Top diplomat Antony Blinken has embarked on his latest official trip to the African continent, where he will become the first secretary of state from the United States to visit Niger.
Thursday’s historic visit comes as the West African country emerges as an increasingly significant partner to the US and its European allies in the Sahel region, following successive coups in Mali and Burkina Faso and the growing influence of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group.
The trip follows US President Joe Biden’s hosting of the US-Africa Leaders Summit in December, part of a pledge to increase US engagement with the continent.
Speaking to reporters last week, the US’s Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee called Niger “one of the most important partners on the continent in terms of security cooperation”, particularly in terms of countering armed groups in the area.
Niger borders Mali and Burkina Faso, where the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and the Islamic State of Greater Sahara, an ISIL (ISIS) affiliate, have jockeyed for power through violence. That, in turn, has inflamed communal tensions driven in part by the ravages of climate change.
The violence first took root in Mali in the wake of a 2012 uprising in the country’s north, but it has since spread throughout the Sahel, at times reaching the more prosperous coastal West African countries.
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Blinken’s trip will make him the highest-ranking official in the Biden administration to visit the Sahel, where violence soared in 2022, with civilian deaths in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger rising by 50 percent compared to the previous year.
Niger also borders northern Nigeria, where the government has struggled to contain Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISIS-WA) armed groups.
During his trip, Blinken is set to meet with President Mohamed Bazoum and Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massaoudou to “discuss ways to advance the US-Niger partnership on diplomacy, democracy, development and defence”, according to the US Department of State.
Shifting influence
Blinken will arrive in Niger at a “critical juncture” for the Sahel as its internal power structures have shifted, according to Leonardo Villalon, the coordinator of the Sahel Research Group at the University of Florida.
That shift began with a military-led coup in Mali in August 2020, followed by a second coup nine months later. Last year, Burkina Faso experienced its own military-led takeover in January, followed by a second coup in September.
In both countries, military leaders cited the governments’ inabilities to stem local violence as motivation for the coups. There has also been growing disillusionment within both countries about European intervention in the region, led by France, which first deployed troops to Mali to respond to the rebel movement in 2012.
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France and a European Union task force under its command ultimately withdrew from Mali in 2022. Mali’s military government, meanwhile, has increasingly turned to the Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary company, for assistance in stemming the country’s violence.
The United Nations Human Rights Council, however, has since called for investigations into accounts of rights abuses — including torture, sexual violence and disappearances — committed during joint operations between Malian forces and the Wagner Group.
France officially ended its military operations in Burkina Faso in February as well. The government in Ouagadougou has denied allegations that the Wagner Group is already operating in the country, although experts believe the deployment of the mercenary group is likely in the coming months.
“The key issue, of course, is that the French had been gradually withdrawing, especially from Mali and Burkina Faso, and the Russians are very active,” Villalon told Al Jazeera from Mali’s capital, Bamako.
“And so clearly this [trip] comes in that context. And that context is extremely important,” he said. “There’s a lot of hope invested in maintaining the stability of Niger.”
Increasing relevance
Both the French and the European Union task force have since re-based their military operations in Niger.
For its part, the US has approached the Sahel for years as another front in its decades-long “war on terror” and has been active in supporting European and regional forces.
In 2017, the deaths of four US special forces soldiers highlighted the often opaque nature of US involvement in the area. The soldiers had been accompanying Nigerien forces on a mission to capture a high-ranking ISIS leader near the border of Mali.
The US military has said about 800 personnel are stationed in Niger, where they are believed to support two Nigerien airbases, including a newly constructed drone base in the city of Adagez.
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Niger has emerged as a promising — if unlikely — partner for the West due in part to “political developments that have trended towards democratisation, a strengthening of civilian participation in politics, and professionalisation of the military”, according to Daniel Eizenga, a research fellow at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies at the US State Department-funded National Defense University.
US officials have also come to view Niger’s President Bazoum as “adept at responding” to crises in the region, Eizenga told Al Jazeera.
But Niger still contends with extreme poverty within its own borders. The country of 25 million is one of the least developed in the world, ranking 189 out of 191 countries on the United Nations Human Development Index in 2021.
Eizenga said Nigerien officials have also kept a close watch on alleged Wagner-backed disinformation campaigns, fearing they may foment unrest by tapping into long-festering disillusionment with Niger’s Western allies.
“I’m certain that policymakers in Niamey are looking at what’s happening in Mali, looking at what might happen in Burkina Faso, and are deeply concerned about the possibility of disinformation campaigns targeting Nigerien communities, the Nigerien public,” he said.
Engagement ‘put to the test’
Blinken’s visit on Thursday will ultimately seek to be a “message of reassurance” to Niger, according to Mvemba Dizolele, the director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“Niger is the one democratic experiment that is still holding up in the region. It’s a very important country where the engagement is being put to the test,” he said.
Dizolele added that Blinken’s visit raises a key question about future relations. “Will partners stand fully with Niger in addressing the issues that we know came to challenge public order and governance in places like Burkina Faso, Mali and even Chad?” he asked.
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Meanwhile, the University of Florida’s Villalon noted that Blinken’s visit will ultimately be a “delicate thing to handle” for all parties involved, as public and intellectual opinion across the region remains “pretty split” on the role of outside forces in addressing the situation.
Nevertheless, he said, “it’s a signal that the US intends to stay engaged in the Sahel at a moment when the French are disengaging, whether voluntarily or being forced to do so”.
“I think of it as a message sent to the broader world as well.”
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will not be taking advice from Pierre Poilievre after the Conservative leader challenged him to bring down government.
“I say directly to Pierre Poilievre: I’m not going to listen to you,” said Singh on Wednesday, accusing Poilievre of wanting to take away dental-care coverage from Canadians, among other things.
“I’m not going to listen to your advice. You want to destroy people’s lives, I want to build up a brighter future.”
Earlier in the day, Poilievre challenged Singh to commit to voting non-confidence in the government, saying his party will force a vote in the House of Commons “at the earliest possibly opportunity.”
“I’m asking Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to commit unequivocally before Monday’s byelections: will they vote non-confidence to bring down the costly coalition and trigger a carbon tax election, or will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?” Poilievre said.
“It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP.”
While Singh rejected the idea he would ever listen to Poilievre, he did not say how the NDP would vote on a non-confidence motion.
“I’ve said on any vote, we’re going to look at the vote and we’ll make our decision. I’m not going to say our decision ahead of time,” he said.
Singh’s top adviser said on Tuesday the NDP leader is not particularly eager to trigger an election, even as the Conservatives challenge him to do just that.
Anne McGrath, Singh’s principal secretary, says there will be more volatility in Parliament and the odds of an early election have risen.
“I don’t think he is anxious to launch one, or chomping at the bit to have one, but it can happen,” she said in an interview.
New Democrat MPs are in a second day of meetings in Montreal as they nail down a plan for how to navigate the minority Parliament this fall.
The caucus retreat comes one week after Singh announced the party has left the supply-and-confidence agreement with the governing Liberals.
It’s also taking place in the very city where New Democrats are hoping to pick up a seat on Monday, when voters go to the polls in Montreal’s LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. A second byelection is being held that day in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood—Transcona, where the NDP is hoping to hold onto a seat the Conservatives are also vying for.
While New Democrats are seeking to distance themselves from the Liberals, they don’t appear ready to trigger a general election.
Singh signalled on Tuesday that he will have more to say Wednesday about the party’s strategy for the upcoming sitting.
He is hoping to convince Canadians that his party can defeat the federal Conservatives, who have been riding high in the polls over the last year.
Singh has attacked Poilievre as someone who would bring back Harper-style cuts to programs that Canadians rely on, including the national dental-care program that was part of the supply-and-confidence agreement.
The Canadian Press has asked Poilievre’s office whether the Conservative leader intends to keep the program in place, if he forms government after the next election.
With the return of Parliament just days away, the NDP is also keeping in mind how other parties will look to capitalize on the new makeup of the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois has already indicated that it’s written up a list of demands for the Liberals in exchange for support on votes.
The next federal election must take place by October 2025 at the latest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
