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Saturday, May 10, 2025

Trade minister confirms supply management concessions are off the table

By
Quinn Patrick, True North Wire
-
Source: Facebook

International Trade Minister Mary Ng said the federal government will not be making concessions on supply management amid its ongoing turbulent relationship with the Trump administration regarding tariff threats.

Ng made the comments during an interview with CTV’s Power Play host Vassy Kapelos while discussing a variety of trade issues now faced by the country in the wake of President Trump’s inauguration.

Canada was granted a one-month reprieve from Trump’s 25-per-cent tariffs on all Canadian imports after a series of negotiations took place Monday between Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Given the current uncertainty around cross-border trade, Kapelos poked Ng about whether the federal government had any intention of moving the goalposts on supply management such as allowing U.S. dairy producers access to Canadian markets. 

The Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement is up for renegotiation next year and Ng responded by saying that when CUSMA was negotiated in 2018, so was the dairy sector. 

“This agreement negotiated by President Trump was touted as one that worked for the Americans, worked for Canadians and worked for Mexicans,” said Ng. “Supply management was very much a part of those negotiations on a balance of a whole bunch of things.”

According to Ng, the Americans have “absolutely taken advantage of the dispute settlement system that is a part of our trade agreement.” 

In regards to dairy, Ng said the dispute settlement panel had previously ruled in Canada’s favour on this matter, stating that Canada had been living up to the obligations of the trade agreement. 

U.S. dairy producers have long expressed their dissatisfaction over their lack of access to the Canadian market, even after Canada agreed to grant them access to about 3.5 per cent of the country’s domestic market during the negotiations six years ago. 

CUSMA is up for renegotiation next year, with many speculating how Canada will fare given the Trump administration’s strong mandate to put America first. 

“So for people, for example, who have a stake in the dairy industry, farmers, for example in Quebec, your message to them tonight is, ‘you’re not going to concede on supply management?’” asked Kapelos. 

“Correct,” answered Ng. 

However, Trump told reporters earlier this week that Canada has been “very tough to do business with” and that America doesn’t “need them for agricultural products.”

“We have all the agriculture we need,” Trump said. “They don’t take our agricultural product, for the most part, our milk and dairy. A little bit they do, but not much. We take theirs.”

Trump’s commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick also discussed his frustrations with the CUSMA dairy arrangement during his Senate confirmation hearing last week. 

“Our farmers, our ranchers and our fishermen are the best in the world, and they are treated poorly,” said Lutnick. “Canada, as we spoke about, treats our dairy farmers horribly. That’s got to end.”

Prior to the 30-day pause on tariffs being announced, the Trudeau government responded by placing retaliatory tariffs on $155 billion of American goods, including alcohol, clothing, appliances, and food products. 

Trump responded by saying that he was prepared to further increase tariffs on Canadian imports, accusing Ottawa of playing a “game” by responding with retaliatory measures. 

“We subsidize Canada to the tune of $200 billion dollars a year and for what? What do we get out of it? We don’t get anything out of it. I love the people of Canada. I disagree with the leadership of Canada and something’s going to happen there,” said Trump on Monday.

“But if they want to play the game, I don’t mind, we can play the game all they want.”

Hungarian man facing hundreds of criminal charges remains in Canada, drawing the ire of police, politicians

By
Alex Zoltan, True North Wire
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Source: TPS

If all the allegations prove to be true, a 24-year-old Hungarian man with close to 400 charges against him could be called Canada’s hardest working criminal.

Police allege that Lajos Galamb went on his intrepidly productive run of break-and-enters in Ontario beginning in Jan. 2024 – all while he was supposed to be on house arrest. That run netted him 193 charges for incidents spanning multiple jurisdictions over just one year.

Galamb is also facing 195 other break-and-enter-related charges in jurisdictions outside the initial investigation area, including Waterloo, Guelph, London, York, Peel, and Durham regions.

The Toronto Police Association rang an alarm bell over the story in a widely circulated X post that lamented what many perceive as a revolving-door justice system and calling for bail reform: “How many more chances do repeat violent offenders get before meaningful change happens?”

“This is yet another example of why we need real bail reform NOW,” the Toronto Police Association post continued.

Commenting on the Toronto Police Association’s X post, Conservative party leader Pierre Poilievre added: “397 strikes, you’re out! But woke Liberals’ catch-and-release, hug-a-thug laws turn him loose to terrorize our people.”

Law enforcement agencies are collaborating as they work to piece together the full scope of the alleged crimes.

Their investigations also involve two other Hungarians.

In 2018, Galamb and two other Hungarian nationals were arrested for allegedly stealing metal from properties in the Cobourg area.

Despite this prior arrest, Galamb and his alleged partners-in-crime remain in Canada and are not in custody, raising questions about the effectiveness of the judicial, immigration and deportation systems.

A law enforcement source, speaking to The Toronto Sun, expressed frustration over the challenges of deporting non-violent offenders.

“Unless it’s a violent offense, they’ll get multiple immigration hearings, claim refugee status, and allege persecution back home. Once they’re in, you can’t get them out.”

Canada reports first trade surplus since February, $708 million in December

By
Clayton DeMaine, True North Wire
-
Source: Unsplash

For the first time in ten months, Statistics Canada is reporting a trade surplus with the rest of the world, exporting more than it imported in December.

According to a Statistics Canada report for December, Canada’s merchandise exports increased by 4.9 per cent, and its imports increased by 2.3 per cent from November. 

This change brought Canada’s trade balance of physical goods with the rest of the world from a $986 million deficit in November to a $708 million surplus in December.

The same month reported a 0.8-per-cent increase in service exports to $18.1 billion. Canada also saw a 1.2-per-cent decrease in service imports bringing the value of imports to $18.2 billion.

When combining international trade in goods and services Canadian exports rose 4.1 per cent to $87.6 billion in December, and imports increased 1.6 per cent to $86.9 billion. 

This flipped Canada’s $1.4 billion total trade deficit with the world in November to a $641 million surplus in December.

U.S. President Donald Trump has noted Canada’s apparent trade deficit with the U.S. and has called for Ottawa  to balance the books with the U.S. during talks of tariffs against Canada.

The combined annual trade value between the U.S. and Canada surpassed the $1 trillion mark for a third consecutive year in 2024.

“For trade in services, Canada consistently posts deficits with the United States, mainly because of travel services,” the Statistics Canada report said. “When trade in goods and services are combined, Canada recorded an overall trade surplus of $94.4 billion with the United States in 2023.”

At the same time, Statistics Canada reports that the U.S. was the destination of 75.9 per cent of Canada’s total exports and was the source of 62.2 per cent of Canada’s total imports.

Canada’s merchandise trade surplus with the United States amounted to $102.3 billion for the year 2024, a narrowing compared with the surplus of $108.3 billion observed in 2023. 

The report notes exports to the U.S. rose five per cent in December, while imports from the U.S. fell by 1.5 per cent. This widened Canada’s trade surplus with the U.S. from $8.2 billion in November to $11.3 billion in December.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau the U.S. ran a $63.34-billion merchandise trade deficit with Canada in 2024 and a $64.26 billion deficit in 2023, though these stats exclude services. 

However, energy makes up a huge portion of the U.S. trade with Canada. In 2023 the U.S. reported a $94 billion deficit with Canada last year in oil and gas. When energy trade, such as crude oil and natural gas, are excluded, the same data would give the U.S. a  $30-billion trade surplus for goods.

The Statistics Canada report said Canada exported $176.2 billion worth of energy products to other countries with “the vast majority of those exports” going to the U.S. While Canada comparatively imported $39 billion worth of energy products in 2024, with the U.S. also being the key supplier.

The U.S. Census Bureau suggests that discrepancies between U.S. and Canadian data are due to several differences in how each country measures and collects data among other factors such as exchange rates.

It said one such factor contributing to the difference is that Canada measures imports based on country of origin. So if U.S. exports are shipped from a third country they are counted as being a U.S. export. While the U.S. values exports at the port of exit.

Other differences include the way the two countries measure re-exports. The U.S. Census report said that the U.S. counts re-exports while Canada doesn’t. It said re-exports to Canada for December were over $4.4 billion.

Statistics Canada was not immediately available to respond to the differences in the data collection process.

The report notes that the average value of the Canadian dollar decreased “sharply for a third consecutive month.” It said the loonie fell 1.3 cents USD in December marking the largest monthly decline for the year.

The Daily Brief | Poilievre vows life sentences for fentanyl dealers

By
Isaac Lamoureux
-
Source: Pierre Poilievre//YT

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is promising to ratchet up penalties for criminals trafficking fentanyl if his party forms government.

Plus, a new advocacy group composed of Canadian entrepreneurs aims to address some of Canada’s most pressing issues by recommending actionable policies informed by input from fellow innovators and business leaders.

And the threat of tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump has sparked a surge in national pride among Canadians.

Tune into The Daily Brief with Isaac Lamoureux and Geoff Knight!

The Candice Malcolm Show | Trudeau walks back his Meta ban, and Mark Carney’s fight against the “war on woke”

By
Candice Malcolm
-
Source: Facebook

On today’s episode of the Candice Malcolm Show, Candice breaks down the Trudeau government’s censorship regime and explains how Trudeau’s recent reversal on a Meta news ban is callous and hypocritical.

Later in the show, Candice is joined by investigative journalist Sam Cooper, and they discuss how foreign gangs – Chinese, Mexican, Indian and Iranian – are working together IN CANADA to distribute drugs all over the world. They talk about how this problem developed, how weak laws allow perpetrators to walk, and discuss Pierre Poilievre’s recent announcement to give life sentences to drug kingpins.

Finally, Candice is joined by a non-woke leftist, Julien Newman, to discuss Mark Carney, Donald Trump and Jagmeet Singh.

P.E.I. councillor, sanctioned for “Mass graves: Hoax” lawn sign, seeks court review

By
Clayton DeMaine, True North Wire
-
Source: Lindsay Shepherd

A Canadian civil liberties organization announced it would be representing a beleaguered municipal councillor at the Supreme Court of Prince Edward Island in an attempt to reverse sanctions over a controversial sign he posted outside of his home.

The Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) will be at the provincial Supreme Court on Thursday to argue for a judicial review of a decision which sanctioned the councillor for the “Mass graves: Hoax” sign.

John Robertson, a councillor in Murray Harbour P.E.I., has been sanctioned by the province and municipality after some in his community were offended by his use of a signboard on his property. 

Robertson placed a sign on his lawn displaying a message that was critical of the false narrative that hundreds of bodies were discovered in supposed unmarked graves at a residential school in Kamloops, B.C.

During Canada’s “Truth and Reconciliation Day” weekend in September 2023, Robertson wrote out a controversial message on the sign in hopes of sparking a conversation around what he viewed to be a hoax perpetrated by legacy media.

“Truth: Mass Grave Hoax. Reconciliation: Redeem Sir John A’s Integrity,” the sign said.

After community members from the small town with 282 residents complained, he was faced with calls to resign. When he refused to do so, his fellow councillors launched a Code of Conduct investigation into his political messaging. They issued a $500 fine against him and a six-month suspension from the council.

The township’s mayor, some community members and local First Nation Chief Junior Gould, who was set to reeducate Robertson, were all behind his resignation. P.E.I Senator Brian Francis similarly accused the councillor of displaying “hateful and harmful content” and “perpetuating violence.”

He was also compelled to apologize using specified “phrases” by the township.

“He couldn’t understand how the council could legally enforce these sanctions against him for expressing his private opinion on a private sign in the face of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” Josh Dehaas, a civil liberties lawyer and author with the CCF, told True North.

He said the CCF originally stepped in to help Robertson hire a local lawyer to file an application to repeal the decision in Feb. 2024 when he couldn’t get a hold of one on his own.

Normally, there is a 30-day deadline to seek judicial review in P.E.I., but a judge can waive that restriction should they find “grounds for relief” or reasonable justifications for hearing his case.

“Justice Coady has the discretion to excuse the delay ‘where he is satisfied that there are grounds and that no substantial prejudice or hardship will result to any person by reason of the delay’,” Dehaas told True North. 

He said Robertson has a good case to be made for relief based on the decision to sanction him.

“Judges have exercised that discretion many times in the past. We’ll just need to show there are “grounds for relief,” Dehaas said. “Frankly, this case cries out for relief because it engages the fundamental freedom for municipal politicians to express their opinions without risking sanction or even removal from office by people who disagree.”

Since the original announcement of a “confirmation” of 215 bodies being found at the site of the Kamloops Indian Residential School, no bodies have been discovered. 

In June 2021, the Chief of the Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc First Nations government announced that the preliminary findings were wrong and that there was no “mass grave” and only “soil disturbances” were detected. Despite this, the Canadian legacy media continued to peddle the narrative that soil irregularities discovered by ground-penetrating radar were “unmarked graves.”

“Grave Error: How the Media Misled Us (And the Truth About Residential Schools) written by Tom Flanagan and C.P Champion and published by True North, further challenges the legacy media narrative about the supposed grave findings using historical evidence.

Quebec union group files legal action against Amazon in response to warehouse closures

By
Quinn Patrick, True North Wire
-
Source: Facebook

Members of one of Quebec’s largest union confederations are taking legal action against Amazon over its closure of seven warehouses and demanding Canadian consumers boycott the global retailer.

The Confédération des Syndicats Nationaux (CSN), which includes around 1,600 affiliated unions and represents about 330,00 workers, said it’s not fooled by Amazon’s “blatant union-busting motives” in the company’s decision to close down Quebec warehouses last month. 

The CSN accused the tech company of doing so as a means to skirt dealing with unions, which sought to acquire a collective agreement for Amazon warehouse workers. 

“They’re not fooling anyone,” said CSN president Caroline Senneville. “The only reason for Amazon to have a different business model just for Quebec is that there’s a union here and an arbitrator could have imposed a first collective agreement as early as the summer of 2025.”

The CSN confirmed that legal action is underway against Amazon, calling for a halt to the company’s mass layoffs and the reopening of its warehouses.

However, Amazon maintains that the decision is not linked to potential union demands but rather its desire to return to a “third-party delivery model.”

“We made this decision because we’ve seen that returning to a third-party delivery model in Quebec supported by local small businesses, similar to what we had until 2020, will allow us to provide the same great service and even more savings to our customers over the long run,” Amazon spokesperson Barbara Agrait told True North. 

“In making this decision, we’ve complied and will continue to comply with all applicable federal and provincial laws.”

Meanwhile, the CSN has requested that its affiliated unions review any potential Amazon contracts they may have so they can subsequently be cancelled. 

“The closures announced by Amazon aren’t true closures in the legal sense, since Amazon plans to continue selling its products to Quebecers online,” said Senneville.

“Amazon thinks it can just shift the work to other corporate entities and outsource some warehousing and delivery operations. What it calls its ‘new business model’ is just an attempt to circumvent its obligations under the Labour Code. The court should recognize that this scheme violates the law and it can then order the reinstatement of Amazon’s workers.”

According to CSN, the group filed an application to represent employees at the Laval warehouse in April, arguing the closure of Amazon’s warehouses in Laval, Lachine and Saint-Hubert violates Quebec’s Labour Code.

The Administrative Labour Tribunal certified the union in May with hundreds of employees signing union cards.

Additionally, the union is urging all levels of government to cancel their contracts and for Canadian consumers to cease shopping on Amazon’s website as well as revoking any Amazon Prime subscriptions.

Parks Canada recently backpedalled on an email directive for employees to purchase office supplies from Amazon in the wake of the warehouse closures and impending U.S. tariffs. 

The CSN has scheduled a demonstration against the tech giant for Feb. 15.

“A company that flouts our laws shouldn’t be allowed to do business here, let alone receive public contracts,” said Senneville.

“Many local businesses have been hard hit by the upheaval in the retail sector caused by Amazon’s arrival in Quebec. Now more than 4,500 people have lost their jobs. It’s time to take a stand against Amazon’s repeated offences and support our own businesses. Let’s stop buying from Amazon and start buying locally instead.”

LEVY: Canada’s born-again patriots show their dark side

By
Sue-Ann Levy
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Source: pm.gc.ca

Last weekend while the spectre of 25-per-cent tariffs hung over Canada and our leaders were doing anything but addressing the problem at hand — the border — many of my fellow Canadians went nuts.

The same people who already suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome who are often intellectually lazy, politically naive, sanctimonious and self-righteous, became virtually ferocious about their patriotism.

It was like COVID 2.0 had hit and they’d learned absolutely nothing from the autocratic way our Liberal government and the premier of Canada’s most populousprovince controlled our lives, for no good reason, during the pandemic. 

The Canadian flags were all over social media as people directed their venom at new U.S. president Donald Trump for picking a fight with their long-standing and cherished neighbour.

They told people like me who saw the tariffs coming and supported the reasons behind them that we were unpatriotic, anti-Canadian and should move to the United States permanently.

Just like the Gladys Kravitz types who reprimanded me during COVID for coming to Florida and possibly causing the death of someone for doing so, they told us either we’re with them or against them, part of Team Canada or traitors.

Just like the COVID lemmings (some of whom still wear masks and got six COVID shots) they swallowed the Liberal government narrative hook, line and sinker.

I couldn’t believe the fury, the jingoism, the short memories and the unwillingness to concede we do have problems. The issues of fentanyl and illegal migrants play out right in front of our eyes daily on the streets of our major cities.

The anger was over-the-top and highly embarrassing.

Lists of Canadian products to buy instead of American ones and restaurant chains to frequent (most of them unhealthy choices) cropped up all over social media.

People cancelled hotel rooms in Florida, proudly displaying their cancellation vouchers on X.

Others insisted they wouldno longer travelling to the United States.

We heard boos when the American anthem was played at hockey and basketball games.

It was jingoism at its worst.

Instead of screaming “buy Canadian,” none of them thought to scream, “Shut the Border for heaven’s sake.”

Some of the more rabid commenters declared that anyone who didn’t speak out against the tariffs or who supported the move by Trump (or even saw the reason for it) were as evil and despicable as the president.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford proudly and loudly announced he was pulling all U.S. liquor and wine off LCBO shelves only to have toput back when a 30-day stay was granted on Monday, just hours before the tariffs were to come into effect.

It was ineptness at its best.

The fact of the matter is that there were those of us who took the tariff threat far more seriously than our politicians (except for Premiers Danielle Smith and Scott Moe).

We recognized that Trump ran on this and intended to keep his promise.

We didn’t have our heads buried in the sand.

We don’t hate Americans for electing Trump, we don’t hate the President for making good on his promises. We’re certainly not anti-Canadian.

If we were, we wouldn’t care about making our borders and our country safer.

The moves agreed upon by Trudeau Monday should have been done ages ago.

Why did it take threats from Trump to give our politicians the kick in the butt they needed?

Since Trudeau came into power nine years ago, our country has declined so much that many of us don’t feel safe or recognize it anymore.

We have asylum seekers, sustained by tax money, clogging up our shelters, and migrants taking to the streets shouting not just “Death to the Jews” but “Death to America” (and western values). 

If opioids like fentanyl aren’t a problem, why are so many drugged-out addiicts on our streets, living in our parks and waiting for their next fix at harm-reduction (I call them drug-enabling) sites?

I’ve seen more than one addict in that famous fentanyl pose outside Toronto’s shelters and on the streets of Vancouver.

Funny thing, the Born Again Patriots have very short memories. They have all but forgotten those dark days in 2022 when the PM, with his former finance minister Chrystia Freeland,  froze the bank accounts of those truckers and the convoy organizers who wanted to be free of the vaccine dictates of the Liberal government.

These same people who had no stomach for the Freedom Convoy are now ranting and raving about being free from the dictates of the US government.

It’s hypocrisy at its finest, not to mention a very telling statement about how some Canadians are so easily duped and manipulated.

The hue and cry hasn’t settled down entirely but it has lessened somewhat since the 30-day extension was granted.

But I worry about what might happen if a deal is not reached within 30 days.

Some Canadians have shown a very dark side in the past few days.

If they really cared about all things Canadian, they’d want to clean up the country too.

I can’t fathom why they have such a problem with that.

Wilkinson makes pitch for Canada-U.S. “energy alliance” amid tariff reprieve 

By
Quinn Patrick, True North Wire
-
Source: X

Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson travelled to Washington this week to pitch a “U.S.-Canada alliance on energy and minerals” to Republicans “rather than go down a path that will inevitably be lose-lose.”  

“As a sovereign democratic nation that must protect its own national interests, the unwarranted imposition of tariffs on Canada would necessarily necessitate a response,” said Wilkinson during his keynote address at an event organized by the Atlantic Council in Washington on Tuesday.  

“But this kind of damage to our economies is truly unnecessary and it is ultimately the people of our respective countries who will pay the costs.”

Wilkinson suggested in place of punitive cross-border tariffs, Canada and the U.S. could form an “energy alliance” that would allow both countries to “achieve our shared vision of affordable energy bills for families, strong and secure economies and North America as the world’s dominant energy supplier.”

“That is why our focus is to move beyond this conversation to one about collaboration on the border, on the scourge of illegal drugs, on our economy and certainly on energy and critical minerals,” he said.

While billions of dollars of trade between the two nations is conducted daily, the energy sector is clearly the most dominant area of these dealings, with the bulk of energy being exported to the U.S. from Canada. 

Alternative suppliers of Canadian exports — potash, for instance – are often problematic countries like Russia or China.  

“In the area of critical minerals, typically, the alternative source of supply to Canada is China,” said Wilkinson.

However, once materials are refined, manufactured and processed in the U.S., Canada then often becomes their largest consumer.  

“Our partnership is effectively hard-wired,” noted Wilkinson. “Thirty-six states rely on Canada as their number one export market. Canadian consumers and businesses purchase more goods from the United States than China, Japan and Germany combined.”

Wilkinson was one of several key cabinet ministers who travelled to Washington this week to continue making the case for the U.S. to remove tariffs on Canadian goods after the 30-day reprieve is concluded.

“In the areas of critical minerals, needed energy, defence and aerospace applications, there is for example, an opportunity to jointly invest in a project that would enable greater germanium supply which can displace germanium the United States has been purchasing from China, which China has recently cut off,” said Wilkinson. 

The energy minister told the chairman of the Atlantic Council, David Goldwyn, that the initial news of the tariffs was a “shock” to Canada, citing that the two countries first established free trade in 1988 and that a similar exchange had already been in place for the auto sector dating back to the 1960s.

“We have looked to deepen the integration over the past number of decades because it was so obvious that we were both extracting mutual benefit from the trade that existed,” he said.

Wilkinson said he hopes that there is still time to “walk back from the brink” but the imposition of tariffs has forced Canada to reflect on “whether, perhaps in some areas, we are too dependent on infrastructure in particular that flows only through the United States.”

The energy minister is poised to meet with newly appointed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who will be in charge of U.S. President Donald Trump’s energy agenda, as well as other Republicans in Washington this week.

On the subject of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, which is scheduled for renegotiation next year, Wilkinson thinks that there is “more that needs to be done” to ensure that these kinds of tariffs won’t be coming back.

“Why does the United States purchase so much uranium and potash from Russia? You don’t need to. If we actually worked together, you can be completely secure. Why are so many critical minerals being purchased from China? You don’t need to,” said Wilkinson. “The same thing is true for oil and gas.”

Wilkinson went on to say that by implementing joint tools to pull forward many of these energy projects both countries would be able to make joint investments to further deepen ties.

“But it starts with us agreeing that collaboration and that deepening our relationship is the right way to go,” he said.

The Rachel Parker Show | What Trump wants from Canada (Ft. Ezra Levant)

By
Rachel Parker
-
Source: CPAC

Today on the Rachel Parker Show, Rachel is joined by Rebel News CEO Ezra Levant who explains what U.S. President Donald Trump wants from Canada and how Alberta must leverage its ethical oil. Tune in now!

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