OTTAWA —
Former prime minister Brian Mulroney says that Canada’s failure to spend the agreed upon goal of two per cent of its gross domestic product on defence is “a disgrace.”
He added that this has contributed to Canada’s international reputation for not paying its bills, adding that “with regard to foreign aid, it’s even worse.”
“This is a disgrace. How are you going to assert your leadership skills when you enter a room and somebody says, ‘Hey, you haven’t paid your bills,” Mulroney said on Thursday’s episode of CTV Power Play.
Mulroney’s comments come after persistent complaints from U.S. President Donald Trump about multiple NATO-member countries’ failure to reach the two per cent target, which was agreed upon in 2014.
“On the NATO thing, he’s completely right – and I’ve said that ever since he got into office three years ago,” said Mulroney.
Trump confronted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the issue at a joint press conference on Dec. 3, when the two were attending a NATO meeting in London. Trump called Canada, which currently spends 1.31 per cent on its GDP on defence, “slightly delinquent.”
The U.S. president went on to joke about “putting Canada on a payment plan.”
CANADA A ‘LAGGARD’ ON ENVIRONMENT
Mulroney also slammed Canada for being a “laggard” in the fight against climate change.
“Well, you talk about being a laggard, the analysis of the G20 just came out on November 11, and it showed that Canada was the second worst performer of the G20, just a little bit ahead of Australia, who was the worst,” said Mulroney.
Mulroney was referring to Climate Transparency’s annual report, which showed Canada’s per capita emissions are the second highest in the G20.
“We’re not meeting our commitments to Paris, we’re not meeting our undertakings at all,” Mulroney said.
Mulroney said that Canada needs one thing to really get the ball rolling on climate action: leadership.
“Somebody has to say ‘I am the prime minister, or I am the minister, and this is what I’m going to do.’ And if there’s objection to it, you say ‘alright, I’ll take it to the people at the appropriate time.’ But we need leadership on all of these issues,” Mulroney said.
However, despite his criticism of the current government’s approach, the former Progressive Conservative prime minister didn’t let anyone else off the hook. Mulroney went on to slam the Conservatives for their proposed approach to climate issues.
“Anyone who does not have an adequate, thoughtful, dynamic program to deal with climate change will not win an election in Canada,” Mulroney said.
“You saw what happened in the election, and if they want to have a repeat of that, go be my guest. Because you’re just not going to win an election unless you’ve got a thoughtful, grand vision for the future of Canada as it applies to the environment.”
HALIFAX – An energy firm based in Ireland says it is planning to produce aviation fuel using about 700,000 tonnes of wood biomass annually.
Simply Blue Group announced today that construction would begin in 2026 with the bio fuel project expected to be operating by 2029 in Goldboro, N.S., about 165 kilometres northeast of Halifax.
The company says it has secured about 305 hectares of land for development, including 108 hectares previously owned by Pieridae — which had planned to build an LNG plant at the site — and 198 hectares owned by the Municipality of the District of Guysborough.
Based in Cork, Ireland, the company says its aviation fuel performs like conventional jet fuel but reduces greenhouse gases by “approximately 90 per cent.”
Simply Blue says that every year the project will source about 700,000 tonnes of biomass from Wagner Forest NS Ltd. to produce 150,000 tonnes of the fuel.
Tory Rushton, the province’s natural resources minister, issued a statement saying the plant could represent a new market for the province’s forestry sector.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
FREDERICTON – New Brunswick RCMP are disputing claims that the recent shooting death of an Indigenous man in mental distress happened during a police wellness check.
Assistant commissioner DeAnna Hill, commander of the New Brunswick RCMP, says that information is inaccurate.
On Monday, the RCMP said two officers responded to a report of an armed man in mental distress at a home in the Elsipogtog First Nation, where one Mountie shot the man after the other failed to subdue him with a stun gun.
Erin Nauss, director of the Serious Incident Response Team, says she understands the initial interaction on Sunday was not what the RCMP would call a wellness check, but she says the police oversight agency will conduct an investigation to “determine all of the facts.”
Meanwhile, a statement from an Indigenous group that works with the RCMP said they weren’t told about the deadly incident until it was too late, and the group described the Mounties’ initial role at the scene as a wellness check.
As well, New Brunswick Liberal Leader Susan Holt has described what happened as a wellness check gone wrong.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
HALIFAX – RCMP are expected to provide an update today on their investigation into the suspicious disappearance of a 55-year-old Nova Scotia woman.
Esther Jones was reported missing on Labour Day, and the RCMP’s major crime unit is now involved in the case.
According to police, Jones was last seen on Aug. 31 in Kingston, N.S., and family members reported her missing Sept. 2.
Two days later, officers found Jones’s vehicle, a silver 2009 Volkswagen Passat, abandoned in nearby Greenwood, N.S.
Jones is described as five-feet-four with a slim build, and she has brown, greying, shoulder-length hair and hazel eyes.
She may have been wearing a black T-shirt with ties on the shoulders, a black and floral below-the-knee skirt, and sunglasses with mirrored lenses when she was last seen.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
