Hello, welcome to Politics Insider, election edition. There are 31 days until voting day. Let’s look at what happened today.
Canada and the United States have agreed to begin comprehensive negotiations on a new economic and security relationship after this country’s April 28 election, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office announced today.
The agreement paves the way for talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and whoever wins the Canadian election, which decide who will deal with the President’s continuing tariff war against his country’s closest trading partners.
Carney’s office acknowledged he has yet to win a new mandate. A statement on the call from the PMO said, “The Prime Minister told the President that he would be working hard for the next month to earn the right to represent Canada in those discussions.”
Carney and Trump spoke for the first time today since Carney took office March 14.
In a social media post, Trump described the conversation as “extremely productive.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s vice president, JD Vance, issued a warning to Canada today, saying this country cannot win a trade war against the United States.
At a news conference held during a visit to Greenland, Vance quoted Trump as saying of Canada that “they just don’t have the cards” to threaten retaliatory tariffs against the U.S.
“There is no way that Canada can win a trade war with the United States,” said Vance noting, nonetheless that, “We have many dear friends in Canada and, of course, we love the Canadian people.”
This composite image shows Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, in Kitchener, Ont., and President Donald Trump, right, in Washington on March 26, 2025.The Canadian Press
Elsewhere on the campaign trail
Doug Ford’s campaign manager warns Poilievre on track to lose federal election: Kory Teneycke, who oversaw Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s three back-to-back majority government wins, bluntly told an Empire Club of Canada discussion this week about the federal election that alarm bells should be ringing loudly in the federal Conservative campaign.
NDP pledges to ban corporations from buying affordable rentals: Party Leader Jagmeet Singh, during a campaign stop in Toronto, said there are many people in the city who live in constant fear they are going to be evicted from their affordable apartments when buildings are purchased by large corporate landlords.
North American mayors call for end to Trump’s tariffs: Mayors from across Canada, the United States and Mexico gathered in Washington today for a trilateral summit to show a united front in their call for President Donald Trump to end his sweeping tariffs.
In fast-growing Collingwood, Ont., housing and affordability are top of mind for voters: While Donald Trump’s trade war and threats against Canadian sovereignty dominate federal election talk in this long-time Conservative stronghold, about a two-hour drive north of Toronto, one local issue is not far behind: the need for housing and the growth fuelling it.
Canada’s economy ‘sprinting into a wall’ to start 2025 as U.S. tariff hit looms: Statistics Canada said today that real gross domestic product rose 0.4 per cent in January, but the agency’s flash estimates for February suggest flat growth for the month.
Saskatchewan Premier heads to Europe for trade show, London Stock Exchange address: Scott Moe says it’s more important now than ever to diversify the province’s trading markets, as Canada faces tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump.
On our election radar
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet held a news conference on supply management, visited a dairy farm in the municipality of Saint-Roch-de-l’Achigan, and travelled to Mont Tremblant to meet members of the Quebec Food Processing Council.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre held a press conference in the Vancouver Island city of Nanaimo. On Saturday, he was scheduled to hold a rally in Winnipeg.
Green Party Leaders Elizabeth May and Jonathan Pedneault also campaigned in Nanaimo.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney, in his role as prime minister, chaired a virtual first ministers’ meeting while in Montreal, and was scheduled to make an announcement and take media questions this afternoon.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in Toronto, announced a series of policies that include banning corporations from buying existing affordable rental buildings, and took media questions.
Question period
On Jan. 16, 1965, Canadian prime minister Lester Pearson and U.S. president Lyndon Johnson signed the Canada-U.S. auto pact – the Automotive Products Trade Agreement – that created a continentally integrated North American auto sector.
Today’s Question: Where did they sign the pact? Bonus point: Which officials, one Canadian and one American, signed the pact with the two leaders?
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for the answer.
Perspectives
The foreign (mis)adventures of Danielle Smith
She also fundamentally misunderstands Mr. Trump. Other than his fondness for authoritarians, he sees other leaders not as potential allies but as targets for extracting concessions. Leaders from both left and right have found that their treatment does not appear linked to where they stand on the ideological spectrum.
— The Globe and Mail Editorial Board
It’s the end of the road for the North American economic bloc. Now what?
The idea of North America as an economic region is the core of the industrial and economic strategy that Canada has pursued for 40 years: integration with the U.S. economy through trade deals and border agreements, and so on. Mr. Trump isn’t just threatening to kill that. He is killing it.
— Campbell Clark, Chief Political Writer
We are not talking enough about the epidemic of Indigenous deaths during police interactions
What does this say to our living children and youth who have to live their lives fearful of police, the Crown, and a justice system that too often diminishes their existence? Indigenous people represent the fastest growing segment of the population. To whom will these new generations turn?
— Tanya Talaga, Columnist
Go deeper
- Stay informed ahead of voting day with the latest updates.
- Follow along for our stories on Canada-U.S. relations as news develops
- Like a long read? Check out the fall of Justin Trudeau and the making of Pierre Poilievre
- Take a look at the history of immigration reporting and great political scandals from A Nation’s Paper, a book about The Globe and Mail’s role in Canadian history
Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com. Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop.
The answer to today’s question: The pact was signed at Johnson’s Texas ranch, also known as the Texas White House, with Paul Martin Sr., Canada’s external affairs minister, signing with Pearson and Dean Rusk, the U.S. secretary of state, signing with Johnson.