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. 

Tonight at 6 p.m. EST, US President Donald Trump will be featured in “America Reads The Bible,” reciting a verse from the holy book in the Oval Office. The week-long event will see five hundred people, including Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, read the Bible in its entirety in a series of live and prerecorded segments. All the participants are Republican; organizers say they invited Democratic members of Congress, but that none responded.

The event has been a year in the making, but the timing is ironic. It comes as Trump’s relationship with Christians is suddenly in unusual flux. Last Tuesday, he clashed with Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff, calling him “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy” after the Catholic leader criticized Trump’s threat to wipe out Iran’s “whole civilization.”

Lots of ink has already been spilled on the impact of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s historic majority: the implications for the Liberal agenda, for House of Commons committees, and for the country. But one byelection matters more than the others: the riding of Terrebonne, which saw Liberal candidate Tatiana Auguste score a victory in traditional Bloc Québécois territory with a 731-vote margin, and which could reshape politics in both Quebec and Ottawa.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has secured the first Liberal government since 2019. That’s right — in case you hadn’t noticed, Canada has been operating under minority governments for seven years. Two were won by Justin Trudeau in 2019 and 2021, one by Carney in 2025. Trudeau’s minorities necessitated significant compromise with the NDP; from 2021 until the fall of 2024, he was bound by a supply and confidence agreement with then NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, who extracted a series of concessions on childcare, dental care, and pharmacare.

Last month, Bill C-12, the Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act received royal assent. The law gives the Minister of Immigration, Lena Diab, the power to pause applications “in the public interest.” It also retroactively bars persons with expired one-year permits (such as student visas, or temporary work permits) from subsequently filing refugee claims, as they can now do when other avenues to permanent residency are closed. It also eliminates the loophole whereby persons who enter the country illegally and remain undetected for 14 days can also file a refugee claim, under the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement.

It’s back to the future for the NDP — and then some. Last weekend the party elected 58-year-old filmmaker Avi Lewis as party leader. During his campaign, Lewis pledged to impose a wealth tax, stop oil and gas exploration, implement national rent control, and set up public grocery stores. Ed Broadbent, the NDP leader who wanted to nationalize banks back in the 1970’s, would be proud.

Has the war in Iran torpedoed a federal election in Canada? Just two weeks ago, speculation abounded that Prime Minister Mark Carney might call a vote to capitalize on sky-high polling numbers and his desire for a majority mandate. But 10 days into Operation Epic Fury, the likelihood of Canadians going to the polls this spring has radically diminished.

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The conflict may be happening half a world away, but it involves key allies, the United States and Israel. Violence has spilled over here at home, with shots fired at synagogues and the U.S. consulate in Toronto. Oil prices are soaring, which benefits Alberta but hurts consumers. The entire situation demands that our government govern rather than campaign.

Canada’s defence industry got a $6.6 billion boost Tuesday, as Prime Minister Mark Carney formally unveiled Ottawa’s new Defence Industrial Strategy. The plan promises to create 125,000 new jobs over 10 years and award 70 per cent of defence contracts to Canadian companies, through a “Build-Partner-Buy” framework that prioritizes domestic industry. It is part of the government’s plan to increase Canadian military spending to five per cent of GDP by 2035, in line with NATO targets.