Wednesday's letters: Wrong to sell parkland to community group
Re. 'Selling Wellington Park land cheaply for an African centre raises questions,' May 20
I read today that council's executive committee has unanimously recommended the sale of a portion of Wellington Park to the African Multicultural Community Centre for the token price of $1. This decision clearly needs a complete rethink.
On many levels, this decision is simply wrong. Firstly, the City of Edmonton should not be getting involved in any one minority group's desire to establish a centre for the use of their own members. This is a private group's desire and is serving that single group and, as such, should not be supported by public funds.
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Toronto Sun
12 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
Trump praises Liberian leader on English -- his native tongue
Jim WATSON/AFP Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP Washington — U.S. President Donald Trump complimented the president of Liberia Wednesday on his English-speaking skills — despite English being the official language of the West African nation. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Trump was hosting a White House lunch with African leaders Wednesday, and — after brief remarks from President Joseph Boakai — asked the business graduate where he had picked up his linguistic know-how. 'Thank you, and such good English … Where did you learn to speak so beautifully? Where were you educated?' Trump said. Boakai — who, like most Liberians, speaks English as a first language — indicated he had been educated in his native country. He was facing away from the media, making his countenance hard to gauge — but his laconic, mumbled response hinted at awkwardness. Trump, who was surrounded by French-speaking presidents from other West African nations, kept digging. 'It's beautiful English. I have people at this table can't speak nearly as well,' he said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a multilateral lunch with visiting African leaders at the White House. Jim WATSON/AFP Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP US engagement in Liberia began in the 1820s when the Congress- and slaveholder-funded American Colonization Society began sending freed slaves to its shores. Thousands of 'Americo-Liberian' settlers followed, declaring themselves independent in 1847 and setting up a government to rule over a native African majority. The country has a diverse array of indigenous languages and a number of creolized dialects, while Kpelle-speakers are the largest single linguistic group. Boakai himself can read and write in Mendi and Kissi but converses in Liberia's official tongue and lingua franca — English. RECOMMENDED VIDEO Toronto Blue Jays Toronto & GTA Olympics Basketball Columnists
Global News
15 hours ago
- Global News
Trump slaps Brazil with 50% tariff, citing Bolsonaro ‘witch hunt' trial
U.S. President Donald Trump singled out Brazil for import taxes of 50 per cent on Wednesday for its treatment of its former president, Jair Bolsonaro, showing that personal grudges rather than simple economics were driving the U.S. leader's use of import taxes. Trump avoided his standard form letter with Brazil, specifically tying his tariffs to the trial of Bolsonaro, who is charged with trying to overturn his 2022 election loss. Trump has described Bolsonaro as a friend and hosted the former Brazilian president at his Mar-a-Lago resort when both were in power in 2020. 'This Trial should not be taking place,' Trump wrote in the letter posted on Truth Social. 'It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!' Trump also objected to Brazil's Supreme Court fining of social media companies such as X, saying the temporary blocking last year amounted to 'SECRET and UNLAWFUL Censorship Orders.' Story continues below advertisement Trump said he is launching an investigation as a result under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which applies to companies with trade practices that are deemed unfair to U.S. companies. The Brazil letter was a reminder that politics and personal relations with Trump matter just as much as any economic fundamentals. And while Trump has said the high tariff rates he's setting are based on trade imbalances, it was unclear by his Wednesday actions how the countries being targeted would help to reindustrialize America. Trump also sent letters Wednesday to the leaders of seven other nations. None of them — the Philippines, Brunei, Moldova, Algeria, Libya, Iraq and Sri Lanka — is a major industrial rival to the United States. Most economic analyses say the tariffs will worsen inflationary pressures and subtract from economic growth, but Trump has used the taxes as a way to assert the diplomatic and financial power of the U.S. on both rivals and allies. His administration is promising that the taxes on imports will lower trade imbalances, offset some of the cost of the tax cuts he signed into law on Friday and cause factory jobs to return to the United States. Trump, during a White House meeting with African leaders, talked up trade as a diplomatic tool. Trade, he said, 'seems to be a foundation' for him to settle disputes between India and Pakistan, as well as Kosovo and Serbia. Story continues below advertisement 'You guys are going to fight, we're not going to trade,' Trump said. 'And we seem to be quite successful in doing that.' Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy On Monday, Trump placed a 35 per cent tariff on Serbia, one of the countries he was using as an example of how fostering trade can lead to peace. Trump said the tariff rates in his letters were based on 'common sense' and trade imbalances, even though the Brazil letter indicated otherwise. Trump suggested he had not thought of penalizing the countries whose leaders were meeting with him in the Oval Office — Liberia, Senegal, Gabon, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau — as 'these are friends of mine now.' Countries are not complaining about the rates outlined in his letters, he said, even though those tariffs are close to the ones announced April 2 that rattled financial markets. The S&P 500 index was up slightly in Wednesday afternoon trading. 'We really haven't had too many complaints because I'm keeping them at a very low number, very conservative as you would say,' Trump said. 0:27 Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro indicted for alleged 2022 coup attempt Officials for the European Union, a major trade partner and source of Trump's ire on trade, said Tuesday that they are not expecting to receive a letter from Trump listing tariff rates. The Republican president started the process of announcing tariff rates on Monday by hitting two major U.S. trading partners, Japan and South Korea, with import taxes of 25 per cent. Story continues below advertisement According to Trump's letters, imports from Libya, Iraq, Algeria and Sri Lanka would be taxed at 30 per cent, those from Moldova and Brunei at 25 per cent and those from the Philippines at 20 per cent. The tariffs would start Aug. 1. The Census Bureau reported that last year that the U.S. ran a trade imbalance on goods of $1.4 billion with Algeria, $5.9 billion with Iraq, $900 million with Libya, $4.9 billion with the Philippines, $2.6 billion with Sri Lanka, $111 million with Brunei and $85 million with Moldova. The imbalance represents the difference between what the U.S. exported to those countries and what it imported. Taken together, the trade imbalances with those seven countries are essentially a rounding error in a U.S. economy with a gross domestic product of $30 trillion. The letters were posted on Truth Social after the expiration of a 90-day negotiating period with a baseline levy of 10 per cent. Trump is giving countries more time to negotiate with his Aug. 1 deadline, but he has insisted there will be no extensions for the countries that receive letters. Maros Sefcovic, the EU's chief trade negotiator, told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France, on Wednesday that the EU had been spared the increased tariffs contained in the letters sent by Trump and that an extension of talks until Aug. 1 would provide 'additional space to reach a satisfactory conclusion.' Story continues below advertisement Trump on April 2 proposed a 20 per cent tariff for EU goods and then threatened to raise that to 50 per cent after negotiations did not move as quickly as he would have liked, only to return to the 10 per cent baseline. The EU has 27 member states, including France, Germany, Italy and Spain. The tariff letters are worded aggressively in Trump's style of writing. He frames the tariffs as an invitation to 'participate in the extraordinary Economy of the United States,' adding that the trade imbalances are a 'major threat' to America's economy and national security. The president threatened additional tariffs on any country that attempts to retaliate. He said he chose to send the letters because it was too complicated for U.S. officials to negotiate with their counterparts in the countries with new tariffs. It can take years to broker trade accords. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba interpreted the Aug. 1 deadline as a delay to allow more time for negotiations, although he cautioned in remarks that the tariffs would hurt his nation's domestic industries and employment. Malaysia's trade minister, Zafrul Aziz, said Wednesday that his country would not meet all of the U.S. requests after a Trump letter placed a 25 per cent tariff on its goods. Aziz said U.S. officials are seeking changes in government procurement, halal certification, medical standards and digital taxes. Aziz he indicated those were red lines. Story continues below advertisement Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to arrive Thursday in Malaysia's capital of Kuala Lumpur.
Toronto Sun
19 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
U.S. copper tariffs threat met with shrugs, skepticism, though risks remain
Published Jul 09, 2025 • 1 minute read U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a multilateral lunch with African leaders in the State Dining Room of the White House July 9, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Photo by Win McNamee / Getty Images While Canadian copper miners have largely said U.S. copper tariffs won't affect them, some market analysts are wondering how realistic the threat really even is. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he was planning to impose 50 per cent tariffs on copper imports, though any details on possible exemptions or timing have yet to be announced. Derek Holt, head of capital markets economics at Scotiabank, says in a note that the broader market hasn't reacted much to the threat, and it could be that investors are waiting to see proof that the tariffs are actually going to happen, and endure, before changing their bets. He notes that the price of copper has already soared in recent years — driven in part by demands from electric vehicles and the energy transition — and U.S. tariff moves would only drive costs higher. Holt says there is no sensible rationale for the tariffs, whose costs will be paid by American consumers and businesses. Mining Association of Canada president Pierre Gratton has also questioned the wisdom of the move that he says would hurt U.S. manufacturers and help China. Read More Olympics Canada Uncategorized Toronto & GTA Ontario
