Event: YousifSenior Canada

11 hours agoNadine YousifSenior Canada reporterAFP via Getty ImagesCanada is launching a government-owned investment fund to pay for major development projects in the country, Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced. The Canada Strong Fund, a first for the country, will invest in energy, infrastructure, mining, agriculture and technology, with an initial contribution of C$25bn ($18.4bn; £13.5bn).The fund will also allow Canadians who have "a bit of extra money" to invest into it directly, but experts have warned it risks "limited returns".The move is part of a broader goal by the Carney government to boost Canada's economy in face of US tariff threats.At Monday's announcement in Ottawa, Carney said that Canada was at a critical point in its history due to its changing relationship with the US, requiring it to invest and build at an urgent pace."The US has changed, that's their right," he said. "And we are responding, that's our imperative." The prime minister said the fund will invest - along with the private sector - into what his government has described as "nation-building projects" like port upgrades and natural resource development."Many countries that are blessed with natural resources like Norway have sovereign wealth funds. Canada hasn't had one, until now," the prime minister said.The Montreal Economic Institute warned in a statement on Monday that the fund "risks costing taxpayers dearly while generating limited returns". The opposition Conservatives also criticised the measure. Leader Pierre Poilievre labelled it a "sovereign debt fund", noting that the country's finances were in a deficit. "Norway, Singapore and Saudi Arabia run big budget surpluses which they accumulate and put into their sovereign wealth funds," Poilievre said. "Carney has no surplus, and therefore no wealth to put in such a fund."The Conservative leader also questioned why Carney wants to put public funds into major infrastructure projects.…