Hello, welcome to Politics Insider. Let’s look at what happened today.
Prime Minister Mark Carney is in the final stretch of his 10-day trip to the Indo-Pacific region, which started in India, and continued to Australia and Japan.
In Tokyo, Carney and newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi signed a new strategic partnership that is meant to forge deeper co-operation in defence, energy, critical minerals and advanced technology such as artificial intelligence.
As senior parliamentary reporter Steven Chase writes, the agreements mean that the Royal Canadian Navy is planning on stepping up joint exercises with Japanese warships, and Tokyo is looking at conducting military training with Canada in the Arctic through operation NANOOK.
NANOOK is Canada’s premier Arctic training and sovereignty operation in the North. Japan has been an observer in past NANOOK exercises but is now considering full participation, the Prime Minister’s Office said.
The two leaders signed three memorandums of co-operation on defence and security for joint Coast Guard exercises, international emergency response and action against illegal fishing in the North Pacific.
Carney is also in Japan to pitch political and business leaders on maintaining and growing Japanese auto investment in Canada.
He was scheduled to meet Saturday with business leaders in Japan, including major auto makers.
However, Tokyo’s envoy to Ottawa recently said that existing and future Japanese auto investment in Canada will depend on whether export access to the U.S. market is still secure after the 2026 renegotiation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
At these Saturday meetings, Carney will present Canada “as a reliable trade partner and competitive destination for new investments,” his office said in a statement.
Prime Minister Mark Carney meets with Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Tokyo, on Friday.Takashi Aoyama/The Associated Press
What else is going on
CBSA has removed only one senior Iranian official from Canada under federal ban: Globe reporter Maura Forrest writes that the Canada Border Service Agency has identified 28 people it believes are inadmissible since senior Iranian officials were banned from Canada in November, 2022, but so far, it has only removed one from the country.
Ottawa charters plane to evacuate 180 Canadians from Dubai as 3,500 request help: Marie Woolf reports that Ottawa has chartered its first plane to fly 180 Canadians from Dubai to Istanbul on Saturday, and has block-booked seats on flights from Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates to fly Canadians out in the coming days.
Noem out at Homeland Security as public support for Trump’s immigration policy slides: U.S. President Donald Trump announced the move in a Truth Social post Thursday, U.S. correspondent Adrian Morrow reports. Trump said Noem would become special envoy for “The Shield of the Americas,” a Western Hemisphere security plan he is expected to unveil Saturday. He said he would nominate Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin to replace her.
OpenAI CEO will apologize to Tumbler Ridge families, B.C. Premier says: B.C. politics reporter Justine Hunter writes that Sam Altman, the chief executive officer of OpenAI, will deliver an apology to families in Tumbler Ridge after hearing about the impact of a deadly school shooting, according to Premier David Eby.
On our radar
Commons Break: The House of Commons is on a break this week. MPs will return on Monday. The Senate is also off for the week.
Prime Minister’s Day: Prime Minister Mark Carney is in Japan, as part of his 10-day trip to the Indo-Pacific region. Carney will arrive back in the national capital region on Saturday afternoon.
Party Leaders: Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is in Germany, where he is meeting with German officials Gunter Sautter and Alexander Eberl. On Saturday, he will visit a liquefied natural gas terminal.
Quote of the Day
“I have great respect for my caucus colleagues across the board, and very much look forward to hearing their viewpoints.” – Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, when asked about concerns some Liberal MPs have about the government’s stance on the conflict in Iran and the failure to update them on the position it is taking.
Question period
What year did the Library of Parliament building open?
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for the answer.
Perspectives
Pierre Poilievre plants the seeds of an alternative to the Carney doctrine
But what was more notable about the speech was the Conservative Leader’s attempt to lay out an alternative vision to the one presented by Mr. Carney – a strategy for dealing with the predator next door that did not amount either to copying Mr. Carney or appeasing Mr. Trump.
— Andrew Coyne, Columnist
Canada must support international accountability for Iran
Canada can mobilize middle powers to use law and diplomacy to hold the regime to account, support the people of Iran, and protect our sovereignty. This would also advance our interests of upholding and strengthening international law by putting its principles into practice.
— Irwin Cotler & Brandon Silver, Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights
Why is Canada elbows-up to Trump, but arms-out for Xi and Modi?
It’s a fascinating and somewhat perplexing exercise to look at Ottawa’s language, tone and rhetoric over the last few months about the U.S., and compare and contrast it to how it has spoken about our renewed relationships with China and India.
— Robyn Urback, 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 Library of Parliament building first opened in 1876. This year marks 150 years of the iconic structure.