🇪🇺Trudeau heads to Europe to shore up alliances in face of Trump threats

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is heading to Paris and Brussels for five days to meet with European allies and strengthen trade ties.

Very presumptuous for a man who has pledged to step down as Prime Minister and basically has no say in anything.

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Federal Liberals announce dates for leadership debates

The Liberal Party of Canada has announced the dates for debates ahead of the vote to decide its next leader and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s successor.

One French and one English debate will be held in Montreal on Feb. 24 and 25, respectively.
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🗳🏈 Ontario Liberals launch Super Bowl ads to challenge Doug Ford ahead of early election

Ontario Liberals have made a bold move by purchasing airtime during the Super Bowl to target Premier Doug Ford.

The two 30-second ads take aim at Ford’s policies and leadership. One highlights his past support for Donald Trump and questions his commitment to Ontario's economy amid U.S. trade tensions. The other features Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie criticizing Ford’s handling of the province’s healthcare system, promising to redirect funds to address critical issues like doctor shortages.
#Ontario #election
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🏥 Alberta Premier denies wrongdoing amid health contract controversy

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has denied any wrongdoing amidst allegations of improper handling of health contracts. The controversy centers on claims that former Alberta Health Services (AHS) CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos faced pressure to approve contracts for private surgical facilities despite concerns over costs and potential conflicts of interest.

Smith has called for an expedited review by the province's auditor general, describing the allegations as "troubling" and pledging full cooperation.

Opposition Leader Naheed Nenshi has demanded Smith's resignation, calling the situation a "scandal" and advocating for a judicial public inquiry.
#Alberta #healthcare
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🪖Poilievre pledges Arctic military base, naval icebreakers if party forms government

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is pledging, if his party forms government, to build a military base in Canada’s Arctic, buy two polar icebreakers for the Royal Canadian Navy and double the size of the Canadian Rangers patrol group responsible for upper reaches of the North.

Mr. Poilievre is pledging to fund his promises by making significant cuts to foreign aid.
#Poilievre
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💉💊Alberta Premier issues ultimatum on drug prosecution policies

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has issued a stern ultimatum to the federal government, demanding it either repeal its lenient drug prosecution policies or grant the province control over drug-related prosecutions.

Smith criticized the 2020 directive diverting drug cases from criminal courts and Bill C-5, which eliminated mandatory minimum sentences for drug convictions, arguing these policies have worsened drug-related crime.
#Alberta
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🇺🇸Carney blames U.S. aggression toward Canada on social inequality down south

Mark Carney blamed U.S. aggression toward Canada on social inequality and suggested some Americans back Trump’s tariffs out of envy for Canada’s health care. He also likened Donald Trump’s annexation remarks to Voldemort from the Harry Potter series.

When you think about what's at stake in these ridiculous, insulting comments of the president, of what we could be, I view this as the sort of Voldemort of comments. Like I will not even repeat it, but you know what I'm talking about.

I can't believe there's a chance this man could soon become our Prime Minister.
#US
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🚙 NDP wants tariffs on Teslas and a $10K made-in-Canada EV rebate

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh told reporters that if Trump follows through with his threat to apply a tariff to all Canadian goods, a New Democrat federal government would slap a 100 per cent trade tax on all Tesla products.

We have heard such suggestions somewhere before. And one thing is clear: the NDP is nowhere near forming a government.
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🚙 Trump threatens Canadian cars with tariffs up to 100%

As Canada braces for 25 per cent U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum, U.S. President Donald Trump says he is considering an additional tariff on Canadian-made cars, which could be as high as 50 to 100 per cent.

If you look at Canada, Canada has a very big car industry. They stole it from us. They stole it because our people were asleep at the wheel. If we don’t make a deal with Canada, we’re going to put a big tariff on cars. Could be a 50 or 100 per cent because we don’t want their cars. We want to make the cars in Detroit.

#US
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As Canada’s tax ‘holiday’ ends, small businesses say it was a ‘flop’

Canada’s tax “holiday” is set to end on Friday, but new numbers show a majority of small businesses in the country saw little change in sales. Just five per cent of small businesses said they saw stronger sales compared to the same period in 2024.

And the economic 'genius' who came up with this has not only resigned from her post but now also wants the Prime Minister’s seat.

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📊 Liberals would be tied with Conservatives with Carney as leader: poll

A Leger survey suggests a Carney-led party would boost Liberal support by six points to 37 per cent, putting them in a dead heat with the Tories.

The poll says the Liberals are currently at 31 per cent support, Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives are still riding high in majority territory at 40 per cent and Jagmeet Singh’s New Democrats are trailing far behind at 14 per cent.

No wonder the Liberals did everything they could to avoid an early election.

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🇨🇦 5 former prime ministers say fly the maple leaf on Saturday to stand up to Trump

All of the country's living former prime ministers are asking Canadians to fly the red maple leaf this weekend in a huge display of national pride.

Joe Clark, Kim Campbell, Jean Chrétien, Paul Martin and Stephen Harper have jointly written an open letter, telling Canadians to "show the flag as never before" as the country contends with "threats and insults from Donald Trump."

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💊Former RCMP deputy commissioner Kevin Brosseau is Canada's new 'fentanyl czar'

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office announced that former RCMP deputy commissioner Kevin Brosseau will be taking on the job of working with Canada’s law enforcement agencies and their U.S. counterparts to eradicate the “scourge of fentanyl.”

Trudeau promised to appoint a fentanyl czar last week amongst a slew of measures meant to reinforce the Canada-U.S. border in exchange for a 30-day reprieve on U.S. tariffs.

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💸 Canadians expect they will need $1.54M to retire, BMO survey finds, amid inflation pressures

A majority of Canadians are worried they will not have enough money to retire because of inflation, a new survey from BMO has found, with respondents on average expecting they will need $1.54 million to retire.

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Defence Minister Bill Blair says Canada working hard to meet NATO spending target

Defence Minister Bill Blair says Canada is making significant efforts to accelerate its defence spending to reach the two per cent target it has committed to as part of NATO.

The minister is in Brussels for meetings with NATO allies and the Ukraine Defence Contact Group.

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🇺🇸 All 13 premiers travel to Washington to mitigate Trump’s tariff threats

Somehow this feels like admitting defeat.
#US
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Legault calls for export tax on aluminum if U.S. follows through on tariffs

Quebec Premier François Legault called for an export tax on Canadian aluminum to the United States, in retaliation to President Donald Trump's 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum, during his visit to Washington with Canada's 12 other premiers on Wednesday.

Legault also said he would only want Canada to impose counter-tariffs if the U.S. does in fact enact the 25 per cent tariffs, scheduled to take effect March 12, and that he would prefer to get Trump to back off of his threats altogether instead.
#US
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Get ready for an early federal election, NDP tells candidates in an internal memo

The NDP's national campaign director has sent a memo to all candidates and campaign staff warning them to be prepared for a snap federal election as early as March 10.

Well, even if that happens, the NDP has lost the momentum. At the end of 2024, they could have outpaced the Liberals. Now that the Liberals are shaking things up, the NDP is sliding down the rankings again.

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🇺🇸 Former intelligence adviser fears Trump may leverage intel sharing against Canada

Vincent Rigby, former top intelligence adviser to PM Justin Trudeau, says he fears the U.S. might put intelligence sharing on the table in talks about the state of Canada’s defence spending.

We hear so much about defense spending and two per cent, and what the U.S. may or may not do if we don’t step up to plate. I’m afraid at one point, intelligence is going to be used as a negotiating tool.

#US
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Most Canadians think listing pronouns is not helpful or 'encourages stereotypes': poll

Did we actually need a poll for that?

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Clearly we have to do more, we have to ramp up defense spending because we know we cannot protect ourselves four or five years from now if we don’t. And also we need to ramp up defense spending because it is clear that the U.S., rightly, requires us to do more here on the European side and the Canadian side of NATO. It’s only fair, it’s only sensible.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

It’s happening. The U.S. is tired of taking on the financial burden of NATO.

The government should start looking into adjusting the budget to find money for growing military spending.
#NATO #US
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