Hello, welcome to Politics Insider. Let’s look at what happened today.
Prime Minister Mark Carney will meet with Coastal First Nations in British Columbia on Tuesday for discussions about major natural resources projects planned for the region.
Stephanie Levitz and Justine Hunter report that the meeting comes amidst frustration and anger from B.C. First Nations over a new energy accord between Alberta and Ottawa that sets the stage for a new oil pipeline to the West Coast.
A senior government source told The Globe and Mail that Carney expects to cover several subjects in Tuesday’s meetings, including how Indigenous communities can be partners in the projects.
The Globe is not naming the source as they were not authorized to provide advance notice of Carney’s itinerary.
After visiting Prince Rupert, B.C. on Tuesday, Carney will travel to China, Qatar and Switzerland to sell Canada overseas.
Coastal First Nations is an alliance of First Nations groups whose traditional territories are along B.C.’s central and northern coasts.
They reacted with anger and alarm last year when Mr. Carney signed a memorandum of understanding with Alberta, committing to support a new oil pipeline to the West Coast.
Among other things, the MOU says the federal government will consider lifting a ban on oil tankers so that product can be shipped from the pipeline’s terminus to Asian markets.
In other news, two Canadian MPs from the governing Liberal caucus have cut short a trip to Taiwan this week that would have overlapped with Prime Minister Carney’s visit to Beijing aimed at patching up relations with China.
Steven Chase reports that the MPs say they are returning home early “informed by advice from” the Canadian government.
Liberal members of Parliament Helena Jaczek and Marie-France Lalonde were part of a group of MPs, including three Conservatives, who accepted a trip sponsored by the government of Taiwan to visit the self-governed island, which is in the crosshairs of Beijing.
The trip includes both cultural events and meetings with Taiwanese government officials.
On Monday, in Taipei, the two Liberal MPs informed their Conservative colleagues they were heading home early.
China, which views Taiwan as a breakaway province, dislikes it when foreign politicians or government officials meet with Taiwanese officials, viewing it as interference in their domestic affairs. That includes the twice-yearly trips by Canadian parliamentarians.
Prime Minister Mark Carney boards a government plane in Ottawa on Jan. 5, 2026.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
What else is going on
Rule changes needed after MP held more than one public office at once, experts say: Chak Au continued to serve as a municipal councillor in Richmond, B.C., when he was elected a Conservative MP last April.
Supreme Court revisits WE Charity scandal: The remnants of an early-pandemic political scandal land at the Supreme Court of Canada this week in a case that could have widespread ramifications, as the top court considers the limits of citizens’ ability to challenge some government decisions.
Ottawa is not banning X despite sexual deepfake controversy, AI minister says: Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon clarified Canada’s policy in a weekend post to X.
Jimmy Lai’s lawyers argue for leniency as potential life sentence looms: Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was scheduled to return to court today for mitigation hearings, as his legal team seeks a lighter sentence for the 78-year-old weeks after he was found guilty on national security charges.
Charter challenge over religious exemptions to MAID goes before B.C.’s Supreme Court: A trial set to begin today in B.C.’s Supreme Court questions whether publicly funded faith-based hospitals should be allowed to prevent patients from receiving medical assistance in dying within their facilities.
Average asking rents fell every month of 2025, report says: The latest monthly report from Rentals.ca and Urbanation says average asking rents in Canada declined 3.1 per cent in 2025, which was a larger annual drop than seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Official Harper portrait to be unveiled: Stephen Harper’s official prime ministerial portrait will be unveiled next month as part of commemorations of the 20th anniversary of the modern Conservative Party first winning power.
On our radar
Prime Minister’s Day: Mark Carney has no public events today.
Party Leaders: Green Party Leader Elizabeth May visited the Victoria Hand Project at the University of Victoria, met with the university’s Young Greens club and attended a community meeting in Brentwood Bay. No schedules available for other party leaders.
Ministers on the Road: In Washington, D.C. today, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne attended a finance ministers’ meeting hosted by United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon, who is also the minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, made an announcement in the Niagara region on support for businesses impacted by trade disruptions. Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree made an announcement in Scarborough about support for at-risk youth, and an announcement in the Toronto neighborhood of Rexdale on reducing youth involvement in gangs and violent crime.
Trudeau and Carney in Davos: Prime Minister Mark Carney may end up running into his predecessor at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Former prime minister Justin Trudeau will be making a keynote presentation and participating in a fireside discussion in Davos on Jan. 20, during the forum meeting. Trudeau, who stepped down last March, will take part in the launch of the Global Soft Power Index 2026 study of nation brand perceptions by Brand Finance, a brand valuation and strategy consultancy based in London. Carney is scheduled to be in Davos from Jan. 19 to 21 as part of a trip that will also take him to China and Qatar.
Quote of the Day
“I don’t know if I had on my 2026 bingo card that I’d be agreeing with something Jesse Ventura said, but hey, Jesse Ventura said that America is becoming a third-world country when they have military police operations taking place in large cities. He’s not wrong. That is something that should cause all of us concern. You can be wherever you are on the political spectrum. You can be a true-blue conservative. You can be a real-life progressive, but all of us should agree on the sanctity of human life. All of us should support democracy, and all of should be concerned by what we’re seeing happen in Minnesota.” - Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew speaks at a news conference in Winnipeg today on turmoil in the United States. Kinew was asked about social-media comments that a board member of the provincial Progressive Conservatives made about the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
Question period
Pierre Elliott Trudeau was the first Canadian prime minister to visit China. When did that visit take place?
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for the answer.
Perspectives
Why Canada should make a bid to host the United Nations headquarters
Hosting the UN would benefit both Canada and the world community. For Canada, it would mean a boost in international standing and pump more than $4-billion into the economy annually. It would bring in more than 15,000 highly skilled, well-educated and cosmopolitan UN employees. And hosting the UN might add marginally to Canada’s ability to deter U.S. annexationism.
— Mark Raymond is the Wick Cary Associate Professor of International Relations at the University of Oklahoma. David Welch is a professor of political science at the Balsillie School of International Affairs at the University of Waterloo.
This will be the real test of Mark Carney’s visit to China
Mr. Carney is right to test whether pragmatic diplomacy with China can produce economic benefits for Canada. But we must not confuse dialogue with trust, or commercial opportunity with strategic alignment. The measure of success of this trip will not be a photo-op or a communiqué. It is whether Ottawa can secure tangible economic outcomes while reinforcing the guardrails that protect Canada’s sovereignty, resilience, and security.
— Vina Nadjibulla is vice-president of research and strategy at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada
Ottawa is dangling money for American researchers. But what about our own?
Ottawa’s preference for disgruntled American academics deemed stars may seem clever, politically satisfying even, but it could very well turn our biggest research universities into U.S. intellectual branch plants at our expense.
— John Turley-Ewart is a contributing columnist for The Globe and Mail, a regulatory compliance consultant and a Canadian banking historian.
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: Trudeau visited China from Oct. 10 to 16 in 1973.