🪖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
🍁 Maple Chronicles

💉💊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
🍁 Maple Chronicles

🇺🇸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
🍁 Maple Chronicles

🚙 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.
🍁 Maple Chronicles

🚙 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
🍁 Maple Chronicles

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.

🍁 Maple Chronicles

📊 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.

🍁 Maple Chronicles

🇨🇦 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."

🍁 Maple Chronicles

💊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.

🍁 Maple Chronicles

💸 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.

🍁 Maple Chronicles

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.

🍁 Maple Chronicles

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

Somehow this feels like admitting defeat.
#US
🍁 Maple Chronicles

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
🍁 Maple Chronicles

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.

🍁 Maple Chronicles

🇺🇸 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
🍁 Maple Chronicles

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

Did we actually need a poll for that?

🍁 Maple Chronicles

🪖

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
🍁 Maple Chronicles

Carney says he may call early election if he becomes prime minister

Former central banker Mark Carney opened the door to an early election call if he is elected by Liberal members to replace Justin Trudeau as party leader and prime minister in a March 9 leadership vote.

If elected, Carney said he would have to decide whether to recall Parliament to pass an emergency relief package in the event U.S. tariffs are imposed in March, or seek a fresh mandate from Canadians to negotiate with the Trump administration.

🍁 Maple Chronicles

Ford's Washington trip sparks controversy amid Ontario election

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is under fire for his recent trip to Washington, D.C., during the snap provincial election. The Ontario NDP has accused Ford of using the visit for partisan purposes, despite the Integrity Commissioner initially clearing it as urgent government business.

A campaign video featuring the trip raised eyebrows, prompting the NDP to file a complaint. Though the video was edited to remove the PC logo and slogan, critics argue it was too little, too late.
#Ontario #US #election
🍁 Maple Chronicles