Politics

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says Canada and the United States need to “make a deal” as president-elect Donald Trump’s threats of sweeping tariffs continues to loom over the two countries. Ford made those comments Friday, one day after Trump responded to his threat of stopping energy exports to the U.S. should Trump follow through.Trump told a CNBC reporter on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Thursday that it was “OK” if Ford did that, adding it was “fine.” He then went on to claim the U.S. is “subsidizing” Canada to the tune of US$100 billion a year — a claim he’s made in the past before.“Well, what you didn’t hear on the tape after (is) he says ‘I really want to make a deal with Canada.’ That’s the first time he’s ever said that, and I respect the position he’s coming from. I’m sure...

French President Emmanuel Macron named key ally Francois Bayrou as his fourth prime minister of 2024 on Friday, but the scale of the challenge facing the veteran centrist was immediately clear as the Socialist Party refused to join his coalition government. Bayrou, 73, gave a sober assessment of whether he could tame a hung parliament that ousted his predecessor, Michel Barnier, just last week.“It is a long road, everyone knows that,” he told reporters. “I am not the first to take a long road.”France’s festering political malaise has raised doubts about whether Macron will complete his second presidential term until 2027.It has also lifted French borrowing costs and left a power vacuum in the heart of Europe, just as Donald Trump heads to the White House and Germany braces for new election...

Amid the ongoing Canada Post strike, federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon announced Friday that he is asking the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to order workers back on the job if it agrees with his determination there is an “impasse” in negotiations. If the CIRB agrees, MacKinnon says the labour relations board would order Canada Post and all employees represented by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers to resume operations and extend the terms of the existing collective agreements until May 2025.“Not only have the parties been unable to show any progress towards an agreement, the federal mediator has now informed me that the negotiations between both parties are now, in fact, going in the wrong direction,” he said during a Friday media conference.“So I’m here today to annou...

Descrease article font size Increase article font size Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has officially called for a federal election. The news comes Thursday in an interview with Global News, where Moe discussed the potential tariffs coming from U.S. president-elect Donald Trump when he is in office.“We have just heard today that the federal government may be looking at export tariffs on oil, potash and uranium,” Moe said. “Export tariffs on our own products. So taxing Canadians on products that we are exporting, which is exactly as ridiculous as it sounds.“It’s a betrayal of those that work in the industry. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, del...

Parents expecting this month’s Canada Child Benefit (CCB) cheques will have to wait a little while longer because of the ongoing Canada Post strike. Under an agreement between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), some benefit cheques, including the Canada Child Benefit, will continue to be delivered despite the national postal strike that reached the four-week mark on Thursday.December payments of the CCB are set to go out to eligible families who have children under the age of 18 on Friday. But those who are expecting cheques will see a one-week delay, according to the Canada Revenue Agency.“Canada Post will deliver benefit cheques for the Canada child benefit and related provincial and territorial benefits on December 20, 2024, one week later than expected,” CRA s...

After decades of friction, Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador have reached a new tentative deal over the long-standing issue of energy. Quebec Premier François Legault met with his Newfoundland and Labrador counterpart Andrew Furey in St. John’s on Thursday in what could be the end to the dispute over the Churchill Falls hydroelectricity plant in Labrador.“Today everything changes for Newfoundland and Labrador,” Furey said. “Today after more than 50 years of a lopsided agreement that has been such a contentious point for Newfoundland and Labrador, we finally have a new deal on the table for Churchill Falls with Quebec.“We are ripping up the 1969 contract. Not in 2041 when it expires, but today.”The provinces announced a new arrangement that will see Quebec pay 30 times more for power fro...

Six months after Naheed Nenshi replaced her as leader of the Alberta NDP, former premier Rachel Notley announced she will be resigning from her role as MLA for Edmonton Strathcona. Notley revealed her plans in a social media post on Thursday. She said it is with “mixed feelings” that she plans to send a letter to the Speaker of the Alberta Legislative Assembly to advise she intends to resign effective Dec. 30.“It was last January this year when I announced I would be stepping down as leader of Alberta’s NDP,” Notley wrote. “I was excited and proud to see our membership swell to over 80,000 members as four worthy (leadership) contestants sought their votes in June of this year.“Naheed Nenshi’s selection represents a tremendous opportunity for all Albertans seeking practical solutions to the...

Cutting off power to 1.5 million Americans, restricting imports of U.S.-made alcohol, and limiting exports of Canadian critical minerals are among the list of measures the Ford government is considering if a looming trade war with the incoming Trump administration escalates in the new year. On Wednesday, Premier Doug Ford, along with other Canadian premiers, met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to discuss the 25 per cent tariffs U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose on all Canadian imports.After the meeting, Ford, who now believes there is a “100 per cent” chance that tariffs will be imposed in early January, offered a threat of his own: to “cut off” millions of American residents living in border states from Ontario’s energy exports.“It would turn off the lights to ...

By Staff The Canadian Press Posted December 12, 2024 8:38 am Updated December 12, 2024 9:21 am 1 min read Descrease article font size Increase article font size Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is set to announce today steps the province plans to take to shore up security at the Canada-United States border. It comes after incoming U.S. president Donald Trump pledged to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian and Mexican imports on his first day back in office in January.Trump has said the tariffs would remain ...

By Staff The Canadian Press Posted December 12, 2024 7:36 am Updated December 12, 2024 7:39 am 1 min read Descrease article font size Increase article font size The union representing Canada Post workers says an unfair labour practice complaint over the company’s layoffs has been resolved. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers filed the complaint with the Canada Industrial Relations Board on Nov. 29 after hundreds of striking postal workers received temporary layoff notices while on strike.The union said in a st...