In the news today: Most Canadians would back Harris in U.S.: poll

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed…

Most Canadians would back Harris in U.S.: poll

If Canadians could vote in the U.S. election, a majority would choose to send Kamala Harris to the White House.

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In a new survey from polling firm Leger, 64 per cent of Canadian respondents said if they could cast a ballot, they’d put their support behind vice-president Harris while 21 per cent would support former president Donald Trump. Fifteen per cent weren’t sure what they would do.

Those who intend to vote Conservative in the next Canadian election were split on where their hypothetical ballot would land. Forty-five per cent would back Trump while 42 per cent said they’d vote for Harris.

Canadians 55 and older, Quebecers and women were more likely to support Harris.

The razor-thin race to the Oval Office is less than two weeks from the finish line following a tumultuous campaign season that saw President Joe Biden remove his name from the Democratic ticket, a surge of support around Harris and two assassination attempts on Trump.

Here’s what else we’re watching…

Canadian consensus on immigration under threat

Immigration Minister Marc Miller says Canada’s long-held consensus on immigration is under threat, but has not disappeared.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced plans to slash Canada’s immigration targets by 20 per cent next year and admitted his government did not get the balance right after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre accused the Liberals of trying to correct course after destroying the national consensus on immigration Conservatives and Liberals have held for 150 years.

He says attitudes toward immigrants have soured thanks to the policies of the last several years, as Liberals ramped up the number of permanent residents and the number of temporary residents ballooned.

Miller says concerns about social cohesion and anti-immigrant sentiments exist in Canada, as they always have, and the new targets won’t entirely assuage people’s fears.

Retail gun buyback one step closer to beginning

The federal government is giving Canada Post the ability to store and transport restricted firearms in new regulations that bring the retail gun buyback program one step closer to beginning.

An order in council dated Oct. 16 allows for restricted assault-style firearms to be removed from safes, transported and ultimately destroyed.

More than 1,500 models of firearms were restricted in May 2020 after a mass shooting in Nova Scotia left 23 people dead, including the gunman.

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc has said the long-promised buyback program would begin this fall.

First, the government will buy restricted firearms from retail stores and have them destroyed, before a buyback for people who own restricted weapons begins next year.

The Criminal Code amnesty for owning restricted assault-style firearms has been extended twice so far, and is now set to expire on Oct. 30, 2025.

Saskatchewan election campaign into final days

The Saskatchewan provincial election is just around the corner.

Voters who want to cast an early ballot have until the end of Saturday to do so.

Polls are closed on Sunday and the election is on Monday.

The Saskatchewan Party and NDP have spent much of the election campaign attacking each other’s records while pitching themselves as the best choice on key issues like health care, education and the economy.

Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe is set to speak to supporters in Regina today.

NDP Leader Carla Beck is also in the provincial capital with a media availability at the Co-op Refinery, before a stop in Martensville in the afternoon.

Sentencing hearing continues for UWaterloo stabber

The defence is set to continue its submissions at the sentencing hearing for a man who stabbed three people in a University of Waterloo gender studies class last year.

Geovanny Villalba-Aleman has pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault, one count of assault with a weapon and one count of assault causing bodily harm in the June 2023 attack.

Federal prosecutors have argued the offences amount to terrorism in this case because they were motivated by ideology and meant to intimidate the public, while provincial prosecutors told the court Thursday that the crimes were hate-motivated.

The provincial Crown cited Villalba-Aleman’s hateful remarks about feminists and members of the LGBTQ+ community among the aggravating factors the court must consider in the sentencing.

The defence is arguing that Villalba-Aleman was not motivated by hate toward a specific group, but by his belief that “left-wing thinking” stifled his freedom of speech.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 25, 2024.

The Canadian Press