Canada is already examining tariffs on certain US items following Trump’s tariff threat

Canada is already examining possible retaliatory tariffs on certain items from the United States should President-elect Donald Trump follow through on his threat to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian products.

A government official said Canada is preparing for every eventuality and has started thinking about what items to target with tariffs in retaliation. The official stressed no decision has been made.
#US
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Canadians carrying more debt and missing more payments: reports

More Canadians are taking on added debt due to the high cost of living, leading to an increase in missed loan and credit card payments.

Consumer debt in the third quarter of 2024 hit a record high of $2.5 trillion – a 4.1 per cent increase over last year.

As consumers take on more debt, serious delinquencies – when accounts are 90 days or more past due – have increased almost two per cent since last year.

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Montreal shopping mall playing 'Baby Shark' song to prevent unhoused from loitering

A shopping mall and office complex in downtown Montreal is being criticized for using the popular children's song "Baby Shark" to discourage unhoused people from loitering in its emergency exit stairwells.

The catchy children's song was being broadcast from speakers in at least one of the stairwells, on loop and at various speeds.
#Quebec
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🪖🇨🇦🇱🇻Canadian soldiers leave Edmonton for Latvia as part of ongoing mission to support NATO

180 members of the Canadian Armed Forces are leaving Edmonton this week and heading to Latvia as part of an ongoing NATO mission.

On Wednesday, CAF members being sent to the northern European country said farewell to family members as they prepared for a six-month deployment as part of a mission dubbed Operation Reassurance.

Operation Reassurance first began in 2014. In March 2022, the federal government announced a multi-year renewal of the operation a year ahead of schedule because of “the changing security situation in eastern Europe.”
#NATO
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💸Trump tariffs could lead to ‘zero economic growth in Canada’: economist

We ran some numbers this morning and what it looks like is that if 25 per cent tariffs come on Canada on (a) blanket scale, and we don’t have retaliation, then we’re effectively going to get just zero economic growth in Canada with higher inflation.

James Orlando, a director and senior economist at TD Economics, said.

Under that scenario, he noted, the Bank of Canada would have to bring interest rates lower than its current path in order to support the economy. On Tuesday, Reuters reported that the Bank of Canada said that if tariffs were implemented it would incorporate that into its economic forecasts.
#US
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Trudeau promises border helicopters at ‘very productive’ Trump meeting: source

President-elect Donald Trump says a surprise meeting with Justin Trudeau at his Florida home was “very productive,” after the prime minister flew down to discuss the growing threat of American tariffs on Canadian goods, the border and national defence.

In a post on his social media site, Truth Social, Trump said the meeting between the two had gone well.

I just had a very productive meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, where we discussed many important topics that will require both Countries to work together to address.

He said the two had discussed the illegal fentanyl and the toxic drug overdose crisis, as well as what Trump called “the massive trade deficit” between the United States and Canada.
#US #Trudeau
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Poilievre calls for asylum seeker cap, border plan as U.S. tariff threat looms

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has demanded the federal government present a plan before Parliament to beef up border security as U.S. president-elect Donald Trump threatens to impose stiff tariffs on Canada.

The plan should include measures to increase patrols and technology to crack down on illegal drug trafficking, as well as tightening visa rules.

The reality is that Trudeau has lost control of the deficit, of immigration and of our border. In less than two months, President Trump will come into office. He’s threatened the possibility of imposing tariffs unless there is action to address Trudeau’s broken border.

Poilievre said Canada should also cap the number of asylum seekers as it faces a significant influx in refugee claims.
#Poilievre #Trudeau #US #immigration
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💰2 Canadians arrested for drug trafficking; $40 million of cocaine seized from truck in Illinois

Two people from Canada have been arrested on drug charges, after Illinois State Police seized more than $40 million worth of cocaine from a semi-trailer truck near the Iowa state line on Friday.

Police arrested 27-year-old Vanshpreet Singh and 36-year-old Manpreet Singh, both from Ontario, Canada.

"Canadians"
#US
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We are told that when Trudeau told President-elect Trump that new tarriffs would kill the Canadian economy, Trump joked to him that if Canada can’t survive without ripping off the U.S. to the tune of $100bn a year then maybe Canada should become the 51st state and Trudeau could become its governor!

Trudeau tried to salvage the situation by going to Trump's Mar-a-Lago but only ended up making a laughingstock of himself.
#US #Trudeau
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Canada launches global ad campaign warning asylum-seekers that making a claim is difficult

Canada is launching a global online ad campaign cautioning asylum-seekers that making a claim is hard.

The $250,000 in advertisements will run through March in 11 languages, including Spanish, Urdu, Ukrainian, Hindi and Tamil.

Search queries such as “how to claim asylum in Canada” and “refugee Canada” will prompt sponsored content noscriptd “Canada’s asylum system – Asylum Facts,” the ministry said.

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Mayor says he refuses to be bullied or pay fine for not flying Pride flag

A Northern Ontario mayor who was fined for voting against flying a Pride flag at his town hall says he will not be bullied into paying the $5,000 penalty.

Nor will Mayor Harold McQuaker be taking LGBTQ training as he has been ordered to by the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC).

And, McQuaker, insisted he won’t cave to demands that he must host a Drag Time story hour in the local library, either.

Based.

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💸Canada Post strike to cost small businesses $1 billion

The Canada Post strike, now in its third week, is set to cost Canada’s small- and medium-sized businesses more than $1 billion by Wednesday.

The prolonged labour dispute, which began on Nov. 15, has paralyzed operations at the Crown corporation, disrupting supply chains and dealing a significant blow to small businesses during the critical holiday season.

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❌Canada lists Ansarallah, known as the Houthis, a terrorist entity

The Canadian government has listed the Yemeni militant group Ansarallah, commonly known as the Houthis, as a terrorist group in an effort to “fight terrorism globally.”

Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada said that Ansarallah, a Yemeni militant group, has met the definition of a "terrorist group” under Canada's Criminal Code.

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📊Majority of Canadians oppose equity hiring — more than in the U.S., new poll finds

A majority of Canadians say that employers should not take cultural or ethnic backgrounds into consideration when hiring, according to new polling.

Fifty-seven per cent of Canadians disagree with the notion that equity should be a part of hiring.

In fact, equity hiring is less popular in Canada than the United States. While only 28 per cent of Canadians support equity hiring, 36 per cent of Americans support affirmative action. Meanwhile, less than half (46 per cent) of Americans oppose it.

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Trump posted this...

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🇨🇦🇺🇸 Jordanian terror suspect deported from the U.S. had crossed the Canada-U.S. border illegally twice

A Jordanian terror suspect was deported two weeks ago by the U.S. after crossing illegally from Canada where he was on the run from Canadian border officers.

Mohammad Hasan Abdellatif Albana had slipped across the border to Canada from the United States in 2017 and then claimed asylum in an effort to stay. When he crossed the border back into the U.S. illegally, he was being sought by Canadian border agents after his appeals to remain in the country as a refugee had failed.

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Freeland says it was 'right choice' for her not to attend Mar-a-Lago dinner with Trump

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says it was "the right choice" for her not to attend the surprise dinner with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at Mar-a-Lago with U.S. president-elect Donald Trump on Friday night.

That's a question first and foremost for the prime minister, but look, I think it was the right choice.

Speaking on Tuesday, Freeland reiterated that the meeting was "principally about the border."

Sounds like Freeland is absolutely terrified of Trump.
#US #Freeland
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🍞Food prices in Canada predicted to rise by 3%-5% in 2025, report says

The cost of food for people across Canada is predicted to rise by 3%-5% in 2025, according to a new report.

Canada’s Food Price Report 2025 is anticipating a couple with a teenage boy and pre-teen girl will spend an additional $800 compared to last year, based on the higher end 5% increase.

Next year’s increases are based on the 2024 predictions by the report’s authors, who projected the family of four spending $16,297.20 on food. According to this year’s food inflation numbers, the family ended up forking over $16,572.34.

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📉'We're in a recession,' says former Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz

Former Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz says Canada is in a recession, arguing the economy’s weakness has been masked by strong population growth.

I would say we’re in a recession, I wouldn’t even call it a technical one. A technical one is a superficial definition that you have two quarters of negative growth in a row, and we haven’t had that, but the reason is because we’ve been swamped with new immigrants who buy the basics in life, and that boosts our consumption enough.

Statistics Canada reported that gross domestic product per capita had declined for the sixth consecutive quarter, falling by 0.4 per cent in the third quarter. This measure has been negative in eight out of the last nine quarters.

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Two people wounded, suspect shot dead in downtown Vancouver stabbing

Vancouver police say two people were wounded and officers shot a suspect in a stabbing attack in downtown Vancouver on Wednesday.
#BritishColumbia
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❄️ Canada to release new Arctic foreign policy for ‘tougher’ world: Joly

Canada is set to release a new Arctic foreign policy aimed at boosting its diplomatic and security posture in the North to counter growing threats from foreign actors and climate change, the government announced Thursday.

Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said the policy set to be released Friday will respond to the growing global threat environment, and Canada’s responsibility to protect its own Arctic sovereignty and the security of other Arctic nations, as well as the United States.

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