Are we heading for a post-NAFTA world?
While the prospect of NAFTA's demise may be causing some hand wringing as Canada, the United States and Mexico renegotiate the trade deal, Brian Higgins, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, says NAFTA won't go down without a fight in Congress.
Higgins, a Democrat who represents New York's 26th District and sits on the House ways and means committee, told The House that President Donald Trump's positions on NAFTA do not entirely represent the U.S. government.
Trump has been on the offensive in NAFTA renegotiations, with what many consider to be aggressive and unpredictable demands.
Along with suggesting Canada and the U.S. nix Mexico from NAFTA if the talks go awry, he also proposed a "sunset clause" — a suggestion Canada and Mexico, as well as the business community, oppose — that would terminate the agreement in five years without the approval of all three countries.
There have also been rumblings that, if Trump gets his way, the trade deal could simply be torn up.
But Higgins said the U.S. government was built with checks and balances in place so that one level of the institution can't impose its will on another.
"The president is sometimes ignorant of the United States constitution… or at least indifferent to it," Higgins said.
Congress likely has more authority on trade agreements than the president, he said, and needs to stand up in its role as a branch of the U.S. government.
Higgins added that while NAFTA renegotiations may look chaotic, those checks and balances aren't going to change.
"Everything coming out of this administration is spontaneous and incoherent…[but] I think the concerns about the chaotic nature of what is occurring right now are somewhat premature," he said.
"We just need to take a steady, rational approach."
Canada looking at 'alternative proposals' to NAFTA
Despite some of Donald Trump's rhetoric, Canada's International Trade Minister François-Philippe Champagne doesn't believe NAFTA talks are doomed, but says Canada is keeping its options open.
"It's never going to be easy. This was not meant to be an easy process," he said in an interview with The House.
Champagne said the prime minister has been engaging with the presidents of the U.S. and Mexico and that Canada wants to be at the NAFTA table, offering "alternative proposals."
He added that Mexico is an important relationship for Canada, one the government is nurturing with other trading blocs, such at the Pacific Alliance.
"Clearly what we want to be is NAFTA first," Champagne said. "We're there, we're being constructive. But also we're looking at options."
B.C.'s opioids fight needs Ottawa's leadership
British Columbia's minister for mental health and addictions is calling on the federal government to take a leadership role in the devastating opioid crisis, and says she will be pushing for Ottawa to do so when provincial and federal health ministers meet next week.
The British Columbia Centre on Substance Use issued guidelines this week for how to prescribe hydromorphone and prescription heroin to treat opioid addiction in the province.
Not everyone is a fan of the approach, but Judy Darcy, B.C's first mental health and addictions minister, says the guidelines are based on solid evidence and will be an important tool to save lives.
Darcy told The House that four people in B.C. die every day from overdoses.
"We can't allow this to become the new normal, and it's becoming the new normal," she said.
Heroin and hydromorphone, which Darcy said is fairly widely used for dealing with severe pain after surgery, are considered an option for people with opioid addiction who do not respond to other forms of treatment, such as naloxone.
Darcy said the leadership role the feds need to play includes eliminating some of the bureaucratic barriers to make prescribing methadone more accessible and less restrictive regulation about where these kinds of prescription medications can be administered.
She said she expects the new BCCSU guidelines to be a topic of conversation when the sits down with Canada's Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor next week.
Darcy added that she'll be pressing the federal government to spearhead a national anti-stigma campaign to change attitudes about people with addictions.
"We need to get to the point where we treat people living with addictions with the same dignity and respect, and the same quality of care, that we provide for any physical illness."
Five decades of political cartoons
They can cut through spin and talking points, get to the essence of the most complicated of issues, and change the way people see politicians... Often without a single word. Political cartoons can be effective, and devastating.
Terry Mosher -- better known under his pen name Aislin -- has five decades of political cartoons under his belt. His pen has mocked every prime minister -- from Trudeau to Trudeau.... Which is the name of the book of cartoons he published earlier this year.
He dropped by The House's studio this week to talk about the art of mocking politicians.
A retrospective of his work is on display at the Ottawa City Hall Art Gallery until October 29th.