USA

As a country with a revolutionary tradition, the United States has always considered the right to own and carry firearms as implicit in the success of the American Revolution, and in the right and ability of all Americans to protect their property. This was implicit in the Declaration of Independence, in particular in Thomas Jefferson’s ungenerous references to the Native people. This helped give to American conservatism the character of individualism, of the rugged citizen, practically completely independent of the state, and in some respects, suspicious of it; patriotic and participating in political life, but above all in a society of individuals. The unallocated powers clause of the Bill of Rights, attached to the constitution at its outset, holds that powers not accorded the federal government belong to the states or the people, to individual citizens themselves.

The Biden state visit to Ottawa was undoubtedly a welcome respite from more pressing challenges both leaders face on the home front. While the words were felicitous, and even though the two leaders share similar views on climate change, Ukraine and China, along with popular cultural fads of the moment, tangible bilateral dividends were limited.

A recent study by the Angus Reid Institute found Canadians view their country more positively than Americans do — but only a slight majority of people in Canada believe their system of government is good.

The results of the online survey, released Thursday, show 78 per cent of Canadians view their country as caring, compared to 36 per cent of Americans who said the same about the U.S.

Eighty-nine per cent of Canadians say they live in a safe country, while 43 per cent of Americans say they do.

Canada will speed up deployment of a new high-tech radar system to upgrade North American air defences and retrofit military bases to accommodate the new American-made warplane that Ottawa is buying, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced during U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit to Canada Friday.

The announcements form part of a deepening of economic and defence ties between the United States and Canada laid out in a joint statement during the President’s visit – Mr. Biden’s first trip to this country since he took power in 2021. They build on Canada’s 2022 commitment to help modernize North American Aerospace Defence Command and address the growing threat posed by hypersonic missiles and advanced cruise missile technology developed by Russia and China.