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Source: National Post (Politics)

Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks with reporters during a news conference in Ottawa, Wednesday, July 30, 2025.

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday that Canada will recognize a State of Palestine at the United Nations in September as he accused the Israeli government of failing to “prevent the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian disaster in Gaza.”

After meeting with his cabinet Wednesday, Carney told reporters that the recognition was conditional on the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank, going forward with significant reforms which include demilitarization and holding a general election in 2026.

Carney said Canada’s longstanding hope for a two-state solution negotiated between the Palestinian Authority and Israel was “no longer tenable” because of the war in Gaza.

“The deepening suffering of civilians leaves no room for delay in co-ordinated international action to support peace, security, and the dignity of all human life,” Carney said.

“The level of human suffering in Gaza is intolerable and is rapidly deteriorating,” he added.

Carney’s announcement was immediately condemned by the Israeli embassy, which said it rewards the 2023 terrorist attacks against Israel that started the war in Gaza.

“Let us be clear: Israel will not bow to the distorted campaign of international pressure against it. We will not sacrifice our very existence by permitting the imposition of a jihadist state on our ancestral homeland that seeks our annihilation,” said Israeli Ambassador Iddo Moed.

“Recognizing a Palestinian state in the absence of accountable government, functioning institutions, or benevolent leadership, rewards and legitimizes the monstrous barbarity of Hamas on October 7, 2023 (the Hamas terrorist attack). It punishes Israeli and Palestinian victims of Hamas, vindicates Hamas’ 

Western sympathizers fuelling antisemitism, and hardens Hamas’ position at the negotiation table at a most critical time.”

During the press conference, Carney

said terrorist group Hamas was a constant obstacle to peace and poses a pervasive threat to Israel, namely by committing “heinous” terrorist attacks such as the antisemitic Oct. 7, 2023, massacre. He called on Hamas to immediately release all remaining hostages taken nearly three years ago.

But he also condemned Israel’s “ongoing failure” in preventing “the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian disaster in Gaza, with impeded access to food and other essential humanitarian supplies.” He further criticized the Knesset’s vote earlier this month for annexation of the West Bank as well as citing increased Israeli settler violence against Palestinians.

Carney’s announcement comes after France and the United Kingdom made similar announcements over the past week. If they go through with their commitments, France, the U.K. and Canada will be the first G7 countries to recognize Palestinian statehood at the UN, a largely symbolic move.

Carney said the statehood recognition would go to the Palestinian Authority and that Hamas is not welcome “in any shape or form” in the process. He said he spoke earlier Wednesday to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who reiterated a commitment to fundamentally reform the Authority’s governance, demilitarize the Palestinian state and hold general elections in 2026 that exclude Hamas.

“Much has to happen in order (before) a democratic, viable state is established, and we’re committed to help work as part of that process. I’m not in any way or shape minimizing the scale of that task,” Carney said.

The

Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), a Jewish advocacy group, called Carney’s trust in Abbas’ commitments “misplaced”.

National Council of Canadian Muslims CEO Stephen Brown called Carney’s announcement Wednesday “historic”.

“This decision is more than symbolic. It is a small step in the right direction and the recognition that sovereignty is essential to the survival and dignity of all people,”

Brown said during a press conference

.

“This act of recognition confirms the belief, and the relief, of long-term peace cannot come without Palestinian self-determination.”

On Wednesday, the 22-member Arab League signed a declaration with the European Union and 17 other countries calling on the terrorist group Hamas to disarm and relinquish power in the Gaza Strip.

It is the first time that the league, which comprises Arab and Muslim states including Qatar, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, condemned Hamas since its 2023 attack on Israel.

The declaration that was signed at a UN conference hosted by Saudi Arabia and France on “the peaceful settlement” of the Palestinian issue and the implementation of a two-state solution.

On Tuesday, British Prime Minister Kier Starmer said his government would recognize Palestinian statehood at the United Nations general assembly in September if Israel has not implemented a ceasefire in Gaza by then.

He also demanded Israel significantly increase humanitarian aid to Gaza amid growing and vocal concerns by multiple humanitarian groups of famine.

The Israeli government blames

the UN and Hamas for failing to distribute aid.

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump said there was “real starvation” unfolding in the Gaza Strip, but said it was because Hamas was “stealing the food.”

Last week, France announced it would vote to recognize Palestinian statehood in September, a decision that was condemned by both Israel and the United States.

In a statement, Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong said the recognition legitimizes Hamas’s use of terrorism to achieve its political goals.

“

A unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood, without peace negotiations or a renunciation of violence, destroys the path to a durable, two-state solution. Worse, it legitimizes terrorism by handing political rewards to a group that rules Gaza through fear, oppression, and brutality

,” he said.

Carney’s announcement followed a group of 173 former Canadian ambassadors and diplomats calling on the federal government to recognize a Palestinian state, on Wednesday.

“Recognition will create the political space needed to set the stage for a serious bilateral negotiation process and send a clear message to the current Israeli government, which actively opposes a Palestinian state, that it does not have a veto on the recognition of Palestine,” wrote the former diplomats, including two ex-ambassadors to Israel, in a statement.

The group also called on Canada to implement a two-way arms embargo on military equipment to Israel, “urgently” implement trade restrictions on Israel exports originating from the occupied territories and push for the UN to create a “protected humanitarian corridor”.

The letter to Carney also called on Palestinians to eschew “terrorism and violence” and recognize Israel’s right to exist. It did not reiterate the Canadian government’s call for Hamas, designated a terrorist group in Canada, to relinquish control over the Gaza Strip.

In a rebuttal also sent to Carney’s office Wednesday, three other former Canadian diplomats — including the former top lawyer at Global Affairs Canada, Alan Kessel — argued that the letter’s proposals came from a good place but were “naive and dangerous.”

“If acted upon, their recommendations would empower a proscribed terrorist organization, weaken Canada’s strategic and moral standing, and ultimately leave both Palestinians and Israelis worse off,” read the rebuttal.

“Hamas and elements of the Palestinian Authority reject a two-state solution, pursuing instead a ‘one state without Jews’ vision that makes peace impossible,” the rebuttal said.

National Post, with files from Ari David Blaff.

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Whatever the question ends up being, Albertans are likely headed toward a referendum on whether they want to separate from Canada or not.

As Alberta moves toward holding a referendum on separation from Canada, a hitch has emerged in the planning: the constitutionality of a potential referendum question.

In early July, Mitch Sylvestre of the Alberta Prosperity Project submitted his question on secession to Elections Alberta, the independent agency that administers elections, byelections and referendums in the province. It seeks to ask the question: Do you agree that the Province of Alberta shall become a sovereign country and cease to be a province in Canada?

But on Monday, Elections Alberta announced that it was going to ask a Court of King’s Bench judge of whether the question itself infringed upon the Constitution.

“Given the potential implications of the constitutional referendum proposal and given the Legislature has expressly authorized the Chief Electoral Officer to state a question seeking the opinion of the Court, the Chief Electoral Officer has referred a question to the Court for its opinion,” Elections Alberta said Monday.

What allows for citizens to push for a referendum?

In Alberta, any citizen can push to hold a province-wide referendum, so long as they gather the signatures of 10 per cent of those who voted in the last provincial election. Since more than 1.7 million Albertans cast a ballot in 2023, roughly 177,000 signatures are needed to push for a provincial referendum under the Citizen Initiative Act.

But that same act, amended by the provincial United Conservative government in the spring, requires any constitutional referendum question to not violate the Constitution. As such, Elections Alberta referred the question to a judge. It also sets out that any policy or legislative action referendum proposal must not exceed the power of the provincial legislature.

What are people saying about the decision of Elections Alberta?

The Alberta Prosperity Project posted on X that the reference “acts as a delay tactic that will be responded to in Court as required,” and said that its question complied with the federal Clarity Act, which was crafted following the 1995 Quebec secession referendum setting out

However, Alberta Justice Minister Mickey Amery and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith have both criticized the decision, saying it amounts to unfair red tape standing in the way of Albertans having their say on major policy questions.

“As it is the Government of Alberta that ultimately decides how or if to implement any referendum result, those government decisions will ultimately be subject to constitutional scrutiny,” Amery wrote on X. “We encourage Elections Alberta to withdraw its court reference and permit Albertans their democratic right to participate in the citizen initiative process.”

In a statement posted to X, the premier said “Albertans have a democratic right to participate in the citizen initiative process.

“They shouldn’t be slowed down by bureaucratic red tape or court applications,” she wrote.

What has Elections Alberta said?

The independent agency declined to withdraw its court reference.

“In seeking the opinion of the Court, the Chief Electoral Officer is fulfilling his duty under the Citizen Initiative Act in an independent, neutral and non-partisan manner,” the agency said on Tuesday.

So if the courts don’t make the determination on the constitutionality of the question, as required by the Citizen Initiative Act, who does?

That’s not altogether clear.

On Tuesday, National Post sought clarity from Amery’s office on the question of if the court application were to be rescinded, who — whether Elections Alberta or the provincial government — should make the call on whether the question itself is within constitutional bounds.

Heather Jenkins, Amery’s press secretary, declined to clarify.

Elections Alberta, however, has approved a separation referendum question that does not engage constitutional questions.

Crafted by Alberta Forever Canada, a federalist group headed by Thomas Lukaszuk, who served as deputy premier in Alison Redford’s Progressive Conservative government, that question asks: Do you agree that Alberta should remain in Canada?

The application here

is for a “legislative or policy proposal,” not a constitutional proposal.

That group will now have until late October to gather the necessary signatures to get the question on the ballot before voters.

What happens once the question is approved?

In the wake of the federal election, which saw the Liberals returned to power under Prime Minister Mark Carney, and with separatist sentiment on the rise, the Alberta government moved to make it easier for Albertans to get referendum questions on the ballot.

Originally, the act, passed by Jason Kenney’s government in 2021, required the signatures of 20 per cent of registered electors, but the current government felt that to be an impossibly high threshold.

Once the question is approved and paperwork filed with Elections Alberta, then the proponents can set out to gather the signatures. The Sylvestre petition cannot seek signatures yet because it has not been approved but the Lukaszuk one can.

Does that mean there could be two secession questions at once?

No. If Alberta Forever Canada finishes gathering its signatures before the court discussion over the pro-separatist question is settled, it could kibosh the separatists’ attempts to get their referendum held. There cannot be two referendums on the same subject happening simultaneously in Alberta: Elections Alberta says there can only be proposals for a referendum so long as it “is not the same or substantially similar to a proposal that is currently underway or would result in a conflict with the outcome of a petition currently underway.”

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Predictably, with the tide of global public opinion turning in its favour, Hamas is no longer interested in a ceasefire.

When Mark Carney was asked whether Canada will follow France (and now Britain) in unilaterally recognizing Palestinian statehood, his reply was ominous.

Canada will work with the international community — “with others”  — to move towards a ceasefire and a two-state solution, he said.

In an interview on CNN last month, Carney talked about working “on a path to a Palestinian state … a Zionist Palestinian state that would recognize the right of Israel to exist and prosper.”

Since Canada has signed a strategic partnership with the European Union to pursue common interests, it is a reasonable assumption that at Wednesday’s virtual cabinet meeting, Carney will advocate that Canada follows France and Britain’s lead.

To do so would be a mistake. It might be a case of stating the blindingly obvious, but such a move would vindicate Hamas’s strategy that jihad, violence and blood sacrifice are the only ways to get what you want – and that the chain of events that led to statehood started on October 7th.

Rather than drawing Hamas towards a ceasefire, this initiative is having precisely the opposite effect.

Predictably, with the tide of global public opinion, if not the war, turning in its favour, Hamas is no longer interested in a ceasefire. The U.S. recalled its negotiating team from Doha last week, as special envoy Steve Witkoff said there was a “lack of desire” on the part of Hamas.

As British-Israeli former hostage Emily Damari posted on social media in response to U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s statement, recognition does not promote a solution, it prolongs the conflict. “The move does not advance peace, it risks rewarding terror,” she said.

Israel has been its own worst enemy in creating the conditions that has allowed Hamas to stand on the cusp of a symbolic victory.

Carney’s criticism last week that the Israeli government has failed to prevent the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Gaza is legitimate.

Even Israel’s supporters concede that Benjamin Netanyahu erred when he stopped all aid to Gaza in March, at the behest of his far-right coalition members.

He compounded the mistake by assuming responsibility for all aid and food distribution to civilians under the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation initiative, that created aid hubs outside population centres and resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Gazans.

These policy errors have created the very real prospect of mass starvation. Research from Hebrew University indicates that flour prices have increased 80-fold. Even Donald Trump has said that there is “real starvation” in Gaza.

Israel has responded by announcing changes to aid operations: more air-drops of pallets of food; “pauses” in combat operations for 10 hours a day in populated areas; and the opening of humanitarian corridors to provide secure routes for United Nations agencies.

But it is all too late.

Three-quarters of Israelis want an end to the war (if Hamas releases all 50 remaining hostages — of whom only 20 are thought to be still alive).

They are increasingly aware Israel is becoming a pariah to many.

Public opinion across the West is largely united in opposition to Israel. A new Gallup poll this week suggests only one-third of Americans support the Jewish state, down 10 points from last September, while six in 10 disapprove. Earlier polls indicate similar levels of support in Canada.

Hamas, which has called on all nations to follow France’s lead, must be delighted.

As veteran Israeli journalist Nadav Eyal told the Call Me Back podcast, Hamas has always tried to convince the world that Gaza is the victim of its own genocide, in pursuit of the legitimacy it needs for nationhood. Those efforts have proven to be in vain until now, when the facts on the ground have lent credence to such claims.

“This was always the project of Yahya Sinwar (the late former Hamas leader) — that only through violence would the state be born, through sacrifice and jihad,” he said.

There is a very good reason why for 75 years, Canada has insisted on the establishment of a Palestinian state as part of, but not before, a negotiated two-state solution: it is intended to be an incentive to bring the Palestinians to the table.

Former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon raised the possibility of Palestinian statehood two decades ago, on condition that the Palestinians demilitarize and give up on claims of “the right of return” to Israel.

While it is true that the two-state solution is dead for now, and that no talks between the two sides have been held since 2014, in time the prospects for a lasting peace may improve.

It makes no sense to have pre-emptively handed over a bargaining chip that could increase the chances of a lasting resolution.

Canada’s backing for Palestinian statehood would not make it a reality. The U.S. remains firmly opposed and will wield its veto on the Security Council at the United Nations.

But momentum is growing. In the last UN vote in May 2024, 143 countries voted to recognize an independent Palestine (Canada abstained).

It was not clear what anyone was recognizing. Did it include East Jerusalem as capital of the new country? Did it grant legitimacy to the Fatah government in the West Bank or Hamas in Gaza?

The only certainty is that Hamas wants a one-state solution from “the river to the sea.”

It is time for Israel to end a war that is not going its way. All of Canada’s energies should be directed towards that goal, rather than giving succour to its enemies.

National Post

jivison@criffel.ca

Twitter.com/ivisonJ

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An Air Canada 737 Max 8 jet takes off at Calgary International Airport.

In a vote that began on Monday, Air Canada’s flight attendants will determine whether they wish to strike or not.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents more than 10,000 Air Canada’s flight attendants, has been locked in negotiations with the airline for more than seven months.

The vote will remain open until Aug. 5.

Here’s everything to know about why the vote is happening, if a strike could happen, and the impacts customers might feel while travelling.

What the union wants in the new contract

After a 10-year agreement, the union is seeking a new contract that it says should address the issues workers are facing.

The main issue they want fixed in the new contract is the amount of unpaid work flight attendants do. Of particular concern to the union is the unpaid pre-boarding preparation, which includes safety checks or assisting passengers with special needs.

The union says flight attendants in Canada work for free an average of 35 hours per month.

Besides the unpaid hours, the union also aims to increase wages and improve expense allowances, the amount of money they can spend daily while on layovers. The union also says it wants fairer rest and scheduling protections for flight attendants and a review of current pension offers.

“The company continues to show no willingness to meaningfully address the critical issues on the table: fair wages, compensation for all time worked, safe and humane working conditions, and a path forward that recognizes your professional value,” the union wrote in an

update to its members

.

If the majority votes yes to a strike, what happens?

If the majority of workers vote in favour of it, and no agreement is reached, the 72-hour strike notice could be given as early as Aug. 16.

However, the union says that its goal is still to reach a new contract at the bargaining table; but if not, a strike could happen as a last resort.

What does Air Canada say about it?

On Friday, Air Canada acknowledged that the vote was happening, saying this is a “a normal step in the negotiation process and does not mean that any disruption will take place.”

The airline also said it is committed to the bargaining process and remains fully available for more negotiations with CUPE to reach a fair and equitable collective agreement.

How might this impact customers?

Flights operated by Air Canada’s main line or Rouge would be impacted, and most likely cancelled were flight attendants to go on strike. Air Canada Express and Jazz flights might not be impacted directly, since they are in different agreements, but could be due to the impact of cancelled flights.

When it comes to refunds or rescheduling in case the strike happens, the Airline Passenger Protections Regulations (APPR) say that labour disputes are out of the airline’s control, so passengers could get refunded or rebooked, but will not be compensated.

The airline has 48 hours after the scheduled departure time to rebook passengers in the next available flight of their airline or any airlines they have partnerships with. If they can’t do that in that time period, the passengers get to decide if they want to be refunded within 30 days or rebooked. Air Canada has a

list of partner airlines

on its website.

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Australia has lifted its ban on Canadian beef 22 years after mad cow disease was confirmed in Canadian beef cows. In 2021, Canada was officially recognized by the World Organisation of Animal Health as having negligible risk for BSE.

The Australian market for Canadian beef has reopened after that country lifted a 22-year-old ban on Canada’s beef products, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).
 

Australia 
lifted
a similar ban on U.S. beef imports last week, according to Reuters News Agency.
 

Regaining access to the Australian market offers economic potential for Canadian farmers and processors, says the CFIA. “By opening access to premium markets like Australia, Canadian producers can increase exports, generating new revenue streams.”
 

The door to the Australian market was closed in 2003, due to the discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in Canada.
Commonly known as “mad cow disease,” BSE is fatal among beef herds and has been linked to
Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans, when consumed. That disease is also fatal, according to the U.S. Centres for Disease Control.

“The first North American BSE case was reported in 1993 in a cow imported into Canada from the UK,” says the CDC. It “may have been responsible for 19 additional Canadian BSE cases beginning in 2003.”
 

Six

BSE cases in cows in the United States were also identified back then. One was a Canadian import thought to have been infected in Canada, says the CDC. 

However, i
n 2021, Canada was officially recognized by the World Organisation of Animal Health as having negligible risk for BSE.
 

The Canadian Cattle Association celebrated the news. In a press release issued on Tuesday, the association said it “i
s pleased to see Australia, one of the last remaining countries to have maintained bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) restrictions, complete their risk assessment and open their market for Canadian beef.”
 

CCA President Tyler Fulton was quoted as saying: “Canadian beef farmers and ranchers are proud to produce the highest quality and safest beef in the world. As the demand for Canadian beef around the world continues to grow, we look forward to every new market opportunity.”
 

“Canada is known around the world for producing top-quality beef,” says Heath MacDonald, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. “Strengthening our trade ties with Australia—one of our key partners in the Indo-Pacific — means more opportunities for Canadian farmers and processors to grow their businesses, create good jobs, and build up our economy.”

As of 2024, says the CFIA, Canada ranked 8
th
among global beef exporters. Canadian exports of agriculture and agri-food (not including fish and seafood) was $92.2 billion in 2024. 
 

 

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The poll found that 39 per cent of Canadians between 18 and 24 heard an antisemitic remark and 46 per cent reported hearing an Islamophobic comment since Hamas's invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

A new poll has found young Canadians are the most likely to have heard antisemitic and Islamophobic comments, and one researcher suggests social media may risk “normalizing prejudice.”

The Leger survey, which was conducted for the Association for Canadian Studies, found that over a third (39 per cent) of Canadians between 18 and 24 heard an antisemitic remark and nearly half (46 per cent) reported hearing an Islamophobic comment since Hamas’s invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Jack Jedwab, the association’s chief executive, told National Post in an email that the high exposure of young Canadians to antisemitism and Islamophobia “was the biggest surprise” for him when reviewing the data. He said the data suggests social media played a role in exposing young Canadians to such rhetoric.

The poll found a “big spike” in antisemitism, with a marked convergence of exposure rates to antisemitism and Islamophobia for all Canadians, Jedwab said.

“If you look back at surveys prior to October 2023, Canadians were far more likely to say they were far more exposed to prejudice directed towards Muslims than they were to other groups, including Jews,” he wrote. “The fact that exposure is now relatively similar testifies to a big spike in exposure to antisemitism.” (Only about one per cent of Canada’s population is Jewish, while 4.9 per cent identified as Muslim, as of 2021.)

Increased exposure to intolerant views, “risks normalizing prejudice,” Jedwab said. It is “something that badly needs to be addressed.” He pointed to a

recent report

showing alarming levels of Jew hatred in Ontario public schools as an urgent call to action.

“It needs to be stated very clearly by persons in positions of authority that it is not acceptable to stigmatize individuals wearing a Star of David or a hijab. Regrettably, there is too much equivocation on this and other manifestations of prejudice.”

The poll found that a respondent’s perception of hearing a discriminatory comment heavily shaped how they viewed media coverage of the Hamas-Israel war.

Among those who heard antisemitic comments only, over a third (35.5 per cent) thought mainstream media was more favourable to the Palestinians, while roughly a quarter (25.1 per cent) believed Israel was portrayed better. Conversely, respondents who said they heard only Islamophobic comments thought Israel received better media coverage (35.8 per cent), while over a quarter (27 per cent) saw the Palestinians getting more sympathetic coverage.

Rates of exposure to antisemitic and Islamophobic comments decreased significantly with older respondents. Less than a quarter (23 per cent) of Canadians aged 35 to 44 reported hearing an antisemitic remark, and just 14 per cent of those 65 and over said they heard such comments publicly.

Encountering Islamophobic comments was higher across most age groups, but followed a similar pattern. Over a third (34 per cent) of those between 25 and 34 years old reported hearing such statements, while slightly over a quarter (26 per cent) of people aged 35 to 44 said they heard an Islamophobic comment.

Canadians living in the prairie provinces reported encountering the highest levels of antisemitic (23.5 per cent) and Islamophobic (24.5 per cent) comments.

The poll was conducted between June 6 and 8, 2025. A margin of error cannot be associated with a non-probability sample in a panel survey for comparison purposes. A probability sample of the 1,537 Canadian respondents would have a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 per cent, or 19 times out of 20.

National Post

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Humanitarian aid packages waiting to be picked up on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom border crossing on July 24, 2025. “The UN refuses to distribute the aid,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry says.

Israeli authorities are strongly disputing media reports showing three purportedly starving Gazan children, insisting all have pre-existing medical conditions.

The two boys and one girl – five-year-old Osama al-Rakab, Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq and 11-month-old Sila Barbakh — have become symbols of Gaza’s ongoing food crisis as Israel has come under intense international pressure amid allegations of widespread starvation and throttled humanitarian aid.

On Monday, President Donald Trump said there was “real starvation” unfolding in the Gaza Strip, while hedging his statement by asserting Hamas was “stealing the food.” The Israeli government has

maintained

that nearly 1,000 aid trucks full of supplies have remained stuck at the Gaza border due to obstruction from international organizations, including the United Nations, and that the situation is being exploited by Hamas for political gain.

“Hundreds of aid trucks have entered Gaza with Israel’s approval, but the supplies are standing idle, undelivered,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry

shared

 on social media above a picture of foreign media visiting the Kerem Shalom crossing.

“The reason? The UN refuses to distribute the aid. Hamas and the UN prevent the aid to reach the civilians in Gaza. The world deserves to know the truth.”

On the country’s official X account on Tuesday, Israel said al-Matouq, whose image has been used in global media coverage about the food crisis in Gaza, “suffers from cerebral palsy.”

“But BBC, CNN, Daily Express, and The New York Times spread a misleading story using a picture of a sick, disabled child to promote a narrative of mass starvation in Gaza — playing into the hands of Hamas’s propaganda war. Without proper disclosure. Without medical context. Without journalistic ethics.”

Doubts over the accuracy of al-Matouq’s heart-wrenching images have been raised in recent days after British journalist David Collier publicized contradicting information. Collier wrote a detailed thread on Sunday explaining that al-Matouq “suffers from cerebral palsy, has hypoxemia, and was born with a serious genetic disorder,” purportedly based on a 2025 medical report of his.

Earlier this year, Collier

discovered

that a much-touted BBC documentary, “Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone,” was narrated by the son of a senior Hamas official, which led to its retraction by the British public broadcaster.

Al-Matouq’s picture was used across international media as a defining image testifying to the devastating personal cost of Israel’s war in Gaza and the ongoing aid crisis in the Strip. “A horrifying image encapsulating the ‘maelstrom of human misery’ gripping Gaza,” the

Daily Express

described him. Al-Matouq appears to be the only image of a skeletal child used in the

New York Times

 digital story from last Thursday entitled, “Gazans are dying of starvation.”

On Tuesday afternoon, the Times issued an editors’ note clarifying that since the publication of the story, the outlet “learned from his doctor that Mohammed also had pre-existing health problems.”

“This additional detail gives readers a greater understanding of his situation,” a separate

statement

reads.

The Israeli government’s social media message came a day after its foreign ministry highlighted similar concerns about the image of five-year-old Osama al-Rakab, another child used as an alleged illustration of the severe malnourishment Gazan youth confront.

Al-Rakab’s bony torso was featured on Al Jazeera and across various Italian media outlets, with one featuring his image beneath a title

evoking

 a famous book from a Jewish survivor of Nazi death camps. However, according to Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), al-Rakab

reportedly

 “suffers from a serious genetic illness unrelated to the war” and was transported out of Gaza alongside his mother and brother to an Israeli airport for treatment abroad.

“This is what a modern blood libel looks like: A sick child. A hijacked photo. A lie that spreads faster than truth,” the Israeli foreign ministry’s X account wrote on Monday.

Later Tuesday, Israel’s official X account publicized a third infant, 11-month-old Sila Barbakh, who allegedly “isn’t starving” but “suffers from a pre-existing chronic gastrointestinal illness, unrelated to the war.”

An account alleging Barbakh was suffering from starvation was featured in

The Times of London

, explaining that the baby weighed just “seven and a half pounds” according to a pediatrician.

Data published by the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry last weekend

reported

 that 56 Palestinians died of starvation in July, representing almost half of the total since the war began on October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian terror group invaded Israel.

In late May, the handover of humanitarian supplies was redesigned and shifted away from the United Nations to an

American-backed

 and Israeli-supported outfit, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). Under the new arrangement, Gazan civilians were required to travel into Israeli-militarily controlled areas to procure supplies.

GHF reportedly distributed

nearly 90 million

 meals to civilians and faced significant opposition from Hamas, which attacked and killed a dozen Palestinian employees transported to the distribution site to assist with the operation. The American organization has also

claimed

 Hamas is offering bounties for those who kill American contractors or Palestinians assisting.

The GHF handovers have often devolved into violent affairs with more than

1,000 Gazans

reportedly killed since it began operating, the UN noted last week. Israel has been accused of shooting Palestinians seeking aid, while scores have also died as a result of

stampedes

 in the ensuing chaos.

In late July, Israel announced it would restart humanitarian air drops into Gaza alongside other Arab nations, including Jordan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a practice that was

stopped

last year after it destroyed property and hit civilians.

According to the

New York Times

, Israel had blockaded food from entering the Strip between March and May, citing concerns that Hamas was pilfering supplies.

The extent of Hamas’s theft of humanitarian aid remains a hotly contested issue. The New York Times

reported

 that the “Israeli military never found proof that the Palestinian militant group had systematically stolen aid from the United Nations, the biggest supplier of emergency assistance to Gaza for most of the war,” based on anonymous conversations with several Israeli officials.

However, on Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) released a video

purportedly

showing Hamas militants with rifles “looting an aid truck” while civilians gather around.

Images shared by Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a Palestinian-American academic and senior fellow with the Atlantic Council, also purport to show Hamas militants stealing aid during an earlier ceasefire. “Right here before your eyes! But according to NGOs & media, there’s still ‘no evidence’ of theft,” Alkhatib, a vocal critic of Hamas and the Netanyahu government, wrote on X in mid-July.

In another post the following day, Alkhatib

shared

 a video alleging Hamas police officers stripped, arrested and beat Palestinians who ventured to the GHF aid distribution site.

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A group of women outside the Radisson hotel at Hwy 401 and Victoria Park Avenue in Toronto on Oct. 2, 2018. The government is ending its program of hotel rooms for asylum seekers this year.

The federal government is on the verge of phasing out a program that sees asylum seekers stay in hotels on Ottawa’s dime. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has said that funding will end in September.

According to IRCC, the government is currently housing close to 500 asylum seekers in five hotels in Ontario and Quebec, far fewer than the 2023 peak at hotels across Canada. It has spent

more than $1.2 billion

on temporary hotel housing since 2020.

“IRCC-funded hotels were always a temporary measure to support local shelter systems as the use of hotels is not a sustainable, cost-effective solution,” a spokesperson from the department told National Post in an email.

“IRCC will continue supporting provinces and municipalities in developing their own long-term housing strategies. This shift will reduce costs to Canadians and improve outcomes for claimants.

The hotel plan began in 2018 with a

pledge of $50 million

to help provinces and municipalities deal with housing for asylum seekers. That included $11 million for the City of Toronto.

“We have a clear plan for managing asylum seeker pressures and continue to act to support our partners,” Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, said at the time. “Our largest cities have shown tremendous leadership in their response to the recent influx of asylum seekers. Toronto and Montreal, as major population centres, face the greatest challenges when it comes to housing asylum claimants, and we will continue to work with them to come up with long-term, workable solutions to those challenges.”

Costs have skyrocketed since then. Government figures show that, in 2018-19, funding for the Interim Housing Assistance Program, or IHAP, amounted to $29 million for Ontario and Manitoba. The following year the program expanded to include Quebec and British Columbia, and the price tag was $342 million. Costs fell a little in future years, but in 2024-25, payments pending total $300 million.

Asylum claims have also increased over the span of the program. In 2019, government figures show there were 64,000 asylum claims in Canada. That fell during the early years of the pandemic but rose to 92,000 in 2022, 144,000 the following year, and 173,000 last year.

The government notes that, at its peak in late 2023, the federal hotel footprint included 46 sites from Vancouver to St. John’s at an average cost of $205 per night. While stays were inherently temporary, it notes, there was no enforcement on length of stay.

IRCC says its new plan involves reception centres that will provide immediate short-term housing and other services to asylum seekers; relocation to other jurisdictions, including other provinces with more affordable housing and jobs; and a plan for housing independence, in which claimants transition into receiving communities and jobs.

“Through early investments in IHAP, the federal government has already supported the opening of a reception centre in Peel and transitional housing options in Ottawa,” the spokesperson told National Post. “Future IHAP investments will add more housing capacity for asylum claimants.”

IHAP is no longer accepting new applicants for its hotel program, and has been winding it down in anticipation of the September end date, the spokesperson said.

“Since January 2024, IRCC has helped over 15,000 claimants transition to independent living, and it will continue to assist those currently on site with securing longer-term housing until September 30, 2025.”

The spokesperson added: “As of July 2025, IRCC has rooms leased in one hotel in Quebec and four hotels in Ontario, with a total of 485 asylum claimants. IRCC remains committed to supporting claimants during this transition, working with service providers to assist with housing, employment, and essential services.”

Experts and advocates say that could be difficult in cities where demand is high.

“What they need to do is actually put something in place to make sure refugees don’t fall on their face,” said Nadine Miller, executive director of Pilgrim Feast Tabernacles Church, which took in dozens of refugees in Toronto two years ago as shelters overflowed. “We’ve been picking up the pieces since 2023.”

Her suggestion: “Get their paperwork processed faster. That’s the biggest problem they’re having. If you sit in a hotel for two, three, four months or even a year, and you don’t have a work permit, what that does for you is you’re no further than the day you came in.”

— with files from Canadian Press

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A B.C. tribunal ordered WestJet to compensate two passengers after ruling the airline failed to prove weather made it unsafe to operate their cancelled flights.

A B.C. tribunal has ordered WestJet to pay more than $2,000 to two passengers after ruling the airline failed to provide sufficient evidence that weather conditions made it unsafe to operate scheduled flights.

In

a decision from the province’s civil resolution tribunal

published last week, Nathan and Leah Baugh were awarded $1,000 each under Canada’s

Air Passenger Protection Regulations

(APPR), which mandate such compensation when arrival at a passenger’s destination is delayed by nine hours or more beyond the time noted on the original ticket for reasons within the airline’s control.

The Baughs, scheduled to fly from St. John’s to Vancouver on March 7, 2022, with a stopover in Toronto, were notified by email about 17 hours prior that their flight had been cancelled due to weather. They were rebooked on flights departing March 8.

WestJet said the weather in St. John’s on the evening of March 6 — a winter storm and wind speeds greater than 62 kilometres per hour at the airport — forced the cancellation of the incoming flight from Toronto due to safety concerns. With no aircraft available to operate the route the next morning, the March 7 departures had to be rescheduled.

As part of their claim, the Baughs also submitted a recording of a phone call with a WestJet representative who said the cancellation was due to a scheduling change — not weather. The airline didn’t dispute that the call took place, but said its agents sometimes operate with incomplete information and maintained that the cancellations in question were weather-related.

The Baughs also submitted a screenshot showing that several other airlines operated flights out of St. John’s International Airport on March 7, arguing that weather conditions did not prevent safe departures that day.

The APPR absolves airlines of compensatory obligations in instances where weather would make it unsafe to operate, provided they can provide the necessary evidence.

Tribunal member Max Pappin, however, said the Western Canadian airline didn’t provide “any information about the specific aircraft” or its limits as it relates to the terminal aerodrome forecasts submitted as evidence.

“Additionally, much of the evidence provided consists of unexplained acronyms, codes, and numbers, whose meaning is far from obvious,” Pappin wrote of the “highly technical” evidence, which he ruled needed an expert’s opinion to decipher their meaning as it relates to the APPR.

“There is no expert evidence before me. So, I find the submitted evidence is not sufficient to show that safe operation of the aircraft was impossible due to meteorological conditions.”

 

Pappin also noted the airline failed to provide documentation to support its claim that the cancellations were made for safety reasons.

In addition to the $1,000, both applicants received $126.72 in pre-judgement interest under the Court Order Interest Act, and Nathan Baugh was reimbursed for a $125 tribunal fee.

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Former Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau and pop singer Katy Perry were seen having dinner together at Le Violin restaurant on Marquette St. in Montreal this week.

Former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau is having a busy summer, having vacationed in Switzerland with his 17-year-old son Xavier Trudeau and having dinner with pop star Katy Perry at a Montreal restaurant.

On Tuesday, the gossip website TMZ posted photographs of Perry and Trudeau dining at Le Violon, located in Montreal’s La Plateau neighbourhood. The eatery has a focus on seafood dishes and seasonal Quebec produce. The restaurant was included in the Michelin Recommended list and ranked 11th on a list of the best 100 restaurants in Canada.

“Katy and Justin were lovely. Very kind and warm with the staff,” the restaurant told National Post in a statement. “Chef Danny Smiles stopped by their table during the night to say hello, and before heading out, they came into the kitchen to thank the whole team. It was a pleasure having them.”

Trudeau has been separated from Sophie Grégoire since 2023 after 18 years together. Perry confirmed her separation from film star Orlando Bloom this July, after being engaged for three years.

In addition to the Montreal dinner, Trudeau took a father-son trip to Switzerland, and was mountain climbing in Zermatt, in Valais, a canton in southwest Switzerland. Trudeau shared six photos on his Instagram with a caption giving details about the trip.

“Took @xavtrudeau_ to Zermatt, Switzerland for some mountaineering, hiking, via ferrata-ing, and more melted cheese than anyone should safely eat.”

Trudeau also shared an Instagram story video showing the views of being at the top of the mountain Pollux, at an altitude of more than 4,000 meters.

After more than nine years as prime minister, Trudeau announced his resignation in early January. He did not run for his seat in Parliament in the federal election held in late April.

Trudeau has often been seen in the outdoors over the years. In 2019, he stopped to take

selfies with a woman

while hiking Vancouver’s Grouse Grind. In late 2024, his family

vacationed at RED Mountain

in southern B.C. for a week.

The trip to Switzerland happened just a week after his son released his first EP, “When Does It End.” The R&B EP has five tracks and a musical project that follows Xavier’s first releases in January 2025.

On his Instagram, Xavier shared more of his trip with his dad while also talking about the release of his EP in a video. (He recently played a concert in Ottawa, Ont.)

“I’m in Switzerland right now, I’m in Zermatt. We just climbed the mountain. We did the via ferrata going up, super cool,” said Xavier.

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