Half of Canadians have negative opinion of latest Liberal budget: poll
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.
Germany's would-be governing parties vowed Wednesday to modernize Europe's biggest economy and step up efforts against climate change as they announced an agreement that leaves center-left leader Olaf Scholz poised to replace longtime Chancellor Angela Merkel within weeks.
The coalition will shift Germany's leadership a bit to the left after 16 years under the center-right Merkel, who gained plaudits for her handling of a series of crises over the years. Scholz signaled that the country's foreign policy would not change much.
Scholz's Social Democrats, the environmentalist Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats are set to take the reins just as Germany faces its biggest surge of coronavirus infections in the pandemic so far, a reality that somewhat overshadowed the launch. Scholz opened the event by promising that "the new government will do everything necessary to bring us through this time well."
The three-party alliance is a first for a German government and creates strange bedfellows, with two left-leaning parties and one, the Free Democrats, that in recent decades allied with the center-right. But Scholz presented it as a big opportunity.
The new government will not seek "the lowest common denominator, but the politics of big impacts," he promised.
Scholz, 63, said he expects that members of the three parties will give their blessing to the deal in the next 10 days. The biggest challenge is a vote by the Greens' roughly 125,000-strong membership. The other two parties plan to sign off on it at conventions during the first weekend in December, paving the way for parliament to elect Scholz as chancellor during the week starting Dec. 6.
Scholz has been Merkel's finance minister and vice chancellor since 2018 in the outgoing "grand coalition" of Germany's traditional big parties, in which his party was the junior partner. Merkel didn't run for a fifth term, and her Christian Democrats will head into opposition after a disastrous campaign that ended with defeat in Germany's Sept. 26 election.
"We will take over the government in a time of crisis," Green co-leader Robert Habeck acknowledged, describing the coalition deal as a sign of "courage and confidence" that fits those times. "The guiding principle of this government is a society that acts, a state that invests and a Germany that simply works."
Key pledges by the prospective partners include an increase in the minimum wage to 12 euros ($13.50) per hour from the current 9.60 euros -- a move that Scholz said "means a wage increase for 10 million citizens." And they also aim to get 400,000 new apartments per year built in an effort to curb rising rental prices.
Habeck also said measures planned by the government would put Germany on a path to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris climate accord. It also intends to bring forward Germany's exit from coal-fueled power from 2038, "ideally" completing it in 2030.
Habeck added that, instead of formally setting new goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it will focus on concrete measures including ensuring that the price per ton of carbon dioxide won't fall below 60 euros -- a measure that will speed up the coal phaseout.
At the Free Democrats' insistence, the prospective partners said they won't raise taxes or loosen curbs on running up debt.
The pro-business party's leader, Christian Lindner, said that "together we have a mission to modernize this country." He proclaimed that "we are going to digitize this state." That's a challenge in a country that has notoriously patchy internet and cellphone coverage and where government services are often offline.
Linder, who is set to become finance minister, also said the coalition would implement more liberal social policies. Those include legalizing the sale of cannabis for recreational purposes in licensed shops.
The new government plans to place a greater emphasis on the welfare and participation of children and young people. The coalition deal says it will aim to lower the voting age in European elections from 18 to 16, and aim to change Germany's constitution so 16-year-olds can vote in federal elections too.
Looking beyond Germany, Scholz stressed the importance of a strong Europe, friendship with France and partnership with the United States as key cornerstones of the new government's foreign policy -- continuing a long post-war tradition.
It's typical in Germany for coalitions to draw up detailed agreements for their four-year terms; this one runs to 177 pages.
The Social Democrats will get seven Cabinet ministers, including the defence and health portfolios, as well as the chancellery. The Greens will get five, including the foreign minister and a minister for "economy and climate protection," a new combination. Neither party announced who would get those jobs.
The Free Democrats will get four ministries, including the key finance portfolio that goes to Lindner.
He acknowledged that the unexpectedly leak-free talks were "extraordinarily discreet." But he added: "I can assure you that the talks were just as argumentative as they were discreet -- we argued over some individual sentences for hours."
Merkel's Christian Democrats are currently preoccupied with a contest over who will become their next leader and revive the party's fortunes after it suffered its worst-ever election result.
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.
Appointing a trusted person to help with financial obligations can give you peace of mind. In his personal finance column for CTVNews.ca, Christopher Liew outlines the key benefits of naming a confidant to take over your financial responsibilities, if the need ever arises.
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their “extremely dangerous” experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
An Ontario senior’s attempt to get technical help online led him into a spoofing scam where he lost $25,000. Now, he’s sharing his story to warn others.
A Minnesota state senator and former broadcast meteorologist told police that she broke into her stepmother's home because her stepmother refused to give her items of sentimental value from her late father, including his ashes, according to burglary charges filed Tuesday.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a Grade 4 student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.