TORONTO – Ontarians are divided over the provincial government’s intention to reform the school system, starting with the elimination of the role of school trustees, a move “suggested” by Education Minister Paul Calandra following the dismissal of several school boards due to their persistent deficits. →
TORONTO – According to a new survey commissioned by the City of Toronto, residents believe services are improving and that the quality of life is generally better than the last year. The survey, titled “Listening to Toronto” (here the whole survey) was conducted by Ipsos between August 1 and 18 among a sample of 1,138 residents. The result is a five-point increase in the share of Torontonians describing their quality of life as “good” or “very good,” now at 69%, up from 64% in 2024. →
TORONTO – Forget about carbon taxes, electric cars, and “environmental policies” à la Justin Trudeau: Canada remains one of the world’s largest polluters as a fossil fuel producer and, along with other countries, is thwarting the world’s chances of achieving key climate change targets. →
TORONTO – In an age where 91% of adolescents are perpetually tethered to their social media, the term “generation gap” has become virtually meaningless. There was a time however, in the pre-internet and pre-tv era, when teenagers not only ventured outside their front doors, but climbed mountains – literally. Enter the iconic Italian Mountaineer Walter Bonatti. In 1949 at the age of 19, he climbed one of the most challenging routes in the Alps, the Walker Spur Mountain.
OTTAWA – A tariff-free deal, achievable by making Canada stronger and more self-sufficient, thus providing leverage for negotiations: this, in a nutshell, is Poilievre’s thinking, which emerged during an interview with journalist Vassy Kapelos on CTV‘s Sunday program “Question Time.” The Conservative leader outlined his plan if he were prime minister instead of Liberal Mark Carney, in the midst of the protracted trade war with the United States, ignited by US President Donald Trump since his election.
“We used to have that privileged access to the American economy, and in exchange for that, we could provide more continental security that would make both our countries more secure and stable” Polieivre said. “That’s the deal that I would go for…”.
As is well known, Canada and the United States have been negotiating a new economic and security agreement for months, with Prime Minister Mark Carney and his team insisting on prioritizing reaching the “best deal” rather than a timely pact. Late last month, Carney announced Canada’s elimination of many of its tariffs, hoping to trigger a similar response from its American counterpart. This has so far not happened. And according to Poilievre, that move was a sign of Carney’s weakness, which Trump immediately “smelled”.
“I think that the key back home, though, is to become more self-reliant, strong and stand on our own two feet, so that we have the leverage to negotiate” Poilievre told Kapelos, underlining that Carney has “unfortunately negotiated out of a position of weakness” also determined by the “anti-development Liberal policies” such as the oil and gas sector emissions cap, the industrial carbon tax, and Bill C-69, the Impact Assessment Act, which many Conservatives have dubbed the ‘no more pipelines act’. “If we were building pipelines and port expansions and moving our resources to the Pacific and the Atlantic to faraway markets, then we could go to the Americans with the ability to say we have other options” Poilievre said.
Many topics were covered in the interview, including the Conservative leadership review scheduled for next year. “I don’t believe in magic” Poilievre said when Kapelos asked him if he had a “magic number” in mind for the minimum level of support he hopes to achieve. But the journalist pressed him again, asking if he has a number he think he need to reach to remain leader, and he replied: “I don’t. No.”
Here, the full interview from CTV’s YouTube channel (the pic above is a screenshot from this video)
