U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday he may impose “very severe tariffs” on fertilizer from Canada “if we have to” in order to bolster domestic production. Trump made the comment while taking questions from reporters during a roundtable event at the White House where he announced a US$12-billion tariff relief fund for American farmers, who have been facing rising costs...
Prime Minister Mark Carney said Monday his government's plan to get public servants to spend more time in the office will come into "sharper view" over the next several weeks. The issue came up when Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe asked Carney about the prospect of public sector job cuts during the mayor's monthly breakfast event with the Ottawa Board of...
Conservative MPs no longer have a lock on running as candidates in the next election under new rules adopted by the party’s national council. Two party sources told The Globe and Mail the new rules allow a majority of party members in a riding to force an incumbent MP into a nomination race in minority Parliament situations. In majority Parliaments...
According to new nomination rules, if a Conservative candidate lost two consecutive elections, they will no longer need a waiver from the party to take a third run, say Conservative sources. It would take the support of 51 per cent of local members to trigger a nomination contest in a Conservative-held riding, according to new nomination rules approved by the...
Bloc Québécois leader says Liberals agreed to remove religious exemption to hate crime laws. The future of the federal government’s anti-hate Bill C-9 is unclear after Justice Minister Sean Fraser’s office brokered a deal with the Bloc Québécois without getting it approved by the Prime Minister’s Office, sources tell CBC News. Bill C-9 proposes new Criminal Code offences, including one...
More than five in ten Canadians support or somewhat support both building a new pipeline from Alberta to BC, even if BC opposes it (56%) and lifting the ban on oil tanker traffic in BC to support a new pipeline (55%), while about a third of Canadians oppose or somewhat oppose each (37% each). Residents of the Prairies are twice...
Normally if people are down about the economy they are angry at government. It’s more complicated right now, as people see economic pressures from outside our borders. Other than tagging every scandal something-gate, It’d be hard to find a more overused phrase in modern political analysis than “it’s the economy, stupid”. In 1992, James Carville wrote it on a sign...
The panel’s discussion focused on the ability of Mark Carney’s government to deliver on its agenda. Article content Lang, a former chief of staff to two Liberal defence ministers and now acting director at the School of Policy Studies at Queen’s University, pointed out that Carney faces the frustrations of attempting to move at speeds the bureaucracy was not designed...
Without much fanfare, the U.S. government has launched what could be a seismic shift in American foreign policy with its new National Security Strategy. And for Canada, the impact of the NSS could be profound. We already know Donald Trump’s approach to relations with Canada has complicated our economic and security environment. But the NSS tries make coherent a foreign...
Plans are in the works to save hundreds of the roughly 1,000 jobs slated to be lost at Algoma Steel Inc. in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. Bill Slater, president of United Steelworkers local 2724 that represents some of the affected employees, says as many as 500 people could be back at work by the end of next year. He says...
The federal government is partnering with the city of Ottawa to put $400 million to help build up to 3,000 affordable homes in the capital, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Monday. The city will speed up the construction of homes by waiving development charges, permit fees and property taxes, Carney told a crowd of businesspeople at a regular breakfast event...
If we don't build bridges to get demoralized young men involved in the democratic process, extremists may capitalize on their frustration
Let’s face it, with 343 MPs in this Parliament and one Green Party seat, I had not imagined that any vote might be so tight that my single “yay” or “nay” could hold sway. Then, based on a combination of minority math and political machination, the knife-edge vote on Mark Carney’s first budget on November 17th came along and the...
Hidden in the federal government’s 634-page omnibus bill C-15, the Budget Implementation Act, is a measure that has so far escaped scrutiny. Under the pretext of regulatory efficiency, Prime Minister Mark Carney plans to grant cabinet ministers the power to exempt any individual or company from any federal law on the books — except for the Criminal Code — for...
The activist former environment minister's departure is great news for this country. Readers will recall that I was censorious of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s histrionic emulation of Winston Churchill during the election campaign, lacking only the siren-suit, the cigar and the eloquence, as he promised to lead Canada with raised elbows “in the fields and in the streets,” as he...
On December 4th, the Trump Administration released its U.S. National Security Strategy. As with so many institutions, norms, and pillars of American democracy, the first NSS of the second Trump presidency represents a significant departure from all the presidential NSSes that have preceded it. Its foreword by Donald Trump describes the document as a “road map to ensure that America...
Steven Guilbeault’s claim the federal government’s memorandum of understanding with Alberta to build an oil pipeline to B.C. is fuelling Quebec separatism is nonsense. In interviews with Bloomberg News and the CBC last week after he quit the federal cabinet, Guilbeault attempted to toss a grenade into Canadian unity by arguing that by signing the MOU with Alberta Premier Danielle...
Can you mourn something that never existed? Like the idea of a happy marriage when you knew all along you settled for the first person who accepted your advances? Or the daydream of a life of luxury and indulgence, which feels possible while you’re holding a lottery ticket, but vanishes as soon as the numbers are called? What about the...
Canada has spent 28 years trying to buy a new fighter jet: the federal government made a decision, then unmade it, then made it again. We’ve already spent more than a billion dollars on this thing, and 1,500 Canadian jobs have been created to build it. It’s the tent pole of our plans to defend ourselves and co-operate with our...
I wish I could say I told you so. A point I have tried to make over the last year or so is that Donald Trump can only get worse: that however corrupt or incompetent or dictatorial or treasonous or insane he may appear at any given moment, it will inevitably come to be seen as a relative golden age...
One of the more infamous scenes in the movie sketch comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail involved a sword fight between King Arthur and the Black Knight. Almost immediately, things do not go well for the Black Knight. He quickly loses a limb, then another. Despite his losses he defiantly fights on: “Just a flesh wound … I’m invincible.”...
Progressive-leaning folks are having a hard time watching Mark Carney link arms with the same forces that spent the past decade demonizing the Liberals. Whether it’s making a deal with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith or playing to the “bro” culture with all the sports talk and walking back feminist foreign policy, it seems like the prime minister is determined to...
The leadership of two of our three major parties is in the course of being determined. It’s a big moment in the political trajectory of the country. The NDP leadership race could well decide the fate of that party – whether it revives itself or is reduced to a relic. The latter would see Canada devolving into a hollowed-middle, two-party...
The Montreal riding of Laurier–Sainte-Marie is ground zero for Quebec’s media elites and the beating heart of the province’s cultural industries. Not surprisingly, it skews progressive and has reliably sent left-leaning MPs to Ottawa for more than three decades. Last week’s resignation of local MP Steven Guilbeault from Prime Minister Mark Carney’s cabinet generated a minor earthquake in Laurier—Sainte-Marie whose...
Whether he intended to or not, Prime Minister Mark Carney cast aside a tenet of the Liberals’ brand last Thursday when he signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Alberta that jeopardizes the Grits’ work addressing climate change. For more than two decades, the Liberal Party of Canada told voters that it was the party that not only cared about...
Everyone could find something to hate about the energy agreement – technically, the Canada-Alberta Memorandum of Understanding – Mark Carney and Danielle Smith struck last week. For the right, the conditions on federal support for a heavy oil pipeline from Alberta to the West Coast – notably, a tightened provincial carbon pricing regime – are too onerous, if not altogether...
With hearings underway in Washington regarding the future of the CUSMA, U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade representative has signaled that the administration might withdraw completely unless it secures a “good deal.” To rattle our cages further, Trump recently reiterated his tired accusation that Canada and Mexico have taken advantage of the United States like just about every other country, threatening...
On the day last May when Mark Carney and his newly elected cabinet were sworn in, the Prime Minister promised, “Our government will deliver its mandate for change with urgency and determination. We’ve been elected to do a job. We intend to do it quickly and forcefully.” At the time, that sounded like a solid recipe for governing, but it’s...
Prime Minister Mark Carney has displayed a remarkable willingness to dismantle the legacy of his predecessor across the public policy board. In the coming months, he may be tempted to take another look at one of the more indefensible decisions made by former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s government: the expansion of its medical assistance in dying legislation.
Back in October, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith wiped her hands clean of any scandal involving Alberta Health Services (AHS). Seven months earlier, the Premier had tapped retired Manitoba judge Raymond Wyant to probe alleged political interference involving the procurement of children’s medicine from abroad, and contracts for private surgical facilities in the province, both of which had ties to a...
When the Carney government’s honeymoon is over, and its missteps on a variety of fronts become more evident, the search will begin in earnest for “alternatives.” Looking ahead, what might such alternatives be? On the fiscal front, the recent federal budget gets off on the wrong foot by attributing Canada’s economic woes to major global events and Donald Trump’s tariffs...
Mark Carney didn’t run as a conventional politician. He ran as the outsider who wasn’t. It’s an appealing contradiction: a first-time candidate who also happened to be one of the most connected people in the country and abroad. Carney spent years at the centre of power in both Ottawa and London. He advised governments, soothed markets, briefed prime ministers, and...
Is Canada going continental? This week, Prime Minister Mark Carney quietly signed Canada up for the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative, part of the European Union’s plan to rebuild its military industrial base by 2030. Membership gives countries access to 150-billion euros (C$243 billion) in loans to back defence manufacturing. Canada is the first non-EU country to join. In...
For weeks now, rumours have circulated that Mark Carney could be doing a major shuffle of his cabinet before the end of this year. The shuffle that happened on Monday wasn’t the one people were talking about — or expecting.
Let’s set the record straight: Mark Carney is not Justin Trudeau; and that is a good thing. The continued fixation of former Trudeau-era loyalists in insisting that Carney is pandering to the ‘bros’ because of his “rejection” of the word ‘feminist’ in Canada’s foreign policy reeks of nostalgia for a government that often mistook optics for substance. It’s time for...
They were among the few long faces at last Saturday evening’s annual Press Gallery Dinner. Stephen Guilbeault looked as though he had just lost his best friend. Green Party Elizabeth May looked as though she would break into tears. Guilbeault had resigned two days earlier from his job as heritage minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Mark Carney over...
Normally if people are down about the economy they are angry at government. It’s more complicated right now, as people see economic pressures from outside our borders. Other than tagging every scandal something-gate, It’d be hard to find a more overused phrase in modern political analysis than “it’s the economy, stupid”. In 1992, James Carville wrote it on a sign...
Ottawa is introducing a new “express entry” category for foreign-trained physicians in an effort to address health workforce challenges in Canada, the federal government announced Monday. “We’ve seen the strain in our emergency rooms, we hear it from families waiting for a doctor, and we feel it from the front-line staff who are stretched thin,” Minister of Immigration, Refugees and...
A potential pipeline to the West Coast has created strange political bedfellows. Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet held a meeting with British Columbia Premier David Eby on Dec. 2, only days after the federal government signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Alberta paving the way for a new bitumen pipeline. Blanchet offered his help to B.C. last week —...
Motion calls government to support oil pipeline construction, adjust B.C. oil tanker ban. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says his party's upcoming motion — which borrows language from the new Canada-Alberta energy agreement — is meant to force the Liberals to "put up or shut up" on whether they support a new oil pipeline to the Pacific coast. "The only thing...
With United States President Donald Trump threatening to end the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement and imposing tariffs on goods and services from this country, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s high-stakes decision to sign a memorandum of understanding for an oil pipeline with Alberta is risky. It could also give a political opening to the federal NDP and Green Party in British Columbia...
Artificial intelligence is likely to take up much of the agenda as industry, digital and technology ministers from the world’s most powerful Western countries meet in Montreal this week. The two-day event is part of a series of ministerial meetings being held as Canada holds the presidency of the G7 group of nations this year. Prime Minister Mark Carney hosted...
U.S. President Donald Trump answered "we'll see" when he was asked Sunday whether he'd resume the trade talks he halted with Canada earlier this year. Trump made several comments about the ongoing trade dispute with Canada as he spoke with reporters outside a gala for the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors. He says he has a good relationship with Prime Minister...
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May is leaving the door open to support the Liberal government, despite recently calling her vote in favour of the federal budget a “mistake.” “It certainly seems that way, but I’m a bridge builder, and I never say never,” May said in an interview with CTV Question Period airing Sunday, when asked if Prime Minister Mark...
Proponents say U.S. approval — and Canada's full order of jets — would be necessary. Companies involved in the F-35 program are actively lobbying the governments of Canada and Quebec to promote potential economic benefits for the country, including maintenance facilities north of Montreal — but such benefits are only promised to materialize if the government makes good on its...
After first igniting romantic rumours with a lunch in Montreal in July, Justin Trudeau and Katy Perry looked to firm things up on Saturday. Perry posted images of the two of them on her Instagram, among other photos from a trip to Japan where she performed earlier this week on her Lifetimes Tour. She captioned the post "tokyo times on...
In a break from its tradition, and for the first time in its history, the Conservative Party’s national council has authorized the party leader to appoint eight candidates in ridings across the country for the next election, say Conservative sources. “The council has agreed to eight appointments [by the leader],” a senior Conservative told The Hill Times. “Basically [there is]...
EDMONTON -- Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says those seeking an independence referendum should not have "gatekeepers," like the courts, standing in their way.
On the heels of adopting a resolution against Ottawa’s new energy deal with Alberta at an annual meeting of First Nations chiefs, a Manitoba grand chief says engagement with the government is “very limited” on a major project proposed in that province. “There’s a lot more work that needs to be done in terms of consultation; duty to consult; free...
Job and Families Minister Patty Hajdu is defending the federal government’s decision to provide Algoma Steel with nearly half a billion dollars in loans, despite knowing the company would be issuing layoff notices. “At the end of the day, we have to save this sector, and I think we went into this eyes wide open, knowing there was going to...
MONTREAL -- Polytechnique Montréal and others across the country will pay tribute on Saturday to the 14 women who were murdered at the engineering school 36 years ago in a brazen anti-feminist attack.
The Liberal government’s budget bill is stuck in the opening round of debate with just one week to go before an increasingly acrimonious minority Parliament breaks for the holidays. As a result, it is highly unlikely that the bill will be studied in committee – let alone approved into law – this year. Liberal MP Karina Gould, the chair of...
Canadian Human Rights Tribunal set Dec. 22 as deadline for long-term proposals. Ottawa is staring down a court-ordered deadline to submit a new plan to reform the on-reserve child welfare system, as a group of First Nations leaders and children’s advocates prepare a competing proposal. The federal government has until Dec. 22 to make its submission to the Canadian Human...
As Rustad tried to stem an internal party revolt, dissident MLAs hatched a plan to force him out. The days leading up to John Rustad’s resignation played out like a dramatic soap opera of secret meetings, legal gymnastics and even a gingerbread making competition. The climax came Wednesday with the party announcing Rustad’s removal, and the denouement came Thursday, when...
Two former members of the federal Net-Zero Advisory Body say they’re “worried about the future of Canada” and say the country will not meet its commitment to lower greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 45 per cent by 2030. Catherine Abreu and Simon Donner were founding members of the expert-appointed body which advises the government on the path to net-zero...
As the Canadian government reviews its commitment to purchase American-made Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets, a new poll shows what Canadians think should be prioritized in procuring replacements to the aging CF-18s. The CTV News and Nanos Research survey gauged Canadian’s views on what matters the most to them in terms of defence cooperation, in light of ongoing trade tensions...
The federal government has disclosed the first eight projects to be managed by the new Defence Investment Agency. The large military procurements include Canada's next fleet of submarines, Arctic over-the-horizon radar, and a fleet of early warning-and-control surveillance aircraft. The other projects include in-service support and software upgrades for the CC-130J Hercules transport aircraft, and satellite communications procurements -- but...
The federal Conservatives are planning to force a vote in the House of Commons next Tuesday on the Liberal government's pipeline agreement with Alberta. Leader Pierre Poilievre posted on social media the text of the motion, which calls on members of Parliament to take note of the Nov. 27 memorandum of understanding with Alberta.
Some federal departments have begun notifying public servants if they will be impacted by workforce adjustments, as the federal government begins to implement the results of the Comprehensive Expenditure Review. The Canada Strong Budget 2025 outlined a plan to cut another 28,000 positions from the federal public service and achieve $60 billion in savings by 2029. The goal is to...
The Quebec Liberals have lost two members of their caucus within a week and are facing multiple investigations as a crisis within the party shows no sign of abating. The Liberals have been dogged by controversy for nearly three weeks, with one recent poll showing the party and its leader, former federal cabinet minister Pablo Rodriguez, have taken a substantial...
An Alberta judge says a referendum proposal on Alberta separating from Canada goes against Charter and and Treaty rights, in a decision given less than 24 hours after the provincial government introduced legislation that would have ended the court proceeding. Once Bill 14 came into force, the court action would have been discontinued, preventing Court of King's Bench Justice Colin...
WINNIPEG -- Manitoba Progressive Conservatives have hired Alberta strategist Stephen Carter to guide their next election campaign.
Prime Minister Mark Carney met privately Friday with U.S. President Donald Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in Washington, D.C., with no staff in the room. The meeting, which happened at the Kennedy Center following the FIFA World Cup Draw, lasted about 50 minutes. Trump said earlier in the day the three leaders would talk about trade during their meeting...
Almost one-quarter of all politicians in the Alberta legislature now face citizen-led petition drives to remove them from office. Alberta's chief electoral officer told a legislature committee today he needs almost $7 million to process what he listed as 21 petition campaigns in the 87-seat legislature. Gordon McClure calls the situation "unprecedented." His comments came as his office formally announced...
A leaked briefing document prepared for the federal Liberal caucus claims that a bill put forward by NDP MP Jenny Kwan would "decimate" Canada's defence industry and "dismantle" defence sector trade with the U.S. The briefing document, obtained by The Canadian Press, arms Liberal MPs with blunt talking points that call the legislation "misguided" and say it would introduce new...
The Conservative Party must release the findings of its internal investigation, including how the data breach occurred, who was responsible, and what accountability measures have been taken, say some victims of last month’s cyber security incident. Conservative sources say that a data breach initially reported to have impacted 15 MPs could actually extend to hundreds of potential nomination candidates and...
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The National Park Service will offer free admission to U.S. residents on President Donald Trump's birthday next year -- which also happens to be Flag Day -- but is eliminating the benefit for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth.
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) -- The Justice Department failed Thursday to secure a new indictment against New York Attorney General Letitia James after a judge dismissed the previous mortgage fraud prosecution encouraged by President Donald Trump, according to a person familiar with the matter.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Navy admiral told lawmakers Thursday that there was no "kill them all" order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as Congress scrutinizes an attack that killed two survivors of an initial strike on an alleged drug boat in international waters near Venezuela.
The Pentagon's watchdog found that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put U.S. personnel and their mission at risk when he used the Signal messaging app to convey sensitive information about a military strike against Houthi militants in Yemen, two people familiar with the findings said Wednesday.
Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in Washington Friday as the future of the continental trade agreement hangs in the balance. The 2026 World Cup draw will mark the first time all three leaders have gathered in person. It comes ahead of next year's mandatory review of the...
The European Union says Canada will need to pay 10 million euros to join a defence procurement agreement with the continent -- a price tag that is raising questions about how much investment the pact will generate. Canada this week officially joined the 150-billion euro program called Security Action for Europe, or SAFE, which is part of the ReArm Europe...
Former federal minister Chrystia Freeland says Ukraine can become an economic juggernaut and boost European economies by taking up the opportunities it missed after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Freeland, appointed in September by Prime Minister Mark Carney as his special envoy for the reconstruction of Ukraine, gave her first major speech in Canada about the role on Tuesday.
The government is pledging another $235 million in funding for Ukraine, with National Defence Minister David McGuinty and Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand announcing Canada's latest commitments. McGuinty says Canada will work with NATO allies to purchase a package of critical military capabilities sourced from the United States valued at around USD $500 million. Canada's contribution to the Prioritised Ukraine...
A federal judge has dismissed the criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, concluding that the prosecutor who brought the charges at President Donald Trump's urging was illegally appointed by the Justice Department. The rulings from U.S. District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie amount to a stunning rebuke of the Trump administration's efforts...
Canadian universities routinely use demographic criteria to restrict who is eligible for a faculty position. How do these policies shape public attitudes towards the university sector?
In September of 2023, Michael Miltenberger, former deputy premier of the Northwest Territories, spoke at a Massey College-Forum for Leadership on Water conference called The Future of Freshwater. Miltenberger described how just weeks earlier, wildfire had forced the evacuation of his own community of Fort Smith (yes, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s hometown). As he prepared to escape the Wood Buffalo...
Canadians rarely stop to think that everything they own, from their homes and savings to their farms, vehicles, and small businesses, exist only so long as government allows it. A single regulation, order, or policy change can erase a lifetime of work, uproot families, and disrupt lives. Indeed, across Canada, property owners have watched livelihoods disappear overnight through land-use restrictions...
A collection of SubStack publishing within Canadian public affairs.
Stephen Thorne has died. The bitter, unexpected death of a tough journalist who wrote about death but couldn’t report on his own. He’d have written a damn fine story about it. I was his boss for years, in Halifax and Ottawa, though Stephen had no time for bosses. He followed his nose for stories whether or not anybody asked for...
The Canadian government has avoided commenting on the United States’ controversial targeting of alleged drug-trafficking vessels in Caribbean waters.
I went back to Ottawa this week. It’s been a while since I’ve been in the nation’s capital to talk about peace issues, so when the Senate of Canada contacted me, I had to go. Prime Minister Carney’s Budget 2025 is making its way through Parliament, and the Senate’s Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs asked me and...
Listen to the premier of B.C., or the CBC, or the Association of First Nations and you’d think that Indigenous groups on the West Coast are determined to stop a new oil pipeline from Alberta. As MP Ellis Ross, former chief councillor of the Haisla Nation near Kitimat, tells Brian, a lot of First Nations are open to the opportunity...
Today, we bring you a wrap on U.S. politics. We begin with two scandals plaguing U.S. defense secretary Pete Hegseth, from allegations of war crimes to a scathing report accusing him of mishandling classified military intelligence. And we cover the fallout from President Donald Trump’s tirade against Somali immigrants, including a surge of ICE raids in Minneapolis. Plus, the politics...
After a long, cringe-laden ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., we finally had confirmation of the 12 groups that will comprise the 23rd FIFA World Cup. And get this, Canada could potentially host Italy to open their 2026 campaign in Toronto. How did Canada get here? How will they fare against the world’s best? And will this World...
Canadians got to see their 2026 World Cup opponents during the group draw this week in Washington — and Prime Minister Mark Carney got to see U.S. President Donald Trump in-person once again as trade talks remain frozen. Did their meeting give any indication of progress? Parliament Hill Watchers Stephanie Levitz and Joël-Denis Bellavance dig into the rendezvous and other...
