Alberta’s Independence Would Increase Costs, Says Calgary’s Mayor

Geoff Regan Looks to Keep Role as Speaker of the House of Commons in Canada

OTTAWA—Geoff Regan, who presided over the House of Commons as Speaker for the past four years, is looking to reprise his role in the new session of Parliament. The Halifax Liberal MP plans to let his name stand among those who want to be the referee in what is likely to be a fractious Commons following last month’s bruising election campaign that returned Justin Trudeau’s Liberals with a minority government. The new session is to start on Dec. 5 and the first order of business will be for MPs to elect a new Speaker. Speaker’s office spokeswoman Heather Bradley said Regan “would welcome the opportunity to place his experience as Speaker in the [last] 42nd Parliament at the service of the House of Commons and will therefore be letting his name stand as a candidate for…

Calgary’s mayor says ideas being floated to give Alberta more independence from the federal government would be costly.

Naheed Nenshi says wresting control from Ottawa over things like pensions and policing would have to come with a big enough benefit to justify the expense.

He says his focus in running the city is making sure services are delivered as efficiently as possible.

Premier Jason Kenney’s United Conservative government has formed a panel to examine ways for Alberta to get what he calls a fairer deal from Confederation.

The panel is to consult with Albertans on ideas like establishing a provincial revenue agency, withdrawing from the Canada Pension Plan, and replacing the RCMP with a provincial police force.

Resentment and even calls for separation have been roiling in Alberta since last month’s federal election that saw the Liberals re−elected, but with a minority government.

Kenney, who says he does not support separatism, has lambasted the Liberals for policies he says have hurt the provincial oil and gas industry.

Calgary Chamber of Commerce CEO Sandip Lalli said the ideas being weighed by the panel don’t offer much to a city that faces a property tax crunch as businesses empty out of the downtown core.

“It’s not adding greater certainty or clarity to what we’re doing here in Alberta to be more competitive.”

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Trump Expected to Delay European Auto Tariff Decision, Say EU Officials

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to announce this week he is delaying a decision on whether to slap tariffs on cars and auto parts imported from the European Union, likely for another six months, EU officials said. “We have a solid indication from the administration that there will not be tariffs on us this week,” one EU official said on Monday. The Trump administration has a Thursday deadline to decide whether to impose threatened “Section 232” national security tariffs of as much as 25 percent on imported vehicles and parts under a Cold War-era trade law. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, whose agency is overseeing an investigation into the effect of auto imports on U.S. national security, said on Nov. 3 the United States may not need such tariffs…