Carney says Canada won't react or respond to every post from the U.S. president. U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra said making Canada the 51st state would be "a great discussion for the president" and Prime Minister Mark Carney to have, as the White House resurrects the sensitive topic just as trade talks gear up. After backing off his annexation...
The Trump administration is proposing a 10 per cent additional tariff on Canada and other countries following an investigation into forced labour in supply chains. The United States Trade Representative released a report late Tuesday saying Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom and some other countries should be hit with the duties because they are not doing enough to enforce bans...
The Carney Liberals now have the support of half of Canadians, according to a new Postmedia-leger poll, the first time any governing party has hit that benchmark in popular support in more than two decades. The poll, conducted over the past week, found 50 per cent of decided voters said they would most likely support the Liberals “if federal elections...
Ottawa is directing the CRTC to back down on its recent decision to triple streamers' financial contributions to Canadian content, and will instead provide $600 million to the sector, Culture Minister Marc Miller said Wednesday. The decision comes after the Motion Picture Association, the U.S. group representing streamers, called on cabinet to reconsider the current approach and the U.S. ambassador...
The secret weapon in South Korea’s bid to win the lucrative submarine contract is code named “Project Beaver.” Facing market conditions that blocked it from bringing an electric vehicle plant to Canada, the South Koreans drafted a plan to manufacture hydrogen long-haul freight trucks and build dozens of charging stations in Canada, beginning in 2030. The proposal was submitted as...
Leger’s latest federal polling shows the Liberal Party continuing to strengthen its position nationally, reaching 50% support among decided voters. This represents a two-point increase since April and marks the highest level of support recorded by Leger for the Liberals since they first formed government in 2015.
The Liberals maintain a clear lead in federal voter preferences at 41.1%, ahead of the Conservatives at 32.7%, though the margin has narrowed to single digits, indicating a more competitive environment may be emerging. Other parties remain well behind, with the NDP at 12.6% and smaller shares for the Bloc, Greens and People’s Party. Public attention continues to centre on...
Dominic LeBlanc, Mark Carney’s point minister on Canada-U.S. relations, was no doubt feeling the pressure as he landed in Washington on Tuesday to kick-start trade talks with Donald Trump’s administration. But it’s less pressure than he was facing last year, according to some new polling from Abacus Data. Canadians’ anxiety about Trump’s trade war has declined sharply from 2025, Abacus...
Former Liberal staffer Lisa Kirbie says Steven Guilbeault's resignation and organized caucus dissent have exposed simmering progressive concerns that high polling can't keep a lid on forever.
Conservative MP Billy Morin says he will spend the summer talking to Indigenous leaders about encouraging people to vote in the Alberta referendum. Albertans are set to vote in October on whether they want to stay in Canada or prefer to hold a future binding referendum on separating from the country. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he and his caucus...
Are Canadians worried? Apparently not. So what's wrong with us? Has 'elbows up' gone to our heads?
In the course of researching my biography on Irwin Cotler, I spoke with his old McGill debating partner, Moses Znaimer, the CityTV and MuchMusic founder. In typically unfiltered Znaimer fashion he wondered aloud what the former Liberal party justice minister thought about his old party, “which betrayed the Jewish community, in favour of the huge Muslim influx, of which they...
There’s a fantasy among some Alberta separatists that Quebec separatists are their friends. Not likely. They are risky company for an Alberta politician of any stripe. As Premier Danielle Smith visits Quebec for friendly talks with the new premier, Christine Frechette, she knows who to avoid. It’s much noted in Quebec that the separatist Parti Quebecois could win a provincial...
To start the week, in this column space, you would have read how Alberta Premier Danielle Smith gave us a ballpark price tag for Alberta leaving Canada and becoming its own country. It was a ballpark number. Around $400 billion in start-up costs for an independent Alberta. $25 billion to $50 billion in yearly costs.
Ontarians could soon be facing a massive energy bill. Electricity demand between now and 2050 will likely double, according to projections, and to meet it Doug Ford’s government intends to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on new nuclear reactors alone. Throw in anticipated refurbishments of existing reactors, plus new transmission lines and other power generation projects, and the costs...
Someone tuning in to the victory address by new B.C. Conservative leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay could have been forgiven if they thought they’d somehow stumbled across a speech being given by a U.S. Republican from Texas. “In our national anthem, we cry out to God to make our land glorious and free,” Ms. Findlay told the gathering of Conservative party faithful...
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith drops a political bomb, a financial bomb, a bomb dropped on the separatist assumptions of way more gain than pain by Alberta leaving Canada and striking out on its own. Almost $400 billion in start-up costs to set up an independent Alberta. Roughly $80,000 for every Albertan. Somewhere between $25 billion and $50 billion in yearly...
Ever since Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced the referendum on a referendum there has been a flurry of speculation from one end of the country to the other. Most of it comes in the form of a warning: things could look much more dire if this confusing referendum question propulses Albertans into a real referendum on separation. Separatists don’t give...
Mark Carney is usually good at speaking truth to power, but yesterday he failed. In an address to Jewish Canadians at Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto, he named the problem — rampant antisemitism — but failed to offer a solution. He failed to send a message to those causing the problem. And he failed to understand the nature of Canada itself.
Steven Guilbeault finally had enough. The renewed deal between Alberta and Ottawa, which lowers the headline industrial carbon price and weakens or eliminates other climate policies he fought for as the minister of environment and climate change, made it abundantly clear that he could no longer sit in the Liberal caucus. Indeed, the writing was so obviously on the political...
When reporters asked Mark Carney about Steven Guilbeault’s decision to quit the Liberal caucus and his seat, months after walking out of cabinet over the Alberta MOU, the Prime Minister was gracious. He wished him and his family well. As reported by Radio-Canada, Carney said: “C’est sa décision, c’est normal, c’est la vie” — it’s his decision, it’s normal, that’s...
The first promise made by the federal Liberals in their last election platform — literally — was to unite the country by building one economy, so that Canadians can work wherever they want and goods can move freely from coast to coast. “Unleashing free trade” would “give ourselves much more than any foreign government, including the U.S., can ever take...
Central Canadian political elites are upset with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s decision to hold a referendum that might eventually lead to a sovereign Alberta. While sovereigntist sentiment in Quebec has long been acknowledged and accommodated in English Canada, Western alienation is treated with who-do-they-think-they-are condescension.
If this president has somehow permanently changed American politics, if there is a Trump 2.0 with someone like J.D. Vance, Canada must embrace the wider world, as Mark Carney is doing. It's not only prudent, it is essential.
Former federal cabinet minister Kerry-Lynne Findlay cast herself as the one, true blue Conservative in the campaign for the B.C. party leadership that culminated Saturday evening with her narrow, fourth ballot victory. Article content “B.C. Liberal insiders are trying to take over the Conservative party of B.C.,” declared Findlay’s campaign literature. “They want to steal the Conservative name and push...
Steven Guilbeault’s breakup with his Liberal government was a long time coming, but the events that set if off were swift. In an interview with my colleague Ryan Tumilty, the former environment minister and soon-to-be ex-MP underlined just how much the Liberals have changed in a matter of months.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s separation referendum is federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre’s opportunity. If he takes it. Alberta is ground zero for the conservative movement in Canada. It has long asserted a more populist, free market, small government hold on the Conservative Party of Canada, past and present. It has outsized political influence on the direction of the party, given...
One word kept coming up this week, as Steven Guilbeault tendered his resignation from a government in which he no longer thought he could do his most important work. The word was “room.” As in: Is there still room on the Liberal benches for an ardent environmentalist? Can the party offer room for pipeline and resource proponents, alongside people animated...
If you’re a patriotic Canadian who believes we need to build up this country as rarely before, Mark Carney wants you to put your own dollars into it. And despite a high degree of skepticism among his friends in the financial world, he’s serious about offering a government-backed guarantee that you’ll get your money back.
News of strain in Canada’s economy comes after more than a year of a trade war with the U.S. — and a day after Prime Minister Mark Carney pitches Canada as a tool to help make America great again. The Pulse Panel weighs in.
When I first went to Ottawa as a member of Parliament, I didn’t go because I believed the system was working. Quite the opposite. Like many Albertans, I was frustrated. Western Canada was too often ignored, our industries were misunderstood and decisions affecting our livelihoods were being made by people who had little understanding of how this country works outside...
Steven Guilbeault is gone, but, oh, the wreckage he leaves behind. No single politician, apart from ex-prime minister Justin Trudeau, did more to create today’s separatist movement in this province. The former environment minister’s extremist climate policies, coupled with massive expansion of federal power, imprinted a fixed belief that Liberal Ottawa despises Alberta and can never be trusted.
I have a pretty good idea what a lot of people think I should say about Alberta’s sovereignty referendum, and I have a good idea of what I actually think. The problem is the two don’t line up very well. What a lot of people think that I (and others like me) should say is, mostly, nothing. As an opinionator...
Some are being more vocal than others. Former Alberta finance minister Travis Toews says it is important for federal Conservatives in Alberta to publicly state their position about remaining a part of Canada, but acknowledged there are “various levels of comfort in entering the debate” in the party's caucus...
'Simply building a pipeline is not the complete answer,' said Manning. On the eve of the 1995 referendum vote in Quebec, Preston Manning rose in the House of Commons to ask the Liberal government of the day how it might be willing to change to convince a “soft sovereigntist or a discontented federalist” to vote against leaving the country. Article...
PM said Canada would not react or respond to every post from the U.S. president. Prime Minister Mark Carney shrugged off U.S. president Donald Trump's latest jab about Canada being the 51st state as a post by an "exceptionally active user of social media." "It's only gone up in recent months," Carney said Tuesday of Trump's online posting. "And we're...
In a letter to his counterparts in the United States and Mexico, Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he wants to renew the countries’ trilateral trade deal for another 16 years and opt out of an annual review process. “This agreement is highly beneficial to each of our countries and to the integrated North American economy,” LeBlanc wrote in a...
DND says decision made after 'a rigorous evaluation process.' A little over a month after the Pentagon revealed it had ordered a batch of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) for several allied countries, including Canada, the Liberal government has now publicly acknowledged the purchase. Defence Minister David McGuinty, in a statement on Tuesday, said 26 of the highly...
Canadian Identity Minister Marc Miller is defending the makeup and initial mandate of a faith advisory council Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Monday, as it faces criticism from Opposition Conservatives and Jewish advocacy group B'nai Brith. "Part of this committee is to talk in a way that is open and frank and to tackle issues with a group of...
Prime Minister Mark Carney says the federal government has reached a new deal with Quebec to transfer billions of dollars in funding for infrastructure. Carney says the money could be used to build new hospitals and invest in public transit. He made the announcement in Longueuil, Que., near Montreal, with Quebec Premier Christine Frechette.
With United States President Donald Trump increasing pressure on Cuba, his country’s State Department is looking to Canada to build support for regime change in Havana. Foreign Affairs deputy minister Arun Thangaraj was at the U.S. State Department last week where he met with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau. During that meeting, the topic of Cuba came up...
Oil production is ramping up off Newfoundland and Labrador and the government is offering money to companies interested in looking for more. Premier Tony Wakeham opened an annual energy conference in St. John's, N.L., by announcing a call for exploration bids on 16 areas off the province's east coast. He says his government will offer up to $30 million to...
The national chief of the Assembly of First Nations rebuked the Alberta separation movement during a meeting with King Charles at Buckingham Palace today. Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak says Canada needs to be reminded that First Nations were partners in the country's creation and that relationship can't be changed through politics. She says that relationship will remain as long as the...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says support for Quebec separatism was "wiped out" under Stephen Harper's government but polls show the movement has had steady support for decades. The Tory leader insists separatist sentiment in both Alberta and Quebec is being driven by the Liberals and their policies. Bloc Quebecois House leader Christine Normandin pointed out that Quebec elected a Parti...
Canada has sent a letter to the United States and Mexico recommending that the three countries renew the continental trade pact. The letter from Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc is required as part of the mandatory review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade, known in Canada as CUSMA. LeBlanc is set to travel to Washington today to meet with U.S...
While Prime Minister Mark Carney acknowledged weaknesses in the Canadian economy, he also defended the federal government’s economic agenda on Tuesday and did not use the word “recession.” “This government’s been in the process of laying the foundations for a stronger, more resilient, more independent Canadian economy,” Carney said Tuesday when asked directly by reporters in Ottawa about whether Canada...
The Liberals maintain a clear lead in federal voter preferences at 41.1%, ahead of the Conservatives at 32.7%, though the margin has narrowed to single digits, indicating a more competitive environment may be emerging. Other parties remain well behind, with the NDP at 12.6% and smaller shares for the Bloc, Greens and People’s Party. Public attention continues to centre on...
Three big U.S. tech companies control the vast majority of Canada's publicly-available cloud infrastructure, says a new report released ahead of the government's national AI strategy, which is expected to include measures targeting AI sovereignty. Amazon, Microsoft and Google hold 85 per cent of public cloud market share in Canada -- much higher than their global average of 66 per...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s request for an emergency debate on the state of Canada’s economy was denied by the Speaker of the House Monday afternoon. Poilievre rose in the House Monday afternoon to formally make that call. “The prime minister couldn’t be bothered to say a single thing about this emergency since he learned of it on Friday morning,” Poilievre...
Former prime minister Stephen Harper will be campaigning for Albertans to remain a part of Canada and reject the sovereignty option in this October’s provincial referendum, according to his spokesperson. Mr. Harper, who led the country from 2006 to 2015, is one of Canada’s most prominent Conservatives and, though born and raised in Toronto, has lived in Alberta throughout his...
Two former B.C. Conservative legislators now sitting as Independents say new leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay will polarize the province. Amelia Boultbee said Findlay's victory on Saturday showed that part of the B.C. Conservative base and board want to take the party "further and further to the right," and "engage in Donald Trump-style populism," while Elenore Sturko said it was sad the...
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is planning to meet with her counterpart in Quebec City this week, with separatism and energy possible topics of discussion. Smith says she's hoping Quebec Premier Christine Frechette will be open to talking about an east-west energy corridor. Smith says every time she has met with leadership in Quebec that she has talked about developing a...
The new national unity council will assess what is driving antisemitism in Canada and improve research and data collection on hate incidents, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Monday. Speaking at a synagogue in Toronto, Carney said "antisemitism has surged to levels not previously seen in the postwar period," noting incidents including the firebombings of synagogues and bullets fired at...
Nearly 3,000 Chinese-manufactured EVs landed in the country last month. More than 2,900 Chinese-made electric passenger vehicles arrived in Canada during the month of May. Data from Global Affairs Canada indicates that May was the first month of EV imports from China after Prime Minister Mark Carney agreed to let in tens of thousands of the vehicles under a reduced...
Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc is set to travel to Washington on Tuesday to meet with his American counterpart as official negotiations between Ottawa and the Trump administration on a critical continental trade pact lag behind talks with Mexico. LeBlanc's spokesperson Gabriel Brunet said the minister will be joined by Chief Trade Negotiator Janice Charette for a meeting with U.S...
Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says British Columbia needs the leadership of Kerry-Lynne Findlay, but two former provincial Conservatives say the new leader of their old party will polarize the province. Poilievre says he hopes Findlay will succeed in making B.C. more affordable and safer, as he congratulated the former member of his caucus for winning the leadership of the...
A draft version of Canada's national AI strategy outlines a drive to scale up business adoption and provide all Canadians access to free AI literacy training, but is short on specifics regarding how the federal government will protect Canadians from the technology's potentially harmful effects. The document, obtained by CBC News and titled "AI for All," says the decisions Canada...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre accused Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday of avoiding accountability after recent data showed the Canadian economy contracted again. Statistics Canada said Friday that real gross domestic product declined 0.1 per cent on an annualized basis in the first quarter. That's the second consecutive quarterly contraction to start the year, meeting some definitions of a technical...
A survey commissioned by the federal government late last year suggests nearly half of Canadians believe the country is admitting too many immigrants — but the share of respondents who think so has dropped since last year's polling. The survey found 47 per cent of respondents believe "too many" immigrants are coming to Canada, while 38 per cent say "about...
South Korean defence firm Hanwha says it has reached a deal with Algoma Steel to supply military-grade steel for the possible manufacturing of land defence vehicles in Canada. Hanwha said in April it had reached a separate agreement with Canada's Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association on a prospective joint venture to make military land vehicles for the Canadian Armed Forces and...
Postal workers have given the thumbs-up to a new contract, casting their ballots overwhelmingly to approve a tentative agreement after more than two years of labour strife. The union representing some 55,000 Canada Post employees said Monday that more than four in five voted in favour of the five-year deal, which includes wage increases of 6.5 per cent and three...
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Businessman Zach Lahn's win in Iowa's Republican gubernatorial primary over President Donald Trump's pick, Rep. Randy Feenstra, delivered a rare electoral setback for Trump in a primary season that had previously handed him back-to-back victories.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The contours of a premier U.S. Senate race took shape Tuesday night in Iowa, while President Donald Trump's endorsement streak ran into a roadblock there.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- He spoke fast, hammering through the Trump administration's efforts to lower prescription drug prices, combat health care fraud, and curb the spread of Ebola overseas.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump tried to create a near $1.8 billion fund that could be funneled to his supporters as a means of settling a lawsuit he filed against his own government -- even arguing that he "gave up a lot of money in allowing" it.
With United States President Donald Trump increasing pressure on Cuba, his country’s State Department is looking to Canada to build support for regime change in Havana. Foreign Affairs deputy minister Arun Thangaraj was at the U.S. State Department last week where he met with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau. During that meeting, the topic of Cuba came up...
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson joked there may be a place for Canada in the European Union to join “like-minded” nations as “the most Nordic country in the world outside the Nordics.” “European Union is obviously a matter of geography, you can hear that from the name,” Kristersson told CTV Question Period host Vassy Kapelos when asked for his opinion...
U.S. President Donald Trump says the U.S. blockade on ships travelling through the Strait of Hormuz “will now be lifted.” “Ships caught in the Strait due to our amazing and unprecedented Naval Blockade, which will now be lifted, may start the process of ‘heading home!’ Say HELLO to your wives, husbands, parents, and families from me, your favorite President!” reads...
China's foreign minister Wang Yi is in Ottawa today, the first such visit in a decade. He is in Canada for a three-day trip that will include meetings with Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand and Prime Minister Mark Carney. The prime minister visited China in January and met with President Xi Jinping.
Employing U.S. President Donald Trump’s marquee slogan, Prime Minister Mark Carney told a New York City business crowd on Thursday that “Canada strong will help make America great again,” a remark the U.S. envoy to this country said was “worth repeating.” Speaking at the Economic Club of New York, the prime minister detailed his economic diversification strategy, and his plans...
Chinese import-side mirror data, which capture how China records imports from Canada, point to a larger Canadian-origin goods footprint — and a more complex bilateral trade relationship than headline export figures imply.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Canada this week is significant. It is the first bilateral visit to Canada by a Chinese foreign minister since June 2016, and the most visible sign yet that the thaw in Canada-China relations that began with Prime Minister Mark Carney’s January visit to Beijing is moving into a more consequential implementation phase. If...
A collection of SubStack publishing within Canadian public affairs.
In 2007, Roger Martin, then dean of the Rotman School of Management at University of Toronto, wrote a book called The Opposable Mind. It argued that the most successful leaders tend to be “integrative thinkers,” by which he meant they tackled problems holistically rather than breaking them down into component parts. Instead of seeking trade-offs, they are at ease with...
“Despite the ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and Israel which has resulted in thousands of deaths and injuries…Lebanon moved forward with the ban on antipersonnel landmines,” said the Ottawa-based group Mines Action Canada in a statement, celebrating the new addition.
Canada’s privacy laws are supposed to protect ordinary citizens from unwarranted intrusions into their personal lives. But they can also protect pedophiles. Dead pedophiles. Dead pedophiles from America.
Althia Raj and Rob Russo share what they're hearing on everything from Dominic LeBlanc's visit to Washington and what it says about Canada's latest stance on the relationship with the United States; Stephen Harper; AI; and what's happening inside the Liberal caucus and what that could mean for the NDP.
In this episode of On The Line, host Jen Gerson sits down with James McLeod of the Canadian Shield Institute to discuss one of the most talked-about — and least understood — concepts in Canadian public policy: digital sovereignty.
We start our weekly Monday conversation with Dr. Janice Stein of the Munk School at the University of Toronto, with another segment on the war in Iran - will it ever end?
