Infill debate continues with some councillors away on vacation
Edmonton city council is back debating infill in the city, despite some councillors being away on holidays. CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson reports.
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CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
Canada won't let this Afghan refugee in from the U.S. His family worries the Taliban might kill him back home
It's difficult for Shafiqa Jalali to talk about her son Mohammad Younesi without crying. Jalali, her husband, their four adult children and daughter-in-law all found asylum in Canada after fleeing the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan in 2024. The family secured humanitarian visas from Brazil and paid human smugglers thousands of dollars to guide them by land through 10 countries, including Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, as well as the Darién Gap, a 100-kilometre stretch of jungle connecting North and South America that's considered one of the most treacherous migration pathways in the world. "We knew that we might lose our lives," 57-year-old Jalali told CBC News through a Farsi translator. "But we were still hopeful to make it." Although they didn't travel as a family unit, everyone made it to Canada safely and was granted refugee protection — except Jalali's youngest son, Mohammad. The 27-year-old was arrested by ICE agents in Arizona and has been in an immigration detention facility in Livingston, Texas, just north of Houston, for nearly a year. Jalali says she fears U.S. officials will send Younesi back to Afghanistan, where he was previously tortured by the Taliban for his human rights work. "I want the Canadian government to help my son, so that he can come here and be united with us, so that we can have a normal life," said Jalali. "He is not doing well." 'My life is in danger in Afghanistan' Under the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement, people must claim asylum in whichever country they get to first, which means they can't leave the U.S. to seek refugee status in Canada — although there are some exceptions, including for family members of Canadian citizens or permanent residents, like Younesi. A U.S. judge has granted Younesi permission to travel to the Canadian border to claim asylum. But his lawyer's petition to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada for a temporary resident permit to allow that was rejected in June. "He is currently facing removal to Afghanistan," said Erin Simpson with the firm Landings LLP. In a letter to Simpson, a deputy migration program officer at the Consulate General of Canada's Los Angeles office wrote that temporary resident permits "can be issued only in exceptional circumstances, or on occasion, when compelling Canadian interests are served. After a careful and sympathetic review balancing all of the factors, I have determined that there are insufficient grounds to merit the issuance of a permit in your case." In an email statement to CBC News, the Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada wrote that due to privacy legislation, it could not comment on Younesi's case. It is absolutely not an overstatement to say that it is a matter of life and death. - Erin Simpson, Mohammad Younesi's lawyer "It is absolutely not an overstatement to say that it is a matter of life and death," said Simpson. "And that has been our consistent message to the [immigration] minister and our plea for this permit to be issued." According to a signed affidavit submitted to U.S. officials, Younesi fled Afghanistan after being kidnapped, beaten and forced to perform field labour in December 2023 because of his work with an NGO assisting vulnerable women and girls. "My life is in danger in Afghanistan, and returning would mean facing violence and persecution by the Taliban once again," reads the sworn declaration. Long trek The Taliban retook control of the country in 2021 after the withdrawal of U.S. forces and other allies. The United Nations reports that women's rights have deteriorated drastically as a result, with "oppressive directives that target the rights, autonomy, and very existence of Afghan women and girls." Younesi said he escaped by running away after being sent to work in the fields. "I seized the opportunity to flee and hid in my aunt's house. Since then, the Taliban have continued searching for me, forcing me to flee Afghanistan." Younesi left Afghanistan with his brother and pregnant sister-in-law in July 2024. The trio travelled to Iran, where they obtained a humanitarian visa to go to Brazil. They made the arduous journey through South and Central America together, but were separated in Mexico. Although the expectant couple were detained briefly by immigration officials in California, they were allowed to continue their travels to Canada, unlike Younesi who was arrested and held by U.S. authorities. Soon afterward, Jalali, her husband and three adult children made the same journey. They, too, were arrested by ICE officials, but were eventually released from custody with instructions to attend U.S. immigration court hearings. After that, they continued on their journey to Canada to claim asylum. "Anyone who ends up [in detention] would be scared. It was scary for us and it's scarier for Mohammad, because he has been there for a much longer time," said Jalali, who often speaks to her son by phone. "He says that he doesn't know what will happen to him and to his life." 'It's very difficult for the family to really move forward' Jalali and her family are being housed by Romero House, a refugee settlement centre in Toronto. The organization's executive director, Francesca Allodi-Ross, said the family has had difficulty celebrating the fact they've been accepted as refugees with Younesi's future in question. "It's very difficult for the family to really move forward with this hanging over them," said Allodi-Ross. "We know what's happening in the U.S. It's very unpredictable. People are being deported to countries that are not even their own, like El Salvador or Mexico or Sudan. And so every day that passes, there's a risk that he will be sent somewhere unsafe." Unable to hold back her tears, Jalali said she has a hard time sleeping, eating or going out knowing her son is incarcerated in the U.S. "I have been there and when I think about Mohammad, it just breaks my heart." Allodi-Ross said Younesi is alone and has no one to protect him. But that could change. "I think there's a lot of talk about what it means to be Canadian right now," she said. "Being a place of welcome for refugees and immigrants and people who want to build a better life, is an important part of who we are. And so I'm calling on the Canadian government to live up to that reputation and take this simple, humane act of granting the temporary resident permit for Mohammad and helping him reunite with his family and be safe."
CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
Carney's plan to cut tens of billions in spending is tough but doable, experts say
The federal government has started its comprehensive review of government spending, but what will it mean for Canada's public service, what balance will it have to strike and can the Liberals really cut so much? These are the questions facing Prime Minister Mark Carney as he embarks on one of the most ambitious public spending reviews since former prime minister Jean Chrétien and his finance minister Paul Martin balanced the budget in the 1990s. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne kicked off Carney's review on Monday by sending letters to fellow cabinet members, asking for "ambitious savings proposals" that will lead to spending less on the day-to-day running of government. Champagne wants to cut operational spending by 7.5 per cent for the 2026-27 fiscal year, 10 per cent the following year and 15 per cent in 2028-29. Mel Cappe, who served as clerk of the Privy Council from 1999 to 2002, a position that includes heading up the public service, said meeting those targets will be tough but doable. "There's somebody in the public who's going to be outraged by the cuts," he said. "This is going to require all ministers holding hands, saying prayers together." Carney has said that there will be no cuts to transfers to the provinces for things like health and social programs, nor would he cut individual benefits such as pensions and Old Age Security payments. Key programs rolled out by prime minister Justin Trudeau's government such as child care, pharmacare and dental care are also spared. Sahir Khan, executive vice-president at the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy at the University of Ottawa, estimates that when those areas are carved out, the government is targeting a pot of money that is about $180 to $200 billion of the $570 billion it will spend this year. Watch | How much will Carney cut?: How much federal spending is Carney looking to cut? 2 days ago Duration 12:36 Prime Minister Mark Carney's cabinet has been tasked with finding 'ambitious savings,' aiming for a 7.5 per cent cut in federal spending next year and further cuts in the following years. Power & Politics asks Sahir Khan, executive vice-president at the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy and former assistant parliamentary budget officer, where those cuts could come from. Sharon DeSousa, the national president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the union representing about 240,000 government workers, said she's concerned about job losses. On CBC's Power & Politics this week, she said the cuts don't "have to be on the backs of public sector workers … there are solutions that we can actually propose." To allay those fears, the Liberal government said it plans to meet its goals by eliminating vacant positions and reallocating staff rather than laying off workers. But previous clerks of the Privy Council say it will be difficult for the government to avoid cutting staff because wages, benefits and pensions are such a large part of the operating budget. Leaning on attrition In 2023-24, excluding one-time payments like back pay made after a new collective agreement was signed, the federal government spent $65.3 billion on salaries, pensions and benefits. That was a 10 per cent increase over the previous year. "In 1995, the wage bill was so high that it was necessary to invest some money to facilitate people to leave by giving them cashouts," Cappe said. "If you are going to do that on a massive scale, you have to be prepared to see those costs up front. Because it will save you a lot of money in the long run." Michael Wernick — the clerk of the Privy Council from 2016 to 2019 — told CBC News that relying on attrition "doesn't make any sense as a management strategy." "What happens if your absolute key cybersecurity expert retires next week? You're not going to replace her?" he said. "If your aspiration is a serious compression of the numbers, then you have to be more mindful about it and you have to do layoffs and buyouts." Where you cut — rather than how much One of the ways the prime minister has said his government will cut operating expenses is by looking for ways to employ artificial intelligence and automation. Wernick says that approach will require investment in training and technology and that, like buyouts for public servants, comes with an upfront cost. But both former clerks say the Liberal government can hit its targets and they have a suggestion for how it can be done. "Stop doing some things, rather than an across-the-board cut," Cappe said. By going this route, staff no longer carrying out a given function can be moved to work on other government priorities. Wernick says cutting entire lines of business also prevents spending from creeping back up. "If you don't kill the program entirely, the pressure to restore it will come in almost immediately from the clients, from the mayors, from the caucus," Wernick said. Donald Savoie, an expert in public administration and governance at the Université de Moncton, said the government can be downsized without hurting service delivery. "Let's look at programs that we don't need anymore, let's look at organizations that we don't need anymore," Savoie said. He said there is also room to cut the use of consultants and outside contractors, but Wernick warned doing so would cut off access to expertise. That can be mitigated, he said, by training public servants — but that comes with an upfront cost. Trying to emulate Chrétien and Martin's fiscal success Savoie said Carney has two things in common with Chrétien that bode well for his cost-cutting ambitions. The first is that unlike Brian Mulroney, Stephen Harper and Trudeau, both Carney and Chrétien had experience working in government well before securing the country's highest office. Savoie said that means Carney, like Chrétien before him, knows which levers to pull. The other thing both men share is a mandate to respond to a national crisis. In the 1990s, Canada's federal debt was so large compared to the economy that a third of every dollar collected in tax went just to service its interest payments. "I think what helped Chrétien immensely in 1994-95 is Canadians were seized with a real crisis," Savoie said. "So Canadians said: 'we got a problem' and so [Chrétien] could draw on public support. And in the same vein, Carney can draw on public support because Canadians see that dealing with Trump, dealing with tariffs, is very tough and some tough decisions have to be taken." For that reason, Savoie said, Canadians will be much more open to suffering through cuts then they were five to 10 years ago, which may be just enough political licence for the expenditure review to bear fruit.
CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
Poilievre says he lost Ottawa riding for being 'honest' about plan to cut public sector jobs
Social Sharing Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre says he lost his riding of Carleton in the federal election due to an "aggressive" campaign by public sector unions after he was honest about wanting to cut federal worker jobs. Poilievre had held the Ottawa riding of Carleton for two decades until the April 28 election, when he was defeated by Liberal candidate Bruce Fanjoy by 4,500 votes. The loss was a major setback for the leader, who before the new year had been favoured to become prime minister. Poilievre no longer has a seat in the House of Commons, but he's hoping to regain one in the rural Alberta riding of Battle River–Crowfoot on Aug. 18 — after former Conservative MP Damien Kurek offered up his spot in what is one of the safest Conservative seats in the country. In an interview with CBC's The House that airs on Saturday, Poilievre said his campaign was transparent about his intention to cut public service jobs if his party won the election. "And it's an Ottawa riding with a lot of federal public servants who disagreed with that approach," Poilievre said. "They ran a very aggressive campaign, particularly the public sector unions did, to defeat me on that basis." The leader said his voice as a representative for Canadians across the country took precedence over pleasing the 124,000 or so people in the riding — which happens to border Prime Minister Mark Carney's riding of Nepean. But Poilievre continues to want to highlight his party's successes in the election under his leadership, including the two and a half million more votes it garnered than in the 2021 federal election, as well as adding 25 seats in Parliament. He will be undergoing a mandatory leadership review in January, which the Conservative Party's constitution calls for if a leader does not resign following an election loss. Liberals hid plans to cut public service, Poilievre says "Some people might say, 'Well, it wasn't the best idea to run on a smaller federal public service when you're an Ottawa MP,' but I had an entire country to represent," Poilievre said. "I had to be honest with people." He said the Liberals didn't do the same. "I guess I could've done what the Liberals did, which is hide their plans," Poilievre said. WATCH | Why Pierre Poilievre thinks he lost his riding of 2 decades: Poilievre says committing to cut federal public service cost him his Ottawa seat 9 hours ago Duration 2:08 In an exclusive interview with CBC's The House, host Catherine Cullen asks Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre how he makes sense of losing the Ottawa-area seat he held for two decades. Poilievre says public sector unions 'ran a very aggressive campaign' to defeat him. Last week, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne asked fellow cabinet ministers to come up with "ambitious savings proposals" to get a handle on public sector spending. During the election campaign, Carney did share his intention to rein in federal operational spending, saying he would "spend less, so Canada can invest more." At the time, he said he would cap the size of the public service and try to make government operations more efficient by "leveraging AI and machine learning." "The voice that I bring represents those eight million-plus people who believed in my message of fighting inflation, of getting affordable homes built, of locking up criminals, defeating drugs, unleashing our resources," Poilievre told Catherine Cullen, host of The House. When it comes to cutting the federal public service, he said, "that's the only way you bring down taxes and deficits, and I was honest about that, and the people in that particular constituency voted accordingly." WATCH | Poilievre's exclusive interview with Catherine Cullen: FULL INTERVIEW | Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks with CBC Radio's The House 7 hours ago Duration 14:02 In an exclusive interview, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks with CBC Radio's The House host Catherine Cullen about the ongoing trade negotiations between Canada and the U.S., his bid to regain a seat in the House of Commons and what he thinks led to him losing his Ottawa riding. Poilievre is running against Liberal candidate Darcy Spady in Battle River–Crowfoot. Kurek first won the riding's seat in 2019 and was re-elected in April with almost 82 per cent of the vote. The young Conservative has said he plans to run in the riding again in the next federal election. The Conservative leader said he wants to continue challenging the government in the House of Commons, as he's well known for doing during question period. "If you look at how the debate has changed in Canada as a result of the arguments and the causes that I've taken on, that voice has been very important to countless people, and it's a voice I want to amplify," he said.
