Political panel weighs in on a lengthy spring sitting of the P.E.I. Legislature
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National Post
3 minutes ago
- National Post
UCP stands behind 'constitutional affairs' point man after comments on French language, King Charles III
OTTAWA — Alberta's governing United Conservative Party will not be demoting caucus lead on constitutional relations, Red Deer MLA Jason Stephan, after his attacks on the French language and the monarchy. Article content '(Mr.) Stephan's views do not impede his work as the Parliamentary Secretary for Constitutional Affairs,' said Sam Blackett, spokesman for Premier Danielle Smith. Article content Stephan wrote in an op-ed last week that Ottawa's policy of official bilingualism is 'rigged against Alberta,' noting that less than one per cent of residents spoke French exclusively. Article content 'Every year the federal government takes Albertans' tax dollars and spends billions to artificially sustain this mandate through government programs, including minority-language education, second-language instruction, and subsidies for official language minority communities,' wrote Stephan. Article content He added that French proficiency requirements tipped the scales toward central Canadians competing for federal judgeships and other plum government jobs. Article content Stephan wrote on his official MLA letterhead in July that it was time for Alberta to cut ties with the monarchy, calling the Crown antithetical to the province's meritocratic culture. Article content 'In Alberta, (w)e believe in earning your place—not inheriting it. Yet under our constitution the Head of State (King Charles III) did not earn that position. He was born into it,' read the statement. Article content 'Alberta doesn't need a king. (It) needs more popular sovereignty, more checks and balances (and) more independence,' wrote Stephan. Article content Stephan skipped the UCP's official caucus swearing-in ceremony after winning re-election in May 2023 but reportedly swore an oath to the King in the fall. Article content Blackett said that Stephan's opinions aren't necessarily those of the party. Article content 'MLAs are entitled to express their views as private members,' wrote Blackett. Article content UCP caucus communications director Shanna Schulhauser also defended Stephan's right to speak for himself. Article content 'We've been letting his columns stand as-is,' wrote Schulhauser in an email. Article content Stephan was appointed the UCP government's parliamentary secretary for constitutional affairs in May, reporting to Attorney General Mickey Amery. Article content The party said at the time that Stephan would play a key role in asserting Alberta's constitutional jurisdiction in areas such as resource development, and defending the province's rights from Ottawa.
Globe and Mail
3 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Trump to join evening patrol in Washington as authorities deploy checkpoints around the city
U.S. President Donald Trump plans to join a Thursday evening patrol in the nation's capital as federal authorities deploy checkpoints around the city and sometimes ask people for their immigration status after stopping them. 'I'm going to be going out tonight with the police and with the military,' the Republican president told Todd Starnes, a conservative commentator. Trump's presence during his controversial crackdown, which has lasted for two weeks, would be the latest show of force from the White House. Hundreds of federal agents and National Guard soldiers have surged into Washington this month, leaving some residents on edge and creating tense confrontations in the streets. National Guard arrive in Washington, marking start to Trump's federal takeover of the capital Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday visited some of the troops at Union Station, showing their support while protestors chanted 'free D.C.' Although the city has historically struggled with crime, statistics show the problem was declining before Trump declared there was a crisis that required his intervention. Immigration enforcement has been a core part of the crackdown, rattling people in some of the city's neighbourhoods. A daycare was partially closed on Thursday when staff became afraid to go to work because they heard about federal agents nearby. An administrator asked parents to keep their children at home if possible. Other day cares have stopped taking kids on daily walks because of fears about encountering law enforcement. Since Aug. 7, when Trump began surging federal agents into the city, there have been 630 arrests, including 251 people who are in the country illegally, according to the White House. Trump has been ratcheting up the pressure since then, seizing control of the D.C. police department on Aug. 11 and deploying more National Guard troops, mostly from Republican-led states. Soldiers have been largely stationed in downtown areas, such as monuments on the National Mall and transit stations. However, federal agents are operating more widely through the city. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser acknowledged the proliferation of traffic checkpoints on Thursday. 'The surge of federal officers is allowing for different types of deployments, more frequent types of deployments, like checkpoints,' Bowser said. Residents protest Trump's takeover of Washington law enforcement On Thursday morning, as Martin Romero rode through Washington's Rock Creek Park on his way to a construction job in Virginia, he saw police on the road up ahead. He figured it was a normal traffic stop, but it wasn't. Romero, 41, said that U.S. Park Police were telling pickup trucks with company logos to pull over, reminding them that commercial vehicles weren't allowed on park roads. They checked for licenses and insurance information, and then U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents came over. Romero said there were two agents on one side of his truck and three on the other. He started to get nervous as the agents asked where they were from and whether they were in the country illegally. 'We just came here to work,' Romero said afterwards. 'We aren't doing anything bad.' Two people in his truck were detained and the agents didn't give a reason, he said. He also saw three other people taken from other vehicles. 'I feel really worried because they took two of our guys,' he said. 'They wouldn't say where they're taking them or if they'll be able to come back.' Romero said he called his boss, who told him to just head home. They wouldn't be working today. Enrique Martinez, a supervisor at the construction company, came to the scene afterwards. He pondered whether to call families of the detained men. 'This has never happened to our company before,' Martinez said. 'I'm not really sure what to do.' The Supreme Court has upheld the use of law enforcement and government checkpoints for specific purposes, such as for policing the border and for identifying suspected drunk drivers. But there are restrictions on that authority, especially when it comes to general crime control. Jeffrey Bellin, a former prosecutor in Washington and professor at Vanderbilt Law School who specializes in criminal law and procedures, said the Constitution doesn't allow 'the government to be constantly checking us and stopping to see if we're up to any criminal activity.' He said checkpoints for a legally justifiable purpose – like checking for drivers' licenses and registrations – cannot be used as 'subterfuge' or a pretext for stops that would otherwise not be allowed. And though the court has affirmed the use of checkpoints at the border, and even some distance away from it, to ask drivers about immigration status, Bellin said it was unlikely the authority would extend to Washington. Anthony Michael Kreis, a professor at Georgia State College of Law, said the seemingly 'arbitrary' and intrusive nature of the checkpoints in the capital could leave residents feeling aggrieved. 'Some of the things could be entirely constitutional and fine, but at the same time, the way that things are unfolding, people are suspicious – and I think for good reason,' he said. There are few places in the country that have been unaffected by Trump's deportation drive, but his push into D.C. is shaping into something more sustained, similar to what has unfolded in the Los Angeles area since early June. In Los Angeles, immigration officers – working with the Border Patrol and other federal agencies – have been a near-daily presence at Home Depots, car washes and other highly visible locations. In a demonstration of how enforcement has affected routines, the bishop of San Bernardino, California, formally excused parishioners of their weekly obligation to attend Mass after immigration agents detained people on two parish properties. Immigration officials have been an unusually public presence, sending horse patrols to the city's famed MacArthur Park and appearing outside California Gov. Gavin Newsom's news conference last week on congressional redistricting. Authorities said an agent fired at a moving vehicle last week after the driver refused to roll down his window during an immigration stop. The National Guard and Marines were previously in the city for weeks on an assignment to maintain order amid protests. A federal judge blocked the administration from conducting indiscriminate immigration stops in Southern California but authorities have vowed to keep the pressure on.
CBC
27 minutes ago
- CBC
Sask. premier meeting with feds about how to deal with Chinese canola tariffs
Social Sharing Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is set to meet federal Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald and industry officials in Saskatoon Thursday to discuss China's steep new tariffs on Canadian canola seed. Kody Blois, the parliamentary secretary for Prime Minister Mark Carney, and Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Daryl Harrison are also expected to attend the meeting. China imposed a nearly 76 per cent tariff on canola seed last week. That's on top of the 100 per cent duties already applied to canola oil and meal since March. This is happening just as harvest gets underway. Moe said producers are already feeling the blow. "I would say it's extremely significant because it's additive to everything that is in place right now. Listen, our largest market for canola oil seed and meal is the United States of America, our second largest market is China," he said on CBC's Power and Politics Wednesday. WATCH | Canada has 6 to 8 weeks to get Chinese canola tariffs removed, suggests Moe: Canada has 6 to 8 weeks to get Chinese canola tariffs removed, suggests Moe | Power & Politics 21 hours ago Retaliation for EV tariffs China has claimed Canada is dumping cheap canola into their market and that the tariff is a response to that. The provisional rate set at 75.8 per cent came into effect last Thursday. A final decision is expected next month when an anti-dumping probe into Canadian canola wraps up. It's a fresh escalation in a year-long trade dispute that began with Ottawa's imposition of 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports last August. Moe said the federal government should prioritize defending Canada's $45-billion canola sector over the EV sector. "What is creating wealth for Canadians and what is employing 200,000 Canadians today — that's the canola industry. It's a $45-billion industry, dwarfing any semblance of an EV industry that we have," he said. WATCH | Sask. premier meeting with feds on how to deal with canola tariffs: Sask. premier meeting with feds on how to deal with canola tariffs 2 hours ago Moe ready to go to China Moe said he's ready to go to China. He said subsidies alone aren't enough and that restoring market access is crucial to producers and exporters. "I've committed to going in the next number of weeks. I'm inviting the prime minister and and federal ministers along, as ultimately if we are going to advance that conversation, it needs to be a nation-to-nation conversation," he said. Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck said in a statement that the province should act promptly. "Scott Moe needs to pack his bags and get on a plane with one goal in mind: end the canola tariffs," she said. "China's job-killing tariffs on canola have threatened our province for months, and Saskatchewan's trade office in China seems to have been sitting idle this whole time." Road project tied to canola economy The province has announced it will cover up to half the costs of upgrading Grain Millers Drive, a seven-kilometre partial gravel road north of Yorkton, Sask. The road connects two provincial highways and serves as the main access point to the Richardson Oilseed facility, the largest canola crush plant in North America. Moe visited the site on Wednesday to make the announcement. Highways Minister Lori Carr said the partnership with municipalities on Grain Millers Drive shows how the province is supporting Saskatchewan's export economy. NDP Leader Carla Beck responded that she has been calling on the government to fix the road for years.
