Hello, welcome to Politics Insider. Let’s look at what happened today.
Prime Minister Mark Carney says his new strategy to rebuild Canada’s defence industry will double the share of Ottawa’s military spending that goes to domestic suppliers and reduce reliance on the United States for such equipment.
Since taking office, Carney has repeatedly complained about the fact that three-quarters of government spending on defence capital outlays – such as major weapons platforms – goes to U.S. suppliers, even as the United States has become increasingly protectionist under Donald Trump.
Steven Chase and Maura Forrest report that Carney today unveiled a defence industrial strategy to build up Canadian self-sufficiency across 10 categories of “sovereign capabilities,” from ammunition to aerospace to drones.
“The assumptions that defined decades of Canadian defence and foreign policy have been turned upside down,” he said at a news conference in Montreal.
Meanwhile, in Toronto, Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he doesn’t agree with Conservative MP Jamil Jivani’s assessment that Canadians are throwing a “hissy fit” when it comes to trade with the United States.
Laura Stone reports that Ford was reacting today to Jivani’s comments on Breitbart News Saturday, in which the MP (and former adviser to Ford’s government) said Canadians are “shooting ourselves in the foot if we continue this anti-America … hissy fit.”
Jivani recently travelled to Washington to meet with U.S. officials – including his close friend Vice-President JD Vance – to help Canada in trade talks with the Americans.
The Ontario Premier, who has become an outspoken critic of Trump, told reporters Tuesday that “I don’t know what he’s talking about” when asked about Jivani’s recent remarks.
“I am happy that he went down to the U.S. I’m happy when I see other premiers go down to the U.S. and lobby. But no, I don’t call it a hissy fit. What I call it is making sure we communicate with the American people,” Ford said at Queen’s Park.
Ford and Jivani have publicly disagreed in recent years, with the MP accusing the Premier of sabotaging the federal Conservative Party during last year’s spring election.
Jivani resigned as an adviser to Ford’s government in 2022, after criticizing the Ontario government’s education policies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I really don’t care what he says about me, because I gave him a chance,” Ford said.
“No one would even know who Jamil Jivani was unless I hired the guy in my office. I didn’t know him from a hole in the ground.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney and CAE Inc. president and CEO Matthew Bromberg tour the company's facilities in Montreal on Tuesday.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
What else is going on
Ottawa urged to send oil and aid to Cuba: NDP interim leader Don Davies urged the government to “support Cuba in the face of aggressive U.S. imperialism,” arguing this would give heft to Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum that urged middle powers to stand up to intimidation by superpowers.
Canada’s annual inflation rate edges down: Statistics Canada says lower prices at the pump and easing shelter inflation helped rein in the pressure facing consumers in January.
Immigration Minister defends proposed changes to asylum rules through border bill: Lena Metlege Diab says the proposed changes in an immigration and border bill now being scrutinized in the Senate are designed in part to tackle an increasing misuse of Canada’s asylum system.
Ottawa says national security incident and error at emergency stockpile unrelated: The Public Health Agency is correcting a statement one of its top officials made at a House of Commons committee last week.
City of Ottawa has the worst job market in Canada: While Ontario has experienced the weakest job market of any province over the past year, it’s the Ottawa-Gatineau region that has suffered the steepest losses, faring much worse than cities closely associated with tariff-hit industries such as steel and autos.
Organized crime groups targeting police data across Canada, report says: The RCMP-led Criminal Intelligence Service Canada is sounding the alarm about organized crime groups across the country seeking to infiltrate police databases and corrupt civil servants.
On our radar
Commons Break: The House of Commons is on a break this week with MPs returning on Feb. 23.
Prime Minister’s Day: In Montreal, Mark Carney toured a production and manufacturing assembly line, and announced a new defence industrial strategy. With Tatiana Auguste, the ex-Liberal MP for Terrebonne, he visited a restaurant in the Montreal riding where the result of the last federal election, which was decided by a single ballot, has been annulled by the Supreme Court of Canada.
On Wednesday, Carney was scheduled to attend a party fundraising event at a private residence in Vancouver.
Party Leaders: Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre held a news conference on Parliament Hill. No schedules released for other party leaders.
Ministers on the Road: Dominic LeBlanc, the federal minister responsible for North American trade, is in Mexico leading a six-day trade mission including leaders of about 250 Canadian businesses, as well as government and industry officials. Also on the trip is Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald.
Energy Minister Tim Hodgson is in Warsaw today as part of a trip to Poland and France through to Friday.
In Calgary, Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Olszewski announced federal funding to support southern Alberta businesses.
In Whitehorse, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty, on behalf of Health Minister Marjorie Michel, made an announcement under the Emergency Treatment Fund and the Substance Use and Addictions Program.
New book from GG’s spouse: Whit Fraser, the husband of Governor-General Mary Simon, has a memoir out in April that covers his long career as a journalist. From Ragged Ass Road to Rideau Hall: Stories of the North is being published by B.C.-based Douglas & McIntyre. An overview of the book released by the publisher promises an overview of Fraser’s work as a CBC journalist in the North and “insider insights” into Simon’s decades of activism and leadership. It says Fraser has covered Arctic news, worked for eight years on Parliament Hill, and as a primetime anchor for CBC Newsworld.
MacNaughton and Cherry to Order of Ontario: David MacNaughton, Canada’s former ambassador to the United States, and former hockey broadcaster Don Cherry are among the latest appointees to the Order of Ontario, announced today.
Quote of the Day
“He speaks for himself and I speak for the party,” - Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, during a news conference on Parliament Hill today, responds to questions about the remarks of Conservative MP Jamil Jivani, who visited Washington and met with officials including President Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance, and told Sirius XM’s Breitbart News show that Canadians are “shooting ourselves in the foot if we continue this anti-America … hissy fit.”
Question period
Which Prime Minister died on this day in 1919?
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for the answer.
Perspectives
Canada should not join the nuclear club
There’s no doubt Canada has the technical ability to build nuclear weapons. The strong civilian nuclear industry could provide a springboard if ever Ottawa chose to go that way.
— The Globe and Mail Editorial Board
Why do we have such extraordinary centralization in the PMO?
While a powerful Prime Minister’s Office is not a recent phenomenon, the extraordinary degree of centralization of power in the PMO over the past two decades certainly is. It reached an unfortunate peak under the Trudeau government. While still early days, there does not appear to be a significant lessening of PMO control under Prime Minister Mark Carney.
— Kevin Lynch, former clerk of the Privy Council and deputy minister of Finance and Industry and Jim Mitchell, former senior executive in PCO and Treasury Board
There is power in the roar of Canada’s lions in winter
They are greyer now: greyer of hair and face, but also in perception. In their younger days, they saw things more in black and white, as we saw them. But the years have passed, and now we see them through a mist of … what? Nostalgia? Ambivalence? Maybe say complexity, and respect, and, finally, gratitude.
— Andrew Coyne, 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: Wilfrid Laurier died of a stroke, aged 77. Laurier had served as Canada’s seventh prime minister from 1896 to 1911. He was an MP for 45 years.