Articles by James McCarten, The Canadian Press

May 27 2022 — James McCarten, The Canadian Press — The Canadian Press — WASHINGTON — Public safety officials admitted to a deadly lapse in judgment while gun-rights advocates were deferential but defiant Friday as a divided, heartbroken nation continued to mourn the lives of 19 fourth-grade students and their two teachers in Texas.  The incident commander who was on scene during the 45 minutes it took for tactical […]

May 26 2022 — James McCarten, The Canadian Press — The Canadian Press — WASHINGTON — Law enforcement officials described in chilling detail Thursday the time it took for tactical officers to finally gun down an 18-year-old attacker after he shot and killed 19 students and two teachers inside a fourth-grade classroom in small-town Texas.  Victor Escalon, the south Texas regional director for the state's Department of Public Safety, […]

May 26 2022 — James McCarten, The Canadian Press — The Canadian Press — WASHINGTON — The latest federal cabinet minister to press Canada's case with President Joe Biden's administration says he is detecting a positive "shift" in U.S. thinking when it comes to the question of tax incentives for electric vehicles.  Transport Minister Omar Alghabra spent Tuesday in Washington, D.C., for meetings with officials including U.S. counterpart Pete […]

May 25 2022 — James McCarten, The Canadian Press — The Canadian Press — WASHINGTON — Over two days, in two acts, the small southwest Texas town of Uvalde has been the unwitting global stage for a real-world illustration of the defining tension in American life. Act 1 came Tuesday, when an 18-year-old gunman, armed with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, killed 19 preteen children and two teachers in a […]

May 18 2022 — James McCarten, The Canadian Press — The Canadian Press — WASHINGTON — The federal government is on an "upward trajectory" when it comes to meeting NATO spending targets and modernizing Norad, but Defence Minister Anita Anand stopped well short Wednesday of committing Canada to any firm timelines.  Anand, who spoke at an online forum hosted by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, did promise to work […]

May 17 2022 — James McCarten, The Canadian Press — The Canadian Press — WASHINGTON — Alberta Premier Jason Kenney found mostly allies Tuesday as he brought his pro-pipeline pulpit to Capitol Hill, urging a largely Republican cadre of U.S. senators to get behind the idea of new cross-border energy conduits and to speak out in defence of Line 5.  Speaking to a Senate committee, a rarity for Canadian […]

May 12 2022 — James McCarten, The Canadian Press — The Canadian Press — WASHINGTON — White House officials, Capitol Hill lawmakers and the U.S. secretary of energy have all expressed "significant sympathy" for the plight of Canada's Line 5 pipeline, Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said Thursday after a day of meetings in the U.S. capital.  President Joe Biden's administration understands the cross-border pipeline's ongoing role in securing […]

May 9 2022 — James McCarten, The Canadian Press — WASHINGTON — Warmer weather and fading fears about COVID-19 have immigration experts warning of more irregular efforts to cross the Canada-U.S. border — and not only in one direction. While Canada has for years been a destination for desperate asylum seekers who avoid official entry points in hopes of staking a refugee claim, anecdotal evidence […]

May 9 2022 — James McCarten, The Canadian Press — The Canadian Press — WASHINGTON — Warmer weather and fading fears about COVID-19 have immigration experts warning of more irregular efforts to cross the Canada-U.S. border — and not only in one direction. While Canada has for years been a destination for desperate asylum seekers who avoid official entry points in hopes of staking a refugee claim, anecdotal evidence […]

May 6 2022 — James McCarten, The Canadian Press — The Canadian Press — WASHINGTON — Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson is doubling down on Canada's assertion that the continuing operation of the Line 5 pipeline is "non-negotiable."  Wilkinson made the comments Friday in the House of Commons as Opposition MPs seized on media reports that the controversial cross-border pipeline is facing yet another court challenge.  On top of […]

May 5 2022 — James McCarten, The Canadian Press — The Canadian Press — WASHINGTON — In the grand scheme of a volatile and unpredictable world, the Canada-U.S. trade relationship is healthy and only growing stronger, its two senior curators insisted Thursday during a rare joint appearance in Ottawa.  U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai was in the national capital for a two-day visit, her first to Canada since President […]

May 3 2022 — James McCarten, The Canadian Press — The Canadian Press — WASHINGTON — Rescinding the constitutional right to an abortion would be just the beginning, President Joe Biden warned Tuesday as the world confronted anew the possibility that women in the United States are poised to lose the right to choose.   Outside the U.S. Supreme Court, activists on both sides of the abortion debate gathered […]

Apr 28 2022 — James McCarten, The Canadian Press — The Canadian Press — WASHINGTON — Defence Minister Anita Anand's first official visit to the Pentagon proved long on familiar diplomatic bromides Thursday, but offered little public-facing progress on urgent North American military priorities like the war in Ukraine or upgrading a badly outdated continental defence system.  Anand's arrival — complete with a colour guard, marching-band renditions of the […]

Apr 10 2022 — James McCarten, The Canadian Press — The Canadian Press — WASHINGTON — On the heels of a historic moment of healing for Indigenous Peoples in Canada, their counterparts in the United States are anxiously anticipating a federal report on residential schools — commissioned by one of their own — that's fuelling hope for the start of a similar reckoning. Deb Haaland ordered the Indian Boarding […]

Apr 10 2022 — James McCarten, The Canadian Press — The Canadian Press — WASHINGTON — On the heels of a historic moment of healing for Indigenous Peoples in Canada, their counterparts in the United States are anxiously anticipating a federal report on residential schools — commissioned by one of their own — that's fuelling hope for the start of a similar reckoning. Deb Haaland ordered the Indian Boarding […]