Politics

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he is unsure about a 30-day tariff reprieve for automakers, which he believes could be used to try and tempt companies to move their operations south of the border. Speaking at Queen’s Park on the second day of Canada’s tariff battle with the United States, Ford said he and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were aligned in their demand that tariffs be scrapped, not reduced or delayed.On Tuesday, 25 per cent tariffs were slapped on the vast majority of Canadian imports to the United States. Later that same day, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the White House could potentially meet Canada “in the middle” on tariffs.Ford said he and Trudeau were “on the same page” in rejecting that offer and insisting on “zero tariffs” on Canada. Story continues ...

U.S. President Donald Trump was forced to weather numerous interruptions from his political opponents during his lengthy 100-minute joint address to Congress on Tuesday night. Since taking office 44 days ago, Trump has doubled down on his promise to strip back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, has attempted to freeze government subsidies to major health care service providers such as Medicaid and moved to dismantle the Department of Education.In addition, he has tried to halt funding to international aid programs such as USAID, has banned transgender troops from the military and slammed Canada, Mexico and China with sweeping tariffs, prompting a trade war that experts warn will likely result in widespread economic turmoil.Trump began his speech by briefly addressing the newly in...

Descrease article font size Increase article font size After the U.S. triggered a trade war, Ottawa will move to prevent the “predatory” takeover of Canadian businesses by foreign entities, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne says. This comes after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned that the aim of U.S. President Donald Trump‘s tariffs was to weaken Canada economically to make the country easier to annex.“We actually have to fold back on the one thing he [Trump] has said repeatedly — that what he wants is to see a total collapse of the Canadian economy, because that will make it easier to annex us,” Trudeau said on Tuesday.Champagne said the federal government is updating the guidelines to the Investment Canada Act (ICA) to include...

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to speak with President Donald Trump Wednesday morning, Global News has learned, as a trade war triggered by the U.S. entered a second day. All eyes are on Washington after Trump launched a North American trade war against Canada and Mexico on Tuesday.Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she is expecting to speak with Trump on Thursday, but said on Wednesday if tariffs continue following that call, Mexico “will reach out to Canada and other nations.”“It is a very definitive moment for Mexico,” Sheinbaum said. “Our economy is fine, but there will be no submission. … Depending on the circumstances, we will look to Canada and other countries.”A day after slapping a sweeping 25 per cent tariff on Canadian and Mexican goods, Trump may announce a deal on ...

A day into Donald Trump’s North American trade war, the U.S. president remained adamant that tariffs would benefit America even as a key member of his team has floated that a compromise could materialize Wednesday. Trump addressed a joint session of Congress Tuesday night, for the first time since he returned to office in January, by making a case for his massive tariff agenda.“We have been ripped off for decades by nearly every country on Earth and we will not let that happen any longer,” Trump told lawmakers in Washington.The president’s executive order hitting Canada and Mexico with 25 per cent across-the-board tariffs, with a lower 10 per cent levy on Canadian energy, took effect Tuesday.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the continental trade war “dumb” and said Canada was forced to...

United States President Donald Trump addressed a joint session of Congress in a televised speech on Tuesday, six weeks into a tumultuous term during which he has upended decades of U.S. foreign and domestic policy and stretched the limits of the presidency. Here are some takeaways from Trump’s 100-minute-long speech: Foreign policy gets short shrift The opening weeks of Trump’s presidency have been dominated by foreign policy, with several cabinet members engaging in furious shuttle diplomacy throughout Europe and the Middle East in a bid to wind down the Ukraine war and the conflict in Gaza. Story continues below advertisement But you wouldn’t know it from Trump’s speech on Tuesday, which was focused almost entirely on domestic aff...

Canada’s spy agency warns that colliding global developments make the Arctic an “attractive, strategic and vulnerable destination” for foreign adversaries seeking to establish a presence in Canada. A newly released Canadian Security Intelligence Service assessment flags the environment, critical infrastructure, economic activity and geopolitics as converging factors making the region susceptible to threats from abroad.It sees resource extraction projects, increasing ship traffic, the building of ports and possible militarization of the Arctic as some of the avenues nefarious actors could use to gain a foothold in the region.Once established in the North, rivals could use these opportunities to “generate substantial influence and interference opportunities,” CSIS warns. ...

Canada is vowing to fight back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs that went into effect Tuesday, and potash could become a potent weapon in the growing trade war — but economists are urging caution. Potash is a key ingredient in fertilizer, and roughly 85 per cent of the supply used by American farmers comes from Canada — particularly Saskatchewan, where potash is a major export market.U.S. farming groups and even some Republicans aligned with Trump have called for potash to be exempted from the blanket tariffs out of concern for the agricultural industry.Ontario Premier Doug Ford told reporters Tuesday that Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe should consider no longer selling potash, uranium and oil to the United States and instead find different markets.“We need to make su...

Descrease article font size Increase article font size U.S. President Donald Trump may announce a deal with Canada and Mexico on Wednesday that sees the countries “meet in the middle” on tariffs, his commerce secretary said after the president launched a trade war Tuesday. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Fox News Trump will “work something out with them” after imposing 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods and 10 per cent levies on Canadian energy. Canada launched retaliatory tariffs shortly afterward, with Mexico promising to do the same. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. ...

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she supports Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s response after the United States launched a trade war with Canada early Tuesday. “Now is the time for us to unite as a province and a country,” Smith said in a statement.At 12:01 a.m. ET, U.S. President Donald Trump’s promised 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian exports took effect. Canadian energy is being hit with 10 per cent tariffs.At a news conference in Ottawa on Tuesday, Trudeau said Canada will counter the tariffs by imposing 25 per cent retaliatory tariffs on $30 billion worth of U.S. products, and added that will grow to another $125 billion in U.S. goods in 21 days.Smith called Trump’s tariffs “an unjustifiable economic attack on Canadians and Albertans.”“They also represent a clear breach of the trade ...