Trudeau wins Canada vote, to form minority government

Agencies
October 22, 2019

Ottawa, Oct 22: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party held onto power in a nail-biter of a Canadian general election on Monday, but as a weakened minority government.

Television projections declared the Liberals winners or leading in 157 of the nation's 338 electoral districts, versus 121 for his main rival Andrew Scheer and the Conservatives, after polling stations across six time zones closed.

As early as Tuesday, Trudeau will have to form an alliance or formal coalition with one or more smaller parties in order to govern.

The first test of his future government will follow in the subsequent weeks with a speech to parliament outlining his legislative priorities and a confidence vote.

The 47-year-old former school teacher dominated Canadian politics over the four years of his first term but faced a grilling during the 40-day election campaign, which was described as one of the nastiest in Canadian history.

His golden boy image has been damaged by ethics lapses in the handling of the bribery prosecution of engineering giant SNC-Lavalin, while the emergence of old photographs of him in blackface makeup rocked his campaign.

Scheer, meanwhile, only two years after winning the leadership of his party, struggled to win over Canadians with his bland minivan-driving dad persona and a throwback to the thrifty policies of past Tory administrations.

His Conservatives had stood alone among all of the parties in pledging austerity measures to return to a balanced budget within five years.

Surging social democrats and resuscitated Quebec separatists also appeared to have chipped away at Liberal support.

The Bloc Quebecois came back from a ruinous 2015 election result, tapping into lingering Quebec nationalism to take 32 seats, while the New Democratic Party (NDP) won 25 seats, according to projections.

"Trudeau has really lost his halo. It's pretty tarnished," commented Lois Welsh, 77, in Regina, disappointed over the Liberal win.

Michel Mercer in Montreal said he voted for the Liberals, but only to keep the Tories at bay.

"I would have voted NDP but I didn't want to see the Conservatives in power," he told agency.

Some 27.4 million Canadians were eligible to vote in the election, and a large turnout was expected but that won't be confirmed until Tuesday morning.

During the campaign, Trudeau evoked the bogeymen of past and current Tory parties fostering "politics of fear and division" while Scheer called the prime minister a "compulsive liar," "a phony and a fraud."

Outside polling stations, Canadians told AFP they had wished for a more positive campaign focused on issues.

"I deplored the cheap shots during the campaign. I think we're better than that," said Andree Legault in Montreal.

Trudeau had warned against Scheer's pledged rollback of environmental protections, including a federal carbon tax that discourages the use of large amounts of fossil fuels.

The pair exchanged barbs while attack ads and misinformation multiplied.

At one rally, the prime minister wore a bulletproof vest due to security fears.

Scheer had lamented that Canadians "cannot afford" a Liberal government propped up by the third-place New Democratic Party (NDP).

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, a leftist former criminal defence lawyer, is the first non-white leader of a federal political party in Canada, and will likely emerge as kingmaker.

Late in the campaign, Scheer was shaken over revelations of his US dual citizenship and allegations that his party hired a communications firm to "destroy" the upstart People's Party, led by former Conservative foreign minister Maxime Bernier.

The Green Party, hopeful for a breakout, managed to add only one seat, bringing its tally to three.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
July 23,2020

Minneapolis, Jul 23: The former Minneapolis police officer charged with murder in the death of George Floyd was charged Wednesday with multiple felony counts of tax evasion.

Derek Chauvin and his wife, Kellie May Chauvin, were each charged in Washington County with six counts of filing false or fraudulent tax returns for the tax years 2014 through 2019 and three counts of failing to file tax returns for 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Floyd, a Black man who was handcuffed, died May 25 after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against Floyd's neck for nearly eight minutes as Floyd pleaded for air.

Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter. He and three other officers who were at the scene were fired.

Chauvin is in custody on the charges in the Floyd case. Kellie Chauvin, who filed for divorce after Floyd's death, is not in custody.

Online court records didn't list attorneys for either in the tax evasion case, and calls to Kellie Chauvin did not go through.

Washington County Attorney Pete Orput said the investigation into the Chauvins was started in June by the Minnesota Department of Revenue and Oakdale Police Department.

Authorities allege in the criminal complaints that the Chauvins failed to file income tax returns and pay state income taxes, and that they underreported and underpaid taxes on income they earned from various jobs each year.

The complaints allege that they also failed to pay proper sales tax on a $100,000 BMW purchased in Minnesota in 2018.

Prosecutors say the Chauvins bought the car in Minnetonka but registered it in Florida, where they paid lower sales taxes.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 2,2020

Paris, Mar 2: A global agency says the spreading new virus could make the world economy shrink this quarter, for the first time since the international financial crisis more than a decade ago.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says Monday in a special report on the impact of the virus that the world economy is still expected to grow overall this year and rebound next year.

But it lowered its forecasts for global growth in 2020 by half a percentage point, to 2.4 per cent, and said the figure could go as low as 1.5 per cent if the virus lasts long and spreads widely.

The last time world GDP shrank on a quarter-on-quarter basis was at the end of 2008, during the depths of the financial crisis. On a full-year basis, it last shrank in 2009.

The OECD said China's reduced production is hitting Asia particularly hard but also companies around the world that depend on its goods.

It urged governments to act fast to prevent contagion and restore consumer confidence.

The Paris-based OECD, which advises developed economies on policy, said the impact of this virus is much higher than past outbreaks because "the global economy has become substantially more interconnected, and China plays a far greater role in global output, trade, tourism and commodity markets."

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 2,2020

Washington, Jun 2: US President Donald Trump said that peaceful protests following the death of African-American man George Floyd in police custody were derailed by acts of domestic terrorism.

"These are not acts of peaceful protests, these are acts of domestic terror - the destruction of innocent life, and the spilling of innocent blood is an offence to humanity and a crime against God," Trump said during a press briefing on Monday.

Trump also added that the chaos is the work of professional agitators and provocateurs - anarchists and the far-left movement Antifa, among others - and put them on notice, vowing to enforce law and order.

He further said, "Those who threaten innocent life and property will be arrested, detained and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I want the organizers of this terror to be on notice that you will face severe criminal penalties and lengthy sentences in jail. This includes Antifa and others who are leading instigators."

The US president also that he is invoking an 1807 law to mobilize the military around the country to "quickly solve the problem."

"I am also taking swift and decisive action to protect our capital Washington DC. As we speak, I am dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldier, military personnel and enforcement officers to stop the rioting," Trump said during a press briefing.

"I am mobilizing all available federal resources, civilian and military, to stop the rioting and looting, to end the destruction and arson. And to protect the rights of law-abiding Americans, including your Second Amendment rights," he added.

Trump said mayors and governors must establish an "overwhelming law enforcement presence until the violence has been quelled." If the city or state refuses to take the actions, Trump said he would deploy the US military.

Trump on Monday also said that all Americans are rightly 'sickened by the brutal death' of George Floyd and his administration is fully committed to providing justice to George and his family.

"All Americans were rightly sickened and revolted by the brutal death of George Floyd. My administration is fully committed, the justice will be fully served for George and his family and He will not have died in vain," Trump said.

"My first and highest duty as president is to defend and protect the great country and the American people. I have sworn an oath to uphold the laws of our nation and that is exactly what I will do," he added.

After the media address, Trump made a surprise visit to the damaged St Johns church near White House, walking through park violently cleared of protesters. He walked to the church across the street from the White House after tear gas was fired at protesters in the area.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.