Tariff price increase starts to impact the U.S.

Look, it’s the tariff chickens, already coming home to roost. And U.S. tariffs have only just begun.

Global extremism, as close as your keyboard

An arrest in Winnipeg has provided yet another reminder of just how much extremist attitudes have spread across the world.

Mining old laws to justify breaking trade deals

Somewhere, in the dusty bowels of a congressional library, some poor hapless presidential assistant is strip-mining ancient American laws to justify the fickle behaviour of that country’s president.

It’s bad enough when a president manufactures a fentanyl threat from Canada to impose tariffs — a threat that even his own intelligence agencies don’t believe exists.

Worse when he claims a state of war exists between the U.S. and Venezuela to be able to impose mass deportations, using a law dating from 1768 to expel people from the U.S. without due process. Or that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has used the Immigration and Nationality Act from 1921 that allows him to personally revoke the legal permanent status of any immigrant.

But reading the latest justification — for 25 per cent tariffs on automobiles made outside the United States — is like visiting a parallel, upside-down universe.

Hitching your wagon to the king of chaos

It must have seemed like such a perfect plan. A foolproof strategy. A can’t-lose proposition. A pothole/pitfall-free runway right to the front gate of the prime minister’s residence.

As a threat, Canada doesn’t warrant a mention

Technology is a marvellous thing. So much information at your fingertips, downloadable in fractions of a second.

Making the best of a chaotic year ahead

Provincial budgets are never written in stone. They are, for the most part, projections of how much government expects to raise in taxation revenue, fees and transfer payments, and where it plans to spend that money.

Hello voters: it’s time to do your job

Well, here we go. But this time, perhaps it’s going to be just a little bit different. Sunday, the federal election began, and political parties immediately jumped across the starting line.

The Bay — a piece of history becomes history

Some view it as lamentable. Others see it as simply inevitable. In truth, the recently accelerated demise of the Hudson Bay Company’s last remaining department stores is full measures of both.

Closing the door on election falsehoods

Provincial legislation to crack down on disinformation is well-intended and might be of absolute necessity during an era in which consensus reality is in trouble.

But the pertinent question is: can it work?

The Manitoba government has put forward a bill adding on to pre-existing law regarding the dissemination of false information during an election campaign. The Elections Act already has rules against disseminating false information about candidates and impersonating election officials.

But this is the time of social media and artificial intelligence, and between the two, a lie can run around the world before the truth has even looked at its shoes, let alone put them on. More must be done.

Nova another in a list of IT boondoggles

What is it with government contracts? Can you drive a bus through their loopholes? Or is it just that, because the taxpayer’s paying, no one pays much attention to the details?

Not welcome on voyage: Poilievre and the media

It is a little bit of a head-scratcher. During a federal election, when you want as many people as possible to hear your plans and policies, Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives are kicking the media off of their campaign buses and aircraft.

Finding a suitable excuse that’s 227 years old

If your party has control of the American Congress, the Senate and the executive branch, why would it be necessary to sample a law from 227 years ago to find legal justification to deport people from the United States?

Mark Carney takes reins with a pared-down cabinet

Mark Carney unveiled a pared-down cabinet as his first order of business after being sworn in as Canada’s 24th prime minister on Friday.

His second major decision as the new prime minister was to immediately eliminate the consumer carbon tax imposed by his predecessor, Justin Trudeau, who tendered his resignation earlier that day during a visit to Gov. Gen. Mary Simon.

It’s not unusual for a new prime minister to select a smaller cabinet, one that is easier to manage and can be expanded over time. But these are not usual times. Carney is expected to call a federal election within days, likely before Parliament is scheduled to resume on March 24.

While the newly sworn-in ministers will remain in place during the election campaign, it could be one of the shortest-lived cabinets in Canadian history if the Liberals are defeated in the upcoming election.

Business evidence showing impact of boycotts

The impact of Canadian boycotts of American travel destinations and American products is getting attention in the business world