After Canada, the anti-Trump backlash moves to Australia
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A few months ago, it seemed a dead certainty that Pierre Poilievre would be Canada's next prime minister. His Conservatives had a double-digit lead in the polls over the incumbent Liberals and Poilievre channeled the mounting frustrations of an electorate fatigued by then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's decade-long tenure. But by Tuesday morning, Poilievre's hopes for national victory were dashed, and also, perhaps, his political future: Not only had the Conservatives failed to win Monday's national election, but their leader looked set to lose his own parliamentary seat.
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Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
BC Ferries deal with Chinese shipyard makes waves in Ottawa
OTTAWA — BC Ferries set off a tidal wave of controversy on Tuesday after announcing a major shipbuilding deal with a Chinese state-owned enterprise, with the ripple effects of the decision reaching Ottawa. Vancouver Island Conservative MP Jeff Kibble raised the issue in Wednesday's question period, accusing the Liberal government of rewarding the provincial carrier for selling out Canada's national interest. 'The Liberals are set to hand over $30 million (in federal subsidies) to BC Ferries while BC Ferries hands over critical jobs, investment and industry to China,' said Kibble. BC Ferries said in a press release that it had awarded China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards (CMI Weihai) a contract to build four new vessels after a 'rigorous' global bidding process. Company CEO Nicolas Jimenez was quoted in the release as saying that CMI Weihai was the 'clear choice' for the contract given, among other factors, its 'proven ability to deliver safe, reliable vessels on dependable timelines.' Kibble blasted BC Ferries in the House of Commons for buying the ships from China instead of a 'proven Canadian shipbuilder' and pressed the Liberal government to tie federal ferry subsidies to buying Canadian-built ships. Liberal Transportation Minister Chrystia Freeland said that she shared Kibble's concerns about procurement 'at all levels of government' but wouldn't comment directly on the BC Ferries contract, calling it a provincial matter. One politician who hasn't hesitated to criticize the deal is the provincial minister responsible for BC Ferries. B.C. Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth was quick to distance himself from the decision, saying he was worried about the message it sends in the midst of Chinese economic aggression. 'I do have concerns around procuring services from any country that is actively harming Canada's economy through unfair tariffs or other protectionist trade practices. I have shared these concerns with BC Ferries,' Farnworth told the media. Yet, despite his reservations, he ruled out blocking the BC Ferries-CMI Weihai deal. 'BC Ferries is an independent company responsible for its own operational decisions,' said Farnworth. He added that he was 'disappointed' that the contract didn't include more involvement from Canadian shipyards. BC Ferries' head of fleet renewal, Ed Hooper, told Postmedia that no Canadian shipbuilders bid on the contract won by CMI Weihai. Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney promised to ramp up Canadian shipbuilding during this spring's federal election campaign. The federal government previously awarded the Chinese state-owned company a contract to build a new vessel for east coast ferry operator Marine Atlantic, according to a 2023 filing from Transport Canada. The ship began service between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland in July 2024. Federal Procurement Minister Joël Lightbound didn't respond to an inquiry from the National Post about the BC Ferries-CMI Weihai deal, and didn't indicate whether the federal government would continue to take bids from the company. A spokesperson with Public Services and Procurement Canada told the National Post that CMI Weihai does not appear on the agency's database of active bids. National Post rmohamed@ Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what's really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.
Hamilton Spectator
4 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
N.L. minister resigns after new evidence surfaces of problems in 2021 vote
ST. JOHN'S - A provincial Liberal cabinet minister in Newfoundland and Labrador will step down after a court challenge of the province's 2021 election unearthed voting irregularities in his district. John Abbott told reporters that the case revealed enough voting problems in the St. John's East-Quidi Vidi district that a judge may have overturned the results. He says rather than proceed with a costly trial that could end with a judge asking him to vacate his seat, he'll do it himself this summer. The office of the chief electoral officer in the province also issued a news release acknowledging there were errors in the administration of some ballots in the 2021 vote. The 2021 provincial election in Newfoundland and Labrador was upended by a COVID-19 outbreak, prompting election officials to cancel all in-person voting and shift to mail-in ballots. One voter in Abbott's district says he never received a ballot and he launched a lawsuit with former NDP leader Alison Coffin in 2021, alleging flaws in the chaotic election denied him his right to vote. The voter told reporters it felt good to see the provincial elections authority acknowledge there were problems, but he says the province needs a better system than the courts to ensure voters' rights are protected. The Liberals won a slim majority in the 2021 provincial election with a voter turnout of 51 per cent. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2025. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Fact check: 2025 spending review claims
On Wednesday Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivered the Labour Government's first spending review, outlining its spending plans for the next few years. We've taken a look at some of the key claims. How much is spending increasing by? At the start of her speech Ms Reeves announced that 'total departmental budgets will grow by 2.3% a year in real terms'. That headline figure doesn't tell the full story, however. Firstly, 2.3% is the average annual real-terms growth in total departmental budgets between 2023/24 and 2028/29. That means it includes spending changes that have already been implemented, for both the current (2025/26) and previous (2024/25) financial years. The average annual increase between this year and 2028/29 is 1.5%. Therefore, as the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has said, 'most departments will have larger real-terms budgets at the end of the Parliament than the beginning, but in many cases much of that extra cash will have arrived by April'. Secondly, it's worth noting that the 2.3% figure includes both day-to-day (Resource DEL) and investment (Capital DEL) spending. Capital spending (which funds things like infrastructure projects) is increasing by 3.6% a year on average in real terms between 2023/24 and 2029/30, and by 1.8% between 2025/26 and 2029/30. Day-to-day departmental budgets meanwhile are seeing a smaller average annual real-terms increase – of 1.7% between 2023/24 and 2028/29 and 1.2% between 2025/26 and 2028/29. Which departments are the winners and losers? Ms Reeves touted substantial spending increases in some areas (for example, the 3% rise in day-to-day NHS spending in England), but unsurprisingly her statement did not focus on areas where spending will decrease. Changes to Government spending are not uniform across all departments, and alongside increases in spending on things like the NHS, defence and the justice system, a number of Government departments will see their budgets decrease in real terms. Departments facing real-terms reductions in overall and day-to-day spending include the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (this factors in reductions in aid spending announced earlier this year to offset increased defence spending), the Home Office (although the Government says the Home Office's budget grows in real terms if a planned reduction in asylum spending is excluded) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Did the Conservatives leave a '£22 billion black hole'? Ms Reeves made a claim we've heard a number of times since it first surfaced in July 2024 – that the previous Conservative government left a '£22 billion black hole in the public finances'. That figure comes from a Treasury audit that forecast a £22 billion overspend in departmental day-to-day spending in 2024/25, but the extent to which it was unexpected or inherited is disputed. The IFS said last year that some of the pressures the Government claimed contributed to this so-called 'black hole' could have been anticipated, but others did 'indeed seem to be greater than could be discerned from the outside'. An Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) review of its March 2024 forecast found an estimated £9.5 billion of additional spending pressures were known to the Treasury at that point in time, but were not known to the OBR as it prepared its forecast. It's true that this review didn't confirm the £22 billion figure, but it also did not necessarily prove that it was incorrect, because Labour's figure included pressures which were identified after the OBR prepared its forecast and so were beyond the scope of the OBR's review. We've written more about how the Government reached the figure of £22 billion in our explainer on this topic. How big is the increase in NHS appointments? Ms Reeves took the opportunity to congratulate Health Secretary Wes Streeting for delivering 'three-and-a-half million extra' hospital appointments in England. The Government has previously celebrated this as a 'massive increase', particularly in light of its manifesto pledge to deliver an extra two million appointments a year. Ms Reeves' claim was broadly accurate – data published last month shows there were 3.6 million additional appointments between July 2024 and February 2025 compared to the previous year. But importantly that increase is actually smaller than the 4.2 million rise that happened in the equivalent period the year before, under the Conservative government – as data obtained by Full Fact under the Freedom of Information Act and published last month revealed. What do announcements on asylum hotels, policing, nurseries and more mean for the Government's pledges? Ms Reeves made a number of announcements that appear to directly impact the delivery of several pre-existing Labour pledges, many of which we're already monitoring in our Government Tracker. (We'll be updating the tracker to reflect these announcements in due course, and reviewing how we rate progress on pledges as necessary). The Chancellor announced an average increase in 'police spending power' of 2.3% a year in real terms over the course of the review period, which she said was the equivalent of an additional £2 billion. However, as police budgets comprise a mix of central Government funding and local council tax receipts, some of this extra spending is expected to be funded by increases in council tax precepts. Ms Reeves said this funding would help the Government achieve its commitment of 'putting 13,000 additional police officers, PCSOs and special constables into neighbourhood policing roles in England and Wales', a pledge we're monitoring here. The spending review also includes funding of 'almost £370 million across the next four years to support the Government's commitment to deliver school-based nurseries across England', which Ms Reeves said would help the Government deliver its pledge to have 'a record number of children being school-ready'. The Chancellor also committed to ending the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by the end of this Parliament, with an additional £200 million announced to 'accelerate the transformation of the asylum system'. When we looked last month at progress on the Government's pledge to 'end asylum hotels' we said it appeared off track, as figures showed the number of asylum seekers housed in hotels was higher at the end of March 2025 than it was when Labour came into Government.
