Conversations That Matter: Build, baby, build!
The prime minister announced the concept of the bill on June 6 and 20 days later, it passed in the House and Senate. That's way faster than the U.S. president's passing of his 'Big Beautiful Bill.'
Bill C-5 has been framed as a national plan to 'remove federal barriers to interprovincial trade and improve labour mobility.'
'Bill C-5 also sends a signal that Canada is open for business,' said Radha Curpen of McMillan LLP says. 'It is a bill designed to improve efficiencies in approval processes. The biggest question is, will it also respect indigenous rights?'
Curpen joined a Conversation That Matters about the upsides and the concerns about Bill C-5. See the video at vancouversun.com/tag/conversations-that-matter.
Learn More about our guests career at
careersthatmatter.ca
Join us Sept. 16 for
Conversations Live
, Investing in B.C. in Partnership with First Nations.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
16 minutes ago
- CTV News
Leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan shake hands and sign deal at White House peace summit
President Donald Trump speaks at an event to mark National Purple Heart Day in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) WASHINGTON - The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan shook hands Friday at a White House peace summit before signing an agreement aimed at ending decades of conflict. U.S. President Donald Trump was in the middle as Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan flanked him on either side. As the two extended their arms in front of Trump to shake hands, the U.S. leader reached up and clasped his hands around theirs. The two countries in the South Caucasus signed agreements with each other and the U.S. that will reopen key transportation routes while allowing the U.S. to seize on Russia's declining influence in the region. The deal includes an agreement that will create a major transit corridor to be named the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, the White House said. Trump said at the White House on Friday that naming the route after him was 'a great honor for me' but 'I didn't ask for this.' A senior administration official, on a call before the event with reporters, said it was the Armenians who suggested the name. Both leaders said the breakthrough was made possible by Trump and his team. 'We are laying a foundation to write a better story than the one we had in the past,' Pashinyan said, calling the agreement a 'significant milestone.' 'President Trump in six months did a miracle,' Aliyev said. Trump remarked on how long the conflict went on between the two countries. 'Thirty-five years they fought, and now they're friends and they're going to be friends a long time,' he said. That route will connect Azerbaijan and its autonomous Nakhchivan exclave, which are separated by a 32-kilometre-wide (20-mile-wide) patch of Armenian territory. The demand from Azerbaijan had held up peace talks in the past. For Azerbaijan, a major producer of oil and gas, the route also provides a more direct link to Turkey and onward to Europe. Trump indicated he'd like to visit the route, saying, 'We're going to have to get over there.' Asked how he feels about lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Trump said 'very confident.' Friday's signing adds to the handful of peace and economic agreements brokered this year by the U.S. The peace deal between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda helped end the decadeslong conflict in eastern Congo, and the U.S. mediated a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, while Trump intervened in clashes between Cambodia and Thailand by threatening to withhold trade agreements with both countries if their fighting continued. Yet peace deals in Gaza and Ukraine have been elusive. Trump has made no secret of his wish to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in helping ease long-running conflicts across the globe. Aliyev and Pashinyan on Friday joined a growing list of foreign leaders and other officials who have said the U.S. leader should receive the award. U.S. takes advantage of Russia's waning influence The signing of a deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan, both former Soviet republics, also strikes a geopolitical blow to their former imperial master, Russia. Throughout the nearly four-decade conflict, Moscow played mediator to expand its clout in the strategic South Caucasus region, but its influence waned quickly after it launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Trump-brokered deal would allow the U.S. to deepen its reach in the region as Moscow retreats, senior U.S. administration officials said. The Trump administration began engaging with Armenia and Azerbaijan in earnest earlier this year, when Trump's key diplomatic envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Aliyev in Baku and started to discuss what a senior administration official called a 'regional reset.' Negotiations over who will develop the Trump Route -- which will eventually include a rail line, oil and gas pipelines, and fiber optic lines -- will likely begin next week, and at least nine developers have expressed interest already, according to the senior administration official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity. Separate from the joint agreement, both Armenia and Azerbaijan signed deals with the United States meant to bolster cooperation in energy, technology and the economy, the White House said. Trump previewed much of Friday's plan in a social media post Thursday evening, in which he said the agreements would 'fully unlock the potential' of the South Caucasus region. 'Many Leaders have tried to end the War, with no success, until now, thanks to `TRUMP,'' Trump said on his Truth Social site. The Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict has lasted for decades The two nations were locked in conflict for nearly four decades as they fought for control of the Karabakh region, known internationally as Nagorno-Karabakh. The area was largely populated by Armenians during the Soviet era but is located within Azerbaijan. The two nations battled for control of the region through multiple violent clashes that left tens of thousands of people dead over the decades, all while international mediation efforts failed. Most recently, Azerbaijan reclaimed all of Karabakh in 2023 and had been in talks with Armenia to normalize ties. Azerbaijan's insistence on a land bridge to Nakhchivan had been a major sticking point, because while Azerbaijan did not trust Armenia to control the so-called Zangezur corridor, Armenia resisted control by a third party because it viewed it as a breach of sovereignty. But the prospect of closer ties with the United States, as well as being able to move in and out of the landlocked nation more freely without having to access Georgia or Iran, helped entice Armenia on the broader agreement, according to U.S. officials. Meanwhile, Russia stood back when Azerbaijan reclaimed control of Karabakh in the September 2023 offensive, angering Armenia, which has moved to shed Russian influence and turn westward. Azerbaijan, emboldened by its victory in Karabakh, also has become increasingly defiant in its relations with Moscow. By Seung Min Kim And Michelle L. Price Associated Press writers Meg Kinnard and Will Weissert contributed to this report.
Toronto Star
39 minutes ago
- Toronto Star
Leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan shake hands and sign deal at White House peace summit
WASHINGTON (AP) — The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan shook hands Friday at a White House peace summit before signing an agreement aimed at ending decades of conflict. President Donald Trump was in the middle as Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan flanked him on either side. As the two extended their arms in front of Trump to shake hands, the U.S. leader reached up and clasped his hands around theirs.
Toronto Sun
an hour ago
- Toronto Sun
Trump says he will meet with Putin 'very shortly' to discuss the war in Ukraine
Published Aug 08, 2025 • 4 minute read President Donald Trump, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands at the beginning of a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. Photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday that he will meet 'very shortly' with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, a major potential milestone after expressing weeks of frustration that more was not being done to quell the fighting. 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 Speaking to reporters at the White House after announcing a framework aimed at ending decades of conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Trump refused to say exactly when or where he would meet with Putin but that he planned to announce a location later in the day. He also suggested that his meeting with the Russian leader could come before any sit-down discussion involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. If it happens, the meeting would be the first U.S.-Russia summit since 2021, when former President Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva. It could mean a breakthrough in Trump's effort to end the war, although there's no guarantee it would stop the fighting since Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart on their conditions for peace. 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. 'President Putin, I believe, wants to see peace, and Zelenskyy wants to see peace,' Trump said. He said that a peace deal would likely mean 'there will be some swapping of territories,' but he did not elaborate. Trump added that Zelenskyy 'has to get all of his, everything he needs, because he's going to have to get ready to sign something. And I think he is working hard to get that done.' Analysts, including some close to the Kremlin, have suggested that Russia could offer to give up territory it controls outside of the four regions it claims to have annexed. The president's comments came as Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield expressed little hope for a diplomatic solution to the war and Trump's deadline arrived Friday for the Kremlin to make peace. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Exasperated that Putin did not heed his calls to stop bombing Ukrainian cities, Trump almost two weeks ago moved up his ultimatum to impose additional sanctions on Russia and introduce secondary tariffs targeting countries that buy Russian oil if the Kremlin did not move toward a settlement. Prior to his announcing the meeting with Putin, Trump's efforts to pressure Russia into stopping the fighting have so far delivered no progress. The Kremlin's bigger army is slowly advancing deeper into Ukraine at great cost in troops and armor while it relentlessly bombards Ukrainian cities. Russia and Ukraine are far apart on their terms for peace. Ukrainian troops say they are ready to keep fighting Ukrainian forces are locked in intense battles along the 1,000-kilometre (620-mile) front line that snakes from northeast to southeast Ukraine. The Pokrovsk area of the eastern Donetsk region is taking the brunt of punishment as Russia seeks to break out into the neighbouring Dnipropetrovsk region. Ukraine has significant manpower shortages. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Intense fighting is also taking place in Ukraine's northern Sumy border region, where Ukrainian forces are engaging Russian soldiers to prevent reinforcements being sent from there to Donetsk. In the Pokrovsk area of Donetsk, a commander said he believes Moscow isn't interested in peace. 'It is impossible to negotiate with them. The only option is to defeat them,' Buda, a commander of a drone unit in the Spartan Brigade, told The Associated Press. He used only his call sign, in keeping with the rules of the Ukrainian military. 'I would like them to agree and for all this to stop, but Russia will not agree to that. It does not want to negotiate. So the only option is to defeat them,' he said. In the southern Zaporizhzhia region, a howitzer commander using the call sign Warsaw, said troops are determined to thwart Russia's invasion. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'We are on our land, we have no way out,' he said. 'So we stand our ground, we have no choice.' Putin makes a flurry of phone calls The Kremlin said Friday that Putin had a phone call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, during which the Russian leader informed Xi about the results of his meeting earlier this week with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff. Kremlin officials said Xi 'expressed support for the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis on a long-term basis.' Putin is due to visit China next month. China, along with North Korea and Iran, have provided military support for Russia's war effort, the U.S. says. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X that he also had a call with Putin to speak about the latest Ukraine developments. Trump signed an executive order Wednesday to place an additional 25% tariff on India for its purchases of Russian oil, which the American president says is helping to finance Russia's war. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Putin's calls followed his phone conversations with the leaders of South Africa, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Belarus, the Kremlin said. The calls suggested to at least one analyst that Putin perhaps wanted to brief Russia's most important allies about a potential settlement that could be reached at a summit with Trump. 'It means that some sort of real peace agreement has been reached for the first time,' said Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin Moscow-based analyst. Analysts say Putin is aiming to outlast the West Trump's comments on Friday came a day after he said he would meet with Putin even if the Russian leader will not meet with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy. That stoked fears in Europe that Ukraine could be sidelined in efforts to stop the continent's biggest conflict since World War II. Trump's comments on Thursday followed a statement from Putin that he hoped to meet with Trump as early as next week, possibly in the United Arab Emirates. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said in an assessment Thursday that 'Putin remains uninterested in ending his war and is attempting to extract bilateral concessions from the United States without meaningfully engaging in a peace process.' 'Putin continues to believe that time is on Russia's side and that Russia can outlast Ukraine and the West,' it said. Toronto Blue Jays Tennis Olympics Editorials Columnists
