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Current and former Liberal party officials, both French and English speakers, say the next Liberal leader replacing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should be bilingual. “In my opinion, it’s essential for the leader of the Liberal party to speak both official languages,” said former Housing minister Sean Fraser, who announced in December he would not run for re-election in his Nova Scotia riding.“If a leader doesn’t have the ability to understand the reality for linguistic minorities and the populations of Quebec as well, it’s not possible to be a good prime minister or a good leader of the Liberal party,” said Fraser, who is taking French courses to improve his French.Although Manitoba MP Kevin Lamoureux said he doesn’t believe that unilingual candidates should be systematically disqualified...

Descrease article font size Increase article font size Transport Minister Anita Anand will not be entering her name in the race to replace outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. “Today, I am announcing that I will not be entering the race to become the next Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and will not be seeking re-election as Member of Parliament for Oakville,” Anand said in a statement posted to social media.“I will continue to honourably execute my roles as public office holder until the next election.”Anand, who was a lawyer and served as a professor at the University of Toronto prior to being elected in 2019, says she will be returning to academia. Get daily Na...

United States president-elect Donald Trump may declare a national emergency in order to turn his threat to slap Canada with 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs into a reality. With less than two weeks to go until Trump returns to the White House, it’s still not clear how the Republican leader will enact his tariff agenda. Greta Peisch, the former general counsel for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, said the incoming president could use the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA).“When you look at the link that the president-elect makes between tariff action and issues such as fentanyl and border security, he has not explained what authority he would use, but it would seem to be most closely linked to IEEPA,” Peisch said.IEEPA is a national security statute that giv...

Monique Henry has been teaching English in Quebec for the better part of two decades without official certification. As a so-called “unqualified” teacher, she has had to learn her profession the hard way. When she started teaching in 2006 she struggled with unruly students. As she never completed a university education program, she didn’t learn classroom management techniques.“You kind of just do it on the fly and learn with time,” said Henry, 46, who teaches English as a second language at a high school in St-Jérôme, Que., on a yearlong contract. “There’s no one to help you out . … If you have a problem, you’re kind of on your own.”Henry is one of a growing number of unqualified teachers in Quebec schools who, education experts say, the provincial government is increasingly reliant on as ...

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly will head to Washington next week as part of her government’s efforts to press the incoming Trump administration not to impose damaging tariffs on Canada. President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico when he is inaugurated later this month.Joly’s office did not say exactly when she’s departing or whether other ministers will accompany her, and did not name the officials she’ll be meeting with in Washington.“We have to be ready,” Joly told reporters Friday morning on Parliament Hill, ahead of a meeting of ministers on the Canada-U. S. cabinet committee to discuss the retaliatory measures Ottawa would deploy if those tariffs are applied.“We need to take him very seriously and...