The House: Disses, deadlines, diplomacy and Donald
The European Union's trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom has no time for anyone who tries to bully Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland — even if it's Donald Trump.
"You have a fantastic chief negotiator in Ms. Freeland. I think she is doing an excellent job under very tough conditions," Malmstrom told Chris Hall in an interview on The House.
Malmstrom reacted strongly to the suggestion that the U.S. administration is attempting to bully Freeland after Trump criticized Canadian NAFTA negotiators in a press conference Wednesday.
"We're very unhappy with the negotiations and the negotiating style of Canada. We don't like their representative very much," he said.
Trump did not mention Freeland by name, but she has been acting as the lead official for Canada during the ongoing NAFTA talks.
Malmstrom said Trump's comments show that "it is increasingly difficult dealing with the Americans." She said she frequently discusses trade issues with Freeland as both Canada and the European Union work on separate deals with the U.S.
"We talk regularly. I don't think I have advice to give her, but we are sharing our experiences because it's more important than ever that the European Union and Canada are sticking together," she said.
Other senior U.S. officials have been voicing frustration with Canada lately as the talks have dragged on. Key Trump ally Rep. Kevin Brady, the Texas Republican who chairs the House ways and means committee, criticized Canada for "dragging its feet" on NAFTA.
"Canada is not an easy trading partner," he told CNBC's Squawk Box earlier this month.
Republican House whip Steve Scalise slammed Canada's hardball negotiating tactics and admitted a "growing frustration with many in Congress" over the delay in arriving at a deal.
Malmstrom said the pattern of behaviour coming the United States is causing other countries to flock to Canada and the European Union for trade partnerships.
"Lately we have seen there are increasing disagreements between many countries around the world and the way is U.S. is turning very unilateral," she said.
"More and more countries are coming out and want to work with the EU and Canada to strengthen the multilateral relationship."
Jim Carr: Canada is 'aggressively pursuing' opportunities beyond NAFTA
With a title like minister of International Trade Diversification, it's no surprise that Jim Carr is eyeing trade opportunities for Canada that go beyond NAFTA.
"We think the world is out there for Canada, and we are aggressively pursuing the possibilities," he said, adding that his mandate letter from the prime minister specifically cited the Asia-Pacific region as one such trade opportunity.
"There is, I think, all kinds of synergies there. The prime minister will be heading that way sometime in November. There are also possibilities in Africa."
The point, Carr said, is that Canada is not sitting back while NAFTA negotiations drag on.
"It's important to remember these trade deals build bridges. If you take the CPTPP and CETA, we will have added one billion consumers to Canada's free trade roster," he said, referring to the revised Trans Pacific Partnership deal and the trade agreement between the European Union and Canada.
Carr also emphasized Canada's "close alignment" with Europe, and defended Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland's NAFTA negotiating tactics, which appeared to have come under sharp criticism from Donald Trump this week.
"I have absolute confidence in Minister Freeland and her team," he said. "They are absolutely crackerjack, and they are tough. You have to be tough."
The final glass ceiling? UN Secretary General
As the nations of the world met in New York this week, New Zealand's former prime minister said there's only one glass ceiling left in the United Nations: the top job of secretary general.
Helen Clark, New Zealand's prime minister from from 1999 to 2008, made an unsuccessful bid for the secretary general's chair in 2016. She later communicated her displeasure at the way women are looked at at the highest level of the UN.
Several deputy secretary generals have been women, but no woman has ever led the 73-year-old organization — and it's not for lack of trying. In the last race for the job, which saw António Guterres succeed Ban Ki-moon, seven out of 13 candidates were women.
Clark told The House that ceiling needs to be shattered for the sake of young women.
"It sends such a signal to women and girls that no door is barred to you."
On top of gender-based reform, Clark sees work for the UN that would fall outside the purview of the secretary general.
The Security Council places the balance of power with the "victors of World War II," she said.
"That doesn't reflect today's geopolitics."
The Security Council is composed of 15 members, including five permanently held seats.
Ten additional members are elected by the General Assembly to serve two-year terms.
Clark argued that giving the seats to nations like the U.K., France and the United States disregards African nations and other contributors like Germany and Japan.
But a quick solution may not be achievable, since the Security Council itself must vote on any changes.
"This seems almost unsolvable," Clark despaired. "A turkey doesn't vote for an early Christmas."
Canada is making a bid for a seat when the vote for council rolls around in 2021.
"The entire world is watching very closely," Canada's permanent representative at the UN, Marc-André Blanchard, told CBC News. "All of these elections for the Western groups attract a lot of attention. They're always, always highly competitive, and this one will be no exception. There are two seats open and three candidates: Ireland, Norway and Canada."
The General Assembly meetings in New York City are dealing with issues like migration, climate, economic development and women's issues.
B.C. Green Party leader's advice for New Brunswick Greens: ally with the PCs
B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver has advice for his New Brunswick counterparts as the province deals with its election stalemate — form an alliance with the province's Progressive Conservatives.
"The obvious way forward would be for the Conservatives to actually partner with the Greens, and that would give them the 25 seats required to maintain a majority government," Weaver said.
If that pitch sounds surprising, that's because there appears to be little common ground between the two parties.
While the Greens oppose pipeline construction and are pushing for a carbon tax, the province's PC party promised during the campaign to fight the carbon tax by joining Saskatchewan, Ontario and Manitoba in its legal battle against the federal government.
The PCs also campaigned on fighting for the Energy East pipeline project, vowing to "get it to market at a competitive price," according to its platform.
Weaver acknowledged there are some major differences in philosophy between the two parties, but argued compromises could be found.
"That's where you'd have to get the negotiations," he said. "It is good fiscal policy to actually put prices on emissions. Progressive Conservative values would encourage emissions pricing. So I would suspect that this is something that is negotiable."
If anyone knows about compromise in politics, it's Weaver. The B.C. politician struck a deal with the province's NDP to pave the way for a minority government after the May 2017 election didn't produce a clear victor. With three new elected MLAs, the Greens held the balance of power between the NDP and the Liberals.
Now, New Brunswick's Greens — headed by David Coon — find themselves in a strikingly similar position, even down to the number of MLAs in the legislature.
"My advice is not to come into a coalition," Weaver said. "My advice would be to do what we did — stay separate, preserve your identity, and come up with a confidence and supply agreement that ensures you provide support and stability for a government in confidence votes, but still retain your independence to vote on case-by-case issues."
As for the Progressive Conservatives, Weaver thinks partnering with the Greens would make sense for them too as opposed to striking a deal with the People's Alliance, who also won three seats in the election.
"The People's Alliance has got some views that would probably be viewed as somewhat extreme with respect to bilingualism that would actually hurt the PC brand in New Brunswick," said Weaver.
"A party that's campaigned on anti-bilingualism is quite divisive. The whole Green values are inclusive, so I would suggest that the Greens would be the natural ally."
The Alliance's stance on bilingualism has upset the province's francophone community, and the Tories' lone francophone MLA-elect, Robert Gauvin, said earlier this week he'd find it difficult to accept any co-operation between his party and the Alliance.
New Brunswick's Liberal leader Brian Gallant said Friday his party will begin talks with the Greens on Tuesday, while the Progressive Conservatives' Blaine Higgs said his party will meet with the Greens Monday.
For his part, Coon has said he will not make a decision until October, after the final election results are confirmed.
Quebecers head to the polls
With just days to go until Quebecers could choose a new person for the province's top job, what can voters expect?
The Coalition Avenir Québec holds a narrow lead over the governing Liberals, with the rest of the support mainly split between the Parti Qu ébécois and Québec Solidaire.
The last two provincial elections in Ontario and New Brunswick have shown Canadians are looking for a change in leadership, so how could that translate in Quebec?
We put these questions to two experts, former Quebec cabinet minister Yolande James and former press secretary to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Carl Vallée.