‘No standing back’ in Afghanistan, minister says after Trump NATO comments
Global News
Canadian officials and world leaders are condemning Trump for claiming troops from NATO-allied nations 'stayed a little back' from the front lines in Afghanistan.
Canada’s defence minister said Friday “there was no standing back” by Canadian forces from the front lines in Afghanistan after U.S. President Donald Trump downplayed NATO allies’ involvement in that war.
Defence Minister David McGuinty was the latest federal official to push back on Trump’s comments in an interview aired Thursday night, in which he claimed troops from allied nations “stayed a little back” from the front lines in Afghanistan. World leaders have also condemned the remarks.
“There was no standing back. Only standing side by side, together on the front lines with our allies,” McGuinty said in a statement provided by his office.
“From 2001-2014, Canada joined allies in the fight against terror in Afghanistan. CAF men and women were on the ground from the beginning, not because we had to, but because it was the right thing to do. Canadian troops led allied efforts in the perilous Kandahar Province. Combat operations were regular duty, demanding sacrifice from our soldiers.
McGuinty went on to point out that “158 of our personnel, along with a Canadian diplomat paid the ultimate price.
“Lest we forget.”
Trump has repeatedly questioned in recent weeks whether NATO would come to the aid of the U.S. if attacked while defending his push to acquire Greenland from Denmark, a NATO ally.
He made the same argument in the interview with Fox News on Thursday, but went further by saying the U.S. has never needed help from the transatlantic military alliance.
Ottawa Fire Services said they received multiple calls around 9:30 p.m. Saturday about a fire with people trapped in a high-rise building in the 300 block of Somerset Street West.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre proposed a tariff-free auto pact with the U.S. to revive Canada’s auto sector, at a press conference in Windsor, Ont. on Sunday.
The vice-president of the St. John's Junior Hockey League, says the violent game was an isolated incident and officials have since handed out suspensions to 18 players and coaches.
Alberta RCMP say just before 3 p.m. Saturday, a pickup truck pulled up beside a Honda Civic on Highway 2 and fired a weapon, resulting in the death of a driver.
Two men face charges ranging from mischief to assault and harassment following Saturday's Al Quds Day march in Toronto. Police say the suspects were counter-protesters.
Snow is continuing to fall in parts of Ontario, B.C. and Quebec, with heavy rain and freezing rain expected in some communities in the Maritimes and Ontario.
As demand for syrup has surged in recent years, Quebec's maple industry is evolving too, adding millions of new taps and turning to automation and better technology.
Prime Minister Mark Carney is concluding his time in Norway meeting with that country’s prime minister, along with the leaders of Denmark, Iceland, Sweden and Finland.
Two people have been charged with first-degree murder after the remains of Masood Masjoody, reported missing in February, were discovered in Mission, B.C., police say.
A man and a teenage boy have died after a shooting in Winnipeg’s North End, and police are asking the public for information as the homicide investigation continues.
When you walk into the Club Pays coffee shop in Montreal, the first thing you see are the posters with Quebec sovereignty slogans plastered on every wall.
Police have identified the woman found dead inside a north Toronto home as 60-year-old Xian Wei Shao. She is believed to be Toronto's fourth homicide victim of 2026.
Ontario's public safety regulator has laid charges against the operator of a Scarborough trampoline park following a zipline accident in January that sent a boy to hospital.