Bruce Heyman, former US Ambassador to Canada, discusses tariffs and their impact on trade between the two countries.</s>Vizcarra was both vice president as well as his country's ambassador to Canada. (AFP)</s>Peru's ambassador to Canada is in line for a promotion — to the presidency.

Martín Vizcarra is headed back to Peru today after President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski offered his resignation Wednesday, ahead of an impeachment vote.

Pressure was mounting on Kuczynski to step down after secretly recorded videos emerged showing several of his allies allegedly trying to buy the support of an opposition lawmaker.

Vizcarra, who has been serving as Peru's ambassador to Canada since October 2017, is also the country's first vice president and is now in line to become Peru's next leader.

"He will be finishing his duties as ambassador today and he's on his way back to Peru," said Natalia Santanilla, executive assistant to the ambassador in Ottawa.

Estoy indignado por la situación actual,como la mayoría de los peruanos. Pero tengo la convicción que juntos demostraremos una vez más que podemos salir adelante.<br>Por ello, regreso al Perú para ponerme a disposición del País, respetando lo que manda la Constitución.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ElPer%C3%BAPrimero?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ElPerúPrimero</a> —@MartinVizcarraC

Peru's congress is expected to debate Thursday whether to accept Kuczynski's resignation or proceed with planned impeachment proceedings.

In December, lawmakers initiated the impeachment process over Kuczynski's ties to the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. He was accused of lying about $782,000 in payments his consulting firm received a decade ago from the company.

He remitido al Congreso el original de esta carta, que he transmitido al Perú, renunciando al cargo de Presidente Constitucional de la República. <a href="https://t.co/PHX6ZccU9r">pic.twitter.com/PHX6ZccU9r</a> —@ppkamigo

If Vizcarra and Peru's second vice president decide to resign alongside him — something they have vowed to do in the past — power would be transferred to the head of congress, who would be required to call new elections.

Santanilla said Vizcarra was asked to return to his country on Wednesday and embassy staff in Ottawa were notified Thursday morning.

"I have no idea what's going to be happening in the next days in Peru," said Santanilla, who admitted news of the ambassador's departure came as a surprise.

On Wednesday night, Vizcarra posted on Twitter that he was outraged by the current situation in Peru but, in keeping with his country's constitution, would return home to fulfil his duties.

Meanwhile, the eighth Summit of the Americas is scheduled to take place in Lima on April 13 and 14. Global Affairs Canada was not immediately able to comment on how the situation may affect Canada's plans to attend.</s>Peru's ambassador to Canada is in line for a promotion — to the presidency.

Martín Vizcarra is headed back to Peru today after President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski offered his resignation Wednesday, ahead of an impeachment vote.

Pressure was mounting on Kuczynski to step down after secretly recorded videos emerged showing several of his allies allegedly trying to buy the support of an opposition lawmaker.

Vizcarra, who has been serving as Peru's ambassador to Canada since October 2017, is also the country's first vice president and is now in line to become Peru's next leader.

"He will be finishing his duties as ambassador today and he's on his way back to Peru," said Natalia Santanilla, executive assistant to the ambassador in Ottawa.

Peru's congress is expected to debate Thursday whether to accept Kuczynski's resignation or proceed with planned impeachment proceedings.

In December, lawmakers initiated the impeachment process over Kuczynski's ties to the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. He was accused of lying about $782,000 in payments his consulting firm received a decade ago from the company.

If Vizcarra and Peru's second vice president decide to resign alongside him — something they have vowed to do in the past — power would be transferred to the head of congress, who would be required to call new elections.

Santanilla said Vizcarra was asked to return to his country on Wednesday and embassy staff in Ottawa were notified Thursday morning.

"I have no idea what's going to be happening in the next days in Peru," said Santanilla, who admitted news of the ambassador's departure came as a surprise.

On Wednesday night, Vizcarra posted on Twitter that he was outraged by the current situation in Peru but, in keeping with his country's constitution, would return home to fulfil his duties.

Meanwhile, the eighth Summit of the Americas is scheduled to take place in Lima on April 13 and 14. Global Affairs Canada was not immediately able to comment on how the situation may affect Canada's plans to attend.</s>GANGNEUNG, South Korea (AP) Canada’s topsy-turvy Olympics was dealt a heavy blow Friday night as Germany shocked the two-time defending Olympic champions 4-3 in the men’s hockey semifinals.

The loss came a day after Canada’s women’s hockey team was denied a fifth straight gold in a shootout against the rival Americans and amid the despair of having no chance at medals in men’s or women’s curling.

”They came out ready to play,” Canada forward Rob Klinkhammer said. ”We didn’t. They were the better team.”

Without NHL stars Sidney Crosby and Drew Doughty, elite goaltender Carey Price – and certainly don’t forget Stanley Cup-winning coach Mike Babcock – Canada was skated out of the building by coach Marco Sturm’s team that now faces an even stiffer test in the favored Russians in Sunday’s final.

After winning back-to-back gold medals in Vancouver in 2010 and Sochi in 2014, and three of the past four dating to 2002, Canada’s self-described band of journeymen will play the Czech Republic for bronze on Saturday.

”We did not match their work ethic,” Canada forward Derek Roy said. ”It stings a lot. It is not a good feeling to lose a game like that.”

Canada has only settled for a bronze medal twice in 21 previous Olympic men’s hockey tournaments and took home gold or silver in each of the six games with women’s hockey.

”We obviously let a big one get away from us,” Klinkhammer said.

Canada will likely play for bronze without top-liner Gilbert Brule, who was ejected for a brutal hit to the head of David Wolf at center ice, one of several bad penalties by an uncharacteristically undisciplined team coached by Willie Desjardins.

Desjardins and his staff made some adjustments at the first intermission, but never called a timeout when Germany went up 3-0 or 4-1. Kevin Poulin was starting in net because No. 1 goalie Ben Scrivens injured his shoulder/collarbone area in a collision in the quarterfinal against Finland, and he allowed goals scored by Brooks Macek, Matthias Plachta, Frank Mauer and Patrick Hager on 15 shots.

Poulin refused to speak to reporters afterward. There weren’t many answers for what happened to the team that had looked dominant against Finland.

”I don’t know,” forward Andrew Ebbett said. ”Just a couple penalties there early on. We were in the box the whole second period. It’s tough to win a hockey game when you’re killing penalties that whole time. We maybe needed two, three, five more minutes there at the end maybe to tie it up, but it was too late.”

Canada outshot Germany 15-1 in the third period but couldn’t climb all the way back after digging a deep hole. It started with high-sticking and faceoff violation penalties 36 seconds apart and unraveled when Macek scored.

He’s a dual citizen who was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but didn’t look the slightest bit conflicted as he pumped his fist following a 5-on-3 power-play goal. A good player with the Western Hockey League’s Tri-City Americans and Calgary Hitmen, Macek looked like a star playing in the Olympics against Canada.

Danny aus den Birken was good again in net in making 28 saves, but Canada also struggled to break Germany’s suffocating neutral-zone trap to even get into the offensive zone for quality scoring chances and couldn’t cash in when there.

Canada lost in the quarterfinals in Turin in 2006 with NHL players on its roster, but this loss is still hard to take for a nation that has already set a national Winter Games medals record with 27. Canada won four gold medals in freestyle skiing and two in figure skating, where it has seven overall. Scott Moir, Tessa Virtue and Kelsey Serwa have been among Canada’s heroes but the curling and hockey teams so intertwined with the nation’s sporting identity came away disappointed.

”No reason for it,” Ebett said. ”It’s Olympic semifinal, chance to play for the gold and we just didn’t bring it in the first 20 minutes and they obviously were ready.”</s>GANGNEUNG, South Korea (AP) First curling, now this.

Canada’s topsy-turvy Olympics was dealt a heavy blow Friday night as Germany stunned the two-time defending Olympic champion Canadians 4-3 in the semifinals. It came a day after Canada’s women’s hockey team was denied a fifth-straight gold in a shootout against the rival Americans and amid the despair of having no chance at men’s or women’s curling medals.

Without NHL stars Sidney Crosby and Drew Doughty, elite goaltender Carey Price – and certainly don’t forget Stanley Cup-winning coach Mike Babcock – Canada was skated out of the building by coach Marco Sturm’s team that now faces an even stiffer test in the favored Russians in Sunday’s final. After winning back-to-back gold medals in Vancouver in 2010 and Sochi in 2014, and three of the past four dating to 2002, Canada’s self-described band of journeymen will play the Czech Republic for bronze on Saturday.

Canada has only settled for a bronze medal twice in 21 previous Olympic men’s hockey tournaments and took home gold or silver in each of the six games with women’s hockey.

Canada will likely play for bronze without top-liner Gilbert Brule, who was ejected for a brutal hit to the head of David Wolf at center ice, one of several bad penalties by an uncharacteristically undisciplined team coached Willie Desjardins.

Desjardins and his staff made some adjustments at the first intermission, but he never pulled goaltender Kevin Poulin or called a timeout when Germany went up 3-0 or 4-1. Poulin was starting because No. 1 goalie Ben Scrivens injured his shoulder/collarbone area in a collision in the quarterfinal against Finland, and he allowed goals scored by Brooks Macek, Matthias Plachta, Frank Mauer and Patrick Hager on 15 shots.

Macek is a dual citizen who was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but didn’t look the slightest bit conflicted as he pumped his fist following a 5-on-3 power-play goal. A good player with the Western Hockey League’s Tri-City Americans and Calgary Hitmen looked like a star playing in the Olympics against Canada.

Danny aus den Birken was good again in net in making 28 saves, but Canada struggled to break Germany’s suffocating neutral-zone trap to even get into the offensive zone for quality scoring chances and couldn’t cash in when there.

Canada lost in the quarterfinals in Turin in 2006 with NHL players on its roster, but this loss is still a blow for a nation that had already set a national Winter Games medals record with 27. Canada won four gold medals in freestyle skiing and two in figure skating – where it has seven overall. Scott Moir, Tessa Virtue and Kelsey Serwa have been among Canada’s heroes while the curling and hockey teams came away disappointed.
Peruvian Vice President Martín Vizcarra returns from Canada, where he is his nation's ambassador, in preparation to take over the Presidency.