Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is taking some time to reflect after Chrystia Freeland’s bombshell resignation as finance minister, Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said Tuesday. That comes as the number of Liberals who are calling for Trudeau to step aside appears to have grown. “The prime minister, as I understand it, a number of caucus colleagues have said that the prime minister has said that he will reflect on both the decision that minister Freeland made, but also what he’s heard from members of his own caucus,” Jonathan Wilkinson said in an interview with The Canadian Press. “I think we all need to give him a little time to reflect, and I respect that fact that he’s going to take some time to reflect.” The House of Commons is now on its holiday break, giving Trudeau a few weeks to decide on his next move before MPs return to Ottawa on Jan. 27. Freeland’s decision to walk away from the top cabinet job came three days after Trudeau had informed her she would be moved out of the finance portfolio in the next cabinet shuffle. The news came out just hours before she was set to present the government’s fall economic statement in the House of Commons. That kicked off a day of turmoil on Parliament Hill that began with an unexpected cabinet meeting, followed by hours of confusion about which minister might table the important financial update, or if it would be introduced at all. Several Liberal MPs demanded an emergency caucus meeting, and during that evening gathering, some of them called for Trudeau to step aside as party leader. New Brunswick MP Wayne Long, one of 23 caucus members who signed a letter back in October calling for Trudeau to quit, remains adamant that it’s time for Trudeau to go. He said this time “is so different than times before.” “We certainly have more MPs than last time. So, if I had to guess how many more right now, I’d say we’re probably at 40 to 50 right now,” Long said. The attempt to oust Trudeau earlier in the fall ultimately failed to garner support from anyone in cabinet. This time, Long said, at least five cabinet ministers believe it’s time for a change at the top — though he did not identify them. “I certainly am one to say to my colleagues, to ministers in particular: ‘Let’s come out of the shadows,’” Long said. “Let’s openly, once and for all, state how we feel and let’s move forward with what we know has to happen.” Several former cabinet ministers have called for Trudeau to go, including former environment minister Catherine McKenna on Tuesday. “Every Liberal MP should be calling on the prime minister to resign,” she said in a post on social media. “The surest way to elect a Conservative majority and lose all the progress we’ve made is for him to stay. And we need to focus on tariff threat from the U.S. It’s over.” But most current cabinet ministers, when asked, have backed the prime minister publicly. Before question period on Tuesday Treasury Board President Anita Anand and Diversity Minister Kamal Khera, replied “yes” when asked if they support the prime minister. Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said the same. Prince Edward Island MP Sean Casey isn’t convinced this attempt to push Trudeau out will work any differently than when he and 22 colleagues asked the prime minister to resign in October. At the time, Liberal MPs told reporters that Trudeau pledged to reflect on what was said. The very next day, he publicly stated his intention to stay on as leader. Casey does not think the prime minister will take a walk in the snow now, either. “There’s not a single indicator in anything that he says or does that would tell me otherwise. He seems to be absolutely committed and he has throughout the piece, he’s been remarkably consistent,” Casey said. Whenever Trudeau has been asked if he intends to lead the Liberals in the next election the response has been an unambiguous “yes.” Trudeau typically holds a cabinet retreat before the return of Parliament and a long-anticipated cabinet shuffle is likely to come soon. He replaced Freeland immediately with longtime friend and ally Dominic LeBlanc, who officially is now the minister of public safety, finance and intergovernmental affairs. Anand also holds two portfolios, juggling Treasury Board with transport, which she took on after Pablo Rodriguez stepped aside to prepare a run for the Liberal leadership in Quebec. There are also at least five sitting ministers who do not plan to run in the next election, including Housing Minister Sean Fraser, whose announcement on Monday about his future was completely overshadowed by Freeland’s bombshell. It has been a tumultuous fall for the government. The Liberals survived three non-confidence votes in the House of Commons and have struggled to advance legislation because of a filibuster on a Conservative privilege motion related to misspending at a now-defunct green technology fund. On Tuesday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre once again called on NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh to topple the government. Poilievre said Canada needs an election because U.S. president-elect Donald Trump “can spot weakness from a mile away” and the Trudeau government is weak. Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet also said a new Parliament is needed “as soon as possible,” and he wants to see an election called in January. Blanchet said Trudeau has lost the political, moral and ethical authority to govern. On Monday, Singh called for Trudeau to step down but did not make a firm comment on whether the NDP would vote non-confidence in the Liberal government, saying only that “all options are on the table.” The NDP, which ended a formal supply-and-confidence agreement to support the Liberals in September, has since voted with the government on all three non-confidence motions, trying to spin it as voting against the Conservatives rather than with the Liberals. Singh has repeatedly said a Poilievre-led Conservative government would cut things New Democrats have fought for like dental care, pharmacare and other social programs.
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By BILL BARROW, Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who won the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, endured humbling defeat after one tumultuous term and then redefined life after the White House as a global humanitarian, has died. He was 100 years old. The longest-lived American president died on Sunday, more than a year after entering hospice care , at his home in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died at 96 in November 2023 , spent most of their lives, The Carter Center said. Businessman, Navy officer, evangelist, politician, negotiator, author, woodworker, citizen of the world — Carter forged a path that still challenges political assumptions and stands out among the 45 men who reached the nation’s highest office. The 39th president leveraged his ambition with a keen intellect, deep religious faith and prodigious work ethic, conducting diplomatic missions into his 80s and building houses for the poor well into his 90s. “My faith demands — this is not optional — my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can, with whatever I have to try to make a difference,” Carter once said. A moderate Democrat, Carter entered the 1976 presidential race as a little-known Georgia governor with a broad smile, outspoken Baptist mores and technocratic plans reflecting his education as an engineer. His no-frills campaign depended on public financing, and his promise not to deceive the American people resonated after Richard Nixon’s disgrace and U.S. defeat in southeast Asia. “If I ever lie to you, if I ever make a misleading statement, don’t vote for me. I would not deserve to be your president,” Carter repeated before narrowly beating Republican incumbent Gerald Ford, who had lost popularity pardoning Nixon. Carter governed amid Cold War pressures, turbulent oil markets and social upheaval over racism, women’s rights and America’s global role. His most acclaimed achievement in office was a Mideast peace deal that he brokered by keeping Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at the bargaining table for 13 days in 1978. That Camp David experience inspired the post-presidential center where Carter would establish so much of his legacy. Yet Carter’s electoral coalition splintered under double-digit inflation, gasoline lines and the 444-day hostage crisis in Iran. His bleakest hour came when eight Americans died in a failed hostage rescue in April 1980, helping to ensure his landslide defeat to Republican Ronald Reagan. Carter acknowledged in his 2020 “White House Diary” that he could be “micromanaging” and “excessively autocratic,” complicating dealings with Congress and the federal bureaucracy. He also turned a cold shoulder to Washington’s news media and lobbyists, not fully appreciating their influence on his political fortunes. “It didn’t take us long to realize that the underestimation existed, but by that time we were not able to repair the mistake,” Carter told historians in 1982, suggesting that he had “an inherent incompatibility” with Washington insiders. Carter insisted his overall approach was sound and that he achieved his primary objectives — to “protect our nation’s security and interests peacefully” and “enhance human rights here and abroad” — even if he fell spectacularly short of a second term. Ignominious defeat, though, allowed for renewal. The Carters founded The Carter Center in 1982 as a first-of-its-kind base of operations, asserting themselves as international peacemakers and champions of democracy, public health and human rights. “I was not interested in just building a museum or storing my White House records and memorabilia,” Carter wrote in a memoir published after his 90th birthday. “I wanted a place where we could work.” That work included easing nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, helping to avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and negotiating cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan. By 2022, The Carter Center had declared at least 113 elections in Latin America, Asia and Africa to be free or fraudulent. Recently, the center began monitoring U.S. elections as well. Carter’s stubborn self-assuredness and even self-righteousness proved effective once he was unencumbered by the Washington order, sometimes to the point of frustrating his successors . He went “where others are not treading,” he said, to places like Ethiopia, Liberia and North Korea, where he secured the release of an American who had wandered across the border in 2010. “I can say what I like. I can meet whom I want. I can take on projects that please me and reject the ones that don’t,” Carter said. He announced an arms-reduction-for-aid deal with North Korea without clearing the details with Bill Clinton’s White House. He openly criticized President George W. Bush for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He also criticized America’s approach to Israel with his 2006 book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.” And he repeatedly countered U.S. administrations by insisting North Korea should be included in international affairs, a position that most aligned Carter with Republican President Donald Trump. Among the center’s many public health initiatives, Carter vowed to eradicate the guinea worm parasite during his lifetime, and nearly achieved it: Cases dropped from millions in the 1980s to nearly a handful. With hardhats and hammers, the Carters also built homes with Habitat for Humanity. The Nobel committee’s 2002 Peace Prize cites his “untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” Carter should have won it alongside Sadat and Begin in 1978, the chairman added. Carter accepted the recognition saying there was more work to be done. “The world is now, in many ways, a more dangerous place,” he said. “The greater ease of travel and communication has not been matched by equal understanding and mutual respect.” Carter’s globetrotting took him to remote villages where he met little “Jimmy Carters,” so named by admiring parents. But he spent most of his days in the same one-story Plains house — expanded and guarded by Secret Service agents — where they lived before he became governor. He regularly taught Sunday School lessons at Maranatha Baptist Church until his mobility declined and the coronavirus pandemic raged. Those sessions drew visitors from around the world to the small sanctuary where Carter will receive his final send-off after a state funeral at Washington’s National Cathedral. The common assessment that he was a better ex-president than president rankled Carter and his allies. His prolific post-presidency gave him a brand above politics, particularly for Americans too young to witness him in office. But Carter also lived long enough to see biographers and historians reassess his White House years more generously. His record includes the deregulation of key industries, reduction of U.S. dependence on foreign oil, cautious management of the national debt and notable legislation on the environment, education and mental health. He focused on human rights in foreign policy, pressuring dictators to release thousands of political prisoners . He acknowledged America’s historical imperialism, pardoned Vietnam War draft evaders and relinquished control of the Panama Canal. He normalized relations with China. “I am not nominating Jimmy Carter for a place on Mount Rushmore,” Stuart Eizenstat, Carter’s domestic policy director, wrote in a 2018 book. “He was not a great president” but also not the “hapless and weak” caricature voters rejected in 1980, Eizenstat said. Rather, Carter was “good and productive” and “delivered results, many of which were realized only after he left office.” Madeleine Albright, a national security staffer for Carter and Clinton’s secretary of state, wrote in Eizenstat’s forward that Carter was “consequential and successful” and expressed hope that “perceptions will continue to evolve” about his presidency. “Our country was lucky to have him as our leader,” said Albright, who died in 2022. Jonathan Alter, who penned a comprehensive Carter biography published in 2020, said in an interview that Carter should be remembered for “an epic American life” spanning from a humble start in a home with no electricity or indoor plumbing through decades on the world stage across two centuries. “He will likely go down as one of the most misunderstood and underestimated figures in American history,” Alter told The Associated Press. James Earl Carter Jr. was born Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains and spent his early years in nearby Archery. His family was a minority in the mostly Black community, decades before the civil rights movement played out at the dawn of Carter’s political career. Carter, who campaigned as a moderate on race relations but governed more progressively, talked often of the influence of his Black caregivers and playmates but also noted his advantages: His land-owning father sat atop Archery’s tenant-farming system and owned a main street grocery. His mother, Lillian , would become a staple of his political campaigns. Seeking to broaden his world beyond Plains and its population of fewer than 1,000 — then and now — Carter won an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating in 1946. That same year he married Rosalynn Smith, another Plains native, a decision he considered more important than any he made as head of state. She shared his desire to see the world, sacrificing college to support his Navy career. Carter climbed in rank to lieutenant, but then his father was diagnosed with cancer, so the submarine officer set aside his ambitions of admiralty and moved the family back to Plains. His decision angered Rosalynn, even as she dived into the peanut business alongside her husband. Carter again failed to talk with his wife before his first run for office — he later called it “inconceivable” not to have consulted her on such major life decisions — but this time, she was on board. “My wife is much more political,” Carter told the AP in 2021. He won a state Senate seat in 1962 but wasn’t long for the General Assembly and its back-slapping, deal-cutting ways. He ran for governor in 1966 — losing to arch-segregationist Lester Maddox — and then immediately focused on the next campaign. Carter had spoken out against church segregation as a Baptist deacon and opposed racist “Dixiecrats” as a state senator. Yet as a local school board leader in the 1950s he had not pushed to end school segregation even after the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision, despite his private support for integration. And in 1970, Carter ran for governor again as the more conservative Democrat against Carl Sanders, a wealthy businessman Carter mocked as “Cufflinks Carl.” Sanders never forgave him for anonymous, race-baiting flyers, which Carter disavowed. Ultimately, Carter won his races by attracting both Black voters and culturally conservative whites. Once in office, he was more direct. “I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over,” he declared in his 1971 inaugural address, setting a new standard for Southern governors that landed him on the cover of Time magazine. His statehouse initiatives included environmental protection, boosting rural education and overhauling antiquated executive branch structures. He proclaimed Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the slain civil rights leader’s home state. And he decided, as he received presidential candidates in 1972, that they were no more talented than he was. In 1974, he ran Democrats’ national campaign arm. Then he declared his own candidacy for 1976. An Atlanta newspaper responded with the headline: “Jimmy Who?” The Carters and a “Peanut Brigade” of family members and Georgia supporters camped out in Iowa and New Hampshire, establishing both states as presidential proving grounds. His first Senate endorsement: a young first-termer from Delaware named Joe Biden. Yet it was Carter’s ability to navigate America’s complex racial and rural politics that cemented the nomination. He swept the Deep South that November, the last Democrat to do so, as many white Southerners shifted to Republicans in response to civil rights initiatives. A self-declared “born-again Christian,” Carter drew snickers by referring to Scripture in a Playboy magazine interview, saying he “had looked on many women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times.” The remarks gave Ford a new foothold and television comedians pounced — including NBC’s new “Saturday Night Live” show. But voters weary of cynicism in politics found it endearing. Carter chose Minnesota Sen. Walter “Fritz” Mondale as his running mate on a “Grits and Fritz” ticket. In office, he elevated the vice presidency and the first lady’s office. Mondale’s governing partnership was a model for influential successors Al Gore, Dick Cheney and Biden. Rosalynn Carter was one of the most involved presidential spouses in history, welcomed into Cabinet meetings and huddles with lawmakers and top aides. The Carters presided with uncommon informality: He used his nickname “Jimmy” even when taking the oath of office, carried his own luggage and tried to silence the Marine Band’s “Hail to the Chief.” They bought their clothes off the rack. Carter wore a cardigan for a White House address, urging Americans to conserve energy by turning down their thermostats. Amy, the youngest of four children, attended District of Columbia public school. Washington’s social and media elite scorned their style. But the larger concern was that “he hated politics,” according to Eizenstat, leaving him nowhere to turn politically once economic turmoil and foreign policy challenges took their toll. Carter partially deregulated the airline, railroad and trucking industries and established the departments of Education and Energy, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He designated millions of acres of Alaska as national parks or wildlife refuges. He appointed a then-record number of women and nonwhite people to federal posts. He never had a Supreme Court nomination, but he elevated civil rights attorney Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the nation’s second highest court, positioning her for a promotion in 1993. He appointed Paul Volker, the Federal Reserve chairman whose policies would help the economy boom in the 1980s — after Carter left office. He built on Nixon’s opening with China, and though he tolerated autocrats in Asia, pushed Latin America from dictatorships to democracy. But he couldn’t immediately tame inflation or the related energy crisis. And then came Iran. After he admitted the exiled Shah of Iran to the U.S. for medical treatment, the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun in 1979 by followers of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Negotiations to free the hostages broke down repeatedly ahead of the failed rescue attempt. The same year, Carter signed SALT II, the new strategic arms treaty with Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union, only to pull it back, impose trade sanctions and order a U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. Hoping to instill optimism, he delivered what the media dubbed his “malaise” speech, although he didn’t use that word. He declared the nation was suffering “a crisis of confidence.” By then, many Americans had lost confidence in the president, not themselves. Carter campaigned sparingly for reelection because of the hostage crisis, instead sending Rosalynn as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy challenged him for the Democratic nomination. Carter famously said he’d “kick his ass,” but was hobbled by Kennedy as Reagan rallied a broad coalition with “make America great again” appeals and asking voters whether they were “better off than you were four years ago.” Reagan further capitalized on Carter’s lecturing tone, eviscerating him in their lone fall debate with the quip: “There you go again.” Carter lost all but six states and Republicans rolled to a new Senate majority. Carter successfully negotiated the hostages’ freedom after the election, but in one final, bitter turn of events, Tehran waited until hours after Carter left office to let them walk free. At 56, Carter returned to Georgia with “no idea what I would do with the rest of my life.” Four decades after launching The Carter Center, he still talked of unfinished business. “I thought when we got into politics we would have resolved everything,” Carter told the AP in 2021. “But it’s turned out to be much more long-lasting and insidious than I had thought it was. I think in general, the world itself is much more divided than in previous years.” Still, he affirmed what he said when he underwent treatment for a cancer diagnosis in his 10th decade of life. “I’m perfectly at ease with whatever comes,” he said in 2015 . “I’ve had a wonderful life. I’ve had thousands of friends, I’ve had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence.” ___ Former Associated Press journalist Alex Sanz contributed to this report.
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WildBrain Ltd. ( TSE:WILD – Get Free Report ) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as C$1.66 and last traded at C$1.62, with a volume of 131501 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$1.65. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. National Bankshares raised their target price on shares of WildBrain from C$1.25 to C$1.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on shares of WildBrain from C$1.00 to C$1.40 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Check Out Our Latest Research Report on WILD WildBrain Price Performance Insider Buying and Selling at WildBrain In related news, insider Fine Capital Partners, L.P. bought 64,140 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of C$1.50 per share, with a total value of C$96,102.24. 1.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. About WildBrain ( Get Free Report ) WildBrain Ltd. engages in the development, production, and distribution of films and television programs in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Content and Licensing; Global Licensing; and Canadian Television Broadcasting. It focuses on children’s and family content, including animated series; provides content production and distribution services; and sells advertising ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) platforms. Further Reading Receive News & Ratings for WildBrain Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for WildBrain and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is taking some time to reflect after Chrystia Freeland’s bombshell resignation as finance minister, Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said Tuesday. That comes as the number of Liberals who are calling for Trudeau to step aside appears to have grown. “The prime minister, as I understand it, a number of caucus colleagues have said that the prime minister has said that he will reflect on both the decision that minister Freeland made, but also what he’s heard from members of his own caucus,” Jonathan Wilkinson said in an interview with The Canadian Press. “I think we all need to give him a little time to reflect, and I respect that fact that he’s going to take some time to reflect.” The House of Commons is now on its holiday break, giving Trudeau a few weeks to decide on his next move before MPs return to Ottawa on Jan. 27. Freeland’s decision to walk away from the top cabinet job came three days after Trudeau had informed her she would be moved out of the finance portfolio in the next cabinet shuffle. The news came out just hours before she was set to present the government’s fall economic statement in the House of Commons. That kicked off a day of turmoil on Parliament Hill that began with an unexpected cabinet meeting, followed by hours of confusion about which minister might table the important financial update, or if it would be introduced at all. Several Liberal MPs demanded an emergency caucus meeting, and during that evening gathering, some of them called for Trudeau to step aside as party leader. New Brunswick MP Wayne Long, one of 23 caucus members who signed a letter back in October calling for Trudeau to quit, remains adamant that it’s time for Trudeau to go. He said this time “is so different than times before.” “We certainly have more MPs than last time. So, if I had to guess how many more right now, I’d say we’re probably at 40 to 50 right now,” Long said. The attempt to oust Trudeau earlier in the fall ultimately failed to garner support from anyone in cabinet. This time, Long said, at least five cabinet ministers believe it’s time for a change at the top — though he did not identify them. “I certainly am one to say to my colleagues, to ministers in particular: ‘Let’s come out of the shadows,’” Long said. “Let’s openly, once and for all, state how we feel and let’s move forward with what we know has to happen.” Several former cabinet ministers have called for Trudeau to go, including former environment minister Catherine McKenna on Tuesday. “Every Liberal MP should be calling on the prime minister to resign,” she said in a post on social media. “The surest way to elect a Conservative majority and lose all the progress we’ve made is for him to stay. And we need to focus on tariff threat from the U.S. It’s over.” But most current cabinet ministers, when asked, have backed the prime minister publicly. Before question period on Tuesday Treasury Board President Anita Anand and Diversity Minister Kamal Khera, replied “yes” when asked if they support the prime minister. Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said the same. Prince Edward Island MP Sean Casey isn’t convinced this attempt to push Trudeau out will work any differently than when he and 22 colleagues asked the prime minister to resign in October. At the time, Liberal MPs told reporters that Trudeau pledged to reflect on what was said. The very next day, he publicly stated his intention to stay on as leader. Casey does not think the prime minister will take a walk in the snow now, either. “There’s not a single indicator in anything that he says or does that would tell me otherwise. He seems to be absolutely committed and he has throughout the piece, he’s been remarkably consistent,” Casey said. Whenever Trudeau has been asked if he intends to lead the Liberals in the next election the response has been an unambiguous “yes.” Trudeau typically holds a cabinet retreat before the return of Parliament and a long-anticipated cabinet shuffle is likely to come soon. He replaced Freeland immediately with longtime friend and ally Dominic LeBlanc, who officially is now the minister of public safety, finance and intergovernmental affairs. Anand also holds two portfolios, juggling Treasury Board with transport, which she took on after Pablo Rodriguez stepped aside to prepare a run for the Liberal leadership in Quebec. There are also at least five sitting ministers who do not plan to run in the next election, including Housing Minister Sean Fraser, whose announcement on Monday about his future was completely overshadowed by Freeland’s bombshell. It has been a tumultuous fall for the government. The Liberals survived three non-confidence votes in the House of Commons and have struggled to advance legislation because of a filibuster on a Conservative privilege motion related to misspending at a now-defunct green technology fund. On Tuesday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre once again called on NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh to topple the government. Poilievre said Canada needs an election because U.S. president-elect Donald Trump “can spot weakness from a mile away” and the Trudeau government is weak. Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet also said a new Parliament is needed “as soon as possible,” and he wants to see an election called in January. Blanchet said Trudeau has lost the political, moral and ethical authority to govern. On Monday, Singh called for Trudeau to step down but did not make a firm comment on whether the NDP would vote non-confidence in the Liberal government, saying only that “all options are on the table.” The NDP, which ended a formal supply-and-confidence agreement to support the Liberals in September, has since voted with the government on all three non-confidence motions, trying to spin it as voting against the Conservatives rather than with the Liberals. Singh has repeatedly said a Poilievre-led Conservative government would cut things New Democrats have fought for like dental care, pharmacare and other social programs.Looking to celebrate New Year's Eve on a budget? Here are 10 parties with tickets under $100.
Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Begins Coverage on Northeast Bank (NASDAQ:NBN)
While it's the end of an era for Findlay's Vacuum and Sewing on the North Shore, the location won't be vacant for long as Lee's Music is primed to take over the building by next spring. 's storefront has been at its location at 249 Tranquille Road since 1983. Owner and operator Patti Montpetit said she has worked at the store since 2002, bought the business in 2004 and has run it with her family since. It's last day of operation was Saturday, Dec. 28. “I’m ready for retirement, I have two wonderful grandchildren and I want to move back to the Island. I miss the ocean,” said Montpetit. “The community is impacted every time a family business closes down, of course it does. But unfortunately, we have to live our lives too.” With Findlay’s vacating the location, a deal was struck with Lee’s Music, which will be moving in some time next year. Montpetit said The Sewing Machine Doctors will be taking over the business’ sewing machine repair contracts and Hi-Tech Vacuums will be doing vacuum repairs “We wanted to make sure we didn’t leave everybody in the lurch, we are the last sewing machine sales people here,” Montpetit said. While the business had searched for a new owner, Montpetit said no buyer could be found. She said she's always had to compete with online shopping. “It’s a sign of change, and change happens and we have to allow that in life. It’s sad when you’re not shopping local, you notice Amazon prices are starting to rise because there’s no competition,” she said. “Nowadays I almost feel obsolete.” Montpetit said since the store announced it was closing she has heard from hundreds in the community wishing her the best. “The North Shore is amazing, the storefront’s been here forever, it seems like, and our community has always supported us,” she said. “I’m going out on a happy note, because I know that my clients appreciated this, and a sad note, because we're leaving them.” Mike Miltimore of Lee’s Music and Riversong Guitar says he has been consolidate his operations at his location at 13th Avenue and Battle Street, selling off the former Riversong Guitar location on Lorne Street two years ago. As part of a , Riversong Guitar has found a new guitar factory in Sicamous in a former houseboat manufacturing facility. Miltimore said he sold his Battle Street location three years ago, making way for a five-storey condominium complex, and Lee’s Music will have to make the move to the North Shore by April 1, 2025 when his lease is up. “When you’re in a place for 22 years, things like your office get pretty stagnant and sometimes you need those changes just to go through and clean and reorganize and have a refresh," Miltimore said. “We are excited to go into the North Shore, which we believe has had a lot of investment and it's becoming the arts and culture centre of Kamloops." He said music lessons, the retail music store and some guitar manufacturing will be moved to the new North Shore location. With the new digs also comes new possibilities. “Maybe we have an outdoor stage in the parking lot on the side, because we’re right on Tranquille,” he said. “We got all sorts of ideas like that, running around and working with the NSBIA [North Shore Business Improvement Association].” Founded in 1974, the announcement of the move coincides with the 50th anniversary of Lee's Music. While she plans on possibly doing some travelling and design work in retirement, Montpetit said she was happy that Lee’s Music will be taking over her location. “It's nice to know that another family business is moving into my old family building,” she said. With Miltimore required to be out of his Battle Street location by the beginning of April, he said he’ll be clearing out some of his stock. “We have an absolute ton of gear that we don’t want to move,” he said. “If anybody is looking for a musical instrument or has a need for something kind of old, we’ve got 50 years of stock that we’re willing to make some deals on.”
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NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump’s recent dinner with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral were not just exercises in policy and diplomacy. They were also prime trolling opportunities for Trump. Throughout his first term in the White House and during his campaign to return, Trump has spun out countless provocative, antagonizing and mocking statements. There were his belittling nicknames for political opponents, his impressions of other political figures and the plentiful memes he shared on social media. Now that's to the Oval Office, Trump is back at it, and his trolling is attracting more attention — and eyerolls. On Sunday, Trump turned a photo of himself seated near a smiling first lady Jill Biden at the Notre Dame ceremony for his new perfume and cologne line, with the tag line, “A fragrance your enemies can’t resist!” The first lady’s office declined to comment. When Trudeau hastily flew to Florida to meet with Trump last month over the president-elect's on all Canadian products entering the U.S., that Canada become the 51st U.S. state. The Canadians passed off the comment as a joke, but Trump has continued to play up the dig, including in on his social media network referring to the prime minister as “Governor Justin Trudeau of the Great State of Canada.” After decades as an entertainer and tabloid fixture, Trump has a flair for the provocative that is aimed at attracting attention and, in his most recent incarnation as a politician, mobilizing fans. He has long relished poking at his opponents, both to demean and minimize them and to delight supporters who share his irreverent comments and posts widely online and cheer for them in person. Trump, to the joy of his fans, first publicly needled Canada on his social media network a week ago when he with a Canadian flag next to him and the caption “Oh Canada!” After his latest post, Canadian Immigration Minister Marc Miller said Tuesday: “It sounds like we’re living in a episode of South Park." “his approach will often be to challenge people, to destabilize a negotiating partner, to offer uncertainty and even sometimes a bit of chaos into the well established hallways of democracies and institutions and one of the most important things for us to do is not to freak out, not to panic.” Even Thanksgiving dinner isn't a trolling-free zone for Trump's adversaries. On Thanksgiving Day, from “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” with President Joe Biden and other Democrats’ faces superimposed on the characters in a spoof of the turkey-carving scene. The video shows Trump appearing to explode out of the turkey in a swirl of purple sparks, with the former president stiffly dancing to one of his favorite songs, Village People’s “Y.M.C.A." In his most recent presidential campaign, Trump mocked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, refusing to call his GOP primary opponent by his real name and instead dubbing him “Ron DeSanctimonious.” He added, for good measure, in a post on his Truth Social network: “I will never call Ron DeSanctimonious ‘Meatball’ Ron, as the Fake News is insisting I will.” As he campaigned against Biden, Trump taunted him in online posts and with comments and impressions at his rallies, deriding the president over his intellect, his walk, his golf game and even his beach body. After Vice President Kamala Harris took over Biden's spot as the Democratic nominee, Trump repeatedly suggested she never worked at McDonalds while in college. by appearing at a Pennsylvania McDonalds in October, when he manned the fries station and held an impromptu news conference from the restaurant drive-thru. Trump’s team thinks people should get a sense of humor. “President Trump is a master at messaging and he’s always relatable to the average person, whereas many media members take themselves too seriously and have no concept of anything else other than suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome,” said Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director. “President Trump will Make America Great Again and we are getting back to a sense of optimism after a tumultuous four years.” Though both the Biden and Harris campaigns and launched other stunts to respond to Trump's taunts, so far America’s neighbors to the north are not taking the bait. “I don’t think we should necessarily look on Truth Social for public policy,” Miller said. Gerald Butts, a former top adviser to Trudeau and a close friend, said Trump brought up the 51st state line to Trudeau repeatedly during Trump’s first term in office. “Oh God,” Butts said Tuesday, “At least a half dozen times.” “This is who he is and what he does. He’s trying to destabilize everybody and make people anxious,” Butts said. “He’s trying to get people on the defensive and anxious and therefore willing to do things they wouldn’t otherwise entertain if they had their wits about them. I don’t know why anybody is surprised by it.” Gillies reported from Toronto. Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.A FORMER Jersey doctor who is behind bars for a long history of financial crimes has been given extra prison time after trying to block authorities from recovering stolen money and spending thousands on expensive dinners and holidays while owing the taxpayer millions. Gerald Martin Smith, who was jailed earlier this year for obtaining a Covid loan with a fake name and using part of it to help pay off a £72m court order, has had 13 months added to his sentence. Smith, who was previously jailed for stealing millions from a software company, deliberately “obstructed” investigators from taking control of his properties in central London to help repay the millions he owes to taxpayers. Undated handout picture of Gerald Smith of Wentworth, Surrey, who was jailed for eight years after he stole £35m from a computer software company in Berkshire. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Wednesday November 14, 2007. The multi-millionaire businessman serving an eight-year prison sentence for fraud has been ordered to pay nearly £41 million. The Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) said it believed the confiscation order was the largest amount secured under criminal proceedings to date. See PA story CRIME Businessman. Photo credit should read: PA Wire...REF:CRIME Businessman 1.jpg.NOP. (39476488) The Serious Fraud Office, which oversees financial crime cases in the UK, uncovered Smith’s orchestration of a plan to conceal the ownership of a Bloomsbury property containing three apartments to avoid paying an £80m court order. The former doctor persuaded an old friend from medical school to transfer ownership of the property to a company registered in the British Virgin Islands that Smith secretly controlled. Smith also changed the locks and arranged for two tenants to occupy the flat to further obstruct the selling of the property that was required to recover stolen funds. Investigators also discovered that Smith continued to breach court-imposed spending restrictions by receiving regular financial support from his brother. Over a 19-month period, he spent over £53,000 dining at luxury London restaurants and enjoying holidays in Mallorca. Smith was jailed for eight years in 2006 for stealing £35m from a software company called Izodia. The theft caused the collapse of the stock market-listed company and shareholders lost all their investments. In 2007, the former doctor was ordered to pay a confiscation order of £41m – the largest order made in criminal proceedings at the time. Smith did not pay any of the stolen money back following his release, and he told the court in 2019 that he was too poor to pay back what he owed – despite visiting numerous luxury destinations and using a private jet for more than 100 trips in a single year. In 2022, Mr Smith avoided jail after what was described as “lavish” spending of frozen assets at bars, restaurants and wine merchants. He was instead handed an eight-month suspended sentence. Mr Smith’s criminal record dates back to 1993, when he was jailed for two years for taking £2m from the pension fund of Farr Group, a construction company. Serious Fraud Office director Nick Ephgrave said: “We are determined to prevent criminals benefiting from their crime, and wherever assets are hidden or obstructed, we will go after them. “This sentence should serve as a warning to Mr Smith and those assisting him that we won’t stop in our recovery and enforcement of court orders against him.”
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