo to intervene in both instances. 'This is a test,' said Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of a watchdog group that tracks abuse cases in the Catholic Church. 'To me, it brings up bigger questions of the Vatican's continued rejection of zero tolerance for sex offenders. I think these two things together really put all eyes on Pope Leo. We're all wondering if he will be tougher on sex abusers than Pope Francis was.' The Secretariat of State did not respond to a detailed request for comment. A senior Vatican official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter said he didn't know whether Leo had been briefed on the cases or intended to take specific action. It's hardly unheard of for a pope to reverse a predecessor's decision – Francis, for instance, curbed use of the traditional Latin Mass after Pope Benedict XVI had relaxed restrictions on it. 'The pope clearly has jurisdiction in the matter … it will all be up to him,' said Giovanni Maria Vian, former editor of the Vatican's newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, and a historian of early Christianity. 'He's likely aware of the [Capella] case. It wouldn't be unusual if he took action.' The official described Capella's job as one in which he has minimal contact with the public and can 'earn his keep.' His return to work is a chance for Capella to 'redeem' himself, the official said, arguing that no punishment for such priests will ever 'be enough' for some victims advocates. If everyone who does wrong 'gets shunned,' the official said, 'few of us would still be standing.' The Washington Post reported in 2021 that Capella had been allowed to participate in a work-release program in which he spent mornings at the small Vatican office that sells certificates of papal blessings for personal occasions. Now, Capella's case is once again underscoring how the Holy See routinely approaches wrongdoing by clerics – from the religious standpoint of mercy and a spirit of Catholic atonement. That vision has clashed with that of victims advocates, who see Capella's return to the secretariat in any capacity, as well as the senior appointment of a convicted rapist in France, as evidence of an overly lenient approach. The demands for action have raised questions about how the new pope will handle perhaps the thorniest issue facing the faith he leads: tainted priests. Under Francis, the Vatican sought to address widespread allegations of church complicity. In 2019, he convened an unprecedented summit on clerical sexual abuse, later imposing a sweeping law requiring church officials to report accusations of abuse or official cover-ups to their superiors. But the law did not require allegations to be reported to civil authorities, and victims groups have pointed to more-recent scandals in Switzerland and elsewhere as evidence that not enough has changed. They say Leo should remove Capella from the secretariat and overturn the recent French appointment to show his commitment to zero tolerance. Leo has a mixed record on handling abuse cases. As a bishop in Peru, for instance, he won praise for moving against the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae – a secretive, archconservative Catholic group that expanded from Lima to several countries and was accused of systematic sexual and psychological abuse. At the same time, he was accused of lax oversight in the handling of abuse allegations by three women in his diocese of Chiclayo. Last month, in a note honoring a Peruvian journalist whose work helped expose sexual abuse within the Sodalitium group, Leo called for a cultural shift inside the church. It is necessary to instill 'throughout the Church a culture of prevention that does not tolerate any form of abuse: abuse of power or authority, of conscience or spirituality, of sexual abuse,' he wrote. 08-02-2025 01:57PM Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our newsletters here .
Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
Israeli minister prays at flashpoint holy site, sparking fears that provocative move could escalate tensions
A far-right Israeli minister visited and prayed at Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site on Sunday, triggering regional condemnation and fears that the provocative move could further escalate tensions. The visit came as hospitals in Gaza reported that 27 more Palestinians seeking food aid were killed by Israeli fire. With Israel already facing global criticism over famine-like conditions in the besieged strip, the visit by Itamar Ben-Gvir to the hillside compound threatened to further set back efforts by international mediators to halt Israel's nearly two-year military offensive in the Gaza Strip. The area, which Jews call the Temple Mount, is the holiest site in Judaism and was home to the ancient biblical temples. Muslims call the site the Noble Sanctuary. Today it is home to the Al Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam. Visits are considered a provocation across the Muslim world and openly praying violates a longstanding status quo at the combustible site. Under the status quo, Jews have been allowed to tour the site but are barred from praying, with Israeli police and troops providing security. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said after Ben-Gvir's visit that Israel would not change the norms governing the holy site. Ben-Gvir made the stop following Hamas' release of videos showing two emaciated Israeli hostages. The videos caused in uproar in Israel and raised pressure on the government to reach a deal to bring home from Gaza the remaining hostages who were captured on Oct. 7, 2023, in the attack that triggered the war. During his visit to the hilltop compound, Ben-Gvir called for Israel to annex the Gaza Strip and encourage Palestinians to leave, reviving rhetoric that has complicated negotiations to end the war. He raged against a video that Hamas released Saturday of 24-year-old hostage Evyatar David showing him skeletal and hollow-eyed in a dimly lit Gaza tunnel. He called it an attempt to pressure Israel. Ben-Gvir's previous visits to the site have been explosive and prompted threats from Palestinian militant groups. Clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian demonstrators in and around the site fueled an 11-day war with Hamas in 2021. His Sunday visit was swiftly condemned as an incitement by Palestinian leaders as well as Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Sufian Qudah, spokesman for the foreign ministry in neighboring Jordan, which serves as the custodian of the Al Aqsa Mosque, condemned what he called 'provocative incursions by the extremist minister' and implored Israel to prevent escalation. Israel has been jolted this week by videos of hostages with their faces hollow, ribs protruding and bodies ravaged by hunger. The videos — released by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the second-largest militant group in Gaza — triggered outrage across the political spectrum in Israel. Tens of thousands rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday urging Israel and the United States to urgently pursue their release after suspending ceasefire talks. Right-wing politicians who have opposed deals with Hamas said the footage reinforced their conviction that the militant group must be obliterated once and for all. 'From here we need to bring a message and ensure that from today, we conquer all of the Gaza Strip, declare sovereignty over all of the Gaza Strip, take out every Hamas member and encourage voluntary emigration,' Ben-Gvir said on a video posted on social media after his visit to the holy site. Palestinians reported more deadly violence at aid sites and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said a staff member had been killed when Israeli forces shelled its office with artillery. With international anger growing at the situation in Gaza, around 90,000 protesters in Australia marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, turning the city landmark into a symbol of opposition to Israel's military campaign in Gaza. Hospital officials said Israeli forces killed at least 27 Palestinians seeking food on Sunday in the besieged territory, where witnesses described facing gunfire as hungry crowds surged toward aid sites and the malnutrition-related death toll also rose. Analysis: Movement to recognize Palestinian statehood reflects Israel's growing isolation Desperation has gripped the Palestinian territory of more than 2 million, which experts warn is facing 'a worst-case scenario of famine″ because of Israel's blockade and nearly two-year offensive. Yousef Abed, among the people en route to a distribution point, described coming under indiscriminate fire, seeing at least three people bleeding on the ground. 'I couldn't stop and help them because of the bullets,' he said. Two hospitals in southern and central Gaza reported receiving bodies from routes leading to Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid sites, including 11 killed in the Teina area en route to a distribution point in Khan Younis. Three Palestinian eyewitnesses, including one traveling through Teina, told The Associated Press that shootings occurred on the routes, which are in military zones secured by Israeli forces. They said they saw soldiers open fire on hungry crowds advancing toward troops. Eyewitnesses seeking food have reported similar gunfire attacks in recent days near aid distribution sites, leaving dozens of Palestinians dead. The United Nations reported 859 people were killed near GHF sites from May 27 to July 31 and that hundreds more have been slain along the routes of U.N.-led food convoys. GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to prevent deadly crowding. Israel's military has said it only fires warning shots as well. Both claimed the death tolls have been exaggerated. Israel's military did not immediately responded to questions about Sunday's reported fatalities at the sites but said it was reviewing Red Crescent's claim. GHF's Media Office said there was no gunfire 'near or at our sites.' Meanwhile, the Gaza Health Ministry said six more Palestinian adults died of malnutrition-related causes over the past 24 hours. It said Sunday's casualties brought the death toll among Palestinian adults to 82 over the five weeks since the ministry started counting deaths among adults in late June. Malnutrition-related deaths are not included in the ministry's count of war casualties. Ninety-three children have also died of causes related to malnutrition since the war in Gaza started in 2023, the ministry said. Israel has taken a series of steps to increase the flow of food into Gaza over the past week, but U.N. and relief groups say conditions have not improved. Israel could consider annexing parts of Gaza, Israeli minister says The war began when Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, and abducting another 251. They are still holding 50 captives, around 20 believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals. Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed more than 60,400 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, is staffed by medical professionals. The United Nations and other independent experts view its figures as the most reliable count of casualties. Israel has disputed its figures, but hasn't provided its own account of casualties.
Toronto Sun
an hour ago
- Toronto Sun
GUNTER: Trudeau cost Canada a chance to get into global LNG game — Trump and U.S. are reaping the benefit
President Donald Trump reads from a paper and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen listens after reaching a trade deal between the U.S. and the EU at the Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland Sunday, July 27, 2025. Photo by Jacquelyn Martin / AP Last Sunday, at President Donald Trump's golf resort in Scotland (a.k.a. King Donald's summer palace), Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Union pledged European countries would buy US$750 billion (over $1 trillion Canadian) of U.S. energy – largely LNG – over the next three years in return for Trump promising to impose only 15% tariffs on the union's member states. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Boy, those American and European trade negotiators must be dunces. Don't they know that three years ago, then-German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made a special trip to Canada to ask our government to sell tens of billions in LNG to his country? Our economic genius of a prime minister, Justin Trudeau rejected Scholz's request because 'there is no business case' for selling LNG to Europe. The Germans almost immediately turned around and signed a 15-year agreement with Qatar for about $1.5 billion a year in LNG from that Gulf state. This past Thursday, the South Koreans made a similar deal with the U.S. — $100 billion (about $138 billion Canadian) in energy over four years, primarily LNG. What's wrong with these countries? Can they not see that the greatest economic mind of the 21st Century, Justin Pierre James Trudeau, had decreed it was foolhardy to sign such agreements? Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The U.S. deals with the EU and Korea just for LNG are worth about $800 billion Canadian over the next four years. The rest of the sales are for oil and nuclear fuels. A good part of that market might have been Canada's had we not been ruled by a 'green' dreamweaver and eco-cultist who prevented this country from jumping into the world LNG market early in the game. Now the Americans have sucked up a lot of the oxygen in the room, and it will be hard for Canada to get a foothold, even if current Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney gets off his duff and agrees to more pipelines and LNG ports. Trudeau's thinking (which remains Carney's thinking until the current Liberal government does more than just talk a good game) cost Canada at least $400 billion in investment during the Trudeau decade, drove down our per capita income, dropped us out of the 25 richest countries in the world, distorted our housing market and drove up prices and unemployment. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Even after the change in prime ministers this year, the OECD still projects Canada will have the lowest level of economic growth of any developed country in the world for at least the next 20 years, because we just can't bring ourselves to do the tough work of becoming an energy superpower. Do you have any idea how much government revenue could be generated from $400 billion? At least $100 billion in corporate taxes and energy royalties. And that doesn't include more income tax collected from more Canadians working at higher-paying jobs. I was being facetious above, of course, when I said Trudeau was an economic genius. I would list him and the economic devastation he wrought as the worst government this country has ever had. He and his woke, 'green' obsessed cabinet dug a huge pit and threw us in it. (Then he trotted off to a Katy Perry concert and date.) This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Mark Carney may sound and look more competent than Trudeau, but is he? Just about half of his cabinet were ministers in Trudeau's cabinet and were just as obsessed as Justin with combatting climate change and shutting down oil and gas. They voted in lockstep with Trudeau for the emission caps, harsh eco regulations, EV mandate, net-zero power grid and opposition to resource development and pipelines. Carney himself spent the better part of a decade, before becoming P.M., acting as the U.N.'s ambassador on 'green' investing (even though in his own portfolio he retained millions of shares in oil companies). He also frequently advocated leaving most of today's proven oil and gas reserves in the ground. Count me skeptical that this leopard has changed his spots. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 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