Leaders should ignore Trump outbursts at G7 summit: Former PM Chretien
Former prime minister Jean Chretien says dignitaries attending next week's G7 leaders summit in Alberta should avoid engaging with the "crazy" from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Chretien, speaking Thursday at a conference in Calgary, said leaders can't predict what Trump might do, but said Trump can be a bully and it would be best if the rest of the G7 leaders ignored any outbursts.
"If he has decided to make a show to be in the news, he will do something crazy," he said. "Let him do it and keep talking normally."
Chretien said leaders should follow the example set by Prime Minister Mark Carney when he visited Trump at the White House last month.
"When Trump talked about Canada to be part of the United States, [Carney] just said 'Canada is not for sale, the White House is not for sale, Buckingham Palace is not for sale,'" Chretien said.
"Trump said, 'Never say never,' [but Carney] didn't even reply. He just moved on with the discussion. It's the way to handle that."
Carney is hosting Trump and world leaders from France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, Italy and the European Union for the three-day summit starting Sunday in the Rocky Mountains southwest of Calgary.
Chretien, who was speaking alongside his former deputy prime minister and finance minister John Manley, also said he supported Carney's decision to invite India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the summit.
Carney has been criticized for extending the invitation, including by a member of his own Liberal caucus, due to the ongoing tension between the two countries over foreign interference and the killing of Sikh separatism activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in B.C. two years ago. The RCMP has said they have evidence linking members of the Indian government to the killing.
"It's always good to talk," Chretien said of the Modi invite. "They will be able to talk and they will see there are other problems."
"You have to navigate. You cannot always go on your high horse for every little problem you're confronted with."
Chretien was one of two former Canadian prime ministers speaking at the conference, which is being hosted by the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy and the G7 research group.
The conference features a series of panels about past G7 summits and international affairs.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith was set to speak alongside the public policy school's director Martha Hall Findlay about the role her province plays in the global energy market.
Former prime minister Joe Clark was to give the closing keynote speech.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
34 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Federal judge blocks Trump's firing of Consumer Product Safety Commission members
BALTIMORE (AP) — A federal judge has blocked the terminations of three Democratic members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission after they were fired by President Donald Trump in his effort to assert more power over independent federal agencies. The commission helps protect consumers from dangerous products by issuing recalls, suing errant companies and more. Trump announced last month his decision to fire the three Democrats on the five-member commission. They were serving seven-year terms after being nominated by President Joe Biden. After suing the Trump administration last month, the fired commissioners received a ruling in their favor Friday; it will likely be appealed. Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued the case was clearcut. Federal statute states that the president can fire commissioners 'for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office but for no other cause' — allegations that have not been made against the commissioners in question. But attorneys for the Trump administration assert that the statute is unconstitutional because the president's authority extends to dismissing federal employees who 'exercise significant executive power,' according to court filings. U.S. District Judge Matthew Maddox agreed with the plaintiffs, declaring their dismissals unlawful. He had previously denied their request for a temporary restraining order, which would have reinstated them on an interim basis. That decision came just days after the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority declined to reinstate board members of two other independent agencies, endorsing a robust view of presidential power. The court said that the Constitution appears to give the president the authority to fire the board members 'without cause.' Its three liberal justices dissented. In his written opinion filed Friday, Maddox presented a more limited view of the president's authority, finding 'no constitutional defect' in the statute that prohibits such terminations. He ordered that the plaintiffs be allowed to resume their duties as product safety commissioners. The ruling adds to a larger ongoing legal battle over a 90-year-old Supreme Court decision known as Humphrey's Executor. In that case from 1935, the court unanimously held that presidents cannot fire independent board members without cause. The decision ushered in an era of powerful independent federal agencies charged with regulating labor relations, employment discrimination, the airwaves and much else. But it has long rankled conservative legal theorists who argue the modern administrative state gets the Constitution all wrong because such agencies should answer to the president. During a hearing before Maddox last week, arguments focused largely on the nature of the Consumer Product Safety Commission and its powers, specifically whether it exercises 'substantial executive authority.' Maddox, a Biden nominee, noted the difficulty of cleanly characterizing such functions. He also noted that Trump was breaking from precedent by firing the three commissioners, rather than following the usual process of making his own nominations when the opportunity arose. Abigail Stout, an attorney representing the Trump administration, argued that any restrictions on the president's removal power would violate his constitutional authority. After Trump announced the Democrats' firings, four Democratic U.S. senators sent a letter to the president urging him to reverse course. 'This move compromises the ability of the federal government to apply data-driven product safety rules to protect Americans nationwide, away from political influence,' they wrote. The Consumer Product Safety Commission was created in 1972. Its five members must maintain a partisan split, with no more than three representing the president's party. They serve staggered terms. That structure ensures that each president has 'the opportunity to influence, but not control,' the commission, attorneys for the plaintiffs wrote in court filings. They argued the recent terminations could jeopardize the commission's independence. Attorney Nick Sansone, who represents the three commissioners, praised the ruling Friday. 'Today's opinion reaffirms that the President is not above the law,' he said in a statement.
Calgary Herald
35 minutes ago
- Calgary Herald
Calgary Ukrainian community to meet with Zelenskyy during G7
Members of Calgary's Ukrainian community will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the tail end of the war leader's G7 appearance in southern Alberta, the local leader of the movement said Friday. Article content Ten people from across Canada, including the local group, will have an audience with Zelenskyy for up to an hour in an undisclosed location in Calgary on Tuesday, said Roman Yosyfiv, president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress's Calgary branch. Article content Article content Article content Article content Exactly when and where the meeting will take place hasn't been disclosed for obvious security reasons, he said. Article content When local Ukrainians heard earlier this year that Prime Minister Mark Carney had invited Zelenskyy to the G7 to be held June 15-17 at Kananaskis, the congress contacted the Ukrainian embassy in Ottawa to request the meeting, said Yosyfiv. That meeting was confirmed three weeks ago, he said. Article content They will make their time with Zelenskyy a show of support and a reminder of how much their community has striven to push Canada to back the Ukrainian war effort through lobbying that's included numerous public rallies in Calgary, he said. Article content Alberta has also welcomed many Ukrainians who've fled the war in their homeland. Last year, the provincial government said that number stood at more than 70,000 since the full-scale Russian invasion in February, 2022 with 33,000 of those settling in Calgary. Article content Article content 'We'll tell him Canada supports him and Calgarians are doing a lot of rallies and making donations,' said Yosyfiv. Article content 'We'll ask him what else we can do.' Article content They also hope to screen a photo presentation of their community's activities for the Ukrainian president, who's become a symbol of resistance and perseverance during the conflict, he said. Article content Zelenskyy will be presented with gifts that include pysanka, or intricately decorated Easter eggs crafted by a Calgary woman, a book chronicling Ukrainian pioneers in Alberta and artwork, said Yosyfiv. Article content Not all Ukrainians in Calgary are enamoured with Zelenskyy's conduct of the war, some questioning his strategic and tactical decisions and military appointments in a conflict that sees the country hard-pressed against a larger Russian foe.
CBC
42 minutes ago
- CBC
Back-to-back elections could wear out voters and hurt engagement, advocate says
A voting advocate is warning of the effects election fatigue could have ahead of the possibility of Newfoundland and Labrador municipal and provincial elections falling within just days of each other. General municipal elections in the province are held every four years on the last Tuesday in September, which would have been Sept. 30. But the provincial government announced it would change the date this year and move elections to Oct. 2 so they wouldn't interfere with the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. A provincial election has yet to be called, but must occur on or before Oct. 14. Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador president Amy Coady says the situation could be problematic both for voters and those running for office. "This will be three elections for us this year. We just came out of a federal election, there has to be a provincial election and there will be a municipal election," she told CBC Radio's On the Go. "Voter fatigue, you know, is real." Coady says fatigue can play out in different ways, like seeing what can feel like an overload of road signs or having several candidates and volunteers — some of whom have worked with other candidates in the past, she added — constantly knocking at your door. It can all lead to confusion, she says, which could deter people from being actively engaged in both municipal and provincial elections. Having two elections around the same time can also hurt the candidate pool, Coady says, as many involved in municipal government often consider taking a run at provincial politics. "If they run provincially and aren't successful, they've passed the nomination deadline for running municipally. So you're losing candidates that way," she said. Coady says she believes both candidates and residents have a role to play in keeping engagement up. Candidates will have to work extra hard to make sure they let the public know a municipal candidate from a provincial candidate, and she recommends things like making sure messaging is clear and avoiding the use of colours of provincial parties in municipal campaigns. For residents, it's all about making sure they know who is who, what they stand for, and the issues that fall within their jurisdiction, Coady added. She hopes the issue of back-to-back elections could be resolved through fixed-election date legislation in the future, or ensuring governments make sure provincial elections fall far enough away from municipal ones in September.
