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00:00:40.000The United States conducted airstrikes on Iran targeting three nuclear sites within the country, marking the first direct American strike since the Israel-Iran conflict broke out last week.
00:00:56.000President Donald Trump announced the attacks on True Social before addressing the nation in a short televised announcement.
00:01:03.000The sites were known to be facilities where the Iranian regime was enriching uranium.
00:01:09.000Trump spoke at 10 p.m. Eastern Time from the White House discussing the military operation in Iran.
00:01:16.000He characterized the moment as a, quote, historic moment for the United States of America, Israel, and the world, and demanded that Iran must now agree to end this war.
00:01:26.000Iran's leadership had previously warned the United States on Wednesday that strikes targeting the regime would, quote, result in irreparable damage for them.
00:01:35.000Ishmael Baghe, a spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, noted that, quote, any American intervention would be a recipe for an all-out war in the region.
00:01:46.000The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen who reached a deal with the United States in May have indicated they would resume attacks on U.S. vessels in the Red Sea if the U.S. joined Israel's military campaign.
00:01:59.000This is obviously the most significant news to come out of the presidency of Donald Trump.
00:02:07.000And in terms of how it affects Canada, it might be the most significant next to the actual trade tariffs that are still ongoing.
00:02:18.000How has Prime Minister Mark Carney responded to this?
00:02:23.000I mean, this is a huge escalation in international affairs, but it's also something that will have wide-reaching geopolitical effects, not only on Canada, but foreign policy abroad.
00:02:39.000So what has the response been from the Canadian government, but also Prime Minister Mark Carney himself?
00:02:45.000Well, there has been no endorsement of these strikes thus far when Israel began striking key facilities, especially nuclear facilities in Iran.
00:02:55.000Prime Minister Carney and the Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand did not endorse the strikes.
00:03:01.000However, they did say, then reiterate, that it is of the Canadian government's view that Iran should not possess any nuclear weapons
00:03:09.000and that they ought to cease enriching uranium to the level that they are currently.
00:03:16.000And they have also called for de-escalation and a return to negotiations and talks.
00:03:21.000However, these negotiations have been going on for over a decade.
00:03:25.000If you recall, in 2015, President Obama signed an agreement with Iran that was then subsequently ripped up by President Trump in his first term.
00:03:36.000And since then, the Biden administration, they attempted to negotiate with Iran unsuccessfully.
00:03:42.000And now that Trump is back in office, Iran has continued to enrich uranium to very high levels.
00:03:50.000They are developing intercontinental ballistic missiles.
00:03:54.000I believe they have already successfully developed those missiles.
00:03:58.000And a nuclear warhead could be outfitted on top of those missiles.
00:04:03.000So Iran is getting dangerously close to obtaining a nuclear weapon.
00:04:07.000And it seems as if Prime Minister Carney and his government recognizes that the severity of Iran attaining a nuclear weapon have come out clearly against this being a possibility.
00:04:20.000And while they have not condemned the military action against Iran's three nuclear facilities, they did not explicitly endorse it.
00:04:29.000This was a similar statement that Keir Starmer had also put out.
00:04:33.000With that being said, Conservative leader Pierre Polyev, he had been a bit more supportive of the strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.
00:04:43.000Pierre Polyev made it very clear that the regime in Iran is a genocidal regime and that the, quote, American and Israeli actions to stop it from getting one, one being a nuclear bomb, are 100 percent justified.
00:04:59.000So Pierre Polyev is just coming out and endorsing the strikes against these nuclear facilities.
00:05:06.000I think that many people in the West are thankful that the United States and Israel had the backbone, had the will to strike those facilities.
00:05:16.000I know that the German Chancellor said something similar to that effect.
00:05:20.000But if Canada is not going to be supportive of these strikes, it really begs the question, what sort of military action can the Carney government support?
00:05:31.000I mean, they're not supporting Israel's war against Hamas.
00:05:34.000They are not coming out and, you know, giving a strong statement of support for the Israel and the United States striking these nuclear facilities.
00:05:42.000So it really begs the question what they are going to support.
00:05:46.000This is a strike that is clearly in the best interest of the Western world, Iran.
00:05:51.000Some of their mottos include death to Israel and death to America.
00:05:55.000And if they're chanting death to America, I mean, we're neighbors with the United States.
00:05:59.000A vast majority of Canada's population lives very close to the American border.
00:06:04.000So if Iran, you know, God forbid they ever did attempt to strike the United States with nuclear weapons, Canada would also be on the chopping block.
00:06:12.000So I think it's a very good thing that Israel and the United States have conducted these strikes to ensure that Iran does not obtain these weapons.
00:06:21.000Although I believe that a lot of Canadians would have liked to seen Prime Minister Carney give a stronger statement in support to that effect.
00:06:29.000For the second consecutive year, Montreal's annual Canada Day Parade has been cancelled with organizers citing ongoing labor disruptions and strained relations with the city government.
00:06:42.000Nicolas Cohen, the longtime organizer of the parade, announced the cancellation in a media release Wednesday calling it a difficult situation caused by persistent planning disruptions.
00:06:52.000Cohen said, quote, safety is our number one priority when it comes to large events such as the Montreal Canada Day Parade.
00:06:59.000When different city departments of workers cause disruptions, you no longer just have to focus on the safety of the public, but the functional aspect of the event.
00:07:07.000Cohen pointed to deteriorating condition with the city government as a challenge, saying relations with city officials have worsened in recent years after the COVID-19 pandemic.
00:07:16.000He accused the city of failing to provide meaningful solutions despite assurances from the mayor's office that his concerns would be addressed.
00:07:23.000First held in 1977, the Canada Day Parade has traditionally drawn thousands of spectators to downtown Montreal each year.
00:07:31.000The event's future has since become uncertain, with Cohen cancelling last year's edition as well, citing excessive bureaucratic red tape.
00:07:39.000At the time, the city said no permit requests had been submitted.
00:07:42.000City officials issued a similar response this week, stating that Cohen, again, failed to submit a project application for this year's parade, despite repeated invitations from municipal staff.
00:07:52.000Meanwhile, the city confirmed that a different Canada Day celebration, La Marche en Marche, organized by Production EGP, will proceed on July 1.
00:08:01.000In addition, the city of Montreal will host its official Canada Day event at the Croix de la Rouge in the Old Port.
00:08:08.000Cohen acknowledged the impact of rising costs and labour negotiations on city workers, saying he understands their grievances, but emphasized that the lack of cooperation makes it nearly impossible to stage a public event of this size.
00:08:20.000So, Cosmin, it's really ironic that Montreal, one of the biggest supporters of the Liberal Party in the last election, the Elbows Up Liberal Party, is having a hard time organizing a simple Canada Day event.
00:08:33.000A Canada Day event that has been going on for decades now, since 1977.
00:08:38.000And this is an event that you would think would draw a bunch of Canada-loving, patriotic Canadians who are opposed to Canada becoming the 51st state.
00:08:48.000Yet, there's not enough enthusiasm for actually getting this Canada Day celebration up and going.
00:08:55.000So, why are the Elbows Up Liberals enthusiastic about celebrating Canada Day?
00:09:00.000Well, it does seem to be a repeat of 2024.
00:09:04.000If you recall back then, the same issue reared its head.
00:09:09.000There is a different climate or rather context to this year's celebration because of all of the showboating, you might add, that the Liberals and Montreal being a heavily Liberal voting region did during the last federal election.
00:09:27.000But I would blame this on local municipal government.
00:10:23.000But for somehow, Montreal, one of Canada's largest and most successful metropolitan areas, simply can't get it together.
00:10:34.000Prime Minister Mark Carney's government is facing strong criticism from political opposition and industry groups over its handling of the United States' decision to impose a 50% tariff on Canadian steel.
00:10:49.000On Thursday, Carney announced that the government would be imposing new tariff measures to counteract the elevated tariff rate U.S. President Donald Trump imposed on Canadian steel imports.
00:10:59.000In March, Trump imposed a 25% tariff on Canadian steel, to which the Canadian government almost immediately responded with its own 25% tariff.
00:11:08.000However, industry groups are disappointed with the government's response to Trump's new tariff hike.
00:11:15.000A joint statement issued on Thursday, the Canadian Steel Producers Association and the United Steel Workers Union slammed the Carney government for their retaliatory measures against American tariffs.
00:11:27.000The Carney government imposed a new tariff rate quota on steel products at 100% of 2024 levels applied retroactively to steel imports for the entire year.
00:11:38.000The government also announced that it would be adopting additional tariff measures in the coming weeks to protect Canada's steel and aluminum sectors on the basis of country of melt and pour for steel and country of smelt and cast for aluminum.
00:11:53.000The Conservative Party joined the chorus in slamming the Liberal government for its failure in responding to Trump's tariff hike on Canadian steel, claiming the Prime Minister dragged his feet.
00:12:04.000In a joint statement between Conservative MPs Raquel Dancho, Shelby Cramp Newman and Adam Chambers, they said that under Carney's leadership, tariffs on Canadian steel have only gotten worse, devastating Canadian businesses.
00:12:18.000The MPs said, quote, despite the Prime Minister having had months to act, he has dragged his feet.
00:12:24.000Now Canadian steel is facing an existential threat and the plan he announced falls short, according to steel industry and steel workers.
00:12:33.000Their futures are uncertain as thousands of jobs and billions in economic activity are at risk because this government, which ran on standing up to President Trump, has failed in its foremost objective.
00:12:45.000The MPs added that losing Canada steel industry not only means the loss of thousands of jobs and economic harm, but is also a threat to Canada's national security.
00:12:54.000There doesn't seem to be consistency from the Carney government when it comes to its position on retaliation.
00:13:02.000If you recall back, they initially went into retaliatory dollar for dollar tariffs.
00:13:09.000That was the original pitch to Canadians during the election.
00:13:13.000But then we've discovered because of Oxford economics that the Carney government actually exempted a vast majority of the goods under its own retaliatory tariffs during the election.
00:13:29.000At least the decision was made by cabinet while Prime Minister Mark Carney was campaigning and it was pretty much hidden up.
00:13:38.000And then now they increase these quotas for a 30 day period until presumably a trade deal gets signed with the United States.
00:13:48.000But why hasn't Carney been decisive in his approach to combatting American tariffs?
00:13:55.000I think it's unclear as to the direct reasoning as to why Prime Minister Carney and his government has been so wishy-washy on tariffs.
00:14:02.000But I think it's pretty concerning that the Prime Minister in his first few months in the role feel so comfortable saying one thing to the Canadian public and taking a completely different approach when it comes to actually implementing policy.
00:14:17.000We saw on the campaign trail, as you mentioned, that the Liberals, they campaigned on dollar for dollar tariffs.
00:14:23.000That was the entire objective to ensure that the United States they don't annex us or something like that or at the very least they don't commit severe economic harm against workers in, say, the steel industry or the aluminum industry.
00:14:38.000However, as you mentioned, the exemptions really shows that the Canadian government, the Carney government, is not actually serious in implementing these dollar for dollar tariffs.
00:14:47.000Now, quite frankly, I don't think that retaliatory tariffs is necessarily a good idea.
00:14:52.000You're still committing economic harm against yourself when you impose tariffs in that manner.
00:14:58.000But at the end of the day, this was the approach that Prime Minister Carney campaigned on.
00:15:03.000It is the one that his government got a mandate for and he is not taking that approach whatsoever.
00:15:10.000It is really concerning that he would go to a steel plant or he would just tell people in the automotive sector, in the steel sector, in the aluminum sector,
00:15:20.000that their jobs will be protected by the Canadian government in the imposition of tariffs against the United States.
00:15:27.000But he would say those those nice platitudes to those workers and then turn around and take his time, drag his feet in conducting a response to the increase of tariffs on Canadian steel from 25 percent to 50 percent.
00:15:44.000But it also seems as if the Carney government isn't really making any progress in getting President Trump to back down on his tariffs.
00:15:52.000In fact, all Prime Minister Carney has managed to do is get a photo op with the president in Kananaskis and at the White House,
00:16:00.000whereas President Trump has continued to increase tariffs as we already mentioned on June 3rd.
00:16:06.000He increased tariffs on Canadian steel to 50 percent.
00:16:12.000So it doesn't seem as if he is making progress on those key objectives.
00:16:16.000And how long will the Canadian public wait to give the Prime Minister in order to tangibly see results?
00:16:23.000Prime Minister Carney and President Trump, they committed to getting a trade deal done within a month after the conclusion of the G7.
00:16:32.000So I think that will in due time be seeing the fruits of the Canadian government's labor.
00:16:39.000But if an agreement is shown to the Canadian public that still has massively high tariffs on Canadian goods going into the United States and the Americans are able to carve out exemptions favorable to them in a new trade agreement,
00:16:56.000I think the Canadian public, they're going to start to turn on Prime Minister Carney.
00:17:01.000Instead of viewing him as a competent, technocratic elite, they're going to view him as an incompetent, arrogant person who lied to the Canadian public in an election campaign.
00:17:13.000That's it for today, folks. Thanks for tuning in.
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