WASHINGTON — From deep within the pantheon of diplomacy that is the United Nations came hardly a warning shot or a red flag — it was a rocket-propelled rhetorical grenade aimed directly at Canada, with a concussive blast that reverberated all the way to the Prime Minister’s Office.

And it just might have been the catalyst for the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Watch: Trudeau throws dig at Harper after trade deal reached

“We’re thinking about just taxing cars coming in from Canada. That’s the motherlode, that’s the big one,” U.S. President Donald Trump said last week during his explosive news conference on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York.

“We’re very unhappy with the negotiations and the negotiating style of Canada. We don’t like their representative very much.”

That “representative” was Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland — the senior cabinet minister leading Canada’s trade delegation to rescue NAFTA from a president who won the White House in part by denouncing the agreement as one of the worst deals ever made.

It wasn’t Freeland’s hard-driving negotiating style that was under Trump’s skin. It was her appearance on a panel in Toronto two weeks earlier dubbed “Taking on the Tyrant” that featured a video montage with Trump alongside autocrats like Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Trump learned of it only the day before, said a source close to the talks who was briefed by insiders on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border.

“Somehow it got back to the president,” said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to speak freely about the details. “At that point, we saw everything that happened on Wednesday.”

That morning, before Trump’s news conference, U.S. Ambassador David MacNaughton spoke at an event in Toronto with U.S.-based website Politico, where on a scale of one to 10, he put the chances of the two sides being able to reach a deal at “five.”

After Trump’s news conference, “the only difference was that instead of seeing the glass half-full, I was seeing it half-empty,” MacNaughton chuckled in an interview.

He soon found himself in Ottawa, a critical part of a full-court press to get an agreement done before the Sunday midnight deadline imposed by the U.S. Congress to get the deal fast-tracked and voted on by Dec. 1, ahead of a new incoming Mexican government.

Canadian sources close to the talks say MacNaughton’s easygoing style and political acumen — honed as co-chair of multiple provincial and federal Liberal election campaigns, and former Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty’s principal secretary — proved invaluable.

It’s MacNaughton who ensures federal cabinet ministers are ushered onto Capitol Hill during Washington visits to forge one-on-one relationships with American lawmakers — relationships that bore fruit during the latest round of talks, said Colin Robertson, a former diplomat and U.S. consul general who was part of the team that negotiated the original Canada-U.S. free trade deal and later NAFTA itself.

“This new focus on Capitol Hill — when legislators come down, they go to Capitol Hill in recognition that Congress really, truly counts, and the cabinet ministers, who are also legislators, have got to recognize that they can use those peer-to-peer relationships.”

Indeed, Canadian influence in Congress may have helped discourage U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer from trying to push senators into approving the bilateral deal he forged with Mexico, said Dan Uczjo, an international trade lawyer in Ohio with the U.S. firm Dickinson Wright.

As talks came down to the wire, Lighthizer encountered resistance on Capitol Hill to approving a deal that didn’t include Canada.

“You saw three things come together,” Uczjo said.

“The general course of the deal started to be more positive, the USTR became concerned there may be some procedural challenges to his deal with Mexico from the Hill, and I think the White House wanted to ramp up the pressure and started repeating its threats about auto tariffs.”

The president became aware of Freeland’s attendance at the “Tyrant” event as a plot to prevent Trump from meeting the prime minister at the UN and agreeing prematurely to a deal, a source said.

Earlier: Trump bashes Canada at UN

Forces within the USTR office — including Lighthizer himself — were determined to wear Canada down on the issue of the dispute resolution mechanisms embedded in the old NAFTA.

“The president’s issue is dairy … and those discussions were actually going fairly well over the last couple of weeks,” said the source, prompting fears the “dealmaker in chief” would agree to a deal in principle with Canada if he met Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the UN.

“On Tuesday, all the rumblings were that Trump and Trudeau were going to meet at the General Assembly — in fact, senior-level U.S. officials were telling stakeholders that at private dinners, luncheons, receptions in Canada and the U.S.,” the source said.

Nuclear option

A deal seemed imminent, worrying those within the USTR who were convinced they weren’t yet done, said the source. So the nuclear option was deployed: telling the president about Freeland and reminding him about the summer G7 meetings in Quebec, where Trudeau’s closing news conference so agitated Trump that he used his Twitter feed to attack the prime minister from the confines of an airborne Air Force One.

“All of that was done less about blowing up the NAFTA deal, but to stop Trump from making a quick deal.”

In the end, the dispute-resolution mechanisms from NAFTA remain largely intact in the new deal, that Trump christened the USMCA.

His victory-lap news conference Monday also drove home the point to all concerned that unpredictability remains the watchword in Canada-U.S. relations. As Robertson said MacNaughton told him last week, “Whether we get a deal or not, the campaign continues — it’s a permanent campaign.”

TORONTO — Fifteen overdose-prevention sites across Ontario have been approved for operation under a new model, the provincial government announced Friday in a decision critics called a disaster because six previously licenced sites weren’t given the green light.

The government said at least three existing sites that weren’t approved would start winding down while three others were under review. Licences for all existing sites were set to expire on Sunday.

The aim of the newly approved facilities, to be called “consumption and treatment services” sites, is to ensure those struggling with drug addiction can get supports that include rehabilitation as well as a safe place to use their drugs.

“Our government takes the opioids crisis very seriously,” Health Minister Christine Elliott said in a statement. “(The sites) will continue to save lives by preventing overdoses and connecting people to primary care, treatment, rehabilitation and other health and social services to ensure those struggling with drug addiction get the help they need.”

The approved sites will operate in high-needs communities, with six of them in Toronto and three in Ottawa. Other cities — London, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, St. Catharines and Thunder Bay — will each have one, the government said.

The province also said it would continue to accept applications from interested organizations for more sites.

Gillian Kolla, with the Toronto Overdose Prevention Society, called it a major step backward to be cutting back on sites that were open.

“This is an absolute disaster for the province of Ontario,” Kolla said. “This is a cut, make no mistake, this is a massive cut.”

Among those not approved, Kolla said, was The Works run by Toronto Public Health, which sees 3,000 visits every month — the most used — and other smaller sites that help vulnerable people such as homeless women.

“This is absolutely horrible,” Kolla said.

A spokeswoman for Elliott said The Works site is being reviewed further, as are two sites in London that were not open.

Toronto Mayor John Tory said he is “deeply troubled” by the province’s announcement and intends to express his concern directly to provincial officials.

“I support these sites because the evidence from our health professionals showed that they would stop preventable deaths,” Tory said in a statement Friday evening.

“They give people the opportunity to get the help they need to address their addictions and are part of the many options we should be providing to people who need it.”

Latest figures indicate more than 629 Ontarians died from opioid overdoses in the first six months of last year, according to Public Health Ontario — an increase of 80 over the year-before period.

In addition, there were 6,688 opioid-related emergency department visits in the province in the first nine months of 2018 and another 1,544 hospitalizations.

Licences for existing overdose prevention sites had been set to expire on Jan. 31 but were extended to March 31 pending review of applications for sites under the government’s new model. The 15 approved sites come from 21 applications. The government has earmarked $31 million in annual funding.

In announcing changes to the overdose prevention model, Elliott said the sites help reduce drug-related deaths and lower the rate of public drug use.

“The evidence clearly demonstrated that these sites were necessary,” Elliott has said. “(But) we felt the previous government took some of the steps but really didn’t have that focus on rehabilitation and treatment that we think is necessary.”

During last spring’s election campaign, Progressive Conservative Premier Doug Ford said he was opposed to safe-injection and overdose-prevention sites.

Met with opposition

Both the Opposition New Democrats and the Green party criticized the government’s announcement Friday.

“The opioid crisis in Ontario is getting worse,” the NDP’s Bhutila Karpoche said in a statement. “Twenty-one overdose prevention sites was never going to be enough to meet the need (and) it’s simply unconscionable for the Ford Conservatives to literally put people’s lives at risk by denying approval to six.”

Green Leader Mike Schreiner said the government was preventing communities from providing life-saving services.

“It is shocking that places like Waterloo Region, which saw a huge spike to 106 suspected overdoses in February, have been blocked from providing life-saving support,” Schreiner said in a statement.

TORONTO — Canadian entertainment associations are applauding the reversal of a decision that would have decreased the amount private-sector television groups are required to spend on Canadian programming.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission said Thursday that it had reconsidered a decision it made last year and will now require Bell Media, Corus Entertainment Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc. to spend 7.5, 8.5 and five per cent respectively of their previous year’s revenues on Canadian programming. The trio previously had to allocate five per cent of their revenues to such content.

The CRTC’s decision also means French-language television groups Quebecor Inc. and Groupe V Medias will have to invest 75 per cent of their original programming expenditures in original content in a year, up from 50 per cent in the prior ruling.

An ‘important battle’ for performers

Groups in both the English and French market will also be required to allocate an average of $5.5 million a year to support the production of musical programs.

The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), a national union representing 25,000 professional performers in the country, called the decision “a win for Canadian storytelling.”

“This was an important battle for us and our members to say it should not be a liability or a problem for broadcasters to produce Canadian stories. It should be in their interest,” said Elliott Anderson, the director of public policy and communications.

Broadcasters argued that they shouldn’t be saddled with the burden of telling Canadian stories because they are competing with U.S. streaming giant Netflix.

“I think it was nice that the CRTC did not side with the argument and (said) this is something that is worthy,” he said.

Scott Garvie, chairman of the Canadian Media Producers Association advocacy group and the senior vice president of production company Shaftesbury, was equally enthusiastic about the decision.

“Today’s CRTC decision means more jobs, more economic output, and most importantly, more of the shows that Canadians love,” he said in a press release.

“By increasing the required investment in programs of national interest, the CRTC has underscored the important role that Canada’s independent producers and other creators play in a broadcasting system that reflects the diversity of voices, perspectives and stories that make up our national culture.”

The CRTC’s change in requirements comes into effect on Saturday and will last until 2022.

The modifications were triggered by the federal cabinet asking the CRTC to re-evaluate its decision in May 2017 and rounds of consultations done in both the English and French markets.

Dimitri Gourdin, Groupe V’s executive vice-president of strategy and communications, said the company already exceeds the CRTC’s requirement, by dedicating 94 per cent of its budget to original French-language programming.

‘This is a question of surviving’

However, Gourdin said he was “not happy” that the CRTC was placing more regulations on television companies.

“Our industry is under tremendous pressure coming from the declining advertising dollar, from the competition from other platforms and from outside of Canada. The industry is really under pressure and this is a question of surviving,” he said.

Gourdin said he was also frustrated with the requirements about supporting music programming.

“What the CRTC wants from us as broadcasters is to support video clips and we all know that no one is consuming video clips on TV,” he said. “That is why I think that the CRTC is totally disconnected from reality.”

Rogers and Quebecor did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Corus spokeswoman Cheryl Fullerton told The Canadian Press the company was reviewing the decision, but had nothing further to say.

Bell refused to comment.

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Climate experts have warned for some time that flooding caused by rising sea levels could wreak havoc with local economies, but new research suggests this is already happening — and in Canada, it’s homeowners in Greater Vancouver who stand to lose the most.

According to new research from the First Street Foundation, a U.S.-based non-profit that studies climate change, homeowners in eight coastal U.S. states have lost a total of US$14.1 billion in home value since 2005 due to increased tidal flooding.

The study, an expansion of work first published in the peer-reviewed Population Research and Policy Review, found that there is a “discount” on properties due to flooding risk; that this discount is growing over time; and that it’s directly linked to a given property’s exposure to flooding.

By comparing property sales in flood-prone areas to comparable properties in similarly-priced areas outside flood zones, they found that some 820,000 homes — including 384,000 in Florida alone — have been slapped with a flood discount.

“We all knew that flooding issues were getting worse from sea level rise, but the home value loss associated with it is truly staggering,” First Street Foundation executive director Matthew Eby said in a statement. “The time to act is now.”

The problem could affect Canada as well, particularly the pricey Greater Vancouver real estate market.

Interactive maps from U.S.-based organization Climate Central show that just a one-degree rise in temperatures would raise sea levels enough to flood vast tracts of the southern part of the Greater Vancouver region, along with lower areas of North Vancouver, if no action is taken to stop it.

A one-degree temperature rise is considered virtually inevitable at this point.

It’s not just Vancouver. Depending on how much temperatures rise, Halifax’s harbourfront could be submerged, as could entire neighbourhoods in Charlottetown and parts of New Brunswick.

But it’s the Greater Vancouver area where the largest number of people could be affected. An estimated 250,000 residents of the suburb of Richmond live in homes no more than a meter above sea level.

Officials are not blind to the problem. Richmond is building “superdikes,” some as much as 50 metres wide, in anticipation of increased flooding.

But some officials fear the money — and the political will needed — to address increased flooding just isn’t there.

“We’re talking huge, huge amounts of money that will really have a negative impact on our economy,” said Doug Smith, Vancouver’s director of sustainability, as quoted by CBC News. He says the amounts of money needed to repair infrastructure are so high that they aren’t politically viable.

But the study from First Street highlights the reality that governments can’t stop the economic damage we risk from climate change simply by refusing to spend money. When the floods come to our coastal communities, the losses to home values, and the devastation those communities experience, may just be enough to convince policymakers to take action.

It can get sticky. It can get sweaty. And most of all, it can get very loud! Playoff season is here, and our families love playing host for all the big games. It’s a great way to get friends and family together to show support and fan loyalty for our favourite teams.

Some jump, some throw their hands up, and some even do a happy dance. No matter how they react, we can promise you they’ll need lots of fuel to make it through the game.

We’ve put together our favourite Playoff Snack Menu to help you feed your hungry fans. From loaded crunchy nachos and finger-licking ribs to drip-down-your-chin BBQ chicken sliders, this menu won’t leave anyone disappointed!

Loaded BBQ Chicken Nachos

Chips and cheese. Sounds pretty basic, right? Not when Chef Lisa gets her mitts on this classic combo. This easy recipe for BBQ Chicken Nachos, piled high with all the fixings (not to mention a great twist of subbing in BBQ sauce for salsa,) are scrumptious. Get ready for love at first bite.

Oven-Baked Crunchy Chicken Wings

Having trouble ditching those grease-laden, deep-fried, chicken wings? Here’s the magic recipe, Oven-Baked, Cornmeal-Crusted Chicken Wings that are baked to a grease-free golden crisp and dunked in a sweet apricot or tangy blue cheese dipping sauce.

Oven-Baked BBQ Ribs

We wish we had written the Chili’s baby back rib anthem. You see, these easy oven-baked, tender and flavorful ribs make us want to sing. Marinated in a sweet and spicy dry rub and baked low and slow, the meat on these baby back ribs is so tender it falls off the bone. We want our baby back, baby back, baby back ribs.

Beer-Braised BBQ Chicken Sliders

Holy BBQ sauced sliders! This quick and easy recipe is for all pulled chicken lovers out there, especially those who don’t have hours to spare. Within a half hour, you can have shredded beer-braised chicken, tossed in zesty, flavorful barbecue sauce, and stacked in soft slider buns.

Lightened Up Crispy Baked Potato Skins

We love bar food, finger foods and easy appetizers. Unfortunately, those usually mean unhealthy and grease-laden. Not anymore, thanks to this recipe for Crispy Potato Skins, addictive skins baked (not fried!) to crisp perfection and mounded high with crunchy turkey bacon and melted cheese.

Bean and Chicken Tostada Cups

Traditionally, tostadas are flat, deep-fried tortillas topped with refried beans, cheese and other fixings. Tasty, but try balancing a greasy “open face” taco in one hand while not spilling your drink from the other. Awkward! We won ‘t let your fiesta flop; these tortilla cups mounded with Mexican-spiced chicken and creamy guacamole guarantee the only thing to hit the deck will be your Corona-crocked amigos.

Spicy Ranch Popcorn

What do you get when you combine Sriracha sauce with Ranch seasonings? A kickin’ batch of spicy and savory popcorn that’s guaranteed to wake up your taste buds!

Bonus

Love these recipes? How about this Game Day Libation! Why not try our Lemon Ginger Beer Shandy? What happens when the lemonade stand and the keg collide? The perfectly refreshing and delicious beer shandy drink recipe that combines lager beer with ginger ale and lemonade. Bottoms up!

TORONTO (Reuters) — The Canadian dollar strengthened to a four-month high against its U.S. counterpart on Monday after a last-minute deal to salvage the trilateral NAFTA trade pact supported bets for another Bank of Canada interest rate hike as soon as this month.

The new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) largely leaves the broad North American Free Trade Agreement intact and maintains current supply chains that would have been fractured under weaker bilateral deals.

“This deal, along with last week’s solid run of data, all but cements a rate hike later this month, and will likely add an extra move next year,” Robert Kavcic, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets said in a research note.

The Bank of Canada has raised interest rates four times since July 2017. Chances of another hike in October have climbed to 84 percent from 77 percent before data on Friday showing stronger-than-expected domestic economic growth in July.

At 9:20 a.m. ET, the Canadian dollar was trading 0.7 percent higher at C$1.2816 to the greenback, or 78.03 U.S. cents.

The loonie, which posted on Friday its biggest gain in four months, touched its strongest since May 22 at 1.2788.

A report that Royal Dutch Shell Plc and some partners have approved a $31 billion liquefied natural gas project in western Canada could also provided support for the loonie.

The price of oil, one of Canada‘s major exports, was supported by supply concerns before U.S. sanctions against Iran come into force next month. U.S. crude prices were up 0.1 percent at $73.31 a barrel.

Canada’s jobs data for September and August trade data are due on Friday.

(Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Susan Thomas)

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