Champagne, Anand meet with Mexican officials with goal of strengthening countries' ties
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Champagne said during a virtual press conference from Mexico on Tuesday evening that it was a 'very successful trip' and that the mission was to 'get to know each other a bit better.'
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The minister said the countries spoke about how to work together in areas like energy, auto and security.
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'What we have agreed is to build a work plan between Canada and Mexico which focuses on a number of factors, for example resilient supply chains, port-to-port lines of trade, artificial intelligence and the digital economy, energy, security,' Anand said.
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The ministers met with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and other government officials. They are also set to meet with members of the business community while in Mexico.
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'The bottom line is that we are building the momentum in the Mexico-Canada relationship and we're making sure that this relationship will stand the test of time and that it is a comprehensive, strategic relationship on the axis of the economy and geopolitical issues, including security,' Anand said.
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Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Mark Carney said he would speak with U.S. President Donald Trump 'when it makes sense.'
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'I haven't spoken to the president in recent days,' Carney said during a press conference in West Kelowna, B.C.
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When asked Thursday about the prospects for a trade deal with Canada, Trump said that 'he's called' — seemingly a reference to Carney.
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The U.S. hit Canada on Friday with a 35 per cent tariff on goods not compliant with the Canada-United States-Mexico agreement on trade, known as CUSMA. Tariff rates for Canadian steel, aluminum and copper are at 50 per cent.
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Carney said this means that 85 per cent of trade between the Canada and the U.S. remains tariff-free.
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CUSMA is scheduled for a mandatory review next year.
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During Tuesday's press conference to discuss supports for the softwood lumber industry — a sector hit hard by American tariffs _ Carney pointed to Canada's large investment footprint in the U.S.
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While other countries have included multibillion-dollar investment pledges in their trade deals with the U.S., Carney suggested that Canadian investment in the U.S. likely will decrease without a deal.
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Winnipeg Free Press
27 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Despite cross-border tensions, it's mostly business as usual for International Peace Garden staff, volunteers
INTERNATIONAL PEACE GARDEN — From fentanyl and asylum seekers to trade wars and talk of annexation, the Canada–U.S. border is a pressure point in our countries' squabbles right now. On Thursday, President Donald Trump's executive order raising tariffs to 35 per cent on exports that are not compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement kicked in, adding to the economic pain Canada has been feeling from its longtime neighbour and ally. CONRAD SWEATMAN / FREE PRESS On Saturday, U.S. and Canadian residents are invited to the garden to shake hands across the shared border. CONRAD SWEATMAN / FREE PRESS On Saturday, U.S. and Canadian residents are invited to the garden to shake hands across the shared border. It's only the latest salvo targeting Canada since Trump declared a national emergency in February at the U.S.-Canada border in response to what his administration alleges is a flood of human and drug smuggling from Canada flowing south. Yet, for all this tension, the fact remains: the 49th parallel traces the world's longest undefended border. Customs agents have grown twitchier, but there's still limited border walls and fences and certainly no turreted watchtowers, standing army presence or demilitarized zone. Historically, 'friendship' has been a watchword for our soft borders. Its most potent symbol is rooted at the International Peace Garden, nearly 1,000 hectares of stunning landscape at the border just south of Boissevain that attracts 100,000 tourists, music students, nature lovers and conference attendees every year. The fault line between Canada and the U.S. crosses through the garden, but visitors move back and forth across it without an inspection by a customs agent. On Saturday, U.S. and Canadian residents are invited to the garden to shake hands across the shared border in what the garden's CEO Tim Chapman describes as a show of dedication to peace and co-operation between Canada and the U.S, despite the recent friction. 'It's something we want to do every year,' Chapman told the North Dakota Monitor. He said he hopes that as many as 1,000 Americans and 1,000 Canadians will participate in the handshake, scheduled for 11 a.m., in a ceremony that includes singing both national anthems. It's probably not coincidental that the garden's origins dovetail with the countries' strengthening security alliance. In 1938, on the brink of the Second World War, U.S. president Franklin Roosevelt announced that the U.S. would not stand idly by if the Canada were attacked by a foreign power. Prime Minister Mackenzie King meanwhile pledged that Canada would do everything it could to ensure its soil could never be used to stage an attack on the U.S. The agreement had a resounding effect on U.S.-Canadian defensive co-operation and is considered a foundation for the North American Aerospace Defense Command. The binational partnership — the Canadian command is headquartered in Winnipeg — has continued to monitor and defend North American airspace since early in the Cold War. FRED MCGUINNESS COLLECTION/SJ MCKEE ARCHIVES/BRANDON UNIVERSITY The grand opening of the International Peace Garden in 1932. FRED MCGUINNESS COLLECTION/SJ MCKEE ARCHIVES/BRANDON UNIVERSITY The grand opening of the International Peace Garden in 1932. The International Peace Garden, like NORAD, is also descended from an interwar agreement. Only it was gardeners, not statesmen, who led the charge. 'A few of them were just fascinated by the world's longest unfortified border,' Chapman tells the Free Press. 'And (it's) like… 'What do we have in common? Oh, we're one of few countries in the world with a massive border, and we're not constantly attacking one another.'' Spearheaded by horticulturist Henry R. Moore, the idea attracted the support of powerful philanthropic families on both sides of the border and the Manitoba and North Dakota governments. An estimated 50,000 people travelled to the site to witness the groundbreaking and dedication ceremony on July 14, 1932. CONRAD SWEATMAN / FREE PRESS The Hands of Peace at the International Peace Garden. CONRAD SWEATMAN / FREE PRESS The Hands of Peace at the International Peace Garden. Today, the non-profit's garden is a site of international conferences, music and cultural camps and meetings between American and Canadian officials amid calming flora and monuments with cosy names such as the Peace Chapel, the Friendship Rock and the Hands of Peace. 'If people can solve differences in more natural settings than your typical G8 setting… your thought process is better. You're less likely to jump down someone's throat,' says Chapman. Those who work at the International Peace Garden — some 120 yearly volunteers and 50 staff members during the summer season — describe a uniquely binational culture there. Many of them are gardeners, helping to cultivate the 100,000 or so flowers planted each year, often in striking patterns. They work on the GPS-run floral clock with its estimated 3,000 blooms, the Don Vitko Conservatory — home to thousands of rare and beautiful cacti and succulents — and other areas. Some fly in just for the spring or summer, others live in the neighbouring towns of Boissevain and Dunseith, N.D.; places with similar, and generally conservative, cultures. TIM SMITH / THE BRANDON SUN FILES The International Peace Garden attracts 100,000 tourists, music students, nature lovers and conference attendees every year. TIM SMITH / THE BRANDON SUN FILES The International Peace Garden attracts 100,000 tourists, music students, nature lovers and conference attendees every year. Volunteers and visitors from either side of the border can access the garden without passing through Customs, though they do so on their way back. Some, like Chapman (who's American), even send their kids to school across the border. At the southernmost corner is its music camp. At least a dozen flags fly in its centre, representing the nationalities of the students, staff and faculty assembled and the camp's cosmopolitan spirit. 'It's the life of the camp,' says Randy Hall, the camp's director of student activities. 'This was my 49th year dealing with the music camp and it couldn't be a more fitting place (for his daughter's wedding),' he says, as volunteers finish setting up for the ceremony. 'She's been here at camp every summer since she's been born.' The strain of cross-border unease is nevertheless beginning to show a little for those who tend the garden and its programs. Chapman recalls Canadians calling the office in the spring to say they wouldn't be visiting the garden in protest against Trump's trade policies and rhetoric. 'Not that I needed to be right, (but) all I was saying is, 'The garden will still be here. It's going to exist and have the same mission,'' he says. 'But also, think about the local economics of it.' He's referring to the benefits that tourism brings to nearby towns. The site recently offered Canadians 20 per cent off at its gift shop due to the weaker loonie. Some Americans objected to the gesture and defiantly swiped their cards in the Canadian terminal. Debra McCollum, IPG's education volunteer coordinator. Debra McCollum, IPG's education volunteer coordinator. Debra McCollum, IPG's education volunteer co-ordinator, who lives in southern Manitoba, finds these subtle ripples on everyday relationships troubling. 'It's my 33rd summer here and it's a part of who I am. The peace it represents, the peace (it) symbolizes between Canada and the United States — that's a part of me as a Canadian,' she says. For a stereotypically polite people, Canadians' 'elbows up' rhetoric seems excessive to her. 'I mean, it's strong. It's almost bordering on physical aggression…. That's just not something that we would even think about here,' she says. 'We're in this beautiful nature setting, and we love people coming to see us, and people love coming for a lot of the same reasons — so you're not in that frame of mind.' A complex web of cross-border institutions bridge the United States and Canada, covering not just trade, border security and continental defence but seemingly everything in between. Civil servants and representatives have often worked closely with their counterparts across the 49th parallel. Despite their cordiality and their constituents' history of close trade, Premier Wab Kinew and North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong also remain, inevitably, at cross-purposes. Liberal economists may insist that steep tariffs violate modern Economics 101, spreading inefficiencies and dragging countries into cycles of self-defeating brinkmanship. Yet, rational or not, here we are in a 'trade war,' with Armstrong strongly endorsing Trump and his tariff policies. CONRAD SWEATMAN / FREE PRESS Tim Chapman, CEO of the International Peace Garden CONRAD SWEATMAN / FREE PRESS Tim Chapman, CEO of the International Peace Garden Regarding the garden's future — funded equally by the North Dakota and Manitoba governments and depending heavily on their co-operation, Chapman is confident the centre will hold. 'That's one thing that's always really impressed me here. Even if North Dakota's government tends to lean right, Manitoba left… it seems like going back decades, the province and the state have really set an awesome example of cherishing the fact that it is a shared space,' he says. The IPG may seem like a comparatively low-stakes collaboration. But Chapman says its relaxed quality also makes it an ideal setting for many deliberations and negotiations. 'There are good studies out of Japan… about the intersection of peace and nature,' he says. 'You get people outside or in more natural settings, in general, human thought process improves.' Premiers and governors have met on the garden's grounds, and Chapman says that the International Joint Commission, a bilateral governmental organization addressing the extensive waters and waterways along and across the border, often meets there. He adds that representatives from North Dakota's trade office have reached out to the IPG about using it for future meetings with their counterparts in Manitoba. Though both offices have their hands tied by Ottawa and Washington when it comes to tariffs, he hopes reason — friendship even — will steer co-operation within those tricky limits. 'I think regardless of politics, people who really are involved in cross-border business and understand trade prefer that rhetoric not be where it is right now,' Chapman says. 'Especially if you live in a border town or a border state or province, you know the impact. 'We do really depend on each other.' Conrad SweatmanReporter Conrad Sweatman is an arts reporter and feature writer. Before joining the Free Press full-time in 2024, he worked in the U.K. and Canadian cultural sectors, freelanced for outlets including The Walrus, VICE and Prairie Fire. Read more about Conrad. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
National Post
27 minutes ago
- National Post
LibertyStream Announces Closing of Promissory Note Financing
Article content CALGARY, Alberta — LibertyStream Infrastructure Partners Inc. (TSXV: LIB | OTCQB: VLTLF | FSE: I2D) (' LibertyStream ' or the ' Company ') is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously-announced offering of 12% promissory notes (the ' Notes ') for aggregate gross proceeds of $3,530,000 (the ' Offering '). Article content Pathfinder Asset Management Ltd. (' Pathfinder ') purchased $3,400,000 aggregate principal amount of Notes under the Offering, which Notes are senior and secured against all of the Company's present and after-acquired property. The remaining $130,000 aggregate principal amount of the Notes were purchased by Alex Wylie, the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer. The Notes purchased by Mr. Wylie are unsecured Article content The principal balance of each Note will be payable on August 8, 2026 (the ' Maturity Date '), provided that the Company shall have the right to redeem and repay the Notes at any time prior the Maturity Date, in whole or in part, without notice, bonus or penalty. The Notes bear simple interest at a rate of 12% per annum, with interest payable on the Maturity Date. The Company intends to use the proceeds from the Notes to complete the purchase of the refining unit ($2,100,000) (as disclosed in the Company's press release dated July 31, 2025) and for general working capital purposes ($1,430,000) or for such other purposes as the Company may determine to be appropriate in its sole discretion. In connection with the Offering, the Company issued an aggregate of 3,004,255 common shares in the capital of the Company (the ' Bonus Shares ') to Pathfinder and Mr. Wylie. The Bonus Shares represent a value equal to 20% of the principal amount of the Notes, calculated at a price of $0.235 per Bonus Share which was the closing price of the Company's common shares on July 31, 2025 prior to the announcement of the Offering. The Bonus Shares are subject to a four month hold period commencing on August 8, 2025, in accordance with applicable Canadian securities laws and the policies of the Exchange. Article content This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any securities of the Company in the United States. The Notes and Bonus Shares have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the ' U.S. Securities Act ') or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or except where an exemption from such registration is available. Article content Alex Wylie, the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer, acquired $130,000 aggregate principal amount of Notes and 110,638 Bonus Shares. Accordingly, the Offering constitutes a 'related party transaction' as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 – Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (' MI 61-101 '). The Company is relying on the exemptions for the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 contained in sections 5.5(b) and 5.7(1)(b) of MI 61-101, as the Notes are not listed, and will not be listed, on a specified market and the fair market value of the Notes and Bonus Shares being issued to the related party does not exceed $2,500,000, as determined in accordance with MI 61-101. The Company has not filed a material change report with respect to the participation of the insiders at least 21 days prior to the closing as the related party participation had not been determined at such time. Article content About LibertyStream Infrastructure Partners Article content LibertyStream is a lithium development and technology company aiming to be one of North America's first commercial producers of lithium carbonates from oilfield brine. Our strategy is to generate value for shareholders by leveraging management's hydrocarbon experience to deploy our proprietary DLE technology directly into existing oil and gas infrastructure, thereby reducing capital costs, lowering risks and supporting the world's clean energy transition. With four differentiating pillars, and a proprietary DLE technology and process, LibertyStream's innovative approach to development is focused on generating the highest lithium recoveries with lowest costs, positioning us for future commercialization. We are committed to operating efficiently and with transparency across all areas of the business staying sharply focused on creating long-term, sustainable shareholder value. Investors and/or other interested parties may sign up for updates about the Company's continued progress on its website: Article content This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any securities of the Company in the United States. The Notes and Bonus Shares have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the ' U.S. Securities Act ') or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or except where an exemption from such registration is available. Article content Forward Looking Statements Article content This news release includes certain 'forward-looking statements' and 'forward-looking information' within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words 'anticipate', 'believe', 'estimate', 'expect', 'target', 'plan', 'forecast', 'may', 'will', 'would', 'could', 'schedule' and similar words or expressions, identify forward-looking statements or information. Statements, other than statements of historical fact, may constitute forward-looking information and include, without limitation, the use of proceeds of the Offering. With respect to the forward-looking information contained in this press release, the Company has made numerous assumptions. While the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies and may prove to be incorrect. Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein including the risk of delay in completing the purchase of the Refining Unit, the risk that management's production estimates relating to the Refining Unit turn out to be incorrect, and generally, those known risk factors outlined in the Company's annual information form for the year ended June 30, 2024, the Management's Discussion and Analysis for the six months ended December 31, 2024, and the (final) short form base shelf prospectus dated July 20, 2023. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and the Company disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as required by law. Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content
CTV News
27 minutes ago
- CTV News
‘I am mentally destroyed': Ontario woman with family in Gaza frustrated by visa delays
Rewand Hajjaj, centre, is shown with her sister-in-laws during her visit to Cairo where her extended family from Gaza is waiting to hear word about their applications for the special measures for Gaza families. (Rewand Hajjaj) Rewand Hajjaj says the lives of her eight nieces and nephews and their mothers have been put on hold for about a year and half after Canada launched a special program to approve temporary resident visas for extended family members in Gaza. Some permanent residents and Canadian citizens with families in Gaza say they are frustrated by months of delays helping their loved ones get to Canada through Ottawa's special measures program. Hajjaj, a former human rights lawyer from Gaza now living in London, Ont., says she submitted applications for her family members in the war-torn region when the program first launched in January 2024. She said she has been calling MPs, sending emails to government and consular officials and has even flown to Egypt to try to get any information on their applications. But she said she didn't receive a clear response on why it's taking a year and half to finish security checks. Her sister made it out of Gaza and obtained her temporary visa in Canada, but her two brothers, a doctor and accountant, were killed while waiting. 'I feel that there is no one that is hearing our voice,' said Hajjaj, a Canadian permanent resident who is now a newcomer settlement worker, in a video interview with Debbie Rachlis, an immigration and refugee lawyer in Toronto, said Ottawa has been slow to process visas and applications for the program, and federal court cases were launched by some families raising concerns about the applications. She said people would have to submit a form expressing their interest or intentions online, then be issued unique reference codes by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to be able to be considered for the special Gaza measures. But she said that some families have still not received the codes when they applied in January and February of 2024 with no explanation given, while others submitted forms that were sent back as incomplete. 'A year and a half since this program was announced, very little has actually happened for the family members of Canadian citizens and permanent residents in Gaza,' Rachlis said in a video interview with 'A lot of people felt very hopeful when the program was announced only to have those hopes be destroyed, lost in the face of sort of the inaction of the Canadian authorities, the lack of explanation from the Canadian authorities, and communication from the Canadian authorities about what's happening.' reached out to IRCC about concerns over the program, but didn't immediately hear back. Describing the situation as 'increasingly dire,' Rachlis said that those who have arrived in Canada under the program were able to exit Gaza on their own, without Canada's assistance. People had to leave Gaza in order to do the biometrics, one of the program's security requirements, she said. She said she has many Palestinian clients who are still in Egypt waiting for their visas to be processed or trapped in Gaza. Jeffrey MacDonald, a spokesperson for IRCC, told The Canadian Press in July that the 'primary challenge' is people's ability to leave Gaza. 'Movement out of Gaza remains extremely challenging and may not be possible at this time, as countries and other actors set their own entry and exit requirements,' he wrote in an email to The Canadian Press. 'We continue working closely with local authorities — at every level — to facilitate the exit of people in Gaza and to advocate for their safety.' Hajjaj said she doesn't understand why there are long delays. She said her family members in Gaza passed the eligibility requirements for the special measures program and were awaiting security clearances. Her sister-in-law and niece even passed the security checks and were still waiting for their visas to be processed, Hajjaj said, but she said she didn't get any answers on why the status was reversed and changed to 'pending.' 'Putting my family files on hold for a security check for kids – they're aged between 17 and three years only -- and two females is unjustifiable,' she said. 'To be honest, I am mentally destroyed. … the only thing we can think about is bringing these kids to safety.'
