Tim Houston is standing up to the U.S. by…travelling to Texas to make deals with U.S. oil companies and having dinners with a U.S.-based billionaire

POSTED IN MORNING FILE Tim Houston is standing up to the U.S. by…travelling to Texas to make deals with U.S. oil companies and having dinners with a U.S.-based billionaire Also: Houston government closes Amherst Land Registration Office; Indigenous knowledge; Changing landscapes: Resistance against Canadian copper mining faces newly elected government in Colombia; Beyond forestry: Medway Community Forest Cooperative looks for new opportunities on its lands; What’s on the agenda: Public washrooms and drinking fountains, the 30-metre coastal setback, and Andy Fillmore wants another ferry BY TIM BOUSQUET AUGUST 24, 2026 The reaction to Premier Houston's lifting of the ban on uranium exploration and mining, and promoting it in three rural areas of Nova Scotia, was swift and powerful. Credit: Joan Baxter U.S. President Donald Trump hates a free and independent Canada. He’s said as much many times — denigrating Canadian prime ministers, insisting that Canada will become the 51st U.S. state, tearing up bilateral agreements, and making ever-increasing demands for concessions. I feared Prime Minister Mark Carney was going to capitulate. As recently as Thursday, it was reported that Carney would concede to U.S. demands that Canada agree to deregulate the tech giants. But as is always the case with Trump, “the art of the deal” is to make more demands with the aim of humiliating the opponent. Carney simply couldn’t go that far. The Wall Street Journal reported the breadth of Trump’s demands: • restrictions on Canada’s right to pursue independent global trade deals (giving the U.S. veto power) • changes to French language rules in Québec • elimination of cultural contents quotas (the Online Streaming act) * excluding heavy vehicles (from Ford & GM plants) from tariff relief • opening procurement for public projects in Canada to American companies • ending Canadian dairy supply management completely • aligning Canadian tariffs automatically with U.S. policy • putting booze back on the shelves in provincial liquor stores • synchronizing pesticide and agricultural chemical regulations • adopting U.S. intellectual property rules for drug patents • shared management or full U.S. control over critical mineral extraction for export • increasing military spending to meet U.S.-imposed targets • lowering the ‘de minimis’ to duty free cross border purchases Canadians would be foolish to think that Trump’s talk of annexing Canada is bluster. The above list of demands would…