Good morning. Salesmanship and sovereignty are the focus for Canada this week. More on that below, along with the state of Québécois film and the situation with Russian oil.
Prime Minister Mark Carney shakes hands with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at last year's EU-Canada summit.OLIVIER MATTHYS/AFP/Getty Images
TOP STORIES
Canada wants to maintain sovereignty in EU relationship
Ottawa wants to forge deeper trade, investment, security, data and labour ties with the European Union − but not at the expense of Canadian sovereignty, a senior government official says. Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to travel to Strasbourg, France, where he will address the European Parliament Thursday and pitch Canada as a viable partner.
Reports say: The Wall Street Journal said the Prime Minister had suggested to EU leaders that Canada take on the title “associate member of the European Union” and that the EU was open to the idea. But the Canadian government source said it was the EU, not Carney, that floated the title, though determining what sort of official ties Canada would have to the EU is wildly premature.
Up next: Carney is also set to meet with his British counterpart for the first time this week. French President Emmanuel Macron will also meet with Carney in Saint-Pierre and Miquelon next week to discuss energy and defence partnerships. The Prime Minister’s Office says he will travel to the French territory off the coast of Newfoundland on Sept. 20.
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Starting today, heads of major investment funds from around the world gather to hear pitches about Canadian projects.Illustration by The Globe and Mail
What you need to know about the Canada Investment Summit
Industry Minister Mélanie Joly says she expects that large foreign-investment funds will announce deals at this week’s high-level summit in Toronto. The Prime Minister’s pitch to the world’s top investors will be the ultimate test, and answer to a question: Is Carney a closer?
The details: The summit will take place today and tomorrow at Toronto’s Four Seasons Hotel, where the heads of major investment funds from around the world will gather to hear about Canadian projects.
New this morning: Both TD and Scotiabank are stepping up for Canadian business. TD is committing $150-billion to fund Canadian companies in critical sectors over the next five years and Scotiabank is committing $100-billion in financing.
Keep reading:
- Investment summit will test Carney’s Persian Gulf trade strategy
- Foreign money is flooding into Canada. But a closer look reveals much of it is coming from the U.S.
- The summit poses unique security challenges with a protest and other major events planned
People queue to refuel their cars at a Lukoil petrol station in Moscow.IGOR IVANKO/AFP/Getty Images
Trump wants Ukraine to stop attacking Russian diesel
President Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries and other infrastructure used to produce and distribute diesel, saying the attacks are causing a global shortage. On Friday, diesel prices in the U.S. hit a record high, soaring past US$6 a gallon on average.
The context: Fuel prices are weighing on Americans as they prepare to vote in midterm elections in November, but the global crunch also came after the U.S. war on Iran curtailed oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Ukraine has been targeting Russia’s oil and gas industry, prompting fuel rationing across the country and causing Moscow to ban diesel exports in July.
Screengrab from Yan Lanouette Turgeon’s Formula One-centric biopic Villeneuve: The Rise of a Legend. The $15-million-plus budget makes it one of the most expensive Québecois films ever made.Supplied
Quebec’s film sector in the hot seat
The Québécois cinema industry thrives inside its own provincial borders, and rarely makes a dent outside of them, but it has now become crucial to the battle for Canadian cultural sovereignty in the trade war. While French filmmakers are snapping up awards across the world stage, the situation at the box office is a different story – and Québécois productions will have a tough time competing against Hollywood at the Toronto International Film Festival this year.
Exclusive interview: Globe film editor Barry Hertz sat down with Marc Miller at TIFF to talk cultural sovereignty. The Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture said that two new audiovisual co-production treaties with Britain and Spain will help Canada be “smarter” about its approach to supporting the domestic screen sector.
Richard Zhao, right, is acting co-head of computer science at the University of Calgary.Todd Korol/The Globe and Mail
AI changed the game for computer-science students
Applications to undergraduate computer and information systems programs have plunged at universities in Ontario, the only province that makes aggregate application data public. But across the country, high-school students are looking at how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing higher education and worry that it can already do much of a junior software engineer’s job.
Bigger picture: Such trends in computer-science education underscore a dilemma facing many young people, regardless of what they want to be when they grow up: AI is improving so fast that no students know what awaits them on the other side of a degree.
The Take
The Carney government is nationalist, even fervently so. But whereas European right-wing nationalists rail against a supposed left-wing Eurocracy in Brussels, the Carneyites are lucky enough to have Mr. Trump as their foil. So it comes out sounding a lot nicer: nationalism contra nationalism.
— Andrew Coyne, columnist
The populist right is rising around the world. Why not in Canada? Andrew Coyne explains.
The Shot
Celine Dion takes to the stage for her comeback performance at the Plenitude Arena in Nanterre, near Paris, on Saturday.THOMAS SAMSON/AFP/Getty Images
Celine Dion made an emotional return to the stage, six years after a rare autoimmune neurological disorder forced her to cancel her Courage world tour.
The Wrap
What else we’re following
At home: The annual cost of online harm to Canadian children could be as high as $4.8-billion a year, according to an analysis.
Abroad: Exit polls in Sweden’s national election show left-of-centre parties leading Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s governing alliance.
Don’t touch: In the age of the land grab, how can we balance great power with great responsibility? Architecture critic Alex Bozikovic writes about expropriation.
No go: OpenAI will not go public in 2026, with CEO Sam Altman citing safety concerns over artificial intelligence.
Be present: With burnout intensifying, a new book traces the rise of the sabbatical, and why they are a tool for modern life.
A present: Why this Canadian entrepreneur thinks books are corporate gifting’s best-kept secret.