U.S. President Donald Trump seeks to destroy the Canadian economy and annex the country, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said yesterday. “I don’t know if negotiations would be any use,” he told reporters: ‘Our government needs to make sure nobody goes hungry.’
Ontario Premier Doug Ford yesterday said the province will shut down hydroelectricity exports to America if the U.S. piles on more tariffs. Ontario is the United States’ largest English-speaking trading partner, by federal estimate: “This is going to be a long battle.”
Parliament must be recalled to deal with ‘back-stabber’ Donald Trump, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre said yesterday. “President Trump stabbed America’s best friend in the back,” he said.
The Department of Agriculture compiled a list of American states reliant on Canadian farm and seafood products where electors voted for U.S. President Donald Trump. Many were “swing states,” said a briefing note: “How is the Government of Canada preparing for potential tariff increases?”
Crown corporations should have powers to conceal records as confidential under the Access To Information Act, says the Federal Court of Appeal. The key ruling on disclosure was watched closely by three Crown agencies: ‘It needed to provide a guarantee of confidentiality to its customers.’
A tariff war with the United States will cost a million Canadian jobs, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said yesterday. The figure is in addition to unemployed who currently number 1,505,000 according to a February 7 Labour Force Survey by Statistics Canada: “A million jobs at risk is no joke.”
A federal agency is charging taxpayers an undisclosed sum to install a sun lounge atop a government office building. The National Research Council yesterday would not discuss expenses for the project that includes flower boxes, a splash pad and Brazilian walnut benches for relaxing during work hours: “Suggest green solutions whenever possible.”
A continental trade war will be painful, costly and unavoidable if the U.S. proceeds today with threatened tariffs, says Liberal leadership candidate Chrystia Freeland. “It is self-mutilating for the United States,” Freeland told reporters: “This tariff war is a really dumb idea.”
Governor General Mary Simon yesterday in pointed remarks to foreign diplomats lamented a tense rise in “economic nationalism.” Her speech came as U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed a tariff war will commence today: ‘Canada understands respect.’
Canada’s chief bank inspector says a current mortgage “stress test” may be replaced altogether with tighter scrutiny of banks instead of borrowers. “We’ll decide after we have a full year of testing,” Superintendent of Financial Institutions Peter Routledge said in a memo.
Organizers of Mark Carney’s Liberal leadership campaign are shielding the candidate from media following criticism he lied about his record. News coverage of one invitation-only Carney speech was restricted to reporters instructed to “RSVP to receive location details.”
Canadians are more alert to “potential biases in ‘mainstream’ news” with the growth of independent media and multiple news sources on the internet, say CRTC researchers. The public said media typically do a poor job of reporting on different political views, said a report released Saturday: ‘People are being more selective.’
Cabinet is counting on the CBC to save Canadian democracy from American threats, says Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly. The Crown broadcaster was just as important as Parliament or the courts in the current “security crisis,” she said.
A multi-billion dollar fund intended to subsidize projects that deliver “social benefits” never defined the term, says a Department of Natural Resources audit. Analysts said it was difficult to determine if taxpayers received value for money: ‘They have yet to fully determine a comprehensive method to measure them.’
Canadian Pacific Railway has been cleared of liability in the nation’s worst postwar train wreck. The Railway was not to blame for the 2013 Lac-Mégantic disaster, the Québec Court of Appeal has ruled: “Canadian Pacific was not the owner of the train that derailed, or its cargo.”
