CFL Players’ Association appoints Dyakowski as its interim executive director

PHILADELPHIA – Kamala Harris pushed back on Donald Trump’s exaggerated claims about immigration and abortion as the two leaders met face-to-face for the first time on a debate stage in Philadelphia Tuesday.

The matchup marked a pivotal moment during the final sprint of a close race for the White House and saw Trump and Harris lay out starkly different visions for the future of America.

While it started with a handshake, the debate quickly saw the Democratic vice-president and Republican former president zero in on each other’s records.

Hundreds of supporters gathered for a Democratic watch party at the Dell Music Centre in Philadelphia cheered as Harris said Trump left behind chaos and unemployment at the end of his first administration.

“What we have done is clean up Donald Trump’s mess,” Harris said.

At a packed watch party organized by Philadelphia Young Republicans at a hotel not far from the National Constitution Centre, where Trump and Harris were on the stage, enthusiastic supporters applauded the former president.

Trump quickly took well-known jabs at Harris, saying, “Everyone knows she’s a Marxist.” He also criticized the vice-president’s record on the economy with the Biden administration.

“She doesn’t have a plan. She copied Biden’s plan,” Trump said.

Republican supporters said they were certain voters could see life was better under the Trump administration.

Tuesday night was a stark difference from the June debate between Trump and President Joe Biden. The previous faceoff saw Trump easily hold his own against a jolting and incoherent Biden.

Supporters at a Democrat-organized watch party in Philadelphia in June seemed disheartened and downcast about their prospects.

The matchup accelerated a cascade of concerns over the president’s mental acuity and ability to win the election and led Biden to remove himself from the race.

The tumultuous months between the two presidential debates saw the attempted assassination of the former president, the complete reconfiguration of the Democratic ticket and struggles among Republicans to respond to their new opponent.

Tuesday night watch parties for Republicans and Democrats both were filled with enthusiasm about the outcome of the November election saying their party was making the best case for American voters.

A Pew Research Center survey released Monday suggests the presidential race is deadlocked. It found about half of registered voters — 49 per cent — said they would vote for Harris if the election were held today, and an identical share said they would back Trump.

Roneesha Stuart has not decided where her vote may land. She said it felt like Harris was backpedalling on previous stances and making promises she couldn’t keep as part of the Biden administration.

“I’ve been on earth for 32 years and I don’t think any president has ever done anything good for me. So I just want to watch. It’s entertaining,” Stuart said in Philadelphia on Tuesday afternoon.

The Pew report, based on a survey conducted from Aug. 26 to Sept. 2, found Trump’s advantage is on the economy, with the majority of voters saying they are very or somewhat confident the former president would make good decisions about economic policy.

Harris leads on abortion and several personal traits, including being a good role model and being honest.

Ahead of the debate, Jahmirah Brown said she believed Harris would stand her ground.

“I feel like my girl is strong,” said the 29-year-old from Delaware County, west of Philadelphia.

Harris’ debate performance needed to focus on her plan forward and not just reflect on Biden-era policies, said Melissa Haussman, professor emeritus at Carleton University in Ottawa. The vice-president also needed to be clear about her intentions for the economy.

Harris repeatedly said during the debate that she was not Biden, saying, “Let’s turn the page.”

Haussman said Trump should focus on policy “but I’m guessing he doesn’t have the discipline or breadth of knowledge to do so.”

The former president often did not answer direct questions and went on different tangents. He made false claims about babies being killed after they are born and repeated unsubstantiated claims that immigrants in Ohio are eating their neighbours’ dogs and cats.

But Trump also criticized Harris for changing her policies during her time in office and accused the vice-president of now taking up his proposals.

Neither candidate provided much insight into plans around international trade.

The former president repeated plans for a 10 per cent tariff on imports and threats to not defend NATO members that don’t meet defence spending targets, of which Canada is one.

During a NATO leaders’ summit in Washington in July, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to meet the spending target, which is the equivalent of two per cent of gross domestic product, by 2032.

Whoever wins the election will be in power during the review of the Canada-United States-Mexico trade pact in 2026.

Many expect Harris will follow the path of her predecessor on Canada-U.S. relations. Harris, however, was one of 10 U.S. senators to vote against the trilateral agreement under Trump, saying it didn’t do enough to protect American workers or the environment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.

— With files from The Associated Press

FORT ERIE, Ont. – An impressive late kick earned jockey Jose Campos and Vitality the $400,000 Prince of Wales Stakes on Tuesday.

Campos had the Stronach Stables-owned horse sitting fifth coming around the final turn at Fort Erie Racetrack as leader Airosa was fending off Wyoming Bill. Down the stretch, though, Vitality took off on the outside and shot past the four horses in front of him, including leader Airosa down the stretch, to capture the 1 3/16-mile dirt race in one minute 55.72 seconds on a fast track.

“Everyone knows my horse is kind of lazy,” Campos said. “I talked about it with Harold (trainer Harold Ladouceur) about being just behind the pace.

“I put my horse in a good spot and when I asked him to make a run he responded really well.”

Despite never being threatened at the end, Campos said it took some time before he figured he’d won the race.

“When I passed the wire,” he said with a chuckle. “This is a nice horse.

“So going in, I just listened to everything the trainer told me, and tried to keep that in mind.”

Airosa, ridden by Rafael Hernandez, finished second ahead of stablemate Bedard and jockey Sahin Civaci. Both horses are trained by Kevin Attard, who won last year’s race with Velocitor and had four horses in this year’s race (Bedard and Pierre were others) in quest of a fourth Prince of Wales victory.

King’s Plate-winning filly Caitlinhergrtness, also trained by Attard, didn’t run in the 10-horse field.

The victory was the second in four starts this year for Velocity and the second in nine career starts. The horse’s win followed a sixth-place finish in the $1-million King’s Plate on Aug. 23 at Toronto’s Woodbine Racetrack.

“We knew he had the pedigree for this track and we were really confident,” Ladouceur said of the decision to run in the Prince of Wales. “There were little setbacks here and there … we came to the conclusion let’s run him.”

And Ladouceur suggested his victory was a historic one.

“This is huge,” said Ladouceur. “I believe I’m the first Indigenous trainer to win the Prince of Wales.”

As a member of the Moosomin and Kikino Métis settlements, Ladouceur said winning the Prince of Wales was a major step forward for the Indigenous community.

“I’m so proud to be Indigenous,” he said. “I’m just a kid from tiny little Lac La Biche, but I feel like I’ve joined a very elite group, and to do that as an Indigenous man, it feels amazing.”

More than $700,000 was wagered on the race, the second-most in its history. Total betting on the 11-race card reached $3.03 million.

Vitality paid $20.10, $8.60 and $5.50, while Airosa returned $8.20 and $7.20. Bedard paid $5.40.

Passioned, ridden by Pietro Moran, was fourth. The remainder of the field, in order of finish, included: Wyoming Bill; Pierre; Midnight Mascot; Jokestar; Scat Factor; and Essex Serpent.

The final leg of the Triple Crown is the $400,000 Breeders’ Stakes on Sept. 29 at Toronto’s Woodbine Racetrack. And Ladouceur said that race remains very much on his horse’s radar.

“It certainly will be,” he said. “He has a lot of confidence and this was a booster for him.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

WINNIPEG – Former Manitoba premier Greg Selinger was surrounded by family, supporters and former colleagues Tuesday as his portrait was unveiled at the legislature.

It was a rare occasion in the spotlight for Selinger, who has kept a low public profile since leaving politics in 2018 — two years after his New Democrats were defeated by the Progressive Conservativies.

The painting, which will hang in a hallway next to the portraits of his predecessors, depicts Selinger on the front porch of his home, holding a quilt made by his wife.

He said the choice of location was deliberate.

“There’s that old expression ‘all politics are local’, so you start from your front door every morning. You step out the front door and you make the best of every day,” Selinger said.

The quilt is a metaphor for how to live — with individual pieces, like people, coming together to create something better, he said.

Peter Bjornson, who served in Selinger’s cabinet, said Selinger was a caring leader who enacted many progressive policies.

“He governed from the heart,” Bjornson said.

Premier Wab Kinew also attended the hour-long ceremony.

Selinger brought Kinew, a former broadcaster, on board as a star candidate in 2016. The following year, Kinew won the party leadership and later asked Selinger to resign his legislature seat over allegations a NDP cabinet minister had inappropriately touched women.

Selinger served 10 years as finance minister before becoming NDP leader and premier in 2009.

A former social worker, he developed programs to address poverty and cracked down on short-term, high-interest loans.

Selinger, faced with a fiscal crunch caused in part by a sharp reduction in federal equalization payments, missed balanced budget targets and, in 2013, raised the provincial sales tax to eight per cent from seven.

The NDP government’s popularity began to tumble months later. He resigned as party leader after the NDP was defeated by the Progressive Conservatives in 2016.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.