Trump deal appears off again, Minister Gary has some explaining to do, and is Carney serious on pipelines...

Talks with Trump for trade deal described as going cold.

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In the world of on again, off again, the latest is that a trade deal with Donald Trump is off again. I wrote about this issue for the Sun on Wednesday afternoon and despite mixed messages, I was hopeful.

Speaking with people at different levels of government and several in the business community, it seemed that talks were still happening, but it was up in the air as to whether a deal could be struck before the G7 starts on Sunday in Kananaskis.

“It’s gone quite,” said the voice at the other end of the phone.

The well placed source said that a deal could still happen, anything is possible when dealing with Donald Trump, but it was doubtful it would happen in the next couple of days as talks have gone cold.

Given that Trump has struck deals of sorts with China and the U.K. and that Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick has told Canadian officials a deal with Canada is a priority, this is puzzling.

I’d love to know what, or perhaps who, is the sticking point.

Each side has their own irritants and issues they want to deal with, but the idea was for a high-level deal, not one that gets into the weeds of trade policy. Is it Canada or the United States that is bogging things down.

In my conversation with Ambassador Pete Hoekstra for the Full Comment Podcast, he did say that in any negotiation things can go awry at the last minute, maybe that is what has happened here.

One thing that was floated to me, and that I wrote about in the column, is that Trump got distracted due to his public break-up with Elon Musk and that took the momentum out of the deal.

“No,” was the one word reply from a top source in Ottawa when asked about that possibility.

About our Public Safety Minister…

I’ve already been critical of Minister Gary Anandasangaree for not knowing some of the basics of his file. Yes, he’s still fairly new to the job but every minister is given a thick briefing binder when they are appointed and they should be reading it.

Now there are concerns about Minister Anandasangaree’s ties and past connections.

Global is reporting that Anandasangaree, who is responsible for issues like terrorism and maintaining Canada’s list of banned terrorist groups, has recused himself from some files.

In a statement sent to Global News on Tuesday, the office of Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said he had stepped back from “any matter related to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or the World Tamil Movement.”

That in itself should be a disqualifying position for a Minister of Public Safety and if Prime Minister Carney is smart, he will replace Anandasangaree quickly.

Of course, when news like this comes out, people start looking around and that is what has happened here. Folks are sharing a still live web posting by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which claims Anandasangaree entered politics and sought the Liberal nomination in 2014 after years of being involved in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or the LTTE.

In the riding of Rouge Park, known among Toronto Canadians as ‘Tamil Eelam’, another politician with links to the LTTE launched his bid for Federal Liberal Nomination. Like Rathika Sitsabaiesan, who infiltrated the NDP of Canada, with the backing of the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC), Gary Anandasangaree is planning to penetrate the Liberal Party of Canada.

Now, this is a webpage belonging to the Sri Lankan government, so take it with a grain of salt, but given that Anandasangaree has recused himself and given this claim by the Sri Lankan government, Minister Gary has some questions to answer.

He was definitely active in Sri Lankan and Tamil issues before being elected to Parliament, as evidenced by this 2010 Associated Press article about his involvement the MV Sun Sea issue. This was a ramshackle ship that came to Canada with more than 400 people on board in the summer of 2010.

The Harper government was concerned that Tamil Tiger members, LTTE folks, were on board but Anandasangaree said it shouldn’t be a concern.

Anandasangaree said even if some of those on board are Tamil Tigers, they would have a legitimate refugee case in Canada. He said they could face torture or death if returned to Sri Lanka.

Questions need to be answered.

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Free at last…

If you missed my earlier post about Sir John A. Macdonald’s statue being freed after five years, check it out for the full photo and video gallery of the boards coming down.

Does anyone else have trouble typing Macdonald’s name without capitalizing the d?

A nice shoutout…

Sabrina Nanji gave a nice shoutout to her readers about my little newsletter project. If you don’t know Nanji publishes the Queen’s Park Observer, a daily newsletter about the comings and goings of Ontario’s Legislature.

If you need to stay up on what is happening at QP, including all the gossip and the always help detail of what the special is at the cafeteria - yes she is that detailed - then you should be reading Sabrina.

What to read…

Lorrie Goldstein is taking a look into the AG report into the contracts awarded to the company behind ArriveScam. No, the audit wasn’t about the expensive app but more about how bureaucrats ignored contracting rules to give this company millions in contracts, Goldstein says it is happening elsewhere and costing us.

At the Toronto Star, my friend Mark McQueen - yes I have friends at the Star - is writing about the need for police to enforce the law with the pro-Hamas protests flooding our streets. This is something I’ve written about often and I’ve been very critical of the police. Mark’s voice on this issue is very welcome, give him a read.

Is Mark Carney serious about building pipelines? Lorne Gunter has his doubts and expresses them well in this column. Lorne gives voice to a view I’ve heard from many, Carney is saying some nice words on pipelines, but isn’t serious and is looking for someone to blame.