'I've just started as prime minister': Mark Carney on defensive in French leaders' debate

The leaders of Canada's major federal parties face off tonight in the first nationally televised debate of the 2025 election campaign. The French-language debate, a key opportunity to win over francophone voters, will air Wednesday at 6 p.m. Don't speak French? No problem. The National Post is livestreaming an English-dubbed version of the debate, below, alongside live discussion and analysis from our Ottawa bureau.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet will take the stage in Montreal for what could be their final chance to win over undecided voters before Canadians cast their ballots on April 28. With polls showing a tight race between the Liberals and Conservatives, the NDP and the Bloc will be battling to put their parties back on the national agenda and we'll be following every moment live, right here.
Review the live coverage from National Post reporters Catherine Lévesque, Antoine Trépanier, Christopher Nardi, and Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson in our live blog, above, starting at 6 p.m. tonight. Can't see the blog? .

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Hamilton Spectator

an hour ago

• Hamilton Spectator

‘Rage' survey shows the politician Canadians are most angry about

Justin Trudeau leaving the stage has eased the rage. And credit Donald Trump with giving Canadian politicians a bump. That's the suggestion from Pollara Strategic Insights' latest 'Rage Index' poll . Since the firm's last such survey in November , Canadians' anger toward the federal government has plunged 18 percentage points and there was a 10 percentage point drop in frustration with various provincial governments. 'One of the main theories on this is Trudeau himself was obviously a focal point of a lot of anger in Canada. We haven't done the poll since he left as prime minister,' said Dan Arnold, Pollara's chief strategy officer. Trudeau governed from 2015 until being succeeded in March by Prime Minister Mark Carney, who then kept the Liberals in power by securing a minority government in the April federal election. 'You don't see as many 'F—- Carney' flags as you did 'F—- Trudeau' flags,' said Arnold, referring to the profane banners that became commonplace around the time of the so-called ' Freedom Convoy ' protest in Ottawa three years ago. Overall, 37 per cent were angry with the federal government — down from 55 per cent in November — while 28 per cent were happy and 35 per cent were neutral. Similarly, 42 per cent were angry with their provincial government — compared with 52 per cent in the last poll — with 27 per cent happy and 31 per cent neutral. But 78 per cent of respondents were angry with the new U.S. president, who has launched a trade war against Canada, while eight per cent were happy and 14 per cent had no opinion. 'The other thing that's going on is that Donald Trump is a big source of anger. Trump has become a bit of a lightning rod of anger,' said Arnold. 'A lot of the frustrations that people would normally put on their Canadian political leaders have been redirected toward Trump,' he said. Using online panels, Pollara surveyed 3,400 people across the country May 16-20. While opt-in polls cannot be assigned a margin of error, for comparison purposes, a random sample of this size would have one of plus or minus 1.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The firm found 49 per cent were unhappy with 'the types of changes happening in Canada,' an improvement on the 59 per cent finding last fall. Only 16 per cent were happy on that metric with 35 per cent neutral. But 40 per cent of respondents were happy with the results of the April 28 election while 34 per cent were unhappy and 26 per cent were neutral. About one-third — 32 per cent — were happy with Carney's new cabinet sworn in last month while 26 per cent were unhappy and 42 per cent had no opinion. However, 56 per cent are angry about the Canadian economy, a one percentage point uptick from November's poll, with only 14 per cent happy and 30 per cent were neutral. In that same vein, 38 per cent were unhappy with their own personal financial situation, up from 36 per cent in the last survey while 32 per cent were happy and 30 per cent were neutral. 'That's the one area where we don't see people feeling better,' noted Arnold. 'Actually, the anger level has gone up a little bit on things like the Canadian economy and personal finances — and that is absolutely because of the uncertainty that's going on right now,' the pollster said. 'We've seen unemployment figures starting to tick up and there's ... a lot of angst out there about what tariffs are going to mean and what this is going to have as an impact on Canada,' he said. 'So that is where we do see anger increasing. Trump himself is obviously catching a lot of the negative sentiment that otherwise would be going towards Canadian leaders. People are upset with the economy, but they're blaming it on Trump, instead of blaming it on Mark Carney or the provincial premiers right now.'

4 hours ago

A woman tried to call her mom in Iran. A robotic voice answered the phone

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- When Ellie, a British-Iranian living in the United Kingdom, tried to call her mother in Tehran, a robotic female voice answered instead. 'Alo? Alo?' the voice said, then asked in English: 'Who is calling?' A few seconds passed. 'I can't heard you,' the voice continued, its English imperfect. 'Who you want to speak with? I'm Alyssia. Do you remember me? I think I don't know who are you.' Ellie, 44, is one of nine Iranians living abroad — including in the U.K and U.S. — who said they have gotten strange, robotic voices when they attempted to call their loved ones in Iran since Israel launched airstrikes on the country a week ago. They told their stories to The Associated Press on the condition they remain anonymous or that only their first names or initials be used out of fear of endangering their families. Five experts with whom the AP shared recordings said it could be low-tech artificial intelligence, a chatbot or a pre-recorded message to which calls from abroad were diverted. It remains unclear who is behind the operation, though four of the experts believed it was likely to be the Iranian government while the fifth saw Israel as more likely. The messages are deeply eerie and disconcerting for Iranians in the diaspora struggling to contact their families as Israel's offensive targeting Iranian nuclear and military sites pounds Tehran and other cities. Iran has retaliated with hundreds of missiles and drones, and the government has imposed a widespread internet blackout it says is to protect the country. That has blocked average Iranians from getting information from the outside world, and their relatives from being able to reach them. 'I don't know why they're doing this,' said Ellie, whose mother is diabetic, low on insulin and trapped on the outskirts of Tehran. She wants her mother to evacuate the city but cannot communicate that to her. A request for comment sent to the Iranian mission to the U.N. was not immediately answered. Most of the voices speak in English, though at least one spoke Farsi. If the caller tries to talk to it, the voice just continues with its message. A 30-year-old women living in New York, who heard the same message Ellie did, called it 'psychological warfare.' 'Calling your mom and expecting to hear her voice and hearing an AI voice is one of the most scary things I've ever experienced,' she said. 'I can feel it in my body.' And the messages can be bizarre. One woman living in the U.K. desperately called her mom and instead got a voice offering platitudes. 'Thank you for taking the time to listen,' it said, in a recording that she shared with the AP. 'Today, I'd like to share some thoughts with you and share a few things that might resonate in our daily lives. Life is full of unexpected surprises, and these surprises can sometimes bring joy while at other times they challenge us.' Not all Iranians abroad encounter the robotic voice. Some said when they try to call family, the phone just rings and rings. Colin Crowell, a former vice president for Twitter's global policy, said it appeared that Iranian phone companies were diverting the calls to a default message system that does not allow calls to be completed. Amir Rashidi, an Iranian cybersecurity expert based in the U.S., agreed and said the recordings appeared to be a government measure to thwart hackers, though there was no hard evidence. He said that in the first two days of Israel's campaign, mass voice and text messages were sent to Iranian phones urging the public to gear up for 'emergency conditions.' They aimed to spread panic — similar to mass calls that government opponents made into Iran during the war with Iraq in the 1980s. The voice messages trying to calm people 'fit the pattern of the Iranian government and how in the past it handled emergency situations,' said Rashidi, the director of Texas-based Miaan, a group that reports on digital rights in the Middle East. Mobile phones and landlines ultimately are overseen by Iran's Ministry of Information and Communications Technology. But the country's intelligence services have long been believed to be monitoring conversations. 'It would be hard for anybody else to hack. Of course, it is possible it is Israeli. But I don't think they have an incentive to do this,' said Mehdi Yahyanejad, a tech entrepreneur and internet freedom activist. Marwa Fatafta, Berlin-based policy and advocacy director for digital rights group Access Now, suggested it could be 'a form of psychological warfare by the Israelis.' She said it fits a past pattern by Israel of using extensive direct messaging to Lebanese and Palestinians during campaigns in Gaza and against Hezbollah. The messages, she said, appear aimed at 'tormenting' already anxious Iranians abroad. When contacted with requests for comment, the Israeli military declined and the prime minister's office did not respond. Ellie is one of a lucky few who found a way to reach relatives since the blackout. She knows someone who lives on the Iran-Turkey border and has two phones — one with a Turkish SIM card and one with an Iranian SIM. He calls Ellie's mother with the Iranian phone — since people inside the country are still able to call one another — and presses it to the Turkish phone, where Ellie's on the line. The two are able to speak. 'The last time we spoke to her, we told her about the AI voice that is answering all her calls,' said Ellie. 'She was shocked. She said her phone hasn't rung at all.' Elon Musk said he has activated his satellite internet provider Starlink in Iran, where a small number of people are believed to have the system, even though it is illegal. Authorities are urging the public to turn in neighbors with the devices as part of an ongoing spy hunt. Others have illegal satellite dishes, granting them access to international news. M., a woman in the U.K., has been trying to reach her mother-in-law, who is immobile and lives in Tehran's northeast, which has been pummeled by Israeli bombardment throughout the week. When she last spoke to her family in Iran, they were mulling whether she should evacuate from the city. Then the blackout was imposed, and they lost contact. Since then she has heard through a relative that the woman was in the ICU with respiratory problems. When she calls, she gets the same bizarre message as the woman in the U.K., a lengthy mantra. 'Close your eyes and picture yourself in a place that brings you peace and happiness,' it says. 'Maybe you are walking through a serene forest, listening to the rustle of leaves and birds chirping. Or you're by the seashore, hearing the calming sound of waves crashing on the sand.' The only feeling the message does instill in her, she said, is 'helplessness.'

Chicago Tribune

9 hours ago

• Chicago Tribune

Los Angeles Dodgers donate $1 million to aid families of immigrants affected by federal raids

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers have donated $1 million to assist families affected by two weeks of immigration raids in Southern California. The defending World Series champion Dodgers also said Friday that they intend to form partnerships with the California Community Foundation, the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and other organization to continue providing aid to immigrant families. 'What's happening in Los Angeles has reverberated among thousands upon thousands of people, and we have heard the calls for us to take a leading role on behalf of those affected,' Dodgers President Stan Kasten said. 'We believe that by committing resources and taking action, we will continue to support and uplift the communities of Greater Los Angeles.' The Dodgers announced the steps in a five-paragraph news release that was delicately worded to avoid potentially inflammatory political terms, and which stopped short of an explicit condemnation of the federal policy. The team said only that the financial aid would be provided 'for families of immigrants impacted by recent events in the region.' 'I think it's great,' Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before his team faced the Washington Nationals. 'I'm sure the money is going to be allocated in the right way. I'm happy to hear that the Dodgers have done that, and it's certainly the right thing to do.' The Dodgers were briefly at the center of Southern California's opposition to federal immigration policy when the team asked federal agents to leave the stadium grounds Thursday after they amassed at a parking lot near one of the gates. Dozens of federal agents with their faces covered arrived at a lot near the stadium's Gate E entrance in SUVs and cargo vans. A group of protesters carrying signs against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrived shortly afterward, and the agents eventually left. Roberts claimed his players haven't extensively discussed the situation in the clubhouse, but some Dodgers have been paying attention. Kiké Hernández, a Puerto Rico native, sharply criticized the raids on social media last weekend. Baseball Hall of Famer Jaime Jarrín, the Dodgers' lead Spanish-language broadcaster from 1959 until his retirement in 2022, also spoke up against the federal actions. Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass praised the Dodgers in the team's news release. 'I want to thank the Dodgers for leading with this action to support the immigrant community of Los Angeles,' Bass said. 'These last weeks have sent shockwaves of fear rippling through every neighborhood and have had a direct impact on our economy. My message to all Angelenos is clear: We will stick together during this time and we will not turn our backs on one another — that's what makes this the greatest city in the world.' Fans and lawmakers have called upon the Dodgers for several days to make an unequivocal statement of opposition to the raids, given their vast Latino fan base and heavy influence in the region. Other teams in the region have expressed their solidarity with the immigrant community, including Los Angeles FC and Angel City FC. U.S. Rep. Jimmy Gomez, who represents the Los Angeles area, went on social media earlier Friday to ask the Dodgers to speak up. 'In a city where 36% of the residents are immigrants and nearly 40% of the team's fan base is Latino, saying nothing is not just disappointing — it's a betrayal and an insult,' Gomez wrote. 'Silence is not an option. It's a choice.'