CBWT - Wednesday, May 22, 2024 - 01:00 p.m. (ET) - Segment #3

liberals' national caucus meeting on parliament hill this morning. >> That's a question for the competition bureau. I think electors should be addressed by the competition bureau. We give them the powers to conduct the investigation. I refer that to the competition bureau. >> Reporter: you are saying you have no power? >> It's the competition bureau, which has the power for the government on that. >> Reporter: it's impacted a little bit because the minister does not direct the investigations that the competition bureau might choose to undertake here. In a way it's possible palado wrote to the wrong office, if you will. The it would be, as the minister said, the competition bureau that would the powers, independent enforcer of the competition act to conduct an investigation. And seek remedies on behalf of consumers, if they find this is anticompetitive behaviour. It could be possible for the minister to sit down and draw the terms of reference for market study with the competition bureau's commissioner. It's not clear that would be appropriate in this situation. I will say when the minister referenced it in his answer, they recently made some changes in a bill that's now law to the competition act to expand what it's definition of abuse of dominance in a market or excessive or unfair prices and practices. Because they have expanded sort of the scope, if you will, of what the competition bureau could consider in its investigations. It is possible that these recent legislative changes could help here, should the commissioner decide to take up this case and begin an investigation. >> That's the cbc's janyce McGREGOR in ottawa. >> Andrew: ireland, norway and spain say they're recognizing a palestinian state. Something at least 140 countries have done. But not canada. We'll talk about this with a former canadian ambassador to israel ahead on cbc news network. Michael j. Fox:When we see Team Canada on the world stage, we're witnessing pure greatness. What we don't see is their struggle. We don't see Maude Charron being forced to change weight classes after she wonOlympicgold. Hugo Houle persevering through the tragic loss of his brother. Or Andre de Grasse dealing with all the doubters. Including himself. What we don't see makes us who we are. We're all bravely facing the odds in our lives. Now bravery is our victory. - -[crowd cheers] Sometimes the difference between a summer road trip and the road trip of the summer is an ice cold drink from McDonald's. Like a Small McCafe Iced Coffee or a refreshing Coca Cola for $1 plus tax. Step up your summer today. Jackpot City is the home of all things Casino. There's just one house rule, to create the perfect online Casino for you. We've built a world class line up of classic Casino games such as roulette and black jack and crafted a virtual range of the best slots including Atlantean Treasures. Everything's online, everything's ready, everything's for you. So whenever your feeling playful, head to Jackpot City and you'll beendlessly entertained. Jackpot City, Casino games perfectly made for you. I'd do anything Welcome to the new PetSmart Treats rewardsTM. Ready go Collect points with every purchase. And save big on their favourite services. Anything for you PetSmart. Anything for Pets. ( ) That's a dq Chicken Strip Basket! Oh look at those tasty dq chicken strips. And fries! Plus all the dips! Oh let's order one, right now! Dq. Happy Tastes Good. When you back hurts, life hurts. Robax dual action formula relieves pain and relaxes tight muscles. Take back your back with Robax. (Upbeat music) When you're performing at your best, it's hard to imagine anything holding you back. ( ) But performance inhibiting deposits restrict your engine's performance, robbing it of its true potential. Don't let anything stand between you and performing at your best. New and improved Shell V-Power Nitro+Premium Gasoline. Performance unbound. (Shell mnemonic) ( ) ( ) Stop dreaming. Start shopping. Red Tag Days are on at Toyota, with great offers on select models. Find yours at ShopToyota.ca Leon's Spring it on event ends Wednesday! Get incredible deals on furniture. Save up to 50% on select clearance mattresses. Save up to $1,000 on select Appliance and tv packages. Last chance to spring into savings.

>>> Prime minister sanchez of spain. We said the point of recognizing the state of palestine was coming closer. That point has now arrived. >> Andrew: the governments of ireland, spain, and norway have announced they are recognizing the state of palestine. The country's leaders made simultaneous announcements today. It takes effect next week on may 28th. Israel has condemned the move and recalled its ambassadors from all three countries. The push for recognition of a palestinian state has grown since the start of the war in gaza. Canada remains among the countries that do not recognise palestine as a state. For more on this, we're joined by john allen, senior fellow at monk school of global affairs and public policy and former canadian ambassador to israel. We reached him in toronto. Appreciate you taking the time. Thank you. >> Interview: thanks, andrew. >> Andrew: how significant is this recognition by these three countries? >> Interview: it's significant. It's part of a growing trend, as you mentioned. We saw a vote at the U.N. general assembly last week, which was more of a procedural nature in terms of what a palestine could do. But the -- this is clearly moving in a direction. Increased number of european states recognizing the state of palestine. We're seeing three countries now. I can envision france and some other countries may join on in had the near future. Australia, new zealand has been making noise in that regard. Canada indicated overtime, they too may join the club. >> Andrew: over time. How soon do you think canada and some of these other countries could, as you say, join the club? >> Interview: well, I think I would say within, you know, the next six months or a year. I would imagine that you'll see more countries recognizing the state. The -- we have advocated and our policy is in favour of the two-state solution for years. For two decades. But the west has really done nothing in the last 15 years under netanyahu's rule to move that process ahead. And I think october 7th and the horrific attack and subsequent the disastrous war in gaza, have brought to the floor the realization without two states, we're going to see continuing violence. More october 7th and more war. And that's why I think you're seeing countries saying, well, enough is enough. We have to give some hope to the moderates. We have to show israel that they don't have a veto over this. That they have to engage. This doesn't mean that you're going to see a palestinian state overnight, because the final status negotiations have to take place. And there has to be agreement on number of issues. But this is to demonstrate to the moderates that there is western support for two states. >> Andrew: in a context of a war, though, we've heard france, germany, U.S. basically right now at least say the timing -- this is not the right time. There's a war going on that is a result of the october 7th attacks. >> Interview: yes, there is a war going on, and I think that's all the more reason to be making all efforts possible to move to an end to that war and to try and establish a credible path forward to peace. That's probably going to mean new leadership, certainly in israel, where netanyahu refuses to even consider that. And also in the palestinian authority, in the west bank, where we need new elections and new governments for the palestinian authority. >> Andrew: I was going to ask you about that. Because there's one thing to recognise the palestinian state. Who would lead it? >> Interview: well, that's right. Palestinian state will be led by right now it would be led by the current president. They have a technocratic government in place as well. Hamas would not be part of that. The current hamas is political

and military leadership would not be part of that. This is -- as I said, a symbolic signal that this is where things have to go if we want to avoid violence in the future. >> Andrew: what about the united states? They have been against this without israel being part of a negotiated two-state solution. As we know, the president of the israeli government rejected the two-state solution. >> Interview: that's right. The united states was opposed to a cease-fire, and they moved on that. They're now saying they're opposed to the applications for arrest of bebe netanyahu and the minister of defence, even though they supported the i.c.c.'s attempted arrest of president putin. The americans can change, too. They want to demonstrate their support for israel. They've got a lot of pressure from the republicans. Biden is going into an election. But once more of the europeans recognise the state, as I said, australia, new zealand, nordic, this trend will send a signal that the train has left the station, and the people should get onboard, and we should be working, all of us, to stop the settlement. To get free elections in the palestinian authority, and to move this process forward. >> Andrew: I appreciate your time today, sir. Thank you. >> Interview: thank you very much. >> Andrew: jon allen, senior fellow of monk school of global affairs and public policy and former canadian book store >> Reporter: some of them face criminal harassment charges as well. These arrests and the vandalism caused a lot of reaction in toronto. Some jewish advocacy groups called it an anti-semitic attack. There were rallies in support of those charged in connection to the case. Some of what we heard at a conference was speakers saying the vandalism wasn't because heather reeseman is jewish but because she supports charities in support of the israeli military. The charity that she funds and supports financially, provides scholarships to some israeli soldiers who want to stay in israel and study after service. The speakers saying the charges were bogus and baseless and absurd. They were also critical of the toronto police for how they carried out some of the arrests and search warrants. Saying the police burst into people's apartments in the night and ransacked apartments. In some cases, they say, there were children present, who were frightened by the police activities. We heard from one of the men arrested and charged who had his charges drops, carl gardner, here is some of what he said. >> I stand undeterred as someone who lost employment because of these bogus charges. This has harmed my representation, livelihood, career and mental health and wellbeing. These don't end because charges have been withdrawn. I want to make something clear, the four of us whose charges are withdrawn, are not relieved. This is not justice. We will not stop until all the charges are dropped. >> Reporter: he says his charges were dropped because the crown decided there wasn't a reasonable prospect of conviction. That's one of the factors that they take into consideration when deciding to proceed with charges. He and the others at the news conference saying all the charges against all 11 people should be dropped. We heard from one of the lawyers

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