Canada

Aug. 22 (UPI) — Canada is dropping many of its 25% tariffs on goods made in the United States, with the change set to take effect on Sept 1, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday.

Tariffs on vehicles, steel and aluminum will remain in place, Carney said during a news conference.

President Donald Trump in July initially imposed a 35% tariff on Canadian goods.

The two countries have attempted to negotiate a deal, but so far have failed to reach an agreement before a U.S.-imposed deadline of Aug. 1.

A White House official told NBC News Carney’s announcement was “well overdue.”

“We look forward to continuing our discussions with Canada on the Administration’s trade and national security concerns,” the official told NBC.

Carney told Canadians that around 85% of goods being traded with the United States are still tariff-free as they are subject to the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement, which was signed during Trump’s first term in office.

The prime minister said he still hoped to reach some kind of agreement on tariffs with Trump.

The two leaders met Thursday to discuss trade.

“As we work to address outstanding trade issues with the U.S., it is important we do everything we can to preserve this unique advantage for Canadian workers and their families,” Carney said Friday.

A round of tariffs of various levels imposed by Trump on several countries took effect earlier in the month.

On Thursday, the United States and European Union announced the framework of a trade deal that would result in a blanket 15% tariff on EU goods.

Ron Turcotte, who rode Secretariat during his Triple Crown year in 1973 and electrified the sport, died Friday at his home near Grand Falls, New Brunswick, Canada. He was 84. According to his longtime friend and business partner Leonard Lusky, his death was due to natural causes.

Turcotte, who despite being in a wheelchair since 1978 after a riding accident left him paralyzed from the waist down, often showed up at big races to sign autographs, pose for pictures and act as an ambassador for the sport.

During his almost two-decade career, beginning in 1961, Turcotte won 3,023 races with lifetime earnings of more than $28 million. He was forced to retire in 1978 when, at 36, he suffered career-ending injuries in a spill at Belmont Park.

Turcotte’s accomplishments earned him a spot in six different Halls of Fame, including the National Racing Hall of Fame in 1979 and the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1980. He won the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, presented at Santa Anita, the Avelino Gomez Memorial Award, given in Canada, and the Turf Publicists Big Sport of Turfdom Award.

He spent much of his later years bringing attention to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, or PDJF.

Of all his more than 3,000 wins, he will most be remembered for his ride aboard Secretariat winning the Triple Crown and Belmont Stakes by an unheard of 31 lengths.

“I couldn’t hear the announcer all the time, saying how far I was in front,” Turcotte told The Times in 2023, to mark the 50th anniversary of Secretariat winning the Triple Crown. “I knew I was quite a ways in front because I couldn’t hear any other horses hitting the ground behind me. When I got the quarter pole I looked and I could barely see them and I looked at the clock and saw 1:59 on the board, which was faster than we ran the Derby.”

The family plans a private funeral and asks that in lieu of flowers donations be made to the PDJF. Turcotte is survived by his wife of almost 60 years, Gaetane, and their four daughters: Tina, Ann, Lynn and Tammy.

America First was the slogan Donald Trump championed during his re-election campaign as he promised to put the interests of Americans above those of foreign governments, immigrants and large corporations. However, the United States president has made several policy decisions that have divided his electoral base. The two guests in this episode of The Stream voted for Trump in the 2024 election but now find themselves on the opposite side of several issues: economic policy, foreign military spending and the Jeffrey Epstein files.

Presenter: Stefanie Dekker

Guests:
Ethan Levins – Social media journalist
Erol Morkoc – Spokesman, Republicans Overseas UK

The Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) has said Air Canada’s ongoing strike, in which 10,000 cabin crew members have walked off their jobs, is illegal after strikers ignored orders to return to work.

The regulatory board made the call on Monday after it previously declared that workers must return to the job as of 2pm ET (18:00 GMT) on Sunday.

The cabin crew for the Montreal-based carrier had pushed for a negotiated solution, saying binding arbitration would take pressure off the airline. Workers have said that the proposed wage hikes are insufficient to keep up with inflation and match the federal minimum wage.

The attendants are also calling to be paid for work performed on the ground, such as helping passengers to board. They are now only paid when planes are moving, sparking some vocal support from Canadians on social media.

A leader of the union on strike against Air Canada said on Monday that he would risk jail time rather than allow cabin crews to be forced back to work.

“If it means folks like me going to jail, then so be it. If it means our union being fined, then so be it. We’re looking for a solution here,” said Mark Hancock, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) national president, at a press conference after a deadline by the board to return to work expired with no union action to end the strike.

Air Canada’s CEO Michael Rousseau told the news agency Reuters that he was “amazed” that the union was not following the law, adding, “At this point in time, the union’s proposals are much higher than the 40 percent [hike we have offered]. And so we need to find a path to bridge that gap,” he said, without suggesting what that process would be. “We’re always open to listen, and have a conversation,” he said.

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney voiced his support for the cabin crews, saying that they should be “compensated equitably at all times”.

Pushing for a resolution, Carney said, “We are in a situation where literally hundreds of thousands of Canadians and visitors to our countries are being disrupted by this action.”

The airline normally carries 130,000 people daily during the ongoing peak summer travel season and is part of the global Star Alliance of airlines.

On Monday, Air Canada suspended its third-quarter and annual profit forecasts as its planes remained grounded.

The union said it would continue its strike and invited Air Canada back to the table to “negotiate a fair deal”.

A government nudge

The government’s options to end the strike now include asking courts to enforce the order to return to work and seeking an expedited hearing.

The minority government could also try to pass legislation that would need the support of political rivals and approval in both houses of the Parliament of Canada, which are on break until September 15.

“The government will be very reticent to be too heavy-handed because in Canada, the Supreme Court has ruled that governments have to be very careful when they take away the right to strike, even for public sector-workers who may be deemed essential,” said Dionne Pohler, professor of dispute resolution at Cornell University’s Industrial and Labor Relations School.

Another option is to encourage bargaining, Pohler said.

The government did not respond to requests for comment.

On Saturday, Carney’s Liberal government moved to end the strike by asking the CIRB to order binding arbitration. The CIRB, an independent administrative tribunal that interprets and applies Canada’s labour laws, issued the order, which Air Canada had sought, and unionised flight attendants opposed.

The previous government, under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, intervened last year to head off rail and dock strikes that threatened to cripple the economy, but it is highly unusual for a union to defy a CIRB order.

Travellers at Toronto Pearson International Airport over the weekend said they were confused and frustrated about when they would be able to fly.

Italian Francesca Tondini, 50, sitting at the Toronto airport, said she supported the union even though she had no idea when she would be able to return home.

“They are right,” she said with a smile, pointing at the striking attendants.

The dispute between cabin crews and Air Canada hinges on the way airlines compensate flight attendants. Most, including Air Canada, pay them only when planes are in motion.

In their latest contract negotiations, flight attendants in both Canada and the United States have sought compensation for hours worked, including for tasks such as boarding passengers.

New labour agreements at American Airlines and Alaska Airlines legally require carriers to start the clock for paying flight attendants when passengers are boarding.

American flight attendants are now also compensated for some hours between flights. United Airlines’ cabin crews, who voted down a tentative contract deal last month, also want a similar provision.

On the markets, Air Canada’s stock is down 1.6 percent as of 12pm in Toronto (16:00 GMT). US carrier United Airlines – another Star Alliance member, which does not have a striking cabin crew and which serves several major Canadian cities – is up 1.4 percent.

Aug. 17 (UPI) — Air Canada on Sunday delayed plans to resume limited operations after flight attendants defied a government-mandated back-to-work order and binding arbitration.

Limited service instead will resume on Monday night, the airline said in a news release Sunday.

Flight attendants with Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge originally were ordered to return to shifts by 2 p.m. Sunday, CBC reported.

The 10,000 flight attendants remain on strike, which began after midnight Saturday.

“We invite Air Canada back to the table to negotiate a fair deal, rather than relying on the federal government to do their dirty work for them when bargaining gets a little bit tough,” the Canadian Union of Public Employees said in a statement.

“We have received overwhelming support from the public and Union workers everywhere,” the union posted on Facebook. “This is an historic moment for labor and for workers across the country.”

CUPE National President Mark Hancock ripped up the order Sunday in front of a cheering crowd outside Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.

“We will continue to fight on the picket lines, on the streets, at the bargaining table, in the courts, and in Parliament, until the injustice of unpaid work is done for good,” he said Saturday in a union news release. “Workers will win — despite the best effort of the Liberal government and their corporate friends.”

On Saturday, 12 hours after the strike, Jobs Minister Patty Haju invoked Section 107 of the Canadian Labor Code, which directs the Canadian Relations Board to arbitrate the dispute and extended the terms of the existing agreement until a new one is determined by an arbiter. The contract expired on March 31.

“We will be challenging this blatantly unconstitutional order that violates the Charter rights of 10,000 flight attendants, 70 percent of whom are women, and 100 percent of whom are forced to do hours of unpaid work by their employer every time they come to work,” the union said in a statement.

Air Canada said the union “illegally directed its flight attendants to defy a direction” from the Canadian Industrial Relations Board to return to work.

The carrier said it planned to resume approximately 240 of its normal 700 flights a day, though it would take seven to 10 days for the schedule to “stabilize.”

More than 130,000 travelers worldwide fly on the airline daily.

Canada’s largest airline includes 170 international ones, and from 50 Canadian airports. Between more than 50 U.S. airports and Canada, the company averages about 430 daily flights.

Air Canada Express, with 300 regional flights, is operated by Jazz Aviation and PAl Airlines, is not affected.

Customers will be notified about canceled flights and are strongly advised not to go the airport unless they have confirmed flights on other airlines.

Those on canceled flights can obtain a full refund or receive a credit for future travel.

Also, the carrier will offer to rebook customers on other carriers, although capacity is limited because of the peak summer travel season.

Flight attendants went on strike at 12:58 a.m. EDT Saturday and the company locked them out at 1:30 a.m.

The flight attendants and their supporters were on picket lines throughout Canada.

The last negotiations were on Friday night, and no new talks were scheduled.

“Air Canada and CUPE flight attendants are at an impasse and remain unable to resolve their dispute,” she said in a statement released Saturday afternoon Eastern time. “Canadians are increasingly finding themselves in very difficult situations and the strike is rapidly impacting the Canadian economy.”

“This decision will help make sure that hundreds of thousands of Canadians and visitors to our country are not impacted because of cancelled flights. Further, the shipments of critical goods such as pharmaceuticals and organ tissue, over 40% of which are moved by Air Canada, should continue to reach their destinations,” she said.

On Wednesday, the airline served the union a statutory 72-hour lockout notice in response to the union’s 72-hour strike notice.

Air Canada was canceling flights ahead of the work stoppage.

“I don’t think anyone’s in the mood to go back to work,” Lillian Speedie, vice president of CUPE Local 4092, told CBC at a picket line outside Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga on Sunday. “To legislate us back to work 12 hours after we started? I’m sorry, snowstorms have shut down Air Canada for longer than we were allowed to strike.”

The Air Canada union asked the jobs minister to direct the parties to enter into binding arbitration.

But on Saturday afternoon, the union blasted the order to end the strike and posted images and video strikers. More visuals were posted Sunday.

“This sets a terrible precedent. Contrary to the Minister’s remarks, this will not ensure labor peace at Air Canada,” the union said Saturday.

Air Canada has become dependent on the federal government to solve its labor-relations issues, Steven Tufts, associate professor and labour geographer at York University, told CBC.

“Air Canada has to learn not to call mommy and daddy every time they reach an impasse at the bargaining table,” Tufts said. “They have to actually sit down and get a deal done with their workers.”

In 2024, Air Canada asked for the government to be ready to step in but the two sides reached a tentative agreement.

Flight attendants want to be compensated for work before the flights take off and after they land. Typically with most airlines, they get paid only for the hours they are in the air.

Workers at Canada’s flagship carrier defy back-to-work order as they stage first strike in 40 years.

Air Canada flight attendants have said they will remain on strike despite a government-backed labour board’s order to return to work by 2pm ET (18:00 GMT), which they described as unconstitutional.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees said in a statement on Sunday that members would remain on strike and invited Air Canada back to the table to “negotiate a fair deal”.

Canada’s largest airline now says it will resume flights on Monday evening. The strike was already affecting about 130,000 travellers around the world per day during the peak summer travel season.

The Canadian government on Saturday moved to end a strike by more than 10,000 flight attendants at the country’s largest carrier by asking the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to order binding arbitration.

The Canada Labour Code gives the government the power to ask the CIRB to impose binding arbitration in the interest of protecting the economy. The CIRB issued the order, which Air Canada had sought, and unionised flight attendants opposed it.

It is unusual for a union to defy a CIRB order. It was not immediately clear what options the government has if the union continues its strike.

Air Canada flight attendants walked off the job on Saturday for the first time since 1985, after months of negotiations over a new contract.

Natasha Stea, an Air Canada flight attendant and local union president, told Reuters that other unions joined the flight attendants’ picket line in solidarity in Toronto on Sunday.

“They are in support here today because they are seeing our rights being eroded,” Stea said.

The most contentious issue has been the union’s demand for compensation for time spent on the ground between flights and when helping passengers board. Attendants are largely paid only when their plane is moving.

Workers are also unhappy with Air Canada’s proposed wage hikes and other compensation terms, which they see as insufficient to keep pace with inflation or match the federal minimum wage.

Aug. 16 (UPI) — Hours after Air Canada flight attendants went on strike and the airline indefinitely paused all flights, the Canadian government intervenued Saturday and ordered operations to resume.

Jobs Minister Patty Haju ordered the company’s management and the union back to participate in binding arbitration to hash out their differences on wages and compensation. It wasn’t known when flights will resume after opereations were paused early Saturday.

“After eight months of negotiations by the parties, and after meeting with both parties last night and urging them to work hard to reach a deal, it is disappointing to have to conclude today that Air Canada and CUPE flight attendants are at an impasse and remain unable to resolve their dispute,” she said in a statement released Saturday aftetnoon Eastern time.

“The government firmly believes that the best deals are reached by the parties at the bargaining table. It has now become clear that this dispute won’t be resolved at the table. Canadians are increasingly finding themselves in very difficult situations and the strike is rapidly impacting the Canadian economy.”

She invoked Section 107 of the Canadian Labor Code, which directs the Canadian Relations Board to arbitrate the dispute.

“I am exercising this authority because it is critical to maintaining and securing industrial peace, protecting Canadians and promoting conditions to resolve the dispute,” she said. “Despite the parties’ resolution of several key differences, the CIRB is best positioned to help them find a solution on the outstanding items.”

Also, she extended the terms of the existing agreement until a new one is determined by an arbiter.

“This decision will help make sure that hundreds of thousands of Canadians and visitors to our country are not impacted because of cancelled flights,” she said. “Further, the shipments of critical goods such as pharmaceuticals and organ tissue, over 40% of which are moved by Air Canada, should continue to reach their destinations.”

The Air Canada union asked her to direct the parties to enter into binding arbitration.

But on Saturday afternoon, the union blasted the order to end the strike and posted images and video stirkers.

“Now, when we are at the bargaining table with an obstinate employer, the Liberals are violating our Charter rights to take job action and give Air Canada exactly what they want — hours and hours of unpaid labor from underpaid flight attendants, while the company pulls in sky-high profits and extraordinary executive compensation.

“This sets a terrible precedent. Contrary to the Minister’s remarks, this will not ensure labor peae at Air Canada.”

More than 130,000 travelers worldwide fly on the airline daily.

Canada’s largest airline has more than 1,000 flights, including 170 international ones, and from 50 Canadian airports. Between more than 50 U.S. airports and Canada, there are 430 daily flights.

Locked out at 1:30 a.m. EDT were 10,000 flight attendants at Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees. Air Canada Express, with regional 300 flights and operated by Jazz Aviation and PAl Airlines, is not affected.

The flight attendants went on strike at 12:58 a.m. EDT.

Picket lines had been set up at airports throughout Canada, the CBC reported.

The last negotiations were on Friday night and no new talks were scheduled.

On Wednesday, the airline served the union a statutory 72-hour lockout notice in response to the union’s 72-hour strike notice.

Air Canada was canceling flights ahead of the work stoppage.

“The carriers have since been gradually reducing their schedules of about 700 daily flights to manage the labour disruption created by CUPE’s strike notice,” the airline said. “Some 130,000 customers will be impacted each day that the suspension continues. At this time, Air Canada remains engaged and committed to negotiate a renewal to its collective agreement with CUPE.”

The airline said it “deeply regrets the labor disruption is having on customers.”

Wesley Lesosky, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees’ Air Canada component, told the CBC it is up to the airline when they would be back on flights. The airline hadn’t responded to the media site.

Air Canada Chief Operating Officer Mark Nasr earlier said after an agreement, it could take up to a week to fully restart operations.

The carrier advised people not to go to the airport if they are booked on the airline.

“Air Canada will notify customers with imminent travel of additional canceled flights and their options,” the airline said. “For those customers due to travel soon whose flights are not yet cancelled, Air Canada has put in place a goodwill policy to allow them to rebook their travel or obtain a credit for future travel.”

Compensation differences

Flight attendants want to be compensated for work before the flights take off and after they land. Typically with most airlines, they get paid only for the hours they are in the air.

The airline, in its latest offer, proposes a 38% increase in total compensation that “would have made our flight attendants the best compensated in Canada.”

The union said a proposed 8% raise in the first year is offset by inflation.

Hajdu told The Canadian Press on Friday that it is “critical” for the two sides to return to the negotiating table.

“It’s very important that we stay focused on the two parties,” Hajdu said. “They have the primary responsibility to solve this. This is a corporation and a union who have all the tools they need, as well as tools from the federal mediation service, to get this deal done.”

On Friday, the minister said she wasn’t ready to intervene in the dispute, and saw a path forward to a deal because most issues have been resolved.

The union accused her of speaking “on behalf” of the company.

“Every party has expressed support for our effort to end unpaid work, except for the governing Liberal Party,” Lesosky said during a news conference Thursday.

Hajdu posted Friday on Facebook that she met with both sides.

“It is unacceptable that such little progress has been made. Canadians are counting on both parties to put forward their best efforts.”

Travel options

The carrier advised people not to go to the airport if they are booked on the airline.

“Air Canada will notify customers with imminent travel of additional cancelled flights and their options. For those customers due to travel soon whose flights are not yet cancelled, Air Canada has put in place a goodwill policy to allow them to rebook their travel or obtain a credit for future travel,” the airline posted.

Air Canada is partnered with Star Alliance, which includes more than 20 airlines, including Lufthansa and United Airlines. Code-sharing flights might be affected.

The New York Times listed ideas for travelers.

Travelers can change flight dates and receive a one-time $50 credit per passenger or opt for an airline credit equal to the value of the ticket for one year.

Travelers are eligible for a full refund requested through the app or website. The airline said it will attempt to rebook travelers on other airlines. Canada’s second-biggest airline is WestJet Airlines, though it has many fewer international destinations.

Because of peak summer travel, options may be limited.

Keelin Pringnitz and her family were returning from a European vacation to Ottawa, but were left stranded at Heathrow Airport in London.

“It was an end of my maternity leave kind of trip,” Pringnitz told CBC. “We went to the Faroe Islands and Norway, travelling through Air Canada to London.”

She said they could fly to the United States, but no assistance once they land there.

“It didn’t go over well with the line,” she said. “Nobody really seemed interested. Everybody seemed a little bit amused almost at the suggestion, or exasperated, because it is a bit ridiculous to offer to take stranded passengers to a different country to strand them there.”

For those with travel insurance, some plans include trip cancellations, including a strike.

The U.S. Department of Transportation, which has jurisdiction over Air Canada flights that depart from the U.S., has a similar policy like the Canadian government. Refunds must be given within 30 days and rebooked if possible. There is no mandatory compensation for delays.

“For U.S. travellers, the key now is to think strategically,” Anton Radchenko, AirAdvisor’s founder, said in a statement to USA Today. “Don’t just look for the fastest alternative route; look for the most stable one. This may mean flying via smaller, less congested hubs like Detroit or Minneapolis, where rerouting is easier, or securing refundable one-stop connections through partner airlines before seats vanish.

“Keep all receipts, track your communications with the airline, and, if possible, pay with a credit card that includes trip interruption coverage. Above all, treat this strike as a high-impact event that demands proactive planning, not reactive scrambling.”

Reuters

Why is Air Canada cancelling flights?

What led to the strike?

How has the government responded?

How long will the strike last?

What to do if your flight is cancelled?

Hundreds of flights have been grounded after Air Canada’s unionised flight attendants went on strike after talks over an increase in wages with the country’s largest carrier stalled.

“We are now officially on strike,” the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents Air Canada’s 10,000 flight attendants, said in a social media post just before 01:00 ET [05:00 GMT].

The airline said on Saturday it had suspended all flights for Air Canada and its budget arm Air Canada Rouge due to the strike, which is the first since 1985.

“About 130,000 customers will be impacted each day that the strike continues,” Air Canada said in a statement.

“Air Canada is strongly advising affected customers not to go to the airport unless they have a confirmed ticket on an airline other than Air Canada or Air Canada Rouge,” the airline added.

Flights for regional operators Air Canada Jazz and PAL Airlines would continue to operate.

Air Canada had announced its latest wage offer to flight attendants in a statement on Thursday, specifying that under the terms, a senior flight attendant would, on average, make CAN$87,000 ($65,000) per year by 2027.

CUPE has, however, described the airline’s offers as “below inflation (and) below market value”.

The union has also rejected requests from the federal government and Air Canada to resolve outstanding issues through independent arbitration.

In addition to wage increases, the union has said it also wants to address uncompensated ground work, including during the boarding process.

Rafael Gomez, who heads the University of Toronto’s Centre for Industrial Relations, told the AFP news agency that it is “common practice, even around the world” to compensate flight attendants based on time spent in the air.

He said the union had built an effective communication campaign around the issue, creating a public perception of unfairness.

An average passenger, not familiar with common industry practice, could think, “‘I’m waiting to board the plane and there’s a flight attendant helping me, but they’re technically not being paid for that work,’” he said, speaking before the strike began.

“That’s a very good issue to highlight,” Gomez further said, adding that gains made by Air Canada employees could affect other carriers.

On Saturday, flight attendants will picket major Canadian airports, where passengers have already been trying to secure new bookings earlier in the week, as the carrier gradually wound down operations.

Passenger Freddy Ramos, 24, told the Reuters news agency on Friday at Canada’s largest airport in Toronto that his earlier flight was cancelled due to the labour dispute and that he had been rebooked by Air Canada to a different destination.

“Probably 10 minutes prior to boarding, our gate got changed, and then it was cancelled and then it was delayed and then it was cancelled again,” he said.

Canadian businesses reeling from a trade dispute with the United States have urged the federal government to impose binding arbitration on both sides, which would end the strike.

In a statement issued before the strike began, the Business Council of Canada warned that an Air Canada work stoppage could add further pain.

“At a time when Canada is dealing with unprecedented pressures on our critical economic supply chains, the disruption of national air passenger travel and cargo transport services would cause immediate and extensive harm to all Canadians,” it said.

Air Canada has asked Prime Minister Mark Carney’s minority Liberal government to order both sides into binding arbitration, although CUPE, which represents the attendants, said it opposed the move.

Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge normally carry about 130,000 customers a day. Air Canada is also the busiest foreign carrier servicing the US by number of scheduled flights.

Air Canada, the country’s largest airline, started suspending flights on Thursday morning ahead of a potential strike by its flight attendants.

Hundreds of flights are expected to be cancelled by the end of the week if the flight attendants walk off their jobs as expected.

Air Canada and the flight attendants’ union have struggled to agree upon a deal that would increase compensation for the airline workers.

Here is what we know about the labour dispute and its potential consequences:

What is happening to Air Canada?

The Montreal-based airline has reached an impasse with the union representing more than 10,500 flight attendants in a dispute over compensation, despite eight months of negotiations. Both the company and the union have issued notices that disruptions to the airline’s services will begin on Saturday.

What services will be affected, and when?

Air Canada said it will reduce flights gradually over three days, starting with dozens of cancellations on Thursday and about 500 more by Friday evening. By 1am Toronto time (05:00 GMT) on Saturday, all flights will be halted.

Cargo services will also be affected, but Air Canada Express regional flights will operate as usual, as they rely on contracts with other airlines.

However, these partners handle only about 20 percent of Air Canada’s daily passengers. Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge, a subsidiary that offers low-cost flights, carry roughly 130,000 passengers a day.

In response to the walkout anticipated for early Saturday, Air Canada has announced its own “lockout”, a strategy that prevents employees from coming into work in order to force them to the negotiating table.

The airline has warned that once the lockout begins, about 1:30am Toronto time (05:30 GMT), it may not be able to quickly restore flights.

Mark Nasr, the chief operations officer for Air Canada, explained that a restart, “under the best circumstances, will take a full week to complete”.

Why are flight attendants striking?

Wages are the main sticking point in the negotiations.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) said its negotiators are unhappy with Air Canada’s proposed wage hikes and other compensation terms, and they have therefore turned down an offer to move the contract discussions into arbitration.

“For the past nine months, we have put forward solid, data-driven proposals on wages and unpaid work, all rooted in fairness and industry standards,” said Wesley Lesosky, president of the Air Canada component of CUPE, in a statement. “Air Canada’s response to our proposals makes one thing clear: they are not interested in resolving these critical issues.”

According to the union, the airline declined to raise flight attendant pay to meet industry standards, keep pace with inflation or match the federal minimum wage.

Since 2000, starting wages for flight attendants with Air Canada have risen only $3 per hour, while inflation has climbed 69 percent over the same period, the union explained.

We stand in solidarity with Air Canada flight attendants who are done with unpaid work and poverty wages!
📢 Fair pay. Dignity on the job. No more excuses!
Read more → https://t.co/YqVQEwTbpC#aircanadastrike

— CUPE Ontario (@CUPEOntario) August 12, 2025

Air Canada, however, said the union turned down a proposal sent on Monday that included a 38-percent pay increase over four years, along with other benefits and protections.

But the union disputed the benefits of that deal. Instead, it explained that the flight attendants suffered a 9-percent cut in their last contract, meaning that an 8-percent increase over the first year of the new deal is inadequate to recoup the costs.

“It is, in effect, a pay cut,” CUPE said in its statement.

The union also argues that Air Canada does not currently offer “ground pay”, an industry term that describes compensation given for all the services provided before a plane’s doors close.

That work can include assistance given to travellers in the airport, baggage handling and helping travellers get settled in their seats as the plane prepares to push back from the airport gate.

“[For] any of our federally regulated safety checks, which we do an hour before boarding, we are not compensated. We are not compensated for boarding and deplaning,” Shanyn Elliott, the chair of the CUPE strike committee, told the news outlet Global National.

“It averages about 35 hours a month that we are at work not paid.”

The union said that it is seeking full pay for all hours worked, along with cost-of-living increases.

Ground pay, also called “boarding pay”, has been a key issue in negotiations at US airlines as well, since many carriers do not compensate flight attendants at their hourly rate during crucial periods before or after the flight.

How many passengers will be affected, and what will they get in return?

The airline, which serves 64 countries with a fleet of 259 aircraft, said the shutdown poses “a major risk” to both the company and its employees. The disruption could impact 130,000 passengers each day, including 25,000 Canadians, during the height of the summer travel season.

Air Canada has nearly 430 daily flights between Canada and the US, reaching more than 50 US airports. It also provides domestic service to 50 Canadian airports and averages more than 500 daily flights.

The airlines said that passengers whose flights are cancelled will be notified and can receive a full refund online.

The airline has also arranged with other Canadian and international carriers to offer alternative travel options where possible. But it emphasised that some flight alternatives may not be feasible.

“Given other carriers are already very full due to the summer travel peak, securing such capacity will take time and, in many cases, will not be immediately possible,” the airline explained.

How has the government responded?

Air Canada has said it has sought government-directed arbitration to resolve the situation.

Under Canada’s Labour Code, the government’s labour minister has the power to intervene and trigger the imposition of a deal through the Canada Industrial Relations Board.

That, in turn, could force flight attendants back to work. The union has asked Canada’s PM Mark Carney “to refrain from intervening”. It argued that government action would tip the negotiations in Air Canada’s favour.

“Why would any employer bother negotiating if they know the government is going to bail them out when negotiations get tough?” the union wrote in a letter posted to social media.

Canada’s Labour Minister Patty Hajdu urged both sides to return to the bargaining table. “To be clear: deals that are made at the bargaining table are the best ones,” Hajdu said.

“I urge both parties to put their differences aside, come back to the bargaining table and get this done now for the many travellers who are counting on you,” she added.

Please see my statement on the latest development between CUPE Flight Attendants at Air Canada and Air Canada: pic.twitter.com/hqQJ5JDYkN

— Patty Hajdu (@PattyHajdu) August 14, 2025

Attendants union says there is still time to reach an agreement, as airline warns 100,000 passengers affected by Friday.

Air Canada says it is at an impasse with its negotiations with the union representing its flight attendants and has announced that it will be pausing all its flights on Saturday morning.

Air Canada said on Thursday it expects to cancel several dozen flights by day’s end and approximately 500 flights by the end of Friday, affecting 100,0000 passengers, in advance of a planned Saturday strike by its unionised flight attendants.

The Air Canada executives were speaking at a news conference that ended abruptly due to protests by union members donning placards.

Mark Nasr, chief operations officer at Air Canada, said the complexity of the carrier’s network, which operates more than 250 aircraft on flights to more than 65 countries, requires it to start winding down service now.

A strike would hit the country’s tourism sector during the height of summer travel and poses a new test for the governing Liberal government under Prime Minister Mark Carney, which has been asked by the carrier to intervene and impose arbitration.

Air Canada and low-cost carrier Air Canada Rouge carry about 130,000 customers a day. Air Canada is also the foreign carrier with the largest number of flights to the US.

US carrier United Airlines, a code-share partner of Air Canada, said it has issued a travel waiver to help customers manage their travel plans.

Half of hourly rate for hours worked

The dispute hinges on the way airlines compensate flight attendants. Most airlines have traditionally paid attendants only when planes are in motion.

But in their latest contract negotiations, flight attendants in North America have sought compensation for hours worked, including for tasks like boarding passengers and waiting around the airport before and between flights.

The union said Air Canada had offered to begin compensating flight attendants for some unpaid work, but only at 50 percent of their hourly rate.

The airline said it had offered a 38 percent increase in total compensation for flight attendants over four years, with a 25 percent raise in the first year.

Restarting Air Canada’s operations would take a week to complete, Nasr told reporters in Toronto.

“It’s simply not the kind of system that we can start or stop at the push of a button,” he said. “So in order to have a safe and orderly wind down, we need to begin down.”

FlightAware data shows Air Canada has, thus far, cancelled only four flights as of Thursday morning.

Earlier in the day, Canadian Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu urged the country’s largest carrier and union to return to the bargaining table to reach a deal that could avert disruptions.

“I understand this dispute is causing a great deal of frustration and anxiety to Canadians who are travelling or worrying about how they will get home,” she said in a statement posted on X. “I urge both parties to put their differences aside, come back to the bargaining table and get this done now for the many travelers who are counting on you.”

A spokesperson for the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents the carrier’s 10,000 flight attendants, said Air Canada negotiators are not bargaining and have not responded to a proposal they made earlier this week.

“We believe the company wants the federal government to intervene and bail them out.”

CUPE has previously said it opposes binding arbitration.

Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, chief human resources officer at Air Canada, said the carrier never left the table.

“We are still available to bargain at any time on the condition that the negotiation has substance,” she said.

The pay is nonexistent, but the perk could be viewing games in the U.S., Mexico and Canada for free during the FIFA World Cup next summer.

FIFA launched the application process for the World Cup volunteers Monday. How many are needed? A staggering 65,000 across the 16 cities that will host the expanded 48-team format over 39 days beginning June 11, the largest volunteer program FIFA has ever attempted.

“Volunteers are the heart, soul and smile of FIFA tournaments,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said. “They get to show off their local pride, gain a behind-the-scenes view of the tournament and make memories and friendships that can last a lifetime, while supporting a historic event.

“We hope interested individuals will join us as we welcome the world to North America in 2026.”

In addition to stadiums, volunteers will provide support across at training sites, airports and hotels.

FIFA estimates 6.5 million fans will attend the World Cup, with 3.7 million attending games in the U.S., 1.5 million in Mexico and 1.3 million in Canada. The 2022 final with Lionel Messi leading Argentina past Kylian Mbappé and France, drew a record 1.42 billion viewers, including 26 million in the U.S.

“The Super Bowl, which is fantastic, has what, 120-130 million viewers? The World Cup has 6 billion,” Infantino told Fox Sports in April. “A World Cup is 104 Super Bowls in one month.”

Volunteers in the past ranged from students to seniors. No experience is required but applicants must be at least 18 years old. Interested individuals can apply at fifaworldcup.com/volunteers.

Those whose applications are accepted will be invited to attend the Volunteer Team Tryouts, which are expected to begin in October. Training will take place in March 2026.

‘Volunteers are the heartbeat of FIFA events and champions of their host city — sharing their pride and passion with fans from all corners of the globe, welcoming visitors to experience the unique culture of their host city and supporting the extraordinary event that is a FIFA World Cup,” FIFA said in a statement.

Los Angeles is one of 11 U.S. host cities, with eight games scheduled at SoFi Stadium, including the U.S. team’s opener June 12. After playing its second match in Seattle on June 19, the U.S. will conclude group play at SoFi on June 25.

Included in the games to be played in Inglewood are two round-of-32 games and a quarterfinal. Only one venue — AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas — was awarded more games with nine.

“We’re happy with with how it turned out,” U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter said. “We look forward to being in L.A. [and] probably one of the best stadiums in the world and to get to play there twice in the group stage.”

Other U.S. hosts cities include Seattle, Houston, Kansas City, Atlanta, Boston, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, Miami and the San Francisco Bay area. Games in Mexico and Canada will be held in Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Toronto and Vancouver.

“FIFA changed my life,” longtime volunteer Craig Collins said on a video. “Why do I want to volunteer again? I can give back to an organization that has provided for me without knowing it.

Collins became the one-millionth person to join the FIFA volunteer community in April 2025.

“I’m excited to apply for the 2026 volunteer program and hope to show off my community to the world once more.”

We are midway through summer in the Northern Hemisphere, and we are witnessing another severe wildfire season. In May, wildfires were burning throughout Russia’s Far East. Last month, wildfires broke out throughout Turkiye, Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria. Fires continue in Portugal, France and Spain. In Canada, the blazes have not stopped since April.

Satellite data show that fires burn on average about 4 million square kilometres (1.5 million square miles) of the planet’s surface each year, including forests. And the number of wildfires is expected to increase by 50 percent by the end of the century.

There are two main reasons for the rise in wildfires.

First, the changing climate is driving protracted and frequent heatwaves and droughts that dry out forests, providing an immediate source of tinder and fuel. In a self-perpetuating cycle, wildfires themselves then billow carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing further to the climate crisis. Fires emitted an estimated 6,199 megatonnes of carbon dioxide globally in 2024.

Second, the way we live and use land today means we are increasingly encroaching on forests and elevating the risk of wildfires. Many of these fires are started by humans for different reasons – such as carelessness and clearing land for agriculture and settlements. And urban infrastructure is edging closer to nature, increasing the danger that fire poses to human lives.

There is no doubt that the costs of wildfires for people and the planet are immense. Wildfires destroy property, crops, businesses and livelihoods and can be especially devastating for developing countries.

But not all fires are bad.

Fires have been part of the Earth’s ecosystem for hundreds of millions of years, occurring naturally on every continent except Antarctica. They can help generate and stimulate the replenishment of ecosystems. They can clear away the layers of litter on the forest floor and add nutrients to the soil, allowing new shoots to grow that provide food for birds and animals. For some plant species, seeds even depend on fires to germinate.

Conducting controlled fires – often during cooler months – is a vital way for people to prevent destructive wildfires before they begin.

For many Indigenous peoples, prescribed burning has been an integral part of land management for millennia, helping to curb dangerous wildfires, encouraging ecological diversity and procuring food by promoting new growth and attracting grazing game animals.

A recent study into the return of Indigenous fire burning in Australia’s Kimberley region showed that the annual massive wildfires in the region had reduced to once-in-a-decade events since the practice was reintroduced by the traditional owners of the land.

The use of fire for sustainable resource management is also one of the recommendations that the organisation I work for, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, is recommending as part of its integrated fire management approach.

Other preventive measures against wildfires are also needed, and community engagement is a key strategy. The practical experience and knowledge held in communities must shape integrated fire management strategies and policies from the ground up. This is essential. Actively engaging communities in decision-making, leveraging local knowledge and practices, and building capacity for fire prevention, preparedness and control can reduce wildfire risks and build long-term resilience.

Another layer of defence is fire early-warning systems. By incorporating drought indices, local traditional knowledge of weather and climatic influences, such systems predict fire-danger conditions and help with planning well before the wildfire season.

Some fires are simply inevitable, however, and having better monitoring mechanisms to detect fires and an appropriate fire extinguishing capacity at the ready is necessary if we are to contain wildfires before they become dangerous. In this way, suppression action can happen before fires grow beyond the possibility of containment. Certain countries already do an excellent job of fire monitoring, but the practice is yet to become standard in others.

Maintaining biodiversity and diverse landscapes – rather than monotonous, fire-prone, human-created landscapes – can also reduce the risk of fire spreading and causing damage and loss.

People must learn to live harmoniously with nature, not simply bend it to their will. That means inappropriate development in fire-prone ecosystems must be discouraged, given that the building of new infrastructure adjacent to wild spaces may play a central role in causing wildfires.

These strategies may sound onerous, but they take up far fewer resources, not to mention fewer lives, than battling uncontrollable wildfires.

With the right measures, humans can coexist with fire.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

Ireland back row Brittany Hogan says the performance in Saturday’s final World Cup warm-up against Canada is more important than the result.

Canada are ranked second in the world and Ireland head into the game in Belfast off the back of a 27-21 comeback win over Scotland.

Scott Bemand’s side will face Japan, Spain and New Zealand in Pool C at the tournament in England.

“At the end of the day with the result, it’s another warm-up game but it’s another stepping stone towards a successful World Cup,” said Hogan, who is one of 10 Ireland changes for the game in Belfast.

“We’re going to be looking for a performance, and if that puts us on the right or wrong side of the scoreboard it’s not the be all and end all.

“We need to make sure we go through our processes and play our game.”

Ireland lost 21-8 to the Canadians in Vancouver in October in WXV1, and Hogan said the Irish were left “very frustrated” in a match that was closer than the scoreline suggested.

“We’re under no illusions that this is going to be a hard-fought match,” added Hogan.

“We are going to have to earn every single inch against them, and they are a physically dominant team, but we just have to match that.

“We did that when we played against them in Canada in WXV1. It’s about bringing our game awareness, knowledge and tactics into it too.”

Former Ireland internationals Lindsay Peat, Claire Small and Fiona Hayes will join presenter Nicola McCarthy and commentator Oisin Langan in Belfast from 11:50 BST on BBC iPlayer & BBC Two NI.

Trump’s sectoral tariffs on steel, aluminium and autos have hit the manufacturing sector hard and reduced hiring.

The Canadian economy lost tens of thousands of jobs in July, sending the share of people employed to an eight-month low as the labour market gave back the gains seen in the prior month.

The economy shed 40,800 jobs in July, compared with a net addition of 83,000 jobs in June, taking the employment rate, or the percentage of people employed out of the total working-age population, to 60.7 percent, Statistics Canada said on Friday.

The unemployment rate, however, remained steady at a multiyear high of 6.9 percent.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast the economy would add 13,500 jobs and the unemployment rate would tick up to 7 percent.

“Canada’s labour market snapped back to reality in July,” Michael Davenport, senior economist at Oxford Economics, wrote in a note.

United States President Donald Trump’s sectoral tariffs on steel, aluminium and cars have hit the manufacturing sector hard and reduced the hiring intentions of companies, the Bank of Canada has previously said.

The number of people employed in manufacturing shrank by close to 10,000 in July on a yearly basis as sectors linked to steel, aluminium and carmaking curtailed hiring and experienced layoffs.

Marty Warren, the United Steelworkers’ national director for Canada, told Reuters that about 1,000 members have been laid off.

Oxford Economics’s Davenport predicts more layoffs in the coming months, forecasting about 140,000 lost jobs and an unemployment rate rising to the mid-7 percent range later this year.

Employment in some areas has held up well despite tariffs, the data showed.

Overall, there has been little net employment growth since the beginning of the year, StatsCan said. The layoff rate was virtually unchanged at 1.1 percent in July compared with 12 months earlier.

The bulk of the job losses in July occurred among workers aged between 15 and 24 – that group’s unemployment rate edged up to 14.6 percent, the highest since September 2010, excluding the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.

Policy rate

The youth unemployment rate is usually higher than the country’s average.

The employment rate for this group, which accounts for about 15 percent of the total working-age population, sank to 53.6 percent, the lowest level since November 1998 if the pandemic years are excluded.

The Bank of Canada kept its key policy rate unchanged last week, partly due to a strong labour market, but indicated it might reduce lending rates if inflation stays under control and economic growth weakens.

“We are now a bit more confident in our view that the Bank of Canada will resume cutting next month, although a surprisingly strong CPI [Consumer Price Index] print next week could prompt another pause,” said Alexandra Brown, North America economist at Capital Economics.

Money market bets show the odds of a rate cut at the next monetary policy meeting on September 17 at 38 percent, up 11 percentage points from Thursday.

The information, culture and recreation sector lost 29,000 jobs last month, marking the biggest decline, followed by 22,000 lost jobs in construction and 19,000 in business, building and other support services.

The average hourly wage of permanent employees – a gauge closely tracked by the Bank of Canada to ascertain inflationary trends – grew by 3.5 percent in July to 37.66 Canadian dollars ($27.4) per hour, against a 3.2 percent increase in the prior month.

Rugby World Cup warm-up: Ireland v Canada

Venue: Affidea Stadium, Belfast Date: Saturday, 9 August Kick-off: 12:00 BST

Coverage: Live on BBC iPlayer and website with live text commentary on the website and app

Ireland head coach Scott Bemand says their final warm-up game against Canada presents an “ideal opportunity” for his side to test themselves against a “World Cup contender”.

Canada are ranked second in the world and are in Pool B for the World Cup in England where they will face Scotland, Wales and Fiji.

Ireland will take on Japan, Spain and reigning champions New Zealand in Pool C and Bemand believes the Canada game will be good preparation for what is to come at the tournament.

“Them being number two in the world I think is well deserved. They have really taken their game up levels in the last four years and it is going to be a challenge, but we need that and we want a battle before we head into the World Cup,” he told BBC Sport NI.

“It is well-timed. We want to get our best performance out there to tee us up for the next six weeks.”

On a crisp spring morning in Brampton town of Canada’s Ontario province in May, Harjit Singh Dhadda meticulously tied his traditional sage green turban as he got ready for work.

He embraced his daughter Gurleen before leaving for his trucking insurance office in Mississauga near Toronto’s bustling Pearson international airport.

It was the last time Gurleen saw her 51-year-old father alive. As Harjit reached the car park of his office on May 14, two men confronted him. One of them pumped multiple bullets into Harjit’s body before fleeing in a stolen 2018 Dodge Challenger.

Harjit later died of his injuries at a local hospital.

Hours later, two men claimed responsibility for Harjit’s murder in a Facebook post, calling themselves members of a criminal gang led by Lawrence Bishnoi, an Indian national currently imprisoned at Sabarmati Central Jail in the western Indian state of Gujarat.

Barely a month after Harjit’s murder, a businessman in Surrey, British Columbia, and another in Harjit’s town, Brampton – both of Indian origin – were shot. Local authorities say the murders represent a disturbing expansion of criminal networks rooted in India into Canadian territory – led by India’s most notorious organised crime syndicate, the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.

Now, a growing number of political leaders in Canada want the federal government to act, demanding that the Bishnoi gang be declared a terrorist organisation.

‘Public safety must come first’

“The terrorist designation enables police to use the necessary tools to investigate and bring this activity to an end. It gives police significant investigative tools,” British Columbia’s Premier David Eby said in a statement on June 17.

In July, his Alberta counterpart, Daniel Smith, echoed that call. “Formally designating the Bishnoi Gang as a terrorist entity will unlock critical powers, allowing law enforcement agencies to access the necessary tools and resources needed to disrupt operations and protect our people effectively,” Smith said in a Facebook post on July 14.

Alberta’s Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis said there was credible intelligence indicating the involvement of the Bishnoi gang in extortion and targeted violence in the province and elsewhere in Canada. “The gang originates from India, and ongoing investigations are examining why they are specifically targeting the South Asian community,” Ellis told Al Jazeera in a statement.

Jody Toor, a lawmaker from the Conservative Party in the British Columbia Legislature, and Brampton city Mayor Patrick Brown have also supported designating the Bishnoi gang a terrorist organisation.

The Canadian federal government has suggested that it is examining these demands. “There is precedent for criminal organisations being designated this way, and I fully support a thorough, evidence-based approach,” Secretary of State for Combating Crime Ruby Sahota told Al Jazeera. “Public safety must come first, and if a group meets the criteria, it should be listed without delay.”

Amarnath Amarasingam, a researcher on extremism and an associate professor at Queen’s University in Ontario, said that listing the Bishnoi group as a terrorist organisation would significantly broaden law enforcement powers. It would allow law enforcement agencies to pursue terrorism-related charges, criminalise recruitment or financial support for the group, seize and freeze assets, and give them greater surveillance powers.

Canadian officials had, in 2024, accused the Bishnoi gang of acting at the behest of Indian intelligence agencies to target critics of the Indian government on their soil.

“A terrorist designation would send a strong signal to India and other allies that Canada is taking the transnational threat seriously. It would also increase information-sharing opportunities with global partners,” Amarasingam told Al Jazeera. Those partners include the Five Eyes alliance, which also includes the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

A terrorist tag could strengthen Canadian requests for arrests through organisations like Interpol, too, he added. It could trigger sanctions against the gang, allowing the government to institute travel bans, visa denials and financial blacklisting of associates and funders.

But he warned that listing the group as a terrorist organisation could have its downsides. While clearly involved in criminal activity, the Bishnoi gang doesn’t appear to have political, religious or ideological objectives – traditionally the bar that listings have needed – he said.

“Using terrorism powers to target a group that lacks this motivation could set a dangerous precedent, weakening the credibility of Canada’s listing process and lowering the threshold, opening the door for future political misuse,” Amarasingam said.

An Indian intelligence asset?

But the Bishnoi gang is no ordinary criminal syndicate, according to Canadian officials.

In recent years, the Indian government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has faced allegations that its intelligence agents have been attempting to carry out targeted assassinations of Sikh separatists overseas, especially in Canada and the US.

Canada is home to about 770,000 Sikhs, who make up 2.1 percent of its population – their largest number outside India. Many of them moved to Canada in the 1980s when Indian forces launched a violent crackdown on alleged supporters of a movement demanding a separate Sikh homeland, Khalistan, to be carved out of the northern Indian state of Punjab. India describes such separatists as “terrorists”.

It was the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, outside a Sikh temple on June 18, 2023, that pushed Bishnoi and his gang to the centre of a bitter diplomatic war between Canada and India.

In October that year, then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that Indian diplomats were collecting intelligence on “Canadians who are opponents or in disagreement with the Modi government” and that the intelligence reached “criminal organisations like the Lawrence Bishnoi gang to then result in violence against Canadians on the ground”.

Trudeau and his government directly blamed the Modi government for Nijjar’s assassination. Nijjar was a prominent supporter of a Khalistani state.

But New Delhi, while rejecting these allegations, has insisted that it has sent more than two dozen extradition requests to Canada, seeking Ottawa’s help in getting Bishnoi gang members back to India to face “due legal action”. And it says that Canada hasn’t acted on its request.

As Canada and India trade allegations, many in the Indian origin community are dealing with mounting insecurity. Could they be the next target of the Bishnoi group?

‘Threatening call’

Over three decades, Harjit, a Sikh entrepreneur, had built a life that resembled a Canadian immigrant success story.

He ran a company called G&G Trucking Solutions – a consultancy firm that advised its clients on how to start and run a trucking company, and was a commercial insurance broker as well. His business expanded to Calgary and Edmonton, in Alberta, and he had nearly 30 employees.

Then, on December 10, 2023 – his birthday – he received a phone call from someone who identified himself as an Indian gangster, his daughter Gurleen recalled. The caller demanded 500,000 Canadian dollars ($361,000) in extortion money and threatened dire consequences if the money wasn’t paid. Harjit refused to pay and informed law enforcement authorities.

“He told me about the threatening call,” Gurleen, a 24-year-old business student at York University in Toronto, told Al Jazeera.

After the threatening call, Harjit changed his daily routine and began operating his business mostly from home. But eventually, he resumed meetings with clients in his office, his daughter said.

On May 14, Gurleen received a call from her father’s office. He had been shot.

“I rushed to the office. There were bullet casings scattered everywhere. Police had cordoned off the entire area. My father was rushed to the hospital, he later succumbed to his injuries,” said Gurleen.

Police have arrested three men – identified as Aman and Digvijay, both 21, and Shaheel, 22 – as suspects. But Harjit’s family says law enforcement have only scratched the tip of the iceberg.

“Police merely arrested three kids. But who orchestrated this? I wanted to know the man behind my father’s killing,” said Gurleen.

Meanwhile, two men – Rohit Godara and Goldy Brar – who called themselves members of the Bishnoi gang, posted on Facebook that they had killed Harjit. They claimed that Harjit had helped a rival gang and was involved in a murder in India – allegations that the family denies. Police have not confirmed whether they believe the Bishnoi gang was behind Harjit’s killing.

On June 12, 2025, another Indian-origin businessman, Satwinder Sharma, was shot in Surrey, British Columbia. An Indian origin gangster, Jiwan Fauji claimed responsibility for the murder. Indian police have labelled Fauji an alleged member of Babbar Khalsa International, a banned Khalistani outfit. Sharma’s family did not respond to an Al Jazeera request for an interview.

A little over a week later, on June 20, Brampton-based businessman, MP Dhanoa, was shot down. Again, Godara and Brar claimed responsibility on behalf of the Bishnoi gang in a Facebook post.

Harjit, Sharma and Dhanoa have no known links to the Khalistani movement.

But gang leader Lawrence Bishnoi, apart from his crime network, has presented himself as a Hindu nationalist in interviews from jail, and some supporters of Modi’s Hindu majoritarian Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government have spoken of how the gangster had scared Khalistan supporters.

Rise to notoriety

Indian police officials say that Bishnoi, 32, controls more than 700 sharpshooters who carry out murders and extortion globally. And he does this from behind bars, shuffling between various prisons for nearly a decade now.

Bishnoi and Brar gained wide notoriety in May 2022, when the gang murdered prominent Punjabi singer and rapper Sidhu Moosewala in Punjab. Police said Brar allegedly orchestrated Moosewala’s killing from Canada.

Ajai Sahni, executive director of the New Delhi Institute for Conflict Management, said establishing a command chain – and even defining what constitutes a gang – isn’t easy with transnational groups. “Any incident executed in India can be claimed by Bishnoi gang members in Canada or in the US, and vice versa through unverifiable social media accounts,” Sahni told Al Jazeera. He suggested that in such cases, even surveillance records against suspects might not suffice as strong enough legal evidence.

Sanjay Verma, former Indian high commissioner – Canada expelled him after Trudeau’s allegations in 2023 – said last year that India had shared information about Brar’s presence in Canada with Ottawa.

In 2024, Bishnoi’s gang claimed responsibility for the murder of a 66-year-old politician, Baba Siddique, in Mumbai’s Bandra area. Two members of the Bishnoi gang were also arrested for firing outside the Mumbai residence of popular Bollywood actor, Salman Khan.

Gurmeet Singh Chauhan, deputy inspector general of the Anti-Gangster Task Force in India’s Punjab, advocates for a joint data-sharing mechanism between countries affected by criminal gangs, like Bishnoi.

“If we have any evidence, it should be promptly shared with our Canadian counterparts, who must investigate it without delay and keep us informed. Crime is crime – no matter where it occurs in the world,” Chauhan told Al Jazeera. “There is a very thin line between organised crime and terrorism. These networks can be exploited for terrorist activities at any time, anywhere in the world.”

The Bishnoi group has also claimed responsibility for attacks on the homes of two prominent Punjabi singers, AP Dhillon and Gippy Grewal, in British Columbia, over the past two years, as its empire of fear has expanded from Mumbai to Mississauga. And on August 7, an alleged Bishnoi gang member claimed responsibility for gunshots fired at a cafe in British Columbia owned by Indian comedian Kapil Sharma.

‘They could execute me’

Satish Kumar, a 73-year-old businessman in Surrey, British Columbia who migrated to Canada 45 years ago, says he lives in constant fear.

Kumar is the president of Lakshmi Narayan Temple in Surrey, a prominent religious site for Hindus.

Earlier this year, he received a phone call from a man who identified himself as Godara, the Bishnoi associate who – along with Brar – claimed responsibility for the killings of Harjit and Dhanoa. “He demanded two million Canadian dollars [$1.45m] as extortion,” Kumar told Al Jazeera, adding that he blocked the number.

Later he reported the call to the police, after receiving threats from other numbers. “They sent multiple voice notes on May 28, 2025, threatening to kill me and harm my business premises, but I blocked the numbers”, said Kumar.

Then, the threats turned to bullets.

On June 7, men allegedly belonging to the Bishnoi gang fired shots at various buildings owned by Kumar. “The gang members filmed the shootings at three of my premises and sent me the footage, but I refused to pay extortion,” he said.

Kumar said he was frustrated with what he called an “inadequate response” by the Canadian police. “They [gangsters] could execute me at any moment. I still receive calls from them. My family is under constant stress,” he told Al Jazeera.

As attacks escalate, the South Asian community in Surrey and Brampton has been campaigning for more safety on social media, uploading videos of various shootings in the two cities. Since 2003, gang-related homicides in British Columbia have climbed from 21 percent to 46 percent of all homicides in 2023, according to the provincial police.

“During work, I can momentarily forget about these gangs,” Kumar said. “But once I finish my work, then it’s there – this fear.”

Blazes across several Canadian provinces and territories pose health risks to Canadians and their southern neighbours.

Smoke from wildfires burning in Canada has triggered air quality alerts over the border in the United States.

Several blazes continued to rage across Canada on Saturday, sending smoke wafting over several states in the US Midwest and bringing warnings of unhealthy air for at least the third day.

Air quality alerts were in effect in the US states of Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, as well as eastern Nebraska and parts of Indiana and Illinois.

Conditions were especially dire in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with the Switzerland-based air quality monitoring database IQAir reporting that the US city had some of the worst air pollution in the world since Friday.

The Air Quality Index (AQI), a system used to communicate how much pollution is in the air, is expected to reach the red or unhealthy category in a large swath of Minnesota, and will likely remain so through Saturday.

“We’ve sort of been dealing with this, day in and day out, where you walk outside and you can taste the smoke, you can smell it,” said Joe Strus, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area.

Forecasters warned that smoky skies would remain across the Midwest for much of Saturday, but could start to dissipate before spreading as far south as Tennessee and Missouri.

The poor air quality poses particular risks for people with lung and heart conditions, as well as children, the elderly and pregnant women.

This is not the first time that Canadian wildfires have prompted air quality alerts in the US and further afield. In 2023, a record early wildfire season sent smoke across the Atlantic into northern Europe.

On Saturday, the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre reported “out-of-control” blazes in the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario, as well as in Yukon and the Northwest Territories.

The centre said that 717 fires were active across the country.

Environment Canada also said “extremely high” levels of air pollution were present in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and the Northwest Territories, according to a report by The Canadian Press news agency.

Areas in British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec were also under air-quality watch, though risks to health were reportedly lower.

Environment Canada said reduced visibility and poor air quality would persist into Sunday.