Conservative MP calls on Ottawa to do more on wildfires, criticizes forest entry ban
Speaking to reporters Wednesday in Ottawa, the Alberta MP accused Ottawa of 'inaction' on wildfires. She also blamed that lack of action for new measures restricting activities in the forests of two provinces — even though those bans were imposed by the provinces themselves.
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9 hours ago
Carney to visit Mexico next month as both countries navigate tense U.S. relations
Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to visit Mexico next month as the countries try to navigate trade relations with the United States. Both Mexico and Canada have been subject to tariffs and tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump since he was re-elected last fall. Trump upped tariffs on Canadian non-CUSMA-compliant goods to 35 per cent earlier this month, but exempted Mexico for now — prompting questions about the different approach to the two countries. Canada attempted to reach some sort of agreement on tariffs by Aug. 1. But Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, said a viable deal wasn't on table by that deadline. Trump gave Mexico a 90-day extension of its current tariff regime with the goal of signing a new deal during that period. Carney's visit to Mexico is scheduled to take place on Sept. 18. The trip was first reported by Bloomberg News. Since his election, Carney has said he wants to expand relations with other countries to avoid being reliant on the U.S. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand and Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said they were kickstarting a bilateral economic relationship with Mexico during a visit to the country's capital last week. WATCH | What Canadian goods are covered by 35% U.S. tariffs?: Début du widget . Passer le widget? Fin du widget . Retour au début du widget? While Canada and Mexico are partners in the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), they haven't collaborated together as much as with their shared neighbour. And the two countries haven't always been in harmony during previous trade negotiations, at times prioritizing their relationship with the U.S. Enlarge image (new window) Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, left, and Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, right, met Sheinbaum, centre, in Mexico City last week. Photo: Claudia Sheinbaum/X With Mexico, we are neighbours but we could get to know each other better, Champagne told reporters during last week's visit. Anand said the two countries were also looking into port-to-port lines of trade. On Thursday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre criticized Carney and his government for not landing a deal with either the U.S. or Mexico, saying the prime minister has shown weakness on the international stage. Mark Carney promised that he was an international man of mystery who was going to negotiate deals and end tariffs. Well, what's the result been so far? Poilievre said during a news conference. The Conservative leader also pointed to China slapping tariffs on Canadian canola as another example of the Liberals floundering when it comes to trade. Countries smell weakness. Mark Carney has been failing, he said. CUSMA review on the horizon Carney's visit also comes as a CUSMA review is rapidly approaching. The trade deal — which was signed in 2018 and came into effect in 2020 — is up for review next year. While CUSMA-compliant goods are exempt from Trump's 35 per cent tariffs, the U.S. president has hit certain Canadian goods — such as softwood lumber, steel, aluminum and some auto parts — with further import levies, whether they fall under the trade agreement's umbrella or not. Although the review isn't scheduled until July 2026, there have been questions about the possibility of it starting early. WATCH | What could come from the trade talks? Début du widget . Passer le widget? Fin du widget . Retour au début du widget? Ontario Premier Doug Ford warned last week that Trump could choose to suddenly pull the carpet out from underneath us by opening up CUSMA as early as this fall. Let's be prepared. I think it'll be coming in November. He's going to come at us with double barrels, so we better be ready and throw everything and the kitchen sink at this, Ford told reporters last week. LeBlanc has tried to temper concerns that the unpredictable president would trigger an early review. The minister said earlier this spring (new window) that he has no reason to think Trump would push up the timeline.
Toronto Sun
10 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
EDITORIAL: Two-tier sentencing makes zero sense
Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner holds a news conference in Ottawa, Friday, Feb.21, 2025. Photo by Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press Once upon a time in Canada, non-citizens who broke the law were deported. No muss, no fuss. If you can't live within our laws and show contempt for this country, you're gone. 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 All that's changed. As Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner points out, now if you're a non-citizen and you break the law, your citizenship status will be taken into consideration — so you get a lighter sentence than someone who's a Canadian citizen. Rempel Garner points to a recent case in which a permanent resident was given a conditional sentence after being convicted of trying to buy sexual services from a 15-year-old. The judge justified the lighter sentence because a tougher penalty would have hindered the offender and his wife from obtaining Canadian citizenship. This is only the most recent example. 'Another non-citizen, in Canada on a visitor's permit, was convicted twice of groping an 18-year-old woman's genitals at a bar, yet received a discharge to avoid a permanent criminal record and to allow for an appeal of their deportation,' Rempel Garner told a news conference this week. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The practice is the result of a 2013 Supreme Court ruling in an Alberta case, where a man, Hoang Anh Pham, was given a two-year sentence for trafficking marijuana, which jeopardized his immigration status. Had he been given a sentence of two years less a day, that status would not have been impacted. The Supreme Court ruled in his favour and said the trial and appeals judges erred in not taking this into consideration. The Supreme Court said the lesser sentence wasn't unusual for such an offence. It said such considerations, which it called 'collateral immigration consequences,' should be examined during sentencing. The court made it clear, though, that those consequences should not automatically influence the sentencing. Since then, it would appear lower court judges have ignored that caveat and have instead erred on the side of leniency to those who are non-citizens. Citizenship in this country is a privilege. The bedrock of a civil society is respect for the law. Our courts should show a little common sense when handing down sentences. We cannot have two-tier justice — one lenient sentence for non-citizens and tougher jail time for Canadians. Toronto & GTA Ontario Celebrity Golf Other Sports
Toronto Sun
10 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
SNOBELEN: Loss and humiliation should spur Poilievre to be better
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, flanked by members of parliament, speaks in front of workers and a fracking pump at EnQuest Energy Solutions in Calgary on Thursday, August 7, 2025. Photo by Brent Calver/Postmedia / Brent Calver/Postmedia Prime Minister Poilievre? 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 Next week, the good people of Battle River-Crowfoot will elect a new member of Parliament and the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) can get back to worrying about the future. Pierre Poilievre will easily win this election and make his return to the tranquillity of Ottawa. Then, the real battle will begin. In 2026, Poilievre will face a mandatory leadership review at the CPC national convention in Calgary. Between now and then, Conservative party members will have one overriding question on their minds: Can Poilievre ever be prime minister? Under Poilievre's leadership, the Conservatives gained votes and seats in the last election, but despite the unpopularity of Justin Trudeau's clan and the political naivety of Mark Carney, they fell painfully short of winning government. That election triggered questions about Poilievre's future. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The stage for Carney's rise and the Conservatives' defeat was set when Donald Trump won a second term as president. Trump is the context for everything. His ability to generate and prosper from chaos is extraordinary, as is his ability to command attention in the era of 24/7 news cycles. Trump elected Carney. The winds blowing from Washington last January were particularly icy and Canadians felt cold shivers from a former ally now suddenly and inexplicably hostile. Trump clearly wanted to starve Canada first into irrelevance and then into statehood. By the end of April, many Canadians longed for some sense of stability and, straight from central casting, the Liberals presented a new, much more serious leader. Carney is a safe-looking guy with a black belt in economics and an international reputation. What could be safer? This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In contrast, Poilievre is a career politician with a black belt in antagonizing. His ability to get under Trudeau's skin is legendary. He was the right guy for the wrong time. So, can Poilievre be the right guy the next time? Probably. Carney will face some stiff winds over the next few years. Canadians may find that, to quote Helen Keller, 'Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.' Having given false security a try for a few years, many Canadians may be ready for a daring adventure in the next election. Carney is many good things, but adventurous is not one of them. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Elbows half-up is going to get tiresome. The C.D. Howe Institute reported that the Carney government's 'comprehensive spending review' will look at one-third of expenditures and produce less than one-half the savings required. A couple of years of things only getting a little worse will set the stage for a Poilievre comeback. That is, if he wants to. Poilievre will have to change if he wants to be the next prime minister. Passion doesn't have to bleed to zeal. Certain doesn't need to be strident. And daring doesn't need to be foolhardy. Poilievre is a master storyteller, but he refused to tell his story through much of the media in the last election. That isn't a good strategy; it's arrogance. Poilievre needs to keep a sharp wit and willingness to be bold, but lose the attack edge and arrogance. The good news for Conservatives is that Poilievre has been through the humiliation of an election loss. That should make him a little less smart and a lot wiser. Toronto & GTA Ontario Celebrity Golf Other Sports
