Tag: Canada

Canada to open border to fully vaccinated U.S. citizens on Aug. 9

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TORONTO — Canada on Monday said it will begin to ease pandemic restrictions at the U.S.-Canada border next month, allowing U.S. citizens and permanent residents living in the United States who are fully vaccinated with Canadian-authorized vaccines to enter for nonessential travel without quarantining.

The decision, which takes effect Aug. 9, follows months of criticism from U.S. lawmakers across the political spectrum, business groups and some travelers over what they said was an overly cautious approach to lifting curbs that have split families, battered the tourism sector and upended life in close-knit border communities.

To be eligible for entry, fully vaccinated U.S. citizens and permanent residents must be asymptomatic and present a negative coronavirus molecular test taken within 72 hours of flight departure or arrival at a land crossing. Continue reading.

‘A uniquely humiliating moment’: London journalist explains why allies went from ‘admiring’ the US to ‘feeling pity’

AlterNet logoContrary to the claims of the United States’ right-wing media, most residents of Europe, Australia, Japan, Canada or New Zealand are not longing to move to the U.S. — they have heard all the horror stories about medical bankruptcies, mass incarceration and a lack of upward mobility. The rest of the developed world has continued to hope that the U.S. will overcome its problems, but in 2020 — with the U.S. being rocked by the coronavirus pandemic and huge protests in response to the killing of George Floyd on May 25 — long-time allies are worried. And London-based journalist Tom McTague discusses their worries in an article published by The Atlantic on June 24.

In the past, McTague explains, Europeans felt everything from admiration to envy to resentment where the U.S. was concerned. But in 2020, many of them are feeling “pity.”

“It is hard to escape the feeling that this is a uniquely humiliating moment for America,” McTague writes. “As citizens of the world the United States created, we are accustomed to listening to those who loathe America, admire America and fear America — sometimes all at the same time. But feeling pity for America? That one is new, even if the schadenfreude is painfully myopic. If it’s the aesthetic that matters, the U.S. today simply doesn’t look like the country that the rest of us should aspire to, envy or replicate.” Continue reading.

Canada announces immediate ban on ‘military-grade’ assault weapons

Washington Post logoTORONTO — The Canadian government on Friday announced an immediate ban on some 1,500 makes and models of “military-grade” assault weapons, including two models used by the gunman who killed 22 people last month in rural Nova Scotia during the country’s deadliest mass shooting.

“These weapons were designed for one purpose and one purpose only: to kill the largest amount of people in the shortest amount of time,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during a news conference in Ottawa on Friday that began with him listing several mass shootings in the country’s history.

“There is no use — and no place — for such weapons in Canada,” he said. While most firearms owners are responsible, he said, “you don’t need an AR-15 to bring down a deer.” Continue reading.

Hopes dim for passage of Trump trade deal

The Hill logoHouse Democrats say there’s little to no chance that Congress will take up President Trump‘s replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) before the end of summer. 

With only three more weeks scheduled to be in session before the August recess, House Democrats from across the spectrum are demanding that the trade pact with Mexico and Canada be renegotiated, citing concerns with the implications for labor and environmental standards as well as drug prices.

The Trump administration has been pushing for approval of the deal, known as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), by August due to concerns that the 2020 presidential campaign will make it politically impossible to complete the deal this fall. Congress will also have to deal with avoiding a government shutdown and debt default after returning to Washington on Sept. 9 from the monthlong summer recess.

View the complete July 5 article by Cristina Marcos on The Hill website here.

In Vancouver, a new anti-money laundering law will impact Trump’s company

New legislation puts British Columbia at the forefront of combating money-laundering practices in real estate—including the kinds of purchases made at the president’s property.

Thanks to new legislation coming out of the Canadian province of British Columbia, set to become law next year, we might soon learn the identities of people using shell companies to buy units in one of President Donald Trump’s most lucrative — and controversial — foreign real estate projects. The legislation would create a registry of real names behind anonymous shell companies and trusts — both of which are commonly used in money-laundering, and both of which have turned Vancouver into a global haven for dirty money.

Since its inception in 2017, the $360 million, 616-foot-tall Trump International Hotel and Tower in Vancouver has been dogged by controversy, especially as it pertains to worries about foreigners investing in the building in order to try to influence presidential decision-making. In 2018 U.S. counterintelligence officials began investigating the building, according to CNN, looking into the financing of the building’s construction and sales. Continue reading “In Vancouver, a new anti-money laundering law will impact Trump’s company”

House Candidate Phillips Says We Can Do Better on Health Care

Trump Announces Trade Pact with Mexico

The following article by John T. Bennett was posted on the Roll Call website August 27, 2018:

Deal comes amid efforts to update NAFTA but excludes Canada

Credit: Carolyn Kaster, AP Photo

Updated 1:24 p.m. | President Donald Trump on Monday announced a trade deal with Mexico aimed at revamping parts of the North American Free Trade Agreement, but Canadian officials still must sign off on the pact.

The president hailed the preliminary pact as a “big deal” in a Monday morning tweet, but — at least for now — it does not include Canada. Trump said during an Oval Office announcement that the new pact would not be called NAFTA.

The president dubbed the pact the “United States-Mexico Trade Agreement,” saying he wants to do away with the NAFTA moniker because it carries negative connotations.

“It’s a big day for trade. It’s a big day for our country,” Trump told reporters.

View the complete article here.

Trump Refuses to Sign G-7 Statement and Calls Trudeau ‘Weak’ Video

The following article by Michael D. Shear and Catherine Porter was posted on the New York Times website June 9, 2018:

At the meeting of the Group of 7 nations on Saturday, President Trump threatened to end trade with countries he says follow unfair trade practices and displayed confidence about the upcoming talks with North Korea.Published OnJune 9, 2018CreditImage by Doug Mills/The New York Times

QUEBEC CITY — President Trump upended two days of global economic diplomacy late Saturday, refusing to sign a joint statement with America’s allies, threatening to escalate his trade war on the country’s neighbors and deriding Canada’s prime minister as “very dishonest and weak.”

In a remarkable pair of acrimony-laced tweets from aboard Air Force One as he flew away from the Group of 7 summit toward a meeting with North Korea’s leader, Mr. Trump lashed out at Justin Trudeau. He accused the prime minister, who hosted the seven-nation gathering, of making false statements. Continue reading “Trump Refuses to Sign G-7 Statement and Calls Trudeau ‘Weak’ Video”

‘Didn’t You Guys Burn Down the White House?’ President Trump Fumbles in Phone Call With Justin Trudeau

The following article by Eli Meixler was posted on the Time website June 7, 2018:

Credit Doug Mills, The New York Times

President Trump seems to have fumbled on historical accuracy during a fraught phone call about trade with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau late last month, reportedly asking his northern counterpart, “Didn’t you guys burn down the White House?”

CNN reports that sources familiar with the conversation said Trump was responding to Trudeau’s query over how trade tariffs could be justified as a “national security” issue. Canadian broadcaster CBC also confirmed that the conversation took place.

But Trump’s quip, an apparent reference to the War of 1812, was erroneous; it was in fact the British who set the residence and other sites ablaze in 1814, in retaliation for an American attack on York, Ontario, which at the time was a British colony. Canada did not become a nation until 1867.

The May 25 phone call reportedly took on a contentious tone as the two North American leaders discussed Trump’s new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico and the E.U. The administration premised the tariffs on a little-used trade statute pertaining to threats to national security. Continue reading “‘Didn’t You Guys Burn Down the White House?’ President Trump Fumbles in Phone Call With Justin Trudeau”