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CBC
32 minutes ago
- CBC
Peace activists lament unravelling of landmine pact named after Ottawa
Social Sharing Paul Hannon remembers being in Ottawa in 1997 when representatives from across the globe came to the city to sign an agreement banning the production and use of landmines. At the time, Hannon was volunteering for Mines Action Canada, a coalition of groups advocating against the use of mines in armed conflicts. "It was a pretty magical moment in December, the first week of December 1997, when 122 countries from around the world came here to sign the treaty," he told CBC News. But 28 years later, the agreement is being challenged. Ukraine and five other countries, some of which are members of NATO, have either moved to withdraw from the convention or have indicated they would do so, citing growing military threats from Russia. Hannon and others who pushed for the treaty are lamenting how its being undone. They're also arguing that Canada, the country that brokered it, should play a more active part in keeping countries from withdrawing. "Once they've gone through that process and they've left, then people are going to start thinking, 'Where are those countries that were calling for this treaty, where were the countries that were the big leaders?'" Hannon said. 'We were where the landmines got banned' Lloyd Axworthy, who served as foreign affairs minister from 1996 to 2000, was the driving force behind the treaty in 1997. He said the inspiration for the initiative came after he and his 11-year-old son visited an exhibit on landmines. "He said, 'Well, aren't you the foreign minister, dad?' I said, 'Yeah.' He said, 'Why can't you do something about it?'" he told CBC. The way Axworthy went about forging the treaty, by including civic groups that typically weren't included in such agreements, would also come to be known as the "Ottawa process." Alex Neve, a human rights lawyer and former secretary-general of Amnesty International Canada, said the treaty — and Ottawa by association — became widely known in international circles. "The degree to which other states have come to regularly call it the Ottawa Treaty or the Ottawa Convention — you hear both — is a real sign that the rest of the world recognizes Canada's leadership as well," Neve said. 'We're not playing that role anymore' Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree on withdrawing from the convention, though it still needs parliamentary approval to take effect. The country's foreign affairs ministry said that Russia's use of anti-personnel mines "has created an asymmetric advantage for the aggressor." Neve said the move sets a bad precedent. "Anytime a nation shows the rest of the world that you can back away from your international obligations, you can retreat from your international obligations, it risks encouraging other governments to do the same thing," he said. Neve and Axworthy also said that Canada ought to engage more with countries to ensure they stay signed on to the convention. "We were one of the leaders in non-proliferation of weaponry," Axworthy said. "And we're not playing that role anymore." For Hannon, the crumbling of the treaty also stings on a local level, as it's something that everyone in Ottawa — and Canada — should be proud of. "Everybody thinks that the world knows about us because of hockey or Wayne Gretzky. And I would say now most of the world knows about us because we were where landmines got banned. That was a really significant thing," he said. "I would certainly like people to remember [the treaty] much more than this is the city where the convoy took over ... for two weeks. I think that's a much better memory to have and a much better claim to fame."
CBC
32 minutes ago
- CBC
Digital identity copyrights + Protecting affordable rentals
The National breaks down Denmark's move to stop unauthorized deepfakes by allowing people to copyright their digital identities. Plus, how B.C. is trying to protect affordable rent.
CBC
32 minutes ago
- CBC
Why Trump's deals with the EU, Japan may not be templates for Canada in trade talks
Social Sharing U.S. President Donald Trump's successive announcements of deals setting baseline tariffs on the European Union and Japan are prompting questions about whether they're a road map for Canada to follow in trade talks. Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the bones of an agreement on Sunday. It sets across-the-board tariffs of 15 per cent on most European Union exports to the United States, along with a commitment by Europe to invest $600 billion US in the American economy and spend $750 billion on U.S. energy products — although there's plenty of fine print still to come. That makes it broadly comparable to the deal Trump announced last week with Japan: a 15 per cent across-the-board tariff and a Japanese commitment to invest $550 billion in the U.S. Trump was threatening to hit Europe with 30 per cent baseline tariffs and Japan with 25 per cent on Aug. 1, so both trading blocs are selling the deals as wins. Because Canada is facing the threat of 35 per cent tariffs on some goods on the same date, does that mean Canada should be aiming for a similar agreement? Prime Minister Mark Carney certainly isn't saying so. Asked whether any forthcoming deal will be "in the ballpark" of those 15 per cent baseline tariffs, he emphasized the differences between Europe's and Canada's trading relationship with the U.S. "We are in a different position, and that is why these negotiations ... are different," Carney said on Monday, citing Canada's geographical closeness and energy exports to the U.S. "Europe, in that agreement yesterday, made commitments to buy American energy," he said at a news conference in Prince Edward Island. "America needs Canadian energy." WATCH | Canada's trade talks with the U.S. are different from Europe's, Carney says: Carney says Canada is 'in a different position' than EU on trade deal with U.S. 15 hours ago Across-the-board tariffs 'difficult for Canada to accept' There are plenty of reasons why a 15 per cent baseline tariff rate is not something for Canada to aspire to, given that its economy is proportionally far more dependent on the U.S. market than Europe's and Japan's are. Jonathan O'Hara, an international trade lawyer in the Ottawa law office of McMillan LLP, said Canada should set its sights on a better deal than the EU or Japan negotiated since it's already so tightly integrated with the American economy. "On a broad level, having some kind of across-the-board tariffs, I think, would be very difficult for Canada to accept," O'Hara said in a weekend interview with CBC News. WATCH | Here's what's in Trump's tariff deal with the EU: Trump, EU reach trade deal framework 1 day ago Yet it appears that Canada doesn't actually face the prospect of tariffs that are truly across-the-board. That's because it has something that neither the European Union nor Japan have: an actual free-trade deal. Trump's "fentanyl emergency" tariffs, currently set at 25 per cent — which he's threatening to raise to 35 per cent on Friday — hit only those goods that don't comply with the rules of origin in the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). That means the vast bulk of Canada's exports to the U.S. are currently crossing the border tariff-free. Steel and aluminum tariffs a big question That may be why Carney's Liberal government does not feel the same sort of pressure as Europe and Japan to get a deal on Trump's timeline, said Drew Fagan, a professor at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. "Overall, the average tariff on Canadian goods going into the United States is about as low as any place in the world," he told CBC News. "What's important for us is that the [CUSMA] free-trade agreement continues to hold. Whether it will in the future, of course, is a fundamental question." The biggest exceptions to Canada's mostly tariff-free access to the U.S. are steel and aluminum, hit by Trump's 50 per cent global rate as he tries to prop up that sector at home. In their deals reached with the U.S., neither the EU nor Japan are let off the hook from that tariff. While Canada is surely angling for something better on steel and aluminum — such as the U.K.'s 25 per cent tariff, potentially headed to zero — the European and Japanese agreements suggest that will be tough to achieve. Carlo Dade, director of international policy at the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy, said Canada will likely face a tariff rate comparable to Europe's. "The Americans have decided to readjust the terms of trade," Dade said. "The price of access to the U.S. market is going up globally. It appears everyone is going to have to pay an increased cost." There are plenty of signs to suggest that the prospects are slim for Canada to reach a deal by Trump's deadline of Friday: Carney said the talks are complex, his top trade negotiators are downplaying the importance of the deadline and Trump himself is saying there may not be a deal at all.
