WAG hires more indigenous staff

Be statesmanlike, Pierre

Re: Canadians have moved on, Poilievre hasn’t (Aug. 7); Poilievre’s trade bluster a desperate bid for attention (Aug. 12)

If I were Pierre Poilievre, I wouldn’t be just thinking about becoming the next prime minister. I’d be thinking about legacy in larger terms — meaning how would I ultimately want to be remembered.

And I would want to be remembered as the politician who, even if not having achieved the ultimate goal of becoming prime minister, left the political world as a respected statesman. As such, with respect to trade and the relationship with the United States, I would be guided by the following maxim found in Tom Brodbeck’s Aug. 12 column: The goal should be to maximize Canada’s leverage while reducing its vulnerability.

A cross-border kidnapping from Winnipeg to Minnesota is under investigation, according to North Dakota state patrol.

A 31-year-old Manitoba man abducted a 37-year-old Manitoba man in Winnipeg and drove across the border into North Dakota, the North Dakota State Highway Patrol said in a Facebook post Sunday. The state patrol said it became aware of the possible abduction Sunday morning and worked with local, federal and Canadian law enforcement to investigate.

Authorities identified a suspect vehicle using cameras at multiple locations and used cell-phone location information and licence-plate reader technology to find the vehicle in Alexandria, Minnesota.

"The victim was able to break free from the suspect and run into a nearby store. The suspect was taken into custody shortly afterward by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and Alexandria Police Department. The victim was recovered safely," the North Dakota state patrol's post reads.

The federal government is investing in major infrastructure, promising to expedite “projects of national interest” and pitching them to private investors at a summit in September.

The Manitoba government has its sights set on a pipeline and LNG export terminal at Churchill. Instead, Manitoba should be putting forward feasible, future-facing infrastructure proposals that would leave a positive lasting legacy of energy affordability, independence and security for Manitobans.

A pipeline and LNG terminal at Churchill are not viable for several reasons — the technical challenges of building a pipeline over thawing permafrost; the prohibitive cost of ice-breaking tankers to move LNG through the Arctic; and a forecasted global oversupply of LNG and uncertain long-term export markets.

Given these challenges, a private company coming out of the woodwork to invest seems exceptionally unlikely. Private proponents are also not interested in building oil pipelines to the west, and Prime Minister Mark Carney has now made clear his priority to work with Premier Danielle Smith on a West Coast pipeline, which would cost upwards of $35 billion (on top of the over $34 billion in public funds already spent on the Trans Mountain pipeline). It would seem this pours more cold water on the idea of a third publicly funded pipeline to Hudson Bay.