Whether it’s Trump or Biden, Canada has to be ready to get to work

Nov. 3 is the “most consequential” U.S. election in our lifetime—and not just for Americans. If it’s four more years of Donald Trump, then the preppers and survivalists may be on to something. Whatever and whenever the results, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is right to say that Canada needs to be “ready for all outcomes.” For Trump, […]
Is there a role for Canada in Taiwan’s economic and security dilemma?

The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (APF Canada) has just released a survey on Taiwanese Public Opinion on Foreign Policy and National Security conducted in conjunction with the polling technology firm RIWI. This survey polled the attitudes of more than 1,000 Taiwanese respondents from a variety of demographic and educational backgrounds on several foreign policy […]
For Canada, the trade debate never ends

OTTAWA—Former prime minister John Turner, who died on Sept. 19, faced the collective resources and determination of not only Progressive Conservatives, but also nearly the entire Canadian business community in his losing campaign against Canada-U.S. free trade in 1988. The pro-trade push that helped Brian Mulroney win the pivotal battle over Canada’s economic future also […]
Canada-Irish relationship ‘ripe for development,’ new envoy says

Helping negotiate the 1998 peace treaty in Northern Ireland is among the proudest achievements for Ireland’s new top diplomat in Ottawa, and one that has a notable Canadian connection. As a member of the Irish government’s team involved in the negotiation, and later implementation, of the Good Friday Agreement bringing to an end decades of […]
Liberals ignoring promise for trade transparency as U.K. talks ‘commence,’ say critics

Opposition MPs say the Liberal government is ignoring an agreed-upon change that gives Parliamentarians more transparency over trade deals by not alerting the House of the start of trade negotiations with the United Kingdom after the top U.K. trade official said those talks have “commenced.” When the Liberal government was pushing for the rapid passage […]
Feds trumpet uncertain WTO reform to protect Canada from trade whims of superpowers

With growing trade uncertainty around the globe, the Liberal government is trumpeting its leadership of a group of likeminded nations to reform the World Trade Organization, but progress is far from guaranteed. The Canadian government formed the Ottawa Group in 2018 with Australia, Brazil, Chile, the European Union, Japan, Kenya, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, […]
Presidential election could change course on unilateral tariff use, but Canada-U.S. trade tensions will remain: experts

With the removal of national security tariffs on Canadian aluminum exports, the fast-approaching U.S. presidential election will shape Canada-U.S. trade for the next four years, but a Biden administration won’t spell a reprieve from acrimonious trade relations, say experts. U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade relationship with Canada has been defined by the weaponization of national […]
Canada long overdue for ‘more populist voices’ to take up cause of ‘expendables’, says economist Rubin

Economist Jeff Rubin’s prescient book about the hollowing out of the middle class, or the “expendables,” as he’s phrased it, couldn’t have landed at a more opportune time. The pandemic-induced panic that led countries en masse to shutter their borders, to limit, and even ban, exports of critical personal protective equipment, and to shore up […]
Navarro’s comments stung, but they weren’t untrue

OTTAWA—Last week, there was a brief, but intense, media feeding frenzy over Canada’s long-since discontinued contribution to the war in Afghanistan. The genesis for this controversy was previously taped comments from U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro. The recordings were made by White House reporter Jim Sciutto as part of the research for […]
Canada could have added leverage in trade talks with U.K. as activists push for stronger environmental protections

With the United Kingdom pushing for a multitude of free trade deals as the Brexit transition period nears its end, Canada could be in a position of increasing leverage in trade talks with Britain, say analysts, while activists hope for increased environmental protections in a new pact. When the transition period expires in four months, […]