Politics

The nation’s top trade representative said Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs are already getting results, bringing other countries to the negotiating table to discuss reducing their trade barriers, but acknowledged American consumers and businesses may face short-term challenges. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer addressed the Senate Finance Committee a day after global markets swung wildly and some business leaders lambasted the president’s aggressive bid to raise tariffs on almost every nation on earth.Greer testified that “about 50” countries have sought talks to escape Trump’s import tariffs. He said, for example, that Vietnam is cutting its own tariffs on apples, almonds and cherries. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later quoted U.S. Treas...

Descrease article font size Increase article font size Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will seek re-election against 81 other candidates in his Ottawa-area riding — while Liberal Leader Mark Carney is running for the first time against four challengers in Nepean. A protest group called the Longest Ballot Committee has convinced dozens of candidates to register to run as Independents in the Ontario riding of Carleton, where Poilievre is the incumbent seeking re-election, in addition to the usual main party candidates.The protest group opposes the first-past-the-post voting system and is seeking to build support for electoral reform.The group has fielded long lists of candidates in prominent federal byelections in recent years, inflating th...

China said Tuesday it would “fight to the end” and take countermeasures against the United States to safeguard its own interests after President Donald Trump threatened an additional 50 per cent tariff on Chinese imports. The Commerce Ministry said the U.S.‘s imposition of “so-called ‘reciprocal tariffs’” on China is “completely groundless and is a typical unilateral bullying practice.”China, the world’s second-largest economy, has announced retaliatory tariffs and the ministry hinted in its latest statement that more may be coming.“The countermeasures China has taken are aimed at safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests, and maintaining the normal international trade order. They are completely legitimate,” the ministry said.“The U.S. threat to escalate tariffs on C...

By Staff The Canadian Press Posted April 7, 2025 6:35 pm 2 min read Descrease article font size Increase article font size Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is fighting back after federal Liberal Leader Mark Carney mocked her during an election campaign stop, accusing him of being intimidated by a “strong conservative woman.” Carney joked on the weekend about premiers appearing on Fox News, saying it would be a “bad idea” to put Smith on the U.S. network to advocate for cross-border diplomacy.“We’re sending Doug Ford on to Fox News, to show them we’re not messing around up here. And we’re going to send Danielle next, we’re — well...

Softwood lumber, a national transportation corridor, affordable housing and speeding up big projects were among the topics of a “productive” meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney, B.C. Premier David Eby says. The pair met Monday in Victoria, days after the U.S. Department of Commerce announced plans to more than double its duties on Canadian softwood lumber to 34.5 per cent.Eby said the conversation touched on using more B.C. mass timber to build housing as a response.“At a time when Canadian forestry exports are facing an escalation in an ongoing trade war, we welcome an opportunity to meet the growing domestic and international demand for value-added wood products,” Eby said in a statement.“The American president’s renewed assault on our forestry sector needs the same Team Canada respo...

The Greens promised to create a “common diplomatic and economic front,” similar to NATO, with other countries like the EU, U.K. and Japan, to “put the U.S. administration and key U.S. economic actors on notice” about joint retaliatory economic measures in relation to further threats to the sovereignty of any members of this new bloc. They also proposed exploring all possible options to deepen economic, political and defence links with the EU. The Greens proposed barring U.S. President Donald Trump and key U.S. officials from visiting Canada, including for the upcoming G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alta. The party said it would also suspend the Safe Third Party Agreement with the U.S. and ban certain U.S. food and drug imports which could be impacted by cuts at the Food and Drug Administration. ...

As global stock markets continued to plunge on Monday, Canada’s federal party leaders took aim at the trade war launched by U.S. President Donald Trump while pledging support for Canadians to “weather the storm.” The start of the third week of election campaigning was clouded by global financial turmoil as economic uncertainty caused by the U.S. tariffs persists in Canada and across the world.Canada’s main stock index was down more than 500 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stocks also continued to post big losses after Trump’s tariff announcement last week.Monday’s losses come on the heels of big declines on Thursday and Friday after Trump announced a sweeping round of global tariffs Wednesday evening, adding fuel to concerns that a recession is on the way.Liberal Party Leader Ma...

Canadian officials monitoring the federal election for foreign interference said Monday they have detected a Chinese-backed operation targeting Liberal Leader Mark Carney on the social media platform WeChat. The “information operation” was launched by Youli-Youmian, WeChat’s most popular news account, which has been linked to the Chinese Communist Party’s central political and legal affairs commission, officials from the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) task force said.According to the assessment unveiled Monday, the operation was intended to influence Chinese-Canadian communities and “mould perceptions” about Carney through articles that were amplified and spread by other WeChat accounts “in a coordinated and inauthentic way.”“This information operation had contrastin...

With the ongoing economic uncertainty created by Donald Trump’s tariffs, the Ontario government says it is deferring a number of taxes for businesses to free up cash flow. “We can’t control President Trump, but we’re in full control of the kind of future we build for ourselves,” Premier Doug Ford said in a statement Monday. “The best way to protect Ontario is to build the most competitive economy in the G7, breaking down internal trade barriers and diversifying our trade so we can build a more resilient, prosperous and secure province.”In a new release, the province said it will pause collection of approximately $9 billion worth of taxes, including 10 business-focused tax programs.Those include the Employer Health Tax, Insurance Premium Tax, Gasoline Tax, Fuel Tax, Mining Tax, Tobacco Tax,...

Liberal Leader Mark Carney is starting off his Western Canada campaign stops by drawing a contrast with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. Carney arrived late Sunday in Victoria, B.C., his first stop in Western Canada, where he is expected to spend a significant amount of the third week of the federal campaign.He told supporters at a community hall in Victoria that Canada is rethinking its relationship with the U.S. and need more growth in fields like green energy.This morning, Carney is set to make an announcement and hold a news conference in Victoria, which is set for midday Ottawa time.He will then meet with B.C. Premier David Eby before heading to the Vancouver area for an evening rally in Richmond, B.C.NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is expected to make an announcement in Toronto Monday follow...