When does hate become terrorism? Answer: when it is orchestrated, repeatedly, to sow fear, cause chaos, and undermine society. One hateful act can be the work of a vengeful madman; a series of hateful acts, against the same community, conducted in a similar manner, constitute terrorism.

That is what Jews in Canada face today. Since October 7, 2023, B’nai Brith Canada has documented nearly 5,800 total incidents in 2023 and a record 6,800 incidents throughout 2025. By today’s stats, that’s one hate crime for every 487 Jewish residents. Jews are 22 times more likely to be the victim of a hate crime than non-Jewish Canadians

The images were striking: Last week’s chaotic sea crossing saw an estimated 60,000 migrants from Morocco flood into the tiny Spanish exclave of Ceuta in North Africa, swimming around seawalls and climbing over fences. At least 72 people lost their lives, according to Spain. The unprecedented surge stunned European governments and prompted EU ministers to hold an emergency meeting on strengthening the bloc’s borders.

The fallout also highlighted opposition to Spain’s migration policy within the EU. Poland, Denmark and Germany characterized Spain’s migrant-friendly policies – among the most welcoming in Europe – as “pull factors,” encouraging the surge and even threatening EU security. Italy said it was temporarily suspending its Schengen agreement with Spain, which allows passport-free travel across 29 European countries. Sweden and Finland joined the chorus, with Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen writing on X last week that “Spain has completely failed to protect the external border of the Schengen area from incursions. This cannot continue.”

Young voters are splitting up, and gender is the wedge. In countries around the world, young women are moving steadily left while young men are shifting toward conservative and nationalist parties.

In last year’s German elections, men aged 18 to 24 voted 27% for the far-right AfD while 35% of young women opted for the far-left Linke party. In Canada, the most likely left-leaning voters are women aged 18 to 24 (45%), while men aged 18 to 34 are the most right-leaning (33%). From Washington to Seoul to São Paulo, the most consequential political divide among voters under 30 is increasingly not race, class or geography. It is gender.

Do politicians start parades, or merely get in front of them? That’s a question Canadians might be asking this week, following news that the government was polling them on the issue of oil pipelines last fall — just days before Prime Minister Mark Carney announced an agreement with Alberta to explore building a new one to B.C.

Is Canada ready to surf a socialist wave? After the shock victories of three hard-left candidates in last week’s U.S. Democratic primaries, voters and their leaders may wonder whether our country could elect the likes of “democratic socialists” Darializa Avila Chevalier, Brad Lander and Claire Valdez. Chevalier is particularly radical: in a since-deleted X post she wrote “I forgot to get napkins so I just wiped my hand on the American flag behind me.” She also called for abolishing borders and founded an anti-Israel organization at Columbia University that demanded “the total eradication of Western civilization.”

Is there hope for the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA)? For over a year, Canada-U.S. trade talks have been testy at best, in a deep freeze at worst.

U.S. President Donald Trump mocked us as the “51st state,” put tariffs our steel, aluminum and autos, and claimed that America doesn’t need anything we’re selling. Prime Minister Mark Carney declared that Canada must reduce its dependence on the U.S., circled the globe inking foreign trade deals and became the darling of Davos for his vision of “middle power” alliances.

Leaders of the G7 are meeting this week in Évian-les-Bains, France, for their 52nd official summit. When the forum was created in 1975, amid the collapse of the Bretton Woods monetary system and oil shocks of the 1970s, it brought together the world’s industrial democracies to manage global crises. Over the following decades, it helped coordinate responses to challenges like the end of the Cold War, terrorism, climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the war in Ukraine.

But the international community looks very different today. In 2026, the G7 finds itself operating in a “G-Zero” world – with no clear leader. The United States has retreated from its role as global policeman, instead pursuing an “America first” agenda that has isolated itself from its allies. At times, the group can seem less like a G7 and more like a G6+1.

This week, Prime Minister Mark Carney will announce a ban on social media for kids under 16 . There will be exemptions, and we haven’t seen the details yet, but Canadians should applaud this move. I believe in personal freedom but also in science, and in protecting kids from harm. And every day, we see more evidence of the damage social media does to children.

Mark Carney is usually good at speaking truth to power, but yesterday he failed. In an address to Jewish Canadians at Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto, he named the problem — rampant antisemitism — but failed to offer a solution. He failed to send a message to those causing the problem. And he failed to understand the nature of Canada itself.

Carney said that Canada was not founded on a “single creed, race, language, or faith.” That we “have held our differences in common, beginning — after a long period of struggle and oppression — with the French and English accommodation.” That “pluralism is the framework of our nation.”

Just two days after NASA unveiled plans for a permanent base near the Moon’s south pole, Blue Origin – one of the private companies hired to be part of the project – suffered a spectacular setback. On May 28, the Jeff Bezos-owned company’s test rocket exploded in Florida, badly damaging its launchpad, which could take years to repair. No one was injured, but the failure brought the company’s lofty ambitions and plans for the first-ever privately funded lunar landing mission crashing down to Earth.

Prime Minister John A. Macdonald famously described dealing with provincial leaders as “herding cats.” He was right on the money: like cats, premiers will purr loudly to get what they want but ignore you when it suits them. Or worse, lure you in and scratch you when you least expect it. But MacDonald knew how to cajole them, humour them and get his way, and ultimately triumphed in uniting the country we call Canada.

This weekend, the U.S. paused its participation in an organization most Canadians have likely never heard of: the Permanent Joint Board on Defence. It was established in 1940, following U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s pledge that the U.S. would defend Canada if it were attacked, and Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King’s promise that “enemy forces should not be able to pursue their way, either by land, sea or air to the United States across Canadian territory.” The board met some 42 times during the Second World War and most recently convened every six months — until now. Read more

It was the jam session that rocked Asia. In January, a video of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung drumming to K-Pop hits went viral, heralding a new diplomatic era between their countries. Now it seems the band is back together and taking it on the road. This week, the two leaders are meeting again in Lee’s hometown of Andong. The two-day summit is focusing on security, energy, and critical minerals, with another meeting slated to take place in Takaichi’s birthplace later this year.

On Tuesday, Lee stated that the two countries “agreed to strengthen cooperation in the sectors of liquefied natural gas and crude oil.” South Korea will also join “PowerASIA”, a $10 billion Japanese initiative to increase cooperation between Southeast Asian countries in the building and common use of petroleum storage facilities for oil reserves.

When French President Emmanuel Macron took to the stage at the Africa Forward summit yesterday, the audience may not have expected a scolding.

“Hey! Hey! Hey! I’m sorry guys, but it’s impossible to … have people … coming here making a speech with such a noise,” he said. “This is a total lack of respect.”

Macron’s harsh words directed at the crowd, somewhat ironically, come as he tries to rebuild ties with Africa. The French leader met with over 30 African leaders in Nairobi on Monday as the Africa Forward summit, co-hosted by Kenyan President William Ruto, gets underway this week. It is the first time France has held such an event in an English-speaking nation, and it is intended to showcase a “renewed partnership” between France and Africa built not on shared colonial history, but on economic partnerships.

Prime Minister Mark Carney is avidly wooing the west — but will his own caucus trip him up? Last Friday, Carney met with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to reassure her that Ottawa’s got her back on a second bitumen pipeline from Alberta to Canada’s West Coast. After the tête-à-tête Smith said, “This morning I said ‘if’ a deal gets signed, and afterwards I said ‘when’ a deal gets signed,” describing it as “an indication of my improved level of confidence.”  Read more here

If it’s Tuesday, this must be Belgium. If you’re old enough to remember this 1969 film, where a busload of hapless tourists barrel across Europe on an 18-day tour of nine cities, you probably voted Liberal in the past election, like most of Canada’s baby boomers. And you’re probably happy with the way things are going so far. But you may not have expected Prime Minister Mark Carney to rack up quite so much time across the pond.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney attended a meeting of the European Political Community in Armenia this weekend, a first by the leader of a non-European country. He was invited to discuss common interests in trade, energy, and security. In a speech that echoed his address to the World Economic Forum in Davos two months earlier, Carney called on middle powers, including Canada and European nations, to work together in the wake of disruption of the established world order — implicitly pointing to the United States. “It’s my strong personal view that the international order will be rebuilt,” he told the crowd in Yerevan, “but it will be rebuilt out of Europe.”

While the world has its eyes on the Strait of Hormuz, China’s gaze is fixed farther east: Taiwan. For decades, Beijing’s “One China” policy has asserted that there is only one sovereign Chinese state and that Taiwan is a breakaway province that must return to mainland control – peacefully if possible, but by force if necessary. Now, are the stars aligning for Beijing to advance that goal?

As US President Donald Trump prioritizes an “America First” trade and defense policy, and global attention shifts elsewhere, China sees an opening to make Taiwan’s resistance to reunification harder to sustain. With two weeks to go until Trump meets Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing, China is deploying a mix of carrots and sticks designed to pull Taiwan closer – without firing a shot.

Congratulations, Canada! On Monday, our nation joined an exclusive club: countries with sovereign wealth funds. Norway, Kuwait and other resource-rich nations have long tapped royalties and budget surpluses to fund investment vehicles: in this era of geopolitical uncertainty and an erratic neighbour, Prime Minister Mark Carney thinks it’s time Canada does the same.

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Sunday video was a master class in crisis communications. He reminded Canadians of his credentials managing tough times. He described the urgent challenges Canada faces. He explained what he is doing to tackle them. He promised not to “sugarcoat” anything. He appealed to Canadians’ patriotism. And he promised to keep us posted: bookmark this YouTube channel for the next episode.