What is a 'halal mortgage'? Does it make housing more accessible?
The 2024 federal budget announced on April 16 included plans to introduce “halal mortgages” as a way to increase access to home ownership.
In Philadelphia, the very birthplace of American democracy, sits a huge sign with a blunt message: “Vote – everything is at stake.”
As Americans cast their ballots for the U.S. midterm elections, with Democrats at risk of losing control in Congress, CTV National News spoke to some voters who say those “stakes” could hardly be higher.
“Everything [is at stake],” said Tom, who asked CTV National News to protect his identity. “The constitution in the country, rights, not just for women but men. It is just everything.”
He says he voted early because he is concerned about how the election process could unfold at polling stations.
“I don’t want to deal with any yelling, any screaming, any people at voting booths carrying guns.”
In what was billed as a major speech this week, U.S. President Joe Biden called the midterm elections a pivotal test of American democracy.
He condemned political violence, including the attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, at their home in San Francisco.
Biden also slammed so-called election deniers, who continue to say the current U.S. president did not win the 2020 presidency against Donald Trump. Biden put the blame for that squarely on Trump.
“American democracy is under attack because the defeated former president of the United States refuses to accept the results of the 2020 election,” said the U.S president.
Biden warned Americans that political violence and intimidation at the polls is eroding U.S. democracy.
“We don’t settle our differences in America with a riot, a mob or a bullet or a hammer. We settle them peacefully at the ballot box.”
The concern by many is that the so-called election deniers have not ruled out wrongly overturning election results in future, for example, if they don’t like the outcome or result. It’s a fear casting doubt on the integrity of future U.S. elections, says one U.S. political sociologist.
“I think it is an extremely consequential moment for American democracy,” Larry Diamond told CTV National News. “It’s being tested in a way that it has not been tested since the 1860s and the civil war. “
Bill Kristol, a life-long Republican until the rise of Trump, is part of a conservative movement which pumps millions of dollars into political advertising aimed at defeating election denying candidates.
“What is the future of this country if we go down the path we’re going down?” he told CTV National News. “I’m a little shocked and distressed that there’s not a more robust repudiation of them. “
Some polls suggest it is the economy, inflation, the cost of groceries and gas that will drive voters to the polls, perhaps giving Republicans the edge electorally in some key battleground states.
North of the border, even Canadians worry U.S. democracy may be on the brink.
Toronto author and political analyst Stephen Marche, who wrote ‘The Next Civil War: Dispatches From The American Future’ suggests political polarization in the U.S. has poisoned its political system.
“There could be a raft of people who basically will not accept electoral outcomes,” March told CTV National News. “It’s a toxic stew that’s really going to have terrible consequences for not just America, but the world.”
All of this is a sobering reminder that these midterm elections are a crucial moment for America, with the U.S. president asking voters to think about that when they head to the polls on Nov. 8.
With files from The Associated Press.
The 2024 federal budget announced on April 16 included plans to introduce “halal mortgages” as a way to increase access to home ownership.
A recent report sheds light on Canadians living abroad--estimated at around four million people in 2016—and the public policies that impact them.
One person was killed in a six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 in Innisfil Friday evening.
An election-year roast of U.S. President Joe Biden before journalists, celebrities and politicians at the annual White House correspondents' dinner Saturday.
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'doesn't get' the global phenomenon.
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer said Saturday that the onetime movie mogul has been hospitalized for a battery of tests after his return to New York City following an appeals court ruling nullifying his 2020 rape conviction.
Polish President Andrzej Duda says while no decision has been made around whether Poland will host nuclear weapons as part of an expansion of the NATO alliance’s nuclear sharing program, his country is willing and prepared to do so.
A number of LGBQT+2s groups in Central Alberta are pushing back against a request from the Red Deer South UCP constituency to reinstate MLA Jennifer Johnson into the UCP caucus.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”