Canada

Ontario is imposing a 25 per cent surcharge on all U.S.-bound electricity as part of its retaliatory measures against U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods.

Good job, Doug!

The Liberal mailing list sent this an hour or two ago. "From" Mark Carney:

I am deeply honoured to be our next Liberal leader – and I’m ready to get to work.

...

We’re going to build the fastest-growing economy in the G7.

We’ll cut taxes that divide us and put money back into your pockets.

We’ll invest in health care, seniors, and affordable child care.

We’ll take bold action on climate, and we’ll protect Canadian workers from Trump’s tariffs.

I really hope that ol affordability crisis just slipped his mind. Tax cuts are fine (even if it's coded language for dropping the carbon tax), but groceries are still crazy expensive and housing is still hard to come by.

Nothing says "classy" like flying that flag.

Good L🍁ck Trudeau! (But also, don't let the door hit you on the way out...)

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B.C. unlikely to follow Ontario's lead in slapping surcharge on power exports, premier says

"We're working with other premiers and with the federal government on how we can support the Team Canada approach with no-tariff responses," he said on March 5 about the possibility of B.C. imposing its own surcharges. [...]

Eby also said he is working on "contingency planning" should things escalate.

For example, he noted the impacts of Elon Musk's DOGE — Department of Government Efficiency — on B.C.'s power partners.

B.C.'s power grid is connected to the United States through the Bonneville Power Administration, an agency within the U.S. Department of Energy that both buys from and sells to British Columbia, as needed.

The agency is down hundreds of positions following mass firings by the Trump administration. [...]

Eby and Harrison both said B.C. has been hindered in the past because Alberta has its own regulatory scheme for managing power, focused around private providers, while B.C.'s grid relies on the publicly-owned B.C. Hydro.

But with increased interest in interprovincial trade, Eby said progress was being made on harmonizing standards to allow power to flow more freely across the Rockies, something Harrison applauded.

Eby also said similar conversations were happening with Yukon, where the barriers are more about geography and a lack of infrastructure rather than politics. [...]

B.C. has also announced plans to rapidly increase its own power supply both through the finalization of the Site C dam and the fast-tracking of several wind power projects across the province.

Trump’s threats to Canada are not idle boasts and shouldn’t be taken as such. They call for a whole of society response.

Summary:

Concerns About Social Media: The author draws parallels between concerns that led to discussions about banning TikTok in the U.S. and the current state of X (formerly Twitter).

X as a Threat: The author argues that X, under Elon Musk's ownership, poses a threat to Canadian democracy.

Increased Racism and Misinformation: The platform is described as having become more racist and a source of increasing misinformation since Musk's acquisition.

Content Moderation: Musk's leadership is criticized for gutting content moderation, unbanning alt-right figures, and turning the platform into a partisan propaganda machine.

"Free Speech Absolutism": Musk's defense of his actions using "free speech absolutism" is dismissed as untenable.

Canadian Law: Canadian freedom of expression law is noted to be more robust than that of the U.S., allowing for reasonable limits on speech.

Foreign Influence: The author suggests that X's current conduct would not be tolerated if it were aligned with a government like China.

Musk and Trump: Musk's close ties to Donald Trump and the potential for pro-Trump propaganda targeting Canadian voters are highlighted as a specific threat.

Echoes of the Broadcasting Act: The author draws a parallel to the Broadcasting Act of 1958, which restricted foreign ownership of broadcasters to protect Canadian discourse.

Message to Social Media Companies: Banning X would send a message to other social media companies about their responsibilities to Canadians.

Call to Action: The author urges the current Prime Minister to ban X before the next election.

Trump's annexation comments: Notes Trump's comments about annexing Canada.

X as an Anti-Canadian Propaganda Machine: Concludes that X should be treated as a real threat.

Ford's aggressive remarks earn the attention of Trump's commerce secretary

Doug Ford struck his most aggressive tone to date this week as he blamed Donald Trump for "causing chaos" with his tariff threats, and experts say the attacks from Ontario's Conservative premier and appeals to the president's Republican allies might be gaining traction.

. . .

According to a report from the Globe and Mail, confirmed by CBC Toronto, that tone sparked a call from Trump's own commerce secretary Howard Lutnick. He asked Ford to ease up with his rhetoric, a request the premier refused.

Conservative strategist Shakir Chambers said Lutnick's call shows that Ford has managed to grab the attention of people in the White House and his appeals have them concerned. He's also channeling the frustrations of many Canadians who are angrily watching the tariff threats unfold.

Linked National Post on purpose. Given their bias I believe they'd present the worst case scenario.

E: Apparently the article is from 2016 so the cost is likely higher today.

We need to escalate faster and hit harder in our tariff war with the US. That's the argument the most recent Hatchet episode. The reasoning makes sense:

1. The uncertainty around tariffs means that businesses will decide to relocate away from Canada, even if tariffs are never fully implemented. It's just easier to set up shop in the US and skip the tariff risk entirely. The longer the uncertainty drags on, the worse Canada's position becomes.

2. Trump and Musk are doing so many ridiculous things that the US public isn't focusing on the trade war with Canada, which means they aren't putting pressure on their representatives to end the trade war.

3. As time goes on, Canada's unity will fracture. Individual provinces will cave as they receive individual concessions.

The argument is that we should keep export tariffs on potash, energy, and other stuff we're selling into the US so that there's significant short term pain. That pain will convince Trump and co to back off on tariffs and return to our previous relationship.

Trump has been making Canada out to be a dangerous place with a weak border but too many Canadians are victims of gun violence. Our government officials and media need to start reporting each time American guns are being used in crime. What do you think?

Liberal Party members have chosen former central banker Mark Carney to be their new leader and the next prime minister of Canada.

Carney secured enough votes in the first round of voting to win the job, party president Sachit Mehra announced.

We cannot overlook the likelihood that these Palestinian solidarity encampments were labelled security threats because of the relentless pressures on university administrators exerted by Zionist politicians and pro-Zionist government officials to characterize any criticism of Israel as threatening to the "safety" of Jewish students and faculty. Such pressures have been well-documented in the cases of the Universities of Alberta and Calgary, and are exhibited in many of the submissions to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights' investigation of "antisemitism" on Canadian campuses (May 2024). Notably, the committee's December 2024 report recommended, among other measures, that universities adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism which encompasses anti-Zionism or criticism of the state of Israel.

Shifting geopolitics, climate change, and U.S. President Donald Trump's volatility have highlighted the urgency for Canada to secure its Arctic. Mike Armstrong reports from Chisasibi, Que., on how the Canadian military is training for the bone-chilling challenges of sub-Arctic warfare.

Surcharge will generate up to $400K per day to be used for worker, business supports: province

Ontario is imposing a 25 per cent surcharge on all U.S.-bound electricity as part of its retaliatory measures against U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on Canadian goods.

The new levy took effect Monday and will add about $10 per megawatt-hour to the cost of power heading south, the province says. It will generate an estimated $300,000 to $400,000 per day, money that will be used to support workers and businesses hit by U.S. tariffs.

Hi There! I'm new to Lemmy! I'm from Cape Breton Island and want to connect with other Cape Bretoners. Let's here from you all.

Renters in Manitoba are experiencing astronomical rent hikes above the provincial allowable rent increase guidelines – and it’s completely legal. In 2022, the average rent increase was 9.8%, but documented increases have been as high as 30%, 50% and 126% during the affordability crisis. Renters, meanwhile, will tell you that, yes, water is wet. And landlords have been allowed to work this system for years.

Renters need stronger rent regulations to stop landlords from using AGIs as a loophole to hike rents. We need fairness for tenants.

An African Nova Scotian RCMP sergeant who created anti-racism workshops for his employer says he was removed from his position after he raised concerns about intellectual property rights when the initiative he headed was going to be expanded.

Craig Smith, a Mountie for nearly three decades, was described by the RCMP as a driving force behind its African Canadian Experience workshop, but the two sides are disputing who owns the course material.

The dispute began in 2023. Smith now works for the RCMP in national recruitment.

"I believe that I was sidelined for no other reason than the fact that I said that I want to be compensated for my intellectual property rights," Smith said.