Politics

An opinion piece argues that recent U.S. tariffs, trade actions and public statements from the Trump administration have strained Canada–U.S. relations and that Canada should not be held responsible for those measures.

A provincial regulatory change now allows cost recovery for electricity projects during construction, and Ontario Power Generation has filed a rate application to begin recouping interest on Darlington SMR and Pickering refurbishment costs; that application is before the Ontario Energy Board.

York Region police have charged eight current or former Toronto officers and 19 civilians in Project South, with allegations including bribery, drug trafficking and misuse of police data; Toronto Police chief Myron Demkiw has asked the province’s inspector general to conduct a full, independent investigation.

Retired Gen. Wayne Eyre and former prime minister Stephen Harper publicly raised the idea of Canada possessing nuclear weapons; the defence minister dismissed the prospect and Canada remains a party to the Non‑Proliferation Treaty.

The New START treaty between the United States and Russia is set to expire, removing formal caps on deployed strategic nuclear warheads; Russia has offered a one-year continuation if the U.S. agrees, and Washington has not committed.

Architect Buse Ceren Gul has uncovered the ruins of St. Paul's Church in Antakya and is working with the World Monuments Fund on reconstruction planning, but on-site rebuilding is paused pending additional funding.

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced reinstated incentives for electric-vehicle buyers and formally ended the previous EV sales mandate, while also proposing new tailpipe emissions rules and investments in a national charging network.

Irwin Cotler warned that abolishing Canada's antisemitism envoy could make Jewish Canadians less safe, and the federal government announced it will replace the envoy posts with an advisory council on rights, equality and inclusion.

Congo's president visited Washington as U.S. officials pursued access to the country's copper and cobalt, and Glencore announced a preliminary agreement to sell 40% of its Congolese copper and cobalt assets to the Orion Critical Mineral Consortium, a group that includes U.S. government partners.

RCMP say a 20-year-old woman was taken from a Pimicikamak Cree Nation home and a dangerous-person alert was issued for a 39-year-old man; search efforts are ongoing. Undetermined at this time.

A Treasury Board message directs executives to work on-site five days a week from May 4 and requires other core public servants to be in the office four days a week beginning July 6.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has directed federal public servants to work in person four days a week beginning July 6, with senior executives returning five days a week starting May 4. The Treasury Board sent the plan to department heads and said it will engage bargaining agents, while unions have criticised the move.

Doly Begum, the Ontario NDP's deputy leader, has left the provincial party to run as a federal Liberal and will seek the Scarborough Southwest seat in a federal byelection.

Israel's ban on foreign journalists entering Gaza, imposed after Oct. 7, 2023, remains in effect while a Foreign Press Association petition is pending; after a Jan. 26 hearing the High Court gave the state until the end of March to file an update.

MP Nate Erskine-Smith says he will seek the Ontario Liberal nomination in the Scarborough Southwest provincial byelection, and local Liberal Qadira Jackson says leadership contenders running there would be divisive.

Ronald Hicks said he will prioritize evangelizing and reengaging people who have drifted from the church as he becomes New York's archbishop; he has requested parts of his installation liturgy be said in Spanish.

Toronto police Chief Myronw Demkiw and the Toronto Police Service Board chair have requested an independent review after arrests linked to a York Regional Police corruption probe; the inspector general is considering the request and will announce a decision later.

Mayor Olivia Chow said the Toronto police chief must earn back public trust after arrests in Project South that included seven officers; an independent inspection by the Inspector General of Policing has been requested.

Dozens of Inuit leaders and youth from northern Quebec flew to Nuuk to show solidarity and attend the opening of Canada's new consulate in Greenland.

Congressman Jonathan Jackson prayed at the National Prayer Breakfast asking President Trump to be mindful of the poor and to find 'greater clarity,' while Trump stood behind him and the two later shook hands.

Senate Republicans rejected a Democratic package seeking new limits on ICE and other DHS enforcement actions, and leaders warned a partial Department of Homeland Security funding lapse could begin on Feb. 14 as negotiations remained unresolved.

Former justice minister Irwin Cotler said Prime Minister Mark Carney's decision to eliminate the antisemitism envoy role is "uninformed" and will make Jewish Canadians less safe; the government said it will replace the envoys with an advisory council on "rights, equality and inclusion" but has provided few details.

The Trump administration finalized a civil service rule that could remove job protections for about 50,000 career federal employees. Unions and advocacy groups have sued, and court challenges are set to resume in the coming days.

Steve Bannon called for ICE officers to 'surround' polling places in the midterm elections and suggested military involvement; the article notes the Constitution assigns elections to states and no federal deployment plan has been detailed.

The IPC reports famine-level acute malnutrition in two North Darfur towns, and the Sudan Doctors' Network says a paramilitary attack on a military hospital in South Kordofan killed 22 people and wounded eight.

Parliament's budget watchdog reports that raising defence and related infrastructure spending to five percent of GDP could add about $63-billion to Canada's federal deficit over the next decade; the government has not published a detailed year-by-year plan to reach the target.

Canada's Parliamentary Budget Office estimates meeting NATO's 3.5% direct military spending benchmark could require about $33.5 billion more in annual defence funding through 2035 and raise the federal deficit to roughly $63 billion in 2035–36; the PBO also reported the government has not published a year-by-year spending path.

B.C. NDP MP Gord Johns announced his endorsement of Alberta MP Heather McPherson for the federal NDP leadership, citing her electoral success and voter connection; the party’s leadership contest will conclude with a winner announced on March 29.

B.C. announced changes to the Surrey Police Board while the city is transitioning to a municipal police force and facing extortion-related incidents; four board members were not reappointed and replacements will be named by the province and the City of Surrey.

The U.S. and Russia agreed to re-establish high-level military-to-military dialogue after meetings in Abu Dhabi, the U.S. European Command said. The talks involved U.S., Russian and Ukrainian officials and took place amid ongoing fighting and reported attacks on Ukraine's power grid.