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Toronto Sun
2 days ago
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
Trump 'Golden Dome' plan tricky and expensive: Experts
Published Jun 19, 2025 • Last updated 11 minutes ago • 3 minute read U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans for the space-based "Golden Dome" defence system last month. Photo by CHIP SOMODEVILLA / AFP / GETTY IMAGES LE BOURGET, France — U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed 'Golden Dome' defence system is a plan that will face mammoth technical and financial hurdles, and could increase global insecurity, experts say. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Trump announced plans for the space-based system last month, saying it would eventually cost around $175 billion and would be operational by the end of his term in 2029. The planned defence shield's name is a nod to Israel's Iron Dome that has intercepted thousands of short-range rockets since 2011. But the U.S. defence system would intercept much bigger intercontinental threats. The plan comes after a 2022 Department of defence study pointed to advances by China and Russia. Beijing is closing the gap with Washington when it comes to ballistic and hypersonic missile technology, while Moscow is modernising its intercontinental-range missile systems and developing advanced precision strike missiles, it said. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Trump has claimed the 'Golden Dome' will be 'capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world'. But analysts are skeptical. 'I'm not holding my breath,' said Thomas Withington, an associate fellow at the RUSI defence think tank. 'The challenges are so significant at this stage that they may simply be unrealistic to surround in the timeframes that the Trump administration envisages.' 'Poster child for waste' Thomas Roberts, of the Georgia Institute of Technology, said the 'Golden Dome' plan was based on being able to detect when a long-range missile was fired. A missile's so-called 'boost phase' — which produces a heat blast that lasts one to two minutes and can be observed from space — is the best time to deploy defences, he said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'If you had an enormous constellation of interceptors in orbit at all times, they could be readily de-orbited — or systematically removed from orbit — to strike an intercontinental ballistic missile,' he said. But Todd Harrison, from the American Enterprise Institute, said this would require a massive number of satellites. 'It takes about 950 interceptors spread out in orbit around the Earth to ensure that at least one is always in range to intercept a missile during its boost phase,' he said. But that means that if an adversary launches a salvo of ten missiles, some 9,500 interceptors would be needed to ensure at least ten are within range. 'Given that China has about 350 intercontinental ballistic missiles and Russia has 306 — not including their sub-launched ballistic missiles — scaling a space-based interceptor system to meet the threat quickly becomes impractical.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The non-partisan U.S. Congressional Budget Office estimates that, just to stop 'one or two intercontinental ballistic missiles', the United States would need a constellation of satellites costing between $161 billion to $542 billion. The U.S. military could spend billions of dollars on research only for the next administration to nix the project, Harrison warned. Read More 'Golden Dome could become the poster child for waste and inefficiency in defence,' he said. The plan also calls for developing satellites able to fire lasers at missiles to avoid too much debris on impact. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. But a European defence contractor said on condition of anonymity that such lasers are 'still beyond what even the Americans are capable of doing.' 'It's just an excellent way to give the U.S. (defence) industry substantial funding so they can increase their technological lead without necessarily aiming for actual operational deployment,' the contractor said. Trump's plan is reminiscent of President Ronald Reagan ambition for a Strategic Defense Initiative in the 1980s, which also sought to place interceptor satellites in space. China and Russia, which both have nuclear weapons, have slammed the latest plan as 'deeply destabilizing.' Nuclear-armed North Korea has called the plan a 'very dangerous' threat. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Julia Cournoyer, research associate at Chatham House, said the plan was risky as adversaries would likely see it 'as an attempt to undermine the logic of nuclear deterrence.' 'If Washington is perceived to be developing a shield that could one day neutralize a retaliatory nuclear strike, it risks triggering a dangerous global arms race,' which would exacerbate rather than reduce risk. Withington said Trump might be hoping to use the plan as leverage for talks with China and Russia. 'It may be that the Trump administration is hoping that this would bring both countries to some kind of negotiating table to talk about a reduction of nuclear warhead sizes or to revitalize the arms control agenda,' he said. MMA NHL Canada Toronto & GTA NHL
Toronto Sun
2 days ago
- Toronto Sun
16 billion passwords exposed in 'mother of all' data breaches
Cybersecurity firms are built like a pyramid with tier 1 positions forming a wide base, typically young people who have completed a two-year college degree, university co-op placements or internships in high school during the summer months. Photo by iStock / GETTY IMAGES Cybersecurity researchers have unearthed what they are describing as the 'mother of all breaches,' including more than 16 billion individual records. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account A collection of 30 databases was reportedly discovered, including passwords, for government accounts, Apple, Google, Facebook, Telegram and more websites. Some databases had vague names such as 'logins' or credentials,' making it difficult for the team to establish exactly what they contained. However, others offered clues about where the data came from. According to the researchers, the records were most likely compiled by cybercriminals using various infostealing malware. They noted, however, that some data may also have been collected by so-called 'white hat' hackers. Cybernews, which found the records, said the information was only briefly available to the wider internet before being locked down, but it is not possible to determine who owned the databases. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. More than 5.5 billion people worldwide use the internet. As such, researchers warned that a staggering number of people likely had at least some of their accounts compromised. Users across the globe are being urged to change their passwords immediately to protect their data from falling into the hands of cybercriminals. 'The inclusion of both old and recent infostealer logs makes this data particularly dangerous for organizations lacking multi-factor authentication or credential hygiene practices,' the researchers said, per the U.K. Daily Mail . Cybernews said its researchers identified a database of 184 million records that was previously uncovered in May, found by data breach hunter and security researcher Jeremiah Fowler. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'It barely scratches the top 20 of what the team discovered,' Cybernews said. 'Most worryingly, researchers claim new massive datasets emerge every few weeks, signaling how prevalent infostealer malware truly is.' The database of 184 million records contained secure login data for millions of private citizens but also had stolen account information connected to multiple governments around the world. Read More While looking at a sample of 10,000 of these stolen accounts, Fowler found 220 email addresses with .gov domains, linking them to more than 29 countries, including the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada, China, India, Israel, and Saudi Arabia. 'This is probably one of the weirdest ones I've found in many years,' Fowler told WIRED. 'As far as the risk factor here, this is way bigger than most of the stuff I find, because this is direct access into individual accounts. This is a cybercriminal's dream working list,' the cybersecurity expert continued. RECOMMENDED VIDEO MMA NHL Canada Toronto & GTA NHL
Toronto Sun
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Toronto Sun
Pull plug on gas engine ban, Tories urge government
Enviro Minister Dabrusin insists ban on gas cars helps Canada's auto industry, despite automakers dismissing the ban as "complete fantasy" Despite the Liberals going all-in on a government-mandated internal combustion engine ban, recent polling shows Canadians are not on board. Photo by iStock / GETTY IMAGES OTTAWA — It's time to put the government's planned gas engine ban in neutral. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account That was the message from the Conservatives during Tuesday's question period, as the Tories urged the Carney Liberals to end a planned ban on the sale of gas-powered passenger vehicles. 'Workers and families across Canada, especially in rural and northern communities, can't afford this dangerous Liberal experiment,' said Grande Prairie MP Chris Warkentin. 'It's simple, Mr. Speaker, Canadians don't want this shoved down their throat.' Indeed, polling conducted earlier this year suggests the majority of Canadians aren't a fan of this keystone policy of the Justin Trudeau Liberals, which calls for a total ban on the sale of new gas and diesel vehicles by 2035. Transport Canada abruptly ended its Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles (iZEV) program earlier this year after it ran out of money. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. That came just 12 months before the start of the multi-year EV sales mandate, where 20% of all new Canadian car sales must be zero-emission — gradually increasing to 100% within a decade. Read More In response, Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin accused the Tories of taking unfair aim at Canada's auto industry. 'Leave it to the Conservatives to hit one of the most major industries that we have in our country, exactly the same time it's being hit with unjustified tariffs in the United States,' she said, to jeers from the opposition benches. 'We stand with our auto workers, we've been investing in our auto industry, and we will keep making sure that we have strong union jobs.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Canada's auto industry have gone on record in their opposition to the Liberals' plan, with Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association (CVMA) president Brian Kingston describing the Liberal policy earlier this year as 'complete fantasy.' 'There is no pathway to 100% zero-emission vehicle sales in the next 10 years with the supports being provided to Canadians,' he said during a January 2025 news conference. 'Dictating what vehicles Canadians can and cannot buy, without providing them with the supports necessary to switch to electric is a made-in-Canada policy failure.' bpassifiume@ X: @bryanpassifiume RECOMMENDED VIDEO Toronto Maple Leafs Toronto Maple Leafs Columnists NHL Editorial Cartoons
Toronto Sun
4 days ago
- Business
- Toronto Sun
LILLEY: Carney seeks massive power grab with new legislation
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney laughs during an Outreach Session at the Group of Seven (G7) Summit at the Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge in Kananaskis, Alta., on June 17, 2025. Photo by TERESA SUAREZ / GETTY IMAGES Warrantless searches, seizing your private data without your consent or knowledge and suspending any law the federal government deems not to be in the national interest. Those are just some of the worrisome moves contained in Bill C-2 and Bill C-5 introduced by the Carney Liberals. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account If Prime Minister Mark Carney has his way, both bills would be passed this week, giving the federal government, police and federal agents sweeping powers with little debate or study. Bill C-2 focuses on border measures and national security while Bill C-5 is concerned with fixing Canada's economy. Both have valid goals, and both have good provisions in them that are long overdue. They also both contain worrying aspects that has resulted in criticism left, right and centre. The government has been criticized on Bill C-5 specifically by the Conservatives, the NDP, the Bloc Quebecois and even rogue Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith. It's even been denounced by First Nations leaders. One of the main problems with the bill is the power it would give to the federal cabinet to decide that a project is in the national interest and then suspend certain laws to allow the project to go forward quickly. The NDP, Bloc and First Nations leaders are concerned that environmental laws will be bypassed to allow projects to proceed. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In Question Period on Monday, Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman said the real problem is the existing Liberal policies that stop major projects from going ahead. The Conservatives want the Liberals to repeal the bad policies, like C-69 or the tanker ban, rather than give what Lantsman called a 'hall pass' to certain projects while other projects still have to play by the same rules. Right now, the bill lists 13 acts that cabinet could suspend for a project in the national interest, but it also gives cabinet the ability to add any other federal law to that list. Bill C-5 could face an uphill battle to get passed in its current form. The main problem with Bill C-2, which makes border and immigration changes, is that it would give Canadian police the ability to go to your mobile phone provider or internet service company and demand your data and any other information they have on you. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The so-called lawful access provisions bear a striking resemblance to provisions in Bill C-30, a Harper-era bill from 2012. Of course, the previous Liberal government had introduced similar measures prior to the Harper Conservatives getting elected. Neither party has clean hands on these sorts of measures which are sought after by law enforcement but shunned by civil libertarians who rightly warn of a surveillance state. At a time when Canadians are freaking out about stories of American border guards demanding to look through their mobile phones at the border, giving Canadian police the power to scoop up your data without a warrant probably isn't a good idea. Beyond the public dislike, the Supreme Court ruled against warrantless data collection like this in 2014. Any attempt to enshrine the practice in law would likely lead to another legal battle that the government would surely lose in court. Read More That's if these provisions pass through the House of Commons given that they have received criticism from all the opposition parties as well. Both bills were introduced just two weeks ago and the Carney Liberals want them passed by the end of the week. They have not had the kind of rigorous study they need to find and fix flaws like the ones highlighted above. This is what you get when you try to rush things. RECOMMENDED VIDEO Toronto Maple Leafs Toronto Maple Leafs Toronto & GTA NHL Canada
Toronto Sun
5 days ago
- Business
- Toronto Sun
Drop in Canadian tourists hurting U.S., say northeast governors
Published Jun 16, 2025 • 1 minute read The U.S. and Canadian flags fly on the U.S. side of the St. Clair River near the Bluewater Bridge border crossing between Sarnia, Ont., and Port Huron, Mich. Photo by GEOFF ROBINS / AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES FREDERICTON — New England governors say tariffs and rhetoric by the United States government toward Canada is taking a bite out of tourism. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The governors made the comments in Boston, following a meeting with a group of Canadian premiers. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey says tourism numbers for her state and others such as Maine, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont are down between 20 and 60%. She also says that there are real concerns about safety or disruptions for travellers who cross into the United States. Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he is asking Canadians to avoid travel to the U.S. even though he loves America and Americans. Ford and other leaders from Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador attended the meeting after getting invitations from Healey. RECOMMENDED VIDEO
