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UK prime minister: Post-Brexit transition could be extended

BRUSSELS — British Prime Minister Theresa May said Thursday she is considering a European Union proposal that would keep Britain bound to the bloc’s rules for more than two years after it leaves, and idea that angers her pro-Brexit critics in the U.K.
At present the two sides say Britain will remain inside the EU single market, and subject to the bloc’s regulations, from the day it leaves on March 29 until December 2020, to give time for new trade relations to be set up.
But with divorce talks stuck, the bloc has suggested extending that period, to give more time to strike a trade deal that ensures the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland remains friction-free — the main sticking point to a Brexit deal.
May said the U.K. was considering extending the transition period by “a matter of months.” But she said she didn’t believe the extension would be needed.
“We are working to ensure that we have that future relationship in place by the end of December 2020,” May said as she arrived at EU headquarters in Brussels on Thursday for meetings on migration, security and other issues.
The extension idea has angered pro-Brexit U.K. politicians, who see it as an attempt to bind Britain to the bloc indefinitely.
In an open letter to May published on Thursday, leading Brexiteers accused the EU of “bullying” and said the border issue was being used as “a trap” by the bloc.
The letter signed by former British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, ex-Brexit Secretary David Davis and other pro-Brexit Conservatives warned May not to “engage in a show of resistance and a choreographed argument followed by surrender” to the EU.
Divorce talks between Britain and the bloc have stalled on the issue of the Irish border, which will be the U.K’s only land frontier with the EU after Brexit. Both sides agree there must be no hard border, which could disrupt businesses and residents on both sides and undermine Northern Ireland’s peace process. But each has rejected the other side’s solution.
This week’s summit, which had been billed as a make-or-break moment, turned into a chance for both sides to give themselves more time — perhaps until the end of the year — to break the logjam.
May urged both parties to show “courage, trust and leadership,” but came to Brussels without the concrete new proposals the EU has asked for. Chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier said that “we need much time, much more time, and we continue to work in the next weeks.”
The lack of progress means a special EU summit on Brexit that had been penciled in for next month to finalize a deal has been scrapped, though EU leaders said they would assess the situation in the coming weeks.
The next official EU summit is scheduled for December, just over three and a half months before Britain ceases to be an EU member. Any deal that is struck will have to be approved by the British and European Parliaments.
Conservative lawmaker Nick Boles said there was a growing worry among many U.K. legislators that Britain and the EU were “trying to run out the clock” in order to stymie opposition to their plans.
“They are trying to leave this so late that they can credibly say there is no alternative but a ‘no-deal’ Brexit, and most people agree that would be chaos,” Boles told the BBC.
Jill Lawless, The Associated Press
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Kananaskis G7 meeting the right setting for U.S. and Canada to reassert energy ties

Energy security, resilience and affordability have long been protected by a continentally integrated energy sector.
The G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, offers a key platform to reassert how North American energy cooperation has made the U.S. and Canada stronger, according to a joint statement from The Heritage Foundation, the foremost American conservative think tank, and MEI, a pan-Canadian research and educational policy organization.
“Energy cooperation between Canada, Mexico and the United States is vital for the Western World’s energy security,” says Diana Furchtgott-Roth, director of the Center for Energy, Climate and Environment and the Herbert and Joyce Morgan Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, and one of America’s most prominent energy experts. “Both President Trump and Prime Minister Carney share energy as a key priority for their respective administrations.
She added, “The G7 should embrace energy abundance by cooperating and committing to a rapid expansion of energy infrastructure. Members should commit to streamlined permitting, including a one-stop shop permitting and environmental review process, to unleash the capital investment necessary to make energy abundance a reality.”
North America’s energy industry is continentally integrated, benefitting from a blend of U.S. light crude oil and Mexican and Canadian heavy crude oil that keeps the continent’s refineries running smoothly.
Each day, Canada exports 2.8 million barrels of oil to the United States.
These get refined into gasoline, diesel and other higher value-added products that furnish the U.S. market with reliable and affordable energy, as well as exported to other countries, including some 780,000 barrels per day of finished products that get exported to Canada and 1.08 million barrels per day to Mexico.
A similar situation occurs with natural gas, where Canada ships 8.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day to the United States through a continental network of pipelines.
This gets consumed by U.S. households, as well as transformed into liquefied natural gas products, of which the United States exports 11.5 billion cubic feet per day, mostly from ports in Louisiana, Texas and Maryland.
“The abundance and complementarity of Canada and the United States’ energy resources have made both nations more prosperous and more secure in their supply,” says Daniel Dufort, president and CEO of the MEI. “Both countries stand to reduce dependence on Chinese and Russian energy by expanding their pipeline networks – the United States to the East and Canada to the West – to supply their European and Asian allies in an increasingly turbulent world.”
Under this scenario, Europe would buy more high-value light oil from the U.S., whose domestic needs would be back-stopped by lower-priced heavy oil imports from Canada, whereas Asia would consume more LNG from Canada, diminishing China and Russia’s economic and strategic leverage over it.
* * *
The MEI is an independent public policy think tank with offices in Montreal, Ottawa, and Calgary. Through its publications, media appearances, and advisory services to policymakers, the MEI stimulates public policy debate and reforms based on sound economics and entrepreneurship.
As the nation’s largest, most broadly supported conservative research and educational institution, The Heritage Foundation has been leading the American conservative movement since our founding in 1973. The Heritage Foundation reaches more than 10 million members, advocates, and concerned Americans every day with information on critical issues facing America.
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Poilievre on 2025 Election Interference – Carney sill hasn’t fired Liberal MP in Chinese election interference scandal

From Conservative Party Communications
“Yes. He must be disqualified. I find it incredible that Mark Carney would allow someone to run for his party that called for a Canadian citizen to be handed over to a foreign government on a bounty, a foreign government that would almost certainly execute that Canadian citizen.
“Think about that for a second. We have a Liberal MP saying that a Canadian citizen should be handed over to a foreign dictatorship to get a bounty so that that citizen could be murdered. And Mark Carney says he should stay on as a candidate. What does that say about whether Mark Carney would protect Canadians?
“Mark Carney is deeply conflicted. Just in November, he went to Beijing and secured a quarter-billion-dollar loan for his company from a state-owned Chinese bank. He’s deeply compromised, and he will never stand up for Canada against any foreign regime. It is another reason why Mr. Carney must show us all his assets, all the money he owes, all the money that his companies owe to foreign hostile regimes. And this story might not be entirely the story of the bounty, and a Liberal MP calling for a Canadian to be handed over for execution to a foreign government might not be something that the everyday Canadian can relate to because it’s so outrageous. But I ask you this, if Mark Carney would allow his Liberal MP to make a comment like this, when would he ever protect Canada or Canadians against foreign hostility?
“He has never put Canada first, and that’s why we cannot have a fourth Liberal term. After the Lost Liberal Decade, our country is a playground for foreign interference. Our economy is weaker than ever before. Our people more divided. We need a change to put Canada first with a new government that will stand up for the security and economy of our citizens and take back control of our destiny. Let’s bring it home.”
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