Afternoon front page: Howard Lutnick’s role in the demise of trade talks with the U.S.; Ford and Trump exchange insults; and more on the trade war

It’s Monday, Aug. 24. Here are the top stories we’re following today.

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“It’s almost like they tried to derail the negotiations,” one Canadian government source told National Post of the collapsed trade talks with the U.S. And most of the blame for scuppering the potential deal, sources said, was U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who arrived late with a series of last-minute demands on Canada. Read the story.

The Ontario premier called on Canadian provinces to go at the U.S. president “full steam” by enacting export tariffs on electricity, oil and potash in an effort to hurt the Republicans in the fast-approaching mid-term elections this fall. He also called Trump “a loser” and claimed to have “more courage, more brains in my baby toe than he has in his whole body.” Read the column.

“The federal government’s own disregard for the truth does not automatically validate the version of events put forward by the Americans,” when it comes to why Canada-U.S. trade negotiations fell apart, Geoff Russ writes. But “taking what Donald Trump’s officials say at face value is crass credulity at the worst possible time.” Read the column.

Trade tensions between Canada and the U.S. escalated again on Monday with President Donald Trump threatening to raise tariffs on Canadians autos, trucks and parts. Prime Minister Mark Carney responded, saying Canada is prepared to negotiate, but only if Washington approaches the talks as a partnership rather than treating Canada as a “subsidiary.” Read the story.

“Walking away from trade talks and telling Canadians that we are all in this together is marvellous political theatre that will unite the country in hatred towards the U.S. and will boost the prime minister’s ratings,” Higgins writes. “But it won’t help us economically. It will do nothing for business and will result in perhaps hundreds of thousands of job losses.” Read the column. 

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said that as the official opposition, his party has a duty to hold the government to account, which is why he wants Prime Minister Mark Carney to call MPs back to Ottawa so they can dissect the failed Canada-U.S. trade talks and figure out a plan forward. “Canadians elect Parliament to defend their interest and decide the hard questions,” he wrote in a letter to Carney. “Those questions can no longer wait.” Read the story.

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