Political Press 🍁

Political news, analysis, and opinions for Canadians

Canada and US are finalizing a trade deal

“We are now moving towards an agreement that reinforces that Canadian advantage, including by securing the best terms in each of Canada’s most important strategic sectors and providing greater certainty about our future trading relationship,” Prime Minister Mark Carney wrote on Wednesday.

Minister LeBlanc said that Canada’s dairy supply management programme – which sees production quotas, set pricing, and import quotas on dairy, eggs, and poultry – will remain “entirely intact”, reports BBC News.

Polls suggest that a majority of Canadians would be unhappy if the Carney government made significant concessions to the US, with 56% surveyed by polling firm Leger saying they want Canada to take a hardline approach.

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Canada announces new aid to Lebanon, condemns Israel’s ‘unlawful invasion’

Randeep Sarai, Canada’s secretary of state for international development, condemned what he called Israel’s “unlawful invasion” of Lebanon, saying Beirut should govern its own space and have sovereignty over its lands.

Sarai was visiting Lebanon to announce new humanitarian aid to the crisis-hit country, where the U.N. says some 360,000 people remain displaced due to Israel’s invasion.

“We have been working actively, I think, through diplomatic channels to do whatever possible to stop that and to allow Lebanese communities that are from those areas to be able to move back,” Sarai said in an interview with The Associated Press late Tuesday.

Parti Québécois will not hold a referendum as long as Trump remains in the White House

In a news release, PQ party leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said he wants to avoid having the issue “hijacked by the ups and downs of American politics,” according to Hayley Carolan at CBC News.

“An issue as crucial as the political future of Quebec requires conditions that allow for an informed and calm debate,” the PQ leader said.

He said the next government will be faced with “more than enough challenges” without calling a referendum.

Elsewhere: CBC News, Le Monde

Video: Global News

US delays implementing 50% tariffs on goods imported from Canada for three days

“Canada has temporarily dodged 50 per cent tariffs on roughly $28-billion worth of goods after U.S. President Donald Trump announced late Tuesday he would delay the levies for three days,” reports The Canadian Press.

“Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement after Trump’s post that “substantial progress” has been made and that more work remains.

“While we continue this work, Canada remains focused on building a stronger, more independent, and more competitive economy at home,” PM Carney said.

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