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Canadians jihadists who left the country to fight for ISIS or Al-Qaeda and its offshoots in the Middle East are distinct from other radical Islamists and may be more amenable to rehabilitation and reintegration back into the Canadian society, according to a new report.

Alex Wilner, a terrorism expert at Carleton University in Ottawa and the lead author of the report published this week, by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, said it examines the phenomenon of Canadians joining and supporting terrorist organizations and militant movements associated with ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and other similar groups.

Wilner, who teaches International Affairs at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA), said he and his assistant, Irfan Yar, developed a dataset of Canadian Islamist radicalization in order to provide a detailed sketch of Canadian jihadists and their supporters spanning a decade between 2006 and 2017.

Using open sources - media, government and academic reports - Wilner and Yar were able to find 95 such individuals with ties to Canada.

Uniquely Canadian jihadists?

As ISIS loses its territory and moves underground, questions arise about how to deal with Canadians with links to the group. (THE CANADIAN PRESS)

They also examined existing literature and data on European and U.S. radicalization and compared it to Canadian findings.

“What we found was that the Canadians, generally speaking, are older, they’re more educated, they have less criminal motivation before the radicalization process, they’re more ethnically diverse than their European and American counterparts,” Wilner said.

“I think there is enough evidence there to suggest that there is a Canadian type or a larger Canadian biographical characteristic that informed this process that is distinct from the European and American models.”

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The average age of Canadian jihadists identified by the study was 27, he said.

“When you compare that to the average age of many European cases, it’s quite a few years older,” Wilner said.

“And in terms of enrollment in post-secondary education, over half of our dataset had some enrollment in post-secondary education, including within CEGEP or university studies and graduate studies.”

A chance for rehabilitation?

A video was recently released of Toronto's Mohammed Abdullah Mohammed, after he was captured by Kurdish forces battling ISIS in Syria. (CBC)

The fact that Canadian extremist foreign travellers and foreign fighters are older augurs well for attempts to de-radicalize and rehabilitate them upon their return to Canada, Wilner said.

“There is corroborating evidence in terrorism studies suggesting that motivation in political violence wanes as you get older,” Wilner said. “It’s very much a young person’s activity, not exclusively but often it is.”

The flip side of that coin is that because these Canadian jihadists are older and better educated than their European counterparts, they are also well-suited to assume leadership positions in the global jihadist movement, Wilner acknowledged.

“We know that Canadians have been leaders in certain very dramatic, very damaging terrorist attacks,” he said.

“But all in all, the data would suggest that by and large there is at least potential for an opening for a very unique and a very Canadian-oriented repatriation and rehabilitation process that would be distinct from Belgian or German or American case because we have a Canadian narrative in this phenomenon and you would assume that our response should also have this Canadian lens to it.”

A Canadian conservation group says more research into the impact of vessel traffic on narwhal and other marine life is needed before a regulator in the Arctic territory of Nunavut allows a mining company to expand its production at one of the world’s northernmost iron ore mines.

The Baffinland Iron Mines Corp., which operates the Mary River mine site on Baffin Island, is looking at expanding its production from nearly six million tonnes of iron ore a year currently to 12 million tonnes a year.

Baffinland, a joint venture between Nunavut Iron Ore and ArcelorMittal, would like to see its production rising to 30 million tonnes per year by 2025.

However, that would mean a significant increase in vessel traffic to ship iron ore from northeastern Baffin Island to steel producers in Europe and elsewhere.

According to marine conservation group Oceans North, bulk cargo vessels and supply ships used by Baffinland made nearly 150 trips last summer to resupply the mine and transport over five million tonnes of iron ore.

Iron ore from the Mary River mine operated by Baffinland is loaded onto bulk carrier ships during the ice-free summer season in July through September (Baffinland/Youtube)

If the territorial regulator approves Baffinland’s plans for increased production at the mine, that would more than double the vessel traffic in the area, which until recently saw very little shipping, said Kristin Westdal, marine biologist for Oceans North.

Environmental group welcomes Baffinland’s decision to abandon icebreaking plans

Speaking to Radio Canada International by phone from Vancouver, British Columbia, Westdal said there is simply not enough data to figure out how this increased traffic will affect the population of the iconic narwhal that summer in the area.

"We need to take a precautionary approach,” Westdal said.

“If we don’t know exactly what might happen with this increased with vessel traffic, we need to slow down a minute and really try and understand with the current vessel traffic what those effects are and then try to extrapolate into the future what that might look like.”

A monitoring project

Kristin Westdal (L), Alex Ootoowak (C) Jefferson Killiktee (R) return to base after a successful deployment of multiple hydrophones in Lancaster Sound region (Photo courtesy of Josh Jones)

A monitoring project launched by Oceans North before the mine began its operations shows that the noise produced by vessels overlaps with some of the frequencies used by narwhals for their communications and that these animals might be exposed to almost continuous vessel noise during the short summer shipping season, Westdal said.

(Listen to the interview with Kristin Westdal)

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The project to monitor the impact of vessel traffic on marine life in the area began in 2014 because of concerns by the local hunters’ and trappers’ association in the Inuit community of Pond Inlet, in northeastern Baffin Island, Westdal said.

Narwhals, small Arctic whales with long spiralling tusks in males, are a key Arctic marine species and an important food source for local Inuit communities.

“At that time we weren’t sure when Baffinland was going to start doing any monitoring and if they were going to be able to get in there before the vessels actually started,” Westdal said. “We wanted to jump the gun and do some baseline monitoring before any of the large vessels showed up.”

The researchers wanted to get some basic data on the ambient noise levels and what effect ship noise was having on the narwhal that migrate through the area, she said.

Kristin Westdal, marine biologist with Oceans North Canada (L), Jefferson Killiktee (C) and Alex Ootoowak (R),

Interference by foreign “malign actors” in the upcoming federal election in Canada “is very likely,” Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Friday.

“We're, we are very concerned.  I think our judgement is interference is very likely,” Freeland told reporters Friday. “And we think there has probably already, there have probably already been efforts by maligned foreign actors to disrupt our democracy.”

Freeland’s comments on the sidelines of a G7 meeting in France are the latest warning from the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the treat by foreign actors such as Russia, China and others to meddle in the Oct. 21 federal election.

“What I think we're seeing is something that is happening in many liberal democracies, which is the effort is not so much to secure a particular outcome in an election, the effort is to make our societies more polarized and to make us as citizens of democracies, more cynical about the very idea that democracy exists and that it can work,” speaking at a media freedom event on the sidelines of a G7 foreign ministers meeting in France.

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While Freeland did not specifically mention Russia in her comments, speaking to reporters in Toronto, Trudeau was more blunt.

"We have seen over the past number of years an increase in the interference or the implication of foreign actors in democratic processes," Trudeau said. "We saw very clearly that countries like Russia are behind a lot of divisive campaigns, divisive social media."

Best defence is aware citizenry, says Freeland

The top diplomats of the G7 nations – Canada, France, Japan, Germany, Britain, Italy and the U.S., as well as the European Union – are meeting in Dinard, Brittany, where they are expected later to agree on common norms that would seek to prevent foreign powers from destabilizing democratic nations.

Canada has already introduced a number of measures to prepare the country to fight foreign interference in the upcoming election, Freeland said.

“A very important one is just to be sure that Canadians are aware of the danger,” Freeland said. “One of the things we've learned, especially from talking to our friends in the Baltic States and in Ukraine is that probably the most important and most powerful defence is an aware citizenry.”

During Canada’s chairmanship of the G7 last year, Ottawa spearheaded the creation of “a rapid response mechanism to help all of us identify efforts to interfere in our democracies and to support one another where we see those efforts,” Freeland said.

Need for deterrence strategy

Britain's Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and human rights lawyer Amal Clooney attend a news conference on media freedom as part of the G7 Foreign Ministers' meeting in Dinard, France, April 5, 2019. (Stephane Mahe/REUTERS)

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said it was imperative for liberal democracies to tackle interference by Russia and others.

“We know that states like Russia have got a very active, planned, thought-through strategy to interfere in democratic processes in Western countries and [to sow] dissension and chaos wherever they can,” Hunt said.

“We are getting much better at fending off these attacks when they happen. What we don't do at the moment is deter them from happening in the first place.”

He said the discussions at the G7 on Friday would be aimed at finding a deterrence strategy that imposed a high price for meddling with democratic processes.

Russia’s has strenuously denied interfering in elections in Western countries and has instead accused the West of interfering in Russian politics through direct funding of a number of international and local NGOs,

Former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould was booted out of the Liberal caucus Tuesday despite writing a passionate plea to her party colleagues defending her stance in a political scandal that has hobbled the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Trudeau expelled Wilson-Raybould and former Treasury Board president Jane Philpott from the Liberal caucus, saying that trust with the two former cabinet ministers has been irreparably broken.

"The trust that previously existed between these two individuals and our team has been broken, whether it's taping conversations without consent, or repeatedly expressing a lack of confidence in our government or me personally as leader," he said.

"It's become clear that Ms. Wilson-Raybould and Dr. Philpott can no longer remain part of our Liberal team."

I have just been informed by the Prime Minister of Canada that I am removed from the Liberal caucus and as the confirmed Vancouver Granville candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada in the 2019 federal election. More to come...

— Jody Wilson-Raybould (@Puglaas) April 2, 2019

I ran to be a Member of Parliament for the purpose of improving people’s lives. Nothing will stop me from continuing in that pursuit. More details here: https://t.co/zSoLgR62j8

— Jane Philpott (@janephilpott) 2 April 2019

Earlier in the day Trudeau’s former right hand man released a series of documents designed to poke holes in Wilson-Raybould’s claims that she was moved to a less prestigious cabinet position because she stood up to pressure from the Prime Minister’s Office to intervene in a criminal case against Canadian engineering and construction giant SNC-Lavalin.

Wilson-Raybould resigned from cabinet in February following an explosive report by The Globe and Mail newspaper.

It alleged that she was moved to the less prestigious veterans affairs portfolio in January because she refused to bend to PMO pressure to override the director of public prosecutions and offer SNC-Lavalin a remediation agreement instead of a criminal trial on corruption charges tied to Libya contracts.

'I'm not the one who tried to interfere'

Former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould testified before a parliamentary hearing into what is being called a case of improper interference into a legal case against SNC-Lavalin . (Adrian Wyld/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

In her testimony to the House of Commons Justice Committee last month Wilson-Raybould, the first Indigenous Canadian to hold the position of justice minister and attorney general, said she felt inappropriate pressure from the PMO and other officials to intervene in the SNC-Lavalin case.

She also reiterated her belief that her demotion to veterans affairs minister was retribution for her principled stance in protecting the independence of the office of the public prosecutor.

Last week she also released a recording of her conversation with the former Clerk of the Privy Council about the SNC-Lavalin affair as another proof of the pressure she faced.

Former attorney general recorded conversation as she faced pressure over SNC-Lavalin file

Canada’s top bureaucrat resigns amid SNC-Lavalin controversy

The seemingly unending political scandal has seriously undermined Liberal chances of re-election in the upcoming federal elections later this fall.

In her letter to her Liberal colleagues, Wilson-Raybould wrote that she understands their anger and frustration.

"I am angry, hurt and frustrated because I feel and believe I was upholding the values that we all committed to,” she wrote. “In giving the advice I did, and taking the steps I did, I was trying to help protect the prime minister and the government from a horrible mess."

As Nunavut celebrates the 20th anniversary of becoming Canada’s northernmost territory, Premier Joe Savikataaq says he wants people in the rest of the country and outside its borders to remember that it is not just an expanse of frozen land and sea.

“We’re up here!” Savikataaq told Radio Canada International. “It’s not just a big wilderness here. We have 25 communities, we’re proud Canadians, we’re resilient and we adapt to climate change and we just want to be treated as equals within Canada.”

Nunavut, which means “Our Land” in Inuktitut, was created on April 1, 1999, when the sprawling northern territory that covers an area of nearly 2 million square kilometres separated from the Northwest Territories (NWT) to become Canada’s third northern territory with its own capital Iqaluit.

“I think the biggest achievement is the fact that our current governments they’re closer to the people now and they’re more responsive to the people’s wants and needs than back when it was NWT and the government seemed like it was so far away from the people,” Savikataaq said.

“We have our Inuit language protection act and any of our laws and legislation or policies have to align with Inuit society values.”

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About 80 per cent of the region’s nearly 38,000 residents are Inuit.

Functioning government and legislature

The Nuvanut Legislature is seen Saturday, April 25, 2015 in Iqaluit, Nunavut. (Paul Chiasson/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Aluki Kotierk, president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., said the creation of Nunavut and its accomplishments have to be seen in the context of the 1993 Nunavut Agreement.

The Nunavut Agreement, the largest land claims agreement in Canadian history signed after nearly two decades of negotiations, set the groundwork for the creation of the territory. Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. was set up to manage the implementation of the agreement.

“Article 4 stipulates the creation of the territory of Nunavut with its own legislative assembly and the government of Nunavut,” Kotierk said in a phone interview from Ottawa.

“When I look at it from that perspective, the mere creation of the territory of Nunavut, altering the map of Canada all very peacefully, is a great accomplishment in itself – that there is a functioning government, that there is a functioning legislative assembly I think are all very key accomplishments.”

The decentralized model of government, which allows to spread government jobs in other communities instead of concentrating all of the territorial bureaucracy in the capital Iqaluit, is another major accomplishment of the last 20 years, she said.

The number of Inuit working for the government has almost doubled, Savikataaq said.

Infrastructure deficit

A view of Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, Canada. The federal government has promised to spend $700 million over the next 10 years for Canada’s North, with money coming for post-secondary education in the North, new infrastructure and Arctic research. (Sean Kilpatrick/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

And the territory has built about 1,900 public housing units, Savikataaq said.

“We’re still short of what we need but we’ve built a lot of houses,” he said.

Still, Nunavut has to overcome tremendous challenges when it comes to basic infrastructure, social and health services, and education, Savikataaq said.

“Here in Nunavut we’re still far so behind in infrastructure that we’re not even at the start line that Canada has to do some nation-building, whether it be building ports, building roads into Nunavut, fibre optics into Nunavut, or upgrading the runways,” Savikataaq said, adding that the territory has a lot of catching up to the rest of Canada.

White supremacism and Islamophobia are among “the gravest threats” facing the world, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland told the United Nations Thursday.

The terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, on March 15, when a white supremacist terrorist killed 50 Muslim worshippers at two mosques underlined once again that tragic reality, Freeland said, addressing a UN Security Council debate on terrorism.

The attack in Christchurch was all too familiar to Canadians who had seen another terrorist kill six people in a Quebec City mosque two years ago, she said.

“Neo-Nazis, white supremacists, ‘incels,’ nativists and radical anti-globalists who resort to violent acts are a threat to the stability of my country and countries around the world,” Freeland said.

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No time for euphemisms

Candles are placed to commemorate victims of Friday's shooting, outside the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, Monday, March 18, 2019. Three days after Friday's attack, New Zealand's deadliest shooting in modern history, relatives were anxiously waiting for word on when they can bury their loved ones. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

These attacks need to be at the top of the global agenda during discussions on confronting global terrorism, Freeland added.

And when such violence does occur, the international community must not be afraid to specifically condemn it for what it is: Neo-Nazism, white supremacism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, terrorism, Freeland said.

“We cannot hide behind euphemisms that distract from the truth,” Freeland said. “In fact, doing so puts our citizens, especially those from religious minorities and racialized communities, in greater danger.”

In the wake of acts of terrorism carried out by Muslims, Western countries often call upon Muslim countries and Muslim leaders to condemn those attacks in the name of their people and their faith, she said.

“It should follow that, as the foreign minister of a majority-white and majority-Christian country, I feel a specific and personal responsibility to denounce white supremacist attacks in the same way,” Freeland said.

Collective effort is needed

Women wearing headscarves in solidarity with the victims of the mosque attacks are seen before Friday prayers at Hagley Park outside Al-Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand March 22, 2019. (Jorge Silva/REUTERS)

While hate is eternal, the way it spreads changes with time, she added.

The international community must keep a close watch on how hateful messages spread on the Internet through online forums and on social media, Freeland said.

This work cannot be undertaken in isolation, she added.

“Each of our countries will, of course, address this issue in different ways, but we need to recognize that this is ultimately an international problem, and we need to act collectively to address it,” Freeland said.

“The Internet and social media know no borders and so we must work together to find ways to address online radicalization.”

'We are family'

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern leaves after the Friday prayers at Hagley Park outside Al-Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand March 22, 2019. (Jorge Silva/REUTERS)

Freeland also took the opportunity to offer Canada’s support and compassion to the people of New Zealand.

“As fellow members of the Commonwealth, Canada and New Zealand have a close relationship, we are more than friends, we are family, and Canadians felt great compassion and real pain following the terrible attacks in Christchurch,” Freeland said.

“In particular, I’d like to salute the moral leadership of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern who has distinguished herself not only to the p...

Chinese officials pressured a Montreal-based human rights research institute affiliated with Concordia University to cancel a conference featuring a prominent exiled Uighur leader, says one of the organizers of the event.

Kyle Matthews, executive director of the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS) at Concordia University, said he received an email from the Chinese consul general in Montreal on Monday, asking him for an urgent meeting to discuss a planned conference on the Uighur minority in China.

While he chose to ignore the request and went ahead with the conference on Tuesday as planned, Matthews said he later found out that the consul general was also putting pressure on different people in Montreal to get Concordia University to annul the event.

“I think that’s problematic, it goes against freedom of speech, it goes against the right of universities to talk about complex issues and contemporary issues,” Matthews told Radio Canada International on Wednesday.

“This I think shows that a university event attracting 30 people was deemed to be a major foreign policy priority for the Chinese government to disrupt and try to end.”

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Wang Wenzhang, Chinese consul general in Montreal, could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Officials at the Chinese embassy in Ottawa did not respond to Radio Canada International’s request for comment in time for publication.

'A massive internment camp'

A perimeter fence is constructed around what is officially known as a vocational skills education centre in Dabancheng in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China September 4, 2018. This centre, situated between regional capital Urumqi and tourist spot Turpan, is among the largest known ones, and was still undergoing extensive construction and expansion at the time the photo was taken. (Thomas Peter/REUTERS)

Uighurs are a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority in northwestern China who accuse Beijing of religious and political persecution. Beijing, in turn, says Uighur dissidents are leading an Islamic separatist movement.

International human rights groups such as the Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, as well the UN have been sounding the alarm over the situation facing the Uighur minority in Xinjiang, Matthews said.

A UN panel of human rights experts said last August it had received many credible reports that one million ethnic Uighurs in China were being held in what resembles a “massive internment camp that is shrouded in secrecy.”

The institute was approached by the Uighur community in Canada to talk about the situation in Xinjaing, Matthews said.

Dolkun Isa, president of the Munich-based World Uighur Congress, was doing a tour of North America and was asked to speak at the event, Matthews said.

“A lot Uighurs have not heard from family members, UN diplomats have not been able to travel to see the situation, so we thought it was important to talk about this,” Matthews said.

“We talk about situations related to genocide, mass atrocity crimes, and gross human rights violations in many-many countries and we decided to have the president of the World Uighur Congress come and speak to us about what was happening in Xinjiang, China.”

A thorn in China's side

Ethnic Uighur people walk in front of a giant screen with a picture of Chinese President Xi Jinping in the main city square in Kashgar in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China September 6, 2018. (Thomas Peter/REUTERS)

Matthews said Beijing doesn’t like to talk about human rights and Chinese officials have dismissed what has been happening in Xinjiang as a counter-terrorism operation.

Other Canadian universities that have featured speakers critical of China’s policies in Xinjiang ...

A Filipino woman and her daughter who sheltered U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden while he went into hiding in Hong Kong in 2013 boarded a plane to Toronto Monday after Canada granted them asylum, according to a charity that sponsored the pair.

Ethan Cox, a spokesperson for the Montreal-based non-profit For the Refugees, said Vanessa Mae Rodel, 42, an asylum seeker from the Philippines, and her 7-year-old daughter, Keana Nihinsa, are expected to land at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport around 6 pm (2200 UTC) Monday.

“Vanessa and Keana are coming to Canada as privately sponsored refugees, sponsored by our non-profit, For the Refugees,” Cox said.

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They will then make their way to Montreal where they will be settled with help from For the Refugees.

The charity was set up in 2016 by a group of lawyers in Montreal to support three refugee families also known as “Snowden’s angels,” Cox said.

Rodel and five other asylum seekers sheltered Snowden, at the request of their Canadian-born immigration lawyer Robert Tibbo.

The former National Security Agency contractor retained Tibbo after he revealed his identity as the whistleblower who exposed the U.S. government’s Prism surveillance program.

Snowden, who at that point had become the most-wanted man for U.S. security services, lived with refugee families from the Philippines and Sri Lanka for about two weeks in Hong Kong slums until he was whisked away to Moscow.

Asylum seekers Vanessa Mae Bondalian Rodel, 42, from the Philippines, and Ajith Pushpakumara, 44, from Sri Lanka, who helped hiding Edward Snowden while he was in Hong Kong in 2013, attend a special screening of the film "Snowden" directed by Oliver Stone, in Hong Kong, China, Sept. 30, 2016. (Bobby Yip/REUTERS)

Their role in helping the wistleblower escape capture was featured in Oliver Stone’s 2016 biographical thriller “Snowden,” exposing them to retaliation from the Hong Kong government.

Hong Kong authorities retaliated against the refugees for their role in the Snowden drama, cutting off support payment to them years ago, Cox said.

“The only reason they’re still alive is because our non-profit has been raising money and sending it to them every month to live on,” Cox said.

“There have been reports of agents from the Sri Lankan government coming to Hong Kong, looking for some of these refugees. They have been brought in and interrogated about their role with Edward Snowden by Hong Kong authorities.”

They are in a situation of extreme distress, he added.

“It’s tremendous that the Canadian government has finally brought in Vanessa and Keana and we’re very happy about that and thankful to the Trudeau government for that,” Cox said. “But we also need them to expedite the processing to get the other vulnerable refugees out of a dangerous situation.”

It is exactly this type of situation that is envisaged in the law, allowing Canada’s Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen to step in and expedite the processing of their applications, he added.

“They have suffered a lot for many years and they need to be brought to Canada as soon as possible,” Cox said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada has a rigorous immigration and refugee process that works in large part independent of “political engagement.”

“We trust the professionals who work on various files to make the right decisions,” Trudeau said, speaking to reporters in Maple Ridge, British Columbia.

Speaking to reporters in Washington DC, after a meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said she doesn’t believe that granting asylum to refugees who sheltered Snowden will compli...

British rock star Sting performed a live concert on Thursday as a “gesture of solidarity” with General Motors workers facing layoffs in Oshawa, Ontario.

Thousands of people filled Oshawa’s Tributes Communities Centre for a special acoustic performance by Sting and the Toronto cast of his musical The Last Ship, which is currently playing at Mirvish's Princess of Wales Theatre.

Sting began the concert with a rendition of The Police classic “Message in a Bottle" as the crowd joined in.

The rock legend also performed a selection of songs from The Last Ship, which tells the story of a British shipbuilding town as it grapples with the collapse of the shipbuilding industry that sustained it.

The story is based on the rock star’s hometown Wallsend, England. Sting, 62, wrote The Last Ship's music and lyrics based on his own experiences growing up in Wallsend. The former Police frontman stars in the production as a protest leader fighting to hold the community together by building one last ship.

Sting performs the song "Message in a Bottle," before being joined by the cast of his musical "The Last Ship" to perform in support of General Motors workers in Oshawa, Ont. on Thursday, February 14, 2019. (Chris Young/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

The story of the musical is eerily similar to the realities now faced by GM workers in Oshawa, who are fighting a plant closure expected the end of 2019.

"We felt it was important to show our support for you," Sting told the crowd.

Sting to support Oshawa GM workers

Speaking at a press conference after the show, Sting said it’s important that the auto workers’ story is heard.

“This story is hugely important. This can’t be buried under the political carpet,” Sting said. “The world needs to know, Canada needs to get behind you. It’s important.”

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With files from CBC News

Canada will provide $53 million in aid to help those most affected by the Venezuelan crisis, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday as he hosted a meeting of nearly dozen countries opposed to the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

“Today, Canada is stepping up and announcing $53 million to address the most pressing needs of Venezuelans on the ground, including the almost three million refugees,” Trudeau said in his opening remarks at at the John G. Diefenbaker Building in Ottawa.

“The bulk of the funds will go to trusted partners and neighbouring countries to help them support Venezuela and Venezuelans.”

Since the eruption of crisis in Venezuela in 2017, Canada has provided $2.2 million in humanitarian assistance to help the most vulnerable populations affected by the Venezuelan crisis, according to Global Affairs Canada.

With the additional $53 million announced by Trudeau Monday, Canada’s overall contribution to respond to the effects of the Venezuela crisis now stands at over $55 million.

'A pivotal moment'

Peru's Foreign Minister Nestor Popolizio, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland applaud after Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido delivered a video message during the opening session of the Lima Group meeting in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, February 4, 2019. (Chris Wattie/REUTERS)

Trudeau thanked foreign ministers from most of the Lima Group countries — Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Saint Lucia — for travelling to Ottawa to discuss their response to the political, economic and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela.

Ecuador, the European Union, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, the UK, and the U.S. have also joined the discussions in Ottawa.

Last week, as hundreds of thousands marched in capital Caracas to demand the end of Maduro’s socialist government, Canada joined the United States, the Organization of American States, and ten other Latin American states in recognizing Venezuela’s parliamentary speaker, Juan Guaido, as the country’s interim president.

Trudeau said he spoke with Guaido Sunday and was “pleased to convey Canada’s support personally.”

“This is a pivotal moment for the people of Venezuela: we are observing a widespread rejection of the Maduro regime's illegitimate claim to power following fraudulent elections last May," Trudeau said.

“For years now, we've witnessed the breakdown in democracy in Venezuela and a dictatorship willing to use force, fear and coercion to retain power. The violation of human rights and the complete disregard for the rule of law shown by the regime has been both inexcusable and unacceptable.”

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Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido walks as he speaks to journalists before a news conference at the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela February 4, 2019. (Andres Martinez Casares/REUTERS)

Canada has not only called on Maduro to cede power to the “democratically elected” National Assembly but has also imposed sanctions on the socialist leader and his officials, Trudeau said.

“The use of excessive force against peaceful protesters, arbitrary detentions, extrajudicial killings – all have become staples of a dictatorship clinging to power at the expense of their people,” Trudeau said.

Guaido has given hope to countless people around the world, marking a turning point in the ongoing humanitarian, economic and political crisis that has plagued Venezuela for years, Trudeau said.

Venezuela now has “a legitimate interim president and a clear constitutional path forward to free and fair elections,