Separatists in Alberta say recent developments that have put Prime Minister Mark Carney on the verge of a parliamentary majority are boosting their cause as they seek to gather public support to force a vote on independence from Canada.

Volunteer canvassers gathering signatures in the western province for a petition aimed ‌at triggering a citizen-led referendum on separation report an uptick in support since Marilyn Gladu, a long-time member of the right-leaning Conservatives, ⁠defected to the ruling Liberal party on Wednesday.

“We’ve had ‌thousands of signatures since then,” said Jeff Rath, spokesman for the Alberta Prosperity Project group that supports independence, in an interview on Thursday.

“Mark Carney himself has been ⁠the biggest help to the Alberta independence movement.”

2:09
Alberta separatist petition has enough signatures, organizers say

Alberta’s electoral authority has not verified how many signatures the movement has. ‌Rath said the citizen-led petition is already well over the approximately 177,000 signatures required by Alberta law to launch a referendum on separation from ⁠Canada in October.

Carney’s office did not immediately respond ‌to a request for comment.

Gladu is the fourth Conservative legislator to defect to the Liberals since November, and Carney will secure a parliamentary majority on Monday if his party wins at least one of three special elections.

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A majority in the House of Commons will make it easier for the prime minister to push through his agenda.

The latest defection prompted widespread outrage in Conservative circles.

In ‌oil-rich Alberta, which leans rightward, many voters feel betrayed by the defections and worry that a Liberal majority will not be in the province’s ⁠interests, Rath said.

Many separatists on social media also said the defections could spur more support for independence.

“If more conservative floor crossers come forward, winning a referendum becomes very hard to stop,” said one post on social media platform X, which was reposted on Thursday by Keith Wilson, a prominent Alberta ​independence activist.

1:38
‘Unacceptable, unethical’: Doug Ford reacts to Alberta separatist group asking for U.S. assistance

Separatists have been working to raise awareness of their cause south of the border, ​in order to get a sense of how Americans would respond to the prospect of an independent Alberta, Rath added.

Wilson ‌appeared on U.S. right-wing media personality Glenn Beck’s program this week, and Beck said he was an admirer of the cause.

Billionaire Elon Musk also appeared to endorse Alberta separatism this week, replying “Yeah” on X ⁠in response to an independence activist’s statement ‌that breaking away from the country is the only way to save Canada.

Rath described Musk as a “big supporter.”

The ‌separatists have until May 2 to ​submit their petition to Elections Alberta.

Polling has consistently shown that separation ⁠is a minority position ⁠in Alberta.

A new poll this week, published before Gladu’s defection, showed 27 per cent of decided voters would vote in favor ​of independence.

2:05
New Ipsos poll suggests less desire for separation in Alberta

Another Senate Democrat has called on President Donald Trump to be removed from office over the Iran war.

“I certainly think the president should be removed,” Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., said. “I mean, he’s unfit for office. I think, the 25th Amendment, and if not, then impeachment.”

Congressional Democrats, particularly in the House, recently have escalated their position against Trump’s war in Iran, shifting from pushing for Congress to reassert its authority in declaring war to demanding that the president be ousted from office.

ROGUE DEM BUCKS PARTY ON TRUMP WAR POWERS, CALLS IRAN ‘47-YEAR-OLD WAR CRIME’

Another Senate Democrat has called on President Donald Trump to be removed from office over the Iran war. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Trump’s comments in the past few days, particularly his threat against Iran that a “whole civilization will die” unless the Strait of Hormuz was reopened, sparked the latest growing push to see him removed from office.

While there is growing sentiment among House Democrats to jettison Trump from office, it’s not as widespread in the Senate. Still, Kim on Thursday joined a small group of Senate Democrats echoing the desires of their counterparts in the House.

So far, Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., all either have demanded that Trump be impeached or removed through the 25th Amendment.

SCHUMER BLASTS TRUMP’S IRAN WAR AS FAILURE, MOVES TO REIN IN HIS WAR POWERS AMID CEASEFIRE

Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., wants President Donald Trump removed from office either through impeachment or the 25th amendment over his comments and actions in Iran. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has stopped short of calling for impeachment, but instead is teeing up another war powers resolution — the fourth since the war began in February — to rein in Trump’s war authorities in the region as a fragile two-week ceasefire continues.

But their calls for removal likely aren’t going to go anywhere now, given the political reality in Washington, D.C. Republicans control both chambers of Congress, meaning impeachment is all but a moot point.

And invoking the 25th Amendment, which has never been used to remove a sitting president, is even more unlikely, given that it would require Vice President JD Vance, a majority of Trump’s Cabinet, and then a two-thirds majority vote in Congress to remove him.

TOP GOP HAWK GRAHAM WARNS IRAN DEAL HAS ‘TROUBLING ASPECTS’ AS CEASEFIRE BEGINS

Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., railed against Senate Democrats, and accused them of trying to rip apart DHS. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu)

It’s also a desire that Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., contended was “not realistic right now, given his oddball Cabinet of sycophants and eccentrics,” earlier this week.

“We’re going to have to buckle down and win this the old-fashioned way,” Whitehouse said.

Democrats’ position does provide foreshadowing for what could happen if they win big in the midterm elections this fall, however.

Meanwhile, congressional Republicans are still backing Trump’s actions in Iran, despite some straying from the party line over his recent apocalyptic comments.

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Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said that “Iran has been at war with the United States for 47 years, and it’s time for Iran to choose peace.”

“They haven’t done it yet,” Barrasso said. “What we have seen is American peace through strength, and with this operation that is going on now, incredible success by the United States. We have done what we have talked about doing. Eliminate their missiles and eliminate their missile production and eliminate their missile firing capacity, undermine their ability to ever get a nuclear weapon, and sink the navy.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment and has not yet received a reply. 

Prime Minister Mark Carney is just one Elizabeth May and one Bloc Québécois MP away from bringing representatives from all the House of Commons’ political parties under the Liberal banner.

With social conservative MP Marilyn Gladu now sitting with the Liberals, Carney has assembled the most ideologically diverse — or perhaps politically confused — iteration of the Liberal Party of Canada since Justin Trudeau took over the party in 2013.

His caucus now includes four former Conservative MPs ranging from Red Tories to social conservatives, an NDP MP who backed Avi Lewis, and could soon include the former deputy leader of the Ontario New Democrats.

Reactions to Gladu’s departure have ranged from cynical to pearl-clutching, dismissed as either a power grab or an affront to the Liberal Party’s values — insofar as Liberal Party values extend beyond grabbing at power.

But Carney’s ability to provoke defections from both the conservative wing of Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives and the progressive left of what’s left of the NDP says something about both the prime minister and the unique political moment Canadians find themselves in.

“I think that (Carney) is a business person and makes deals. I don’t think that having people in the party who have pretty divergent viewpoints on policy issues is a problem for him at all,” said Lori Turnbull, a professor at Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Management.

Turnbull said that Carney doesn’t centre partisanship in his political approach — but cautioned that doesn’t mean the institutions he’s inherited “aren’t completely built around the assumption of party loyalty, and carrots and sticks rolling out.”

For the Liberals, though, a majority government is a pretty significant carrot.

Gladu’s floor crossing brought the Liberals up to 171 seats in the 338 House of Commons — a razor-thin majority ahead of Monday’s three federal by-elections, two of which are seen as likely Liberal wins. The third, Terrebonne in Québec, is a tight race with the Bloc Québécois, but polling indicates it could remain Liberal.

Barring surprisingly catastrophic results for the Liberals on Monday night, Carney is expected to be able to govern with a majority for the foreseeable future — even without factoring in persistent rumours about more Conservative MPs joining the government benches.

Carney’s welcoming of Gladu, a social conservative who pushed “alternative” COVID-19 treatments, voiced support for the convoy protests of 2022 and in 2023 brought forward a private member’s bill to declare December “Christian Heritage Month,” makes sense if you look at it as just one more vote to secure his government’s agenda.

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For Gladu, it doesn’t seem to be about political survival, given that she’s won her Sarnia-Lambton-Bkejwanong seat in four straight elections, winning for the first time despite Stephen Harper’s loss in 2015 and surviving the failed campaigns of Andrew Scheer, Erin O’Toole and Pierre Poilievre.

It could be a signal that there’s an even larger political reorientation happening than public polling would suggest, and Gladu is picking up on it, Turnbull agreed. It could equally mean that the fully-pensioned MP saw this as a chance to experience the House of Commons from the government benches for a change — and a better one than running under Poilievre in the next election.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Carney acknowledged Gladu’s past political stances but said that all five new Liberal MPs have to abide by the party’s positions and would be expected to vote for them.

“It’s a big country, and it’s a diverse country,” Carney said.

“(The floor crossers) all bring perspectives from their regions, from their backgrounds and from their histories, but they all are subscribing to the values of the party and the core mission, the core element of our mission, which is to build Canada strong and build Canada strong for all Canadians.”

Former Liberal cabinet minister and leadership candidate Karina Gould told Global News that she’s known Gladu to be a “very congenial and constructive colleague” despite their “very different perspectives on a wide range of issues.”

“I am going to give her the benefit of the doubt that she understands the values of the Liberal Party and has decided to join the Liberal caucus because she either now shares those values or respects the values and the rights the party membership has fought so hard for over the years,” Gould said Thursday.

There are signs that Carney’s open-minded embrace of his former political adversaries — particularly one with Gladu’s formerly sincerely-held beliefs — is beginning to rub some longtime Liberals the wrong way.

Lisa Kirbie, who worked for the Liberals both in the House of Commons and the Senate, told Global News Thursday that Carney’s lack of background in partisan politics means he may not appreciate the effect floor crossers can have on internal party dynamics or fundraising.

“I never, ever expected that someone to the right of Pierre Poilievre was going to be brought into the Liberal fold,” Kirbie, now the CEO of Blackbird Strategies, said in an interview.

“This is not a Red Tory crossing into the Liberal Party. This is someone who would never have been greenlit to run as a Liberal to begin with … We can be a Big Red Tent party, but at the end of the day, we have to have some fundamental principles that we’re adhering to.”

But Turnbull said that Carney’s openness to opposition MPs joining the Grit cause hearkens back to the Liberals’ historic role as a “brokerage” party, welcoming diverse viewpoints as long as MPs can agree on the overall vision.

“That’s the key, is that you put the stuff you agree on upfront, and then you leave the stuff you can’t agree on kind of in the back as much as you can, then the party can work,” Turnbull said.

It’s not just segments of the Liberal Party base that are unhappy with the situation, however. Speaking to reporters in British Columbia on Thursday, Poilievre again called on his erstwhile MPs to resign and run in by-elections.

“If you ran in an election, you went out and you said to little old ladies, to veterans, to truckers, to single moms that you are going to stand up for the Conservative platform of affordability, safety and national sovereignty, and to do so as part of the Conservative Party that people voted for, then you should respect those people and honour your word,” Poilievre said.

Asked how many of his MPs he’d have to lose to the Liberals before he’d consider his own political future, Poilievre boasted of the record number of votes cast for the Conservatives in the last election, which was won by Carney’s Liberals, and his endorsement from the Conservative grassroots during the recent leadership review vote.

There have been persistent rumours in Ottawa that more Conservative MPs are in talks to join the Liberals since Nova Scotia MP Chris d’Entremont broke the ice last November. Those rumours haven’t gone away after Gladu’s departure, putting the Conservatives in a state of paranoia about which among them could be next to jump.

Darrell Bricker, the CEO of Ipsos Global Affairs, said that caucus management will need to be the priority for Poilievre going forward — especially now that the Liberals could have a working majority and early-election speculation has died down.

“When restless members in opposition have nothing to worry about, and there’s no prospect of being in government, and (the Conservatives) haven’t been in government since 2015, well, idle hands are the devil’s workshop,” Bricker said in an interview.

“(Poilievre) can’t make the argument ‘you need me to be around because there could be an election any day.’ There isn’t going to be an election any day.”

Gladu and the other newly-Liberal MPs will have a chance to meet with the party’s grassroots in Montreal this weekend, where Carney’s expansive and expanding movement will gather for a three-day policy convention. Lively conversations in the hospitality suites are likely.

With files from Global’s David Akin and Jillian Piper.

Prime Minister Mark Carney says he has had discussions with floor-crossing ex-Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu about the “core values” of the Liberal Party, adding that she will “vote with the government” on any proposals around abortion and LGBTQ rights.

Gladu crossed the floor to the Liberals Wednesday, becoming the latest to switch over to the government caucus and bringing Carney just one seat away from a functional majority.

But her floor-crossing also spurred controversy because of her social conservative views and voting history.

While running for the Conservative leadership in 2020 against Erin O’Toole, Gladu said she would allow caucus members to bring forward private members bills to restrict abortion, saying it would allow for “healthy discussion.”

“I had discussions, and colleagues had discussions, with Ms. Gladu about those issues. She will vote with the government if there are votes relating to any aspect of that issue as well as the rights of Canadians to be their whole selves, to love who they love, and to fully enjoy their rights under the Charters of Rights and Freedoms,” Carney told reporters after being asked specifically on Gladu’s stance on abortion.

Carney said the Liberals will continue to stand by their values, such as “defending the right of women to choose, defending same sex marriage, (opposing) anti-conversion therapy.”

“We have those core values. Those values don’t change,” he added.

The decision to welcome Gladu into the Liberal fold was in part due to her “two decades of business experience,” Carney said.

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“She’s an engineer. She’s an experienced parliamentarian. She is someone who works well with other people, including across the aisle,” he said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Gladu was criticized by then-Conservative leader Erin O’Toole for downplaying the severity of the virus and the safety of vaccines in an interview. Gladu later apologized.

Gladu also appeared to promote unproven treatments for COVID-19 and pushed for workplaces to reopen at the height of the pandemic in comments she later said were taken out of context.

In 2018, Gladu also sparked an angry response from the Mexican government when she implied that many Mexican visitors to Canada are involved in the illegal drug trade.

That statement came during debate over legislation that ultimately made marijuana legal across Canada, a policy Gladu opposed.

In 2021, Gladu was one of 62 Conservative MPs who voted against legislation outlawing conversion therapy, a discredited practice that has been used on LGBTQ Canadians.

With the Liberal government teetering on the edge of a majority, Carney was asked if Canadians could expect more floor crossings in the weekend leading up to a crucial byelection on Monday.

The Liberal policy convention is also taking place in Montreal this weekend.

“I’m often the last to know,” Carney said.

“The individuals [who crossed the floor] have come to people they know well in the Liberal caucus and expressed an interest in joining and then a conversation has evolved from that. And near the end of the conversation is when I’ve met with those individuals,” he added.

Gladu’s crossing to the Liberals puts the governing party at 171 seats in the House of Commons — just one seat shy of a functional majority.

That would require House of Commons Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia to break ties when voting on legislation and motions.

Although Scarpaleggia is a Liberal MP, precedent is that Speakers vote to maintain the status quo: in practice, that means voting to allow bills to continue through the House of Commons from first reading through to committee introduction, and then against the bill when it comes to a third reading vote before moving to the Senate.

If the Liberals get 173 seats, that would secure a slim but “full” majority government that does not rely on the Speaker breaking ties.

Byelections are set to be held in three ridings Monday, including Terrebonne, the Quebec riding where last year’s election was called for the Liberal candidate by one vote.

— With files from Global’s Sean Boynton

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Former B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad says a “dirty trick” by the BC United Party ahead of the 2024 provincial election suppressed voter turnout and may have cost the Conservatives victory.

Rustad says in a post on social media platform X that BC United was “sabotaging” his party by secretly funding the firejohnrustad.ca website that called for him to be ousted.

Elections BC revealed this week that its investigators found the website was not operated by disgruntled Conservatives, as it claimed, but was orchestrated by BC United campaign officials, who hired an Alberta political operative’s firm called Sovereign North Strategies Inc.

The elections watchdog fined BC United $4,500 for transmitting a false statement to affect election results” related to the website and a mail out.

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Rustad says BC United’s strategy actively worked to elect the NDP,” and the Conservatives were at the time just one seat short of forming government.

Elections BC says evidence confirms the website and mail out were organized by BC United’s campaign manager, who it did not name, but who was Mark Werner, now managing the campaign of Conservative leadership contender Peter Milobar.

The website was set up in August 2024, before BC United folded its campaign and leader Kevin Falcon called for voters to support Rustad’s Conservatives instead.

2:01
John Rustad resigns as B.C. Conservative leader

Rustad also does not name Werner, but says Milobar’s campaign manager was “in the middle of this betrayal.”

“The BC Conservatives need leadership that puts this province first, before disgusting old-guard politics,” Rustad says.

“Remember this when choosing your next leader for the BC Conservatives.”

Rustad also singles out BC United’s former vice-president Caroline Elliott, now vying for the Conservative leadership, saying she “wants to take over” the party. Elliott is Falcon’s sister-in-law.

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Several environmental groups have launched a constitutional challenge seeking to kill an Ontario law that allows cabinet to suspend other laws, arguing the Doug Ford government has abdicated the role of the legislature.

Wildlands League, Environmental Defence Canada, Friends of the Earth Canada and Democracy Watch allege Ontario’s special economic zone law delegates powers reserved for the legislature and wrongly puts them in the hands of the cabinet.

Ford’s Progressive Conservative government passed Bill 5, which included the special economic zone provision, last year. That provision allows cabinet and the environment minister to suspend any and all provincial and municipal laws within such zones as they see fit.

“We say that this delegation that the Special Economic Zones Act allows for goes too far, that it’s not simply the legislature delegating to the executive branch,” Lindsay Beck, a lawyer with Ecojustice who is representing the organizations, said Wednesday.

“What it amounts to is an abdication of the legislative role and when you get to that point of abdication, that’s unconstitutional.”

Beck pointed to Section 92 of the Constitution that allows for the legislature to make laws.

“What this law is doing is in effect allowing the executive branch to make laws,” Beck said.

The groups filed the lawsuit on Tuesday.

Ford and his cabinet ministers have framed the legislation as crucial in the province’s fight against U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war with Canada.

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The province has said the aim of the legislation is to speed up the approval and construction of large projects, including mines. But the special economic zone provision sparked a firestorm of anger at Queen’s Park last year.

First Nations showed up en masse to protest the bill, saying the new law ignored their concerns and trampled their rights.

The province initially sought to declare northern Ontario’s Ring of Fire region, said to be replete with critical minerals, as its first special economic zone. But the blowback caused the government to change course.

Ford now says he doesn’t need that designation to accomplish his goal of building a road to the Ring of Fire to kick-start mining in the region.

Several remote First Nations are on board with that plan as a way to lift themselves out of poverty, while other nearby First Nations are against the development that they believe will change their way of life.

Ford recently said he will designate Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport as a special economic zone as he plans to expand it to allow jets to operate there. He has not said which laws would be suspended and the province has yet to make any corresponding regulatory changes for the airport.

A spokesperson for Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli said the criteria for special economic zones were “shaped by rigorous consultations with Indigenous communities and stakeholders” across the province.

“There will always be people who want to maintain the status quo and hold Ontario back, but with our economy under direct attack, we need to change how we do things,” Jennifer Cunliffe wrote in a statement.

Cunliffe said the province is “taking bold and creative action to cut red tape, speed up duplicative approvals, and move projects of strategic importance forward faster,” while maintaining environmental safeguards.

Anna Baggio, conservation director with Wildlands League, said the province “is effectively hanging a sword of Damocles over all of our heads.”

The law is not “in any way connected to hardening Ontario against U.S. economic force,” said Phil Pothen, a lawyer with Environmental Defence.

The law leaves too much up to the discretion of Ford and his cabinet, he said.

“Everything from speed limits to employment rights and workplace safety protections, all of those things, as they apply to you specifically or your workplace specifically, or your home specifically, are entirely within the whim of cabinet now,” Pothen said.

Last year, nine First Nations launched a Charter challenge against Ontario’s Bill 5 and a similar federal bill, known as Bill C-5, both of which are designed to speed up large infrastructure projects.

The First Nations have asked the Ontario Superior Court of Justice for an injunction against the laws that they say are a “clear and present danger” to their self-determination rights to ways of life on their territories.

The bills sparked protests on Parliament Hill and a slow-rolling highway blockade.

They also inspired Neskantaga First Nation and Attawapiskat First Nation to build an encampment along the Attawapiskat River where community members plan to eventually block the road to the Ring of Fire, parts of which are scheduled to begin construction this year.

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Liberal party members are gathering in Montreal and, for the first time in more than a decade, Justin Trudeau and his personal brand of politics won’t tower over the party’s proceedings.

Party faithful will gather as Mark Carney’s ever-expanding big tent of MPs stands on the cusp of achieving a majority government following a series of floor-crossings in Parliament.

The convention, which runs Thursday through Saturday, starts just ahead of three byelections set for Monday, and a day after a fifth opposition MP crossed the floor to join the Liberal caucus.

It comes at a high point for the Liberals, who a little more than a year ago felt like they were marching their way out of office. Polling aggregator 338 Canada has the Liberals at a staggering 45 per cent support nationally.

1:37
Longtime Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu crosses floor to Liberals

“There’s strong support across the country right now for the prime minister and for the party,” said Jonathan Kalles, a consultant with McMillan Vantage who formerly served as Quebec adviser to Trudeau.

“It’s not about patting themselves on the back, but momentum and energy are important in a political party. Right now the Liberals have it, so it’s an opportune time to get everyone together.”

While Carney handily took the party’s helm at a leadership convention in Ottawa last year, the last party policy convention was held in 2023 — when Trudeau issued a rebuttal to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s claims that the Liberals were too “woke” and were ignoring the real challenges facing Canadians.

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Then the Liberals ousted Trudeau and won the 2025 election, and Poilievre lost four of his own caucus members to Carney, who pointed to his economic agenda as a reason to switch.

Carney is set to address the convention on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET — the first time he has done so since winning the leadership.

Kalles said many at the party level still know little about Carney and the convention offers a way for them to get to know him, and for party brass to check the pulse of the grassroots.

3:08
NDP floor-crosser brings Carney’s Liberals to brink of majority

That’s key as the party becomes more diverse and more challenging to manage as MPs from widely different political persuasions join Team Carney.

“With people that have such diverse points of view and are fairly ideological, that becomes a challenge. Most Liberals may lean one side or the other, but I would say they are not particularly ideological,” Kalles said. “I don’t know that it’s sustainable in the long term.”

Zita Astravas, a consultant with Wellington Advocacy and Trudeau’s former director of issues management, said Liberals from across the country are “feeling pretty good” right now.

“There’s a spring in people’s steps being a Liberal in politics right now,” she said.

The party needs just two more seats to govern with a clear majority, and it’s all but certain to get them.

Two of the byelections are Toronto-area seats considered safe for the Liberals, while the third is a hot contest with the Bloc Québécois for Terrebonne — an off-island Montreal suburb that’s conspicuously close to where the party convention is being held.

The party machine is expected to crank out a steady stream of canvassers and several francophone cabinet ministers have already knocked on doors in the riding.

But after the latest floor crossing, the byelections are no longer make-or-break for Carney. The Liberals now face what looks like an easy path to a 173-seat majority in the 343-seat House of Commons as of Monday.

Other guest speakers at the convention include Carney’s wife Diana Fox, accessibility activist and former athlete Rick Hansen, and one of godfathers of artificial intelligence, Yoshua Bengio, who is slated to appear on a panel with AI Minister Evan Solomon.

Several top cabinet ministers are also scheduled for panel talks. Friday’s panel on Carney’s economic agenda and Buy Canadian policies includes Canada-U.S. Relations Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Finance Minister François‑Philippe Champagne and Industry Minister Mélanie Joly.

1:53
3 byelections called as Liberals near majority

For seasoned party brass, such conventions are schmooze-fests. Government backroom denizens and lobbyists gather for friendly behind-the-scenes meetings while party activists take the stage to push for the adoption of new policies, though such resolutions are non-binding.

The convention will feature policy discussions on electoral reform, strengthening social media restrictions for minors, and limiting the pre-emptive use of the notwithstanding clause by provinces.

Justice Minister Sean Fraser has already shot down the idea of restricting provincial governments’ use of the notwithstanding clause through the constitutional provision known as “disallowance,” which can serve as a federal veto. Disallowance hasn’t been used in some eight decades, though before that point it was used fairly frequently.

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Controversial Twitch streamer Hasan Piker is dismissing Democrats who refuse to appear on his show, while appearing on other programs.

While campaigning with Michigan Democrat Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, who is running for U.S. Senate, Piker was asked by a Politico reporter about Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., refusing to appear on his Twitch stream, while being willing to sit down for interviews with people like Bill Maher.

“I mean, this double standard exists in American politics. Islamophobia is often times not considered at all. Bill Maher is not only an Islamophobe, but he has also demonstrated anti-Blackness at every turn, but at the end of the day, he is representative of the same forces of politics in this country that are aligned the establishment goals, and therefore, there’s never a question about participating in his show,” Piker told the reporter.

Piker did not explain why he believed Maher was an “Islamophobe,” nor did he clarify what he meant when he said that the longtime comedian and political host “demonstrated anti-Blackness.”

MICHIGAN DEMOCRAT DEFENDS APPEARING WITH HASAN PIKER, DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM PODCASTER’S CONTROVERSIAL REMARKS

Comedian Bill Maher faces the camera during a March 27 episode of “Real Time with Bill Maher.” (Real Time with Bill Maher/YouTube)

Piker has recently become a flashpoint for Democrats as some fear that platforming the controversial streamer gives Republicans political fodder, while others say that he helps candidates reach a broader audience.

The controversial streamer has been criticized for comments that some have characterized as being antisemitic and anti-American. He recently came under fire for saying it “doesn’t matter if f—— rapes happened on October 7. It doesn’t change the dynamic for me.” Previously, in a more infamous moment, Piker was slammed for saying during a stream in 2019 that “America deserved 9/11.” He later admitted the comments were “inappropriate.”

Slotkin recently came under fire for her appearance on “Real Time with Bill Maher,” with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) demanding that she apologize. The organization called on Slotkin to denounce Maher’s “long history of anti-Muslim bigotry and anti-Arab racism.”

Hasan Piker, streamer and creator, attends the press conference during day three of Web Summit Qatar 2026 at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center in Doha, Qatar, on Feb. 3, 2026. (Noushad Thekkayil/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

ILLINOIS DEMOCRAT CONDEMNS PARTY MEMBERS RALLYING WITH FAR-LEFT STREAMER HASAN PIKER

Ahead of El-Sayed’s event with Piker, Slotkin told Jewish Insider that while she was not familiar with the Twitch streamers language, she was concerned by what she knew about his rhetoric.

“Any equating of all Jews or American Jews with Israel and the Israeli government is a problem right off the bat, and then it sounds like, from there, a cascading set of antisemitic tropes and just the kind of rhetoric that is — I want to read for myself, but sounds deeply antisemitic, consistently, and therefore not someone that should be helping anybody out in the Michigan political environment,” Slotkin said.

In light of the criticism, CAIR and CAIR-Michigan said in the joint statement that it was “deeply hypocritical” to appear on Maher’s show.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., votes during a session in the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. (Tom Williams/Getty Images)

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“It was deeply hypocritical for Senator Slotkin to embrace Bill Maher just days after she denounced a Muslim politician for associating with a podcaster accused of bigotry,” the joint statement read. “The double standards that American Muslims face, even from a senator who represents one of our nation’s largest Muslim populations, are truly remarkable. If consistency means anything to Senator Slotkin–and if she believes hate against any of her constituents is unacceptable–she must denounce Bill Maher’s bigotry and apologize for embracing him.”

While Piker did not detail his objections to Maher, CAIR laid out a series of quotes that it deemed to be problematic. In one instance, Maher said that the “results are not good” for women who have dated Arab men. In another quote, Maher said that he was “alarmed” by the fact that Mohammed had become the most popular name in the U.K.

Fox News Digital reached out to Maher’s representatives for comment.