Alex Ballingall

With more than $60 billion in new spending, the Liberal government was searching for a way to rake in more revenue to pay for it all.

Speaking in Toronto, Premier Doug Ford said Honda's investment in Alliston, Ont. would dwarf the massive Stellantis electric vehicle battery factory in Windsor and the even larger Volkswagen project in St. Thomas.

Honda has agreed to establish a new, multibillion-dollar electric vehicle operation in Ontario, according to government sources.

The statement comes several weeks after federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson warned Saskatchewan households could lose the rebates.

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau intensified his criticism of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on Wednesday, when he linked his main challenger for power with an American conspiracy theorist who infamously spread lies about the mass murder of schoolchildren. Trudeau delivered the broadside at a news conference in Oakville, when he was asked about a video circulating online in which Poilievre is shown telling people at an anti-carbon price demonstration that everything the prime minister says is “bulls—t.” In his answer, Trudeau alluded to how disgraced American conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has endorsed Poilievre as the “real deal,” and claimed Poilievre shares Jones's unfounded views about an “anti-human globalist agenda” — something the Liberal party seized upon in recent online attack ads against Poilievre. Trudeau went further Wednesday in highlighting Jones's controversial falsehoods — for which he was ordered to pay more than $1 billion in damages to victims' families — about the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, when a gunman killed 26 people, most of them young children, at an elementary school in Connecticut. In 2022, Jones was ordered to pay more than $1 billion in damages to the victims' families after they sued him for defamation. “Every politician has to make choices about what kind of leader they want to be,” Trudeau said Wednesday. “Are they the kind of leader that is going to exacerbate divisions, fear and polarization in our country, make personal attacks and welcome the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists? Because that's exactly what Pierre Poilievre continues to do.” He added Poilievre “refuses to condemn and reject the endorsement of Alex Jones. Alex Jones is a proven liar and conspiracy theorist who has to pay hundreds of millions of dollars because he lied about the Sandy Hook killing that killed 20 little kids. This is the kind of man who's saying Pierre Poilievre has the right ideas.” This shows, “he will do anything to win, anything to torque up negativity and fear,” Trudeau claimed. Asked why the Conservative leader has not denounced or rejected Jones's expression of support, Poilievre's spokesperson Sebastian Skamski said by email that the Conservatives “do not follow” or listen to Jones, and that the party is only working for the endorsement of “hard-working, everyday Canadians. “Unlike Justin Trudeau, we're not paying attention to what some American is saying,” Skamski wrote. His statement also said that, “if Justin Trudeau is concerned about extremism, he should look at parades on Canadian streets openly celebrating Hamas's slaughter of Jews on Oct. 7.” That was an apparent reference to controversial demonstrations over the ongoing war in Gaza, including a recent one on Parliament Hill that sparked a police probe, in which a man on a megaphone was recorded praising the Hamas massacre of Israeli civilians that killed more than 1,200 people. During the ensuing war, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza strip, according to local health officials. In his email, Skamski said the video circulating online was made when Poilievre was travelling in Atlantic Canada and “noticed an anti-carbon tax protest” on the side of the highway. The Conservative leader made the “impromptu” decision to stop and speak with the people there, Skamski said. The video also showed a “F— Trudeau” flag at the demonstration, as well as an image drawn on a trailer door of what appeared to be the Diagolon flag — the symbol of an online group that was also found on body armour and weapons seized at a border blockade in Alberta during the 2022 “Freedom Convoy” crisis. In September 2022, Poilievre said he had never heard of Diagolon and denounced the group as “odious” after its founder, online provocateur Jeremy MacKenzie, said during an online broadcast that he wanted to sexually assault the Conservative leader's wife. This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. End of dialog window. This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. Anyone can read Conversations, but to contribute, you should be a registered Metroland account holder. If you do not yet have a Metroland account, you can create one now (it is free). To join the conversation set a first and last name in your user profile. Sign in or register for free to join the Conversation

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau intensified his criticism of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on Wednesday, when he linked his main

OTTAWA—Proceedings in the House of Commons descended into chaos Tuesday as Conservative MPs walked out in a show of defiance after their leader, Pierre

Describing how politics has grown so “toxic” that she is often afraid to appear in public, Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she will not seek re-election..

Speaker Greg Fergus is rejecting calls for his resignation after he ejected Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre from the House of Commons on Tuesday for calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a “wacko” — and then refusing to withdraw the remark.