In the news today: Ministers to push against Trump tariffs, Liberal race not typical

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed…

Ministers make push against tariffs in Washington

A tariff threat continues to loom as Canadian ministers connect with Republican lawmakers and business groups in Washington in hopes of swaying U.S. President Donald Trump away from the idea of damaging duties for good.

Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Defence Minister Bill Blair are in the U.S. capital this week making the case that Canada should not be dragged into a trade war.

They’re meeting with senators and congresspeople, and were looking to hold meetings with newly appointed members of Trump’s team.

Businesses fear end of shipping duty exemption

When U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to place 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods last week, organic snack foods company Made with Local stopped accepting orders from customers south of the border.

The Dartmouth, N.S.-based company feared the end of a shipping exemption included in Trump’s executive order on tariffs would come with big costs for customers and an administrative nightmare for the company.

“If our team needs to babysit every single $70 order for two boxes of granola bars going into the States … it quickly makes it not really worth it,” said Sheena Russell, the company’s CEO and founder.

“It’s also a really tough thing to imagine that a customer is going to pay more than they already are.”

Canadian patriotism is on the rise, polls say

Two new polls suggest Quebeckers are feeling pretty good about their relationship with Canada these days.

Between December and February, the share of Quebecers who said they were “very proud” or “proud” to be Canadian increased 13 points from 45 per cent to 58 per cent, according to an Angus Reid poll conducted online Sunday and Monday.

The online poll was conducted among 1,811 respondents and has no margin of error. It says the percentage of people in Quebec expressing pride in Canada increased faster than it did in the country as a whole.

The poll recorded an average increase in national pride across Canada of nine points, from 58 per cent to 67 per cent.

Trump threats leave some in N.L. feeling betrayed

U.S. President Donald Trump’s targeting of Canada has left people feeling hurt and betrayed in central Newfoundland, where on Sept. 11, 2001, residents famously dropped everything to care for thousands of people stranded by terrorist attacks against the United States.

Jillian Keiley, director of the Newfoundland run of “Come From Away,” was particularly devastated to hear Trump accuse Canada of abusing the United States and not treating Americans well.

The hit Broadway musical is based on the story of Newfoundlanders feeding, clothing and housing thousands of airline passengers routed to Gander, N.L., when the 9/11 attacks grounded air traffic. Keiley’s work means she spends much of the year thinking about the relationship between the terrified Americans who landed in Canada with no idea what was happening back home — and the Newfoundlanders who looked after them without hesitation for five days.

Liberal race ‘like nothing I’ve seen’ in politics

Liberal leadership hopefuls are pivoting and responding to the attention-consuming existential threats to Canadian trade posed by U.S. President Donald Trump — a preview of what the next federal election is going to look like, according to Liberal strategists.

“There’s nothing usual about this race,” said Greg MacEachern of KAN Strategies.

From the very short timeline to the wild trade drama and the various characters involved, party leadership contests don’t normally play out like this one.

“We’re doing this in the early days in the most disruptive American administration in history. There’s no normal here,” MacEachern said. “This is like nothing I’ve seen in the couple of decades I’ve been following Canadian politics.”

Hate is on the rise, community groups say

As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other leaders warn of a rising tide of hate around the world, community groups in Canada say they’re getting more and more calls from frightened people.

At a media availability with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw last month, Trudeau said antisemitism is on the rise globally, and especially since Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Trudeau was in Poland to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

“Holocaust denialism is on the rise, violent extremism is on the rise,” Trudeau said. “Hatred, not just against Jews, but against all different races and backgrounds, is on the rise in all of our democracies. And we have not yet responded forcefully enough, strongly enough.”

Noah Shack, interim president of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said his organization has seen a massive increase in acts of antisemitism in Canada and around the world in the past year.

NB-Languages-Health

New Brunswick’s official languages commissioner says her office has received dozens of complaints from people who say they could not receive service in French when seeking health-care help on the province’s eVisitNB platform.

The commissioner, Shirley MacLean, says in her annual report released last month that the complaints highlight how evolving technology can be problematic if language rights are not taken into consideration.

MacLean says the private company eVisitNB Inc. provides a platform for virtual medical consultations on behalf of the Department of Health, which means that the services are subject to the provisions of the province’s Official Languages Act.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 60, 2025

The Canadian Press