Half of Canadians have negative opinion of latest Liberal budget: poll
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.
Western countries have responded to Russia's invasion of Ukraine with a raft of sanctions on the country's economy, as well as wealthy individuals who may be enabling Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Putin's invasion of Ukraine has been met with an unprecedented response from the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Canada, Japan and Australia, among others.
While sanctions have been imposed most notably on banks, oil companies and other institutions, they've also been placed on rich and powerful Russian oligarchs, many of whom are considered to be members of Putin's inner circle.
In addition to sanctions imposed in 2014 in response to the invasion of Crimea, Canada last week added dozens more on Kremlin officials, business executives and oligarchs.
According to Merriam-Webster's definition, an oligarch is "a member or supporter of an oligarchy," which is a government where a small group exercises control over political decisions, "especially for corrupt and selfish purposes."
In the case of Russia's elite, the term oligarch can relate to those powerful few who used personal connections after the collapse of the Soviet Union to take over previously state-owned industries, thereby profiting from Russia's new capitalism.
With this in mind, a Russian oligarch either has direct or perceived power in Russia's state of affairs, despite not necessarily being elected to government positions by Russia's electorate.
Former KGB members, mineral executives and a deputy prime minister are just some of the roles held by Russian oligarchs targeted by western sanctions.
Nikolai Tokarev is among those who have been sanctioned. He is president of Transneft, a state-owned pipeline transport company responsible for transporting 90 per cent of Russia's oil, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. He also served alongside Putin in the KGB during the 1980s.
The Rotenberg brothers – Boris and Arkady – have also been sanctioned. They own Russia's SMP bank and oversaw construction of a bridge between Russia and Crimea in 2018.
Billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who founded USM Holding, an investment company owning iron, steel and copper suppliers, as well as telecommunications company Megafon, has been sanctioned, as with Putin's former deputy prime minister-turned VEB bank executive Igor Shuvalov.
Then-Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov attends a session on the third day of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Then-Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov attends a session on the third day of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Another sanctioned oligarch is former KGB agent Sergei Chemezov. He is the CEO of state-owned defence conglomerate Rostec and has about $400 million worth of assets including a real estate company in Ireland and a superyacht, according to Pandora Papers documents.
As Russian forces ramp up their military campaign in Ukraine, the lavish yachts of Russia's wealthy -- symbols of oligarch excess -- have become targets for western countries, who vow to seize assets owned by Putin's enablers.
Oligarchs are reportedly trying to transfer assets, such as superyachts, to friends or family members who aren't sanctioned in an attemp to prevent them from being seized.
So far, Germany and France have seized two of these vessels in response the invasion of Ukraine, including the nearly US$600-million luxury yacht owned by Usmanov in the northern port of Hamburg.
While he has not yet been officially sanctioned, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, an oligarch believed to be close to Putin, has started selling some of his most valuable assets, including Chelsea soccer club.
Yet Abramovich continues to own a stake in the Canadian company that provided the steel for the TransMountain pipeline expansion.
FILE - Chelsea soccer club owner Roman Abramovich attends the UEFA Women's Champions League final soccer match in Gothenburg, Sweden on Sunday, May 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
Roman Abramovich attends the UEFA Women's Champions League final soccer match in Gothenburg, Sweden on Sunday, May 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
Another wealthy Russian not yet sanctioned is Konstantin Babkin, who has made comments in support of invading Ukraine.
However, Babkin has since resigned from the board of Winnipeg farm equipment maker Buhler Industries, which is still mostly Russian owned, in a sign that those oligarchs not yet sanctioned are beginning to worry.
Canada has promised more of Russia's wealthy will face sanctions in the hope that oligarchs under financial pressure will exert influence on the man who made them rich.
"We need to use maximum pressure at this point right to get them to change Vladimir Putin's behaviour and maybe even make a change in the leadership in Moscow," Marcus Kolga of DisinfoWatch told CTV National News.
There are signs that squeezing oligarchs is having an effect, with Russia's economy tumbling and some wealthy Russians and their families posting anti-war messages on social media.
However, it remains unclear whether Putin's inner circle has enough influence to get him to pull back the attacks on Ukraine.
With files from CTV National News Senior Political Correspondent Glen McGregor
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.
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.
Appointing a trusted person to help with financial obligations can give you peace of mind. In his personal finance column for CTVNews.ca, Christopher Liew outlines the key benefits of naming a confidant to take over your financial responsibilities, if the need ever arises.
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.
Australian police arrested seven teenagers accused of following a violent extremist ideology in raids across Sydney on Wednesday, as a judge extended a ban on social media platform X sharing video of a knife attack on a bishop that started the criminal investigation.
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.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a Grade 4 student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.