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Epoch Times
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Conrad Black: Alberta Independence Would Be the Death Knell for Canada
Commentary All of Canada is waiting to see which of the Mark Carneys that we saw in the recent election campaign emerges as the new prime minister. The two choices are the long-standing climate-change advocate who was apparently the inspirer-in-chief of the Justin Trudeau government, and who persuaded that regime to bind itself with non-biodegradable hoops to the notion that climate was the greatest problem facing Canada. This, of course, is nonsense. Canada's greatest problems are economic competitiveness and a declining comparative standard of living with steady net capital outflows, as well as the disintegration of the Confederation and the official self-degradation of the country. The other Mark Carney is the candidate who abandoned the consumer carbon tax after more than a decade of support for it and pivoted to the approval of more pipelines and great Canada-unifying projects. The Confederation is wearing thin in Alberta and Saskatchewan especially, as the oil-producing areas of the country are being steadily frustrated in their ability to export oil and other petroleum products, especially natural gas, to Eastern Canada and the world across all three oceans with Canadian shores. The disintegration of Confederation is also advancing in Quebec, but more slowly and less dramatically, where the Trudeau government (in 180-degree contrast to the government of Pierre Trudeau), effectively acquiesced to Quebec's The degradation of the country consists of the acquiescence to the teaching of Canada's history as essentially a tale of invasion, subjugation, exploitation, and racial mistreatment of the indigenous peoples to such an absurdly exaggerated extent that it caused Canada to be registered at the United Nations as a country confessing to attempts at genocide, placing us in the most abominated and ostracized category of human regimes. We have yet to hear the new prime minister's comments on that subject as well. Related Stories 5/21/2025 5/12/2025 The most immediate threat is undoubtedly the issues that will influence the federal government's relationship with Alberta. The very able premier of that province, Danielle Smith, has made it clear that her preference is for the continued presence of Alberta in a reinforced Canadian Confederation. The majority of her party, however, while not directly approving the secession of Alberta from Canada, is open to the possibility unless what almost all Albertans regard as the province's legitimate ambitions to enjoy the benefit of its natural resources are respected by Ottawa. The premier has clearly placed the decision of the future status of Alberta in the hands of the voters, if they meet the legislative requirements in elevating a petition to a referendum, which could happen in 2026. By then, it is presumed that the federal government's policy choices relevant to such a vote will be known and capable of being evaluated by Albertans. Some have suggested that this may be creating a set of circumstances similar to the In Alberta, Smith is making clear her personal preference that Canada work well and continue intact, without committing herself inexorably. Meanwhile, it remains to be seen whether Carney still believes in piling up debt and radically increasing consumer costs, while conducting a war on the hydrocarbon industry and on the internal combustion engine in the interests of reducing Canada's minuscule carbon footprint—which has almost no impact on the world—to help save the planet. Whatever else the Canadian electorate may have done on April 28, it did not vote for sharply increased taxing, spending, and shouldering of inflationary cost-of-living increases to reduce Canada's carbon emissions. Premier Smith If Alberta did secede from Canada, no one should be in any doubt that it would be the death knell of this country. Alberta would not necessarily be seeking independence, and would be highly amenable to a proposal to adhere to the United States as its 51st state. There is little doubt that the U.S. government would offer parity in currency to Albertans for their Canadian dollars and reasonable concessions of control of residential immigration and laws concerning firearms. Alberta would not wish a vast influx of America's most destitute welfare cases into its social safety net, and like the rest of Canada, it is not a society with a revolutionary history going back to the founding of the country by those exercising the right to bear arms against authority perceived to be despotic. Federal union with the United States could be made tempting for Albertans, but if it occurred it would be fatal for Canada. Mark Carney should know that he is playing with fire, not only if he focuses on climate change but also if he continues with his approach as the defender of Canada from its neighbour. His promise to eliminate internal trading borders is an excellent sign, and we can only hope that it is the beginning of an intelligent and constructive national program—an updated version of the trade, industrial, and railway policies with which John A. Macdonald built the foundation of this country. Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Epoch Times
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Preston Manning: Pushing Back Against the Flawed Narrative on Western Discontent
Commentary Continued expressions of dissatisfaction in Western Canada with the organization and performance of Canadian Confederation—including calls for secession from a minority of citizens—have led to numerous news pieces and commentaries on the subject by central Canadian media and political commentators. But most of these suffer from four main flaws which call for pushback.
Irish Times
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Mark Carney, Canada's cosmopolitan man of steel, has given liberals a new playbook
We all knew Donald Trump can win elections, we just didn't know he'd be winning them outside the USA. Last Monday, Trump won the Canadian election for Mark Carney . There is no other way of interpreting the resurrection of the Liberal Party and the reincarnation of the uber-technocrat, Jesuit-educated Carney. In January, Carney was an out-of-work, itinerant central banker for hire, intellectually and temperamentally very much out of step in the new Maga world of ethno-nationalist populists. Today, he is the liberal world's man of steel who will square up to Trump, the very man who enabled his election win. Carney turned the Canadian election into a referendum on Trump. Canadians responded enthusiastically. Before Trump began dismissing Canada as an American state in waiting, the Liberal Party's support plummeted to a low of 16 per cent. This week it won 43 per cent of the vote. Trump has managed to create something the world has never seen: virulent Canadian nationalism. Ironically for a committed cosmopolitan - he got an Irish passport years ago but has recently relinquished his Irish and British citizenship - a walking, talking Davos-man, Carney wrapped himself in the Maple Leaf and rode the nationalist wave. Bigging up his ice hockey credentials – Canada's real game – he deployed resolute rhetoric against the US to sell ordinary Canadians a firm but fair vision of themselves and their country. And they bought it. Liberals all over the world are taking Carney's victory as evidence that the juggernaut of ethno-nationalism can be beaten by facts, reason and an appeal to the better side of the electorate's nature . Canadian nationalism is the acceptable face of nationalism in the liberal world because it is ... well, Canadian and decent. It presents itself as a middle-of-the-road, rule-of-law, Molson-lite nationalism. Defined not by what it is, but what it is against, this new Centrist Dad jingoism knows who the enemy is: Donald Trump. READ MORE Canadians have given liberals a new playbook. Stand up to Trump and your people stand behind you. All around the world, conservatives are realising that Trump and proximity to Trumpism is a massive liability. This fact alone changes the global background noise. The new Canadian Confederation was proof that the antagonism between the 1 million Canadians of French origin and the two and a quarter million Canadians of British origin could dwindle as they found common ground So it turns out those nice Canadians are harder than most imagined. But now that the campaign is over, how does Carney, a brilliant economic mind, negotiate from here? He must find a way to deal with America, not just because the US and Canada are neighbours, united by history and geography, but because they are, for all intents and purposes, two nations with one economy. Around 76 per cent of exports (representing around one-fifth of Canadian GDP ) flow southward – making Canada particularly vulnerable to US tariff policies . According to ScotiaBank, Canada imports roughly 34 per cent of its inputs (ie intermediate goods) from the US, and exports roughly 75 per cent of total goods it produces to the US. Energy is Canada's single largest export to the US by value , with crude oil and natural gas making up roughly one-third of Canada's total exports flowing south. Around one in six jobs in Canada are linked to exports, with some estimates suggesting incomes are 15 to 40 per cent higher thanks to freer trade. Mark Carney needs a deal. The one thing in his favour is the growing realisation that, when faced with stern opposition, Trump always caves in . Carney just has to hang tight, fly the flag, follow the puck and wait for the phone call. Whatever happens, it is clear that Carney's ascension to power within the Liberal Party represents not merely a change in leadership but a recalibration of Canada's economic and political identity. That identity was officially created at midnight on July 1st, 1867, when church bells rang out from Nova Scotia to Ontario, signalling that nearly four million people would wake up as citizens of the new Dominion of Canada. The official population of 3.8 million was only 10 per cent of the bustling nation to the south. At that stage, many Canadians doubted whether their garrison country would survive, wondering just how long Canada could remain without the Americans, driven by their 'manifest destiny', ruling the entire continent. After all, the Americans had just slaughtered each other in the civil war, so Canadians were under no illusions about what the recently victorious Union army could do if it turned around and switched its attentions from the warm south to the freezing north. [ A win 'for democrats all around the world'. Canada's Mark Carney prepares to take on Trump Opens in new window ] But the new Canadian Confederation was proof that the antagonism between the one million Canadians of French origin and the two and a quarter million Canadians of British origin could dwindle as they found common ground. The rest – the indigenous peoples, the original inhabitants – didn't get a look in. The hope was that the differences, be they regional, racial or religious, could be gradually ameliorated by prosperity. Can 'technocratic daddy' Mark Carney solve Canada's deep-rooted problems? Listen | 40:48 Apart from the linguistic and cultural clash between French and English speakers, the major fault line in the new Canadian Confederation was sectarian. In the first Canadian census, 8 per cent of the population were neither French nor British. Of this group, 200,000 were German and the census turned up only 125 Jews, 11 Hindus and three Chinese. The Irish were the largest group with the 'British' cohort, and we brought to Canada our sectarian 'green and orange' hatred that would play out in regular riots from Montreal to Toronto and Halifax. Ulster Protestant emigrants joined forces with Scottish farmers to form an Orange phalanx against the surge of Irish Catholic migration from the 1830s onwards. Today there are more Orange Lodges in Canada than anywhere else in the world outside Northern Ireland. (In fact, I witnessed my first and last Orange 12th of July march in Toronto back in 1986!) More than 600,000 Irish emigrants arrived in Canada in the 20-year period between 1830 and 1851, making the Irish the second-largest ethnic group after the Quebecois. We kept coming to the new Confederation and, by 1931, more than a quarter of all Canadians were Irish-Canadians, one third Catholic and two-thirds Protestant. Today, there is scarcely a family in Antrim that doesn't have people in Canada, particularly Ontario. Maybe a reason that I am interested in the country is that, but for last-minute cold feet, I would have been a French-speaking Canadian. In the late 1950s, my just-married parents got Canadian visas. My mother had secured a teaching job in Montreal, but a week before they were due to sail from Cobh they got the heebie-jeebies and stayed put. Between 1830 and 1970, 1.3 million Irish people moved to Canada. As a result, Irish-Canadians are about 14 per cent of the Canadian population today, Mark Carney included. [ The Canadian election: Trump effect a major factor Opens in new window ] Today's Canada is no longer divided between French and English speakers. It is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world. Many Canadians, including lots of the 41 per cent who still voted Conservative last week, believe immigration must be reduced, citing runaway house prices as evidence that the country can't cope. Similar arguments could be plausibly made here. Canada is in essence two economies and cultures: the resource-based 'cowboy' commodity economy in the culture of western Canada and the service, 'social democrat' society of eastern Canada. Imagine a fusion of Texas and Belgium and you get the picture. This is the country Mark Carney must unite. And nothing unites better than a common enemy. For Canadians, that man is Donald Trump, who this week proved he can win elections anywhere in the world.
Ottawa Citizen
02-05-2025
- Ottawa Citizen
Spring in Ottawa is full of pink petals, few from cherry blossoms
When the first flush of pink sweeps Prince of Wales Drive in May, visitors to Dominion Arboretum could be forgiven for thinking cherry blossom season has arrived. Article content Article content The colour and timing do a convincing impression of sakura, the cherry trees that veil Japan each spring in delicate petals. Article content In reality, few cherry blossoms grow in Ottawa. Instead, many of the flowers people stop to admire this time of year could be described as lookalikes better suited to the climate. Article content Article content 'A lot of trees in the region that may appear to be cherry blossoms are actually crabapple blossoms,' said Akiko Yamasaki, director of the Information and Culture Centre at the Embassy of Japan in Ottawa. Article content Article content True cherry trees are planted near Dow's Lake, lining Confederation Park, and on the lawn at Major's Hill, among other urban green spaces. A collection also grows on the grounds of the Japanese Ambassador's residence, though that is off-limits to the public. Article content Many of the trees were first planted in 1992 as part of the Sakura Project, a gift from Japan to mark the 125th anniversary of Canadian Confederation. Led by then-ambassador Michio Mizoguchi, the initiative brought around 60 North Japanese hill cherry trees to Ottawa. More were added in 1999 to mark 70 years of diplomatic relations. Article content 'The trees in Ottawa symbolize the friendship between Japan and Canada,' Yamasaki said. Article content Article content Ottawa weather can be hard on flowering trees. Ornamental varieties originating in temperate zones often falter in spring frost and struggle to adapt to conditions in the National Capital Region. Article content Article content The Arboretum owes its existence to the region's climate. Established in 1889 as a division of the Central Experimental Farm, it was created to test which trees and shrubs could withstand Ottawa's temperature swings. Article content Article content 'Some plants were picked for practical reasons, shade, fruit (and) erosion control,' said Eric Jones, project director with Friends of the Farm, a volunteer organization that helps tend to the Arboretum. 'Others were picked for aesthetics.' Article content 'They were developed at the Experimental Farm by Isabella Preston in the early 1900s,' said Jones. 'She created the 'Rosybloom' crabapples for the Prairies, so they'd be tough enough to survive the cold.' Article content The Rosybloom line includes more than twenty cultivars, most named for Canadian lakes. Hardy, insect-pollinated, and frost-tolerant, they became a spring fixture throughout the Farm (especially along Prince of Wales).
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
A Canadian ski resort is offering an 84% discount on ski passes on April 2 — Trump's 'Liberation Day'
A Canadian ski resort is cutting lift ticket prices by 84% on April 2. The discount coincides with the day more of Trump's tariffs are set to go into effect. The resort says the discount has nothing to do with the impending levies. A Canadian ski resort is cutting lift ticket prices by 84% on April 2, but it insists the timing has nothing to do with President Donald Trump's impending tariffs. Pre-purchase lift tickets at the Mount Norquay Ski Resort in Banff are normally on sale for C$119 for adults (roughly $83). But on April 2, which the resort has dubbed "Canadian Proud Ski Day," prices are set to be slashed to C$18.67 (around $13.10) to celebrate Mount Norquay's "heritage as a proudly Canadian-owned and operated ski hill." While the evidently patriotic event will coincide with Trump's "Liberation Day" — when the US's reciprocal levies on trading partners are set to take effect — a spokesperson for the Mount Norquay Ski Resort denied that the discount was a reaction to this. In an email to Business Insider, the spokesperson said: "Considering the circumstances, we're hosting this event to celebrate Canadian-owned business and Canadian tourism." The spokesperson did not elaborate on what those circumstances were but added that the day would be about "embracing what makes us proudly Canadian." The ski resort said that the $18.67 price was chosen to honor the year of the Canadian Confederation. Since Trump took office, the US and Canada have been locked in an escalating trade war. Trump first threatened reciprocal tariffs against Canada in February but delayed those by a month. After the levies went into effect in early March, a wider exemption was implemented days later. As relations between Ottawa and Washington have grown increasingly tense, Canadians have shown their feelings by pulling back on travel to the US and supporting the "Buy Canadian" movement, among other things. Trump told reporters on Friday that he had changed the date for his "Liberation Day" from April 1 to April 2 as he "didn't want it to be April Fools' Day because then nobody would believe what I said." Trump said on Monday that he may be inclined to provide exemptions to certain countries when the levies begin next week. "I may give a lot of countries breaks. It's reciprocal, but we might be even nicer than that. You know, we've been very nice to a lot of countries for a long time," he said. Read the original article on Business Insider
