Latest news with #FederalConservative
Toronto Star
3 days ago
- Politics
- Toronto Star
Byelection day in Alberta nears for vote with 214 candidates, including Poilievre
EDMONTON - Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and 213 others vying for a seat in the House of Commons will be in the spotlight Monday, as voters in a rural Alberta riding head to the polls. Two political science professors say Poilievre is expected to handily win the byelection in Battle River-Crowfoot, a sprawling eastern Alberta riding stretching from Edmonton to Calgary. The riding and its previous incarnations have been a Tory stronghold for a century.
Hamilton Spectator
11-07-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Trump threatens 35 per cent tariffs on Canadian imports starting Aug. 1 in online letter to Mark Carney
U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to hit Canadian imports with 35 per cent tariffs on Aug. 1, reviving the on-again, off-again trade war between the neighbouring countries. 'If for any reason you decide to raise your Tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added to the 35% that we charge,' Trump wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney that was posted Thursday night on his Truth Social site. In the letter, Trump says he may consider a tariff adjustment if Carney works to stop the flow of fentanyl, which the president describes as a national crisis caused in part by Canada. Fentanyl seizures by the United States Customs and Border Patrol at the Canada-U. S. border represent less than 0.1 per cent of all U.S. fentanyl seizures between 2022 and 2024, according March data from Canada's fentanyl czar , a position that was created in February in response to Trump's initial tariff threats and demands. Carney responded late Thursday night saying that the government 'has steadfastly defended our workers and businesses' and 'will continue to do so as we work toward the revised deadline of August 1.' 'Canada has made vital progress to stop the scourge of fentanyl in North America. We are committed to continuing to work with the United States to save lives and protect communities in both our countries,' the prime minister said in a post to social media , adding that Canadian governments are working on building trading partners with other leaders around the world. Throughout the current trade negotiations with the United States, the Canadian government has steadfastly defended our workers and businesses. We will continue to do so as we work towards the revised deadline of August 1. Canada has made vital progress to stop the scourge… In Trump's letter, the American president said 'the flow of Fentanyl is hardly the only challenge we have with Canada. 'Canada charges extraordinary Tariffs to our Dairy Farmers up to 400 per cent — and that is even assuming our Dairy Farmers even have access to sell their products to the people of Canada. The Trade Deficit is a major threat to our Economy, and indeed our National Security,' he wrote. But Trump says there are other issues the United States has with Canada, including supply management in the dairy sector and trade deficits. 'Instead of working with the United States, Canada retaliated with its own Tariffs,' Trump wrote. Unifor President Lana Payne called the move 'extortion,' adding that Canadians have to 'push back — hard.' 'Canada must use every bit of leverage we have,' Payne said in a post to social media. 'Workers are counting on our govt to defend their jobs. Concessions won't stop a bully, but collective strength will.' Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre also pushed back on Trump's latest threat of tariffs, calling it an 'unjustified attack on Canada's economy,' that will 'damage both our countries.' Thursday night's announcement comes after Trump sent a flurry of letters to leaders around the world, informing them of new U.S. tariffs, which will also take effect on Aug. 1. Trump sent notices to 14 countries on Monday and the White House website said he 'may send more letters in the coming days and weeks.' Canada and the United States had committed to working on a new economic and security agreement with a July 21 deadline for the deal. Trump slapped Canada with economywide tariffs in March but walked back duties on imports compliant under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement on trade a few days later. There are additional tariffs on steel and aluminum, auto imports and a plan to introduce sector-wide tariffs on copper, also on Aug. 1 . In a White House meeting Tuesday, Trump announced he'd be imposing 50 per cent tariffs on imports of copper and a 'very, very high rate' on pharmaceuticals. 'Today we are doing copper,' Trump told reporters at a cabinet meeting. 'I believe the tariff on copper, we are going to make it 50 per cent.' For pharmaceutical imports, the tariffs will be even higher, Trump promised. 'We're going to give people about a year, a year and a half, to come in and after that they're going to be tariffed,' Trump said. 'If they have to bring the pharmaceuticals into the country … they're going to be tariffed at a very, very high rate, like 200 per cent. We'll give them a certain period of time to get their act together,' he said. Canadian exports of copper and copper-based products were valued at $9.3 billion in 2023 with just over half going to the U.S., according to Natural Resources Canada. Exports of copper ores and concentrates were valued at $3.4 billion. Pierre Gratton, head of the Mining Association of Canada said, Trump would be giving a leg up to copper imports from a country he's theoretically trying to hurt the most. 'It's going to hurt U.S. manufacturers, it's going to hurt some of our mines. But it might inadvertently be helping Chinese smelters, because the U.S really doesn't have any spare smelting capacity,' said Gratton. With files from Josh Rubin and The Canadian Press.
Calgary Herald
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Calgary Herald
Bell: Pierre Poilievre comes out swinging and he's not going anywhere
Federal Conservative party Leader Pierre Poilievre waves to the crowds during the Calgary Stampede parade on Friday, July 4, 2025. Gavin Young/Postmedia 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 Calgary Herald 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 Calgary Herald 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 'How do I feel? Are you my shrink or what?' Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative leader, was asked how he feels. After all, conservatives had so much hope. Finally, they could see the defeat of the Liberals. We all know the rest of the story. 'We've got to get back on our horse, get back in the saddle and gallop forward. That's all you can do. We made a lot of gains. We came very close,' says Poilievre. What are conservative voters telling him? Your weekday lunchtime roundup of curated links, news highlights, analysis and features. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again 'Keep going. Keep going. Don't give up.' Poilievre points to the more than 8 million Canadians who supported him and the Conservatives in the recent election. 'The countless young people who showed up at rallies in tears because their lives are falling apart. Who want to start families but can't get out of their parents' basement or who can't get a job because the job market is flooded with low-paid temporary foreign workers. 'The middle-class families who literally work non-stop and can't pay their bills. These people put their faith in me and I have to fight for them. I have to deliver for them.' What does the Conservative leader say to those critics who say he has to change his tone or soften his image or water down his convictions? 'We won the debate on all the issues. We won the debate by submission. They submitted. They tapped out on the issues,' he says, speaking of Prime Minister Mark Carney and the Liberals. 'It's not me saying we won the debate. It's the Liberals who admit we won the debate.' 'First they said Poilievre has no policies. Then they said he's got policies but they're terrifying, they're so wild and extreme. Then they said we agree with Poilievre on everything. 'They can do that all in one sentence. It's incredible.' He lists wins on the carbon tax, housing, crime, immigration, inflation, drugs, natural resources. 'On every single one of those issues we were proven right. I get a laugh out of it when people say we have to change our policies. If our policies were so unpopular the Liberals wouldn't be clamoring to pretend they agree with them.'
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Separation referendum would be 'bad for the country': Calgary Chamber of Commerce
CALGARY — The head of a group representing Calgary's business community says a referendum on separation would inflict grave damage on the economies of Alberta and Canada — regardless of the result. 'Businesses are not interested whatsoever in uncertainty,' said Deborah Yedlin, president and chief executive of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce. 'It's bad for Alberta, but not just Alberta. It's bad for the country.' The chamber joins a small but growing chorus of business and political leaders, who say the prospect of a referendum alone will lead companies to think twice before making investment decisions in Alberta. The advocacy group represents a large number of companies based in Canada's energy corporate capital, including several of Canada's largest oil and gas companies. Atco Ltd. CEO Nancy Southern says discussions around secession have led Asian partners to hold off on making a final investment decision on a hydrogen project until the separatism question is answered. Southern said the discussion is 'unhelpful and not constructive to Alberta.' Yedlin said she suspects more executives will publicly address the issue as annual meetings continue through the spring. 'We need more Nancy Southerns to stand up and say something,' Yedlin said. The arguments being made for separation are fundamentally flawed, Yedlin added, pointing to a number of businesses and residents who fled Quebec in the late 1970s ahead of that province's 1980 referendum. 'When you have something like a referendum, Quebec is the poster child for what happened in Canada. We should not forget that lesson.' The Alberta government is making it easier to put constitutional referendum questions on a ballot. Organizers would need about 177,000 signatures from registered voters, down from 600,000, which Premier Danielle Smith has said is prohibitively high. Smith has said she doesn't endorse separating from Canada, but separatists should not be demonized for their frustration with Ottawa. She also has said the lack of an outlet for separatists to vent their frustrations could lead to the birth of a new party. The premier has not said whether she's concerned about the prospect of a referendum having a negative impact on Alberta's economy, saying she can't comment until a question reaches the ballot. Yedlin said there are fundamental issues with the arguments being made by separatist groups. 'From a business standpoint, none of this makes sense.' Alberta's big-city mayors have likewise raised concerns that a referendum on separatism – regardless of its result – would have negative economic implications. Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said last week he has already heard from local businesses concerned that investment would flee if a referendum is held. Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who is set to run in a byelection in the rural Alberta riding of Battle River-Crowfoot, said he doesn't support separatism but understands Alberta's frustration with Ottawa. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2025. Matthew Scace, The Canadian Press
Irish Daily Star
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Irish Daily Star
Terrified Canadians fear country is going in 'wrong direction' as alarming poll exposes fears
Canada is gearing up for a crucial election , and a poll of citizens shows that more than half of the people found the country is headed 'in the wrong direction.' A poll conducted by The Express US and The Democracy Institute asked participants if Canada is currently heading in the right or the wrong direction as a country, with 66 percent answering 'wrong direction.' Only 31 percent found that country was headed in the right direction. Canadians are fuming over Donald Trump's relentless challenges to their nation's independence, sparking a wave of patriotism that's given the Liberals a boost in the polls. This is one of the many issues that voters need to consider. Read More Related Articles Donald Trump branded 'disgusting' as he honors Pope Francis in 'baffling' way Read More Related Articles Trump struggles to hide mystery bruise with makeup despite 'excellent health' claims A poll shows that many Canadians fear the direction the country is going in (Image: Democracy Institute) On March 23, Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney asked the Governor General to dissolve Parliament, triggering the snap election, to take place on Monday, April 28. The election will decide which party remains in power: the Liberal Party, under the leadership of Carney, or the Conservatives, led by Pierre Poilievre. The rising cost of living, energy, climate change, tax cuts, defense spending, and housing are just some of the top issues for Canadian citizens. A poll shows that many Canadians fear the direction the country is going in (Image: Democracy Institute) When asked which party most closely shares their values, 38 percent answered the Conservative Party, while 31 percent said the Liberal Party, 15 percent chose the New Democratic Party, and 5 percent selected the Bloc Québécois. About 43 percent also said they thought Carney would be the most effective at standing up to Trump , while 37 percent said Pierre Poilievre, of the Conservative party, could do the job. The poll, which sampled opinions from 2,160 likely Canadian voters, was conducted by the DI polling unit from April 22 to April 24, 2025. Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is leading in many polls (Image: AP) The Liberals and the country's new prime minister, Mark Carney, looked headed for a crushing defeat in Monday's election until the American president started attacking Canada's economy and even threatening its sovereignty, including suggesting it should become the 51st state. Trump's dumping on Canada has infuriated its people and stoked a surge in Canadian nationalism that has helped the Liberals flip the election narrative. 'Trump has immersed himself into our lives and has defined the ballot question,' former Quebec Premier Jean Charest said. 'What Trump has done is shed light on who we are,' he said. Even separatists in French-speaking Quebec 'are very much aligned with other Canadians in defending the country and responding very firmly to the fact that we're not going to be the 51st state,' Charest said. The opposition Conservative Party's leader, Pierre Poilievre, hoped to make the election a referendum on former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose popularity declined toward the end of his decade in power as food and housing prices rose and immigration surged. But Trump attacked, Trudeau resigned and Carney , a two-time central banker, became the Liberal Party's leader and prime minister. 'We were looking at a scenario where the Conservatives were going to rake in a huge majority,' said Charest, a Conservative. 'Here we are months later in another world.' Carney said the 80-year period when the U.S. embraced the mantle of global economic leadership and forged alliances rooted in trust and respect is over. 'The key question in this election is who is the best to respond that. Who will stand up to President Trump?' he said.
