‘My heart is bursting': Clifford Small becomes 1st elected Conservative, taking Central Newfoundland
Clifford Small handily won re-election in his riding of Central Newfoundland, becoming the first declared winner for the Conservatives. 'My heart is bursting', he told the CBC's Heather Gillis as supporters cheered him on.
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Vancouver Sun
3 hours ago
- Vancouver Sun
B.C. Conservatives' first session includes bright spots and recriminations
VICTORIA — It was hard to know what to expect back in February when the B.C. Conservatives settled into their seats for their first session of the legislature. Party leader John Rustad and a half dozen or so holdovers from the B.C. Liberal/B.C. United parties had experience and records in politics. The other members of the Opposition caucus were, as a recent movie title had it, complete unknowns. But as the 11-week session unfolded, they showcased unexpected diversity and more than a few surprises. One of those moments happened the first week, when Premier David Eby was defending his government's safer supply drug program. A daily roundup of Opinion pieces from the Sun and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Informed Opinion will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'Fourteen years ago, I was a homeless addict living on the Downtown Eastside,' returned Skeena MLA Claire Rattée. 'And I can tell you that the people that are going to die today and tomorrow deserve better than that answer.' Rattée brought a 'lived experience' to the floor of the House unlike any that had been heard there before. When she spoke, the whole chamber listened with respect. 'One of the reasons that I came to this place is because I know what it's like to feel invisible, abandoned and hopeless, as someone that's unhoused,' she said late in the session. 'In Terrace, one in every 84 people is homeless. Let that sink in. If that same rate applied to the Lower Mainland, it would be as if everyone in the City of Langley suddenly became homeless overnight.' Another unique perspective was provided by A'a:liya Warbus, the MLA for Chilliwack-Cultus Lake. Warbus, the daughter of former Lt.-Gov. Steven Point, had a sobering personal tale to tell. 'I came here to this house and to this position to serve British Columbians because far too many people in this province have had to bury their loved ones,' she said in a poignant wrap up of the last Question Period of the session. 'My family is unfortunately included in those statistics and the lives that have been lost by the toxic drug crisis. Today, I'm going to say their names, because I think that too often we repeat numbers and we play politics with issues that actually affect people. Stanley, Jared, Sheila, Chetan, Kevin and Tamara.' Rustad raised more than a few eyebrows when he named Warbus as Opposition house leader, although she had never before served in the House in any capacity. But it was an inspired choice, as Mike Farnworth, her counterpart on the government side, acknowledged early on. For some other Conservative newcomers, the record was mixed. Harman Bhangu, an outspoken trucker from Langley-Abbotsford, knew how to get attention. On the X social media platform last week, he posted a walkthrough of the provincial capital's squalid Pandora Avenue, something that few Victoria residents (including me) would dare to attempt. 'It's absolute chaos,' declared Bhangu. 'People are in deep crisis with mental health and addiction, and it's heartbreaking. This is not compassion. This is failure.' Grandstanding also got Bhangu into trouble when he accused a Teamsters Union local of being 'blatantly corrupt' and guilty of 'systemic nepotism.' He later withdrew the comments 'without reservation.' But the union is suing Bhangu, in a legal action filed by lawyer Andrew Mercier. Until the last election, Mercier was the NDP MLA for another of the Langley ridings. Other rookie Conservatives who distinguished themselves include Brennan Day, critic for rural and seniors' health, and Judy Toor, who managed the rare feat for an Opposition member of steering a private member's bill through the House. They and other newcomers, along with more experienced Conservatives — especially veterans Elenore Sturko, Trevor Halford and Peter Milobar — held the NDP government to account, which is, after all, the first job of the Opposition. The Conservatives struggled with the second job, which is presenting their party as united and ready to govern. The session was less than a month old when the Opposition caucus split wide open. Rustad expelled Dallas Brodie, the party's lone MLA from Vancouver, over her provocative comments on residential schools. MLAs Tara Armstrong and Jordan Kealy joined Brodie in protest to sit as independents. The trio of independents has so far proven to be more-effective critics of their former party than the NDP government. They ended the session by accusing Rustad of spending $100,000 in party funds to recruit a block of South Asian voters to pack the Conservative convention earlier this year. They presented no evidence of their insinuations. Nor was it the first time that a B.C. political party was accused of recruitment shenanigans in a South Asian community. Yet it raises the question of what's next for the three independents. If they form a party, they would vault past the Greens into third place in the House and all that entails in financial resources, staffing and access to the daily Question Period. Not a happy prospect for the Conservatives, but one that would surely gratify the New Democrats. • A total of 74 tankers were loaded at the Burnaby terminal of the TMX pipeline in the first quarter of this year, not 741 as I reported in error Wednesday. vpalmer@
Toronto Sun
6 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
'WHERE'S THE DEAL:' Tories demand answers from Carney about tariffs
As Min. Leblanc met with U.S. officials over trade, the Trump White House increased steel and aluminum tariffs from 25% to 50% Tuesday Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer speaks during Question Period on Wednesday, June 4, 2025 Photo by Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press OTTAWA — Why is Canada's being left behind? This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account That was the Conservatives' question for Prime Minister Mark Carney, as U.S. President Donald Trump's latest hike to steel and aluminum imports fuelled question period on Wednesday. 'Let's be clear, Trump's tariffs on Canada are wrong, unjustified and an attack on our workers and economy,' Opposition leader Andrew Scheer said in the House of Commons. 'While other countries have got deals to lower their tariffs, not only has the PM failed to do that, but he got Canada's tariffs doubled on steel and aluminum. He promised he was the man with the plan, but he can't even get a deal.' Trump hiked tariffs in incoming steel and aluminum from 25% to 50% on Tuesday, a decision made while Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc was trying to hammer out a deal with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. '(Carney) promised that he'd collect $20 billion in retaliatory tariffs, but then secretly dropped those tariffs to zero during the campaign,' Scheer continued. Recommended video 'If he's so sure that he's going to collect $20 billion, why not table a budget and prove it to Canadians?' In response, Carney repeated comments he made to reporters before attending Wednesday morning's caucus meeting — agreeing with Scheer that that Trump's new tariffs were neither legal nor fair. 'That is why we have retaliatory tariffs on over $90 billion worth of U.S. goods,' Carney said, to shouts of 'prove it' from across the aisle. 'We are in intensive negotiations with the Americans and in parallel preparing reprisals if those negotiations do not succeed.' bpassifiume@ X: @bryanpassifiume Read More Toronto & GTA Celebrity Canada Toronto Blue Jays Toronto & GTA
7 hours ago
Canada-U.S. trade war could spark an 'immediate crisis' in Ontario's landfills
Doug Ford's government is blaming U.S. tariffs for the expansion of a controversial landfill project in southwestern Ontario — but experts say the conflict should serve as a wake-up call that time is running out to find long-term solutions to the province's rapidly-filling landfills. Ford's government has repeatedly raised the spectre of the U.S. President Donald Trump tariffing, or cutting off, garbage shipments to the U.S. as the rationale to reopen the York1 landfill site near Dresden, Ont. While it's unclear if Trump has made such a threat publicly, or privately, the province has depended on the U.S. to take millions of tonnes of its trash for decades. It's about being self-reliant when it comes to waste management and all matters economic, Ontario's Environment Minister Todd McCarthy said in question period recently while defending the York1 project. Ontario sent one-third of its waste to three American states between 2006 and 2022, with 40 million tonnes going to Michigan alone. Ontario generates between 12 and 15 million tonnes of trash annually and while the government's concerns are legitimate, one landfill will not solve the problem, said York University professor Calvin Lakhan. If, for whatever reason, the U.S. administration decided to close their borders to Canadian waste … we would face an immediate crisis that we simply do not have the infrastructure to manage, Lakhan said. WATCH | Conservative MPP speaks out against proposed Dresden landfill: Début du widget Widget. Passer le widget ? Fin du widget Widget. Retourner au début du widget ? Conservative MPP speaks out against proposed Dresden landfill A Conservative MPP is speaking out against the proposed Dresden landfill, all while the premier is working to fast-track the process. CBC's Katerina Georgieva reports. Ontario will exhaust its landfill capacity over the next decade The province's auditor general and the association that represents the province's waste and recycling sector have warned for years that Ontario's landfill capacity will be exhausted over the next decade. A 2023 report from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario showed that while waste diversion rates increased in the preceding five years, so too did the amount of garbage generated by the province's growing population. Even before Trump took office, Ontario faced major challenges disposing of its own garbage, said Lakhan, who is director of York's Circular Innovation Hub. But, he says the Dresden landfill, which the company says will take only non-hazardous construction and demolition materials, won't be enough to solve the crunch. Adding additional capacity to one landfill in the province is like putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound, he said. At best, it provides us a temporary reprieve. Late last month, NDP environment critic Peter Tabuns slammed the government for failing to take earlier action on the file. In 2021, the Auditor General reported Ontario was facing a landfill crunch, he said. "This is not news, and the government did nothing about it." AG warns businesses, institutions not doing enough to divert waste At the time, the then-auditor general Bonnie Lysyk issued a damning report which laid some of the blame for the landfill crunch at the feet of businesses and institutions provincewide. They generate 60 per cent of Ontario's waste — that's at least 7.2 million tonnes of waste annually — and 98 per cent don't recycle, she said. WATCH | Changes to who pays for recycling in Ontario: Début du widget Widget. Passer le widget ? Fin du widget Widget. Retourner au début du widget ? Who pays for recycling collection in Ontario is changing, and corporations aren't happy Ontario is in the process of shifting the cost burden of blue box recycling programs away from municipalities and onto companies that make and sell products that generate waste. As CBC's Mike Crawley explains, some of those companies are now asking Doug Ford's government to change the plan, saying it's too expensive. In 2017, the previous Liberal government set a goal to divert half of all waste generated by the province's residential and business sectors by 2030, and 80 per cent by 2050. As of 2021, Lysyk said the province was not on track to hit those targets. As a result, she warned, Ontario will be faced with questions about where to put all this waste and how to pay for it in the very near future. A follow up audit from Lysyk's office in 2023 showed the government had made little progress on her 2021 recommendations. Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said the government has shown little interest in tackling the problem. What this really shows is the Ford government's utter failure to bring forward a zero waste strategy for Ontario to hit waste diversion targets, he told CBC Toronto in a recent interview. Trade war an excuse to loosen rules, says environmentalist Karen Wirsig, senior program manager for plastics with Environmental Defence, said she's concerned the government will use Trump's tariffs as an excuse to push ahead with new or expanded landfills and to loosen environmental assessment rules around their creation. What worries me — and what it probably signals — is a broader intention by the government to use the sense of emergency to override local planning, local decision-making and local wishes, she said. Ontario should use this moment to build consensus on a variety of waste diversion strategies that prolong the life of its current landfills, Wirsig said. It could also create a plastic bottle deposit program to encourage recycling and get behind "right to repair" (new window) efforts to keep electronics in use for years, she added. This is the low hanging fruit, Wirsig said, stressing that pursuing an organics diversion program amongst businesses, institutions and multi-unit residential properties would keep food waste out of landfills. Lakhan said the province may have to consider expansion of waste to energy facilities that burn trash to create electricity. While the technology remains controversial in Ontario, he said Europe, Japan and Southeast Asia are turning to it. It's not necessarily considered a desirable end-of-life outcome, he said. But the reality is that it's probably one of the only economically and technologically feasible short-term solutions that could potentially address this waste crisis. The association that represents Ontario's waste and recycling sector said it too is concerned about the spectre of tariffs on garbage shipments. It can take eight to 10 years for a new landfill to become operational, so enhanced disposal and diversion methods are needed, said Waste to Resource Ontario spokesperson Sophia Koukoulas. Landfill continuation initiatives like expansions are the best short-term solutions to mitigate trade threats now, while preserving disposal capacity long-term, she said in a statement. A spokesperson for Minister McCarthy said the York1 project near Dresden is the landfill that can mobilize the quickest to reduce reliance on the U.S. We have been clear, the project will still undergo extensive environmental processes and remain subject to strong provincial oversight and other regulatory requirements, Alexandru Cioban said in a statement. Shawn Jeffords (new window) · CBC News
