Hello, welcome to Politics Insider. Let’s look at what happened today.
Canada has been selected as the host nation of a new multinational defence bank as negotiations among the founding countries ended in Montreal on Wednesday, according to two sources.
Pippa Norman reports that the decision was made after the final of three rounds of negotiations hosted by Canada and involving the approximately 19 founding countries of the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank.
The other 18 founding countries have not been disclosed, though reports of some European countries such as Britain and Germany rejecting the bank have surfaced since it was first announced.
The Globe is not identifying the sources who were not permitted to speak publicly about the matter.
Once established, the bank could include as many as 40 countries, all NATO members and their allies, and will provide long-term, low-cost financing for defence projects undertaken by participating countries.
In other news, Conservative MP Jamil Jivani is back in Washington today for a meeting with Canadian business interests and United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
The Canadian embassy confirms it will have a representative in attendance.
During a previous trip to the U.S. capital earlier in the year, Jivani met his long-time friend Vice-President JD Vance and stopped by the White House, where he said he met briefly with President Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, seven lawsuits have been filed in Northern California against OpenAI on behalf of victims of the Tumbler Ridge school shooting alleging the tech giant’s negligence and the design defects of its flagship ChatGPT chatbot pushed the shooter toward the violence.
Mike Hager reports that the suits, filed today in U.S. federal court in San Francisco, also all allege that the company avoided alerting police about the shooter’s violent interactions with its program because doing so would force it to create an internal system for reporting other violent users to the authorities.
That, in turn, the lawsuits allege, would expose the threat its signature product routinely poses to human life, which could complicate a coming initial public offering that could be worth a trillion dollars.
Jesse Van Rootselaar gunned down eight people in the northern B.C. community in February before killing herself in one of the deadliest mass shootings in modern Canadian history. The dead included the shooter’s mother and a younger sibling.
The suits also call into question the company’s assertion that it “banned” the 18-year-old Van Rootselaar for problematic use and that she then “evaded” the company’s safety systems to rejoin ChatGPT.
Rather, the filings allege, OpenAI’s public troubleshooting guide helps users who are “deactivated” to sign up using another e-mail and start using the chatbot again. The suits allege the shooter simply signed up again with a different e-mail address but still using her real name.
A Royal Canadian Air Force CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol aircraft flies over Halifax on Feb. 28 to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the end of the Persian Gulf War.Kelly Clark/The Canadian Press
What else is going on
BoC holds rate at 2.25%, but warns of energy and trade risks: The Bank of Canada held its benchmark interest rate steady on Wednesday, but warned that interest rates may need to change depending on the duration of the oil price shock and the outcome of trade talks with the United States and Mexico.
Newfoundland and Labrador projects $688-million deficit in budget: The first budget tabled today by the province’s Progressive Conservative government since unseating the Liberals in a provincial election last fall shows no end in sight to annual shortfalls.
South Korean bidder to build military vehicles in Canada if it wins submarine contract: Hanhwa announced a joint venture today with Canada’s Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association to build a new entity that would produce the promised vehicles.
FIFA president will not get motorcade escort for meeting held in Vancouver, police say: VPD spokesperson Constable Darren Wong said the police will not offer an escort to get Gianni Infantino from point A to B in Vancouver “as fast as possible” for the 76th FIFA Congress, which will bring together hundreds of representatives this week, with an official conference on Thursday.
Ontario Bill 33 raises fears of fresh funding cuts to campus media: Bill 33 provides the government with power over what ancillary fees postsecondary students must pay, allowing them to opt out of some – though it’s not yet certain how these provisions will actually be applied.
Online harms bill not right vehicle to bring in age-verification to access pornography, minister says: Canadian Identity Minister Marc Miller says Canada is unlikely to follow Britain’s example and include age checks to prevent children from accessing pornography websites in its forthcoming online harms bill.
On our radar
Prime Minister’s Day: Mark Carney attended the weekly Liberal caucus meeting, and later Question Period. Carney also delivered remarks to trade-union workers. Carney’s office also said he spoke with the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, on the evolving situation in the Middle East and deepening the Canada-Saudi Arabia partnership in energy, agri-food, critical minerals, defence and aerospace. Carney, according to his office, looks forward to acting on an invitation from the Crown Prince to visit Saudi Arabia.
Party Leaders: Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet held a press scrum at the House of Commons. Green Party Leader Elizabeth May attended a meeting with fellows from the American Congressional Fellowship Program, and a panel discussion at Toronto Metropolitan University. She also attended a reception celebrating Canada’s freshwater ecosystems and the individuals working to protect them. No schedules released for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP Leader Avi Lewis.
Ministers on the Road: In Montreal, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne participated in an armchair discussion on his spring economic update at an event held by the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations.
In Toronto, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree, with Ontario Solicitor-General Michael Kerzner and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, announced up to $145-million in federal funding to support enhanced security operations related to holding the FIFA World Cup in Toronto and Vancouver.
Quote of the Day
“The timing of an introduction of a bill isn’t something that I’ll be sharing with you today, that’s for sure.” – Canadian Identity Minister Marc Miller, arriving for today’s Liberal caucus meeting, rejects a reporter’s request to go into details about when he will bring in an online harms bill.
Question period
In 1912, Ottawa’s downtown train station opened in a building across the street from the Chateau Laurier hotel and just up the street from Centre Block at Parliament Hill. Later, the station building would serve as a government conference centre. Now, it’s the home of the Senate while Centre Block goes through billions of dollars in renovations. When did trains stop arriving in the city core?
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for the answer.
Perspectives
With war, trade woes and a shrinking population, the Bank of Canada was right to hold rates
Tuesday’s fiscal update had new measures that should give a boost to the economy. How big a boost is unclear today. When combined with existing areas of uncertainty, and an opaque output gap, we think the bank was right to leave its policy rate unchanged.
— Jeremy M. Kronick is president and chief executive of the C.D. Howe Institute, where Steve Ambler, an emeritus professor of economics at Université du Québec à Montréal, is the David Dodge Chair in Monetary Policy.
To make the Canada Strong Fund work, look to Quebec’s example, not Norway’s
At the risk of having my boss turn down my request to visit Norway to cover the world’s best-run sovereign wealth operation, the blueprint for success at the newly launched Canada Strong Fund was written two generations back in Quebec.
— Andrew Willis, Business Columnist
The takeaway from the spring fiscal update? Your answer will have to wait until the fall budget
A year into the self-branded “Canada’s New Government,” and after the arrival of the shallow vessel that was Tuesday’s spring economic update, I’m starting to wonder if I need to move from hopeful agnostic to concerned sceptic.
— Tony Keller, Columnist
Go deeper
- Follow along for our stories on Canada-U.S. relations as news develops
- Get the latest insight and analysis from our political opinion writers
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The answer to today’s question: The complex known as Union Station ceased operations as a passenger train facility in 1966. The current Ottawa train station, about four kilometres east of the downtown, was opened in July of 1966. Amid talks regarding the Alto high-speed rail project linking Toronto and Quebec City, there has been discussion about returning passenger rail to downtown Ottawa.