Palantir is often referred to as a data analytics company, but some experts say Canada should cut its ties. Canada has multimillion-dollar contracts with Palantir, a controversial U.S. software company. Experts warn the deals could expose Canadian military data to U.S. authorities and leave Canada reliant on critical technology supplied by a foreign company.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he will stay on as leader even if the party loses an upcoming byelection in the Ontario riding of Brantford-Brant South. “We’re going to fight for the people. I’m going to continue to fight for the people of Canada to save them money,” Poilievre said Friday at a press conference in Brampton, Ont. when asked...
Participants flagged family-related issues, high cost of living as deterrents. Northern and isolated RCMP detachments have become "chronically and at times critically" understaffed, according to an internal evaluation report — the latest document pointing to retention and recruitment issues within the storied organization. The June 2026 evaluation, made public last month, found Mounties' interest in staffing northern and isolated posts...
It's been quite the week ... starting with six byelection calls, ending with a budget, and in the middle, Donald Trump's party crashes in the U.S. midterms. What does it all mean, and where do things go now? Chantal Hebert and Bruce Anderson are here with their thoughts.
Prime Minister Mark Carney says his government welcomes "any moves" to restore free trade between Canada and the United States as officials south of the border push to end the trade war. In the days since the U.S. midterm elections gave the Democrats firm control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, several party officials have indicated repealing...
The research gauged the opinions among Canada aiming to accept 380,000 new immigrants as permanent residents, and an additional 385,000 workers and students as temporary residents. Nanos conducted an RDD dual frame (cell and landlines) hybrid telephone and online random survey of 1,058 Canadians, 18 years of age or older, from October 31st to November 2nd, 2026, as part of...
A new Abacus Data survey conducted ahead of Thursday’s federal budget finds Canadians approaching Budget Day with significant concerns about their household finances and the country’s economic future. The rising cost of living remains the most important issue facing Canada, while Donald Trump and the United States are increasingly seen as the country’s greatest threat. Concern about artificial intelligence has...
Everyone seemed to have the same take on the federal budget unveiled this week. That is, no one could figure out quite what it was. It certainly wasn’t a belt-tightening exercise, but the $151.5-billion in new spending over five years didn’t suggest a clear policy narrative about what it was trying to accomplish, either. On top of that, many of...
Canada's aid sector is expressing dismay over the first federal budget in more than 15 years to make no mention of foreign aid, and is calling on Ottawa to outline its vision in an upcoming foreign policy review. "The budget is largely silent on issues of international development co-operation and humanitarian action," said Co-operation Canada head Kate Higgins, whose coalition...
A Democratic blue wave in the United States midterm elections hasn’t changed the immediate economic struggles facing Canadians businesses as they navigate the most recent tariffs, although the results may send a message about affordability, say sector reps. “The tariffs are having a real impact on Canadian manufacturers, and the longer they remain in place, the greater the risk to...
Canada’s telecommunications networks are critical national infrastructure. They connect our businesses, governments, emergency services and citizens. As we expand 5G, artificial intelligence, data centres and digital infrastructure, we must ask a fundamental question: are the networks connecting all of it secure?
So, farewell then, federal budget. Not only a mainstay of economic policy-making, you were a critical element of democratic accountability for many decades, the day each year when the federal government levelled with Canadians about how much it intended to spend, how much to tax, and how much to borrow on their behalf.
The 500-plus-page budget that has now landed before Canadians is not exactly a piece of literature — but it is coming from a government with some literary aspirations. Mark Carney’s government is leaning on themes of culture and identity with Budget 2026, hoping that it tells a story of Canadian pride and patriotism at this moment in the country’s history.
Old habits die hard in the Liberal party. Prime Minister Mark Carney declared on Thursday, after his latest budget was tabled, that “we’ve got spending under control.” By the standard measurement of fiscal sustainability, that is true. The debt-to-GDP ratio is forecast to tick gently downward over the budget’s five-year time horizon.
"Maitre chez nous" — "master in our own house" — was a rallying cry of Jean Lesage's Quiet Revolution, a period of rapid modernization and reform in Quebec in the 1960s. Mark Carney first tried it out a year and a half ago in the shadow of Donald Trump's America and a newly anglicized version — "masters of our destiny"...
The Canadian military currently has thousands of drones at its disposal. “It’s not enough,” a senior commander admits. The Carney government wants to add some zeros to that number: It wants one million drones, at least. And in Thursday’s budget, it is committing $2.3 billion to get there.
Officially, Mark Carney’s government is saying that the Republicans’ stunning losses in the U.S. midterm elections are the Americans’ own business. But this government also knows that there’s a clear line connecting the midterms to the budget being unveiled in Canada on Thursday — and that’s the affordability crisis.
There is no sugarcoating the results of the midterm elections in the United States for President Donald Trump and his administration. This was an astonishing and vast repudiation of the president. When Republicans lose in South Carolina, North Carolina, Mississippi, Texas, Kansas, Iowa, and Georgia solidifies as a blue state, it is impossible not to affirm that a judgment has...
By the standards of American elections, this was an earthquake. The two-party system is so entrenched, and American voters’ political identities so immovable, that shifts in the balance of power in any given election tend to be muted. So the Democrats’ gains last night are, in this context, historic. When all the votes are counted, they will probably emerge with...
Austin, Texas may have sounded like a street party as the results came in last night, but even in Canada, if you listened closely enough, you could almost hear the collective sigh of relief. Nobody who was rooting for a win by the Democrats wanted to trust the polls or the predictions of a “blue wave” after the traumatic experiences...
In his 2016 election campaign, Donald Trump made a remarkable observation. “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose supporters.” At a rally in Tennessee last month, he demonstrated that his attitude hadn’t changed. He told his audience, “I could say the stupidest things, and you clap.” Throughout the midterms campaign he...
American streets are being patrolled by murderous secret police. The constitutional order and the division of powers have broken down. Some major media outlets have become sycophantic devotees of the ruling party, and others are following suit. A sitting U.S. president has amassed billions of dollars in ill-gotten gains from brazen and scuzzy quid pro quos.
In the end, Canada didn’t have to interfere in the 2026 midterms to register our preference for an outcome. Americans did it for us. To compare the reasons for Tuesday’s midterm election result to any previous midterm election result is as pointless as comparing Donald Trump’s presidency to any previous presidency. Yes, there are statistics and charts and local issues...
Prime Minister Mark Carney has just called six byelections for early December. The results could have a determining effect on Pierre Poilievre’s future as Conservative leader. They could also provide the first clues as to whether the belligerent tone of the minority Parti Québécois government is finding favour with voters.
Mark Carney doesn’t seem like much of a prankster, but you could forgive Liberals who supported Justin Trudeau’s policies for feeling as if the prime minister is endlessly pulling their collective leg. Changes of direction are everywhere. The consumer carbon tax is gone. A new oil pipeline is on the way and major resource-development projects are on track to receive...
Watching the governor of the Bank of Canada field questions from MPs at the House of Commons finance committee was like viewing an episode of Star Trek: Next Generation, in which Jean-Luc Picard grapples with the Prime Directive. This general order prohibits Starfleet personnel from interfering with the natural development of primitive alien civilizations.
Opposition parties banded together this week in a futile attempt to hear more expert testimony on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Building Canada Strong Act, C-39, after dozens of witnesses warned MPs the bill is deeply flawed, and more than 100 individual Canadians and groups urged amendments or begged the government to change course on legislation that will impact labour rights...
Around the world, borrowing costs are rising, growth is only middling, economic risks are tilted to the downside and, after six years of global shocks, most countries’ fiscal buffers are depleted. The IMF’s recent conclusion from all this is that governments need to rein in their spending and borrowing. This week’s federal budget should not take the view that Canada...
Winston Churchill once said that history would be kind to him because he intended to write it. And he did, producing 13 volumes of memoirs over the course of his long life. More than a decade after leaving the Prime Minister’s Office, Stephen Harper’s memoirs have finally landed with a thump — all 656 pages of them.
It truly is quite astonishingly hypocritical that the same people who have made careers railing against the way Alberta is under-represented by population in the Senate seem to get quite huffily defensive over the tabling of new electoral districts that would leave urban Albertans meaningfully under-represented compared to rural ones. Earlier this year, Alberta’s Electoral Boundaries Commission unveiled a new...
With Americans heading to the polls for their midterm elections, it feels like Thursday’s federal budget is getting a lot less media attention than usual. Ottawa might not mind this: every time U.S. President Donald Trump twitches, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s popularity rises. But while Washington commands the headlines, Canadians should check out the creeping sea of red ink below...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is returning at this writing from the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda, where his participation continued a long tradition in which Canada has not merely attended Commonwealth meetings but helped shape the organization’s evolution. “As Canada charts its path forward in this new world, we look to our fellow...
In general, so long as it’s legal and not hurting anyone, I think people should be allowed to spend their money on what they want to spend it on. But how much money should be allowed to affect the democratic process sits uncomfortably alongside that preference of mine. A system in which everyone has one vote, but one person can...
I am not, it should be acknowledged, an expert on the merits of frontier AI models. I am, however, a reasonably seasoned observer of government ministers proclaiming solemnly that they have just made a very prudent investment of taxpayers’ money, on the most favourable of terms, as AI minister Evan Solomon did this past weekend. Sometimes it works out: the...
The mayor of a Montreal-area suburb posted online comments about Palestine that were "violent in nature" and have no place in society, said the disciplinary committee of the Quebec order of professional accountants in a new ruling. The disciplinary committee said it was ordering Hampstead Mayor Jeremy Levi to pay a $30,000 fine and undergo mandatory training, noting that his...
The drone looks like a small fighter jet. Artificial Intelligence is flying it, and it's firing a missile. A human approved the shot, but AI carried it out. That's not science fiction. It may be the future of modern warfare. In July, American defence company Anduril's YFQ-44A drone, known as Fury, fired an air-to-air tactical missile at a simulated target...
Former prime minister Justin Trudeau has a new role at Oxford University in England. The university announced on Friday that Trudeau has joined its Blavatnik School of Government as a Distinguished Fellow and member of the World Leaders Circle. According to Oxford University, the World Leaders Circle is an “international network” of former heads of government, “whose experience and insight...
Canada will grant permanent and temporary residency to a combined total of more than a million people next year as part of the federal government's new immigration levels plan laid out in the 2026 budget.
Wayne Gretzky says he backs Canada's decision to bar Russia from the upcoming world junior hockey championship in Alberta. Prime Minister Mark Carney announced earlier this week Russian and Belarusian athletes will not be permitted to represent their countries on Canadian soil while the war in Ukraine continues. The decision came after the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland...
Prime Minister Mark Carney says the federal government has learned from past mistakes as it sets out its ambitious aim of eliminating homelessness within 10 years. "For decades, governments and communities have tried to address this crisis. Too often, these efforts have been inadequately resourced, poorly co-ordinated, and not sustained," he said at a press conference Friday in Winnipeg. Carney...
President Donald Trump said Friday that Stephen Miller was replacing Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff, mere days after Republicans lost control of Congress in the midterm elections. Miller, long a key member of Trump's inner circle, is a key architect of the administration's hard-line immigration policies. He is one of Trump's closest and longest-serving advisers, joining his...
Industry Minister Melanie Joly is asking the Competition Bureau to examine whether Cleveland-Cliffs' rationale for acquiring Stelco Inc. was conducted in bad faith. In a letter to the competition commissioner, Joly points to Cleveland-Cliffs chief executive Lourenco Goncalves' testimony in a January 2026 congressional hearing where he said the company acquired Stelco in part to prevent Canadian steel from flooding...
Canada and the U.S. could reach a deal on trade before the end of 2026, American Ambassador Pete Hoekstra predicts, but don’t expect the midterms to move the needle. Hoekstra, who was appointed as Washington’s ambassador to Canada by U.S. President Donald Trump, made the prediction during an interview with commentary outlet Northern Perspective. “I think Mark Carney probably knows...
Some members of Prince Edward Island's ruling Progressive Conservatives are trying to oust Premier Rob Lantz by triggering a confidence vote less than a year after he officially became party leader. The potential leadership challenge comes on the eve of a general election scheduled for 2027, as recent polls suggest the Tories are trailing the provincial Green and Liberal parties...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says the government is hiding the facts on the number of newcomers it's bringing to Canada, despite the focus in the new immigration levels plan on people who are already here. Poilievre told a news conference in Brampton, Ont., today the current government is blowing past the Trudeau government's immigration numbers with plans to grant permanent...
Canada's leaders are fanning out today to sell communities on this year's federal budget. Prime Minister Mark Carney will be in Winnipeg to highlight new measures around homelessness alongside Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew. The Carney government is promising to end homelessness in Canada within a decade, proposing $11.2 billion over four years, starting next year, and $17.8 billion over 10 years.
The Manitoba Metis Federation says it's appalled by the lack of Metis-specific funding in Prime Minister Mark Carney's new budget. While First Nations and Inuit have targeted funding measures in the budget, Metis do not, despite having pressed the government for supports in areas like housing and health care. The only mention of Metis in the budget is in association...
The latest federal budget promises billions of dollars in affordability relief, but middle-income Canadians struggling with the cost of living may find little new immediate help in the spending plan. While Ottawa earmarked fresh assistance for lower-income households in Budget 2026, families with earnings above income-tested thresholds may be iced out. For example, the budget offers a one-time grocery benefit...
The Liberal government is arguing that tax changes, cultural supports and billions of dollars aimed at stoking investment in Budget 2026 will give Canada the freedom to shape its own future. Ottawa is proposing $142.1 billion in new measures, largely offset by stronger-than-expected federal revenues, in the budget tabled Thursday in the House of Commons. Big-ticket items are aimed at...
The federal government is extending its journalism tax credit by $501 million over five years, with $85 million in ongoing annual funding. Ottawa first said in its spring fiscal update that it would consult Canadians and stakeholders about extending the Canadian Journalism Labour Tax Credit to broadcasters. The federal budget tabled today says that measure, as well a move to...
China has exponentially expanded its network of illegal overseas police stations, to “extend its tentacles” across a web of new community associations, according to a report by international human rights group Safeguard Defenders. In its latest report, the Spanish non-governmental organization (NGO) identifies nearly 1,250 overseas Chinese associations which they say are fronts for suspected police centres in 91 countries.
Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected in Winnipeg today to highlight new measures in the federal budget aimed at eliminating homelessness within 10 years. It's a goal some support workers are applauding, while cautioning that solutions must involve more than four walls and a roof. Sara Goldvine is the chief operating officer at Coast Mental Health in Vancouver and says...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is losing yet another top aide, with his deputy chief of staff Aaron Wudrick announcing Thursday that he is leaving for the private sector. In a letter obtained by CTV News, Wudrick told colleagues and Conservative members of Parliament that his exit would be effective Nov. 27. “It has been an honour and a privilege to...
While the 2026 federal budget includes some modest re-investment in the federal Courts Administration Services (CAS) after funding cuts, along with new funding for the Black Justice Strategy, legal advocates say it’s far below what the system needs.
British Columbia's incoming Conservative premier Lorne Doerkson is all-in on the budget tabled by Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal government. Doerkson says the document is an "encouraging and ambitious statement" about Canada's economic future and recognizes B.C.'s "tremendous opportunity" in transportation and resources.
The Carney government’s second budget aims to paint a rosier financial picture for Canada’s economy, while emphasizing growth and investment efforts alongside affordability measures closer to home. “With everything going on in the world, I think Canadians understand we need to do more to build this country,” Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne (Saint-Maurice–Champlain, Que.) told reporters ahead of the budget’s tabling...
The federal government has tabled the 2026 budget proposing $142.1 billion in new spending and projecting a steady decline in the deficit. Here are some highlights from the new fiscal plan. Support for northern communities
This year's federal budget leaves unanswered a major accounting question on Ottawa's plans to meet its 2035 NATO spending commitments. The budget charts a path to meet alliance defence spending targets from now through to 2030 -- but the math stops there. Reaching the goal of spending five per cent of national GDP on defence by 2035 won't be cheap...
Here's a brief look at some key numbers in the Liberal government's 2026 budget. -- $142.1 billion: The total amount of new spending and tax breaks included in Budget 2026. --$62.3 billion: The projected deficit for 2026-27. -- $3 billion: How much lower Ottawa's projection for the 2026-27 deficit is compared with the April spring economic update.
The government's updated immigration plan looks to maintain broad targets for permanent and temporary resident admissions while offering permanent status for up to 200,000 longtime temporary residents. The government says its 2027-2029 immigration levels plan will admit 380,000 permanent residents and 370,000 temporary residents each year. Those targets for 2027 and 2028 are the same as they were in the...
The federal budget zeroes in on business investment and growth in Canada with a suite of new tax measures aimed at spurring private-sector productivity and innovation. The 2026 budget includes a new tax exemption on up to $15-million in capital gains earned on successful eligible investments. The tax break would apply to shares is
The Carney government is promising to end homelessness in Canada within a decade. The 2026 budget, released Thursday, offers $11.2 billion to tackle homelessness over four years, starting next year, and $17.8 billion over 10 years. The federal government says it would "create the conditions to end homelessness" by setting up a new fund to support projects addressing health, addictions...
Canada's envoy to the European Union says Brussels removed language about ratifying the decade-old trade deal from a joint statement issued at the end of the summit in Montreal last week. Jonathan Wilkinson made the comment today at the Senate foreign-affairs committee, confirming media reports the EU had the phrasing removed. Canada and the EU signed a new alliance pa
JERUSALEM (AP) -- In the space of about 24 hours, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested cutting off aid to Israel, a staunch critic of Israel won a key Senate race and the vice president partly blamed his own party's landslide defeat on U.S.-Israel relations.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump's new White House chief of staff, Stephen Miller, is behind many of the administration's signature domestic policy initiatives -- especially its sweeping crackdown on immigration.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- After Democrats' overwhelming midterm victories this week, winning candidates spoke of the need, once they are sworn in, to rein in President Donald Trump's mass deportation machine. Some suggested putting forward a new vision for immigration reform while both houses of Congress are in Democratic control.
President Donald Trump said Friday that Stephen Miller was replacing Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff, mere days after Republicans lost control of Congress in the midterm elections. Miller, long a key member of Trump's inner circle, is a key architect of the administration's hard-line immigration policies. He is one of Trump's closest and longest-serving advisers, joining his...
President Donald Trump said Friday that Stephen Miller was replacing Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff, mere days after Republicans lost control of Congress in the midterm elections. Miller, long a key member of Trump's inner circle, is a key architect of the administration's hard-line immigration policies. He is one of Trump's closest and longest-serving advisers, joining his...
China has exponentially expanded its network of illegal overseas police stations, to “extend its tentacles” across a web of new community associations, according to a report by international human rights group Safeguard Defenders. In its latest report, the Spanish non-governmental organization (NGO) identifies nearly 1,250 overseas Chinese associations which they say are fronts for suspected police centres in 91 countries.
Ghana's head of state praised Canada this week for advocating against what he called a "rigged global system" that keeps African countries trapped by debt and mired in climate chaos. His comments come as Canadian officials confirm Ottawa will appoint a new Africa envoy, months after leaving the post vacant. "Canada has a favourable disposition towards the Global South," Ghana's...
The fallout from the Democrat tsunami that crashed over the U.S. Congress was swift on Wednesday, after American voters rejected President Donald Trump's turbulent second term with a midterm election blowout. In a stinging rebuke of the second Trump administration, Democrats flipped long-held Republican Senate seats in Texas, Maine and South Carolina. The blue wave also washed over House seats...
While Canada and the U.S. remain embroiled in an extended trade war, U.S. President Donald Trump suffered a huge domestic blow Tuesday, as the Democrats swept the midterm elections, taking control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives. The vote saw several long-held Republican states flip to the Democrats in a major rebuke of the president and his...
On a ridge in northern France, two great white pillars rise nearly 30 metres toward the sky. Visible for kilometres across a former First World War battlefield, the Canadian National Vimy Memorial is one of Canada’s defining symbols, an expression of sacrifice, nationhood and remembrance. Each year, nearly a million people make the pilgrimage to Vimy Ridge. The memorial’s image...
On October 15, Ottawa committed $100 million to gather more offshore data for Nova Scotia’s Wind West offshore wind project. The next day, Premier Tim Houston stood beside EverWind Fuels at Point Tupper, Nova Scotia, as the company unveiled a $10-billion data-centre complex on a site long promoted for green hydrogen and ammonia; EverWind’s hydrogen project had already received nearly...
Public support for immigration in Canada has dropped sharply in recent years amid rising concerns about the cost of living and economic insecurity. Using Canadian election survey data dating from 1988, we find that people who feel economically insecure are more likely to hold negative views of immigration. This link has become stronger since 2019. Negative attitudes toward immigration also...
A collection of SubStack publishing within Canadian public affairs.
Six years ago, a Burlington-made camera turned up on Turkish drones in the war over Nagorno-Karabakh, and Ottawa shut off arms exports to Turkey.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s ad-lib brought down the house at Thursday night’s Forever Canadian rally in Calgary. “They’re a little touchy down there at the moment,” he added, to roars from a crowd of about 5,000.
RCMP officers who responded to the April 2020 mass murders in Nova Scotia will receive bravery medals from Governor General Louise Arbour. An announcement is expected “imminently,” says an Arbour spokesperson. The medals follow 23 awards for excellence quietly distributed last year by RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme to RCMP members and employees who managed the grisly incident, in which 2...
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s second budget is betting on big business — at a time when the future of U.S. tariffs is unknown. The House delves into the economic picture with CBC’s senior business correspondent Peter Armstrong; then venture capitalist and Dragon’s Den regular Arlene Dickinson evaluates the measures to spur investment; the Canadian Federation of Independent Business’s Dan Kelly...
At Issue this week: Mark Carney's second budget lays out billions to build Canada's sovereignty and tackle the affordability crisis, but will it work? And what does the Democratic Blue-nami mean for Canada-U.S. trade talks?
The federal government has released the 2026 budget. And this year the focus is on new net spending. It looks to put money toward boosting the housing supply, investing in Canadian businesses and bulking up the cultural sector. How do those ambitions balance against fiscal constraints and a deficit?
The federal budget was unveiled Thursday afternoon, and it lays out some of the big bets the Carney government plans on making in the years ahead. A $36-billion tax break to kickstart an “investment supercycle”. A number of affordability measures. A plan to end homelessness within a decade.
