On helping Canadians affected by tariffs:PM Carney is rolling out a sweeping Buy Canadian policy, arguing the U.S. can no longer be trusted as a reliable trading partner. “What’s going on is not a transition, it’s a rupture,” said Carney.
— Politico (@politico.com) September 5, 2025 at 10:16 AM
[image or embed]
Carney cancels invite for Project 2025 mastermind, wants fascist takeover of Canada to be more of a surprise
— The Beaverton (@thebeaverton.com) September 4, 2025 at 2:32 PM
[image or embed]
SMITH’S BOOK BAN BACKFIRES AS UCP UNRAVELS
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and her United Conservative Party government have been forced to backtrack on their controversial order to remove “sexually explicit” books from school libraries after overwhelming public opposition, including criticism from Canadian literary icon Margaret Atwood, whose The Handmaid’s Tale appeared on one of the removal lists.
The UCP’s education minister originally framed the directive as a way to keep pornographic material out of schools. But the actual order was far broader, prompting Edmonton Public Schools to list more than 200 titles as unacceptable in order to remain compliant. The list included Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, both internationally celebrated works studied in classrooms for decades. [To see the list, click here]
The government’s attempt to sell the policy as child protection quickly collapsed once it became clear that the scope of the ban extended far beyond what was publicly claimed. Critics say the move was less about protecting children and more about appeasing ideological lobby groups that had pressed the government to impose restrictions.
Pushback against the order snowballed over the weekend, with Atwood publicly criticizing the government twice on Twitter/X. Educators, parents, and community leaders also condemned the measure as censorship that undermines public education.
By Tuesday, the government announced the directive would be paused. While Smith has tried to cast blame on school boards for “mismanaging” the rollout, the reversal underscores the growing perception that her government is increasingly out of touch with the everyday concerns of Albertans.
....With teachers on the brink of striking and Albertans facing rising costs of living, many are asking why the province’s leadership is preoccupied with censorship and culture wars instead of solving the problems that matter most.
When we told you you to ban all the books, we like totally didn't mean to _ban all the books_, sheesh #AbPoli #AbLeg
— Victor L. McConought (@vic4alberta.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 3:44 PM
There is no flood of newcomers anymore, Mr. PoilievreI find all of these numbers to be mind-numbing detail, but there doesn't seem to be any other way to deal with the Poilievre Three-Word Slogan approach to politics. Basically, all of these articles should just start with "Poilievre. Is. Wrong. Again."
...Now net immigration is pretty much zero.
...The statement issued by Mr. Poilievre last week blasted the government for supposedly blowing through the 2025 targets for new arrivals of temporary workers only halfway through the year. It was repeated by the National Citizens Coalition lobby group and picked up by some pundits who chimed in. But they misinterpreted the statistics
Mr. Poilievre’s statement said that 105,000 new temporary foreign workers had come in the first half of 2025, when the government had set a target of 82,000 new arrivals. But the 105,000 figure included work-permit renewals. Immigration and Refugees and Citizenship Canada reported there were 33,722 new arrivals.
Similarly, the Conservatives charged that the 302,000 work permits issued from January to June under the separate International Mobility Program exceed the target of 285,000. But again, many of the permits were renewals, and in this case, postgraduate work permits. According to IRCC, there were 85,512 new arrivals to Canada under IMP.
Postgraduate work permits and extensions are important if you want to understand what’s going on in Canada’s immigration system right now.
The big surge of temporary residents earlier in the decade came when Mr. Trudeau’s Liberals failed to realize colleges were recruiting vast numbers of international students. Many came with a guarantee that when they graduated they would get a three-year work permit. So international students who arrived in 2023 might be eligible for work permits through 2028 or 2030.
Now Ottawa has embarked on a process of reducing the numbers of temporary residents. One part is reducing new arrivals. The IRCC reports there were 214,000 fewer new arrivals of temporary workers and international students in the first half of 2025 than in the same period the year before.
But another part is an effort to turn temporary residents into permanent residents. Many of the 395,000 people to get permanent resident status in 2025 were already here.
In total, the immigration plan calls for slightly more people to leave in 2025 than arrive. Already, population growth in the first quarter of 2025, according to Statistics Canada, was 0.0 per cent.
The Liberals certainly deserve mountains of blame for the failures of 2021 to 2024, but Mr. Poilievre has no business pretending the number of immigrants is still going up.
... there is no flood of newcomers. Rapid population growth has stopped. There are other things to fix.
View on Threads
The most surprising thing about his congestive heart failure is the presence of an actual heart.
— John Pavlovitz (@johnpavlovitz) August 25, 2025
i don't think it's happening yet, but no one in the press corpse having seen trump for two days and him not even playing golf this weekend is... a little exciting
— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachine.com) August 29, 2025 at 5:43 PM
It’s a complex, tangled picture. Here’s a look at what tariffs are currently in place and why, what more is being threatened, and how Canada has reacted to the trade war so far:It still makes my brain hurt to try to understand this.
Active U.S. tariffs against Canada
• 50 per cent tariff on steel and aluminum imports into the U.S., because of an alleged threat to American security. This tariff originally came in at 25 per cent on March 12, but Trump increased it to 50 per cent on June 4.
• 25 per cent tariff on auto parts imported into the U.S. kicked in May 3, except for those that comply with the 2018 Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), the current North American free trade deal. Trump also imposed a 25 per cent tariff on all cars and light trucks not made in the U.S., including from Canada, which took effect April 3. Trump justified the tariffs again for national security reasons.
• 35 per cent tariff on Canadian goods that don’t comply with CUSMA, and a 10 per cent tariff on energy products from Canada, which was first announced in February and came into effect March 4 at a lower 25 per cent rate on goods. On Aug. 1 the U.S. hiked goods tariffs to 35 per cent. Trump has tied these so-called border tariffs to claims of a national emergency over fentanyl and migrants crossing the U.S. border illegally from Canada. On March 7, Canada won an exemption to these tariffs for all goods that comply with CUSMA. RBC Economics estimated in an April report that, because of this exemption, about 86 per cent of Canadian exports could still cross the border without tariffs.
• 20.56 per cent tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber, over alleged “dumping” of cheaper products into the U.S. market. The Trump administration increased the tariff in late July from 7.66 per cent.
• 50 per cent tariff on some copper imports as of Aug. 1.
Retaliatory Canadian tariffs
• 25 per cent tariffs on $29.8 billion worth of steel and aluminum products from the U.S., implemented March 13 in response to Trump’s tariffs on the same goods from Canada.
• 25 per cent tariff on fully assembled vehicles that don’t comply with CUSMA since they are made with less than 75 per cent North American content. This counter-tariff took effect April 9. Components of compliant cars that aren’t made in Canada or Mexico are subject to the 25 per cent tariff. The tariff targets about $35 billion worth of American vehicles brought into Canada.
Other Canadian actions
• Canada abandoned its long-planned Digital Services Tax on June 29, after Trump said he would walk away from trade talks over the tax that would hit American online giants.
• Canada removed its 25 per cent retaliatory tariffs on American goods that comply with CUSMA, effective Sept. 1. The measure was initially implemented March 4 in response to Trump’s border tariffs.
Threatened U.S. tariffs
• Trump has threatened a “very high” tariff on pharmaceutical imports, possibly as high as 200 per cent.
• The U.S. is considering tariffs on semiconductors and critical minerals as part of national security reviews.
Asked about developing the Port of Churchill vt.tiktok.com/ZSAa7WK92/
— Jeff's Fact Checker (@thunderbayed.bsky.social) August 27, 2025 at 8:26 AM
[image or embed]
Canada's Checkmate: Why Putin's Betting on Western Collapse Just FailedCarney's other stops are also showing how Carney intends to connect Canada with Europe:
Canada finally has a leader. So does the world.
... Carney was clear and precise. He told Ukraine exactly what they would get, and when. No need to read between the lines.
Carney and President Zelensky signed a deal on drone co-production worth $680 million, set to begin next month. Canada also joined the PURL scheme — a funding pool where allies contribute money, Ukraine prepares a weapons list, and the U.S. supplies them.
More importantly, Carney declared that Canada will not rule out sending troops to Ukraine after a peace agreement. He didn't hedge. His words carried the weight of intent:
"In Canada's judgement, it is not realistic that the only security guarantee could be the strength of the Ukrainian armed forces in the medium term. So that needs to be buttressed. It needs to be addressed."This wasn't vague diplomatic language. It was a signal to every NATO strategist in Europe: Canada is ready to move....
By declaring Canada's readiness to join a peacekeeping force, Carney cut through the diplomatic fog. He wasn't making a suggestion—he was staking out a position. NATO strategists in Brussels now have a concrete framework to build around. Berlin, which has been cautious about postwar commitments, suddenly has political cover to move forward. Paris, which has talked about troops but wavered on details, now has an ally willing to share the burden. London, wobbling under domestic pressure, has been handed a lifeline.
The signal to Moscow was equally clear: there will be no victory through waiting. Putin's calculation has always been that Western resolve would crack, that domestic politics would eventually force Ukraine's allies to abandon ship. Carney's declaration shattered that hope. A peacekeeping force backed by Canada, Britain, and France—with German support—isn't a negotiating position Putin can simply outlast. It's a permanent commitment he'll have to live with.
This is how leadership works in wartime: not through grand speeches, but through irreversible commitments that force everyone else to choose sides.
...If Putin once dreamed that Western support would dry up, those dreams are over....
RIGA – Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada will keep troops in Latvia through to 2029, as part of a mission to deter Russian aggression in Europe.
— Winnipeg Free Press (@winnipegfreepress.com) August 26, 2025 at 11:04 AM
[image or embed]
Poilievre’s problem isn’t just that Carney is well-liked - it’s that Poilievre isn’t. Simply waiting for Carney to shed popularity is more like a hope than a strategy for the Conservatives. bruce728.substack.com/p/let-pierre...
— Diane (@dianeellison.bsky.social) August 25, 2025 at 8:55 AM
[image or embed]
The internet we need
— Seth Abramson (@sethabramson.bsky.social) August 19, 2025 at 5:08 PM
[image or embed]
1) declared war on paper straws, he won that one. 2) declared war on Coca Cola, won that one 3) declares a war on golf fashion 4) declared war on public health, won that along with Gravely Jacked McBrainworm. 5) declared war on trade, winning-at our expense. 6) War on decor with gaudy gold.
— Roy Kent's Niece (@tedlassofangirl.bsky.social) August 19, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Pragmatism in action. We’re so fortunate to have such a qualified person leading us. Imagine slimeball Poilievre bunging everything up, stumbling out of Diagalon trailers dishevelled and making decisions based on dated right wing populist ideology and punitive grievance.
— Stephano Barberis 🍁 (@hellostephano.bsky.social) August 22, 2025 at 2:47 PM
[image or embed]
Tariffs are like shooting yourself and hoping the other country bleeds. Go ahead, drop them, we don't have to buy their shit Their liquor industry found out there's worse things than tariffs: exclusion. Keep up the #BoycottUSA hurt them hard. Hurt them often. #Elbowsup www.cbc.ca/news/politic...
— L Bennett 🇨🇦 🇪🇺🇺🇦✌🏻#TeamCanada #ElbowsUp (@thatgenxwidower.bsky.social) August 22, 2025 at 12:26 PM
[image or embed]
