NDP will not be granted official party status: MacKinnon
Interim NDP leader Don Davies says he asked that his party be granted official party status. Davies responds to a question during a news conference on Parliament Hill on Monday, Nov. 14, 2022 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
OTTAWA — Government House leader Steven MacKinnon says the NDP will not be granted official party status because the Parliament of Canada Act says a party needs at least 12 seats to be recognized.
The NDP was reduced to just seven seats in last month's election.
More coming.
David Baxter, The Canadian Press
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CTV News
14 minutes ago
- CTV News
New Zealand Parliament suspends 3 Māori Party lawmakers for haka protest
New Zealand lawmakers Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke, top left, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, bottom left, and Rawiri Waititi, bottom right, watch as other legislators debate their proposed bans in parliament in Wellington on Thursday, June 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Charlotte Graham-McLay) WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand legislators voted Thursday to enact record suspensions from Parliament for three lawmakers who performed a Māori haka to protest a proposed law. Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke received a seven-day ban and the leaders of her political party, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi, were barred for 21 days. Three days had been the longest ban for a lawmaker from New Zealand's Parliament before. The lawmakers from Te Pāti Māori, the Māori Party, performed the haka, a chanting dance of challenge, in November to oppose a widely unpopular bill, now defeated, that they said would reverse Indigenous rights. The protest drew global headlines and provoked months of fraught debate among lawmakers about what the consequences for the lawmakers' actions should be and the place of Māori culture in Parliament. Why the punishment was so strict A committee of the lawmakers' peers in April recommended the lengthy bans. It said the lawmakers were not being punished for the haka, but for striding across the floor of the debating chamber toward their opponents while doing it. Judith Collins, the committee chair, said the lawmakers' behavior was egregious, disruptive and potentially intimidating. Maipi-Clarke, 22, rejected that description Thursday, citing other instances when legislators have left their seats and approached opponents without sanction. The suspended legislators said they are being treated more harshly than others because they are Māori. 'I came into this house to give a voice to the voiceless. Is that the real issue here?' Maipi-Clarke asked Parliament. 'Is that the real intimidation here? Are our voices too loud for this house?' Why this haka was controversial Inside and outside Parliament, the haka has increasingly been welcomed as an important part of New Zealand life. The sacred chant can be a challenge to the viewer but is not violent. As Māori language and culture have become part of mainstream New Zealand in recent years, haka appear in a range of cultural, somber and celebratory settings. They also have rung out in Parliament to welcome the passage of high-profile laws. Some who decried the protest haka in Parliament cited its timing, with Maipi-Clarke beginning the chant as votes were being tallied and causing a brief suspension of proceedings. She has privately apologized for the disruption to Parliament's Speaker, she said Thursday. A few lawmakers urged their peers to consider rewriting rules about what lawmakers could do in Parliament to recognize Māori cultural protocols as accepted forms of protest. One cited changes to allow breastfeeding in the debating chamber as evidence the institution had amended rules before. Who approved the suspensions Normally the parliamentary committee that decides on punishments for errant lawmakers is in agreement on what should happen to them. But panel members were sharply divided over the haka protest and the lengthy punishments were advanced only because the government has more legislators in Parliament than the opposition. One party in the government bloc wanted even longer suspensions and had asked the committee if the Māori party lawmakers could be jailed. Most in opposition rejected any punishment beyond the one-day ban Maipi-Clarke already served. Speaker Gerry Brownlee urged lawmakers last month to negotiate a consensus and ordered a free-ranging debate that would continue until all agreed to put the sanctions to a vote. 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The bill's authors were chagrined by moves from Parliament and the courts in recent decades to enshrine the Treaty of Waitangi's promises. Opponents warned of constitutional crisis if the law was passed and tens of thousands of people marched to Parliament last November to oppose it. Despite growing recognition for the treaty, Māori remain disadvantaged on most social and economic metrics compared to non-Māori New Zealanders. Charlotte Graham-mclay, The Associated Press
CBC
25 minutes ago
- CBC
No tax on tips? Experts warn against bringing U.S. proposal to Canada
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Globe and Mail
39 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Tariffs distract from the real financial war – one that Canada is losing badly
America's trade offensive may be incoherent and reckless, but the endgame has always been relatively clear: to revive U.S. manufacturing by ransacking trading partners of investment capital. It's not very neighbourly, and it could easily backfire, but it's also working, in one sense at least. Corporate Canada is in a state of paralysis. Business investment is being choked off by tariff chaos. And the country's manufacturing sector was among the world's weakest last month. There's a war for investment capital under way and Canada's losing. 'There's a finite pool of capital and once it's been cannibalized, it's never coming back,' said Stephen Johnston, director of Omnigence Asset Management in Calgary. 'Time is of the essence.' The country sorely needs the business-level investment that has been lacking for years, in things like plant and equipment, and productivity enhancing technology. The problem is, the Trump administration has so effectively poisoned the investing climate in Canada that businesses are in no position to be ambitious. More than half of business leaders in Canada recently surveyed by KPMG said they had already cut into their capital investment and R&D budgets over the next year. A majority also reported reductions in sales outlooks. Analysis: Trump's trade chaos has foreign creditors backing away from Canada 'American tariffs have put a stranglehold on revenue and are cutting off the funds earmarked for continued investment,' KPMG said. Manufacturers look especially vulnerable. On Monday, S&P Global published a snapshot of factory activity across 25 different countries in the month of May. Canada ranked dead last. A slowdown in May was to be expected, after U.S. importers accelerated their purchases in prior months before tariffs took effect. 'There is reason to be worried in the medium term as well, given repeated threats from the U.S. administration on Canadian factories,' Matthieu Arseneau, National Bank's deputy chief economist, wrote in a note. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to 'permanently shut down' auto manufacturing in Canada. And this week's doubling of metals tariffs has piled more misery onto Canadian steel and aluminum producers. Algoma Steel Group Inc. said the new tariffs could make the company's U.S. business unviable. From investing to real estate, here's how you can Trump-proof your wallet Blame for the ills of Canadian industry, however, does not fall solely on Mr. Trump's shoulders. Business investment in Canada has been declining for years. Spending on R&D has been dismally low. The country's factories now contribute less to global manufacturing value added than Ireland's, which has about one-eighth the population and little of Canada's energy abundance. The past 20 years have seen a 'profound atrophy of Canada's manufacturing base – unmatched across the industrialized world,' Stéfane Marion, chief economist at National Bank, wrote in a recent note. Most economists blame excessive regulation. Regulatory requirements for Canadian manufacturers have risen by about 40 per cent since 2005, according to Statistics Canada. 'The perception of Canada is that it's hostile to capital,' Mr. Johnston said. 'I speak to foreign capital allocators all the time, and they would not touch Canada with a 10-foot pole.' Reducing internal trade barriers is a top priority for businesses, KPMG poll shows That clearly needs to change if Canada is going to turn the page on its over-reliance on the U.S. economy. Business leaders themselves acknowledge the need to be bolder. The KPMG survey showed that 92 per cent agreed that boosting investment in technology and innovation was needed to 'build a more resilient, prosperous economy.' They also called on policy makers to remove interprovincial trade barriers, improve tax competitiveness, and reduce regulation to expedite major projects. Perhaps what is needed above all else is urgency. There is clearly momentum at the political level to course-correct the domestic economy. With a capital war upon us, implementation is crucial in a country not known for being economically nimble.
