Incoming U-S president Donald Trump is sending an immediate threat to his closest neighbours. Once in office, he promises to impose a 25% tariff on all products coming in to the United States from Canada and Mexico. Trump says the tariff will remain in place until both countries stop drugs, in particular fentanyl, and people from illegally crossing the borders. Financial experts say this would harm businesses on both sides of the border –
and would “erode the economic and geopolitical strength of North America.”
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plans to call a meeting with the premiers to take a ‘Team Canada’ response to Donald Trump’s threat of hefty tariffs. He says he had a good call with Trump Monday night, noting the effective connections between the two countries. Trudeau says the meeting with premiers will take place this week.
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Federal finance minister Chrystia Freeland believes Canadians are in a ‘Vibesession’. She says there’s a disconnect between recent good news on inflation and interest rates – and how we feel about the economy. Freeland hopes the GST holiday will stimulate consumer spending, but experts say it’ll do little to change economic behaviour, compared to something like permanent income tax cuts.
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Municipalities across Manitoba, including Brandon, will get an additional $62 million over the next five years from the province as part of the newly created One Manitoba Growth Revenue Fund. Brandon mayor Jeff Fawcett
estimates the city’s share would be around $400,000 the first year.
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Canada Post says its made ‘limited progress’ with the union at the negotiating table 11 days after the strike began. There are a number of outstanding issues with wages leading the list. Based on last-year’s data, it estimated Canada Post would have delivered 10 million parcels during the strike period so far.
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A show many Manitobans cross the border to attend kicked-off on Monday – the 53rd Canadian Western Agribition is underway in Regina. Last year close to 143,000 people attended the event.
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‘Demure’, a word that went viral over the summer, has been named Dictionary-dot-com’s 2024 ‘Word of the Year’. It beat out contenders like ‘brainrot,’ ‘brat,’ and ‘weird.’ Demure’s rise is largely attributed to TikToker and beauty influencer Jools Lebron’s popularization of the phrase – ‘very demure, very mindful’ in a series of videos.
