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Source: National Post (Politics)

Members of Israel's ZAKA search and rescue emergency services collect samples at the scene of a shooting at the Ramot road junction in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on September 8, 2025.

Six people have been killed and more than a dozen injured in a fatal terror attack in Jerusalem.

The attack occurred while people were waiting at a bus stop in the Ramot area Monday morning,

according to Israeli police

, when two terrorists opened fire. A soldier and several civilians who were there shot back at the terrorists.

Police confirmed the terrorists were shot dead at the scene. At least 21 others were injured, the

Jerusalem Post reported

. One of the people injured included a pregnant woman,

per the Israeli Foreign Ministry

.

The six victims have since been identified. Here’s what to know about the five men and one woman murdered.

Yaakov Pinto, 25

Pinto had recently immigrated to Israel from Spain. The 25-year-old got married three months ago,

Yeshiva News World reported

. Community members from Ramot said Pinto’s “future was cruelly cut short. Our hearts are with his young wife, his family and his community in these difficult moments,” according to

YNet News

.

Gideon Sa’ar, Israel’s minister of foreign affairs, posted on X about Pinto.

He called out Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez for standing with Hamas and against Israel. While Sanchez was “attacking” Israel (verbally), “Palestinian terrorists attacked and murdered six Israelis, among them Yaakov Pinto, a new immigrant from Spain.”

Rabbi Yisrael Metzner, 28

Metzner was a resident of Ramot Bet in Jerusalem,

per Israel Hayom

.

Rabbi Yosef David, 43

David was a Jerusalem resident. According to Israel Hayom, he was holding religious books at the bus stop before he was killed. He was en route to his Torah studies.

Sarah Mendelson, 60

Mendelsohn was a 60-year-old mother of four, and grandmother, who lived in the Ramat Shlomo neighbourhood,

YNet News reported

. Her nickname was “Sarita.”

She “was very active in the Bnei Akiva movement,” according to former Knesset member Dov Lipman, who

posted about the victims of the attack on X.

  Bnei Akiva is described as “a Jewish religious Zionist youth movement,” on its website.

Mendelsohn was a director of municipal relations in the movement’s finance department, per YNet. She was on her way to work when she was murdered, YNet and

The Jerusalem Post reported

.

“Sarita was like the mother of Bnei Akiva. She sat in the director-general’s office, always welcoming everyone with a smile. Over the years, dozens of employees came through, and she always helped and supported them, even in stressful times,” deputy secretary-general of Bnei Akiva Netanel Elk said, YNet reported.

“She always thought about how the money could go to programs for children and those in need.”

Rabbi Mordechai Steintzag, 79

Steintzag was a resident of Ramot Bet, per Israel Hayom.

He was known as “Dr. Mark” and started an eponymous bakery in Beit Shemesh, according to a post on X by Lipman.

Steintzag, who was a certified cardiologist, immigrated to Israel from New York “several decades ago,”

Israel National News reported

. He started his bakery, which later became a chain, to provide healthier options to residents. He was described as “charitable” and “kind.” He donated a Torah scroll to the local synagogue and was actively involved in the community.

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Pash

Pash, who was a maintenance worker at the Kol Torah yeshiva, was described as a “devoted employee” and a “man of great kindness,” according to a notice posted by the yeshiva, Israel Hayom reported.

He gave his own money “generously,” the notice said, and was a “constant Torah scholar.”

On Monday evening Israeli time, early afternoon EST, his funeral was underway.

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Ronald Lord has been jailed in Britain for cocaine smuggling. His mobility scooter is seen at Gatwick Airport in London, England.

A 71-year-old Canadian from a Montreal suburb who was caught with eight kilos of cocaine hidden in his mobility scooter at an airport in Britain has been sent to prison for six years.

Ronald Lord arrived at Gatwick Airport in London, England, on Feb. 7, telling British border agents he had been on a seven-day holiday in Barbados and was now looking forward to sightseeing in London.

U.K. Border Force agents x-rayed his mobility scooter and found anomalies in the seat. After disassembling the seat’s back panel they found eight cocaine bricks, tightly wrapped in black tape.

He pretended to be shocked at the discovery, according to the National Crime Agency, and told NCA agents who arrived to investigate that he had no idea how the bricks got there. He denied any knowledge of the drugs he was sitting on in his electrified wheelchair.

U.K. Border agents found eight bricks of cocaine hidden in Ronald Lord’s mobility scooter at a London airport after he arrived on a flight from Barbados.

But he was not a careful cocaine courier. When the agents searched Lord, they found a screw from the seat panel in his pocket. And when agents checked his backstory, they found he had lied. Information from the airlines showed he had spent only three days in Barbados before flying to England, according to the NCA.

NCA agents found messages on his phone that suggested he was being paid to work as a drug mule,

as is common in cocaine courier cases.

“There was clearly someone higher up the chain than him and he was carrying the drugs for someone else,” an NCA spokesman told National Post.

The cocaine was given an estimated street value in Britain by authorities equivalent to slightly less than $1,200,000.

When he appeared in court in August, Lord — who lives in Chateauguay, an off-island suburb of Montreal — admitted his guilt. He pleaded guilty to smuggling Class A drugs into the United Kingdom and on Friday, the judge sentenced him to six years in prison.

“Organized crime groups need smugglers like Lord to bring Class A drugs into the U.K., where they are sold for huge profit by gangs who deal in violence and exploitation,” NCA Senior Investigating Officer Richard Wickham said in a release.

“He obviously thought that because he was a pensioner he would be less of a target for law enforcement. He was wrong, and I hope this case sends out a message to anyone who would consider doing the same.”

Cocaine is typically cheaper in Canada than in Britain, reflecting, in part, their relative distance from the source of cocaine in South America.

Class A drugs in Britain are considered the top-tier illicit drugs, including cocaine, heroin, LSD, ecstasy, methamphetamine, and magic mushrooms. Possessing, selling or smuggling these drugs typically comes with harsher penalties if caught.

• Email: ahumphreys@postmedia.com | X:

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Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, left, meets with Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister Kody Blois to discuss Chinese tariffs on Canadian canola exports, in Saskatoon on August 21, 2025.

It’s been six years since a Canadian premier led a trade mission to China. Much like Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s forays into Washington, D.C., to shore up oil exports there, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is heading to China this weekend. It’s expected he’ll wave the province’s flag in support of improved market access for Saskatchewan’s bumper crop of canola.

It’s a tricky situation for the premier to navigate. Trade friction with and between its largest markets — China and the U.S. — has put Canadian canola in the crosshairs.

To be clear, Moe isn’t trying to supplant Ottawa’s role in defusing trade tensions with China; for any deal with China to get done, he acknowledges it will ultimately have to involve the prime minister. To that end, Moe had invited Prime Minister Mark Carney to join him. On Thursday, Carney announced instead that parliamentary secretary Kody Blois would join the Saskatchewan-led delegation to China.

As they head to China, Moe’s team would be well-advised to read Between the Eagle and the Dragon: Managing Canada-China Relations in a Shifting Geopolitical Reality, a report released a few weeks ago by a cross-Canada team of foreign policy wonks.

Politicians are prone to look askance at aspirational policy papers; viewing the lofty rhetoric impractical in the real world of cut-and-thrust politics. Yet, after sitting down to talk through this report with the expert group’s co-chair, Perrin Beatty — a former politician himself, including a short stint as a Progressive Conservative foreign minister — I’m all-the-more convinced this report could be useful to Moe’s delegation.

First off, the report’s authors don’t sugarcoat the retaliatory nature of the tariffs: “The intensification of the U.S.-China rivalry and President Donald Trump’s protectionist trade agenda have irreversibly altered the conditions in which Canada must operate. Canada responded to U.S. pressure and Chinese practices by imposing 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and 25 per cent tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum. China retaliated with sweeping tariffs on Canadian canola, pork and seafood exports.”

To make matters worse, in August, nearing the end of a year-long, anti-dumping investigation, Beijing imposed a hefty 75.8 per cent duty on Canadian canola seed — in addition to existing tariffs on canola oil and meal.

Second: Perrin understands Moe’s dilemma. While this is technically federal jurisdiction, Moe has a constituency to represent; Saskatchewan is one of the largest producers of canola in the world. “Even if you look back into the 1960s,” Perrin shares, “at a time when the rest of the world was avoiding them,” we were selling China wheat. Today, he argues, China needs Canadian commodities: our potash, canola and energy.

Third point: what Perrin and his peers are recommending isn’t fuzzy, subtle or wishy-washy. It’s a dramatic change in approach. “We see ourselves as a moral superpower, whose job it is to tell the rest of the world what they’re doing is wrong,” he asserts. To make his point, he shares the head-scratching story of Justin Trudeau’s flubbed negotiation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.

To please Canada, Trudeau convinced all of the other partners to change the name of the free trade deal to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, “then refused to sign it because it wasn’t sufficiently progressive for him,” Perrin sighs. “Then, in a matter of weeks, he filled planes with cabinet ministers and news media to fly to China, ostensibly to sign a trade agreement with China, which he evidently believed would cause the liberalization of China.”  It didn’t.

Another deep sigh from Perrin. “We need to be a bit more worldly in how we manage our international relations,” he grimaces.

“We’re not the Vatican,” I quip. “We’re not,” he agrees with a smile. “We have both interests and principles and we need to advance both of those,” he acknowledges. “But we need to understand the difference between the world as it is and the world we would like to live in,” he suggests. “We have to today deal with the one that we’re living in, whether it’s in dealing with Washington or in dealing with Beijing.”

“There was naiveté,” he continues, “that most of us and certainly every Western nation fell prey to at the time of China’s accession to the WTO (World Trade Organization). It was the belief that if we trade together, if we bring China into global institutions, that they will change their behaviour and conform with international norms.

“That didn’t happen,” he says sombrely. “They’ve moved in the other direction. They are less free, more assertive in terms of military and diplomacy than they were before.” The time for naiveté is over.

“We better disabuse ourselves of the false notions about our ability to change the fundamental elements of China as a political entity or a society,” says Perrin Beatty, a former federal PC cabinet minister.

As recently as October, Donald Trump talked about putting a wedge between China and Russia in much the same way Richard Nixon was able to do many years ago. But watching what unfolded this past week, with Vladimir Putin in Beijing for a massive Chinese military parade, it’s obvious Trump is driving them closer. Countries historically at each other’s throats are coming into Beijing’s orbit — because they agree on only one thing: that they feel threatened by the approach the Americans are taking.

“We better disabuse ourselves of the false notions about our ability to change the fundamental elements of China as a political entity or a society,” Perrin concludes, “and focus instead on areas in which we have shared interests, in which it would be in China’s interest to have a good relationship with Canada and Canada’s interest to deal with China.”

The poignancy of what Perrin is saying causes me pause; I’ve been waiting my entire career to hear this call for realism, maturity and unapologetic focus on Canada’s national interest from someone steeped not just in the world of politics, but business. Until his tenure ended last August, Perrin was the longstanding CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

Redirecting our conversation back to Premier Moe’s trade mission to China, I ask if Perrin would recommend dialling back the 100 per cent tariffs imposed on Chinese EVs by Canada. Moe has not been shy about pointing out the scope and size of the $43-billion canola industry versus the size of the nascent EV industry in Canada.

Perrin pauses to think that over. “Not at this point,” he says. “You know, we are up to our ears right now with the attempt to destroy the auto sector. I think one of the things we need to do is to be more aggressive and be more active in the United States in making a case, from a perspective of American self-interest, that if Trump is successful in destroying the automotive sector in Canada, and with Canada being the single largest export market for American vehicles, it is in America’s self interest to ensure that the integrated automotive sector we have today can continue.”

“What we do have to dial back on,” he adds with a grin, “is the preachiness.”

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Thousands of Jewish community members and allies from across the country rally on Parliament Hill on Dec. 4, 2023.

All 144 Conservative MPs have signed an open letter condemning antisemitism in Canada, an apparent response to a similar letter signed by less than a fifth of the Liberal caucus.

The letter came late this week after a targeted attack at a kosher grocery store in Ottawa on Aug. 27, when

an elderly woman was stabbed

in what police have called a “hate-motivated crime.” A 71-year-old man was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and possessing a dangerous weapon.

Days later, on Aug. 31, Liberal Quebec MP

Anthony Housefather said in a post on X

that he signed an open letter along with 31 other Liberal MPs, issuing a call to action. However, there was a lack of signatures from the other 137 Liberals who make up Prime Minister Mark Carney’s caucus. (There are a total of

169 Liberal MPs

listed by the House of Commons).

On Thursday, Conservative Ontario MP Melissa Lantsman said on social media that her Conservative colleagues would “stand up and protect the Jewish community in Canada, even when the government won’t.”

She shared an open letter signed by every Conservative MP, including leader Pierre Poilievre.

“Conservatives are outraged by yet another vile antisemitic attack, this time at a grocery store in Ottawa. Since Hamas’ brutal attack on October 7, 2023, anti-Jewish hatred has skyrocketed on our streets and in our neighbourhoods. For too long, the government has been silent and absent,” the letter says.

Data from Statistics Canada revealed an uptick in police-reported

hate crimes against the Jewish community in Canada

in 2023. The majority — 70 per cent — of such crimes were directed at Jews that year, according to the StatCan data. On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists murdered 1,200 people and sparked an ongoing war with Israel.

Jewish advocacy group B’nai Brith Canada released a

report on antisemitism

in April. There were a total of 6,219 incidents targeting Jews in the country in 2024, it said — the highest number documented by the group since its first report in 1982.

B’nai Brith Canada applauded the efforts made by the Conservative caucus and its “moral clarity.”

“A unanimous response to hate should not be controversial. The devolving crisis of antisemitism requires every MP to act now,” the group said in a post on X on Thursday. “As parliament resumes, it is imperative that tangible actions be implemented to address this crisis. How our government tackles antisemitism will demonstrate its commitment to human rights and Canadian values.”

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, another Jewish advocacy group in Canada, urged elected officials to take concrete action against the “rise of antisemitism.”

In a post on X on Thursday, it said that antisemites should be held accountable with “real criminal consequences,” parties should “boost funding and partnership with community security” and work to “close loopholes in Canada’s anti-terror laws.”

It also said that safe access zone legislation should be implemented urgently. A safe access zone is an area protected so that people can get to it freely and safely. It can include institutions like schools, clinics or places of worship.

The

Canadian Jewish News reported

that in Toronto, a bylaw came into effect on July 2 permitting more than 18 Toronto Jewish institutions and one mosque to be listed as “safe access” zones. Protests are not allowed within 50 metres of the buildings’ entrances.

CIJA also asked politicians to “protect Jewish participation in civic life.”

Carney

condemned the Ottawa attack

, calling it “senseless” and “disturbing.” He told Canada’s Jewish community that they were “not alone” in a post on X on Aug. 29.

“We stand with you against hate and threats to your safety, and we will act to confront antisemitism wherever it appears,” he said.

His signature did not appear on the open letter shared by Housefather.

Conservative Ontario MP Don Stewart commented on Housefather’s post, saying a total of 32 signatures from the Liberals was “not very many.”

“There is only one party in Parliament whose entire caucus supports the safety of Jewish Canadians,” wrote Stewart, referring to the Conservative Party of Canada.

When a business account on X asked Housefather if the other 137 Liberals did not want to sign the open letter, the MP

responded

, “Of course not.”

“The letter was drafted and signatures gathered over 24 hours on a holiday weekend. Originally it was going to be from Jewish caucus and then we asked some others,” he said, adding that “virtually everyone who was asked signed on” and others did when they saw the open letter when it was released.

Housefather’s office did not immediately respond to a request from National Post asking if other Liberal MPs have since signed the letter.

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Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi.


OTTAWA — Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said Friday that he wouldn’t join the chorus of Western Canadian political leaders calling on Ottawa to drop tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, saying the issue was beyond his depth.

“The ban on Chinese EVs (is) a little outside of my pay grade,” said Nenshi when asked about the issue at an unrelated press conference in Calgary.

He stressed that Canada needs to engage directly with China’s government to resolve the escalating trade war, which has inflicted heavy damage on farmers in Alberta and other western provinces, but said he “didn’t know” if Chinese electric vehicles would be “part of that deal.”

Nenshi called

in a statement last month

for both Ottawa and Alberta’s provincial government to negotiate with China and roll out supports for farmers affected by the dispute.

China slapped a

76 per cent tariff

on Canadian canola seeds last month, in a move that was widely seen as a response to the 100 per cent surtax Canada placed on

all Chinese electric vehicles last fall

.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall have both called on the federal government

to drop this surtax

, in hopes of resolving the trade dispute.

Saskatchewan NDP leader Carla Beck has also called on Prime Minister Mark Carney to

consider removing the surtax

as a “conciliatory measure” to end the canola tariffs.

Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who recently won a byelection in rural Alberta, also said Friday that he wouldn’t be joining calls for the tariff to be dropped, saying that Chinese electric vehicles still pose too much of a security risk.

“China wants these electric vehicles to be roving surveillance on our streets, and in 10 years, god forbid there’s a conflict and then there’s millions of those vehicles surveilling our population,” Poilievre told reporters in Ottawa.

Poilievre said that the federal government should instead

cancel the $1-billion loan

it recently gave BC Ferries to buy Chinese-built vessels.

China is Canada’s top export market for canola seeds, purchasing some

$4 billion of product last year

. A recent analysis found the seed tariff cost canola growers across Western Canada

$140 million in just two weeks

.

Saskatchewan and Alberta produce roughly 85 per cent of Canada’s canola.

National Post
rmohamed@postmedia.com

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Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe speaks alongside Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister Kody Blois at the University of Saskatchewan's College of Agriculture on Thursday.

OTTAWA

— The president of an association representing automakers says the Canadian government must be “crystal clear” that it intends to keep its surtax on Chinese electric vehicles, as it embarks on a review of the measure. 

Brian Kingston, the p

resident and CEO of the 
Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association, which represents Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, says the existing surtax ensures Canada is aligned with the U.S., which has its own 100 per cent levy on Chinese electric vehicles. 

Allowing China’s electric vehicles into the market also puts the North American industry at a disadvantage, given the billions worth of subsidies Beijing has poured into developing its market, the likes of which “you will never see in North America,” he said. There also remain concerns over China’s labour practices and poor environmental regulations, Kingston added.

“I think the government needs to be crystal clear on what its intention is with respect to maintaining the Chinese (electric vehicle) surtax, particularly given where we stand in our negotiations with the United States,” Kingston said, in an interview Friday.

“The surtax is up for review this month and I’m expecting a clear statement from the government that they intend to continue to keep it in place.”

Canada is facing a more challenging landscape with respect to its action against China, with Western premiers calling on Ottawa to lift its surtax on Chinese electric vehicles. That followed Beijing’s decision to slap a 76 per cent tariff on canola seed, which has been viewed as a direct response to Canada’s 100 per cent surtax on China’s electric vehicles, which was implemented last October.

Advocates from outside the traditional automotive sector also say the federal Liberal government should reconsider its move to allow Canadian consumers more access to Chinese electric vehicles, which are among the cheapest options to purchase.

Declining electric vehicle sales, which have been tied to the government’s cancellation of a $5,000 rebate, fuelled louder calls from the auto industry for Ottawa to cancel its zero-emission vehicle mandate, saying the existing targets were unrealistic to meet.

Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday announced his government was not moving ahead with the 2026 target for companies and instead was launching a 60-day review to look at how additional “flexibility” could be added to the policy, which is designed to see that all new vehicles sold in Canada are zero-emission by 2035.

Clean Energy Canada, based out of Simon Fraser University, released a statement saying that Carney’s decision creates an opening to provide more options for consumers.

Not only should it look for ways to see more European models brought to Canada and bring back its rebate program, it should also lower “

Canada’s 100 per cent tariff on Chinese (electric vehicles) in a way that still balances protection for the auto industry with a healthier car market for consumers, much as Europe has done,” Joanna Kyriazis, the group’s policy and strategic director, said in a statement on Friday. 

Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, told reporters on Friday that any potential loosening of the surtax would have to offer some benefit to Canadian industries and workers, which is currently not the case. 

“I’m not advocating for a loosening of them,” he said, “but I think it’s important that we continue to talk to them.”

“And as much as we don’t like the way that the Chinese have built the industry, we know that’s the future of the industry.”

Volpe

suggested it would be unwise to risk giving up Canada’s market out of pressure from those he called “EV enthusiasts.”

Speaking at his announcement on Friday, Carney said the government would be moving ahead with “new options” to bring in more affordable electric vehicle options.

No further details were provided, but cabinet ministers have said the Liberals were looking for ways to bring back a rebate program.

Asked whether Carney was considering lifting the 100 per cent surtax, the prime minister did not directly say, but said Canada was beginning “intense engagement” with China regarding canola as well as other agriculture and seafood products.

“I’m sure those discussions will branch out, but it’s too early to come to any conclusions on those.”

A spokeswoman for Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne confirmed to National Post on Thursday that “o

fficials are currently undertaking work” on the upcoming review, which would entail assessing China’s labour practices as well as the scope and rates of the surtaxes to ensure they “remain appropriate.” 

Besides the surtax on Chinese electric vehicles, which was introduced by former prime minister Justin Trudeau, Carney’s predecessor also implemented a 25 per cent surtax on Chinese steel and aluminum. Both surtaxes were introduced last October.

Nova Scotia MP Kody Blois, whom Carney named as his parliamentary secretary, is set to join Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe on a trade mission to China starting Saturday.

Moe told reporters on Thursday that any resolution to the tariff on canola would have to be reached by Carney and China’s President

Xi 
Jinping. 

Saskatchewan is home to the biggest share of Canada’s canola industry, followed by Alberta and Manitoba.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has also called on the federal government to reconsider its surtax on Chinese electric vehicles in an effort to end the trade dispute.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who was recently elected as an MP in Alberta through a byelection, told reporters in Ottawa on Friday that he “respectfully” disagrees with Moe’s call for the surtax to be lifted.

He said China’s electric vehicles would act as “roving surveillance vehicles” on Canadian streets, referring to national security risks that have been expressed regarding the access Beijing could have to certain Chinese technologies operating in North America.

Instead, Poilievre said, the federal government ought to cancel the $1 billion loan the Canada Infrastructure Bank granted to BC Ferries to purchase four ships from a Chinese shipbuilder.

–

With files from Christopher Nardi and Catherine Levesque 

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Producer Ryan Reynolds arrives for the premiere of

It’s not every day that a movie star couple shows up at your small-town drive-in movie theatre with their kids.

But in mid-August that’s what happened at the

Muskoka Drive-In

in Gravenhust, Ont. Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively and two of their children were hosted by theatre owner William Alexander.

“Blake kept talking about how she was super excited to be at the drive-in and she wanted to see the snack bar and the whole nostalgic feel of the place,” Alexander told local newspaper,

MyMuskokaNow

. “Ryan was talking about his first experience of (a) drive-in.”

Alexander said it was fun to see them as a family watching a movie. He kept interactions to a minimum to prevent them from getting overwhelmed by fans.

“I think with all the stuff that they’ve had going on in their lives lately, they’re entitled to a night without paparazzi … without people bugging them,” said Alexander.

Reynolds is a Vancouver native, sometimes known as

Hollywood’s Captain Canada

. He is in Ontario this time around as executive producer of the

Toronto International Film Festival’s opening-night selection

, “John Candy: I Like Me,” a documentary about the late Canadian comedian.

Reynolds says John Candy was ahead of his time. He has had a firsthand look at the legacy Candy left behind after his death in 1994 at age 43 from a heart attack.

A new understanding of Candy’s past gave Reynolds a fresh perspective about the “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” star. Candy was candid during his life about suffering from anxiety and panic attacks, something that

wasn’t generally done back then

, notes Reynolds.

“I know I have some of those traits …

people-pleasing and mental health

. They don’t coexist very well together at all, because you never want to burden anybody else with anything. You never want to be a problem for anybody else,” Reynolds says.

The opening night gala was ripe with

Canadian pride

, which is not always the case at TIFF, according to Variety Magazine, despite it’s annual presence amid the Toronto arts scene.

Candy grew up in Toronto before his breakout with sketch comedy TV show, SCTV. He eventually became one of the most in-demand comedy stars of his generation, thanks to such films as “Stripes,” “Splash,” “Spaceballs,” “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” “Uncle Buck” and “Cool Runnings.”

Reynolds wore a T-shirt emblazoned with a Canadian maple leaf to the gala.

He was joined onstage by the film’s director Colin Hanks, whose father Tom worked with Candy on “Splash,” as well as Candy’s two children, Jennifer and Christopher.

Ahead of the documentary’s screening, Prime Minister Mark Carney made a surprise appearance. While speaking to the audience, he made a reference to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff standoff with Canada, adding that Candy was at his best when he was pushed by a bully and then stood up to him.

“Don’t push a Canadian too far,” Carney told the crowd.

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A victim of distraction theft stands in a parking lot when he is approached by a vehicle in this still image taken from a video shared by Toronto police.

Toronto police are warning residents of a certain kind of crime that’s on the rise in the city: distraction theft.

“While distraction thefts are troubling on their own, what is even more troubling is the increasing level of violence suspects are using against their victims,” said Chief Superintendent Mandeep Mann of Field Services at a news conference on Wednesday.

In 2025, he said despite other kinds of crime trending downward — firearm activity was down by 40 per cent, homicides were down by 56 per cent and auto thefts by 33 per cent — there has been year over year increase for theft.

“With distraction thefts in particular, there have been 374 reported incidents so far this year compared to just 28 all of last year. And we know these crimes are often underreported,” he said.

Mann said police were working together across the Greater Toronto Area to understand what was causing the spike.

Here’s what to know.

What are distraction thefts and who are its targets?

Distraction theft, as the name implies, is a kind of theft where a suspect tries to divert the attention of a victim in order to steal valuables, including wallets, purses, phones or jewelry. “It is a common tactic used by pickpockets, scam artists, and opportunistic thieves,” according to

Toronto police

.

“These suspects typically work in pairs,” said Mann on Wednesday, “sometimes even involving children, with one person creating the distraction while the other takes the property.”

The targets are usually seniors between the ages of 60 and 90 years old who are alone and are often wearing visible jewelry. Most of the theft are being done during the week, from mid-morning to mid-afternoon, in commercial parking lots, on city streets, and even on the victims’ property.

Identifying suspects is more difficult because they often stay inside their vehicle.

“Victims, primarily (the) elderly, are often left in shock, limiting their ability to provide accurate descriptions,” said Mann.

What are some tactics used by suspects during distraction thefts?

Suspects who are committing distraction theft may ask for directions or pretend to need help in order to get close to a victim. They may start an argument or cause a scene. They may spill something on the victim or even ask a victim to pray with them.

Toronto police shared two surveillance videos of distraction thefts in action. Investigations into the two incidents, which occurred over the summer, are still ongoing.

In one video, the victim, an elderly man, is standing in a commercial parking lot when a vehicle backs up into a spot near him on Aug. 5 at 5 p.m.

A victim of distraction theft stands in a parking lot when he is approached by a vehicle in this still image taken from a video shared by Toronto police.

The suspect, a female passenger sitting in the back seat, rolls down the window and calls him over. She asks for directions to the nearest Walmart and tells the victim that it’s her birthday, which in her culture means she should give him a gift. (Police said that suspects will often make up ruses or scenarios in order to get a person to come closer to them. It is not clear which culture the suspect was referring to).

The suspect then hands the victim a ring and leans in for a hug, placing her arms around the man’s neck. The vehicle quickly drives away, and it’s only then that the victim realizes his necklace is missing.

In another video, a vehicle is stopped in front of a victim’s home on May 12 at 6:45 p.m.

The footage, taken from several houses away, shows the suspect asking for directions to the nearest mosque from the vehicle. The suspect tells the victim to pray for his sick mother. While the victim is engaging in the interaction, the suspect begins putting rings and necklaces on the victim. (This is part of the distraction).

A victim of distraction theft is seen being dragged by a vehicle in front of their home on a residential street in this still image taken from a video shared by Toronto police. Suspects tried to take the victim’s necklace, but when the victim pulled away, a struggle ensued.

The victim attempts to cover his own necklaces with his right arm. The suspect grabs the victim’s arm, pulls the victim’s necklace off his neck, and attempts to grab his watch.

A struggle ensues, and the suspect drives off, dragging the victim along.

Where are distraction thefts happening?

The incidents are occurring across the country.

In Ottawa on Thursday,

police warned residents

of the crime that targets seniors.

The Ottawa Police Service said it “received approximately 70 reports of distraction thefts city-wide so far this year,” with 62 of them occurring between April 1 and Sept. 2. Police noted that the kind of theft involving the suspect “gifting” the victim with a necklace was reported 50 times in 2025, with 20 of those reports filed since June.

In July, the RCMP warned residents in Richmond, B.C. about distraction thefts in

a news release

. Police said they believed suspects were selling jewelry connected to the thefts.

In August, officers

arrested three suspects

in Edmonton connected to an “an ongoing series of distraction-style thefts.” Warrants were also issued for three suspects, and police said they believe there are even more involved.

Edmonton police received at least 48 reports of distraction thefts from May to mid-August.

Const. Shiva Shunmugam said at a news conference at the time that the suspects are believed to be connected to similar thefts from B.C. to Toronto, the Canadian Press reported.

“It’s not limited to Alberta,” he said. “It’s Canada-wide.”

What can you protect yourself in public?

Police say to “stay aware of your surroundings, especially in crowded or high-traffic areas.” Backpacks, purses or any bags being carried should be zipped up and “close to your body.”

“Be cautious if you’re approached by strangers especially if their behaviour is odd or overly engaging,” said Mann. “The suspects are targeting victims who appear trusting and helpful. If someone is close enough to put a necklace on your, they’re way too close.”

Avoid placing valuables on tables or hanging bags on chairs in public places.

Police urge the public, including businesses, to report distraction thefts and come forward with any helpful information.

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Prime Minister Mark Carney on August 26, 2025 in Berlin.

OTTAWA — Canada is being “stifled by red tape” so much that businesses now rank excessive regulation as more of a threat to investment than the Trump tariffs, a new report from a leading Canadian business group has found.

The Business Council of Canada, a non-partisan organization that represents businesses across the economy, found that Canada’s regulatory burden is growing rapidly, with the number of government requirements now topping 321,000, an increase of 37 per cent since 2006.

The business group says unnecessary red tape isn’t just annoying and a waste of time and money but also directly affects the economy. Smarter, more efficient regulation, meanwhile, can allow companies to trim costs without sacrificing the environment, worker safety or other social protections.

The BCC says the morass shaves 1.7 per cent off the economy, 9 per cent from business investment, and 1.3 per cent from total employment.

The list of regulations and requirements that the business group deems expendable includes permits for minor adjustments, long delays in processing paperwork, contradictions between jurisdictions, and unclear rules. The report identifies a wide range of examples of dubious red tape, including multiple and overlapping environment, social and governance (ESG) frameworks, lags of nearly 250 days to get a building permit, and overlapping federal and provincial privacy legislation.

“Our productivity is sagging, business investment is lacklustre, and Canada’s most valuable trade relationship — with the United States — is in crisis,” the report says. “The most effective way to counter trade instability is to ensure our economy is as efficient and competitive as it can possibly be.”

Don Drummond, a former high-ranking executive with the Department of Finance and chief economist at TD Bank, said Canadian governments do not seem to grasp the severity of Canada’s productivity problem and how that directly affects the standard of living. The Trudeau years left the Canadian economy in “terrible shape,” Drummond said, and it doesn’t look so far like his successors have the courage to take the bold steps that are needed.

“One way or another, we’re coming to a disaster.”

Recent news has not been positive as the Canadian economy is showing clear wounds from the U.S. tariffs that have trimmed exports to Canada’s most important market. Statistics Canada reported today that Canada lost 66,000 jobs in August, as the unemployment rate jumped to 7.1 per cent. That figure represents a significant increase over the 6.9 per cent posted in July and Canada’s highest unemployment rate since 2016.

But the federal government has given some indication that it views cutting red tape — and unlocking the Canadian economy more broadly — as a priority.

The federal government launched a red tape review of its operations in early July. Ministers were told to review regulations in their portfolios and were to report back within 60 days on their progress and plans. Those progress reports are supposed to be published by Friday

, with next steps to be tracked by the new Red Tape Reduction Office.

The government has also passed legislation designed to allow big projects such as ports, pipelines and mines to be developed more quickly. The BCC says it can take two decades to get a mine in Canada approved, for example, one of the slowest approval processes in the world.

But it’s not the first time that Ottawa — or a number of provinces and territories — has said that reducing red tape is a priority.

The federal Treasury Board Secretariat includes a team whose job is to implement the Red Tape Reduction Act, legislation passed a decade ago to insist that the government cut one regulation for every one it adds.

In 2024, the federal government’s fall economic statement proposed a new Red Tape Reduction Office to accelerate the elimination of unneeded regulations. But that office according to the BCC’s report, is still a work in progress.

National Post

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Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks to the media, at the Liberal Cabinet Retreat, in Toronto, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025.

TORONTO — Prime Minister Mark Carney announced wide-ranging new measures to support Canadian industries most heavily impacted by U.S. tariffs such as agriculture, steel, aluminium and autos as well as reviews of controversial Justin Trudeau-era climate policies on Friday.

Carney also announced on Friday that Canada’s zero-emission vehicle sales mandate that was set to come into effect in 2026 will be delayed for a year while the government reviews the policy.

The mandate, which would have required at least 20 per cent of new vehicles sales in 2026 to be zero-emission vehicles, has attracted concerns from auto-makers in recent months. By 2035, the mandate would have required 100 per cent of new vehicle sales to be zero-emission.

Carney said the government would launch an immediate 60-day review of the policy “to reduce costs.”

He also announced a new “buy Canadian” policy that would require the federal government to use Canadian suppliers and require local content when there are no domestic suppliers available. The approach would extend to Crown corporations and “provide a roadmap” for provinces and municipalities to follow suit.

“Now we need to use government procurement using Canadian taxpayer dollars to spur Canadian businesses for longer term prosperity to support Canadian industries,” Carney said.

Speaking at an airplane manufacturer in suburban Toronto, Carney announced dozens of measures and billions of dollars-worth of new funds that would compel the federal government to prioritize Canadian suppliers in procurement, create a new $370-million biofuel production incentive and a $5 billion “Strategic Response Fund” to help tariff-impacted companies retool and retrain employees.

“What’s going on is not a transition, it’s a rupture, and its effect will be profound. Workers displaced from their jobs, supply chains that have existed for decades disrupted,” Carney said.

Carney’s announcement comes amid a sluggish Canadian economy that shed 66,000 jobs in August. Friday morning, new data showed Canada’s unemployment rate hit a

nine-year high at 7.1 per cent

last month.

This makes decisive action crucial,” Carney said of the new bleak unemployment numbers.

Buried within the announcement is also a review of a series of controversial Justin Trudeau-era climate policies, including promising unspecified changes of the Clean Fuel Regulations. Mockingly branded the “carbon tax 2.0” by Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, the regulation aim to boost innovation and adoption of green technologies and expand the use of low carbon intensity fuels.

“The government intends to amend the Clean Fuel Regulations to strengthen the resiliency and spur the development of Canada’s low-carbon fuel sector. Only targeted amendments that advance this objective will be considered at this time,” reads a background document published by the federal government.

Thursday, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne’s office told National Post work is underway for an upcoming review on whether the tariffs Canada applied to China’s electric vehicles, steel and aluminum should remain at the current rates.

More to come.

National Post, with files from Stuart Thomson.

cnardi@postmedia.com

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