In the news: Trump’s depression-era tariff tool, premiers back urgent trade talks

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed …

What to know about Trump’s new tariff tool

Donald Trump is ramping up pressure on Canada by threatening to use an obscure Great Depression-era legal tool to impose new tariffs — and it’s not clear whether there are any guardrails to rein in the president’s power.

Trump on Monday signed orders to use Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 to slap 50 per cent tariffs on a wide array of Canadian goods, ranging from hockey sticks and wine to cement.

The new duties would not go into effect until Aug. 19. Unlike most of Trump’s other tariffs, these tariffs would have no exemptions for goods compliant under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade, better known as CUSMA.

“Because Section 338 is an untested authority from the Great Depression era, we do not have a road map for how this will play out,” said Ryan Majerus, a Washington-based partner in the international trade team at the law firm King & Spalding.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford leaves a meeting at the Council of the Federation meeting in Charlottetown on Tuesday, July 21, 2026.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese

P.E.I. premiers meeting continues as tariffs loom

Canada’s premiers will continue meetings in Prince Edward Island this morning, the second day of an annual summer gathering.

All 13 leaders will spend several hours behind closed doors today before speaking to reporters this afternoon.

The talks between provincial and territorial leaders have been punctuated by U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats of a new 50-per-cent tariff on some Canadian goods.

Premiers say they are backing urgent, intense and fair trade negotiations between the federal government and the United States so Canada can avoid the increased levies.

The Brunswick Creek wildfire consumes trees on a mountainside, in Boston Bar, B.C., on Thursday, July 9, 2026.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C. wildfire triggers more evacuations

Evacuation orders in B.C.’s Fraser Canyon are spreading as the Brunswick Creek wildfire continues to burn out of control.

The latest call for locals to get out comes in the Hells Gate area, just downstream of the community of Boston Bar, where the Fraser River’s flow tightens.

Another covers an unspecified number of properties along Scuzzy Creek Forest Service Road, on the west side of the river.

Earlier Tuesday evening, the Fraser Valley Regional District ordered any residents remaining in Boston Bar to evacuate the area immediately, saying a new wildfire had ignited south of the community and was spreading quickly due to strong winds.

A young family boards a plane as they are evacuated from Neskantaga First Nation, on Saturday, July 18, 2026. The community of Neskantaga has been put under a state of emergency by the Chief and Council in response to the threat of wildfires and weather conditions impacting the community.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

More than 170 wildfires burning in Ontario’s north

Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources is listing 173 wildfires as active this morning in Ontario’s north, including 12 that had been sparked in the last 24 hours.

Early estimates suggest the flames have ravaged more of the province’s forests this season than any previous year on record, burning through more than 7,250 square kilometres so far.

Most of the fires in the province have burned in the last 10 days, and forced more than 1,800 people from their homes. Twelve of the 13 evacuated communities are First Nations.

On Tuesday, First Nations leaders called for a public inquiry into Ontario’s wildfire response, accusing the province of leaving communities to fend for themselves without timely support for evacuations.

Canadian Identity and Culture Minister Marc Miller attend a news conference in Ottawa on Wednesday, June 10, 2026.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Groups protest criticism of Palestinian exhibit

A coalition of civil society groups is pushing back against criticism by a federal cabinet minister and Jewish organizations of a museum exhibit on Palestinian displacement.

The Canadian Museum of Human Rights, a federal Crown corporation in Winnipeg, has faced a torrent of criticism over its exhibit on the Nakba, the forced displacement of about 750,000 Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

Culture Minister Marc Miller has said the museum failed by not naming Hamas in the exhibit as a terrorist organization that targets Jews, while Jewish groups say the exhibit portrays only one side of a complex history.

Dozens of groups are set to issue a joint statement today voicing support for the museum and pushing back against what they call political interference in its operations.

Bhishma Rajyaguru, 22, from Regina is shown in this handout photo.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/handout-Tonish Patel(Mandatory Credit)

Riders will honour crash victim Bhishma Rajyaguru

The Saskatchewan Roughriders will honour crash victim Bhishma Rajyaguru before their game Thursday night against the Edmonton Elks.

Rajyaguru, 22, was killed Saturday night when the car he was driving collided with a vehicle driven by Roughriders linebacker-team captain Jayden Dalke on Highway 11 near Lumsden, northwest of Regina.

“We are profoundly saddened by the loss of 22-year-old Regina resident Bhishma Rajyaguru on Saturday,” the Riders said in a statement Tuesday night. “We will honour Bhishma as part of our pre-game ceremony on Thursday evening and are working with his family on the best way we can support them.

“We will share more information when it is available.”

The RCMP said Monday that Dalke, 30, of Leduc, Alta., was driving on the wrong side of a highway, with alcohol and cannabis in his SUV when his vehicle crashed into another, killing himself and Rajyaguru. There were no passengers in the vehicles.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 22, 2026

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