Canada

CALGARY, Alberta, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Canadians are demanding decisive action from leaders to tackle climate change after a summer of extreme weather intensified environmental concerns, making it the No. 1 issue in September's snap election, polling data shows.

For many Canadians, 2021 is the year the climate crisis hit home. A "heat dome" scorched Canada's westernmost province of British Columbia in June, smashing national temperature records, contributing to more than 500 deaths and heralding the start of the province's third-worst wildfire season.

31 Aug 2021; MEMO: Canada said on Tuesday it would resettle some 5,000 Afghan refugees evacuated by the United States as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government addresses an issue critics say has been neglected during his campaign for re-election, Reuters reported.

"We know there is more to do with allied evacuation operations ending," Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino told a briefing. "We're pulling out all the stops to help as many Afghans as possible who want to make their home in Canada."

OTTAWA, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Canada said on Tuesday it would resettle some 5,000 Afghan refugees evacuated by the United States as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government addresses an issue critics say has been neglected during his campaign for re-election.

"We know there is more to do with allied evacuation operations ending," Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino told a briefing. "We're pulling out all the stops to help as many Afghans as possible who want to make their home in Canada."

MIRAMICHI, New Brunswick, Aug 23 (Reuters) - In Canadian federal elections, it is a tradition for candidates to knock on people's doors to ask for their support. Ahead of next month's vote, most of the contenders doing the rounds will be vaccinated against COVID-19 - but not all of them.

The Conservatives, led by the still little-known Erin O'Toole, and the small right-wing People's Party of Canada (PPC) are not requiring inoculations for their candidates as a fourth wave builds mainly among the unvaccinated.

OTTAWA, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Mail-in voting in Canada is set to soar ahead of the Sept. 20 election amid fears of COVID-19, and the complex registration process could deter voters, possibly undermining Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's bid for a majority government.

Pollsters say mainly Liberal and left-leaning voters would like to use mail-in balloting, while Conservatives prefer to vote in person. But Liberal strategists are concerned the sign-up process for casting ballots by mail could discourage their supporters from using it and lead them to not vote at all.

OTTAWA, Aug 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to call snap elections for Sept 20 to seek a new mandate to steer the nation’s pandemic exit, much to the dismay of his rival parties.
 
In office since 2015, Trudeau and opposition leaders have been crisscrossing the country in recent weeks making election-style announcements in anticipation.
 
On Sunday, he will visit the governor general to ask her to dissolve parliament, triggering a general election that polling shows is likely to return his Liberals to power.
 

OTTAWA, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is planning a snap election for Sept. 20 to seek voter approval for the government's costly plans to combat COVID-19, four sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Trudeau is set to make the announcement on Sunday, said the sources, who requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation. Trudeau aides have said for months that the ruling Liberals would push for a vote before the end of 2021, two years ahead of schedule.

(AP) --- Canada on Monday is lifting its prohibition on Americans crossing the border to shop, vacation or visit, but the United States is keeping similar restrictions in place for Canadians, part of a bumpy return to normalcy from COVID-19 travel bans.

U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents must be both fully vaccinated and test negative for COVID-19 within three days to get across one of the world’s longest and busiest land borders. Travelers also must fill out a detailed on application on the arriveCAN app before crossing.

OTTAWA, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Canada is at the start of the Delta-driven fourth wave of COVID-19, Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam said on Friday.

"The updated longer-range forecast shows how the epidemic trajectory may evolve through early September. It suggests that we are at the start of the Delta-driven fourth wave, but that the trajectory will depend on ongoing increases in fully vaccinated coverage, and the timing, pace and extent of reopening," Tam said at a press conference in Ottawa.

VANCOUVER, July 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Canadian border guards and customs officials voted on to go on strike just days ahead of the reopening of the border with the United States, unions representing the workers said, after working for three years without a contract.