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U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday denied that his threat of sweeping tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico is meant to force early trade renegotiations, insisting he’s responding to “massive” flows of fentanyl and migrants into the U.S. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump’s tactic was meant to kickstart talks on the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), which replaced NAFTA during Trump’s first term as president, before it comes up for review in 2026. The report cited people familiar with Trump’s thinking.Asked about the report during an unrelated press conference at the White House, Trump said his threat of 25 per cent tariffs against Canada and Mexico, which he said will “probably” begin on Feb. 1, has “nothing to do with” CUSMA.“They’ve allowed — both of them, an...

The president of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs is reversing his previous opposition to the scrapped Northern Gateway pipeline project that would have created another route for Alberta’s oil to get to the Pacific Ocean. Grand Chief Stewart Phillip said Tuesday that while he “really fought against” Northern Gateway’s construction before it was scuttled in 2016, that was a “different time” and Canada now has “no choice” but to reconsider.“We are staring into the abyss of uncertainty right now with climate change, the climate crisis and the American threat,” Phillip said in a news conference ahead of a meeting with B.C. First Nations leaders and the provincial cabinet in Vancouver, highlighting the U.S. administration under President Donald Trump.“I would suggest that if we don’t build that ki...

Elon Musk has responded to allegations that he performed a Nazi salute at President Donald Trump’s inauguration, dismissing it as “dirty tricks” by critics, but not outwardly denying the accusations. The world’s richest man and close ally of Trump, tasked with running the president’s new “Department of Government Efficiency,” sparked outrage and an avalanche of online backlash when he took the stage to speak at Monday’s inauguration and made the one-armed gesture not once, but twice.He thanked the crowd for “making it happen,” before slamming his right hand onto his chest and then thrusting it out into the air straight ahead. He then turned around and did the same action for those sitting behind the stage. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gestures as he speaks during ...

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she is optimistic that since U.S. President Donald Trump did not impose tariffs on Canadian imports on Day 1 of his presidency, Canada will find options to work out an arrangement of some sort with the country’s southern neighbour. “I’m an optimist,” Smith told reporters on a video conference call from Washington, D.C., on Tuesday morning. “I think there’s a deal to be made here.“My interpretation of the president is he likes to win, so it’s up to us to demonstrate how we can get a double win here. I think it’s a double win to sell more to the United States, buy more from the United States, have a joint-energy security strategy that leads to a national and international security strategy.”Weeks ahead of his inauguration, Trump threatened to impose 25 per...

Canada’s population will grow over the years regardless of the federal government’s recent decision to slash immigration rates, a new report shows. Statistics Canada released new projection figures Tuesday that factor in Ottawa’s October announcement that it would be reducing the number of permanent residents admitted to the country by 21 per cent in 2025.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at the time the goal was to pause population growth over the next two years to ease pressures the economy has been facing, such as in housing and infrastructure.A “substantial reduction” in the number of permanent residents, as well as a decrease in non-permanent residents, would result in much lower population growth than that recorded in 2022 and 2023, Statistics Canada said.The population would even d...

The federal immigration department is set to cut roughly 3,300 jobs over the next three years. The Public Service Alliance of Canada and the Canada Employment and Immigration Union said in a joint statement issued Monday that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has not said who will be affected by the cuts.The unions said more information is expected in mid-February but the cuts were brought up in a union-management meeting before staff were notified. Both unions are urging the government to cut down on outside contracting instead of downsizing staff.In an internal memo obtained by The Canadian Press, the IRCC’s deputy minister Dr. Harpreet S. Kochhar and associate deputy minister Scott Harris told employees that some permanent positions “will be eliminated,” along with “ma...

Moments after U.S. President Donald Trump revealed his intention to apply steep tariffs to Canadian exports, Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s office fired off an internal email to Progressive Conservative staffers saying the government needs an even stronger mandate to effectively battle the American president. The internal memo, obtained by Global News, is yet another sign that Ford is set to dissolve his majority government and ask voters for another mandate, with more than a year left in his current term.The memo, sent by Ford’s chief of staff Patrick Sackville, called the announcement “unnecessary and wrong headed” and said the measure would have a “devastating impact” on hundreds of thousands of people in the province.“Moments ago, on live television, the President openly commented about h...

An overwhelming majority of Canadians think their country should fight fire with fire if Donald Trump carries through on his threat to impose a sweeping 25 per cent tariff on Canadian goods and services sold into the U.S. market. A new poll from Ipsos provided exclusively to Global News found that 82 per cent of respondents agree with the statement that, should Trump tariff Canadian goods, Canada should retaliate by slapping tariffs on American imports into Canada.Late Monday, during a rambling news conference from the Oval Office in the White House, Trump said he was ready to put a tariff — or import tax — of 25 per cent on Canadian goods on Feb. 1. He did not sign any executive orders Monday to implement that decision but, during his inauguration speech, he did say that he would make Ame...