Toronto MP Marco Mendicino, a former high-ranking cabinet minister in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government, says he will not run in the next federal election.
Mendicino says in a statement posted on social media that he has disagreed with the direction of the federal government, particularly when it comes to Canada's foreign policy on the Israel-Hamas war.
Please see my statement. pic.twitter.com/lFWsfavLzT
— Marco Mendicino (@marcomendicino) January 2, 2025
France hosted dozens of countries at the summit on Thursday, which it said had raised US$1 billion in pledges for Lebanon. A fifth of that is for the country's military while the rest is targeted at humanitarian aid.
The District of North Vancouver is getting ready for another bout of rain after an atmospheric river weather system drenched B.C.'s south coast last weekend, triggering a mudslide and localized flooding that killed at least three people. The North Shore mountains could see another 75 millimetres of rain this weekend, and Lisa Muri, a councillor with the district, says staff are preparing by cleaning up culverts and placing sandbags throughout the community.
Two Green Party legislators could hold the balance of power in British Columbia after Saturday's provincial election gave neither the NDP nor the B.C. Conservatives a majority of seats after the initial count. Both Green members are new to provincial politics, although leader Sonia Furstenau will continue to lead the party after she lost re-election when she switched ridings to Victoria-Beacon Hill.
Illicit drug deaths are down slightly in British Columbia from the same period last year, but the coroners service says females are dying at a much higher rate. The service says in a statement that 26 per cent of the 1,749 toxicity deaths so far this year were women or girls, and the rate of death among females is up 60 per cent from four years ago.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he has no intention of stepping down as the leader of the Liberal party by next week. A letter signed by two dozen Liberal MPs asking Trudeau to step down was presented to the prime minister Wednesday at a tense caucus meeting in Ottawa.
Leader Jagmeet Singh says his party will use its next opposition day to force the House of Commons to debate and vote on a motion that calls for urgent action to improve abortion access. Speaking in Montreal, Singh also called out the governing Liberals, saying they haven't done enough to improve abortion access in Canada.