OTTAWA — Criticism over Canada allowing Chinese electric vehicles access to Canada’s market is mounting, with industry and geopolitical analysts warning of the risks associated with increased engagement with China.

“It’s a massive risk,” said Brian Kingston, president and CEO of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association.

“Canada’s auto industry depends on our integration with North America and the U.S. specifically, that’s been the foundation of the sector, going all the way back to the auto pact.”

In January, while visiting Beijing, Prime Minister Mark Carney signed a new strategic partnership with China, which included allowing 49,000 Chinese EVs access to the Canadian market, in exchange for the lowering of Chinese tariffs on Canadian canola and seafood exports.

While this was welcome news for the Canadian agri-food industry, it was less welcomed by the Canadian auto manufacturers, who argue it will undercut Canadian industry and workers.

“An estimated hourly wage at a Chinese [Original Equipment Manufacturer] is between two and four U.S. dollars an hour,” said Kingston. “Compare that to a unionized vehicle production plant in Canada, where your average wage is about $45 an hour, and that also includes pensions and benefits and a whole range of other advantages.”

Carney’s government said this was an opportunity to give Canadians a cheaper option in a market that has struggled to provide vehicles at a reasonable price for consumers. The government also said in five years, more than 50 per cent of the vehicles will have an import price of less than $35,000.

But even Joanna Kyriazis, director of policy & strategy at Clean Energy Canada, whose organization would like to see Canadian consumers access more affordable EVs, acknowledged the risk associated with increased trade with Chinese companies.

“It’s clear that this will be a delicate and sometimes difficult relationship to manage, with risks and opportunities that must be carefully weighed, as we heard from the earlier witnesses today,” she said, during testimony in front of the House of Commons committee on science and research on Thursday.

Michael Kovrig, a geopolitical advisor and former diplomat who was detained by the Chinese government for 1,000 days, said he views Canada’s new partnership with “deep concern.”

Kovrig said while he can appreciate the necessity to accelerate the green transition, provide cheaper options to consumers and hedge against an unreliable U.S. administration under U.S. President Donald Trump, he argued China is not the answer.

“Deeper economic entanglement with China is not a long-term route to achieving any of those goals,” he told the committee. “It’s a dead end.”

Kovrig took note of harmful environmental practices and human rights abuses that exist in the supply chains of Chinese EV companies.

Chinese EV company BYD has faced allegations of forced labour in the construction of its factories in both Brazil and Hungary.

A recent report by U.S.-based non-profit China Labor Watch, showed evidence of brutal labour conditions for Chinese migrant workers at its Szeged facility in Hungary.

Recently, Brazil also listed BYD on its registry of employers found to have subjected workers to slave labour conditions. The head of its labour inspection authority was then fired over the move. BYD has new electric vehicle factory at the Industrial Complex in Camacari, Brazil.

Last month during a testimony before a House of Commons committee, former senior bureaucrat Margaret McCuaig-Johnston cited a Human Rights Watch report that said aluminum used in dozens of parts in Chinese EVs are most likely the product of Uyghur forced labour.

BYD is looking at opening dealerships in the Greater Toronto Area.

In early April, China-based Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology Co. was in discussions with Stellantis over potentially building Chinese EVs at its idled plant in Brampton, Ont. The plan involved assembling “knock down” kits, where Chinese parts are shipped to Canada for final assembly by Canadian workers.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford called the plan “unacceptable,” and Industry Minister Melanie Joly outright rejected the plan, noting that any plant production must support the local supply chain.

There has also been concerns raised about the software on the Chinese EVs, which could pose risks to Canada’s data privacy. Joly has said any Chinese EVs sold in Canada will need to have Canadian tech.

When asked if the Chinese state would be able to access Canadian data through Chinese EV software, Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne said it’s a “possibility,” as was the case when he investigated Tiktok, which is owned by China-based ByteDance.

Increased trade with Chinese companies will pose challenges to Canada’s new diplomatic relationship with China, said Vina Nadjibulla, vice president of research and strategy at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.

“I think there are a number of concerns when it comes to this expansion of Chinese companies and their presence in Canadian market,” she said. “And human rights is one element of it, but economic security and national security concerns must also be considered.”

Former ambassador to China Guy Saint-Jacques said Canada’s policy on Chinese EVs should not have been so closely aligned to that of the United States. In 2024, former finance minister Chrystia Freeland announced a 100 per-cent tariff on Canadian EVs in line with the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden.

Saint-Jacques said Canada should set its own rules with Chinese EV makers.

“We should welcome Chinese car manufacturers but set the rules similarly to what GM Canada had to do when it went to Shanghai in 2009,” he told the committee. “We should say, you are welcome to come to Canada, but you will have, after three years, to have about 30 per cent of Canadian content, and after 10 years, it has to be 100 per cent content.”

During Thursday’s committee, Liberal MP Taleeb Noormohamed asked Kovrig whether Europe has struck “the right balance” as BYD electric vehicles have become an important part of the European car market while also maintaining their own domestic car manufacturing.

“There is no balance,” said Kovrig. “I think they are in a long term structural industrial decline.”

“How has Europe managed this, badly and inadequately so far,” he added. “Their duties and their quotas are not going to be strong enough, and their industrial bases are going to be hollowed out.”

Forced labour in supply chains is likely to become a trade issue after U.S. United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer launched investigations into 60 economies under Section 301(b) of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974, including Canada’s, to determine whether they have failed to impose or enforce bans on imports produced with forced labour.

Carney said there exists legislation in Canada that is designed to force companies to report on their supply chains and combat forced labour elements in the Canadian supply chain.

But critics have questioned the quality of enforcement. Since 2021, it has been reported that the Canada Border Services Agency has stopped just two shipments that contained forced labour, both originating from China.

“The legislation is world class; the enforcement of the legislation is possibly less than world class,” said former Liberal MP John McKay, during a press conference on Parliament Hill alongside academics on Tuesday.

Ultimately, Nadjibulla said as Canada embarks on this new partnership with China, it will need to ensure that principled pragmatism does not result in quite accommodation.

“In the last five years, the government has developed a number of tools to protect Canadian economic interests,” she said, citing the Investment Canada Act which has blocked Chinese companies from gaining access to strategic resources, but also research protection provisions.

“We need to make sure that we’re fully applying them, even as we are now trying to stabilize relations with China.”

National Post

• Carney says Liberal MP Michael Ma remains in caucus after comments on China’s forced labour
• What to know about the rise of Chinese EVs as Canada opens the way for imports

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This time 14 months ago, even with his tenure as prime minister near its end, an embattled Justin Trudeau was still butting heads with Donald Trump over Canada’s sovereignty.

Nowadays, however, the 54-year-old spends his days skiing with Prince Harry, posing for selfies with his 21st-century pop icon sweetheart Katy Perry, or vibing in the front row at Justin Bieber’s Coachella comeback.

That’s precisely where Trudeau was this Saturday night, accompanied by Perry, who shared a carousel of videos and photos from the California music festival on Instagram. Among them was a snap of the two seated on a curb with red solo cups while Trudeau, dressed in blue jeans, a white T-shirt and a backwards ball cap, eats from a takeout box.

In a selfie-video of the two embracing and swaying to Bieber’s Speed Demon, she moves the camera directly in front of his face, prompting Trudeau to briefly gaze into the camera.

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On TikTok, she posted a clip of herself fan-girling as Bieber was about to perform Baby, one of his earliest hits.

Meanwhile, back in Canada, many of his former colleagues likely lingered in Trudeau’s hometown of Montreal after the Liberals’ federal convention concluded on Saturday.

It was the first such convention without him in attendance in almost 20 years, but the former party leader did record a video message that was played for delegates on Friday evening.

“Welcome to my home, my dear friends,” Trudeau said in French, adding regrets that he can’t be there in person, presumably because he knew he’d be at Coachella.

“Not only is this one of the biggest gatherings in the history of the Liberal party, the majority of you are at a convention for the very first time. Take it from me — the first convention is in Montreal? You totally lucked out.”

Trudeau, of course, spent much of his youth in the city and was the MP for its Papineau riding from 2008 until last year’s federal election after ceding power to Prime Minister Mark Carney.

In his brief address, he said the world, now more than ever, needs Canada’s celebration of diversity, its defence of democracy, its mission to create positive change and global leadership and encouraged attendees to “keep thinking big.”

“I am really excited to see what you can all accomplish under Mark’s leadership this weekend and for the years to come,” he said.

“Remember, the Canada we’ve built together didn’t happen by accident and won’t continue without effort. It takes hope and hard work. But we’re Liberals — We got this.”

Justin Trudeau appears at the Liberal Party convention via video: "I am really excited to see what you can all accomplish under Mark's leadership this weekend, and for the years to come." pic.twitter.com/uhv7oOPCUz

— Scott Robertson (@sarobertsonca) April 9, 2026

After living in Ottawa for his time as PM, Trudeau announced that he would move back to Montreal and it was reported in February that he’d purchased a residence on the northern flank of Mount Royal for $4.26 million.

At the time, the sales deed indicated he had yet to move into the 1930s, two-storey single-family home with nearly 5,000 square feet of floor space, and it remains unclear if he’s done so since.

It was also reported that real estate documents indicated Trudeau and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau are still working on the terms of their divorce, a process that’s been underway since they announced their separation after 18 years of marriage in 2023. They continue to co-parent their three children — Xavier, 18, Ella-Grace, 16, and Hadrien, 11.

Grégoire Trudeau was later confirmed to be romantically involved with Ottawa pediatric surgeon Dr. Marcos Bettolli, possibly since before her separation became public, but she highlighted her “midlife singlehood” in a newsletter to fans and followers in February

As for her ex, it’s not clear precisely how long Trudeau has been off the dating market. His relationship with Perry, rumoured and fuelled by repeated sightings throughout last summer and fall, wasn’t officially confirmed until early December.

Their first high-profile public appearance came about a month later when Perry accompanied Trudeau to Davos, Switzerland, where he spoke on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual summit.

He even worked his new girlfriend into his keynote address on soft power in relation to standing up to U.S. tariffs.

“Last summer, I went on a date with an American girl on a rooftop bar in Montreal and when she ordered Jack and Coke, the server kindly informed her that there is no more American alcohol in the bar and anywhere in Montreal,” he recounted of their widely reported first date in July that included drinks at Taverne Atlantic’s terrace.

“That’s an example of Canadians standing up for themselves. That’s an example of soft power.”

Their budding romance has also been documented on Perry’s Instagram account, where Trudeau has shown up swimming, dining and snowboarding.

Just recently, Perry shared an image of herself and Trudeau with U.S.-Chinese Olympic gold medal-winning skier Eileen Gu, who also shared an image of herself with Canada’s 23rd prime minister and Prince Harry on a ski lift.

Perry doesn’t appear in any images shared to Trudeau’s public social media channels, and he has rarely addressed their relationship publicly.

In March, his older brother Alexandre said Trudeau was “super happy” enjoying the freedoms of post-prime ministerial life and was “falling in love” with Perry.

“I did meet Katy,” he told The Canadian Press at the time. “When they became serious, I was thrilled that he thought it important for her to meet his family. So we were all happy to meet her.”

Trudeau’s oldest son, Xav, has had nothing but nice things to say about his father’s new girlfriend and the guidance she’s offered in support of his fledgling musical career.

“She’s cool, she’s nice,” he said in a February video shared by Canadian content creator drhobs.

“We talked for hours, talking about music. Advice and these next steps for me and stuff.”

And just last week, on the Can’t Be Censored podcast, he told hosts Travis Dhanraj and Karman Wong that the Grammy-nominated pop star continues to provide feedback on some of his music.

“She’s super down to earth. She’s great. And I think that my dad’s happy, so that’s important,” he said.

Asked if he’s bothered by seeing photos of them together, Xav said it’s just part of his “crazy” life.

“It’s my life,” he explained, “What can I do? What can I change?”

Based on his Instagram stories on Monday, the younger Trudeau was also at Coachella this weekend, but it’s not clear if he was there at the same time as his father.

• In Davos, Justin Trudeau argues for more of Canada's 'soft power' as Katy Perry watches
• Justin Trudeau's life after politics: Shopping at Canadian Tire, dating Katy Perry... and those sneakers

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OTTAWA — Liberal MPs were living in the moment on Wednesday, as they lined up to offer thunderous applause to the party’s newest MPs as they arrived for a caucus meeting.

Conservatives, on the other hand, had their attention focused far into the future, playing the “long game,” and emphasizing the party’s unity behind leader Pierre Poilievre.

Both caucuses met on Parliament Hill for the first time since Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government saw its status elevated to majority thanks to three byelection wins on Monday — but it was only made possible by five MPs who had previously crossed the floor, leaving them one seat shy of hitting that 172-seat threshold before Monday’s votes were even cast that led them to reach 174.

Four of those came from the Conservatives, including last week when southwestern Ontario MP Marilyn Gladu stunned many by defecting to the Liberals after spending her recent years in Parliament espousing right-wing and social conservative positions on issues like COVID-19 and the Liberals’ latest anti-hate bill. Carney has since said she will vote with the government in Parliament.

Gladu’s exit, coupled with Carney clinching his majority government which allows him to govern until 2029, has raised fresh questions about Poilievre’s handle on his caucus and his future as party leader. But heading into Wednesday’s meeting, the first time Conservative MPs have met behind closed-doors since those two events happened, none were showing signs suggesting any of his 140-member caucus were prepared to air their grievances, at least publicly.

For his part, Poilievre has vowed in the wake of Carney’s new majority to lead the party into the next election.

Ontario MP Andrew Lawton, one of many new MPs Poilievre added to his caucus during the last election, pointed to the leader’s record of winning overwhelming support from party delegates during his January leadership review and his recent attempts to broaden his appeal, speaking to more podcasts and travelling both to the U.S. and Europe, his first international trips since becoming party leader back in 2022.

“I think this is a long game that we’re playing,” Lawton said. “We’re prepared to do that work, but I absolutely stand behind Pierre Poilievre as our leader.”

Successive public opinion polls suggest the Liberals under Carney to be enjoying a double-digit lead over Poilievre’s Conservatives, including in must-win regions for any party like Ontario.

A Postmedia-Leger poll released on April 1 suggests that 48 per cent of decided voters say they would support Carney’s Liberals, well ahead of the 34 per cent who say they would cast a ballot for the Conservatives, with only six per cent picking the New Democrats. Nearly 60 per cent of respondents surveyed also suggested they were satisfied with Carney’s job performance to date as prime minister, including on the international stage.

The Conservatives also saw their share of the vote drop in Monday’s three byelections since voters last cast a ballot in those same ridings in last April’s election. Melissa Lantsman, one of the Conservatives’ deputy leaders who represents the Greater Toronto Area riding of Thornhill, said those were previously Liberal-held seats.

“Caucus is united and united behind a leader that has a vision,” she said.

Later on Wednesday, the party sent a fundraising email signed by Lantsman encouraging supporters to not give up in the face of a Carney majority government.

“You voted. You made your voice heard. And now, behind closed doors, politicians who decided their ambition mattered more than your choice traded your vote away like a bargaining chip,” she wrote.

Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney, who previously served with Poilievre in the country’s last Conservative government under Stephen Harper, took to social media to defend his leadership.

He posted that while he himself has been at times been critical of Poilievre, “including the admittedly difficult problem of how to deal with the destabilizing threats and uncertainty emanating from Donald Trump,” Kenney says he has been heartened to see changes from the Conservative leader in terms of taking international trips and broadening his communications approach.

“There is no doubt in my mind that he has the confidence of the Conservative Party, and has won the right to contest the next election,” Kenney wrote.

Kenney sits as a member on Postmedia’s board.

He also challenged the calls he says were coming from a “small number of Conservatives” expressing their doubts.

“I ask them how the party benefits from the constant internal strife of changing leaders? What message would it send to Canadians to have a seventh leaders (including interims) since 2015?”

Alberta MP John Barlow offered an optimistic assessment on how the party might look to boost its rank in public opinion on Wednesday. “We’ll get there.”

Another Alberta MP answered more bluntly. “More votes,” said David Bexte.

Carol Anstey, one of the party’s MPs from Newfoundland and Roman Baber, representing the Toronto riding of York Centre, both of which the Conservatives flipped from the Liberals last year, appeared before reporters to express their belief in Poilievre’s continued leadership.

“I don’t care for a handful of MPs who forgot who they represent. Mark Carney’s policies are destroying Canada faster than (Justin) Trudeau’s. Pierre Poilievre and our Conservative colleagues are the last hope to save our country. That’s where we were united behind Pierre Poilievre to lead us into the next election,” Baber said in a brief statement to reporters.

Anstey, who represents the riding of Long Range Mountains, told reporters she believed Poilievre to have the “confidence of caucus,” adding she made history as the first Conservative woman elected in the province in a riding she managed to flip, a feat she credited to Poilievre’s leadership.

As for Carney, he appeared on Wednesday with the Liberals’ three newest MPs fresh off their byelection wins: Danielle Martin in University—Rosedale, Doly Begum in  Scarborough  Southwest and Tatiana Auguste from Terrebonne, who was returning to Parliament after winning the seat a second time from the Bloc Quebecois, following the Supreme Court overturning last year’s razor-thin election result. 

The trio were greeted with cheers and applause by Liberal MPs and cabinet ministers who awaited their arrival before the cameras.

Before they entered, they appeared alongside the prime minister who boasted that the Liberals’ three newest female MPs plus Gladu’s joining of the caucus meant the number of women on the government side in the House of Commons had grown to 71.

“Canadians have placed their trust in the government’s plan,” Carney said. “We now have reinforcements to help implement that, and we’re going to go straight to work.”

National Post

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OTTAWA — Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said that Canada “certainly won’t be the source of any delays” for the review of Canada’s trade deal with the United States, despite warnings from the U.S. trade representative that it might not meet the deadline.

LeBlanc said that proposals and talks with the U.S. have been constructive and at this point, it is a waiting game for Canada.

The Canada-United States-Mexica Agreement (CUSMA) requires a joint review starting on July 1, as prescribed when it was created, however, there is no “drop dead date,” LeBlanc said following a committee meeting on Parliament Hill on Thursday.

When asked by Conservative MP Jason Groleau about when trade negotiations will be resolved, he said he can’t give an exact timeline but remains optimistic that Canada’s resources will always be in demand from the country’s trade partners.

LeBlanc also said he has no intention to disrupt supply management when reviewing the agreement.

The government wants to resolve trade tensions with the Trump administration through a full agreement. “We are not prepared to deal with these things as a one-off,” LeBlanc said.

During a discussion at the Hudson Institute last week, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said it was unlikely that the U.S. would resolve its issues with Canada ahead of the July 1 deadline, when the review is scheduled to start, but that “we are on track to resolve many of them and to move as quickly as we can.” The deadline is when the United States must let Canada and Mexico know if it wants a negotiation or to reopen trade deals, but Greer also must advise Congress by June on whether to extend CUSMA or pursue change in the arrangement.

If there is no agreement between the three parties about this year’s review, then the agreement will continue for another ten years with annual reviews.

National Post

• Canada should expect 'hostility' with U.S. trade talks less than three months away, trade analysts say
• How Trump-inspired CUSMA compliance levels could become a trap

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Something happened around 4,000 years ago in West Eurasia that made red-haired people more common.

But not just redheads. New research shows genetic variants linked to celiac disease, schizophrenia, light skin, a lower chance of male pattern baldness, and B blood type all arose and caught on quickly among prehistoric humans because they gave some sort of evolutionary advantage. Genes relating to body fat and cognitive performance, and resistance to various diseases such as leprosy also saw major spikes in frequency around this time, and made those who had them more likely to pass their genes on to descendants.

Other genetic variants relating to tuberculosis, arthritis and multiple sclerosis saw rapid decreases in frequency.

It seems to have had something to do with the development of agriculture in this geographical area, roughly Europe and the Middle East, and with the changing evolutionary pressures that farming brought about, including changing diet and exposure to new diseases.

The new research, published Wednesday, shows for the first time that hundreds of these rapid evolutionary adaptations in humans have occurred in just the past 10,000 years, far more than previously thought, and much more recently. Fewer than two dozen had previously been identified, the best known being a tolerance for lactose after infancy that evolved in European populations.

The new study, by lead author Ali Akbari, a computational geneticist in the Harvard University lab run by co-author David Reich, is the largest of its kind in the newish field of ancient human genetics.

It shows changes that happened for the first time among those West Eurasian human populations have major relevance to the health of modern day human populations all over the world, and it suggests human genetic evolution is not fixed in time but is in fact accelerating, the authors say.

The majority of the newly discovered adaptations are related to disease risk, although it remains uncertain why each gene gave people an evolutionary advantage in the past.

In a statement, Reich said this research “allows us to assign place and time to forces that shaped us.”

DNA sequencing technology has in recent years allowed scientists to see more deeply into the finds of archeologists, and to track single genes as their prevalence rises and falls in various prehistorical populations whose members today are physically reduced to a few shards of teeth or bone.

So, instead of looking in present-day human DNA for clues about how it evolved, or what Akbari calls “the scars of natural selection” that are visible on the modern human genome, this research shows they can instead track that selection over time.

“Rather than being trapped in the present and studying the scars left by selection on the genomes of descendants, ancient DNA makes it possible to test directly whether frequencies of variants shifted more than could be expected by chance,” reads the paper in the journal Nature .

What they are looking for is known as directional selection, when a certain gene gives such a strong evolutionary fitness advantage that its frequency spikes in a population.

In the paper, geneticists call these “classic hard sweeps driving advantageous mutations to fixation.”

They have so far been thought to be rare over the full history of human evolution, going back more than 200,000 years to precursor populations in Africa.

The classic example of this is lactose tolerance in adulthood, which is thought to have evolved to be common among Europeans in response to stresses such as famine in just the past few millennia. This new work suggests these strong “sweeps” of directional selection are not so rare, but actually pretty common.

A major conclusion of the paper is that there have in fact been almost 500 of them in just the past 10,000 years.

Other things can change the frequency of genes and thereby masquerade as directional selection in this kind of study, however, such as migration or a change in population structure.

And some traits, such as red hair, might also piggyback on other traits and get carried along into descendant populations without actually being the effective cause of increased evolutionary fitness.

Some of the genes that underwent directional selection are related to body fat levels or cognitive performance, or even susceptibility to tobacco use, but these effects were measured in industrialized societies, not in prehistoric populations. So, Akbari writes, it remains unclear how these effects relate to traits that gave humans an evolutionary advantage in prehistoric West Eurasia.

In order to better identify actual directional selection, Akbari and colleagues compiled a collection of 16,000 samples of ancient human DNA, 10,000 of which were newly sequenced genetically, and the rest had previously been published.

They then devised a method to analyze these samples and to identify alleles — genetic variants — that are statistical outliers, appearing with greater or lesser frequency in populations at different prehistorical times.

This involved computational strategies known as “data cleaning.” This strategy also allowed them to calculate an overall rate at which selection for these variant genes occurred, and thus to conclude human evolution accelerated after the introduction of agriculture.

National Post

• Hair colour: Maybe we're born with it. Maybe it's a melanin gene
• Ancient courtship: DNA reveals how Stone Age women left home for love

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OTTAWA — One month after Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to India to renew diplomatic ties, Canadian police warned yet another Sikh and pro-Khalistan activist of a threat to his life.

In an interview, Sikh Canadian Narinder Singh Randhawa told National Post he was informed on April 11 by Surrey police of an “immediate threat” to his life.

Randhawa is a longtime activist for the establishment of an independent Khalistan within India and a fierce critic of the Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He has worked to organize two Khalistan referendums in recent years.

In the interview and a statement, Randhawa said police said during the “duty to warn” notification that they could not tell him who was behind the threat. But he believes it comes from agents of the government of India who are opposed to his activism.

“That I am facing a threat to my life due to my active participation in pro-Khalistan activism, protests in front of the Indian Consulate in Vancouver, and for seeking prosecution of Indian officials, including the then Indian diplomats, for their role in the assassination of Shaheed Hardeep Singh Nijjar,” he said in a statement distributed by Sikhs For Justice.

Randhawa told National Post that despite the threat to his life, he would not stop his pro-Khalistan activities nor his regular protests in front of the Indian consulate in B.C. He noted that police have been following him around lately when he travels during the day.

“I’m feeling good. I will continue my campaign. So, India tried to threaten me to stop my voice, so I will continue to do my protests,” he told National Post. This is the first time he has been warned by police of threats to his life.

National Post obtained a recording of one of Randhawa’s calls with police to confirm he received the duty to warn advisory. In a statement, Surrey Police Sergeant Tige Pollock declined to comment, stating that “Duty to Warns are private information.”

Randhawa also said he frequently receives death threats on social media due to his activism.

Randhawa said he was a close friend of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Canadian-Sikh pro-Khalistan activist who was assassinated in front of his B.C. gurdwara in 2023.

Months after Nijjar’s murder, then prime minister Justin Trudeau announced in Parliament that the government had credible intelligence linking Indian government agents to the assassination.

Since then, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has repeatedly warned that India is one of the main proponents of transnational repression and foreign interference on Canadian soil.

The duty to warn to Randhawa comes just weeks after Carney travelled to India to reset diplomatic and trade ties with Modi’s government.

Weeks before Carney’s trip, Global News reported that another pro-Khalistan activist Moninder Singh, head of the Sikh Federation of Canada, received a similar warning from police of a credible threat to his life.

During the trip to India, Carney’s cabinet was forced to slowly backpedal controversial comments from a senior government official days before the meeting telling reporters that the government did not believe the Indian government was still linked to violent crimes in Canada.

“I would not use those words,” Carney eventually told reporters while arguing that Canada and India have made “progress” in their trade and security relationship.

At the same time, CSIS spokesperson Eric Balsam told National Post that its assessment that India was among the top committers of foreign interference and transnational repression in Canada had not changed.

The Indian government has staunchly denied any involvement in transnational repression towards Canadians. It also has designated many pro-Khalistan activists as “terrorists” and called on the Canadian government to either charge them or extradite them to India, which Canada has refused to do.

During Carney’s trip to India, the country’s high commissioner to Canada Dinesh Patnaik insisted that his government had never been involved violent activity against Canadian Sikhs.

“It never happened,” he told reporters from India. “It’s a problem Canada has to resolve itself.”

The Indian high commission in Ottawa did not reply to a request for comment on the threat to Randhawa by deadline on Thursday.

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cnardi@postmedia.com

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Amid rising airfares, global political unrest and strained relations with America, Canadians continue to seek out sunny destinations, especially in the cold months of winter. And Cayman Islands is the latest destination to report record numbers of visitors from our country.

The self-governing British Overseas Territory, situated between Jamaica and Cuba in the western Caribbean, finished last year with record-breaking numbers of Canadian tourists, with a total of 32,206 stay-over visitors.

Canada became the first country to surpass pre-pandemic numbers of visitors, with growth of 7.1 per cent year over year, and monthly visitation records in March, July, September, November and December.

This came as Canadian visits to the United States declined sharply, falling 22 per cent in the first half of 2025 over the previous year, according to Statistics Canada .

And while our country remains far behind the United States — 82.2 per cent of visitors to Cayman Islands in 2025 came from south of the border — it easily ranked above third-place Britain, with 3.1 per cent or just over 14,000 visitors.

The current year got off to an even stronger start for the island territory, with February seeing 49,075 stay-over visitors, a 10.1 per cent increase year over year and the second-highest February total on record.

Canada drove that month’s growth with 6,102 Canadian visitors, a whopping 47 per cent increase year over year and the islands’ highest number of Canadian visitors for any month ever.

Add in cruise ships and Cayman Islands saw 208,992 visitors that month, two and half times its own population of about 89,000.

Not every Caribbean destination was so well attended. Jamaica, Barbados, Saint Lucia, Dominica, Anguilla, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Bonaire and Antigua and Barbuda all recorded declines in Canadian traffic in 2025, attributed to “rising costs, changing vacation habits, and competition from other regions.”

Cayman Islands’ fortunes were largely driven by increased air service. In December, Porter Airlines started offering five flights a week from Toronto and Ottawa to Owen Roberts International Airport on Grand Cayman near the capital of George Town.

“Grand Cayman is the fifth sun vacation market that Porter is launching this winter from both Toronto Pearson and Ottawa,” said Andrew Pierce, the airline’s vice president, network planning and reporting, at the time. “Canadians’ travel interest in the Caribbean is steadily growing and now they can easily access the Cayman Islands from two prominent hubs in our network.”

Air Canada, WestJet and Air Transat also offer service to Cayman Islands, with the website caymancompass.com reporting that capacity from Canada is up 28 per cent year over year.

Marketing is another factor. Last November, Cayman Islands had a week-long broadcast partnership with media giant Rogers, putting the destination in front of more than a million viewers of morning show Breakfast Television.

Cayman Islands Department of Tourism also announced last month a partnership with Canada’s M5 agency to support media planning and position it the destination as a premium travel option in the Canadian market.

“By partnering with an agency that brings deep insight into Canadian travellers and proven expertise in destination marketing, we are strengthening our ability to attract high-value visitors, support airlift, and drive sustainable growth for the Cayman Islands tourism industry,” Gary Rutty, minister for tourism and trade development, said in a press release.

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In an incident reminiscent of the crash at LaGuardia Airport last month that killed two Air Canada pilots, an American Airlines pilot had to slam on his jet’s brakes to avoid hitting an operations truck while taxiing at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina on Wednesday morning.

In audio captured by ATC.com and obtained by several news organizations , the pilot of American Airlines flight 1197 from Charlotte to Washington D.C. can be heard talking to air traffic control shortly before takeoff.

“So that white-black truck, they just went right in front of us, and we nearly hit them,” the pilot says. “I had to slam on our brakes. We had our taxi light on, we’d started moving. They need to be … someone’s got to be notified right away. That was really bad.”

Air traffic control replies that he’ll “run the camera back” to identify the vehicle and asks which way it was travelling. “It was a white and black pick-up truck?” he asks.

The pilot replies: “White and black, yeah, I think it was Ops (operations).” He repeats: “Yeah, that was really bad.”

Video obtained by National Post shows the aircraft, an Airbus A319, starting to roll forward from a stop on the tarmac when two vehicles, the lead a black-and-white truck with flashing lights, drive in front of it. A third vehicle stops before crossing its path.

The plane is moving very slowly, but can still be seen rocking as the brakes are applied and it stops suddenly. About a minute later, the plane starts moving forward again, and the third vehicle makes a turn to avoid crossing its path. The flight occurred without further incident.

In a statement to National Post, an American Airlines spokesperson said: “Ground safety procedures require vehicles yield to aircraft at all times, particularly in active ramp and alleyway environments where visibility can be limited.”

They added: “In this case, two vehicles associated with Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) did not yield to our aircraft taxiing from an alleyway, but our vigilant and professional crew took immediate action. We appreciate that CLT Airport will be reviewing this.”

American Airlines also pointed out that aircraft cockpit windows have a limited viewing area, and that it can be hard to see vehicles and pedestrians, particularly behind the wings or under the nose.

“Always yield the right-of-way to moving aircraft,” they added. “Do not assume the pilot will see you, especially in busy areas like aprons/ramps where pilots are busy with preflight checks.”

The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed it is investigating the information and told National Post: “The CLT event occurred in an area of the airport that air traffic does not control.”

Charlotte Douglas International Airport told National Post in an email that it was aware of the incident and added that it took place in the gate area adjacent to the terminal.

“This was not a collision and did not occur on a taxiway or runway,” it added. “No injuries or property damage were reported, and there were no impacts to airport operations. Emergency services were neither requested nor dispatched.”

It said the incident was being reviewed in accordance with established safety standards.

Last month, an Air Canada flight from Montreal collided with a fire truck that had driven into its path on the runway at LaGuardia Airport in New York. In addition to the deaths of the two pilots, there were numerous injuries among the crew and passengers.

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Canadian travellers will continue to face travel challenges such as increased fares and cancelled overseas flights as the world copes with the disruptions caused by Iran’s blockade of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

Even if the war comes to a close with a negotiated settlement this weekend , the experts say the oil shortage shock will reverberate for months while supply chains restart and destroyed oil infrastructure is repaired.

For Canada, however, the challenge won’t be supply. Foremost, it will be price. “A return trip between Montreal and Toronto has jumped from $700 to $1,000. A 45-minute flight,” John Gradek, an aviation industry specialist and lecturer at McGill University in Montreal told National Post on Friday.

Dan McTeague, a gas prices analyst and president of Canadians for Affordable Energy , told the Post on Friday that he has  “never seen a month like this. Not in my time, compared to any other energy crisis we’ve seen in the past.”

The increase in “pricing is reflecting the massive shortfall that we have in jet fuel,” he says. He’s hoping “there will be some kind of resolution this weekend, but I think we’re a little beyond the point of no return.”

Here in Canada, says Gradek, we refine about 85 per cent of the oil we use. “We have seven refineries. Only about 15 per cent of our oil comes through the east coast from the U.S., as well as Rotterdam and Trinidad.”

However, with twenty per cent of the world’s fuel stuck behind the Strait of Hormuz, he says, the worldwide fuel shortage is already driving up prices, as high as $200 a barrel. That will drive up costs.

But it will soon be more about availability, than ability to pay.

As fuel shortages hit airports in Europe and Asia, he says Canadian airlines will struggle to refuel and return. He predicts increasing flight cancellations.

Canadian airlines, especially international carriers such as Air Canada, WestJet and Air Transat will soon have to contend with shortages in European and Asian airports, Gradek says.

“The availability of fuel in Europe is going to be a big issue,” he says, specifically for return flights. “It’s not what you can pay. You’re not going to be able to buy,” says Gradek.

He points to one example in northern Italy, BP Italia . “The company has already declared a fuel shortage. It has told airlines that for flights operating under three hours from Milan, there won’t be enough fuel. Those flights will be cancelled.”

He predicts the airports in London, Heathrow and Gatwick, will be next. Last month, the Financial Times reported that President Donald Trump telling the U.K and European allies who haven’t been supportive of the U.S. war on Iran to “go get (their) own oil” and buy more jet fuel from the U.S.

Asia may be worse off, according to Gradek. “They are days away from running out of imported fuel. Viet Nam Airways has parked 20 per cent of its fleet. The country is rationing fuel.”

The crisis in Asia derives from countries in that continent getting all their jet fuel from the Middle East. But, says Gradek, “the last tanker from the Strait of Hormuz (bound for Asia) left on Feb. 26. It’s a seven-week journey and will arrive in early April. When it runs out, that will be it.”

Jet fuel is produced in the in the Middle East, says McTeague. He points to Qatar, which “has the single largest facility in the world, and it’s been offline now, five weeks. It’s a declared force majure after drone strikes affected its production. So, this is kind of a long wave. We won’t just be talking higher prices. Around the world, the real issue is a supply shock. Supply shocks aren’t like demand shocks, you know. Demand came back after COVID. Everything was fine.”

With tankers taking several weeks to reach their destinations and oil infrastructure destroyed by the war, says McTeague, “’normal’ cannot be rectified for several months, and it’s in that context that I’m not surprised to see jet fuel being rationed. We know in other countries around the world, other petroleum products are being rationed as well.

“We were told this is just an ‘excursion’ of a couple weeks and be over. It’s now a couple of months, or getting into the second month, and there doesn’t appear to be any sign, at least until this weekend, of its ending. But the damage is literally done, and markets are going to reflect that going forward.”

Like Gradek, he expects the impact on Canadian airlines and their passengers to go beyond the recently announced surcharges. “I would expect that for Canadians, more than the inconvenience of fuel surcharges, longer distance destinations outside of North America, may be a little bit more challenging, if not impossible.”

McTeague takes a strong stance about Canada providing oil to the world in the kind of scenario the world is facing. “We have one of the largest supplies of these resources that the world desperately needs today.”

However, he says, “Canada can’t furnish it… Not without demanding that any pipeline be decarbonized. No other nation in the world would be that insane to make that kind of suggestion about its resources. But it gets a pass here in Canada.”

He realizes that may not be a popular opinion in Canada but notes he was a Liberal MP for 18 years. Now he questions the true cost of pursuing the net-zero policy when when affordability is such a prevalent issue, rather than “worrying about changes in the weather.”

Meanwhile, like Gradek, he expects European airlines to seek out Canadian jet fuel.

“You’ve got a huge lineup of people that want to buy from North America … I’m flying from Frankfurt, Germany to Toronto. I left this morning. I come here tonight, rather than worrying about not being able to get fuel in Germany. I’m going to be able to get it in Canada. And some of those planes can take a lot more than what they need to make a one-way flight so they might get enough for at least a flight and a half.”

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A longtime BBC radio presenter who died in Vancouver last summer after a car crash succumbed to peritonitis, an infection from abdominal injuries she suffered in the crash, a British coroner has determined.

Lynda Shahwan, 53, was on holiday in Canada last July with her husband and two sons when their car was involved in a collision and overturned, British media reported at the time.

Shahwan, who was a passenger in the vehicle, was taken to Lions Gate Hospital in Vancouver after the July 15 crash and treated for a fractured rib, abdominal bruising and pneumothorax (a collapsed lung), the Liverpool Echo reported.

She was discharged the following day but was not fit to fly due to abdominal bruising. Her family flew home on July 18, while Shahwan stayed behind and planned to continue her recovery in Vancouver.

However, her family was unable to reach her the next day and called Canadian authorities, who found her body in the holiday apartment where she was staying.

An inquest began this week at the Coroner’s Court in Pontypridd, Wales. Shahwan had lived in nearby Cardiff and had worked for BBC Radio Wales for more than 25 years.

According to news reports, Coroner Graeme Hughes declared that: “Post-mortem examination determined that she had developed an infection in her abdomen (peritonitis) , likely a consequence of injuries sustained in the collision.”

Peritonitis is a serious condition that happens when the thin layer of tissue inside the abdomen, called the peritoneum, becomes inflamed. It can be treated by antibiotics but may also require surgery. Without treatment, peritonitis can lead to a serious infection that spreads through the body. It can also lead to death.

Hughes concluded the death arose from “infective complications of injuries sustained as a consequence of a road traffic collision.”

A veteran journalist, Shahwan had co-hosted a popular gardening podcast called Plotcast , alongside Terry Walton.

“My last two years of working with Lynda on the Plotcast were the most fulfilling and cherished broadcasting I have done,” Walton said at the time . “Our chemistry and her creative talent made every episode a gem of gardening knowledge. Such fun whilst still being very informative.”

He added: “Her professionalism and easy going manner made every recording a pleasure and brought the best out of us both. We became true friends and after recording we would both relax and discuss many aspects of life.”

Carolyn Hitt, head of BBC Radio Wales, called Shahwan: “a very special person.”

“Since she began her career with Radio Wales in 1999 she made a brilliant impact on the station, on and off air, working across almost all of our output,” Hitt said. “For several years, Lynda was Roy Noble’s fellow presenter on his morning show, where he affectionately christened her ‘The Lily from Caerphilly,'” a reference to the Welsh town where Shahwan was born in 1971.

Hitt added: “We are all devastated at Radio Wales at the sudden loss of our much-loved colleague and friend and our hearts go out to Lynda’s husband Sharif — who is also a much-loved colleague — their two sons and all their family and friends.”

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