America alone: What the U.S. is exiting on the global stage
President Donald Trump, in his first three weeks in office, has made a number of moves to reduce the U.S. footprint on a number of multilateral efforts around the globe and its presence in international organizations and alliances. The Trump administration appears focused on severe, immediate workforce reductions to Washington’s primary humanitarian aid agency, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), according to multiple reports. Meanwhile, while the U.S. is not a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the White House’s decision to apply some sanctions to some ICC staffRead more
Trump is starting a trade war. If he wants to absorb Canada, what comes next will be worse
The first shots of the trade war between the United States and Canada have been fired. Whether it escalates beyond the planned 25 per cent tariff into a wider economic war depends upon how genuinely serious President Donald Trump is about annexation, experts say. Tariffs are one thing. While painful and destructive, experts agree duties alone would not crush the Canadian economy, nor the political establishment, into submission. Prior to his inauguration, Trump threatened to use “economic force” to compel Canada to become the 51st state in the union. ThatRead more
The fracking frenzy in B.C and Texas is leading to record-breaking earthquakes
Standing in his living room, Richard Kabzems brandishes a thick binder stuffed with letters and notes of his two-year fight to stop fracking wells near his home in Farmington, B.C. Ovintiv, a multinational oil and gas company, announced two years ago that it would expand fracking for gas at a new site built on a hill about a kilometre from Kabzems’s home in the rural Lebell subdivision. The B.C. Energy Regulator (BCER) approved the permit. Over the last 24 months, Kabzems and his wife, Sandy Burton, have written six detailedRead more
Trump orders U.S. bombing of ISIS targets in Somalia
U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday said he ordered military airstrikes on a senior Islamic State attack planner and others from the organization in Somalia. “These killers, who we found hiding in caves, threatened the United States and our Allies,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “The strikes destroyed the caves they live in, and killed many terrorists without, in any way, harming civilians.” Saturday’s strikes were carried out in the Golis Mountains, said Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, who added that an initial assessment indicated multiple operativesRead more
‘Canadians have lost trust in our party,’ Liberal leadership hopeful says while taking a swipe at Trudeau
Like the two perceived leadership front-runners, Karina Gould says she doesn’t agree with the Liberal government’s plan to increase the consumer carbon tax or capital gains tax. But unlike her rivals, she says she’d extend a break on GST for some baby products. (Patrick Doyle/Canadian Press) Liberal leadership contender Karina Gould said Thursday the government she was a part of for years mishandled the affordability crisis and did not effectively respond to Canadians who were crying out for relief at a time of high inflation. While criticizing the government’s approach toRead more
Evacuations ordered as new, fast-moving wildfire threatens remote communities north of L.A.
More than 50,000 people were under evacuation orders or warnings Wednesday as a huge and fast-moving wildfire swept through rugged mountains north of Los Angeles, but fire officials said a rapid ground and air assault was giving them the upper hand. The Hughes Fire broke out in the late morning and within six hours charred about 39 square kilometres of trees and brush near Lake Castaic, a popular recreation area about 64 kilometres from the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires that are burning for a third week. The new fire grew toRead more
Canada bracing for possible influx of asylum claimants after Trump immigration orders
Canadian refugee advocates, federal government departments and immigration lawyers are bracing for a potential influx of asylum claimants following U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive orders this week. But as they prepare, they all say they have no idea what exactly to expect. “With Trump, crystal balls are hard to keep clear,” said Gabriela Ramo, past chair of the Canadian Bar Association’s immigration section. “We share a border with an elephant and he is talking about deporting 11 million people.” On Monday, Trump signed a series of executive orders that riskRead more
This land is not your land: Trump moves to limit access to U.S. citizenship
For generations, people who have lived and worked in the United States have assumed that if they wind up having a child there, that child will have the right to citizenship, which comes with official documents and government ID. That may soon change. U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order on his first day in office that stunned immigration watchers in its scope. Everyone expected him to try ending birthright citizenship for the children of people who entered the U.S. illegally, undoing over 125 years of accepted constitutional law. ButRead more