Goldy Hyder laughed a bit when a reporter asked him Thursday evening what he thought Canada had accomplished at this week’s Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco.
“It’s a short list, unfortunately,” the president of the Business Council of Canada said, before lamenting something Canada hasn’t accomplished yet: membership in U.S. President Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF). It’s a group of 14 trading partners that concluded agreements this week on supply chain protections, lowering carbon emissions and fighting corruption — while promising more collaboration to come.
There’s no question Canadian officials from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on down were busy taking meetings all week.
“We’re doing the work,” Trade Minister Mary Ng insisted when reporters questioned why Canada still isn’t in IPEF, despite her insistence that all the current members would support having Canada at the table.
Unlike the U.S., which pulled out of its Pacific Rim trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, when Donald Trump took over in 2017, Canada stayed in and pushed to rename the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Trudeau, Xi stand next to each other in APEC leaders’ photo
Featured Videorime Minister Justin Trudeau stood next to Chinese President Xi Jinping for the leaders’ photo at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in San Francisco.
As Canada takes over as chair of the CPTPP in 2024 and celebrates its fifth year of implementation with its first new recruit — the dubiously Pacific nation of the United Kingdom — Ng said one of her top three priorities would be ensuring the deal lives up to its “progressive” rebranding and supports smaller businesses, women entrepreneurs, and Indigenous enterprises.
But it’s this kind of values-driven foreign policy that’s left stakeholders frustrated with how Trudeau’s government approaches summits like APEC.
Hyder suggested multiple times this week the Liberals need to read the room and understand how things have changed during their tenure. Given wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and growing threats in the South China Sea, investors are anxious about big international ventures that could otherwise be driving economic growth.
“This is a complicated environment in which we operate,” he said. “It is not the time to preach … It is time to be pragmatic.”
He said recent speeches by Foreign Minister Melanie Joly have sounded more on point about the imperative of working with regimes that are less aligned with Canadian principles. He also pointed out that a country like Australia manages, by taking a more practical approach, to sit at more international tables than Canada, serving its national interests well.
Australia is one of a half-dozen or so countries that find value in participating in Biden’s IPEF talks even though they also enjoy the liberalizing benefits of the CPTPP’s tariff cuts, market access and harmonized standards.
CPTPP remains more compelling, ambassador says
Canada’s year-old Indo-Pacific strategy is overseen by its ambassador in Tokyo, Ian McKay.
Speaking to reporters at APEC, McKay appeared to throw shade at IPEF, saying that the CPTPP is “much more compelling” and beneficial to Canada than “other non-binding, almost voluntary agreements.”
“The work that we need to be doing with our partners in the region is being done,” he insisted, echoing Ng’s point from the day before. “If IPEF comes and they have a process whereby new aspirants can join, I have full confidence that Canada will be the first.”
“If” is the operative word in that statement. For now, there is no process to join. And not everything about it is redundant.
Biden, Xi meet face-to-face for 1st time in a year
Featured VideoAfter a year of silence, U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke face-to-face for the first time ahead of this year’s APEC Summit in San Francisco. Both leaders acknowledged the importance of the meeting and of continuing dialogue.
IPEF includes countries that Canada is still struggling to negotiate trade deals with, including large southeast Asian markets like Indonesia as well as the notoriously protectionist India.
Both Ng and McKay began saying the quiet part out loud this week: the prospect of restarting trade talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is now contingent on India’s cooperation in investigating and bringing the murderer(s) of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar to justice.
How long all this takes, and how much IPEF moves along without Canada in the meantime, remains to be seen.
If the IPEF club does admit Canada in the future, Ottawa may have to sign on to text it wasn’t at the table to shape, with countries that weren’t necessarily looking out for Canada’s interests.
The political environment in Washington, with populist trade skepticism rampant on both sides of the congressional aisle, won’t let the Biden administration negotiate anything resembling a trade deal at the moment. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo admits IPEF is unlikely to be a trade deal, per se — as a presidential election year looms.
That doesn’t mean, however, its convening power can’t facilitate more investment and trade for American businesses if the Biden administration pulls this off.
The APEC summit saw leaders from almost two dozen member states gather in San Francisco to discuss economic development. (Godofredo A. Vásquez/AP)
As he posed for a family photo with other leaders and ministers in San Francisco Thursday, Biden saluted what IPEF had been able to negotiate in “record time,” calling its work a “race to the top.”
Biden also announced that the deal would include a critical minerals dialogue, something that risks eating Canada’s lunch on one of the strongest emerging exports Canada has to offer a world transitioning from fossil fuels to electric and hydrogen batteries.
Critical minerals
Canada’s ambassador in Washington, Kirsten Hillman, has been heavily engaged in positioning Canada as America’s top supply chain partner for critical minerals. She downplayed this new IPEF initiative as a warning sign Americans might look outside North America for suppliers.
“I’m not really seeing any worries about [Canada] being anything but at the forefront of this dialogue internationally,” Hillman said, noting that critical minerals are part of the economic “pillar” in Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy. “We’re talking to all countries … there’s no magic to one particular configuration or another.”
Hillman said once the outcome of IPEF discussions is known, Canada can analyze what joining means.
Hyder agrees that other countries want Canada as a critical minerals supplier. But in his conversations from a business perspective, he’s detecting skepticism that Canada will be able to deliver.
“Are we going to create the regulatory and permitting process that has a predictable, stable environment in which businesses can invest with confidence that, irrespective of elections … the projects are able to move forward,” he said. “If these other countries that we’re competing with can do that, they will draw the capital and they will be the ones that will end up being part of that supply chain.”
Trade diversity still a priority
The U.S. turned to Canada in its push to be less reliant on the world’s dominant battery provider: China. But too much focus on North American supply chains brings the same risk for Canada that it’s experienced when relying too much on the U.S. for other kinds of trade.
“Our national interest is to have more than a single market,” Hyder said. “It’s important for Canada to be able to trade their assets to different countries so that those countries have to compete to pay for those assets.”
Trudeau said Friday that Canada can pursue multiple partnerships at once, without being at the IPEF table.
Featured VideoThe House takes an in-depth look at Canada’s efforts to become a leader in the development of critical minerals. Hugues Jacquemin and Kirsty Liddicoat, executives of Northern Graphite, explain their efforts to expand. Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson explains how the government is responding. Mark Podlasly talks about his efforts to help First Nations secure their interests, and experts Nate Wallace, Alisha Hiyate and Ian London weigh in on what Canada should be doing to respond to what some are calling the new gold rush.
“We have critical minerals engagements with the United States that is strengthening and seeing a lot of real investments and supports in Canada,” he said, while also noting that Canada’s strategy includes work with Australia and Indonesia that also will continue.
What’s missing is an admission of how hard it is for Canada to pursue an independent foreign policy.
“The perception of Canada from the rest of the world is directly proportionate to how America perceives us,” Hyder said. “And if America leaves us on the outside of something as important to them as the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, it suggests they don’t want us in there, or Mexico for that matter. And it’s troubling.”
If Canada can’t leverage its relationship with the U.S., it will hurt its ability to have influence and impact, Hyder added.
Highlights from President Biden’s visit to Canada
Featured VideoKirsten Hillman, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S., gives her thoughts on President Biden’s visit to Canada, while CBC’s Rosemary Barton and Alex Panetta break down the big pledges that came out of it and what could change for both countries as a result.
The U.S. may have no strategic interest in facilitating Canada’s economic success in Asia, even as Canada benefits diplomatically from the U.S. re-engaging, particularly with China.
Hillman said Biden’s hours-long discussion with Xi on Wednesday is “good for the world.”
“It’s important for that line of communication to be open,” she said. “As a diplomat, I always think… we need to be talking to each other. We do engage with the Chinese at senior official levels, and there are other discussions that will flow.”
As reporters tried to draw more detail out of Trudeau about his own brief interaction with Xi Thursday, the prime minister suggested in French that Canada might eventually sit down with China for a bilateral meeting. But things aren’t there yet.
In the meantime, at least nothing between them got worse. Trudeau chided a reporter for suggesting that in a summit devoid of announcements from the Canadian delegation, making no news — staying discrete, low-key and controversy-free — might be strategic.
“If you don’t think that doing good work with people across the Indo-Pacific is news, well, that’s a reflection the media has to take,” he said. “There is good work being done here and I think that is important news for Canadians.”
Put another way: it’s a summit. Don’t underestimate the importance of talking.
LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?
It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.
Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:
Apple
The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.
For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.
You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.
Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.
Google
Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.
When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.
You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.
There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.
Facebook and Instagram
Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.
When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.
The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.
You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.
TikTok
The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.
Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.
X
It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.
Passwords
Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?
Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.
But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.
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TORONTO – Speed was considered a factor in a fiery overnight crash in downtown Toronto that killed four people and injured one woman, officials said Thursday, underlining the challenges firefighters face when batting electric-vehicle battery fires.
The Tesla car was travelling at a “high rate of speed” when it lost control, slammed into a guard rail and then caught fire along Lake Shore Boulevard east of Cherry Street shortly after midnight, Toronto police Deputy Insp. Phillip Sinclair said Thursday.
“There is some evidence to suggest that speed was a factor,” he said.
Sinclair described the crash as “heartbreaking.” All four people who were killed — three men and one woman — were in their 20s and 30s, he said.
The surviving woman was pulled from the car by a motorist who stopped to help, he said. The woman, in her 20s, was sent to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
“Thanks very much to that bystander. We have been speaking to them, and obviously they are also deeply affected by this incident — a very horrific scene for that bystander to step in,” Sinclair told a press conference Thursday morning.
Toronto’s deputy fire chief said the crash underlined the challenge firefighters can face when trying to put out electric-vehicle battery fires.
“The intensity of the fire is directly linked to the battery cells in the Tesla,” said Jim Jessop, speaking alongside Sinclair.
“But I want to be very clear: we have all attended collisions where we’ve had horrible car fires as well that are gasoline powered.”
One of the major risks in electric-vehicle fires, he said, is when the battery gets into an uncontrollable self-heating chain reaction, or what’s called thermal runaway. The battery can sometimes reignite up to weeks later, he said.
Firefighters at the scene put the car’s battery cell in a dumpster and filled it with sand, then moved it from the scene for safe disposal, he said.
“We don’t want to speculate on the intensity of the fire until the investigation is complete, but certainly it did cause extra care and concern in transporting the vehicle and the battery cell that had been ejected (from the vehicle),” Jessop said.
Talk of battery fire risks comes as the city’s transit agency considers a possible ban on e-bikes and e-scooters from its vehicles. A staff report going before the Toronto Transit Commission’s board says the risks are particularly associated with lithium-ion batteries in uncertified or misused devices.
Research findings from EV FireSafe, a group backed by the Australian government, suggest electric-vehicle battery fires are uncommon and happen less often than gas-powered vehicle fires.
Jessop said Toronto Fire is being “very proactive” in preparing for a future where lithium-ion batteries, the type found in everything from cellphones to cars, are even more common.
He said the service has a working group to help inform its response to public messaging about battery fires and tactics for safe disposal by firefighters.
“It’s something that you know we’re going to have to deal with and continue to deal with as this technology expands … and it’s something that, you know, we’re going to continue to work on,” he said.
Lake Shore Boulevard, the major arterial road along the city’s waterfront, was closed in both directions between the Don Valley parkway and Cherry Street for several hours ahead of the morning rush hour. One lane reopened in each direction later in the morning.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.
WINNIPEG – Police in Winnipeg say they have charged the parents of an infant who was brought to hospital with suspicious injuries.
Police were called in late September when a man and a woman arrived at the emergency room with a baby girl who was unresponsive and had multiple injuries.
The child abuse unit investigated and found the injuries were the result of malnutrition and abuse.
The girl’s parents were arrested on Tuesday and are in custody.
Both are charged with failing to provide the necessities of life.
The father also faces a charge of aggravated assault.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.
