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Toronto Sun
06-06-2025
- Business
- Toronto Sun
Carney and Li agree to regularize communication between Canada and China
Published Jun 06, 2025 • 1 minute read Prime Minister Mark Carney listens to a journalist's question during a press conference on Parliament Hill following the Cabinet Policy Forum, in Ottawa on May 21, 2025. Photo by DAVE CHAN / AFP via Getty Images OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney and Chinese Premier Li Qiang have agreed to regularize channels of communication between the two countries. 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 A readout from Carney's office also says the leaders committed to working together to address the fentanyl crisis. Canada and China have been involved in a trade dispute. China has imposed tariffs on Canadian canola oil and meal, peas and seafood in retaliation to Canadian levies on Chinese-made electric vehicles, steel and aluminum. In his conversation with Li, Carney raised the issue of trade affecting agriculture and agri-food products, including canola and seafood, as well as other issues. Carney said earlier this week that Ottawa is working urgently to remove Chinese tariffs on Canadian agriculture and seafood products. Sunshine Girls Sunshine Girls Toronto & GTA Olympics Toronto & GTA
Toronto Sun
31-05-2025
- Business
- Toronto Sun
GOLDSTEIN: Carney's hocus-pocus plan to increase debt and balance the budget
Get the latest from Lorrie Goldstein straight to your inbox Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney arrives for a press conference on Parliament Hill following the Cabinet Policy Forum, in Ottawa on May 21, 2025. Photo by DAVE CHAN / GETTY IMAGES Prime Minister Mark Carney's promise that his government will 'spend less and invest more' is the same sort of fiscal flimflammery as Justin Trudeau's claim in 2014 that as prime minister he would grow the economy and 'the budget will balance itself.' 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 budget never balanced itself under Trudeau, even before the pandemic hit in 2020. His 2015 election pledge of three years of 'modest deficits' in 2016, 2017 and 2018 followed by a balanced budget in 2019, turned out to be a myth. As for Carney's pledge to 'spend less and invest more' respected University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe, writing in The Hub, noted that 'Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre dismissed Carney's proposal as 'cooking the books' and history justifies the skepticism.' Carney dismissed that criticism by suggesting he has more experience than Tombe as an economist and economic manager. Jake Fuss, director of fiscal studies for the Fraser Institute, called Carney's pledge 'creative accounting' because 'Mr. Carney's math doesn't add up.' 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 fact, Carney is planning to spend more and borrow more than the Trudeau government. This while abandoning the 'fiscal guardrails' that former federal finance minister Chrystia Freeland said were important to maintain the integrity of federal finances, at least prior to her resigning when she said the Trudeau government had abandoned them. Freeland is now minister of transport and internal trade in Carney's cabinet, so perhaps she's changed her mind. So how is Carney going to make good on his promise to balance the budget in three years while spending more and increasing the debt? This apparent economic miracle will only be achievable because Carney is making a new distinction in government spending. He's separating the operating expenses of the federal government — the cost of daily operations, plus cash transfers to the provinces and benefit programs such as Old Age Security, $10-a-day daycare and dental care — from capital spending on infrastructure. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Carney, who criticized Trudeau for driving up the operating costs of the government by an average of 9% annually, says he will reduce those increases to less than 2%. He will then invest more money, financed by more public debt, in fast-tracked, nation-building infrastructure projects such as housing construction, making Canada a clean energy superpower and other initiatives designed to bolster our economy and make it less reliant on the U.S. The problem with redefining debt is that it's still debt for the people who have to pay it back with interest — taxpayers. As Tombe, put it, 'Carney's financial sleight of hand will not actually balance the budget.' Carney's election campaign platform outlined $130 billion in new spending over four years with total deficit spending of $224.8 billion. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. That's 71% higher than the $131.4 billion in deficit spending the Trudeau government predicted during the same period in its fall economic statement last December, although had Trudeau decided to run again his election promises would have increased his projected deficits. Read More To be sure, if will be a positive step if Carney can significantly reduce the operating costs of the government, a major component of which is the cost of the federal public service. But it will also be interesting to see how he will achieve this, given that his intention, aside from making use of Artificial Intelligence, is to cap the size of the public service at its current level of approximately 357,965 people. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. That's an increase of more than 100,000 civil servants — almost 40% — compared to when Trudeau took office in 2015. Carney's promises also depend, according to his campaign platform, on achieving $28 billion in savings from 'increased government productivity', $3.75 billion from 'increasing fines and penalties' and $20 billion from revenue generated by Canada's counter-tariffs in its trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump. Some economists agree with Carney that redefining public debt into operating and capital spending components will make it more transparent, but others warn the temptation will be to redefine operational expenses as capital investments, in order to meet Carney's promise of a balanced operating budget in three years. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. What the Carney government intends to classify as operational expenses versus capital investments won't be known until the Liberals unveil their budget in the fall. That said, capital spending to fund infrastructure in tough economic times to boost the economy is hardly a new concept. Done competently, it can work as planned, in the same way a homeowner taking out a mortgage to buy a home can increase the family's equity, provided he or she can meet the mortgage payments. The key word is competently. One of many examples of previous capital investments by governments in concert with the private sector turning into financial disasters are Light Rail Transit projects in cities such as Toronto and Ottawa, funded by the federal, provincial and municipal governments. Meanwhile, parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux reported last year that the federal, Ontario and Quebec governments have earmarked up to $52.5 billion — 60% paid by the feds, 40% by the provinces — for 13 projects intended to create an electric vehicle and EV battery industry in Canada. That's $6.3 billion or 14% more than the $46.1 billion the industry plans to invest in these projects, with many companies now cutting back or delaying production due to slow EV sales. RECOMMENDED VIDEO Toronto & GTA Toronto & GTA Ontario Columnists Sunshine Girls
Toronto Sun
30-05-2025
- Business
- Toronto Sun
Carney says he has no immediate plans to overhaul municipal funding
Published May 30, 2025 • 1 minute read Prime Minister Mark Carney listens to a journalist's question during a press conference on Parliament Hill following the Cabinet Policy Forum, in Ottawa on May 21, 2025. Photo by DAVE CHAN / AFP via Getty Images OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney says Ottawa probably can't undertake a thorough overhaul of how municipalities are funded in the near future, with the federal government now focused on major projects. 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 Carney spoke this morning to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, which represents cities and towns that have lobbied Ottawa to give them more independent means of financing their operations. Cities generally fall under provincial oversight and have limited tools to gather tax revenues or plan for long-term projects. A federation representative asked Carney whether his government will change those mechanisms to give municipalities more room to work. The prime minister says that while funding models for municipalities should not be 'arbitrary and unpredictable,' remaking them would require a thorough discussion with provinces. Carney says he doubts Ottawa can wait for those discussions to play out at a time where Canadians need to build housing and trade infrastructure, such as ports and energy corridors. The prime minister says that while he wants to collaborate with municipalities, that likely would involve Ottawa helping municipalities pay for specific projects. Crime World Toronto & GTA World Toronto Raptors
Toronto Sun
29-05-2025
- Business
- Toronto Sun
Carney 'welcomes' U.S. court ruling striking down U.S. tariffs
Published May 29, 2025 • Last updated 0 minutes ago • 1 minute read Prime Minister Mark Carney listens to a journalist's question during a press conference on Parliament Hill following the Cabinet Policy Forum, in Ottawa on May 21, 2025. Photo by DAVE CHAN / AFP via Getty Images OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney says he welcomes the decision by the U.S. Court of International Trade to strike down President Donald Trump's broad-based tariffs on most countries. 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 Carney says Canada must continue to diversify its trade relations because steel, aluminum and automotive tariffs remain in place. On Wednesday, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that Trump does not have the authority to impose tariffs on nearly every country using the International Economic Emergency Powers Act. That decision blocked both Trump's 'Liberation Day' duties and the fentanyl-related tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China. The Trump administration filed a notice of appeal soon after the ruling came down. While the president has not yet commented on the ruling, members of Trump's team have widely condemned it. Toronto & GTA Sunshine Girls Sunshine Girls Tennis Celebrity
Toronto Sun
26-05-2025
- Business
- Toronto Sun
Carney will not take up Trudeau's question period tradition
Published May 26, 2025 • 1 minute read Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney listens to a journalist's question during a press conference on Parliament Hill following the Cabinet Policy Forum, in Ottawa on May 21, 2025. Photo by DAVE CHAN / AFP via Getty Images OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney will take part in his first question period on Wednesday — but will not carry on a tradition started by his predecessor. 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 Former prime minister Justin Trudeau made it his practice to answer all questions in the House of Commons on Wednesdays, a gesture meant to improve accountability within the chamber. A source in the Prime Minister's Office confirms Carney will not carry on the same practice. Trudeau said in 2017 that he thought it was important for all MPs to be able to ask questions of the prime minister, not just party leaders. There was some debate at the time among other parties about whether the move would allow Trudeau to dodge questions on other days of the week. Wednesday will see the first question period of the spring legislative session, following the election of House Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia on Monday and King Charles reading the speech from the throne on Tuesday. Columnists Relationships Football Ontario Celebrity
