Thorny issues on the table as Biden makes presidential visit to Canada this week | Canada News Media
Connect with us

Politics

Thorny issues on the table as Biden makes presidential visit to Canada this week

Published

 on

The ambassadors for both Canada and the United States sought to downplay differences between the two countries on key issues Sunday, ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden’s first official in-person visit to Canada this week.

Talks during the visit are expected to focus on a series of thorny issues, including defence, migration, economic development and the situation in Haiti.

But in separate interviews airing Sunday on Rosemary Barton Live, both Canadian ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman and American ambassador to Canada David Cohen sought to put forward a more sunny view of the relationship.

“[Biden] likes Canada, he cares about Canada, and the United States cares about Canada,” Cohen told CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton.

 

Biden will make first official visit to Ottawa on Thursday

7 hours ago

Duration 7:51

Rosemary Barton Live speaks with U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Cohen about what to expect during U.S. President Joe Biden’s first official visit to Ottawa since taking office.

Hillman said the conversation would inevitably turn to global issues of concern, but “we’ll also focus on how we’re sources of strength for each other.”

“I think that’s going to be the theme of this visit, that we are there making each other stronger and better,” she said.

Biden made a virtual visit to Canada in February 2021, speaking with Trudeau via video conference due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Biden will become the eighth U.S. president to make an address to Parliament on Friday.

U.S. President Barack Obama receives a standing ovation prior to addressing Parliament in the House of Commons in Ottawa on June 29, 2016, the last time a U.S. president addressed Canadian parliamentarians. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)

Migration a major issue

One area where Hillman did acknowledge some tension was the area of migration, which has become once more a major concern with increased irregular crossings in places like Roxham Road, Que. Meanwhile, the United States has its own ongoing concerns about travel over its southern border with Mexico.

“It’s a crisis of very significant proportions and it’s a crisis of important proportions for us too in Canada with Roxham Road,” Hillman said.

But the ambassador said she has faith that the United States would take Canadian concerns seriously.

 

Migration and NORAD top priorities for Trudeau during Biden’s first official visit on Thursday

 

Rosemary Barton Live speaks with Canada’s Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s top priorities during U.S. President Joe Biden’s first official visit to Ottawa since taking office. She says discussions about migration, NORAD and Haiti are all on the agenda

“I’ve been ambassador for three years, and there isn’t a single topic with the Biden administration that we have said, ‘Look, this is really important to us, they need to work on this’ where they’ve said, ‘Look, it’s not a priority for us, sorry.’ Not once.”

Canada has pushed the United States to start negotiations on revamping the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA). The STCA compels people to make refugee claims in the first safe country they enter — in this case, the U.S. — unless they cross into Canada via an unofficial port of entry like Roxham Road.

Cohen left the door open to a “revised” agreement but reiterated the American view that work should be done to address the root causes of migration.

“I think the Safe Third Country Agreement can can easily be a part of that discussion, and how a revised Safe Third Country Agreement could help bring under control some of the underlying root causes of irregular migration,” he said.

Cohen also noted the ongoing discussion about a potential force to help stabilize Haiti — with Biden officials reportedly pushing for Canada to take a leading role — but also kept the door open Sunday around other options such as sanctions or additional aid to Haitian police.

Hillman pushed back on the idea that Canada was feeling the heat from Washington on the issue of Haiti.

“Pressure’s not a word I would use here,” she said, framing it more as a constructive dialogue to look for solutions that worked for both sides of the border and Haitians themselves.

Defence spending and continental security

Cohen similarly downplayed any tensions around defence spending, with the federal government set to unveil a budget later this month.

“There won’t necessarily be contention around these issues because I think Canada and the United States agree on the need for enhanced spending in the defence space,” he said.

Hillman also focused on the accomplishments of joint institutions like NORAD — recently in the news due to the downing of unidentified objects over North American airspace.

“I think the U.S. is very pleased with the announcements we made so far with respect to NORAD modernization” and with the decision to buy 88 F-35 fighters, Hillman said.

Asked about the visit during a health-care announcement Sunday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre criticized Trudeau’s approach to the bilateral relationship as weak, saying “Canadians are getting ripped off by the United States.”

He noted three main areas of contention — trade, Buy American provisions and border control — where he said Canada needs to act more forcefully. He said Trudeau lacked respect on the world stage from leaders like Joe Biden and Xi Jinping of China.

“They believe they can walk all over him, that they can hit us with tariffs and discriminatory Buy American policy and Trudeau won’t do anything about it.”

Chrétien reflects on decision to keep Canada out of Iraq war

 

Rosemary Barton Live speaks with Canada’s former prime minister Jean Chrétien about his decision 20 years ago to keep Canada out of the war in Iraq.

Former prime minister Jean Chrétien also reflected in an interview on Rosemary Barton Live airing Sunday about his experience managing Canada’s most important bilateral relations, saying it was “always very complicated.”

But almost 20 years after the American invasion of Iraq, he said it was good Canada had asserted itself.

“It was a great indication that we were a very independent nation, that we were not a 51st state of America that too often some people think we were.”

Source link

Politics

‘Disgraceful:’ N.S. Tory leader slams school’s request that military remove uniform

Published

 on

 

HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.

Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.

A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”

Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.

“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.

In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”

“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”

Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.

Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.

Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.

“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.

“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.

“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”

Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.

“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”

“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

Politics

Saskatchewan NDP’s Beck holds first caucus meeting after election, outlines plans

Published

 on

 

REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.

Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.

She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.

Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.

Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.

The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

Politics

Nova Scotia election: Liberals say province’s immigration levels are too high

Published

 on

 

HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.

Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.

“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.

“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”

The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.

In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.

“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”

In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.

“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”

Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.

Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.

“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”

In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.

In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.

“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”

Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.

“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”

The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.

“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.

Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.

“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

— With files from Keith Doucette in Halifax

Source link

Continue Reading

Trending

Exit mobile version