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Toronto Sun
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
GUNTER: Clever move by Danielle Smith with Alberta Next initiative aimed at Ottawa
Deal with me, she seems to be saying, or the bogey of Alberta independence will be released Alberta Premier Danielle Smith delivers a speech at the Canada Strong and Free Network national conference in Ottawa, on April 10, 2025. Photo by Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press Alberta Premier Danielle Smith isn't 'stoking the fire of Alberta separation' by warning that unless the federal Liberal government changes its approach to Alberta, a separatist movement is bound to grow in the province. 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 Smith has repeatedly claimed she is not a separatist. Personally she sees many benefits to Alberta remaining in a united Canada. She said so again on Monday in a 19-minute, online address to Albertans. What she is doing, though, is playing good cop to separatism's bad cop. Deal with me, she seems to be saying, or the bogey of Alberta independence will be released. It's a clever strategy, one that has been employed for more than six decades by Quebec governments going all the way back to Liberal Premier Jean Lesage and his Quiet Revolution in the 1960s. On Monday, during her address, Smith said 'the attacks on our province by our own federal government have become unbearable.' For the last 10 years the Liberals have 'demonized our province' and cost hundreds of billions in investment by targeting our No. 1 industry — oil and gas. She credited newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney with meeting with her virtually soon after being elected. And she said the two had had a 'promising' meeting. 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. She even pledged 'in good faith (to) work with Prime Minister Mark Carney on unwinding the mountain of destructive legislation and policies that have ravaged our provincial and national economies this past decade.' Smith cautioned, 'Albertans are more of an 'actions speak louder than words' kind of people.' So until she sees 'tangible' evidence of the Liberals' willingness to change, her government will pursue four broad objectives in its ongoing relations with Ottawa. She calls her initiative Alberta Next. It has four broad-based objectives and will culminate in a referendum next year on Alberta's future direction. Her government will not put separation on that ballot. But this spring, the UCP government lowered the number of signatures separation supporters need in order to get independence on next year's referendum ballot, which means the possibility of Alberta leaving Confederation is still on the table, just not from her or her government. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Examining Smith's demands/goals over the next year will give outsiders a good summary of the history of Alberta's grievances. Smith herself will head up a negotiating team that will work on an 'Alberta accord' which would guarantee the province access to ocean-going ports (and the corridors needed to pipe oil there) on the East, West and Arctic coasts. (Alberta and Saskatchewan are the only two fully landlocked provinces.) She insisted Ottawa end all federal intrusions into provincial constitutional jurisdiction, principally its attempts to shut down natural resource industries indirectly through the No More Pipelines Act (Bill C-69), the oil tanker ban on the West Coast, the emissions cap on oil and gas production, the EV mandate that insists new vehicles in Canada be all-electric by 2035, the net-zero power grid, the plastics ban and the censoring of oil companies or executives who speak out against climate alarmism. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. She also wants Carney to promise his government will not place an export tax on resources. And she wants for Alberta the same per capita transfer and equalization payments as the other three large provinces, Quebec, Ontario and B.C. By raising the spectre of separatism, Smith is creating a bad cop she promises to do her best to contain, but if only Ottawa will acquiesce to her objectives. I'm pessimistic about Carney making changes that will appease Albertans. During the last two weeks of the recent campaign, he never mentioned pipelines or oil and gas. He was fixated on 'green' energy alternative. And he has re-committed to upholding the No More Pipelines Act, placing a production cap (masquerading as an emissions cap) on oil and gas, and converting the consumer carbon tax to an industrial one instead. I predict the federal Liberals will not jump to satisfy Smith's list. They only show that kind of enthusiasm when Quebec separatists threaten to leave. lgunter@ Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don't miss the news you need to know — add and to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters . You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun Columnists Toronto & GTA Columnists Toronto Blue Jays Editorial Cartoons
Toronto Star
02-05-2025
- Automotive
- Toronto Star
Who will make the cut for Carney's team? + Tesla threatens Ottawa
Good morning. This is the Friday, May 2 edition of First Up, the Star's daily morning digest. Sign up to get it earlier each day, in your inbox. Looking for something to do this weekend? This free, volunteer-led Toronto walking tour will leave you questioning who really gets to pee in this city. Here's the latest on Mark Carney's first week in office, Tesla threatening the Canadian government, and how Canada's manufacturing sector is faring in the trade war (hint: not good). ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW DON'T MISS Mark Carney readies his team Carney has been holed up deciding on key staff. Here are some of the names being floated. Mark Carney will be tempted to adopt Justin Trudeau's playbook. He should put country before party instead. It's political: Our 'recovering partisans' dissect the 2025 election results and what comes next Tesla threatened Ottawa with legal action over frozen EV money The electric vehicle maker wants the payments immediately — or else. Here's how we got here. 'Tesla gamed the system': Canadian auto dealers 'stiffed' millions when U.S. giant rushed to claim last EV rebates Canadian manufacturing saw its worst month since the pandemic Employees were also laid off as a result of the trade war. Here's the latest from Josh Rubin. Canadian auto parts manufacturers to get a break from Trump's tariffs Higher prices and empty shelves: Why Trump's tariffs will spark a summer of shortages for Canadians. WHAT ELSE Alberta Premier Danielle Smith responds to a question following a speech at the Canada Strong and Free Network national conference on Thursday, April 10, 2025 in Ottawa. Adrian Wyld The Canadian Press Danielle Smith asked Mark Carney for a 'reset' again as Alberta launches a challenge of Ottawa's clean energy rules. A veteran New Democrat slammed the party for its 'absolutely disastrous campaign.' A complainant denied having an ulterior motive in accusing Coun. Michael Thompson of sex assault. Here's what we learned in the first week of the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial. A longtime Hells Angel was the man gunned down outside a Burlington restaurant on Tuesday. The RCMP identified a new spot in Ontario where unauthorized migrants have been entering Canada. Here's how the Toronto women of Babe Nation films got the beautiful, buzzy 'Bonjour Tristesse' made. The tragedy-scarred Alec Baldwin western 'Rust' arrives on May 9. Here's what our critic thinks. Justin Trudeau offered fatherly critique in a video of son Xavier's new R&B song release. Ever wondered what happens when you microwave plastic? Here's what science shows. Mike Wilner: Blue Jay Anthony Santander's time is coming. Dave Feschuk: The Leafs have discovered the only thing that matters in the playoffs. POV Doug Ford is guilty of hypocrisy for his rant about biased judges. CLOSE UP William Nylander #88 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates with John Tavares #91 after scoring a goal against the Ottawa Senators during the third period in Game Six of the First Round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Canadian Tire Centre on May 01, 2025 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Chris Tanouye Getty Images CANADIAN TIRE CENTRE: William Nylander celebrates with John Tavares after scoring a goal against the Ottawa Senators during the third period in Game 6. Nylander had a 29th birthday to remember, scoring two goals to help the Leafs knock out the Senators. But he was almost forced out of the lineup thanks to a roster sheet mix up. Kevin McGran has your recap of the big night. Thank you for reading. You can reach me and the First Up team at firstup@ I will see you back here tomorrow. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox.
National Observer
24-04-2025
- Politics
- National Observer
Back in Canada
Episode five of The Takeover podcast is Back in Canada. Just weeks after the ARC conference in London, U.K., Canada's conservatives held their annual networking gathering in Ottawa. The ARC conference was full of speakers who talked about the need to tear down the government, get rid of net-zero and change education and culture to eliminate woke culture. Mike Johnson, the U.S. Republican House leader spoke by video link to ARC. He described the problem as 'soft despotism'. 'This kind of despotism doesn't arrive through violence or open tyranny. Instead, it comes quietly, insidiously, through comfort and convenience,' Johnson said. And that comfort and convenience, according to Johnson captures people. 'Soft despots ensure your compliance through normal democratic channels regulations. Oh, they keep you safe. Censorship. That's to protect you from misinformation. Surveillance that's necessary for your security.' The Canada Strong and Free Network brought together 500 people in the middle of an election campaign with the theme, 'Turn Ideas into Action'. But with most of the power brokers busy with the election it is was left to provincial conservatives like Premier Scott Moe, John Rustad, Jason Kenney and Premier Danielle Smith to generate the ideas to turn into action. As soon as Mark Carney became Prime Minister, Danielle Smith gave him a list of demands for Alberta in the trade war with the U.S. At the conference she had another list – a list of regulations to get rid of. 'From the no more pipelines bill, to the tanker ban off the west coast, we've got net-zero power regs, net-zero building codes, net-zero vehicles, emissions caps on oil and gas and everything in-between; a plastics ban, don't we all want to have single-use plastics back again,' Smith said. A panel on government waste suggested Elon Musk's DOGE approach to cutting government could be a guide for a new Conservative government. 'None of the great legal tactics against Doge can be used here. There's no reason why we can't move more quickly, 'said Ian Brodie, a professor from the University of Calgary who was chief of staff to former Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Tim Sargent of the right-wing MacDonald Laurier Institute had a suggestion for managing the politics of cutting. 'Well, you go in hard and fast, and you cut groups at the same time as you're doing all kinds of other policy changes that they're going to dislike, so they won't know which way to where to look,' he said.
CBC
15-04-2025
- Business
- CBC
Three ways this Canada-U.S. dispute will end
Social Sharing You'd have to squint till your eyeballs ache, but there is a foreseeable scenario where Canada and the U.S. build a closer relationship out of this ugly moment. This outcome is far from certain — hence the squinting. But one influential figure in Washington professes to see it. Donald Trump's first-term trade czar predicted the optimistic scenario last week in Ottawa, speaking behind closed doors. "Whatever is going on now is not going to last, and it'll be fine," Robert Lighthizer told the Canada Strong and Free Network, a conservative think-tank, on a recording shared with CBC News. "The relationship between the United States and Canada is going to be as good or better than it has ever been and the business relationship will be fine." There are three broad potential scenarios after this month's federal election, after which Canada and the U.S. are poised to enter comprehensive trade and security negotiations. Call them the good place, the bad place and the messy middle. WATCH | Uncertainty over tariffs: Confusion reigns over Trump's tariff plans 1 day ago Duration 2:29 The good place? Economic security, military security — Canada gets both, with tariff-free trade restored and the U.S. defence umbrella intact. Canada could even gain new advantages, if the U.S. keeps its tariffs against other countries. Lighthizer hinted at this. He suggested Canada has gained a competitive edge amid the recent trade war as its tariffs are, generally, lower than those on most countries. Most products traded under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) have tariff exemptions, and Canada and Mexico did not get the same 10 per cent universal tariff as other countries. "My own analysis is that Canada is better off because [CUSMA] is more valuable than it was six weeks ago," Lighthizer said. He added a caveat. There are still tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. He didn't mention tariffs on another massive industry, the auto sector, which is now caught in a tangle of exemptions and duties — a Swiss cheese of trade barriers. Which brings us to the messy middle. Bleak and bleaker scenarios It's the in-between scenario and it looks, frankly, like our present purgatory: a relationship corroded by doubt, eaten away by a tariff here and another one there. "I think [CUSMA] is on life support right now. And I think it will be like that for the next year — at least," Mexican economist Jesús Carrillo told a panel on Monday organized by the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think-tank. He predicted the trade pact will survive. Then again, in this messy, uncertain moment, where tariffs shift from day to day, who knows what tomorrow's trade reality will be? Let alone next year's. Just look at recent appearances by Lighthizer's successor, the current U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. In two days of hearings on Capitol Hill last week, he, too, referred to Canada and Mexico enjoying privileged access to the U.S. market, under CUSMA. WATCH | Car parts could be spared, Trump says: Trump says Canadian car parts among list of possible products spared from U.S. tariffs 12 hours ago Duration 6:26 Then again, he also talked about an advantage for the broader Western hemisphere. He said several times that textile production could move closer to home, as Latin American countries mostly had a tariff of 10 per cent, while it was quadruple that in most Asian countries. But his testimony was obsolete by the time he left the U.S. Capitol. While Greer was still on the witness stand, Trump eliminated that tariff differential, giving almost every country on Earth the same 10 per cent rate. And that's the messy middle. Our current unstable trading system, being scrambled from one minute to the next by an unpredictable U.S. president, with tariffs on certain products but not others; and it changes day to day. As Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon said, his voice rising: "What. Is. The. Plan? In the last week the White House has been all over the map." It could be worse. It could be a full-blown, ever-escalating crisis — the bad place. We already got glimpses of that between December and March. For about three months, Trump kept threatening Canada's economic and national survival, talking about immiserating it so severely it might plead to join the U.S. He's recently stopped talking about crushing Canada's economy, or forcing it to accept U.S. annexation, or referring to the prime minister as "governor." We'll know soon whether he intends to resume this, after this month's federal election, when it will become clear whether Trump has changed his tune or has been biting his tongue for fear of influencing the vote. Impediments to a quick deal In any case, it will take time to rebuild trust, says one Washington analyst. She likens the process to therapy — Canada and the U.S. will, first, need to air their grievances. "Right now things are very hot, and we need to give it some time to cool down so that there can be a reset," said Jamie Tronnes, executive director of the Center for North American Prosperity and Security. "Canada and the U.S. need some time to be able to come to the table and talk about the problems that we've had in the relationship." The U.S. has longstanding complaints about Canada's failure to meet its defence commitments, from the Arctic to military spending, she noted. Canada, meanwhile, has been angered by these tariffs. Several other factors could drag this out. For example, it might take over a year just to start reviewing the CUSMA, if the U.S. follows its own legal processes for the renegotiation. In theory, the U.S. could scale back tariffs while negotiating. "The mechanisms to change [CUSMA] are not clear," said Carillo, who wondered whether Trump will follow the formal process or seek a quicker deal. Delays could get worse thanks to a personnel issue: the U.S. trade team is stretched thin. They're juggling talks with dozens of countries — and Greer has been wearing multiple hats, holding different interim roles in the White House. When negotiations begin, the priorities are no mystery. Canada's chief goal? Build legal guardrails to stop Trump from firing off tariffs at will — something a few U.S. lawmakers also favour. It's a tall order. Trump won't be keen to surrender his go-to weapon. After all, he just threatened more tariffs against Mexico, in a dispute over water. He's also studying tariffs on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. What the Americans want most The U.S. has several objectives. It's unhappy with Canada's digital services tax. It will either seek adjustments to, or the end of, the supply-management system for dairy, eggs and poultry. But its top priority? Scrubbing foreign parts from U.S. manufacturing — especially Chinese steel and auto components, although it could go farther. Lighthizer was vague on the details in his Ottawa talk, but he called this priority No. 1. Autoss are "the biggest thing," he said. "I hope we tighten it even more." But he raised another sore spot. Tellingly, he veered off his usual trade lane to take a jab at Canada over defence spending. Canada "does not pay its share.… It just doesn't," he said. "And that has to be addressed." Those are likely the broad themes. The U.S. will seek changes on autos, dairy, digital taxes, defence spending, and, just maybe, based on recent sniping from Trump, looser banking regulations. Canada's top priority? Stability. It may chase extra deals — think softwood lumber — but the main goal is locking in old ties in a world that's anything but stable. "I think we get to the good place eventually," Tronnes said. She added a caveat, with a touch of graphic imagery. CUSMA 'is still alive. It is like, you know, many have said it's under a guillotine right now, just waiting to be sliced apart. But I'm optimistic."
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Carney apologizes for fake Trump-style buttons, Liberal staffers 'reassigned'
OTTAWA — Liberal Leader Mark Carney said on Monday he was 'unaware' that Liberal staffers had planted some fake Trump-style buttons at a conservative conference last week but nonetheless apologized for this 'unreservedly' on behalf on his campaign. 'This is totally unacceptable, to be absolutely clear,' he said at a campaign stop in Montreal in response to CBC News, who broke the story on Sunday. 'I was unaware of this behaviour, but on behalf of my campaign, I apologize for it unreservedly.' 'I've made it absolutely clear to my campaign that this behaviour or anything approximating it or in that spirit is unacceptable (and) cannot happen again,' he added. Carney said the staffers who were responsible for planting the buttons, have been 'reassigned within the campaign.' Liberal staffers were caught bragging about how they planted buttons at last week's Canada Strong and Free Network conference, also known as the Manning Conference, in downtown Ottawa. The conversation happened in earshot of a CBC reporter on Friday. In a statement provided Sunday night, Liberal spokesperson Kevin Lemkay acknowledged the button controversy, suggesting that it was a joke that got carried away. One of the buttons said 'Stop the Steal,' referencing U.S. President Donald Trump's attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Others reportedly included a 'Free Alberta' button alongside a pair of handcuffs, a 'Lock Justin Up' button printed over prison bars, a 'Vote for Carney is a Vote for WEXIT,' and a 'Danielle Smith for CPC Leader 2026' button. Another featured Tory campaign director Jenni Byrne's crossed-off name, alongside Conservative strategist Kory Teneycke, in reference to reports of party infighting over campaign strategy. Calgary-area MP Michelle Rempel Garner called the spread of fake campaign pins 'disgusting.' — With files from Adam Huras, Postmedia. More details to follow. National Post calevesque@ Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here.
