McPherson doesn't rule out run for NDP leadership
NDP MP Heather McPherson tells Power & Politics she's 'been asked by a number of people' if she'll run for the party leadership but she hasn't decided yet.
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Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
Farmers divided over bill to enshrine Canada's supply management system in law
Recently tabled legislation to legally lock in supply management rules on egg, dairy and chicken imports to protect those sectors has reignited friction among Canada's farmers about how it could affect trade negotiations. Imports of poultry, egg and dairy products are limited to certain quotas, before they are subject to steep tariffs. If passed as proposed, the bill would prohibit increasing the quotas or reducing the tariffs imposed by Canada on imports that exceed that quantity. The private member's bill, put forward on May 29 by the Bloc Québécois, is the third such iteration from the party. Supporters of the bill say it would protect local producers in a domestic market that would be overwhelmed if it opened to other markets, particularly the United States. The protectionist measures would also prevent the government from offering foreign access to Canada's supply-managed farm sector in trade negotiations. Alberta farmer's stint in jail highlights controversy over supply management Opinion: If supply management has to be killed, Canada's dairy industry will have to follow New Zealand's lead Michael Harvey, executive director of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, warns the proposed law could negatively affect some Canadian exporters at the negotiating table. In particular, Canada's breadbasket and beef exporters could be at greater risk of losing out on stronger agreements in exchange for security for a few sectors. 'If Canada is taking parts of the economy off the table from the beginning, another country is going to take parts of the economy off the table,' Mr. Harvey said, suggesting supply-managed industries can be protected at the bargaining table without legislation. Canada's desire to protect its supply-managed industries is opposed by trade partners and has complicated past international deals, especially with the United States. Ian McCreary owns a 1,200-hectare cattle and grain farm near Bladworth, Sask., located 148 kilometres northwest of Regina. Mr. McCreary says he's not concerned about the bill because he doesn't believe it will harm future trade agreements with countries importing grains and oilseeds. He also doesn't expect the U.S. to stick to its trade agreements when they are made. 'If we didn't have supply management in this circumstance, Canada's milk and egg sector would be at very significant risk of having been pushed down by the U.S. – and then they turn around and change all the rules anyway.' Mr. McCreary acknowledges his opinion may be in the minority of grain and oilseed producers. Andre Harpe farms mostly barley and canola on about 2,000 hectares northwest of Grande Prairie, Alta., and is the chair of Canadian Canola Growers Association. He's concerned about the effect the bill will have on Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) discussions. The free-trade pact is up for review in 2026. 'It makes it really tough to have a fair and open discussion on what should be traded and what can be traded,' Mr. Harpe said. The majority of Canada's chicken, egg and dairy producers are located in Eastern Canada. Quebec and Ontario were home to about 80 per cent of the country's 9,256 dairy farms in 2024, according to Statistics Canada. Similarly, Ontario and Quebec topped the number of chicken producers. In comparison, Western Canada farms nearly all of the country's canola, spring wheat and barley as well as the vast majority of cattle. Dairy Farmers of Canada has previously expressed support for legislation locking in supply management. In an e-mailed statement, president David Wiens said the organization will work with political leaders as 'they continue to support agriculture and prioritize our national food sovereignty and security.' In past trade agreements, Canada made concessions to allow trade partners more access in supply-managed markets, including in the last agreement with the U.S. and Mexico in 2018. The Bloc's agri-food and supply management critic Yves Perron takes issue with that. 'Giving away 1 per cent, 2 per cent in every negotiation, we are killing the system, but slowly,' Mr. Perron said. Canada later compensated supply-managed sectors for the impact of the CUSMA signing with more than $1.7-billion in direct payments and programs. Bill C-202 mirrors a pair of bills put forward by the Bloc in 2020 and then again in 2023. Its last iteration was passed in the House of Commons with support from all parties two years ago but didn't make it through the Senate before the election was called. Mr. Harvey was disappointed with how quickly the new bill passed its first round of readings – moving through the House in one week. The trade alliance had urged members of Parliament not to allow it to move forward. The bill is now headed to the Senate. 'We were really hoping that the government would take it more seriously this time because we do think it's a terrible piece of trade policy,' Mr. Harvey said. When the new iteration of the bill passed through the House on Thursday, Bloc MP Martin Champoux challenged Prime Minister Mark Carney to support the bill. 'I have been clear about this since January. Supply management will never be on the table in negotiations with the Americans. We will protect supply management,' Mr. Carney responded.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Gen Z is facing the worst youth unemployment rate in decades. Here is how it's different
Graduation cap in hand, Sarah Chung is posing for photos in school regalia ahead of her convocation ceremony. The campus atmosphere is joyful, but what comes next is sobering: this honours student is graduating into one of the worst youth labour markets seen in decades. "It's bleak," said the 23-year-old graduate of the University of Calgary's media and communications program. She hasn't been able to find a job in her field and said she intends to pursue a master's degree. "I believe that it's tough just because of everything that's happening with the economy, with our society and with politics," she said. "There's a whole [lot] of talk about 'there's a recession coming.' I'm not an economist, but I can also see it as well." Chung is part of a generation facing Canada's highest youth unemployment rate in about a quarter-century. Apart from the pandemic, Canadians between the ages of 15 and 24 are facing the highest youth unemployment rate this country has seen since the mid-1990s, according to first quarter data from Statistics Canada. At that time, Jean Chrétien was Canada's prime minister, Gen Z was but a twinkle in their parents' eyes, and the global workforce had yet to be transformed by social media, gig work and artificial intelligence. Fast forward to 2025, and Canada's youngest workers are grappling with a perfect storm of economic conditions: an inflation crisis that came on the heels of a pandemic; a surge in population growth that has outpaced the number of available jobs; and now, a country teetering closer to recession as the U.S. trade war wreaks uncertainty on the economy. One expert says youth unemployment can be a "canary in the coal mine" that foreshadows broader troubles in the labour market. "It's kind of an early warning indicator," said Tricia Williams, director of research at Future Skills Centre, a Toronto Metropolitan University lab dedicated to studying the future of work. "It's not just about getting jobs and skills experience. It's about the larger structural supports and the environment that young people are coming into." Labour market whiplash The Canadian labour market has endured a kind of whiplash in recent years. After pandemic-era restrictions were lifted, companies celebrated with a hiring spree — the economy regained jobs it lost during the crisis and Canadian youth reaped the rewards of a summer job boom. But employers were soon struggling to find workers and fill postings, a result of the workforce having shrunk during the pandemic. The federal government and public policy experts prescribed higher immigration as an antidote to the shortage, which led to a rise in the Gen Z and millennial working population. Hiring sentiment "was really high coming out of the pandemic, which probably was never going to last," said Brendon Bernard, a senior economist at Indeed who closely follows youth labour market trends. As the hiring backlog cleared, other conditions started to slow the economy down, he added. The onset of a fierce inflation episode in mid-2021 triggered a domino effect: consumers pulled back on spending and the Bank of Canada began an aggressive interest rate hike cycle, leading businesses to delay hiring as economic confidence deteriorated. Older workers started working second jobs to pay the bills during the affordability crisis. Some experts suspect that the automation of routine tasks could be leading to fewer entry-level opportunities, but there isn't enough data to say how widespread this is. "As things have turned back and employer appetite has fallen back down to earth, the youth employment situation has weakened," said Bernard. 'It is disheartening' Youth unemployment started ticking back up in the spring of 2024. At the same time, the number of young people not in education, employment or training — an economic measure called the NEET rate — has risen among youth in their early 20s, mainly driven by non-students having trouble finding work. Bernard said there was some cautious optimism at the beginning of this year, when the labour market seemed to be stabilizing. But the Canadian economy has been rocked by U.S. trade war uncertainty since April, potentially stifling the hiring appetite as the overall unemployment rate rises. "It is disheartening," said Thivian Varnacumaaran, an electrical engineering student in his final year at York University who estimates that he's applied for 400 to 500 jobs — with no luck — since he started searching in December. "I wouldn't say I'm pessimistic, but I'm really realistic about the situation," the 25-year-old added. Charles St-Arnaud, chief economist at trade association Alberta Central, says the economy is now "sluggish" even without having breached recession territory. He expects more signs of deterioration in the coming months, and noted that young people will likely bear the brunt of those conditions. "Often businesses do what I would call the 'last in, first out' type of strategy when they reduce headcount," said St-Arnaud. "The younger population that has been just hired are more at risk of being laid off in a downturn." WATCH | How the increase in temporary foreign workers is impacting job seekers: Is our 'addiction' to cheap foreign labour hurting young people? | About That 10 months ago Duration 13:58 The number of temporary foreign workers hired in Canada ballooned over the last two years — particularly in food and retail industries — and the youth unemployment rate has soared alongside it. Andrew Chang explains the government changes that led to the hiring spike, and why economists believe it's having a serious impact on both young job seekers and the broader economy. The scars of unemployment The bleak hiring landscape has some young people taking jobs just to stay ahead of the bills. "I spent two hours sweeping yesterday, and I have a mechanical engineering degree," said 24-year-old Ben Gooch of Dundas, Ont. The McMaster graduate is working part-time at a garden centre to cover some of his living expenses, having applied for upward of 100 jobs since December with only a handful of interviews to show for it. "I feel like I'm just throwing darts out at a wall and hoping to get lucky and hit something." Data shows that it's fairly common for young graduates to work in a job that only requires a high school diploma. But Canadian research has shown that being unemployed at a young age during a recession can lead to a persistent but non-permanent earnings loss for many years after — a well-studied phenomenon known as " wage scarring." Other research also suggests that entering the labour market during a recession can impact a person's health outcomes. "Where it can lead to scarring — I mean, we might think of it as sort of a temporary blemish — but it can have long term implications when the economy goes into a serious recession," said Miles Corak, an Ottawa-based economics professor at the City University of New York's Graduate Centre. "Long-term earnings prospects are dampened for people graduating during the recession — not because they're not getting jobs, but eventually they fall into a part of the labour market that isn't as high-paying, in types of occupations that they didn't anticipate doing," said Corak. The economic downturns seen in Canada during the early 1980s and 1990s show the impact of that scarring. Youth unemployment reached a peak of 18.3 per cent in 1983, and rose again to 17.2 per cent in 1992 and 1993, with real wage declines observed among the 17 to 24 cohort in the years afterward. 'I'm kind of waiting for life to start' The lack of opportunities for young people aren't good for the rest of the country either, said Williams, the researcher. "Young people are a treasure of resource that we need to support and also yield dividends from," she said. Corak offers a different perspective. "I'm not so certain that it impacts the economy [so much] as the nature of our economy gets imprinted more clearly on younger people," he observed. Some young people, he noted, are doing very well and earning more than their parents did, while others are losing ground. "What we're seeing is many young people much more stressed, and running faster on a treadmill to stay still." Lately, Gooch has been reflecting on where his parents were at this stage of their lives. By the time they were in their mid-20s, they were working on their careers, owned real estate and were building a life together, he said. The young engineer hasn't given up on his search — he's applying for jobs across the country and abroad, both in and out of his field. He's accepted that he doesn't know what his circumstances will look like in a year.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Meet 'Project Ontario,' pushing Doug Ford's PCs to be more fiscally conservative
There's a mysterious move afoot to push Premier Doug Ford's Ontario PC government to adopt more fiscally conservative policies. Calling itself "Project Ontario," the initiative launched quietly on the weekend with a one-page website and an unsigned manifesto posted by The Hub, an online news and commentary outlet. "When conservatives lose their principles, Ontario loses its way. Let's change course," says the website. "We're organizing an assembly of Ontario conservatives this fall that we'd love to tell you more about," it adds, encouraging people to submit their name, email address and postal code to get more details. The call for change comes only a few months after Ford led his Progressive Conservatives to a third consecutive majority, something that no party leader has accomplished in the province since the 1950s. It's unclear who's behind Project Ontario. The editor-at-large of The Hub, Sean Speer, told CBC News he is not involved, but offered to pass on an interview request to the authors of the manifesto. CBC News also sent a message to the Project Ontario website, but received no response to any inquiry. Ginny Roth, a longtime organizer within both the Ontario PC Party and the federal Conservative Party, posted a link to Project Ontario on social media and wrote, "I'll be signing up to be part of the conversation." CBC News asked Roth for an interview, but she declined. 'Grassroots movement of conservatives' The manifesto published on The Hub goes into more detail than the group's web page about the philosophy behind Project Ontario. It speaks of the province in bleak terms, describing economic decline, punitive tax rates and businesses weighed down by mounting red tape. "Project Ontario is not just another political group. It is a grassroots movement of conservatives who are ready to think big, act boldly, and put forward practical, principled solutions," says the article. "We are bringing together conservatives from across Ontario — party members, business owners, policy experts, and engaged citizens — to build a shared vision for the province's future," it continues. "Together, we will craft a policy framework that applies conservative values to today's most pressing issues." There are no signs Ford and his PC Party are particularly worried that the so-far anonymous push from Project Ontario poses any sort of political threat. "The premier is focused on delivering his mandate to protect Ontario, which he secured with his third consecutive majority election victory," said an official from Ford's office in an email to CBC News. Kory Teneycke, who managed all three of Ford's successful campaigns, dismisses Project Ontario as a small thing. 'Far outside the mainstream' "They're far outside the mainstream of the party and they're far outside the mainstream of the conservative voter coalition," Teneycke said in an interview. Ford is "the most popular conservative in Canada by a country mile," said Teneycke. Patrice Dutil, a professor of politics and public administration at Toronto Metropolitan University, says Ford's record of running large budget deficits runs contrary to the wishes of many conservatives who want smaller government in the province. "There has long been in Doug Ford's Ontario a rump of conservatives who are deeply unhappy with the way he governs," said Dutil in an interview. WATCH | Conservative Jamil Jivani rips into Doug Ford during CBC's election night coverage: Jamil Jivani slams Doug Ford during fiery interview 1 month ago Duration 13:35 Jamil Jivani, the Conservative incumbent for Bowmanville-Oshawa North who is known for his friendship with U.S. Vice President JD Vance, is projected to win his seat. During an interview with CBC's David Common, Jivani made some sharp remarks about Ontario Premier Doug Ford, saying that he's 'not doing anything particularly well.' The way Ford governs "speaks to conservative values on occasion, but it's also almost indistinguishable from the liberal approach to spending," he said. But Dutil says it's hard to tell at this stage what exactly Project Ontario intends to accomplish. "At this point, it's really nothing more than what seems to be a seed," said Dutil. "Maybe they'll put some some policy meat on their bones. But right now we don't even have bones." Competing visions for conservatism in Canada have been on full display in the aftermath of Ford's election win in February and Pierre Poilievre's failure to lead his Conservative Party of Canada to victory in April's federal election campaign. Tensions between Ford's and Poilievre's teams burst into the open when Teneycke publicly and sharply criticized the Conservatives for blowing a 20-point lead in the polls and failing to pivot the focus of their campaign to the threats from U.S. President Donald Trump. Then on election night, Conservative incumbent Jamil Jivani unloaded on Ford during a live interview with CBC's David Common, slamming the premier he once worked for as an "opportunist" and calling his advisers "goons." WATCH | Ford backs his campaign manager over criticism of Poilievre: 'Sometimes the truth hurts': Ford on criticism of Poilievre election campaign 2 months ago Duration 0:28 Ontario Premier Doug Ford, speaking from Toronto on Monday, says Pierre Poilievre 'would not be in the position he's in right now' if outspoken strategist Kory Teneycke were running the federal Conservative leader's campaign. But Ford added there is 'still a lot of time left.' Teneycke says the timing of Project Ontario's launch is unusual given Ford's election win and the federal party's loss. "I think they would lose a lot less if they emulated Doug Ford more," Teneycke said. Melanie Paradis, president of Texture Communications and a veteran conservative strategist, dismisses Project Ontario as a "faceless, nameless group" offering no substance. "Anyone who thinks Doug Ford is insufficiently conservative has fever-dreamed an impossible standard of conservatism that no politician in Canada could meet," said Paradis in a text message. The advent of Project Ontario is not the first time there have been rumblings against Ford from the right, but those previous critiques have come more from social conservative elements in the party than from fiscal hawks. Members who either were kicked out of the PCs or became disaffected with Ford joined two breakaway right-wing parties, the New Blue Party and the Ontario Party. Both fielded significant numbers of candidates across the province in the 2022 and 2025 elections, but did not come anywhere close to winning a seat.
