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Vancouver Sun
a day ago
- Business
- Vancouver Sun
Trump to double steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada: White House press secretary
OTTAWA — U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to deal another blow to a key Canadian industry when he signs an order on Tuesday to double U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum. The order will raise the tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to the U.S. from 25 per cent to 50 per cent starting Wednesday, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. 'He's delivering on his promises to bolster our steel and aluminum industries in this country and to protect those jobs,' said Leavitt. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'The tariff agenda of this president, he believes very strongly in it. And as you have all seen, he is unafraid to use tariffs to protect our industries and protect our workers,' she said. Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc is in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday meeting with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick as Trump prepares to sign the tariff order. More than 90 per cent of Canada's steel and aluminum is exported to the United States Asked about the impending tariffs this week, government ministers have refrained from commenting before the order is signed. For now, Canada is focusing on looking for new markets and using more Canadian steel inside the country's borders, said Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne on Tuesday. 'We need to use more Canadian steel, we need to have measures in place to favour that and that's exactly the discussion I'm having with the industry and we're going to be working on that, because you know, a strong and very prosperous steel industry in Canada is at the core of building Canada of the future,' said Champagne. On Friday, Trump toured a steel plant in Pennsylvania and posted on his Truth Social account that it was 'an honor' to raise the tariffs on steel and aluminum. 'Our steel and aluminum industries are coming back like never before. This will be yet another BIG jolt of great news for our wonderful steel and aluminum workers,' wrote Trump. 'He made that announcement in Pennsylvania and he plans to deliver on that promise to Pennsylvanians,' said Leavitt. National Post Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what's really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here . Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Prime Minister Mark Carney names former United Nations ambassador as chief of staff
TORONTO — Prime Minister Mark Carney has named Canada's former ambassador to the United Nations as his chief of staff. Carney announced on Sunday that Marc-André Blanchard would begin his post in July, taking over from Marco Mendicino, the former Liberal cabinet minister who had been doing the job on an interim basis. 'Marc-André has a long and distinguished career as one of Canada's most accomplished builders, legal experts, executives, public servants, and diplomats serving as Canada's ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations,' Carney wrote on X. Blanchard currently serves as an executive at CDPQ Global, a Quebec-based investment firm responsible for managing pension funds and insurance plans. In his post on X, Carney confirmed that Mendicino would remain his interim chief of staff into 'early summer.' He said Mendicino would be in the job as the Liberal government prepared to introduce its first legislation of the new session of Parliament and host G7 leaders when they meet in Alberta later this month, including U.S. President Donald Trump. Carney has named growing Canada's economy in the face of the president's trade war by knocking down interprovincial trade barriers and fast-tracking approvals for new energy and infrastructure projects as his top priorities. Carney announced Blanchard as his chief of staff as he was set to meet with energy leaders in Calgary on Sunday and then travel to Saskatoon, where he will spend Monday meeting with the premiers for a First Ministers' Meeting. More to come .. staylor@ National Post Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what's really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here. From Nova Scotia's 'Wind West' to Alberta's pipeline dream, here are the national projects premiers are pitching Carney John Ivison: The first Carney spending numbers are out, and they're as bad as Trudeau's 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.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Poll finds that Alberta-Ottawa tensions are boosting Smith's popularity
OTTAWA — Separatist winds are lifting the political sails of Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, according to a study from an Alberta pollster. The provincewide poll, taken this month by Janet Brown, found that Smith's popularity has ticked upward from the same time last year, giving her a double-digit edge over rival Naheed Nenshi. Brown told the National Post that the perception that Smith is better at dealing with Ottawa is part of what's giving her a boost in popularity. 'Right now… the thing that we see that's most strongly correlated with (Smith's) support numbers, is the relationship with Ottawa,' said Brown. Brown noted that Smith is doing especially well with the 'middle third' of Albertans who identify strongly as Canadians, but still think that the province is being treated unfairly by Ottawa. 'They don't necessarily want to separate, but they don't want the status quo either… and the NDP hasn't really been speaking to this group,' said Brown. Brown noted that, on the question of identity, Albertans were split neatly into thirds, with 32 per cent saying they felt most attached to Alberta, 34 per cent saying they felt more attached to Canada, and 33 per cent saying they were attached to both equally. Smith spoke directly to this third, ambivalent group in a livestreamed address to Albertans earlier this month. 'And then there are hundreds of thousands of Albertans that probably feel a lot like I do — that are deeply frustrated with the way our province has been mistreated (but) still believe there is a viable path (for Alberta) to succeed and prosper within a united Canada,' Smith told viewers. Nenshi, by contrast, has staked out a hardline position as a staunch federalist and defender of Canadian identity, accusing Smith of playing 'stupid separatist games' and calling Alberta separatism an 'extremist fringe agenda.' Nenshi's Alberta NDP has also launched the website to mobilize opposition to the premier. Brown added that Albertans are currently giving Prime Minister Mark Carney 'the benefit of the doubt' and holding out to see if he and Smith are able to strike a deal on national unity. 'Albertans tend to have a fairly positive impression of Carney, considering how few voted for (the Liberals),' noted Brown. The survey showed Smith's United Conservative Party leading across all age demographic and on-track to win a commanding 17-seat majority in the next provincial election. The poll was taken between May 7 and 21, using a random sample of 1,200 Albertans contacted by phone (40 per cent landline, 60 per cent cell phone), carrying a margin of error of plus-or-minus 2.8 per cent, 19 times out of 20. National Post rmohamed@ Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what's really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.
Vancouver Sun
6 days ago
- Business
- Vancouver Sun
Carney says he ‘welcomes' tariff decision by U.S. trade court but urges caution
OTTAWA — Canada is breathing a cautious sigh of relief after the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that U.S. President Donald Trump does not have the authority to impose sweeping tariffs or fentanyl-related duties on its trading partners. Prime Minister Mark Carney shared his position in the House of Commons, where he delivered remarks on the debate in reply to the speech from the throne. 'The government welcomes yesterday's decision by the U.S. Court of International Trade which is consistent with Canada's longstanding position that the U.S. IEEPA (International Emergency Economic Powers Act) tariffs were unlawful as well as unjustified,' he said. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'That said, we recognize that our trading relationship with the United States is still profoundly and adversely threatened and affected by similarly unjustified 232 tariffs against steel, aluminum and the auto sector, as well as continuing threats of tariffs against other strategic sectors including lumber, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.' The court decision, delivered on Wednesday, marks the first major legal pushback to Trump's broad use of tariffs to upend global trade. But Carney hinted that Canada does not intend to rest on its laurels and must diversify its trading relations with other allies. 'It therefore remains the top priority of Canada's new government to establish a new economic and security relationship with the United States and to strengthen our collaboration with reliable trading partners and allies around the world,' he said. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said in a statement on X the fact that the court has struck down tariffs on some Canadian goods is 'good news' and urged similar caution. 'We need true free trade — so workers earn more, prices fall, and businesses boom on both sides of the border,' he wrote. 'But we can no longer put all our eggs in the U.S. basket. Too risky. Canada must fire up free enterprise to build pipelines, powerlines, ports, rail, roads, and tech — so we are strong, self-reliant and sovereign for a change.' Trump hit Canada with economy-wide tariffs in March after he declared an emergency at the northern border related to the flow of fentanyl. More to come… National Post, with additional reporting by the Canadian Press calevesque@ Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what's really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here . Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our newsletters here .
Vancouver Sun
27-05-2025
- Health
- Vancouver Sun
Jean Chrétien absent from King's address due to minor heart surgery
OTTAWA — Former prime minister Jean Chrétien was conspicuously absent from the highly-anticipated King Charles III address in Ottawa on Tuesday because the 91-year-old was admitted to the hospital for a minor heart surgery. 'Yesterday, former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien was admitted to the Ottawa Civic hospital after feeling unwell. He has since been transferred to the Ottawa Heart Institute, where he received a stent,' wrote Bruce Hartley, Chrétien's spokesperson, in a statement. Endovascular stent surgery is a minimally invasive procedure to treat blockages and aneurysms in arteries. According to the Ottawa Heart Institute, a stent is a 'small metal mesh tube' implanted in a narrowed part of the artery to prevent it from blocking again. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Hartley added: 'Mr. Chrétien is recovering well and is expected to return home very soon to pursue his normal activities.' Chrétien was expected to attend the King's address in the Senate along with other former prime ministers — Justin Trudeau, Stephen Harper and Kim Campbell — and many other dignitaries who were there for the occasion. More to come… National Post Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what's really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers. Sign up here . 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 .
