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JD Vance and Tim Walz face off during U.S. vice-presidential debate

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SAINT PAUL, Minn. – The debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance began with a focus on Donald Trump‘s record in office as the vice-presidential hopefuls were quick to take an attack dog approach to defending their presidential partner on the ticket.

In response to a question about increasing turmoil in the Middle East, Walz, the 60-year-old Democratic governor of Minnesota, criticized Trump’s record on foreign policy and said “a near 80-year-old Donald Trump talking about crowd sizes” is not what is needed.

Vance, the 40-year-old Republican senator from Ohio, responded “Donald Trump actually delivered stability in the world.”

Republicans and Democrats are both hoping Tuesday’s matchup will demonstrate their vice-presidential candidate’s ability to connect with voters in battleground states that will play a critical role in deciding the U.S. election in November.

“They will both be trying to connect with those key Midwestern voters, that’s part of why each one of them was chosen,” said Matthew Lebo, a specialist in U.S. politics at Western University in London, Ont.

“Thinking about especially male voters in those key Midwestern swing states: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.”

Those states swung Republican when Trump won the 2016 election, and in 2020 they helped put President Joe Biden in the White House.

Walz has embraced his folksy, plain-spoken demeanour since he joined the ticket earlier this summer. He’s leaned into his Midwestern roots and the title “Coach Walz” from his former football coach days.

The strategy has seen him garner high favourability in polls but he will be facing a formidable opponent in Vance, who has become a mainstay on cable news shows since he was announced as Trump’s running mate in July.

Formerly a Trump critic, Vance was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2022 after becoming one of the former president’s loudest supporters.

Before entering the political sphere, Vance rose to fame with the 2016 publication of his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy.” The Republican vice-presidential hopeful opened the debate talking about his life and struggles growing up.

Both men are expected to play on their working-class narratives during the debate to give credibility to their party’s plans for the economy and inflation.

“Vance is brilliant and I’m expecting good things from him,” said Alec Beck, chairman of the fifth congressional district for the Republican Party of Minnesota, at a watch party in New Hope.

“And our governor is very good on his feet, even though he’s not on our team, I give the devil his due. He has a lot of skills in this area.”

Political experts have said Vice-President Kamala Harris dominated the presidential debate last month by prodding Trump into tirades that strayed far from his intended goals of focusing on immigration and the economy.

Aaron Kall, the director of debate for the University of Michigan, said it’s unlikely Vance will fall for the same strategy, and he expects Tuesday night’s debate will lean more into policy.

But that doesn’t mean there won’t be barbs.

Walz was given credit for coining the label “weird” to describe his Republican opponents and the attack has stuck to Vance, with numerous viral videos and memes targeting the senator’s past comments and encounters with voters.

“They really couldn’t be more diametrically opposed, kind of like Harris and Trump,” Kall said.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of fireworks, given their personalities.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 1, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Bloc leader, MPs and farmers call for supply management bill to be passed

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OTTAWA – Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet and MPs from several other parties were on Parliament Hill Thursday to call for the Senate to pass a Bloc bill on supply management.

The private member’s bill seeks to protect Canada’s supply management system during international trade negotiations.

The dairy, egg and poultry sectors are all supply managed, a system that regulates production levels, wholesale prices and trade.

Flanked by a large group of people representing supply-managed sectors, Blanchet commended the cross-party support at a time when he said federal institutions are at their most divided.

The Bloc has given the Liberals until Oct. 29 to pass two of its bills — the supply management bill and one that would boost old age security — or it will begin talks with other opposition parties to bring down the minority government.

The Liberals have already signalled they don’t plan to support the Bloc pension legislation, but Liberal ministers have spoken in support of supply management.

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

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Poilievre supports mandatory drug, psychiatric treatment for kids, prisoners

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OTTAWA – Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he’s in favour of mandatory, involuntary drug and psychiatric treatment for kids and prisoners who are found to be incapable of making decisions for themselves.

He said earlier this summer he was open to the idea, but needed to study the issue more closely.

His new position on the issue comes after the parents of a 13-year-old girl from B.C. testified at a parliamentary committee about her mental health struggles before her overdose death in an encampment of homeless people in Abbotsford, B.C.

They said their daughter was discharged from care despite their repeated attempts to keep her in treatment.

Poilievre says he’s still researching how mandatory treatment would work in the case of adults.

Compulsory mental health and addictions care is being contemplated or expanded in several provinces as communities struggle to cope with a countrywide overdose crisis.

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

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Saskatchewan Party candidate appears with Moe, apologizes again for racial slur

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SASKATOON – A Saskatchewan Party candidate has repeated his apology for saying a racial slur a year ago, this time in person and with party leader Scott Moe.

“Very dumb mistake. One word and it can change your life,” David Buckingham told reporters Wednesday at an unrelated party announcement in Saskatoon.

“To the people involved, I offer my apology again. I wish I could bring it back. Unfortunately, I can’t.”

Moe said the Saskatchewan Party followed its policies after the slur was made, as Buckingham apologized and took sensitivity training.

“We very much strive to be a diverse and inclusive party, very much with the policies that we have enacted with the honour of forming government over the last decade and a half,” Moe said.

NDP Leader Carla Beck, asked by reporters about the apology, said Moe, in his role as leader, needs to be accountable for what goes on in his caucus.

“These are really shocking things for anyone to be saying,” Beck told reporters in Saskatoon.

“It’s not something that most people would stand for. We’re in the middle of an election. People in (Saskatoon) Westview will have the opportunity to register what they think about the actions and the apology.”

Buckingham is seeking a third term in the legislature in the Oct. 28 election.

He was first elected in the constituency of Saskatoon Westview in 2016 and was re-elected in 2020. He has also served as the Saskatchewan Party government caucus chair.

Buckingham apologized in a public statement Tuesday, shortly after former caucus colleague Randy Weekes told reporters about the slur.

Weekes said a caucus staff member told him she overheard Buckingham use a racial slur referencing a Black person.

Weekes, who was Speaker during the last legislative sitting, said the woman, who is Black, was traumatized and reported Buckingham to human resources.

She later quit, Weekes said.

Weekes is not running in the upcoming election. He lost the Saskatchewan Party nomination for his constituency of Kindersley-Biggar last year.

He later quit the party after accusing those in the governing caucus of bullying him.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 9, 2024.

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