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Canada Gets New Prime Minister

Published

5 months ago

March 14, 2025

Editor

Mark Carney was sworn in as Canada’s prime minister on Friday, taking charge of a country rattled by a breakdown in US relations since President Donald Trump’s return to power.

The ruling Liberal Party overwhelmingly backed Carney to replace Justin Trudeau, betting his experience leading two central banks through historic crises will reassure Canadians facing a potentially devastating trade war.

Carney, who turns 60 on Sunday, is a political novice who has never won an elected public office but his campaign skills will be tested soon with Canada likely headed for a general election in weeks.

The threats posed by Trump are expected to dominate the vote.

The US president has sought to bludgeon Canada, imposing sweeping import tariffs and threatening further levies while claiming the country is not “viable” on its own and should be annexed by Washington.

Carney, who was sworn in as Canada’s 24th prime minister at a ceremony in Ottawa, has described Trump’s stance as the most serious challenge Canada has faced in a generation.

“Everything in my life has prepared me for this moment,” Carney said Sunday after winning the Liberal Party leadership race.

He was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs before serving as governor of the Bank of Canada during the 2008-2009 financial crisis and led the Bank of England through the turmoil surrounding the Brexit vote.

He has sought to present himself as purpose-built to lead a country through a trade war with the United States, once Canada’s closest ally but now a country that Carney says Canada can “no longer trust.”

At a Group of Seven meeting in Quebec, Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said Carney would bring a “new dynamic” to US diplomacy.

Speaking before Carney was sworn in, Joly said she and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is at the G7, were working on setting up a call between Trump and Carney “in the next couple of days.”

– Tightening race –
Trump’s tariffs and insults have upended Canadian politics.

At the start of the year, the Liberals were trailing the Conservatives by 20 points in the polls.

But in the weeks since Trudeau announced his plans to resign on January 6, the race has tightened to a near draw.

“Carney is arriving at a good time. He has emerged as a figure people seem to trust to take on Donald Trump,” University of Winnipeg politics professor Felix Mathieu told AFP.

On the week Trump’s sweeping 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports came into force, Carney visited a steel plant in Hamilton, an industrial city near the US border in the province of Ontario.

Wearing a hard hat and goggles, Carney said he was ready to work out a trade deal with Trump.

But he insisted there must be “respect for Canadian sovereignty” in any negotiation.

– Distance from Trudeau –
Trudeau posted a goodbye message to Canadians on Thursday after nearly ten years in power, saying he was “proud to have served a country full of people who stand up for what’s right.”

Trudeau’s support had plummeted over the past year, but his standing partially rebounded following a series of resolute speeches in response to Trump.

Carney has made clear efforts to distance himself from Trudeau with moves aimed at attracting more centrist voters.

He has said addressing climate change will be a top priority but he is scrapping Trudeau’s “divisive” carbon tax on individuals and families while advancing market-led solutions.

And he is stopping a tax on capital gains that would have applied to the wealthiest Canadians, which the Trudeau government said was essential to shore up Canada’s finances.

“We think builders should be incentivized for taking risks and rewarded when they succeed,” he said on Sunday.

AFP

Headline

US Suspends Work Visas For Nigerian, Foreign Truck Drivers

Published

10 hours ago

August 23, 2025

Editor

The United States government has suspended the issuance of work visas for Nigerian and other foreign truck drivers, citing job security concerns and safety risks for American citizens.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the decision on Thursday, saying it takes immediate effect.

According to him, the rising number of foreign truck drivers on U.S. highways is both threatening lives and reducing opportunities for American truckers.

“Effective immediately, we are pausing all issuance of worker visas for commercial truck drivers.

“The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on U.S. roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers,” Rubio said.

The move comes under President Donald Trump’s renewed clampdown on immigration since returning to office in January 2025.

As part of new measures, travellers from countries with high visa overstay rates or weak travel databases will be required to pay a bond of $5,000 to $15,000 before obtaining certain categories of visas.

The U.S. Embassy in Nigeria also directed all visa applicants to disclose their social media handles from the past five years, warning that failure to comply could result in denial of applications and possible ineligibility for future visas.

Headline

Judge Orders Closure Of Trump’s Controversial ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Migrant Camp

Published

22 hours ago

August 22, 2025

Editor

A US federal judge on Thursday barred the Trump administration and Florida state government from bringing any new migrants to the detention centre known as “Alligator Alcatraz” and ordered much of the site to be dismantled, effectively shuttering the facility.

Florida’s government swiftly announced it would appeal the decision.

The detention centre was hastily assembled in just eight days in June with bunk beds, wire cages and large white tents at an abandoned airfield in Florida’s Everglades wetlands, home to a large population of alligators.

President Donald Trump, who has vowed to deport millions of undocumented migrants, visited the centre last month, boasting about the harsh conditions and joking that the reptilian predators will serve as guards.

Headline

Japan City Mulls Two-hour Daily Smartphone Limit

Published

23 hours ago

August 22, 2025

Editor

A Japanese city will urge all smartphone users to limit screen time to two hours a day outside work or school under a proposed ordinance that includes no penalties.

The limit, which will be recommended for all residents in central Japan’s Toyoake City, will not be binding, and there will be no penalties incurred for higher usage, according to the draft ordinance.

The proposal aims “to prevent excessive use of devices causing physical and mental health issues… including sleep problems,” Mayor Masafumi Koki said in a statement on Friday.

The draft urges elementary school students to avoid smartphones after 9:00 pm, and junior high students and older are advised not to use them after 10:00 pm.

The move prompted an online backlash, with many calling the plan unrealistic.

“I understand their intention, but the two-hour limit is impossible,” one user wrote on social media platform X.

“In two hours, I cannot even read a book or watch a movie (on my smartphone),” wrote another.

Others said smartphone use should be a decision for families to make for themselves.

The angry response prompted the mayor to clarify that the two-hour limit was not mandatory, emphasising that the guidelines “acknowledge smartphones are useful and indispensable in daily life”.

The ordinance will be considered next week, and if passed, it will come into effect in October.

In 2020, the western Kagawa region issued a first-of-its-kind ordinance calling for children to be limited to an hour a day of gaming during the week, and 90 minutes during school holidays.

It also suggested children aged 12 to 15 should not be allowed to use smartphones later than 9:00 pm, with the limit rising to 10:00 pm for children between 15 and 18.

Japanese youth spend slightly over five hours on average a day online on weekdays, according to a survey published in March by the Children and Families Agency.