BANGKOK — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is now in Thailand for his third international summit in less than a week as Canada tries to expand its trade relationships in Asia.
This is the third stop on a 10-day foreign trip that began at a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Cambodia and then moved on to the G20 leaders’ summit in Indonesia.
Trudeau is expected to wrap up the trip this weekend in Tunisia at a meeting of the Francophonie.
In Bangkok, he is to attend meetings with leaders of the other 21 economies that are part of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
The Liberals are planning to release a new Indo-Pacific strategy in December that will challenge China on human rights issues and seek to deepen Canada’s influence in other parts of the region.
Leaders at APEC are expected to focus on how best to respond to the growing risk of a global recession, the ongoing harms of inflation and concerns about food and energy security.
But from Canada, many eyes will be watching Trudeau and Chinese President Xi Jinping after the pair had a brief falling out in view of the media on Wednesday as the G20 concluded.
The two did not have a formal bilateral discussion in Bali, but spoke briefly on the sidelines of the summit, after which Trudeau’s office told reporters that Trudeau had raised concerns about Chinese “interference” in Canada.
Xi later confronted Trudeau and accused him, through an interpreter, of harming diplomatic relations by making public some details of that conversation.
Trudeau responded by saying that in Canada, “we believe in free and open and frank dialogue.”
The tense exchange came as Canada’s chilly relationship with China refuses to warm, a year after Chinese authorities released two Canadians they detained for nearly three years in apparent retaliation for Canada’s arrest of a Huawei executive for extradition to the United States.
In recent weeks, there have been several reports of Chinese interference in Canada, including the Quebec arrest this week of a former Hydro-Québec employee charged with providing trade secrets to China.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said in a speech earlier this month that Canada intends to co-operate with China where necessary and criticize the country when warranted.
She accused China of becoming an “increasingly disruptive power.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 16, 2022.
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in the base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 172.18 points at 23,383.35.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 34.99 points at 40,826.72. The S&P 500 index was up 10.56 points at 5,564.69, while the Nasdaq composite was up 74.84 points at 17,470.37.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.55 cents US compared with 73.59 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up $2.00 at US$69.31 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up five cents at US$2.32 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$40.00 at US$2,582.40 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$4.20 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
