Hello, welcome to Politics Insider. Let’s look at what happened today.
Canada’s food-safety agency says professional marksmen have killed hundreds of ostriches at a B.C. farm after the farm’s owners failed to secure a last-minute legal reprieve from the cull.
Mike Hager reports that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency today confirmed the completion of the extermination of the flock, which had been delayed by various legal challenges since an avian flu outbreak was detected last December.
The agency’s order, which dates back to last New Year’s Eve, was opposed by the farmers and their online army of supporters, which includes well-known figures such as U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former television personality Mehmet Oz, who is now the administrator for the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
In its statement today, the agency said it consulted with experts and determined that shooting the massive birds would be the “most appropriate and humane option.”
Despite an outpouring of anger and grief from the farmers and dozens of supporters last night, there have been no arrests, RCMP spokesperson Staff Sergeant Kris Clark said.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed a last-ditch effort by the farmers to have the top court hear the case.
In other news, the federal minority government survived a confidence vote on the budget today in a 306-30 vote.
Bill Curry and Emily Haws report that the House of Commons voted on a Bloc Québécois motion calling on MPs to reject the budget because it “will hurt Quebec” by failing to act on a list of priorities for the Bloc, including higher health transfers and Old Age Security payments and stronger action to combat climate change.
NDP MPs supported the Bloc motion, but it was defeated because Conservative MPs voted with the government.
Also today, the government was challenged in Question Period after the Fitch rating agency said the budget weakens Canada’s credit profile.
Fitch downgraded its credit rating for Canada from AAA to AA+ in June, 2020, amid a period of record deficits during the pandemic.
Conservative MP Mike Lake raised the issue today.
“This has happened before, with crushing impact on Canadians. In the nineties, after similar rating pressure, the Liberal government of the day was forced to cut 32 per cent from federal health and social transfers over just two years. Does anyone over there understand the gravity of this situation?” he asked.
Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson responded.
“As somebody who spent much of his life in the banking community, let me tell him about the S&P and Moody’s ratings, which are triple A, the best in the entire world,” he said. “We’re doing just fine.”
A CFIA employee in a hazmat suit interacts with ostriches near a cull enclosure located by the Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, B.C., after the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear the farm’s appeal against an order to cull more than 300 of its ostriches on Nov. 6, 2025.AARON HEMENS/The Canadian Press
What else is going on
Canada posts surprise job gains: The labour market added 67,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate fell to 6.9 per cent from 7.1 per cent, Statistics Canada said today. Financial analysts were expecting a small loss of 5,000 positions.
Another Tory MP quits: Edmonton Conservative MP Matt Jeneroux has announced he’s resigning, another surprising development during a high-stakes week for the House of Commons.
Mixed feelings in d’Entremont riding: Constituents of MP Chris d’Entremont’s Nova Scotia riding are reacting with scorn and merriment to the news that he has left the Conservatives for the Liberals.
Cultural sovereignty and the federal budget: Following a news conference today on budget measures to strengthen the cultural sector, Canadian Identity Minister Steven Guilbeault spoke with The Globe and Mail on the future of cultural sovereignty.
U.S. ambassador left Michigan GOP with $1 million debt: Pete Hoekstra is facing internal criticism over his management of the Michigan Republican Party before he took up his duties as Donald Trump’s voice in Canada.
Liberals appear poised for possible omnibus bills: The federal government plans to make 75 legislative changes through the budget process, adopting a practice that has been criticized as a way of curtailing debate by burying contentious measures in omnibus bills.
Obituary, Tim Cook: The Canadian War Museum’s chief historian and a prolific author on Canada’s military past brought his passion for storytelling to the museum in 2002, three years before it officially opened. In 2020, he was named the museum’s chief historian and director of research.
On our radar
Prime Minister’s Day: In Toronto, Mark Carney toured an arts and culture hub to highlight budget investments in Canadian culture. He later participated in a conversation on the budget with the Canadian Club. Carney also toured an artificial-intelligence research institute to highlight budget investments in research, development and innovation.
Party Leaders: In Toronto, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre delivered a keynote address to the Economic Club of Canada. Green Party Leader Elizabeth May held a news conference on Parliament Hill, attended the House of Commons and appeared as a panelist for a discussion as part of the Youth Parliament of Canada. In Winnipeg, NDP Interim-Leader Don Davies met with Manitoba Finance Minister Adrien Sala. No schedule was released for Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet.
Quote of the Day
“So call your local MP, if they’re not a Liberal, and tell them …” - Prime Minister Mark Carney, during a fireside chat at the Canadian Club in Toronto today. Carney was asked how many seats his Liberals need to have a majority government and said, “A couple.” In responding further, he waved a hand to the crowd in an inviting motion.
Question period
Who said the following, and who was the speaker referring to? “I probably did say he was a hard-ass. It was meant as a compliment, not a criticism. If I call you a hard-ass, I think you’re a pretty solid guy and you’ve got grit. If I call you a soft-ass or a candy-ass, then I’m criticizing you.”
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for the answer.
Perspectives
Mark Carney has turned the Titanic. He needs to keep turning
Many of my fellow members of the punditocracy find the budget to be a bit of a letdown. What happened to building the unimaginable at the speed of the inconceivable? Where’s the unthinkable on the timetable of the impossible? At the scale of the incomprehensible?
— Tony Keller, Columnist
The threat of defections that could puncture Poilievre’s swagger
But it is hard to posture like you’re owning the Libs if they keep smuggling away your MPs. Worse: If the Liberals recruit two more and gain a parliamentary majority, Mr. Poilievre will go from someone who might be prime minister next year to someone destined to warm the opposition benches till 2029. That’s not what supporters who chose him as leader in 2022 signed up for.
— Campbell Clark, Chief Political Writer
The fight against climate change appears to be officially dead
The world appears to be yielding to forces – economic, political and otherwise – that have pushed climate change off the front pages and back into the journals of academia. Or at least that’s how it feels. Sure, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, continues the good fight – but it seems no one is listening, including here in this country.
— Gary Mason, National Affairs 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
- 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
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The answer to today’s question: David Emerson was referring to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper in April, 2006. Emerson, an industry minister under former prime minister Paul Martin, ran as a Liberal in Vancouver-Kingsway in the January, 2006, election. After being elected, he joined the Conservatives and served in Harper’s cabinet, initially as international trade minister and minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics.