Kamala Harris likely to follow path blazed by Biden on Canada-U.S. relationship
By: Kelly Geraldine Malone
WASHINGTON, D.C. (CP) – Observers expect Kamala Harris to follow President Joe Biden’s roadmap for America’s relationship with Canada as she moves to secure the Democratic party’s presidential nomination.
“On the key things that matter for Canada-U.S. relations, her outlook is very similar to the president,” said Christopher Sands, director of the Canada Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington.
Canadians have been reaching out to Democrats and Republicans alike for months to make their case for co-operation ahead of the November election. Top of mind is the looming review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement in 2026.
Softwood lumber and Canada’s digital services tax are key areas of contention for both Republicans and Democrats.
Biden’s tenure brought some stability but not much change. He largely kept Trump’s tariffs in place, despite promises to reverse them. There has also been tension over the Biden administration’s Buy American procurement rules.
Gaza protesters at University of Victoria clearing encampment after trespass notice
VICTORIA (CP) – The pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the campus of the University of Victoria has been vacated after an almost three-month stay.
The university said in a statement that protesters left the encampment Monday, and work to restore the field where the camp was located has begun.
“We understand that this has been a challenging and deeply divisive time and appreciate the efforts that many are making to respond with empathy and patience,” the statement said.
The university had issued a trespass notice over the weekend, saying administrators saw “no further prospect for a successful dialogue” with the protesters.
The university confirmed earlier Monday in an email that the encampment set up on May 1 was being taken apart by the protesters.
Protesters had said on social media that the school gave them a deadline of Monday morning to vacate, but they were planning a “trespass breakfast” at that time without detailing the next steps.
The protest group did not respond to requests for comment.
Trudeau hand-picking candidate in Montreal byelection riles aspiring contenders
OTTAWA (CP) – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to hand-pick a candidate for a riding in an upcoming Montreal byelection isn’t being well-received by three aspiring contenders who spent months campaigning.
The Liberals announced Montreal city Coun. Laura Palestini last week as the party’s candidate in a byelection whose date has yet to be announced for the riding of LaSalle-Émard-Verdun.
Three aspiring candidates — a local school commissioner, an entrepreneur, and a former Quebec Liberal party organizer — denounced the decision, with one calling it “anti-democratic, 100 per cent.”
Liberal campaign co-chair Soraya Martinez Ferrada says it was Trudeau’s decision to prevent party members from choosing the candidate and to instead select Palestini, who represents the LaSalle borough on Montreal city council.
The Liberals have won the riding in all three elections since it was created, with former justice minister David Lametti re-elected with 42.9 per cent of the vote in 2021.
Lametti resigned on Jan. 31, after he was excluded from Trudeau’s cabinet in last summer’s reshuffle.
Interest rate cut may come this week: economists
Economists and market watchers are betting the Bank of Canada will deliver another interest rate cut this week amid mounting evidence that inflation is sustainably easing.
Expectations that the bank will lower its overnight lending rate when it makes its scheduled announcement Wednesday have been high since last week’s release of the latest Statistics Canada inflation report, which showed annual inflation cooled to 2.7 per cent in June.
The inflation reading was less than the 2.8 per cent that markets had been expecting and has helped to build market confidence that the Bank of Canada may be poised for a second rate cut, on top of the 25-basis-point cut it announced last month.
Two Albertans charged in online death threats to Trudeau, other federal leaders
EDMONTON (CP) – Two Alberta men have been charged after death threats were allegedly directed at top federal politicians, including the prime minister.
RCMP say a social media user on the platform X had allegedly posted threats in May to kill Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Twenty-three-year-old Mason John Baker of Calgary has been charged with uttering threats.
In a separate case, police say someone on YouTube allegedly posted threats in June to kill Trudeau along with Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh.
Sixty-seven-year-old Garry Belzevick of Edmonton is charged with three counts of uttering threats.
Both men have court appearances this week.
RCMP Insp. Matthew Johnson, the acting head of the Mounties’ national security team, said words posted online are perceived to be anonymous but that is not the case.
Three people from Laval, Que., killed in small plane crash in northeastern Ohio
YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO (CP) – Three people killed Friday when a small plane crashed while trying to make an emergency landing at an airport in northeastern Ohio have been identified as Quebec residents.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol says the 54-year-old pilot Jawdat Khawam and his two passengers Martine Arseneault, 45, and Daphne Khawam, 8, were all from Laval, Que.
The twin-engine Beechcraft 60 went down near the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport at about 6:45 p.m. Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration said Saturday.
The Western Reserve Port Authority says the plane had come from Plattsburgh, N.Y., but officials didn’t immediately know where it was headed.
The port authority says it appeared the plane’s left engine had failed, and it missed the approach to land and circled back to approach again but went out of control and crashed near the north end of the runway.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
