Prime Minister Mark Carney says forced labour is a “global issue” and that “parts of China” are a higher risk for it, when asked whether he believes the practice is happening there.

The questions from reporters came as Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne is set to head to China this week, and after Liberal MP Michael Ma apologized last week for comments he made in committee to a witness that appeared to cast doubt on reported human rights abuses.

“I followed this issue over the years, in China and elsewhere, and there is evidence of child labour around the world. There’s existence, I should say, of child labour and forced labour around the world,” Carney said at a homebuilding announcement Monday.

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“We recognize that this is a global issue that we need to be vigilant on and not assume that … it’s not an issue in certain countries, including in certain developed countries,” he said.

“Yes, [it] would be part of the discussions as it is in other situations where we’re developing trade.”

1:14
Liberal MP Michael Ma apologizes after questioning forced labour claims in Xinjiang

Carney was pressed several times by reporters on the matter.

However, Carney stated that “there are parts of China that are higher risk and therefore need to be diligent.”

Earlier this year, United Nations experts said that “there is a persistent pattern of alleged State-imposed forced labour involving ethnic minorities across multiple provinces in China.”

“In many cases, the coercive elements are so severe that they may amount to forcible transfer and/or enslavement as a crime against humanity,” the special rapporteurs and independent experts said.

China has repeatedly rejected claims of forced labour.

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The Liberal government has dismissed a Toronto man’s proposal to keep politicians honest in an age of misinformation, saying there are already several ways to fight falsehoods.

Federico Sanchez initiated an electronic petition to the House of Commons to propose legislation that would help correct the record when members of Parliament stray from the truth intentionally or simply because they are ill-informed.

Sanchez said he was “very upset” by the lack of federal interest in his pitch.

“It made me feel like they didn’t take it seriously,” he said in an interview. “If they don’t think that there’s a problem, then I think we’re going to have a lot worse days ahead.”

The e-petition urged federal politicians to put forward a bill “to address the issue of perceived and actual misinformation being presented by MPs to the public.”

Sanchez, a physician, feared Canada could follow the path of the United States, where he saw an erosion of public trust due to the spread of political misinformation, amplified by artificial intelligence.

The petition called misinformation a growing threat to the democratic process and said a mechanism was needed to verify MPs’ public statements to maintain trust in Canada’s governing body.

5:40
Parliament Hill’s most tumultuous year in decades 

It suggested Canada emulate an approach floated in Wales in 2024. Under the model, if a court found a politician made a false or misleading statement of fact, it could issue a notice directing the individual to make a public correction.

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If the politician refused to comply with the notice within seven days, without a reasonable excuse, the court could issue an order preventing that politician from holding office in the Welsh Parliament for a set period of time.

A Canadian e-petition must have 500 or more signatures to receive certification for presentation to the House, which opens the door to a formal government response. Sanchez’s petition garnered almost 45,000 signatures from across Canada over a four-month period last year.

In a March 23 response, government House leader Steven MacKinnon said general elections are the “fundamental mechanism” by which voters hold elected representatives accountable.

Beyond elections, Canadians can make their voices heard in other ways, MacKinnon wrote.

Constituents can write to MPs directly on issues of concern or matters of interest, such as real or perceived misinformation, start or sign petitions and attend live parliamentary debates and proceedings, he said. “Committees also seek input from the public on many ongoing studies that are posted publicly.”

Parliament has a duty to hold the government to account, while the executive is responsible to Parliament and remains in power as long as it commands the confidence of the House, MacKinnon added. “Together they are ultimately accountable to electors.”

MacKinnon also noted the House has the right to discipline members who abuse or breach privileges, such as freedom of speech, and to find members in contempt of Parliament.

2:25
MacKinnon calls on Poilievre to work together with Liberals during ‘this very challenging time’

Sanchez characterized the federal suggestions for ensuring accuracy and truth in politics as glib, offhand and ultimately unworkable.

He said it is unrealistic for voters to wait years until a general election to hold politicians accountable for misstatements of fact.

When politicians lie without recourse, “you’re not making election decisions based on what’s actually happening,” he said. “It’s based on who lies the best.”

Sanchez also scoffed at MacKinnon’s suggestion that concerned voters could voice their concerns through a petition.

“Well, this is clearly what I’m doing,” he said. “But if you’re going to get a response like this for your petition, it really kind of makes me question whether petitions actually are taken seriously by Parliament at all.”

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Prairie Harm Reduction says it has had its exemption to operate Saskatoon’s supervised consumption site suspended, but said it’s working to have it reinstated.

The notice of the suspension comes just days after the organization fired their executive director following the discovery of a “significant financial shortfall.”

Kayla DeMong’s employment was terminated on March 24. Two days later, on March 26, PHR said it received notice of the suspension from Health Canada.

“This is unfortunate, but not unexpected,” PHR said in a news release.

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It did not say why Health Canada suspended the exemption, but said it is in close contact with the government agency and “actively working” to provide information that’s been requested so the suspension can be lifted.

The drop-in centre, also operated by PHR, remains open.

The organization announced on Sunday that Emmanuelle “Em” Morin will be taking on the role of transitional support specialist, providing support to PHR staff and the board and overseeing day-to-day operations.

PHR said in the release its board of directors is working with external financial experts to continue its “detailed review” of financial reporting and the organization’s financial status. A detailed preliminary report is expected in early April.

It previously said that while a probe into the shortfall was underway, it did not believe there was evidence of fraud, theft or personal misuse of funds.

5:02
Prairie Harm Reduction reacts to safe consumption site community meeting

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Air Canada has announced that CEO Michael Rousseau will retire by the end of this year’s third quarter on Monday morning.

The news comes after backlash from political leaders last week over Rousseau’s English-only video condolences after the deadly Air Canada crash at LaGuardia Airport that killed two of the airlines pilots, including one from Quebec.

“The Board has had a longstanding focus on CEO succession planning. Consistent with this priority, work has been underway for more than two years on a comprehensive internal development program for high potential executives,” Air Canada’s statement reads.

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“An external global search was also commenced in January 2026 to identify potential additional candidates with the skills, and experience to lead Canada’s national airline, proudly headquartered in Montréal, Québec.”

Rousseau has been the CEO of Air Canada since February 2021.

Prime Minister Mark Carney had criticized Rousseau’s English-only crash condolences last week, saying he was “very disappointed.”

“It doesn’t matter the circumstances but particularly in these circumstances: a lack of judgment and a lack of compassion,” Carney told reporters on Thursday morning, speaking first in French before repeating the criticisms in English.

“We live in a bilingual country. Companies like Air Canada, particularly, have a responsibility to always communicate in both official languages, regardless of the situation.”

More to come.

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NDP Leader Avi Lewis begins his term with the task of rebuilding the federal party in his unapologetically progressive vision, but there is already resistance from the leadership of the Alberta and Saskatchewan branches.

Lewis won a first-ballot victory with a platform built on bold ideas that he says meet the issues Canada is facing head-on. He won with about 56 per cent support, nearly doubling the vote count of runner-up Alberta member of Parliament Heather McPherson.

This includes ideas like publicly run grocery stores and telecom companies to deal with affordability and opposing new fossil fuel development to address climate change.

It’s this energy and environmental policy that sparked pushback from Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi and Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck. In separate statements after Lewis’s win, they said the federal position is out of touch with the reality of workers in those Prairie provinces.

Lewis is scheduled to hold his first media availability as leader Monday in Winnipeg.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said Sunday that disagreements are part of being a big tent and they are all united on core values.

Keira Gunn, the NDP’s new treasurer and a Calgary delegate, said that both provincial leaders are up against governments that like to link them to the federal NDP.

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Gunn said while she sees the comments from Nenshi and Beck as strategic moves, she’s disappointed in how they did it.

“It’s maybe a strategic choice to then try to distance yourself immediately from the federal party, and I think that that’s where the comments come from,” Gunn said Sunday.

“But I have concerns that they’re fairly divisive at a time when we really need to come together and support each other as parties that have progressive values. Yeah, I’m a bit disappointed.”

Gunn said that she’s seen the Lewis campaign bring many active young people to the party, and the Alberta and Saskatchewan branches should see that young people are excited by Lewis’s message.

One of those young people is 17-year-old Milo Clarke from Brampton, Ont. He volunteered on the Lewis campaign and said he was drawn in by Lewis’s ideas and the authenticity he brought to the message.

As Lewis takes the reins of the party, Clarke said that he wants to see the new leader get out to working-class communities and make direct connections as a first order of business.

“I think the first thing he needs to do is go to a lot of industrial working-class areas, like Hamilton, like London, like Windsor, like Port Moody, like Halifax, areas that have like a lot industry,” Clarke said Sunday as the convention closed.

“He needs go and talk to those people, define himself to them before he can be defined by people who are not acting in good faith.”

Another question Lewis is expected to face is about when he plans to try to win a seat in the House of Commons.

He’s previously said that he isn’t in a rush, and plans to start the building process with the grassroots and meeting people at “their house” instead of the House.

Kinew encouraged Lewis get a seat, but said it’s up to him on the right place and time.

Former Ontario NDP MP Matthew Green spent about six months last year travelling the country and meeting with grassroots party members. He said that Lewis’s priorities should be outside Ottawa because of the reduced visibility of the NDP in the House due to not having recognized party status.

“I spent six years where we did have those things, worked diligently as a parliamentarian on the Hill, spent hours and hours in debates, spent hours and hours in media scrums only to go back to my community. And have them have no idea what was happening in Ottawa,” Green said.

“What is required for us to come out of the wilderness is having a real and deep connection to our membership. And if we don’t have that, we’re in trouble.”

If Lewis does take his time in trying to win a seat in the House, it would not be the first time the NDP has had a leader begin their term outside parliament. Former leader Jagmeet Singh worked outside Ottawa as NDP leader for just over a year before winning a Vancouver-area byelection in 2019.

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Nearly 10 years after he began his hunt for a superbug known as C. difficile in Vancouver, Angus the English springer spaniel is giving his nose a rest as he retires from the job.

Angus was part of Vancouver General Hospital’s pilot project in 2015 to see if a dog could sniff out the dangerous bacterium, also known as Clostridium difficile. The superbug is most harmful among people whose immune systems have been weakened by antibiotics.

The dangerous microbe has been a concern for hospitals across North America and can cause infectious diarrhea in hospitals and long-term care facilities. Even with rigorous cleaning practices, it can still be hard to detect.

That’s where Angus came in, finding C. difficile in areas of the hospital that would otherwise go unnoticed by the naked eye. Angus found C. difficile in places like discarded pieces of furniture and outdated medical equipment.

He began training in February 2016 and started sniffing out infections a year later. He has since spent 85 per cent of his life serving B.C. and Canadian residents. He’s worked in 32 hospitals across Canada.

“He’s sniffed thousands of units and had just as many alerts, so that’s all potentials for saving people in those,” said Teresa Zurberg, Angus’ trainer.

“But as with people, eventually the body starts to slow down. The mind doesn’t, but the body is like, ‘I’m a little more tired this morning.’ So he was just telling us, ‘I’m still really good at this, but I’m not excellent at it like I was.’ So he’s going on to new adventures.”

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The retirement party on Sunday was organized by Zurburg, who also created Vancouver Coastal Health’s K9 Detection Program.

She said the dogs do routine screenings of units in health-care facilities and hospitals. They then raise an alert when they find “environmental reservoirs” of C. difficile. The area can then be cleaned with a UV light disinfecting robot to remove most of the superbug spores.

0:41
Dogs sniff out C. difficile

Prior to training Angus, Zurberg had herself been infected by the superbug after being treated for a gash on her leg in 2013. She said she knows the danger of the superbug all too well.

“I was already working as a canine handler for explosives and narcotics,” Zurberg said about how the program started. “It’s got an odour. I can train a dog to find it.”

Zurberg said Angus has turned his attention to sniffing out lost arrows in the bush at Semiahmoo Fish And Game Club in Surrey, B.C. She said some of the arrows cost $100, so being able to recover them is helpful.

The 13-year-old pup has also made many friends along the way, his trainer said; he’s met politicians like former B.C. premier John Horgan and various ministers of health, premiers and celebrities.

While Angus has retired from health services, Zurberg is hoping she can get him one more bit of recognition.

“I think Angus has done his dues, he’s been recognized internationally, he’s been given awards,” she said. “So I’d really like to be able to get him the Canadian service medal for what he’s done for people.”

She said nominations are currently only accepted for humans, but she’s hoping she can get government officials’ support to get the medal for Angus.

—with files from Global News Darragh MacGowan

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