Lorne Gunter: Smith lays groundwork for success at premier's council
What did Premier Danielle Smith achieve at the Council of the Federation in cottage country north of Toronto? A lot of significant groundwork for an expansion of the province's economy, perhaps even with the province in control, not Ottawa.
Article content
Smith didn't get invited to the famous late-night gab session between Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Prime Minister Mark Carney, where the two sat up until all hours 'solving all the world's problems.'
Article content
Article content
Article content
While Ford and Carney launched their summer-stock revival of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple at the Ford Family Muskoka Playhouse (with Carney as Felix and Ford as Oscar), Smith added another premier to her effort to get pipelines and ports built and increase trade within Canada.
Article content
Saskatchewan's Scott Moe signed on to the memorandum of understanding (MOU) that both Smith and Ford signed earlier this month when Ford came west to flip pancakes at the Calgary Stampede.
Article content
Admittedly, Moe is as pro-oil and pipeline, and Ottawa-skeptic, as Smith. Getting him to sign couldn't have been hard. Indeed, an Alberta government source tells me Moe was willing to sign the same day as Ford. After all, he was in Calgary, too, flapping jacks along side his Alberta and Ontario counterparts at Smith's annual Stampede breakfast. But someone in our premier's office came up the astute idea of having Moe hold off a couple of weeks, so when he did sign it would look as the MOU was gaining momentum.
Article content
Article content
The same source tells me Smith is now working on Manitoba's Wab Kinew for even more momentum and a solid block of support from the B.C.-Alberta border to the Ontario-Quebec line.
Article content
The thinking is that if B.C. never removes its objections to a West Coast pipeline and Quebec can't be convinced to support a pipeline across that province to East Coast refineries and ports, then maybe the central provinces can agree to a line from the Alberta and Saskatchewan oilfields to either Manitoba's Port of Churchill or Ontario's Moosonee or Fort Severn. Neither Ontario site at present has port facilities nor a rail line. Churchill has both.
Article content
Frankly, I prefer when the premier of Ontario and the PM are suspicious of one another. It makes me feel Alberta is safer. When Ford and Carney get chummy, I start to wonder whether Alberta should hunker down and wait for a storm.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
Ottawa's plan to boost deposit insurance is too timid and mired in concerns of ages past
John Turley-Ewart is a contributing columnist for The Globe and Mail, a regulatory compliance consultant and a Canadian banking historian. Between 1982 and 1985, the Canadian Deposit Insurance Corporation paid out $3.177-billion in claims to cover depositor losses. Ten poorly managed and badly regulated trust companies were the cause. By 1993, CDIC had recovered more than two-thirds of those funds when the liquidators were finished. The final cost to CDIC was $827-million. This loss put a dent in the Department of Finance's perception of deposit insurance. It was supposed to boost competition by levelling the playing field for smaller banks and financial institutions. Instead, some smaller institutions leveraged deposit insurance to attract deposits from unwitting customers that they then used to fund high-risk ventures. This boosted instability, not just competition. But those days are long gone, and financial regulation is different today. Ottawa needs to let the past go. Investor Clinic: Understanding deposit insurance rules could help simplify your holdings The quickest way to boost competition in Canada's banking system is now on the table: Increasing the dollar value of deposits guaranteed by the CDIC in cases of failure is under consideration in Ottawa. The more coverage CDIC offers, the easier it is to move beyond the Big Six banks for deposit accounts, chequing accounts, investment deposits – such as guaranteed investment certificates – and other CDIC-covered deposit categories and products. This in turn incentivizes Canada's Big Six to offer more competitive interest rates, reduce fees and improve service standards. Yet, the federal government is squandering an easy opportunity to boost competition with a timid proposal to insure consumer deposits up to $150,000 (versus the current amount, $100,000) for each eligible deposit product at member institutions, which include chartered banks, federally regulated credit unions, and loan and trust companies. Curiously, the Department of Finance is proposing that CDIC increase coverage for business deposit accounts to $500,000. Businesses will welcome this, but it creates a politically flawed, two-tier deposit insurance system. Such an approach puts any future federal government dealing with a bank failure in the invidious position of having CDIC business payouts exceed by more than three times consumer payouts. The likely outcome would see Ottawa cough up taxpayer money to make whole consumer deposits exceeding the $150,000 ceiling, defeating the purpose of CDIC. Rob Carrick: A $250,000 deposit insurance limit for banks would suit today's world a lot better than the current $100,000 The last time Ottawa increased CDIC coverage on Canadian-dollar deposit accounts was 20 years ago. Now the federal government is playing catch-up with the annual rate of inflation (2.18 per cent) since CDIC coverage was last raised to $100,000 in 2005. In real value of money terms, CDIC coverage dropped by almost 54 per cent over the past two decades. With the expansion of savings products covered by CDIC in recent years, such as the First Home Savings Account, one might assume the effective CDIC coverage has widened. And yet, the Department of Finance's own study found that CDIC-eligible deposits fell to 36 per cent in 2024 from 58 per cent in 2005. This advantages the Big Six banks at the expense of smaller financial players. Canadians are more likely to trust uninsured personal and business deposits to larger, older institutions. Following the failure of two finance companies in 1965 and 1966 that generated heavy losses, and a run on the Montreal City and District Savings Bank (known today as Laurentian Bank) in 1967, the federal government founded CDIC to restore confidence in the financial system while 'enhancing the competitive position of … smaller banks.' Deposit insurance was the antidote to the understandable bias toward larger banks. CDIC's initial deposit insurance coverage in 1967 was $20,000, the equivalent of $181,000 in today's dollars – 20 per cent higher than what Ottawa is now proposing. Competition would be enhanced by ensuring 'the safety and soundness of those depositors who are usually not in a position to judge for themselves the financial soundness of the institution holding their deposits.' It is an approach with advocates in other parts of Canada as well as the United States. Provinces regulate their financial deposit-taking institutions and have provincial versions of CDIC. In Manitoba, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, deposit insurance is unlimited. In Prince Edward Island, it is unlimited for deposits in registered and tax-free accounts. Ontario offers a mix of unlimited coverage and $250,000 in deposit insurance depending on the deposit product. In New Brunswick, as well as Newfoundland and Labrador, provincially regulated deposit-taking institutions offer $250,000 per nine common deposit product categories. In the U.S., the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation offers US$250,000 (roughly $340,000) in deposit insurance for each of 14 deposit product categories. Revised CDIC coverage aligned with provincial and U.S. norms will better encourage competition in our banking system. It could be problematic, though, if the Department of Finance has real concerns about the state of some of our smaller financial institutions. Proposing such a modest increase to $150,000 raises the question: Does it?
Toronto Sun
2 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
China takes out newspaper ads issuing warnings to Canada on Taiwan
The ads, purchased in the Ottawa-based newspaper The Hill Times, consist of op-ed columns written by Chinese Ambassador Wang Di Flags of China (top) and Taiwan (GettyImages) OTTAWA — Taiwan's ambassador to Canada has dismissed a series of full-page newspaper ads taken out by the Chinese Embassy as little more than sabre-rattling over the communist regime's claims over the east-Asian nation. 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 The ads were published in The Hill Times — a twice-weekly Ottawa-based newspaper covering the goings-on at Parliament Hill — and clearly draw a bold, red line under China's position on Taiwan, continuing China's tendency towards hard-handed 'wolf-warrior' diplomacy. 'If their position is already the norm of world politics, if they consider the 'One China Principle' as universal and accepted by most countries, why on Earth do they need to use this to promulgate it?' Taiwanese Ambassador Harry Tseng told the Toronto Sun. 'Obviously they are perhaps doubtful of what they claim — that the 'One China Principle' is a universal principle that every country should abide by.' Taiwan's history is complex, beginning when Chiang Kai-shek and his republican government fled the mainland to Taiwan in 1949 at the end of the Chinese civil war. 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. In 1971, UN Resolution 2758 recognized the People's Republic of China as the 'only legitimate representative of China to the United Nations,' a move that saw Taiwan kicked out of the UN and its ancillary organizations. Harry Tseng, Taiwan's ambassador to Canada, in his Ottawa office on Friday, Nov. 15 2024. Photo by Bryan Passifiume / Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network In the decades since, Taiwan emerged as a democratic and free nation, a world leader in high technology and chip making. But despite holding democratic elections and issuing its own currency and passports, Taiwan exists in a diplomatic no-man's land — with any nation hoping for diplomatic relationship with the PRC forced to not recognize Taiwanese sovereignty and accept Beijing's assertion the they are the only 'China' in the region. The first ad appeared in the July 2nd edition of the Hill Times with the headline 'The One-China Principle is indisputable, and the victory of WWII must not be tampered with.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The ad, essentially a paid-for op-ed by China's ambassador to Canada — Wang Di — describes Taiwan as an immutable part of China, promising attempts by 'Taiwan separatists' to halt an eventual reunification are bound to fail. 'Complete reunification is a shared aspiration of the Chinese nation,' Wang wrote in the letter. 'It is an inevitable trend and what the greater national interests entail. No one and no force can ever stop it.' Ad published in the Hill Times by China's ambassador to Canada Wang Di Photo by screenshot While Wang maintains reunification will be peaceful, he warned the world not to stand in China's way. 'We will absolutely never allow Taiwan to be separated from China,' the letter continued. 'All necessary measures in response to the provocations and coercion of the 'Taiwan independence' forces are acts of justice to safeguard our national sovereignty and territorial integrity and to thwart attempts to divide the country. No external interference will be allowed in this process.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. A second ad, published on July 16, reads more like the usual public relations one would expect from a foreign embassy — with Wang celebrating a recent open house and last month's Ottawa dragon boat festival. Recommended video Ambassador Tseng mused with amusement that his Chinese counterpart must have had extra money to spend on advertising. 'I see no positive effect at all for publishing this,' he said with a smile. 'It's all the same; it's been the same for years.' Ties between China and Canada have grown frosty over the years, particularly following the December 2018 abduction of Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig — retaliation for Canada's lawful detainment of Chinese executive Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. extradition request. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In recent years, China's stepped up cyberattacks and interference campaigns against Taiwan, with 2.4 million Chinese attacks on Taiwanese networks in 2024. China is also responsible for sabotaging Taiwanese undersea cables in the disputed Taiwan strait, with four cut cables reported so far this year. Canada's has long been a target of Chinese meddling, including intimidation of Canadian politicians like MPs Michael Chong and Kevin Vuong, and implicated by Canadian intelligence services of interfering in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. China also operated a series of clandestine police detachments within Canada, targeting both Chinese nationals and Canadian citizens for investigation and intimidation campaigns. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Alan Kessel, a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and a former Canadian diplomat, said the ads were an attempt by Beijing to control the narrative. 'One message implies closer ties, while the other draws a red line around Taiwan, signalling the price of engagement,' he told the Sun, describing the ads as a coordinated attempt to influence Canada's public and political discourse. 'It's all about shaping Canada's policy with respect to Taiwan — one ad projects warmth and a desire to improve relations, while the other is just rigid, ideological red lines over Taiwan, implying that engagement with Canada comes with conditions.' With Prime Minister Mark Carney replacing predecessor Justin Trudeau, Kessel said Canada needs to pursue a China policy grounded in Canadian values, and not dictated by foreign authoritarian sensitivities. 'That means rejecting coercion, resisting influence operations and affirming that our decisions on Taiwan or any other issue are not shaped in Beijing, but Ottawa.' bpassifiume@ X: @bryanpassifiume Read More Sports Columnists Sunshine Girls Toronto & GTA Toronto & GTA
CBC
5 hours ago
- CBC
Decades-old barbershop to shut its doors ahead of Westgate Mall demolition
One corner of Ottawa's Westgate Mall that's been filled with the sound of hair trimmers and laughter will soon fall silent, as Ramon Carballude and his barbershop prepare for the end of an era. Westgate Barber Shop will close its doors Thursday after decades of business. Carballude, who joined the barber shop in 1968 shortly after immigrating to Canada, says that while he feels "terrible" about the closure, it's inevitable. The city's oldest mall, located on the southwest corner of Merivale Road and Carling Avenue, is slated to close Oct. 31. It will be demolished to make way for a grocery store and residential towers, according to River ward Coun. Riley Brockington. For Carballude, the closure represents the end of decades of memories. 'All my life' Now 85, Carballude learned his trade in a small town in Galicia, Spain, before coming to Canada in 1965. Back then, barbers needed a licence to operate. After a few years working in construction, Carballude passed his Canadian licensing exams in 1968 on his first try and began working at the shop. Over the years he's done thousands of haircuts and made connections with people across the country. Customers have come from as far as Nanaimo, B.C., several times a year for his services, he said. "We try to be nice to the people. And people are nice to you," he said. "They don't get the same service in other places." Carballude plans to keep cutting hair, moving about a kilometre west on Carling Avenue to a new location owned by his long-time employees. It will be called The New Westgate Barber Shop. Still, he says, he'll miss the memories. "I've been here all my life," he said. "I deal with the people. I talk to the people. And people are nice. Why [do] you want [us] to disappear?" Juan Vo, one of the co-owners of the new location, said he's nervous about starting fresh. He's been working at the Westgate Mall shop for 27 years. "I will miss it very much," he said. "A lot of people come and go, you know." Community has 'evolving needs' The mall is owned by RioCan, an investment trust with properties across Canada. According to an emailed statement, RioCan confirmed all tenants — save for the Shoppers Drug Mart — will be required to move out by the fall as part of a "revitalization plan to support the community's evolving needs." "We are grateful to all our tenants for their long-standing support and presence at Westgate and remain committed to a smooth transition," the statement said. Brockington said the mall isn't as busy as it used to be. He added RioCan has been clear with the city about its process, and he has engaged in soliciting feedback from people in his ward. He said the revitalization plan will help implement the city's long-term strategic plans for urban intensification. "The city has to make room over 30 years for 400,000 more people, so we have to do our part. And when you look at a major artery like Carling, that's where you expect height and density to be built." Still, he says he understands the sentimental value in Westgate Mall. "As a councillor you have to thread the needle between respecting established mature communities and the need to facilitate infill and more growth. And that isn't always easy." ARCHIVES | Westgate opens in Ottawa 10 years ago Westgate was the first mall in Ottawa when it opened in the 1950s.
