How imposed tariffs could impact Maritime businesses I CTV News Atlantic at 11:30 for July 21, 2026

[00:00:02]Good evening and thanks for joining us.

[00:00:04]I'm Bruce Frisco. It is Tuesday, the [music] 21st day of July. With this CTV News. Tonight, bracing for tariffs. What maritime sectors would be hit the hardest if Trump follows through?

[00:00:19]The stress test, the maritime city among tops in the world for all the wrong reasons.

[00:00:29]And model behavior, a railway museum right on track taking visitors back through time.

[00:00:37]>> Live from our Maritimes [music] News Centre, this is CTV News. Here is Bruce Frisco.

[00:00:47]>> Good evening. He is nowhere near the actual meetings, but US President Donald Trump has injected a level of chaos into the Premiers conference that got underway in Charlottetown today.

[00:00:59]You'll recall late yesterday, Trump pledged new punishing tariffs on a host of Canadian goods.

[00:01:06]Atlantic Premiers often have to walk a diplomatic tightrope when commenting on Mr. Trump and his policies, and that was certainly the case for two of them today, who told reporters they would follow the Prime Minister's lead in responding.

[00:01:21]>> We're we're down a long road here.

[00:01:23]We'll have a conversation with the Prime Minister and our federal government here over the coming days about what the strategy is going forward. But what's important is that we show a strength, unity, and resolve going forward here, and that we've got a national strategy to use our leverage to get through this dispute with the United States.

[00:01:45]>> The challenge is tariffs don't work for anyone. They don't work for the people of the United States, they don't work for the people of Canada. So, I think that as I've said before, you know, Canada and US, we have more that brings us together than we do separates us. So, tariffs are not effective for anyone, but I think that the Prime Minister has taken this on and he's we're going to stick together as a country and we're going to move forward.

[00:02:07]>> The Premier's at a virtual meeting with Mark Carney this afternoon. More on that in a moment and the PM is expected to attend in person on Thursday.

[00:02:17]So, if the new tariffs are indeed imposed on August the 19th as promised, it's estimated they would cost the Canadian economy nearly 30 billion dollars.

[00:02:28]So, how would it impact maritime businesses? CTV's Avery McRae went looking for answers today.

[00:02:36]>> St. John's Moosehead Brewery is one of Canada's largest beer producers. As recently as this time a year ago, 20% of all its products was packaged and sold to the United States. As of August 19th, that would become costly.

[00:02:50]>> It's extremely unfortunate at a time where we should just be sitting down and concluding an agreement.

[00:02:56]>> Among the biggest sectors impacted in our region by 50% tariffs, if applied, would be Nova Scotia wine and New Brunswick lumber, both export heavy.

[00:03:06]>> By the time they realize how bad things are, I think it's going to be too late to fix it.

[00:03:09]>> NB Federation of Woodlot Owners President Rick Doucett says the past year of battling tariffs, among other factors, have seen wood sales down 30 to 40% in the province this year.

[00:03:19]>> There's not a lot of focus on the supply chain for the mills. I think the government of New Brunswick is actually going to get caught a little flat-footed if they don't start talking to the rest of the people involved in this sector to understand their, you know, what they're going through.

[00:03:33]>> Some organizations and businesses, especially the ones that aren't impacted, really have tuned this out.

[00:03:39]>> Atlantic Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Ronda Tole Lane says their focus is finding the East Coast companies that will feel the impact of additional tariffs, like New Brunswick's lumber and steel industries.

[00:03:51]>> Really interesting uh be looking at uh what they've chosen to put tariffs on.

[00:03:55]So, we're working through that and then going to be offering a plan of support to these companies.

[00:03:59]>> When compared to provinces like Ontario and Quebec, Rhonda MacLean says the impact if these new tariffs take root won't be as harmful in the Maritimes.

[00:04:08]But, that doesn't mean they will be painless.

[00:04:11]Avery MacRae, CTV News, Saint John.

[00:04:14]>> And we should tell you there was some progress on interprovincial trade today.

[00:04:18]Nine provinces will allow their brewers and distillers to sell direct to consumers anywhere in the country.

[00:04:26]Premiers announced the deal during that virtual meeting in Prince Edward Island with the uh Prime Minister today. Until now, direct-to-consumer sales of beer, wine, and spirits made in one province shipped to another have mostly been governed by agreements between the provinces or were effectively banned except in New Brunswick, which has kind of led the way on this file and this practice for nearly a year. The premiers of Quebec, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut have not signed up yet, but say they're working on it.

[00:05:00]>> Get the Maritimes' top stories, breaking news alerts, and watch live. Download the CTV News app.

[00:05:07]>> We all know many Haligonians are feeling a financial squeeze these days. Now, a website called urbanstressindex.com ranks Halifax as extreme when it comes to its lack of affordability.

[00:05:21]From high rent to expensive groceries, the site notes life is challenging in the region's largest city. CTV's Callum Smith has more.

[00:05:31]>> I am living in a dump as it is, and I'm still paying close to a thousand dollars.

[00:05:36]>> According to urbanstressindex.com, Halifax is the most unaffordable spot in the country, ranking the city as extreme, saying roughly 58% of income goes to rent, more than 18% to food, leaving about 24% for savings and daily expenses. This expert says the data is wrong because it relies on median provincial income for Halifax rather than the census metropolitan area. But Neil Lovett says getting data out there is important to help paint the picture.

[00:06:06]>> I would probably ballpark us either sort of between third to fifth place.

[00:06:11]So, you know, the the overall idea of cost of living being a challenge is is absolutely right. And Halifax is you know, I guess punching above its weight in a negative sense.

[00:06:23]>> Like many, much of John Barrett's income goes towards rent, making filling one of these very challenging.

[00:06:29]>> I try my hardest to keep enough money to eat, but even that is costly sometimes.

[00:06:37]I have to go to friends and family members at times just to make ends meet.

[00:06:43]>> This money coach says the disparity between income and cost to live is not a budgeting problem, rather a math problem.

[00:06:50]>> I really fear for our younger generation.

[00:06:55]As I said, you know, my daughter and her friends, my daughter is actually the only one who's moving out on her own.

[00:07:03]Everybody else has moved in with their parents after graduating.

[00:07:06]>> Callum Smith, CTV News, Halifax.

[00:07:10]Nova Scotia seniors facing sex charges in connection with alleged assaults dating back more than 50 years.

[00:07:17]Police say the 65-year-old man from Kentville is facing charges of sexual exploitation of a young person, sexual assault, three counts of indecent assault. There are three alleged victims who are now adults. The incidents happened between 1975 and 1991.

[00:07:36]The accused has been released with a court date set for September in Digby.

[00:07:42]Another tree in the Public Gardens in Halifax has been targeted by vandals.

[00:07:47]It's the second time a specific tree has been damaged. CTV's Jonathan MacInnis has more.

[00:07:54]>> The damage to the European beech tree comes 4 years after about 30 trees had their bark stripped from them in a much wider act of vandalism.

[00:08:03]After this one was found, all the other trees here were checked and given the all-clear. As you can see, the tree has been wrapped in burlap to protect its wounds.

[00:08:12]>> Uh they found a 6-8 in cut in the tree um that looks like it was from a hatchet or a um axe-type um weapon.

[00:08:25]>> The damage is being described as significant. The city says two trees had to be removed after the 2022 incident.

[00:08:32]The rest are still at varying levels of recovery. No one was caught, either.

[00:08:37]There are cameras here inside the Public Gardens, but they didn't show who was responsible. Halifax Regional Police is asking anyone with information to give them a call. Jonathan MacInnis, CTV News.

[00:08:48]Today, we learned the identity of the cyclist who was killed in a Halifax street last week. Newman Ali, a 71-year-old engineering professor at Dalhousie, was hit by the door of a pickup truck during the noon hour on Friday.

[00:09:03]On the weekend, the Ummah Sabeel Muslim and Youth Community Center posted on social media the city has lost a great man in dear brother.

[00:09:14]And in an effort to reduce the risk of collision, the Halifax Bridge Commission is warning cyclists to slow down as they cross the Macdonald.

[00:09:24]Along with the thousands of vehicles, officials note cyclists and people on e-bikes and scooters share the pathways with pedestrians. And with construction narrowing the passageways, there have been some very close calls.

[00:09:39]>> We've had people who have written to us and said about a about a close call. And we don't want to have we don't want it to go beyond that.

[00:09:48]>> Officials are considering more signage in an effort to get cyclists to slow down.

[00:09:56]It was a great night for bingo in Halifax tonight.

[00:10:03]>> [music] >> Builds a wonderful night of dragon delights. Pride bingo is always a popular event this year, no exception.

[00:10:14]The sold-out fundraiser for the health equity alliance of Nova Scotia featured prizes, performances, a lively atmosphere, and a lot of laughs, of course.

[00:10:24]>> [cheering] >> So, it's not out of the realm of possibility for us to make 4 to 5,000 dollars, uh which will go towards our programming, uh including our making ends meet program, which provides uh hygiene supplies and uh you know, some food um for those with HIV in our community.

[00:10:45]Uh we also have a pride tour. We're going all around the province to different um cities and towns, uh and bringing safer sex supplies, pamphlets, and showing people what we do.

[00:10:58]>> The event, of course, part of Halifax Pride, which runs through Sunday.

[00:11:05]All right, still to come tonight, Kaylen's full forecast, and we'll examine how some food staples have become too expensive for some people to buy anymore.

[00:11:14]Coming up next though, a place for sober reflection.

[00:11:17]>> We have tranquility on our sign, and that's what we want to give here.

[00:11:22]>> It is a place for healing, recovery, and tranquility, and it's believed to be the first of its kind in our region.

[00:11:29]You'll see it, meet the people behind it, when we come back.

[00:11:38]>> [screaming] >> Mornings with Aaron and Peter.

[00:11:41]>> Hey, you can win [music] $1,000 in under 60 seconds every weekday at 7:00.

[00:11:45]>> That's when we play $1,000 minute, your chance to win a grand with us.

[00:11:53]>> After losing or suffering pain and loss due to an addiction, couple from Vancouver turn their lives around, moved out our way, and opened what is believed to be the region's first sober campground. CTV's Emma Conway takes us there.

[00:12:11]>> Named after my son. His name was Dylan.

[00:12:15]And Dylan means son of the sea.

[00:12:18]And uh he passed away in 2017.

[00:12:24]>> It's just hard to lose him.

[00:12:26]>> Dylan lost his life to a fentanyl overdose in December 2017. To pay tribute to him, Rachel and her husband Todd packed up their lives in Vancouver to start fresh on the East Coast.

[00:12:38]>> We decided that we would open up an alcohol and drug-free campground because there isn't any that I'm aware of.

[00:12:47]>> They both know the importance of spaces like this, having been in recovery themselves for the past 16 years. This campground is a labor of love and something that's helped on their own journey.

[00:12:58]>> Be hard to be around people partying cuz they make it look good.

[00:13:03]And I just have to I wouldn't have what I have if if I was the way I was.

[00:13:13]>> We have tranquility on our sign, and that's what we want to give here.

[00:13:18]>> This is their first full season open.

[00:13:20]Eight acres, 10 RV hookups, 10 spots, fire pits, and walking trails, all free of substances. Their eventual goal is to host a sober festival here where all the proceeds go towards addiction services.

[00:13:34]It will always be a space that honors Dylan. Emma Convoy, CTV News.

[00:13:41]>> Thank you, Emma. Time for a quick little break now, but when we return, it's your complete maritime weather forecast. A picture-perfect kind of day around here today, but tomorrow going to need your umbrella and your rubber boots and your galoshes and your rain coat and your sou'wester and more.

[00:13:59]Weather's next.

[00:14:32]Tuesday night, 21st day of uh July.

[00:14:34]Today just a picture-perfect kind of summer day, and then I guess we're going to get some rain.

[00:14:39]>> Yeah, but it's better to get it in the middle of the week, right?

[00:14:42]>> Sure. Well, that's true.

[00:14:43]>> [laughter] >> So, yes, it was a gorgeous day today. We did see that sun shining through. We saw a little bit of extra cloud cover as we headed later into the evening, but yes, we have a couple of weather alerts in effect. Right now, we do have a special weather statement that's going to blanket uh mostly into eastern parts of Nova Scotia. We're expecting about 30 to 50 mm of rain Wednesday morning into Thursday morning, but we do have a couple of yellow-level alerts in effect issued by Environment Canada, and that is going to be heavy rain at times. 40 to 50 mm, could see up to 60 mm during some thunderstorms, which we are expecting a little bit later into the morning as well as into the afternoon in parts of Nova Scotia. Lake you have winds coming through as well up to 90 km/h. So again, it is going to be a blustery and rainy day. As we take a look here, yes, that system starting to push into the region and that's going to hang around pretty much the majority of tomorrow morning. We are going to continue to see heavy rainfall throughout the course of the morning into the afternoon. Then we start to see a little bit of a reprieve in parts of New Brunswick, but for the most part in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, that rain is sticking around into the early hours of Thursday morning. We will start to see it clear out a little bit into Thursday afternoon, but it is with us for the next 24 hours. As we take a look here at our accumulated rainfall, the most amount of rain we are going to see is along the coastline. So that Bay of Fundy coastline, as well as over in Yarmouth and Shelburne and Sheet Harbour. Halifax is going to see between 30 to 40 mm of rain. So again, there could be times of the day that we are going to see heavy rainfall, especially when those thunderstorms are happening.

[00:16:19]So that's when to be the most wary, but the most accumulation of rainfall is going to be along that Bay of Fundy coastline, over in Yarmouth, Shelburne and Sheet Harbour.

[00:16:28]With this system, of course, wind gusts are going to be a factor. So we are going to see an increase of wind gusts coming southwesterly through the region before things start to taper off a little bit into the early hours of Thursday morning. And then we will start to see as the system pushes out of our region that those winds die down with it. So for Wednesday, drizzle and rain, risk of thunderstorms. That's pretty much going to be the name of the game across the board. We are going to continue to see that rain, those winds gusting up to 40 km/h from the southwest. We will see that rain impacting into Prince Edward Island a little bit later into the morning as well as over into parts of Cape Breton and eastern parts of Nova Scotia. We will see those thunderstorm activities, of course, through central parts of Nova Scotia as well as western parts of the province. So again, it's going to be a wet one as we head out and about our day on Wednesday. However, that rain is going to be moving pretty quickly.

[00:17:22]So, as we take a look here at our 7-day planner, as we head into Friday, we're seeing sun and cloud, Saturday sun and cloud, and Sunday sun and cloud for New Brunswick. So, not a bad way to spend the weekend. We get rid of that rain in the middle of the week, and then we have that nice sunshine for the weekend. In Nova Scotia, rain's going to linger a little bit longer into Thursday before it clears out, and then we have those average type temperatures coming back into the region. Sun and cloud for Saturday, Sunday. Could see a few spotty showers on Sunday, however. Over on Prince Edward Island, much of the same like Nova Scotia, rain for Wednesday into Thursday before we see that mix of sun and cloud into Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. So, Bruce, not a bad way to start the weekend.

[00:18:01]>> No, not a bad way. I think you used every green crayon in the box there with those first maps.

[00:18:06]>> [laughter] >> A lot of green going on.

[00:18:08]>> I tried. I tried.

[00:18:09]>> That's right. All right, wake up weather still to come. Stay with us, be right back.

[00:18:16]>> [music] >> The number one morning show in Halifax, Turk, Megan, and Amateur Alex, and home to the biggest artists. Halifax's number one hit music station, 101.3 Virgin Radio.

[00:18:40]>> Tomato, tomato, whatever you call it, the price has skyrocketed over the last year, and of course, other staples are costing a whole lot more as well. As CTV's Vanessa Wright shows us tonight, as grocery bills continue to climb, Maritimers have been forced to cross some items right off their shopping lists.

[00:19:00]>> When we were younger, we couldn't carry home $100 worth of groceries, but we can today in one bag.

[00:19:05]>> While Canadians saw some relief in June when overall inflation took a dip to 2.8%, it's been a different story for food inflation.

[00:19:14]>> Because for 17 months now, food inflation has surpassed inflation. And so, when you're living your life, you're paying for certain things, and when you go to the grocery store, prices are increasing much faster at the grocery store.

[00:19:30]>> Which means supermarket staples like chicken and bread are more expensive, not to mention the price of produce is higher than it was this time last year.

[00:19:39]>> Attention is slowly shifting from the meat counter to produce.

[00:19:46]Tomatoes, carrots, onions.

[00:19:50]>> Tomatoes in particular up over 30% key ingredients for many restaurants now left in limbo trying to decide whether to raise prices or wait for the market to cool.

[00:20:01]>> We don't know what that norm is.

[00:20:04]Our pricing has already been set uh with our menus.

[00:20:08]So, we can't really afford to go spend another 4, 5,000 dollars to get print new menus on it, and then to see the price go down, and of course be unfair to our guests and so on.

[00:20:19]>> That's due to energy costs, uh of course, uh because of of the price of diesel. That's obviously impacting uh the price of produce.

[00:20:30]>> Making a trip to the grocery store a nightmare for maritimers, especially those trying to keep a healthy diet.

[00:20:37]Vanessa Wright, CTV News.

[00:20:40]>> Okay, thank you, Vanessa. Time for one final break tonight. Coming up model behavior. An amazing replica of an old railway route. First though, it it's your wake up weather, and as discussed earlier, you're likely going to need your raincoat tomorrow. Breanna Fuller with everything you need to know for the morning. CTV News at 11:30 continues.

[00:21:08]Wednesday morning, 22nd day of July.

[00:21:10]Now, we'll kick it off with the wake-up weather from Breanna Foley.

[00:21:13]>> Yes, well, it's a little bit of a wet day to start this Wednesday, which is okay because it's the middle of the week. So, yes, we are seeing that low-pressure system impacting into the region as we start our day this morning.

[00:21:23]Again, thunderstorm activity is going to be a factor for today. As we head later into the day, we are going to start to see it kind of push out, but we will continue to be impacted in Nova Scotia, as well as Prince Edward Island. Could see some sun popping through through parts of New Brunswick, Bruce.

[00:21:40]>> All right, thank you, Breanna. Well, we're hitting the tracks now, the model train tracks, for our final story this evening. As CTV's Ryan MacDonald is about to show us an amazing replica of an old railway route between Louisbourg and Glace Bay, is bringing history to life.

[00:22:02]>> It's a model train with a mission to keep the rich history of rail in Cape Breton alive.

[00:22:08]>> It covers basically the whole layout of the the the S&L railway.

[00:22:13]That would have been well, 50 years ago, 60 years ago.

[00:22:16]>> This large diorama inside the S&L Railway Museum in Louisbourg recreates the approximately 63-km rail journey that used to be made regularly between Louisbourg and Glace Bay. The train chugs on past mock-ups of an old coal mine.

[00:22:32]It goes over bridges.

[00:22:36]And of course, through tunnels. Fergus Francy, after a long career in the Canadian Coast Guard, has more time these days for his other passion, model trains. And he spent years helping build some of this set.

[00:22:47]>> I think I've got about 500 trees on this layout that I made by hand. Uh I came back to work again about a year ago, and I kept on going. Made the coal mine, the Mira Gut Bridge, the the road bridge was another one of my creations. But again, a lot of people have had their hands in this.

[00:23:04]>> It blows me away. It's It blows everybody away.

[00:23:08]>> The idea for this was first floated about 23 years ago by members of the Sydney Railway Club. This is the first summer the completed model has been fully open to the public.

[00:23:17]>> It's something that every uh school system should bring in bring their kids here and see what we've done here.

[00:23:24]>> Of course, rail in Cape Breton has been largely a thing of the past for more than a decade now, and whether or not real trains will ever hit the tracks on the island again, this piece of history in miniature brings what those days might have been like back to the present.

[00:23:38]>> What you see is what you get. This is amazing, an amazing adventure. I'm glad to be a part of it.

[00:23:44]>> Ryan MacDonald, CTV News.

[00:23:50]Louisbourg, Nova Scotia.

[00:23:54]>> Thank you, Ryan. Great story and great work there.

[00:23:57]Okay, that is your late news for tonight. If you joined us later, you'd like another look at anything you've seen this [music] evening, CTV News atlantic.ca. It's always your home for news.

[00:24:09]I'm Bruce Frisco. Thank you for staying up late with us tonight. Have a good evening, and we hope to see you again tomorrow.