Voters in six federal ridings in Quebec, Ontario and Saskatchewan will be heading to the polls Dec. 7, after Prime Minister Mark Carney called byelections Sunday. A press release from the Prime Minster’s Office says byelections will take place in three Quebec ridings, including Laurier—Sainte-Marie, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie and Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, where seats were previously held by the Liberals, the NDP and...
U.S. President Donald Trump says Canada and the United States have "the concept of a very good deal." Speaking to reporters in Iowa on Sunday, Trump said the countries were "very close" to reaching a trade deal. "We've been losing money for many years with Canada," he said. "We have the concept of a deal that's going to be great...
In our latest Spark Insights survey (Online, October 16-21, 3992 interviews nationally) we asked how people felt about a number of global figures. Here are some of the things that popped out for me, from the findings:
Prime Minister Mark Carney says he had a "good conversation" with U.S. President Donald Trump on the future of trade between the two countries. Carney says in a social media post today that the conversation builds on previous ones they have had about what a mutually beneficial trade deal looks like. He says such a deal would create jobs for...
The Liberal Party surpassed the Conservatives in fundraising by almost $1 million in the third quarter of 2026, says Elections Canada. Records published by Elections Canada show the Conservatives raised $3.9 million, while the Liberals raised $4.9 million. In the second quarter of the year, the Conservatives raised $5 million, while the Liberals raised $4.3 million. When asked at a...
In our latest Spark Insights survey (Online, October 16-21, 3992 interviews nationally) we asked how people felt about a number of global figures. Here are some of the things that popped out for me, from the findings:
In our latest Spark Advocacy polling we found that 74% give Mark Carney and his government a good or acceptable rating for handling Canada-US relations, a number which has held steady from our last measurement, when negotiations had broken off.
Technically speaking, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s majority in Parliament will be tested in a series of byelections called for Dec. 7. The Liberals currently hold 173 of Parliament’s 343 seats, with six vacancies now up for grabs. Of the six ridings, three are in Quebec — where the Liberals hope to pick up a long-time NDP seat in Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie...
François-Philippe Champagne says he often drops a real-world reminder into discussions he’s having with colleagues on the big decisions that loom before Mark Carney’s government these days. Call it the “mom test.” “I say: ‘I’m not sure my mother would understand what you just said,’ ” the finance minister explains. “I use that at cabinet. I’ve used that at caucus...
Alberta's government has shut down a suggestion to postpone the next provincial election from the agency that is overseeing the vote. Justice Minister Mickey Amery says that Alberta's United Conservative Party government has no intention of changing the Oct. 18, 2027 election date. Amery says in a letter addressing Elections Alberta's chief electoral officer, which was posted Sunday on social...
François-Philippe Champagne says he often drops a real-world reminder into discussions he’s having with colleagues on the big decisions that loom before Mark Carney’s government these days. Call it the “mom test.” “I say: ‘I’m not sure my mother would understand what you just said,’ ” the finance minister explains. “I use that at cabinet. I’ve used that at caucus...
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?
Monday evening, in what was once a Bank of Montreal, Prime Minister Mark Carney dined across from his guest of honour, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, whom he seated next to former prime minister Stephen Harper. It is not the first time Carney has signalled close ties to Harper. In September...
Tuesday’s election in Israel will take months of intense bargaining between all of the more than ten parties now to be represented in the Knesset (Parliament), before the composition of the government and the prime minister are identified. The threshold in the popular vote required to elect a legislator is 3.25 per cent of the...
It was at the G8 where my growing animosity toward Vladimir Putin would start to become public. I had been accused of having a Cold War mentality and bringing that to Canada’s relations with Russia. The charge was simply not true. My view is that Russia’s natural long-term gravitation should be toward the West, not against it. I believe the...
Welcome to Grand Strategy Fall. The Carney government is publishing some serious stacks of paper describing how it plans to make Canada relevant again, including a national security strategy, released on Thursday; a new defence policy, already in effect but not yet published; and a full foreign policy.
There are some things you just have to get done quickly, and there are others where you should take the time you need to get it right. The key is knowing which is which. But when it comes to the thorny issues involved in medical assistance in dying, or MAID, the federal government is showing it doesn’t know, or care...
“Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney declined to let Quebec’s newly-elected separatist premier deliver a speech at the Canada-European Union Summit in Montreal this week, sparking a wave of backlash in the French-speaking province
It’s no great secret that David Eby and the BC NDP were the biggest losers in Saturday’s BC election, which saw Lorne Doerksen and the BC Conservatives swept into power. Eby’s name has now become a verb, and anyone associated with his decision to call a snap election should be sent to the political equivalent of the Night’s Watch. But...
The midterm elections next Tuesday could deal a deathly blow to Trumpism. Even political stats guru Nate Silver says it’s possible. A shellacking of the Republicans could convince the party that Americans are getting fed up with the White House gong show and want to move back to traditional conservative leadership. What jubilation that news would bring to the rational...
Former Alberta premier Ralph Klein would occasionally remark on the prosaic, conventional nature of the work he did as leader of his province. In 1998, Edmonton Sun journalist Neil Waugh wrote about Mr. Klein’s “good news” tour, during which the premier travelled across the province to spread the word about how “Albertans have turned their province into the envy of...
Some days it feels as if Canadian democracy is a complete farce. Provincial governments elected with near majorities on the strength of 28 per cent of the vote – the same 28 per cent that in another province is worth just two seats. Referendum ballots with 10 loaded questions, none of them binding. Party leaders elected by children, non-citizens, and...
David Eby, the outgoing premier of British Columbia, must regret his decision to call a snap election after being soundly defeated this past weekend by an interim party leader few people outside of his immediate family and constituents knew six weeks ago. Say “hello” to Lorne Doerkson, the leader of the B.C. Conservative Party who is now the province’s premier-designate...
As Conservative MPs gather for their weekly caucus meetings, some are attempting to read the tea leaves from last week’s Alberta referenda and British Columbia’s big Conservative win. Saturday, David Eby’s early election gamble — two years into his NDP government’s mandate — failed spectacularly. B.C. interim Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson won a majority after running a disciplined campaign and...
Apart from Alberta’s no vote on separation, this month’s elections and referendums have given progressive Canadians who care about climate little to cheer about. The country’s biggest oil and gas booster, Premier Danielle Smith is still ruling Alberta and her recent anti-immigrant referendum win, as narrow as it was, hasn’t totally dampened her intent to make new arrivals pay for...
If Mark Carney was anticipating a quiet, even raffiné Canada-EU Summit this week in this most European city of non-European cities in our most European country of non-European countries, he may already be disappointed. The Prime Minister, who recently accepted compliments from a reporter on his vastly improved French and credited his teacher for his fluency, may want to add...
British Columbians elected David Eby as their premier on Oct. 19, 2024. They elected New Democrat MLAs in 47 of 93 seats, giving his party a third term in government and a second consecutive majority government on that day. He was given a majority mandate to govern until 2028 if he wanted to. Speaking on election night, a freshly re-elected...
It’s time for the separatist factions to bring some intellectual honesty to their avowed separatism. There are lots of ways to do that, but the simplest and most effective way is that both parties to this never-ending debate resolve this situation one way or the other.
It may be the most Canadian ad of the U.S. midterms and it’s for a Republican. A man settles in at a neighbourhood bar with a Labatt Blue and the Red Wings game and tells us it doesn’t get any more Michigan than that. Then comes a line you wouldn’t expect: “Canada is not our enemy. We need to end...
British Columbians took a huge political gamble this weekend, handing power to someone they barely know who leads a party that looked like it was imploding only a few weeks ago. But such was the level of anger and disgust over NDP Leader David Eby’s move to call a snap election – amid provincewide municipal elections no less, and with...
Monday, a trial begins in Vancouver whose outcome could significantly alter climate change policies across the country. A group of youth are taking the federal government to court for failing to adequately address climate change, arguing that their Section 7 Charter rights — to life, liberty and security of the person — have been breached.
Jerry Andres watched the results roll in Monday night from his usual perch — at his computer, in his living room in Eckville, Alta., windows open to podcasters livestreaming on YouTube and Rumble. Anders, a retired oilfield worker, wasn’t surprised by the outcome, but he was disappointed. “To be honest with you, I’m more anti-Carney and the Liberals than I...
Are Canada and Europe really “besties”? That is certainly the message that Prime Minister Mark Carney and European Union President Ursula von der Leyen hope to convey when they meet for their much-anticipated Canada-EU Summit in Montreal this Thursday and Friday. But whether this budding romance between Canada and Europe becomes a serious relationship will depend on a host of...
Partisanship may have finally peaked. It’s about time. It can be hard to hear anything over U.S. President Donald Trump’s bluster. But look closer. A fascinating trend is emerging ahead of the U.S. midterm elections, with wider implications. A handful of candidates are galvanizing voters by ditching their party’s jersey altogether.
Quebec Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon announced Sunday that he accepts Prime Minister Mark Carney’s invitation to meet after declining to attend the Canada-European Union summit in Montreal on Thursday and Friday. In a social media post Sunday, St-Pierre Plamondon said he would meet Carney ahead of the Francophonie Summit in Cambodia, where he will lead Quebec’s delegation. However, he insisted...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is pushing for the federal government to eliminate all federal taxes on diesel until Canada Day, part of a list of demands ahead of the budget being tabled on Nov. 5. In a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney, Poilievre says suspending the GST on fuel until summer and permanently scrapping the fuel standard tax would...
Sherri Gordon followed Bill C-40, the Miscarriage of Justice Reviews, through the last Parliament. From prison, her husband, Bronson, also watched its progress on CPAC, the channel that broadcasts proceedings from Parliament Hill. The legislation offered the family a new route to challenge his murder conviction. On Dec. 17, 2024, the bill received royal assent. “It was the happiest day...
A fractured movement, a premier in the hot seat and a cowboy-hat-toting separatist kicked out of her party. Such is the aftermath of Alberta’s referendum.
In the depths of winter more than 20 years ago, Kate Shingler set off on the Plaster Rock Highway, a remote two-lane route cutting east-west through the dense wilderness of central New Brunswick. It was 2005 and so snowy and slippery that the young driver behind the wheel of a Toyota Tercel had to pull over on the side of...
Following this week’s Canada-EU Summit in Montreal, International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu insists the gathering will bear fruit. But, on the question of how much so-called associate membership with the bloc could cost Canada, the minister wouldn’t say, insisting instead there’s an “opportunity cost” of not pursuing deeper integration with Europe. Prime Minister Mark Carney hosted European Commission President Ursula...
Stephen Harper releases Here for Canada: Memoirs of the 22nd Prime Minister, on Tuesday, Nov. 3. It begins with the Harper family’s arrival in Nova Scotia in 1774, and ends with his final days in office, with a short afterword about his post-politics life — and his thoughts on Canada’s abilities to withstand current challenges, including the American one. In...
In an interview with POLITICO, the Canadian prime minister delivered a sharp brushback to Washington just days before the U.S. midterm. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday that if his government could not successfully negotiate a suitable trade pact with the Trump administration, he was prepared to wait for a new American president to close the deal. In an...
Two Indigenous parliamentarians say talk of abolishing the Indian Act is being used as a distraction by the federal government to shift attention away from two other pieces of legislation affecting Indigenous rights.
A decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport requiring Russian teams to be allowed back into international ice hockey tournaments is “unwelcome,” Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday in an interview with POLITICO. CAS ruled that the International Ice Hockey Federation can no longer bar Russia from participating in the coming World Junior Championship in Canada this December...
In its account of the deadly fire at CFB Wainwright, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) describes an extraordinary chain of events on Oct. 17. The base, it says, was monitoring a common grass fire that erupted in “uncommonly strong winds,” with flames soon devouring a kilometre in just 30 to 60 seconds. The military called
Last night Donald Trump cancelled his final weekend rallies in the US midterms. Why? Is he doing so poorly it's not worth it? Or does he have something else planned? How critical are Tuesday's results to the negotiations with Canada? Are we at yet another turning point in the relationship? Lots of questions for Bruce and Chantal.
Democrats are hoping Tuesday's midterm elections will give them the power to rein in U.S. President Donald Trump -- but Canadians hoping for an outcome that stabilizes the rocky bilateral relationship may be disappointed. Once-safe Republican seats are now in peril and control of Congress could flip. Trump's poll numbers are plummeting thanks to his unpopular war in Iran, rising...
Prime Minister Mark Carney has laid out a timeline that would see Canada sign an agreement on a new partnership with the European Union in the next seven months, if all goes well. Carney said Friday that Ottawa and Brussels are working toward the "deepest possible partnership short of accession" that would see Canada become "the European Union's first associate...
Elections Alberta says it has two recommendations on how to deal with the province's next general vote ahead of a contentious report about new electoral boundaries being released to the public Monday. The agency's chief electoral officer suggests in a letter sent to Speaker Ric McIver, which was then shared by the Opposition NDP, that the Oct. 18, 2027 vote...
As Canada-U.S. trade talks intensify, the federal government is pushing ahead with efforts to diversify Canada’s trading relationships and attract foreign investment, with a series of international meetings and trade initiatives planned in the coming weeks, and several others that have already happened. This week, Canada and the United Arab Emirates launched a new strategic partnership. “A comprehensive economic partnership...
The planned Roberts Bank Terminal 2 expansion, which is expected to add 2.4 million containers of capacity at the Port of Vancouver, the largest in the country, has officially been named a project of national interest. Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said the move provides certainty for a project that's a key part of Ottawa's drive to expand and diversify trade...
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says high-profile separatist leader Jeff Rath has been kicked out of her United Conservative Party. Smith told reporters in Calgary that the party's executive director made the decision to revoke Rath's membership over code of conduct issues, and it's a decision she supports. "Somebody whose objective and mission is to turn us into something we are...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to call by-elections shortly, with his party nominating candidates for four ridings in Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan in the past week. The Liberals will head into those elections having raised more money than the Conservatives in the third quarter of 2026, a reversal of roles for the Tories, who traditionally lead the pack in...
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says Russia should not have attended a G20 meeting the U.S. hosted on Friday, but she still used the opportunity to make a point to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. "I was sitting at a table directly across from Sergei Lavrov and I looked him in the eye," she told The Canadian Press on Friday. "I...
Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada is working to become the European Union's first associate member, his most definitive statement on the issue to date after hosting the bloc's leaders in Montreal this week. This year's Canada-EU summit saw Canada and European officials finalize a number of negotiations and launch a long list of new commitments as part of a...
Brantford is seeing election controversy before a winter by-election has even been announced yet. In September, Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre exercised his power as leader, and chose the party’s candidate, despite there being others interested in vying for the spot. CHCH News spoke with one of those men, who is leaving the party and plans to run as an...
A pastor and longtime Conservative is running as an independent candidate in an upcoming federal byelection in Ontario after the party chose to bypass a local nomination contest and appoint Brantford Mayor Kevin Davis as its candidate. Dave Carrol's decision to run independently adds intrigue to the Brantford-Brant byelection as it could draw votes from the Conservatives, who were already...
Canada and the European Union capped a much-anticipated two-day summit by agreeing to strike the “deepest possible partnership short of accession,” as their political leaders double down on a pathway towards Canada becoming an associate member. In an 11-page joint statement, Canada and the EU struck agreement on a swath of areas, including foreign policy, trade, advanced technologies, defence and...
Prime Minister Mark Carney says Ottawa has made progress on a trade irritant with the European Union — a carbon tariff on energy intensive Canadian exports. At the closing news conference for the Canada-EU summit in Montreal, Carney said there are "common solutions" to resolving the carbon import levy on Canadian products such as iron ore, steel, aluminum, cement and...
Bourbon is a way of life in Bardstown, Ky. The town of more than 13,000 people, located about an hour from Louisville, is known as the bourbon capital of the world. Kentucky distillers were hit hard in March 2025 when Canadian provinces pulled American alcohol and spirits off the shelves in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Most still...
De Havilland’s banana-yellow Super Scooper looks like something drawn from the cover of a 1960s Beatles album. But the deceptively retro airplane is actually the only purpose-built water bomber currently in production. In aerial firefighting, it’s prized for its hulking tank capacity and its remarkable adroitness when scooping: the plane can lift 6,000 litres of water from a lake or...
Canada and the European Union officially launched an "alliance for the future" on Friday and pledged to spend the next eight months in negotiations on making Canada an associate member — despite objections to that language on both sides of the Atlantic. "Today we move toward associate membership for Canada and we launch a new alliance for the future," Prime...
Ottawa is drawing inspiration from the North American Free Trade Agreement as it works to develop a new alliance with the European Union, Industry Minister Melanie Joly says. Joly told The Canadian Press that Canada's trade agreement with the United States and Mexico fostered industrial integration that has worked effectively in North America for decades. The minister said the accord...
The federal government posted a deficit of $5.36 billion for the first five months of its 2026-27 fiscal year. In its monthly fiscal monitor report, the Finance Department says the result compared with a deficit of $11.07 billion in the same April-to-August period a year earlier. The deficit came as revenue totalled $215.54 billion, up from $201.18 billion a year...
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- President Donald Trump's administration has made $15 billion worth of promises to agriculture producers in the last few weeks before the midterm elections, initiatives intended to help offset higher costs for diesel and fertilizer that farmers have endured largely due to his tariffs and the war in Iran.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump signaled Sunday that he'll make his closing pitch of the midterm elections at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, pushing his slow, expensive and problem-plagued efforts to repair it back into the spotlight as Election Day looms.
DETROIT (AP) -- Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed's former opponent in the U.S. Senate primary, Haley Stevens, stunned party officials Sunday by endorsing Republican Mike Rogers after Democratic tensions boiled over days before the election that could determine the balance of power on Capitol Hill.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- For President Donald Trump, this week's elections are about him. For his fellow Republicans, the risk is voters will agree.
A decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport requiring Russian teams to be allowed back into international ice hockey tournaments is “unwelcome,” Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday in an interview with POLITICO. CAS ruled that the International Ice Hockey Federation can no longer bar Russia from participating in the coming World Junior Championship in Canada this December...
Democrats are hoping Tuesday's midterm elections will give them the power to rein in U.S. President Donald Trump -- but Canadians hoping for an outcome that stabilizes the rocky bilateral relationship may be disappointed. Once-safe Republican seats are now in peril and control of Congress could flip. Trump's poll numbers are plummeting thanks to his unpopular war in Iran, rising...
Prime Minister Mark Carney has laid out a timeline that would see Canada sign an agreement on a new partnership with the European Union in the next seven months, if all goes well. Carney said Friday that Ottawa and Brussels are working toward the "deepest possible partnership short of accession" that would see Canada become "the European Union's first associate...
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says Russia should not have attended a G20 meeting the U.S. hosted on Friday, but she still used the opportunity to make a point to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. "I was sitting at a table directly across from Sergei Lavrov and I looked him in the eye," she told The Canadian Press on Friday. "I...
Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada is working to become the European Union's first associate member, his most definitive statement on the issue to date after hosting the bloc's leaders in Montreal this week. This year's Canada-EU summit saw Canada and European officials finalize a number of negotiations and launch a long list of new commitments as part of a...
Canada’s new National Security Strategy and the Canada–EU summit in Montreal show how Ottawa plans to turn strategic autonomy into real partnerships. Yet a bet on Europe alone won’t deliver the resilience Canada needs, writes Vina Nadjibulla. With Japan, South Korea, Australia and Taiwan central to critical minerals, semiconductors and defence production, she calls on the upcoming foreign policy strategy...
Canada is facing a range of challenges that will drive economic transformation at the national, regional and local levels. The relationship with the United States, its largest trading partner, is changing. Investment in defence is growing. Global energy markets are shifting as investment in clean energy and electrification is rising. The changing climate and geopolitical tensions are creating new risks...
Canada is at a crossroads. In his now famous Davos speech, Prime Minister Carney warned of a “rupture in the world order” as the United States-led “rules-based order” has fractured. This and subsequent events have motivated a sense of national pride (“elbows up”) and opened a discussion on policy changes aimed at reshaping our economy in the context of this...
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...
Last night Donald Trump cancelled his final weekend rallies in the US midterms. Why? Is he doing so poorly it's not worth it? Or does he have something else planned? How critical are Tuesday's results to the negotiations with Canada? Are we at yet another turning point in the relationship? Lots of questions for Bruce and Chantal.
Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Brussels Playbook host Zoya Sheftalovich sit down with Prime Minister Mark Carney for a feature interview on Canada’s developing relationship with the EU, trade talks with Donald Trump, support for Ukraine — and exactly when he will wear one of the Brooks Brothers shirts the U.S. president gifted him.
Canada and the European Union are forming a closer relationship that could go well beyond trade. Following this week's Montreal summit, Jeremy Kinsman, Peter Donolo and Louise Blais examine the push for deeper cooperation on critical minerals, research, defence, technology and the digital economy. They consider whether Europe can give Canada meaningful new options as it tries to reduce its...
David Dodge and John Manley liked what they saw and brought Mark Carney into public service. Now they have budget advice: the borrowing requirement matters more than the deficit, don’t forget tax reform and spending cuts rarely succeed without actually terminating programs.
