Sending Canadian vessel to Cuba alongside Russia's was carefully planned: Minister
CTV
National Defence Minister Bill Blair's office is defending the decision to send a Canadian ship to Cuba where it docked alongside some of Russia's fleet, calling it a "carefully" planned move to increase its presence in the region.
National Defence Minister Bill Blair's office is defending the decision to send a Canadian ship to Cuba where it docked alongside some of Russia's fleet, calling it a "carefully" planned move to increase its presence in the region.
Spokesman Daniel Minden issued a statement on Sunday saying the visit to Havana's port "was carefully and fulsomely planned," and the minister authorized it on the advice of the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Joint Operations Command.
"We've made the smart choice to boost our naval presence in the region this week," the statement reads.
"We believe that this marked an especially important time to show a Canadian presence."
Michael Chong, the Conservatives' foreign affairs critic, questioned why Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government sent a Canadian ship to "celebrate" relations "with a communist dictatorship at all," referring to Cuba.
"Let alone while Russian warships are docked there?" Chong posted on X.
James Bezan, the partys critic for national defence, said the decision warrants a probe by the parliamentary committee on defence, saying he wants to hear Joly and Blair testify.
Police are looking for a hit-and-run driver after a pedestrian was hit on Thursday night.
Donations are ramping up for a BCSPCA cat with a mangled paw after being caught in a hunting snare, one of a rising number of pets to fall prey to the hunting device.
A crowd of over 20 people stood in the pouring rain Saturday in front of the RCMP detachment in Hampton, N.B., to bring awareness to a missing person’s case.
Seven teenage suspects, including a 13-year-old, have been arrested following a targeted and “violent” home invasion in Vaughan on Friday, police say.
Ontario's colleges and universities say the federal government's cap on international students is taking a toll on the higher education sector as some schools face growing deficits, layoffs and, in at least one case, a temporary campus closure.
The Empress Theatre, a nearly century-old landmark in Montreal's Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (NDG) neighbourhood, may soon be revitalized.
Business owners say they've been left with questions about how a temporary tax exemption to the GST will work after the federal government announcement the policy last week.
British Columbia's electric utility says it has restored power to almost all customers who suffered outages during the bomb cyclone earlier this week, but strong wind from a new storm has made repairs difficult in some areas.
Many parts of Saskatchewan will be hit with another round of wintery weather on Saturday, and Regina is no exception, with up to 25 centimetres of snow expected to accumulate.
Some local businesses say the federal government’s recent plan to pull back GST on several items is a positive initiative, but it should have been rolled out earlier in the holiday season.
An 81-year-old man who went missing Friday has been found dead, Spruce Plains RCMP said.