Ambassador says Trump's choice of J.D. Vance as running mate is a 'good thing' for Canada
CBC
Canada's ambassador to the United States says "we're very happy" that Ohio Senator J.D. Vance is Donald Trump's vice-presidential running mate because of the senator's connections to Canada.
In an interview with CBC's Power & Politics on Monday, Kirsten Hillman said Vance is "someone we know well at the embassy" who has been seen at "many events supporting the Canada-U.S. relationship."
"That's a good thing for us, that he has this high level of knowledge," Hillman added.
Vance, a staunch conservative and author of the bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy, was praised by Trump for his military service and for graduating from Yale Law School.
"After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Ohio's economy is deeply intertwined with that of Canada. According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, in 2023 the state exported $21.4 billion in goods to Canada, representing 38 per cent of Ohio's total goods exports.
But Vance is linking himself to Trump, who has promised a worldwide tariff on imports if he wins — a measure which would be stricter than any trade policy during his first term.
Trump has offered few details about his trade policy in his campaign literature and in media interviews. He has said he envisions a 10 per cent global tax.
It's not clear if that policy would apply to Canada — but officials here are taking precautions. The federal government staged a large-scale diplomatic deployment in March when it sent more than dozen diplomats in various U.S. cities to meet American lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
On Monday, Hillman said that when talking to Democrats and Republicans, what works well for Canada is to not "question their motive of wanting to bring back jobs to America…. but to point out to them that those jobs depend on having good customers."
"If you really want to secure a safe, prosperous, resilient United States, then free trade with Canada is essential," she added. "I'm quite sure that someone from the state of Ohio doesn't want to see a tariff war with its biggest customer."
Hillman said in May that Ottawa isn't worried about the prospect of Donald Trump returning to the White House.
"But what matters here is that we are ready and prepared and able, as we've demonstrated, to work with both of the candidates that are up for election in the fall," Hillman said at the time.
Trump's announcement of Vance as his running mate came just days after the former president survived an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania campaign rally. The gunman's motives remain unknown.
Michael Vandell has been re-elected as chief of Deh Gáh Got’ı̨ę First Nation in N.W.T., defeating former Dehcho MLA Ronald Bonnetrouge.
A Canadian military counter-intelligence operative, accused of passing sensitive information to a foreign entity, was having conversations with a representative of Ukraine, CBC News has learned.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team has been called in to investigate an incident at the Dalhousie LRT station in which a Calgary police officer shot a man who was “acting erratically and carrying a knife.”
Around 40 people have been temporarily displaced after a building fire in O’Leary, in P.E.I.'s Prince County.
The price of the benchmark North American crude blend known as West Texas Intermediate, or WTI, slid to a four-year low on Tuesday, dipping to $55 US a barrel after starting the year off around $80.
The young man accused of being impaired and behind the wheel at the time he slammed into a Toronto family’s van, killing three children, has pleaded guilty in the case.
Gavin McKenna knew the haters would be ready to pounce.
Despite a deal to push government bills through their final stages before the House of Commons rose last Thursday, two pieces of priority budget and border legislation, C-4 and C-12, can't become law until at least February.
Skate Canada says it will no longer host major events in Alberta following a review of the province's legislation on the participation of transgender athletes in women's sport.
A surge of influenza among school-aged kids is linked to the recent deaths of multiple Ontario children, prompting calls for Canadian families to get vaccinated as medical experts brace for a worsening wave of infections across all age groups.
A London family doctor is not allowed to practice medicine for 10 months after being found guilty of professional misconduct.
Nearly three weeks after it started, the most complex fire in Toronto's history is finally out, but residents of two buildings in Thorncliffe Park still don't know if they'll be back home for the holidays.
The family of a man with schizophrenia charged with two counts of attempted murder is bracing for an aspect of the criminal justice system that is almost inevitable.