Should Canada join Trump's ‘Golden Dome'?
As Ottawa confirms its interest in potentially joining U.S. President Donald Trump's 'Golden Dome' missile-defence program, Power & Politics hears from former defence minister Peter MacKay on what Canada's contribution could look like, and whether it's worth the effort.
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CTV News
14 minutes ago
- CTV News
Olympic president Kirsty Coventry starts work with strong IOC and challenges for Los Angeles Games
Kirsty Coventry reacts after she was announced as the new IOC President at the International Olympic Committee 144th session in Costa Navarino, western Greece, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis), File) GENEVA — The world Kirsty Coventry walks into Monday as the International Olympic Committee's first female and first African president is already very different to the one she was elected in three months ago. Take Los Angeles, host of the next Summer Games that is the public face and financial foundation of most Olympic sports. The city described last week as a 'trash heap' by U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing to welcome teams from more than 200 nations in July 2028. Most of the 11,000 athletes and thousands more coaches and officials who will take part in the LA Olympics will have seen images of military being deployed against the wishes of city and state leaders. A growing number of those athletes' home countries face being on a Trump-directed travel ban list — including Coventry's home Zimbabwe — though Olympic participants are promised exemptions to come to the U.S. Several players from Senegal's women's basketball team were denied visas for a training trip to the U.S., the country's prime minister said. A first face-to-face meeting with Trump is a priority for the new IOC president, perhaps at a sports event. Welcome to Olympic diplomacy, the outgoing IOC president Thomas Bach could reasonably comment to his political protégé Coventry. The six Olympic Games of Bach's 12 years were rocked by Russian doping scandals and military aggression, Korean nuclear tensions, a global health crisis and corruption-fueled Brazilian chaos. Still, Coventry inherits an IOC with a solid reputation and finances after a widely praised 2024 Paris Olympics, plus a slate of summer and winter hosts for the next decade. Risks and challenges ahead are clear to see. New leadership style For the two-time Olympic champion swimmer's first full day as president Tuesday she has invited the 109-strong IOC membership to closed-doors meetings about its future under the banner 'Pause and Reflect.' 'The way in which I like to lead is with collaboration,' said Coventry, who was sports minister in Zimbabwe for the past seven years, told reporters Thursday. Many, if not most, members want more say in how the IOC makes decisions after nearly 12 years of Bach's tight executive control. It was a theme in manifestos by the other election candidates, and the runner-up in March, IOC vice president Juan Antonio Samaranch, will lead one of the sessions. 'I like people to say: 'Yes, I had a say and this was the direction that we went,'' Coventry said. 'That way, you get really authentic buy-in.' In an in-house IOC interview, Coventry also described how she wanted to be perceived: 'She never changed. Always humble, always approachable.' That could mean more member input, if not an open and contested vote, to decide the 2036 Olympics host. The 2036 decision Coventry's win was widely seen as positive for the ambitions of India, and its richest family, to host the Summer Games that will follow Los Angeles in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032. Nita Ambani, the philanthropist wife of industrialist Mukesh Ambani, has been an IOC member since 2016 and helped promote India's Olympic bid in Paris last year. She and Coventry are seen as being close, and the 2036 hosting award is among the biggest decisions pending. 'It is an open question,' Coventry told reporters Thursday. 'For me as a president I need to be able to remain neutral.' Qatar is bidding for the Summer Games for a fourth time and Saudi Arabia also is interested. A regional Middle East bid could be a political and logistical solution. A Bach legacy is the policy of fast-tracking well-connected bidders into exclusive negotiations toward a rubber-stamp vote by IOC members. Russia's return At some point in Coventry's presidency, Russia could possibly return fully to the Olympic family. It is unclear exactly when less than eight months before the 2026 Winter Games opening ceremony in Milan. Russian athletes have faced a wider blanket ban in winter sports than summer ones during the military invasion of Ukraine. Even neutral status for individual Russians to compete looks elusive. Vladimir Putin offered 'sincere congratulations' on Coventry's election win, with the Kremlin praising her 'high authority in the sporting world.' However, there seems little scope for the IOC to lift its formal suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee imposed in 2023 because of a territorial grab in sports administration. Four regional sports bodies in eastern Ukraine were taken under Russian control. Coventry said she will ask a task force to review IOC policy relating to athletes from countries involved in wars and conflicts. Gender equality The first Summer Games under a female presidency will be the first with a majority of athlete quota places for women. Another task force is promised to look at gender eligibility issues, after the turmoil around women's boxing and two gold medalists in Paris. The new World Boxing governing body said last month it will introduce mandatory sex testing. Coventry often states the importance of 'Olympic Values,' which include gender parity, inclusion and inspiring young people through sports. 'That is something that we can never, never, never compromise. And we have to be proud of that.' IOC housekeeping The top-tier Olympic sponsor program might have peaked in Paris with 15 partners earning the IOC more than US$1.6 billion in cash and services over the past two years. The sponsor slate is down to 11 after all three Japanese sponsors and US tech firm Intel did not renew, though a major new backer from India is all-but promised. Total revenue was $7.7 billion for 2021-24, including $3.25 billion of broadcasting revenue in 2024. It helps fund the Olympic Channel media operation in Madrid and about 700 staff in Lausanne. Salary and staff costs topped $250 million last year. Though the future broadcasting landscape is hard to predict, the IOC has said $7.4 billion already is secured through 2028, and $4 billion for the 2033-36 commercial cycle. That sum was topped up in March with a foundational $3 billion deal. NBC renewed for two more Olympics through the 2034 Salt Lake City Winter Games and the 2036 Summer Games that look destined for Asia. The IOC also has a 12-year deal with Saudi Arabia through 2036 to host a video gaming Esports Olympics, though the launch is delayed until at least 2027. Graham Dunbar, The Associated Press
Calgary Herald
an hour ago
- Calgary Herald
Opinion: Is a land swap a win-win solution to the Canada-U.S. crisis?
Article content Although I'm an American, I agree with Canadians that U.S. President Donald Trump's '51st state' pronouncements are idiotic and counterproductive. But, give the devil his due: Trump often spurs people to reconsider previous assumptions that, on examination, don't always make sense. Article content As the expression goes, he makes us think outside the box. Case in point: the Canada-U.S. border. Article content Article content Article content Forget the 51st state nonsense, but consider instead a strategic land swap between the two countries. If done properly, it would be a win-win solution for both countries. We know from history that national borders are often subject to change. Sometimes those changes are imposed by one country on another, but sometimes they're done voluntarily and in a mutually-beneficial way. Article content Article content In the early 19th century, the U.S. grew enormously in one fell swoop when Napoleon offered to sell president Thomas Jefferson all of France's Louisiana Territory (which extended from New Orleans to the Pacific Ocean), to finance his European wars. Many thought Jefferson insane to spend big money on 'useless' land (as many also did years later when the U.S. purchased Alaska from Russia), but the deal was done and both countries were satisfied with it. Article content Article content For years now, there's been a progressive movement in the U.S. Pacific Northwest to secede from the U.S. and form an independent country called Cascadia, a movement that has gained steam during Trump's presidencies. The people behind the Cascadia plan have usually seen their future territory as encompassing what is now Washington, Oregon and Northern California, but a Trump-hating southern California may be delighted to jump on the bandwagon. Article content What would the U.S. get in return? Two things: the entire northern tier of Canada from the Yukon to Baffin Island, a mostly empty but mineral-rich area that meshes perfectly with Trump's Arctic ambitions; and also Alberta, which for years has felt ignored and even belittled by the politicians in Ottawa, the cultural elites in Toronto and by the incessant and unreasonable demands of the Quebecois.
Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
Zelensky still to make decision on attending NATO summit, seeks meeting with Trump
Hoping to avoid a repeat snub after failing to meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the G7 in Kananaskis, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he hasn't decided whether he'll attend next week's NATO summit in the Netherlands. Mr. Zelensky has been formally invited to the NATO summit that begins Tuesday in The Hague but hasn't yet confirmed he'll attend. Speaking Friday, Mr. Zelensky said there were several factors that would decide whether he makes the trip – including whether he could secure a 'very important' meeting with Mr. Trump. 'I am not sure that I will go, but still the probability is high. In fact, I will decide the day before,' Mr. Zelensky told journalists in Kyiv, including The Globe and Mail. The remarks were approved for publication by the President's Office on Saturday. If he gets a chance to speak face-to-face with the U.S. President, Mr. Zelensky plans to ask Mr. Trump to authorize the sale of 10 U.S-made Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems to Ukraine – systems he indicated that Ukraine was willing to pay for with the help of its other allies. Mr. Zelensky said he also wanted to discuss new sanctions against Russia, as well as how to breathe 'a new breath of air into the diplomatic track,' referring to Mr. Trump's stalled efforts to push Russia and Ukraine toward a peace deal. 'We need more certainty and more pressure from the world on [Russian President Vladimir] Putin – this is necessary for the sake of diplomacy. I would like to talk about these formats with him,' Mr. Zelensky said late Friday, speaking inside the fortified Presidential Administration complex in Kyiv. 'For us, it is a priority to maintain America's support,' he added, saying that having to fight the Russian invasion without U.S. support would be 'the most difficult situation' for Ukraine. 'Putin really wants us to be without America.' Opinion: The good old-fashioned reason that the G7 still matters Ukraine received US$64.6-billion in military assistance from the U.S. under former president Joe Biden following the start of the Russian invasion in February, 2022, but no new weapons shipments since Mr. Trump took office in January. Mr. Zelensky called on Ukraine's other partners to allocate 0.25 per cent of their GDP to helping Kyiv ramp-up domestic weapons production and said the country plans to sign agreements this summer to start exporting weapon production technologies. He said his office was in talks with Canada, Britain, Germany, Norway, Denmark and Lithuania to begin joint weapons production. Mr. Trump caught the Kananaskis gathering off-guard when he left the two-day meeting after less than 24 hours, saying he needed to return to Washington to deal with the escalating Israel-Iran war. His departure came before an expected meeting with Mr. Zelensky, who said it was evident that 'for President Trump, the Israel-Iran issue is certainly a higher priority' than the Russia-Ukraine conflict. One of the things Mr. Trump did do in Kananaskis was lobby for Russia to be restored as a member of what used to be called the G8. Russia was expelled from the club in 2014 after it illegally seized and annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. Mr. Zelensky also left Canada early, cancelling a planned press conference, to return to Kyiv after Russia launched one of the heaviest drone-and-missile bombardments of the Ukrainian capital in more than 1,200 days of war. At least 28 people were killed in the nine-hour attack. Mr. Zelensky repeatedly praised the job Prime Minister Mark Carney did in preserving unity among the G7 leaders, despite the fact the joint statement issued at the conclusion of the meeting made no mention of Ukraine or the Russian invasion. The communiqué issued at the end of the 2024 summit in Italy mentioned Ukraine 53 times, with leaders vowing 'our unwavering support for Ukraine for as long as it takes' and saying 'Russia must end its illegal war of aggression and pay for the damage it has caused to Ukraine.' Those words were absent from the 2025 declaration, as U.S. officials reportedly pushed for more neutral language towards the conflict that Canada and the other member countries – France, Britain, Germany, Italy and Japan – wouldn't accept. What the G7 statements released by world leaders say and don't say The same problem is expected to arise again at this week's summit of the 32 leaders of the NATO military alliance, with U.S. officials again seeking to limit references to Ukraine in the final statement. A year ago, the alliance declared 'Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has shattered peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area and gravely undermined global security' and pledged to 'bolster our long-term support to Ukraine so it can prevail in its fight for freedom.' Mr. Zelensky was careful not to criticize the G7 communiqué, saying only 'this is the solution they were able to find.' A separate statement issued by Mr. Carney, as the G7 chair, said the leaders 'expressed support for President Trump's efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.' Mr. Zelensky said Russia was 'dragging out' ceasefire negotiations in Istanbul, agreeing to occasional exchanges of prisoners of war, and the return of some of the dead bodies of combatants, hoping to show enough progress to convince Mr. Trump to ease sanctions. Mr. Zelensky said the Russian side had actually sent 20 bodies of their own soldiers to Ukraine in the last exchange, which Mr. Zelensky said revealed the Kremlin's disdain for the entire process. 'They threw the corpses of their citizens at us. This is their attitude towards war, towards their soldiers.' On Friday, Mr. Putin sounded far less interested in peace than in continuing his war of conquest. 'I consider Russians and Ukrainians to be one people. In that sense, all of Ukraine is ours,' he said in a speech to the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. 'There is a saying: wherever a Russian soldier sets foot, that is ours.'
