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Special Features
Statement by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the Election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Office of the Prime Minister
“On behalf of the Government and the people of Canada, I want to congratulate
Senator Barack Obama for his victory in tonight’s United States Presidential
Election.
“I look forward to meeting with the President-elect so that we can continue to
strengthen the special bond that exists between Canada and the United States.
Read the full story
New Cabinet charged with protecting Canada’s future in a time of global economic instability
Friday, October 31, 2008
Office of the Prime Minister
Prime Minister Stephen Harper today appointed a new federal Cabinet charged with protecting Canadians in a time of increasing global economic instability.
“While the fundamentals of Canada’s economy remain stronger, more stable and more durable than those of many other nations, it is clear that we are not immune to what happens outside our borders,” said the Prime Minister. “That is why the central responsibility of our new mandate will be to ensure that Canada’s businesses and families have the security they need to weather any global economic storm.”
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Canada's Finance Ministers Meet to Discuss Global Financial Crisis
Monday, November 03, 2008
Department of Finance
The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, issued the following statement today at the conclusion of meetings in Toronto to discuss the global financial crisis with his provincial and territorial counterparts:
"Today's meetings offered an important and productive exchange of views on how Canada's Finance Ministers can work together to address the consequences of the unprecedented turmoil affecting global financial markets.
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International News
Harper says Obama election 'truly inspiring'
Thursday, November 06, 2008
The Globe and Mail
Barack Obama's presidential win in the United States was a "truly inspiring moment" that signifies an "era of possibility," Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday.
Mr. Harper said he hopes to speak with the U.S. president-elect in the coming days, and added that call could come before day's end Thursday.
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Ottawa swoops in with climate-change offer
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Shawn McCarthy and Campbell Clark, The Globe and Mail
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is proposing to strike a joint climate-change pact with president-elect Barack Obama, an initiative that would seek to protect Alberta's oil sands projects from potentially tough new U.S. climate-change rules by offering a secure North American energy supply.
Key federal ministers issued the call for a climate-change pact Wednesday, less than 24 hours after Mr. Obama won his historic election victory, in a clear bid by Ottawa to carve out a key place for Canada on the new administration's agenda.
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Canada's privileged position with U.S. remains safe
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
John Ivison, The National Post
In Derek Burney's view, the most serious threat to Canada's well-being at a time of economic upheaval would be a breach of security along the Canada-U.S. border or a severe bout of protectionism by the new American administration.
The U.S. has not elected a protectionist president since Herbert Hoover, yet Barack Obama has campaigned on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), claiming it has hurt the U.S. because it does not contain provisions to force its trading partners to adopt U.S. labour and environmental standards.
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U.S. demanding more traveller information
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Ian MacLeod, The Windsor Star
In exchange for continued visa-free access to the United States, American officials are pressuring the federal government to supply them with more information on Canadians, says an influential analyst on Canada-U.S. relations.
"Not only about (routine) individuals but also about people that you may be looking at for reasons, but there's no indictment and there's no charge," Christopher Sands of the Hudson Institute told a security intelligence conference in Ottawa Friday.
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U.S. border prepares for tougher security
Friday, October 31, 2008
Monica Wolfson, The Windsor Star
U.S. officials at Detroit border crossings are preparing early for the start of tougher identification requirements in June, hoping for a smooth transition.
In seven months the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative takes effect, requiring anyone entering the U.S. to present a passport or enhanced driver's licence or trusted traveller (NEXUS) card. Scanners and radio-frequency identification readers are being installed in December at each customs lane at the Detroit-Windsor tunnel and the Ambassador Bridge, said Chief Ron Smith, head of customs and border protection in the Detroit field office of the Department of Homeland Security. The U.S. government is putting the equipment at 39 ports of entry. The border crossings in Sarnia and Sault Ste. Marie will be operational in April.
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Canuck general optimistic for coming winter
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Tom Blackwell, Calgary Herald
Sounding much more upbeat than many of his international colleagues, the commander of Canada's Afghanistan mission insisted Friday that his troops have scored a series of important victories lately.
Canadians have eliminated Taliban commanders, seized bomb factories and broken up supply centres, said Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson.
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Business and Trade
U.S. economy will bounce back, ambassador says
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Michael MacDonald, The Kingston Whig-Standard
Canada's ambassador to the United States says the economic turmoil in the U. S. won't last long because the Americans quickly recognized they had a financial crisis on their hands and moved quickly to deal with it.
Michael Wilson, speaking yesterday to a business audience in Halifax, said that unlike Japan, which remained in denial about its economic woes for 10 years, the U. S. government and American financial institutions admitted their mistakes and are trying to fix them.
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Obama à l'écoute du Canada?
Jeudi 6 novembre 2008
Martin Vallières, La Presse
Le prochain gouvernement américain dirigé par le démocrate Barack Obama pourrait s'avérer plus attentif aux préoccupations économiques des principaux alliés des États-Unis, selon des analystes à Washington.
À commencer par le Canada, important partenaire de libre-échange continental mais dont le commerce avec les États-Unis — environ un milliard par jour — est entravé par la multiplication des mesures de sécurité frontalière.
Lire en détail
Harper seeks Bay St. input before Washington summit
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Bruce Campion-Smith, The Toronto Star
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is in Toronto today for discussions with senior executives from Canada's big banks and insurance companies about the financial turmoil and economic downturn.
Harper will attend a roundtable at the C.D. Howe Institute, an economic think-tank, in the morning.The Prime Minister is then scheduled to meet privately with the business executives to canvass their opinions ahead of the emergency meeting with G-20 world leaders in Washington on Nov. 14-15, where economic concerns will top the agenda.
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How business is coping with the errant loonie
Monday, November 03, 2008
Rose Simone, The Record
Up . . . down . . . down . . . up . . . down . . . up?
"It's a roller-coaster ride," Dan Einwechter, president of Challenger Motor Freight, says of the recent gyrations of the Canadian dollar.
At this time last year, the loonie was accelerating past the American greenback, ultimately hitting a high of $1.10 US before settling down to just below parity.
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Surprisingly, up in Canada
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Kristine Owram, The Chronicle-Herald
Canadian sales of cars and light trucks continued to creep ahead last month, creating a stark contrast to the slip-sliding away experienced south of the border, according to industry figures released Monday.
Overall vehicle sales in Canada rose to 122,711 vehicles in October — up 1.5 per cent over the same month of 2007, according to monthly figures compiled by DesRosiers Automotive Consultants.
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Retail sales look brighter in Canada
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Daniel Drolet, Calgary Herald
The stock market is down. The dollar is down. Are consumers, too, going to hunker down and stop spending as the crucial holiday season gets into gear?
Maybe not.
Even as the doom-and-gloom news continues to flow, particularly from the United States, there are many in Canada who feel things — for now, at least — are just fine, and Christmas and Christmas spending will go ahead pretty much as usual — unless we somehow get spooked.
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Canadian News
Le Québec ira aux urnes le 8 décembre
Mercredi 5 novembre 2008
Denis Lessard et Malorie Beauchemin, La Presse
À la veille d'une tempête économique, le Québec a besoin d'un gouvernement fort, «ça prend de la stabilité politique si on veut de l'action économique», a soutenu M. Charest, lançant sur le bord du fleuve Saint-Laurent la campagne électorale qui débouchera sur un scrutin le 8 décembre.
M. Charest a dû répondre aux journalistes qui lui ont rappelé qu'il avait à maintes reprises indiqué qu'il n'y aurait pas d'élections cette année. «En gouvernement minoritaire, les scrutins inattendus sont inévitables, a-t-il expliqué. La cohabitation fonctionne en temps de croissance économique, mais la stabilité est nécessaire à la prospérité en période d'incertitude. Avec la tempête qui s'annonce, on ne peut pas avoir trois paires de mains sur le gouvernail»
Lire en détail
New security adviser signals shift in key role
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Omar El Akkad, The Globe and Mail
A public servant who has spent almost her entire career in foreign affairs and international trade has been named the Prime Minister's new national security adviser, bringing with her extensive experience in Canada-U.S. border issues as a new administration takes over in Washington.
Stephen Harper is giving the country's second-highest bureaucratic job to deputy minister for International Trade Marie-Lucie Morin, a public servant with little security experience but a wealth of international relations roles on her résumé.
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MacKay handed key to Atlantic Gateway
Friday, October 31, 2008
Michael MacDonald, The Chronicle-Herald
Canadians could be forgiven for being baffled by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision Thursday to hand Defence Minister Peter MacKay responsibility for the so-called Atlantic Gateway.
It’s hardly a top-of-mind topic, except in MacKay’s native province of Nova Scotia, where Conservative Premier Rodney MacDonald has been doggedly pushing Ottawa to support the multimillion-dollar trade initiative for more than two years.
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Former judge steps in to help salvage native truth commission
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Richard Brennan, The Toronto Star
Former Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci has agreed to help get the faltering Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission back on track.
The forum was derailed last month when Justice Harry LaForme suddenly quit as head commissioner, accusing his two co-commissioners of undermining his authority, which they denied.
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Montreal Anglican bishop to authorize blessing of same-sex unions
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Michael Valpy, The Globe and Mail
The Anglican bishop of Montreal has said he will proceed with authorizing the blessing of same-sex unions in his diocese despite a statement approved by the church's House of Bishops — including him — saying the blessings should be restrained by a further two-year moratorium.
However, Right Rev. Barry Clarke's decision avoids contradicting his fellow bishops, and himself, because of carefully crafted wording that required 20 drafts before all, or almost all, of the prelates signed on.
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Anthology explores Christianity in Canada
Sunday, November 02, 2008
The Winnipeg Free Press
A few years ago, on a cold and snowy March morning, Winnipeg writer and editor Byron Rempel-Burkholder found himself wondering about the relationship between spirituality and geography.
Specifically, he wondered how Canada's geography, with its vast wilderness and varied climate, affected his identity as a Christian. And he wondered about other factors too, things like Canada's heritage, the immigrant experience and the Canadian commitment to tolerance and community — did these make him a different kind of Christian than, say, Christians in the U.S.? And if so, how?
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Opinion/Editorial
Cannon sends a first friendly signal to new U.S. administration
Thursday, November 06, 2008
The National Post
Admittedly, Canada-U.S. relations generally go more smoothly when the occupants of 24 Sussex and the White House are from related parties. Conservative Brian Mulroney famously sang with Republican Ronald Reagan, while Liberal Jean Chretien and Democrat Bill Clinton enjoyed one another’s company on the golf course. Conversely, there have been famous clashes when our prime minister and their president have been from divergent parties. Democrat John Kennedy thought Tory John Diefenbaker a crank, while Republic Richard Nixon applied a rectal explicative to Liberal Pierre Trudeau. Mr. Chretien and Stephen Harper had polar opposite experiences with outgoing President George W. Bush.
Still, cordial relations are needed between Ottawa and Washington during the current economic downturn, especially given that the winner of this week’s U.S. presidential contest, Barack Obama, promised to restrict foreign trade, first to win his party’s nomination this summer and then to secure key union states in Tuesday’s vote. The recently re-elected Canadian government of Stephen Harper has to establish friendly relations with the administration of President-Elect Obama, quickly, so Mr. Obama (who we do not believe is a protectionist) will not be tempted to scapegoat Canada for America’s economic woes and restrict free trade between our two nations. Any reduction in trade would be disastrous to our already reeling manufacturing sector.
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PM plays it safe in risky times
Friday, October 31, 2008
John Ivison, The National Post
If Stephen Harper's new Cabinet were a car, it would be a Volvo — safe and reliable but not particularly sexy.
The Prime Minister placed his most able and experienced ministers into the key economic portfolios, saying now is "not the time to take risks."
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