OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney suggested Tuesday he is considering substituting or rescinding the Online News Act to ensure local news is disseminated wider and faster two years after Meta banned access to news on its platforms.
 

Carney made the unexpected suggestion while announcing over $1 billion in loan guaranteed and long-term supports for the softwood lumber industry at a mill in West Kelowna, B.C.
 

At the start of the news conference, Carney highlighted the brutal impact of wildfires this summer, including one that recently forced the evacuation of roughly 400 properties near West Kelowna.
 

Asked if his government is considering an alternative to the Online News Act — previously known as C-18 — or simply rescinding it so that Web giant Meta would lift its ban on news articles being shared on its platforms, Carney suggested that was “part of our thinking around” improving the reach of local media.

“This government is a big believer in the value of … local news and the importance of ensuring that that is disseminated as widely and as quickly as possible. So, we will look for all avenues to do that,” he said.
 

The prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to questions about which avenues specifically the government is considering to improve the dissemination of local news.
 

Meta controversially banned news articles
from its Canadian users two years ago in response to the federal government’s Online News Act, which compels social media giants to negotiate revenue-sharing deals with news publishers for the use of their content.

The bill specifically impacted Meta and Google, though both have taken diametrically opposing routes to get exempt from the Act. The former banned news content outright on its platforms when the bill became law, while the latter signed a $100 million annual deal with Canadian publishers last year.
 

Meta has argued against the “false premise” that it benefits from free online news articles and says that media companies are the ones that benefit from sharing their content to Facebook and Instagram audiences.
 

Shortly after Meta barred Canadian news articles on Facebook and Instagram, then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the web giant of “putting corporate profits ahead of people’s safety”.
 

“Instead of making sure that local journalists are fairly paid for keeping Canadians informed on things like wildfires, Facebook is blocking news from its sites,”
he said in August 2023
.
 

“Right now in an emergency situation where up-to-date local information is more important than ever, Facebook’s putting corporate profits ahead of people’s safety, ahead of supporting quality local journalism,” he added.
 

During his press conference, Carney also reiterated his government’s campaign commitment to boost funding for CBC/Radio-Canada and change its governance so that it could provide “unbiased, immediate, local information” during crises such the ongoing B.C. wildfires.
 

During the campaign, Carney committed to boosting the public broadcaster’s funding by $150 million yearly.

Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

National Post

cnardi@postmedia.com 

• Trudeau slams Facebook for removal of news during wildfire season
• Why Meta is blocking news, and what it means for Canadians

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An off-duty flight attendant who helped passengers escape and suffered her own injuries during a fiery upside-down crash of a Delta Air Lines flight at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport has filed a US$75-million lawsuit against the airline.

The 15-page suit, filed last week in Michigan by Vanessa Miles, claims: “This accident was caused, at least in part, by Defendants knowingly assigning an inexperienced and inadequately trained pilot to operate the flight, demonstrating a reckless disregard for passenger safety in pursuit of operational efficiency.”

It adds that the airline “cut corners on safety by rushing pilots through training programs.”

It goes on to list of number of alleged failures, including “Failure to ensure proper functioning of critical emergency evacuation equipment; Failure to properly train flight crew on emergency evacuation procedures; Absence of any emergency announcements or guidance during evacuation; Failure to properly maintain the aircraft’s landing gear and related systems; Failure to provide prompt medical assistance following the crash; and Failure to have adequate emergency response procedures in place.”

In response to a query from National Post, Delta noted that the captain was hired in 2007 and “has served both as an active duty Captain and in pilot training and flight safety capacities. Assertions that he failed training events are false. Assertions that he failed to flow into a pilot position at Delta Air Lines due to training failures are also false.”

It added that the first officer was hired last year “and completed training in April 2024. Her flight experience exceeded the minimum requirements set by U.S. Federal regulations. Assertions that she failed training events are false. Both crew members are qualified and FAA certified for their positions.”

It added: “We will decline further comment given this is pending litigation and also because of the ongoing TSB (Transportation Safety Board) of Canada investigation, to which Endeavor Air and Delta remain engaged participants.”

The lawsuit notes that Miles, aged 67, was a passenger on Endeavor Air Flight 4819, operating under the Delta Connection brand, which departed from Minneapolis on Feb. 17 and was scheduled to land at Toronto Pearson International Airport. Although she was employed by Endeavor as a flight attendant, she was “deadheading” at the time, “meaning she was traveling as a passenger to position herself for future work assignments.”

The crash happened when the Bombardier CRJ-900 aircraft bounced and rolled on landing at the Toronto airport, ending up on its roof. A wing was ripped off and a fire broke out. All 80 passengers and crew survived, although more than 20 people were taken to hospital.

The lawsuit says Miles was rendered unconscious while hanging upside down from her seatbelt after the plane came to a stop. When she awoke she “found herself soaked in jet fuel and surrounded by smoke, putting her at grave risk for chemical burns, asphyxiation, and death.”

The suit says she suffered “severe and permanent injuries, including … fractured left shoulder/scapula, traumatic brain injury with loss of consciousness, post-concussion syndrome with headaches, dizziness, and other cognitive difficulties, bilateral knee injuries, back injuries, exposure to jet fuel and toxic fumes, and psychological trauma including anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.”

In April, Miles was one of four recipients of the C.B. Lansing Memorial Award, given by the

Association of Flight Attendants

“to an AFA member who displays heroism beyond the call of duty in aviation.” The award was established

in memory of

Clarabelle Lansing, a flight attendant who was killed in 1988 when the flight on which she was working suffered an explosive decompression over Hawaii.

The organization notes that the award is “the highest honor a member may bestow upon a fellow member.” It was given to Hollie Gallagher and Rebecca Palazzola, the flight attendants working on the downed aircraft, and to Miles and Alita Parker, “deadheading Endeavor flying partners who assisted.”

A preliminary report by the

Transportation Safety Board of Canada

released in March does not disclose a specific cause for the crash, but it does mention that two additional airline employees who were on the flight as passengers helped evacuate the rear of the cabin.

Madeline Sinkovich, one of Miles’ lawyers, told the Post: “Our complaint alleges that basic safeguards, training, and evacuation procedures failed — and that corporate decisions put cost and schedule ahead of safety. The case proceeds under the Montreal Convention, which holds carriers liable for passenger injuries arising from onboard accidents. Ms. Miles continues to recover from significant injuries; we respect the Transportation Safety Board of Canada’s important work and will pursue full accountability in court.”

The final report by the Transportation Safety Board is expected next year. According

to the CBC

, there are at least 16 additional lawsuits that have been filed by passengers related to the incident.

• Delta passengers describe fiery plane crash that left them hanging ‘like bats’ at Toronto’s Pearson airport
• Toronto plane crash report includes new video and details about what went wrong with Delta aircraft

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — Time’s up. On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump raised the tariff rate on Canadian goods not covered under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) from 25 to 35 per cent, saying they “have to pay a fair rate.” The White House claims it’s because of Canada’s failure to curb the “ongoing flood of fentanyl and other illicit drugs.” U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data, however, show that fentanyl seizures from Canada make up less than 0.1 per cent of total U.S. seizures of the drug; most smuggling comes across the Mexican border.

But the future of Trump’s policy also rests on shaky ground, and the tariffs could come crashing down even if Canada can’t reach a deal at some point. Imposed through a controversially declared “national emergency” under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the tariffs come with essentially three paths for relief to Canadian exporters and their American customers: the courts and the economy.

And there’s always the wildcard: that the president changes his mind.

Without relying on that, National Post looks at two very possible ways out of all this:

The courts:

There is a big question hanging over whether Trump’s tariffs are even legal under the U.S. Constitution, which gives Congress powers over trade. Trump has bypassed that by claiming he’s using presidential IEEPA emergency powers.

On Thursday, the Washington, D.C.-based Federal Circuit Court of Appeals convened an en banc hearing for oral arguments in challenges to Trump’s use of IEEPA. The 11 judges questioned whether the law meant for sanctioning adversaries or freezing assets during emergencies grants Trump the power to impose tariffs, with one judge noting, “IEEPA doesn’t even mention the word ‘tariffs.’” The White House, meanwhile, says the law grants the president “broad and flexible” emergency powers, including the ability to regulate imports.

“Based on the tenor and questions of the arguments, it appears that the challengers have the better odds of prevailing,” Thomas Berry, the CATO Institute’s director of the Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies said in a statement. “Several judges peppered the government’s attorney with skeptical questions about why a broad term in IEEPA like ‘regulate importation’ should be read to allow the president to unilaterally impose tariffs.”

Trump’s lawyers claim his executive order provides the justifications for the tariffs — in Canada’s case, fentanyl. But Berry said “those justifications would not matter if IEEPA simply does not authorize tariffs in the first place. That is the cleanest and simplest way to resolve this case, and it appears that the Federal Circuit may be leaning toward that result.”

A decision is expected this month, and if it’s a resounding pushback from the judges’ panel, said Andrew Hale, a senior policy analyst at Heritage Foundation, the Supreme Court may not even take up the case. If so, he says, “these Liberation Day tariffs and everything that’s been imposed under emergency legislation, IEEPA, that all evaporates.”

At that point, the White House would not be able to declare across-the-board tariffs against countries. Instead, it would have to rely on laws allowing tariffs to be imposed on specific products that are found to threaten U.S. national security, like those currently imposed on Canadian steel and lumber.

The economy:

The other path to tariff relief is through economic pressure. If Americans start to see higher prices and economic uncertainty, and push back at the ballot box — or threaten to do so — it could force Trump to reverse course.

The most recent figures show that U.S. inflation, based on the Consumer Price Index, hit around 2.7 per cent in July. That’s a slight rise, fuelled by rising prices for food, transportation, and used cars. But it’s still close to the Federal Reserve target of 2 per cent.

U.S. unemployment rose slightly to 4.2 per cent in July, while far fewer jobs were created than expected, and consumer confidence rose two points but is still several points lower than it was in January.

Overall, most economists agree that risks of a U.S. recession over the next 12 months are relatively low, but skepticism over growth remains high. “Our outlook is for slower growth in the U.S., but no recession,” said Gus Faucher, chief economist of The PNC Financial Services Group. He notes that the “tariffs are going to be a drag” because they are a tax increase on imports.

Economists have said price inflation from tariffs is not yet being felt in the U.S., but believe it’s inevitable. “Trump’s tariff madness adds a great deal to the risks of a recession,” said Steven Hanke, professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University who served on President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisors.

“With tariffs, Americans are going to be paying a big new beautiful sales tax on goods and services imported into the U.S., and taxes slow things down. Taxes don’t stimulate.”

It is surprising that higher U.S. prices haven’t happened yet, said Jonathan Gruber, chairman of the economics department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. But he explained that it’s likely a reflection of the duration of contracts and the fact that import sellers haven’t yet put up prices — “because they were hoping it wouldn’t be real, like they’d wake up from this nightmare.”

“I think we start to see the effect on prices by the end of the year,” said Gruber.

The trouble for Canada, however, is that the Canadian economy is starting from a much weaker position, with higher unemployment, lower consumer confidence, and a slowing GDP, on top of the trade tensions. So, trying to wait things out for the U.S. to feel the pinch will be even more painful for Canadians. And any American downturn will also reverberate north.

“As Uncle Sam goes, so goes Canada,” said Hanke.

Gruber agrees with that, but with a caveat. “It’s all bad in the short run and good in the long run,” he says. He believes the U.S. is “weak and getting weaker” and that Canada should start taking advantage of how the U.S. is making opportunities for other countries to invest in themselves.

“We’re not investing in our future. We’re killing our education. We’re killing our research. We’re not allowing in immigrants,” he said, explaining the weakening of the U.S. economy. “We’re basically setting the stage for long-run economic slower growth.”

Meanwhile, China is doubling down on investment, research and other longer-term policies.

“Canada and other countries need to do the same,” Gruber said.

And as for when a backlash could lead to a reversal in the U.S., Gruber points to two factors.

“It’s got to be high inflation, and Trump’s opponents need to make sure that the voters understand that’s Trump’s fault.”

National Post

tmoran@postmedia.com

• Former U.S. ambassador on Canada negotiating with Trump: ‘You may not have the best hand’
• Carney ‘disappointed’ after Trump hits Canada with higher tariffs

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Although there’s no evidence of any significant flows of fentanyl into the United States from Canada, an American authority on “criminal supply chains” warned Friday that that could change abruptly if U.S. efforts to better seal its border with Mexico are successful.

Jonathan Caulkins, who researches

supply chains that support illegal markets

for the Manhattan Institute think tank and Carnegie Mellon University. said the drug cartels that control the North American fentanyl trade may well shift large chunks of their operations to Canada if the northern border becomes the path of least resistance.

Caulkins, the co-author behind

a recent Manhattan Institute study of fentanyl supply chains

, said the cartels are sophisticated, mobile and will adjust quickly if their cross-border routes are choked.

“They’re not trying (now), but they sure could,” he said in an interview hours after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to

increase tariffs on some Canadian exports

(those products that aren’t captured by the Canada-U.S.-Mexico free trade agreement) to the U.S. to 35 per cent from 25 per cent. Those tariffs, which kicked in earlier Friday, were necessary, according to Trump, because Canada has failed to co-operate with U.S. efforts to curb “the ongoing flood of fentanyl and other illicit drugs.”

Candace Laing, chief executive of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said Trump’s fact sheet on the tariffs should be called a “fact-less sheet” when it comes to using fentanyl as a justification for trade decisions about Canada. “More fact-less tariff turbulence does not advance North American economic security,” she said.

In the Manhattan Institute study, Caulkins and colleague Bishu Giri found that the vast majority of the fentanyl entering the U.S. from within North America is coming from Mexico, not Canada.

They used new data from 2023–24 to show that about 40 per cent of the large seizures of fentanyl in the U.S. occurred in counties along the Mexican border, while just 1.2 per cent of the fentanyl powder and 0.5 per cent of pills along the Canadian border.

To effectively combat the problem, the researchers wrote, law enforcement and legislators need to begin with accurate information. Caulkins said that fentanyl producers in Mexico and Canada are different in that the Canadian operations tend to produce opioids from imports that are nearly completely assembled with just the finishing ingredients added here, while the cartels in Mexico assemble all the ingredients to make opioids in that country to export to the U.S.

In both cases, he said, the imports are believed to come mostly from China, although India may also be a source.

Since Trump first raised the allegation earlier this year about fentanyl “pouring” into the U.S. from its northern neighbour, Canada has taken a number of steps to combat the flow of illegal drugs, and to be seen to be doing so, into the U.S.

The steps included: reinforcing the Canada-U.S. border with additional technology, helicopters and personnel; allocating $78.7 million to expand Health Canada’s regulatory capabilities; increasing co-ordination with American law enforcement counterparts; hiring a fentanyl “czar”; and launching consultations on improving crackdowns, as well as tabling Bill C-2, the Strong Borders Act to give Ottawa more law-enforcement powers.

Kevin Brosseau, the fentanyl czar, was not made available for an interview this week, but in an interim report released in June he pointed out that U.S. Customs and Border Patrol data show that only 0.1 per cent of fentanyl seizures at U.S. borders are at the Canada-U.S. border, far less than the flow of illegal narcotics into Canada from the U.S.

One thing that the players in the fight against illicit drugs seem to agree on is that the problem requires a multi-faceted response that addresses the border, legislative changes, money laundering and other financial angles, and enforcement that targets both precursors and fentanyl itself.

The RCMP also declined an interview this week, but stated in an email that it intends to hit organized crime “harder and faster” and that one of its priorities is to work with industry to prevent the diversion of precursors that are used to make fentanyl.

Jamie Tronnes, executive director for the Center for North American Prosperity and Security, the U.S.-based office of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, said Canada seems to be doing a good job of cracking down on the fentanyl trade, and ensuring that those efforts are seen by Trump and others in the White House. “I believe that Canada is doing everything it can to demonstrate it’s taking it seriously,” Tronnes said.

She said Canada could focus more, however, on money laundering and other international financial crimes.

Darren Gibb, head of communications at the Financial Transactions and Report Analysis Centre (FINTRAC), which works with police and financial institutions to target crimes such as money laundering and terrorist financing, said hiding profits from illegal activities such as fentanyl production isn’t easy. “It’s their Achilles’ heel,” he said of the drug cartels.

National Post

stuck@postmedia.com

• Trump signs executive order to start 35% tariffs on Friday
• Contrary to Trump’s claims, Canadian border is not major source of fentanyl, U.S. report says

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.

Two Jewish groups say they have been excluded from participating in Montreal’s upcoming Pride Parade next Sunday.

Ga’ava, a Jewish LGBTQ+ group in Quebec, and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), a large community political organization, said they were informed on Wednesday by event organizer, Fierté Montréal, that they would be barred from attending.

A public statement from

Fierté Montréal published later

that day does not name either group but explained that the festival’s board of directors had “made the decision to deny participation in the Pride Parade to organizations spreading hateful discourse.”

“We refuse to allow the spaces of the Fierté Montréal to be instrumentalized in the context of a conflict that involves major violations of fundamental human rights,” the group elaborated in a lengthy Instagram post that also expressed “solidarity with the Palestinian people” and called for “an immediate and lasting peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

Ga’ava

president Carlos Godoy called the announcement “a very hateful decision,” which tells “Jews that they can’t walk together in the Montreal Pride Parade.”

“It sends a signal that when LGBTQ pride is concerned, Jews can’t sit with them,” Godoy told National Post.

Fierté Montréal did not respond to a request for comment, and instead pointed to its initial statement, saying the organization was “in the midst of the festivities and working hard to deliver an exceptional festival.”

Although Fierté Montréal’s statement underscores it “remains a space for all 2SLGBTQIA+ people,” the Pride organizers did not explain whether they had taken similar actions in the past with other ethnic, religious or national groups.

“This measure is taken in the context of a complex geopolitical situation and stems from our commitment to preserving the emotional and physical safety to our communities,” the original press release says.

Julien Corona, the director of strategic communications and public relations for CIJA Quebec, called the decision “a dark day for the LGBTQ+ movement here in Quebec but also in all of Canada.”

Fierté Montréal has faced internal strife in recent years that has been amplified after Hamas invaded Israel on October 7, 2023. During the 2024 Pride Parade in Montreal, the parade was shut down for nearly an hour by a contingent of supporters

carrying

Palestinian and Lebanese flags, resulting in a tense standoff with police.

WATCH: “SHUT THE F*CK UP” anti-Israel protesters hijack Montreal’s pride parade and perform a ‘die in’ and stopping the march.

Follow https://t.co/jpizCiOXoc for more! pic.twitter.com/EX5VEtV5wT

— Alexandra Lavoie (@ThevoiceAlexa) August 12, 2024

On Wednesday, just before the decision to bar Jewish groups from participating in the parade was announced, Samya Lemrini, a local activist and 

immigration lawyer

, published a message in French on Instagram acknowledging the decision was imminent but did not reflect any sympathy on the part of Fierté Montréal towards Palestinians.

“Please don’t be fooled friends — it’s a reaction to an internal crisis because they were going to lose all their employees and because artists and groups are withdrawing one by one,” the

lawyer

wrote. “They don’t care about us, they never did. They just have no other choice.”

Lemrini is part of a breakaway LGBTQ group – Wild Pride – that has planned an

alternate

festival during the same time and place in Montreal. Social media posts from the group

include

calls to “Liberate Judaism from Zionism,” and members also participated in an event on Thursday

entitled

“Intifada on the Dancefloor.”

According to Godoy, just one performer,

Safia Nolin

, had announced she would not participate in Pride festivities due to the presence of Zionist groups. Nolin took to Instagram on Thursday and wrote that she was recently “made aware of the presence of Ga’ava, an LGBTQ+ Zionist group” and an Israeli flag had been flown at last year’s parade. “How does that make you feel? This is unacceptable.”

Godoy called on Fierté Montréal’s major sponsors, including TD Bank and the Quebec government, to condemn the announcement and ensure the organizers maintain an inclusive and safe space.

TD Bank, which is

listed

as the official presenter of the parade, did not respond in time for publication.

• Amy Hamm: Pride tears itself apart over Israel, existence of gay conservatives
• Ottawa Pride loses key allies over anti-Israel stance

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