Afternoon front page: Still no deal on U.S. trade; Pierre Poilievre’s path to survival; and more
- New U.S. tariffs of $29 billion on Canadian goods could take effect Wednesday unless trade negotiators in Washington reach a deal, with Canadian officials continuing talks this week.
- The Conservative party faces challenges as polls place them second, fundraising and morale decline, and leader Pierre Poilievre must decide on a strategy to regain power amid ongoing infighting.
- California growers have removed over 100,000 acres of healthy vineyards recently due to low demand, leaving 1.2 million tons of wine grapes to rot, a trend also seen outside California.
- Men are abusing Meta’s camera glasses to secretly record women in private places like gyms and bathrooms, posting the footage on social media where the women are identified and mocked.
It’s Tuesday, August 18. Here are the top stories we’re following today.
New U.S. tariffs are set to hit $29 billion worth of Canadian goods as of midnight Wednesday, unless negotiators can come to an agreement. Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Chief Trade Negotiator Janice Charette have remained in Washington this week. They met with United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and United States Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Monday. Following that, LeBlanc told reporters: “Our job is not yet done.”
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As Canada waits to see whether Prime Minister Mark Carney can strike a trade deal with Donald Trump, another deadline is looming: When will the Conservative party figure out a path back to power? Because right now it’s going nowhere. Polls put them a distant second, fundraising is down, as is morale, with Conservative infighting making headlines all summer. Pierre Poilievre faces two choices.
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California growers have removed more than 100,000 acres of healthy vineyards in recent years, according to industry estimates. In the last two, 1.2 million tons of wine grapes have reportedly been left to rot on the vine. The reason for the “explosion” of removal isn’t disease but demand, and the issue isn’t unique to California.
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The only sign that a pair of Meta glasses is recording you is a small white light on the frame, and it can be defeated. Men are using the camera glasses to film women who do not know it is happening, and not only on the street. It is happening in gyms, in bathrooms and in change rooms. The footage lands on Instagram and TikTok, where the women in it are identified and mocked in the comments.
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Less than a month ago, Green Party MP Elizabeth May sponsored a parliamentary petition calling for the removal of U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra, accusing him of undermining Canada-U.S. diplomatic relations and normalizing “51st state” language. But although the petition has caught fire, few actually Carney will seek Hoekstra’s expulsion.
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Canada has a particularly robust immune system, but rather than rejecting what is harmful, the country’s Laurentian standard-bearers swoop in to attack anything that could be positive, particularly if it is not aligned with a mushy left-wing worldview or with the interests of the Liberal party. So it is with the hysterics over Shopify CEO’s Tobi Lütke’s expression of opinions, like banning seniors from voting, in places where other people can read them.
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