Hello, welcome to Politics Insider. Let’s look at what happened today.
Mark Carney heads to Washington today, with his government setting expectations low for talks on tariffs and security with Donald Trump, even as damage mounts from the U.S. President’s protectionist levies.
Steven Chase, Robert Fife and Adrian Morrow report that two senior government officials said not to expect any breakthroughs at the Tuesday White House meeting and emphasized that this will just be a working visit.
One U.S. industry source said the meeting came together because the pair ran into each other last month at the United Nations and agreed to sit down and talk at length.
The Globe and Mail is not identifying the three sources because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
It’s Carney’s second trip to the White House to meet with Trump since taking office.
In May, he returned without any measurable progress in ending a costly trade war but avoided any sign of conflict with the mercurial President. This time, the Prime Minister will be under pressure to deliver some good news.
In other news, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Ontario Premier Doug Ford say they don’t want Trump to bully Carney during the White House meeting Tuesday.
Instead, Laura Stone and Chase report that the pair urged the U.S. President to strike a trade deal with Canada that benefits both countries.
Shapiro, a high-profile Democrat, spoke alongside Ford at a joint news conference in Quebec City today after a meeting of Great Lakes governors and other U.S. officials and the premiers of Ontario and Quebec.
Shapiro, who could be in the running as a 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, said he’s “very concerned” about the Trump administration’s policies, adding that “dangerous” tariffs have caused costs to skyrocket in his state for farmers, small businesses and manufacturers.
“I hope the President of the United States has re-evaluated his tough guy approach to Canada,” Mr. Shapiro said.
“Instead of coming in and trying to bully the Prime Minister, actually sit down and work to hammer out a deal that lifts everyone up. This is not a zero-sum game. I don’t believe that if a Canadian does well, a Pennsylvanian has to be worse off.”
And in Ottawa today, the Finance Department announced a permanent shift to tabling budgets in the fall instead of in the spring.
Bill Curry reports that the department says the new policy will improve reporting to Parliament and help provinces and municipalities plan for construction season.
The tradition of releasing a smaller fall economic statement each year will be swapped with a spring statement instead.
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne also released an outline of the government’s plans to change the way budgets are presented, including by highlighting how much of federal spending is allocated to operational versus capital spending.
Champagne told reporters the government will balance the operating budget by the 2028-29 fiscal year.
However, he declined to explain how that category of spending will be defined, saying those details will be revealed in the budget.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump at their first meeting at the White House in Washington, in May, 2025.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
What else is going on
Alberta teachers’ strike begins: About 700,000 students are being affected by the labour dispute.
Jewish organizations seek increased synagogue security: The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs says rising antisemitism and violent attacks on Jews have forced Jewish communities across Canada to spend more than $40-million in the past year on private security and fortifying their places of worship.
Canadian Tire franchise fined $111,000 for TFA violations: Ezhil Natarajan, the franchise owner of a sanctioned store in Toronto’s west end, remains under investigation by provincial authorities for allegedly exploiting foreign workers.
Majority support recognizing Palestinian state, poll finds: A poll by Nanos Research conducted for The Globe and Mail and CTV found that 65 per cent of Canadians surveyed support or somewhat support the government’s decision last month to officially recognize Palestine as a state.
Canadian investors bet on defence, construction stocks as Carney targets nation-building projects: Shares of some of the companies in these sectors have already outperformed the broader Toronto index so far this year, including those of aerospace and defence company Bombardier Inc., which have more than doubled.
On the radar
Prime Minister’s Day: In Ottawa, Mark Carney met with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. Later, Carney travelled to Washington ahead of a meeting with President Donald Trump.
Party Leaders: Green Party Leader Elizabeth May was scheduled to deliver opening remarks at the Champions of Mental Health Awards. NDP Interim-Leader Don Davies attended Question Period. No schedules released for Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
Quote of the Day: “People often ask me what I was most proud of as a premier. I can’t really pick out one thing, but perhaps I’m proudest of the fact that I had the opportunity to be premier and I didn’t fall completely on my face.” — former B.C. premier John Horgan, who died in November, 2024, in the newly published book John Horgan in His Own Words by Horgan and former Globe and Mail journalist Rod Mickleburgh.
Parliamentary Visual Artist Laureate Wanted: The Speakers of the Commons and the Senate have issued a call for applications to become Canada’s first parliamentary visual artist laureate to promote the arts in Canada. The deadline for applications is Nov. 16, 2025, and the successful candidate will be announced by next spring.
Premiers in Ottawa: Danielle Smith’s meeting today with Mark Carney is one stop on a tour that has taken the Alberta Premier to Montreal – she arrived Sunday – and included a keynote address and fireside chat today with the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal. In Ottawa, Smith was scheduled to meet with diplomatic representatives and government officials today and Tuesday, then hold a news conference before travelling to Toronto for a Wednesday meeting with Ontario Premier Doug Ford and an address to the 2025 U.S.-Canada Summit hosted by Eurasia Group and BMO.
Premier R.J. Simpson of the Northwest Territories was scheduled to be in Ottawa Tuesday with a delegation from the territory to press priorities such as Arctic sovereignty and federal support for securing energy resources. The group is holding a news conference on Parliament Hill.
Question period
Who was the first sitting Canadian prime minister to visit the front lines of a combat operation?
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for the answer.
Perspectives
In Poilievre’s economics, it’s pin the tail on the Liberal donkey
If you want to tell the truth about food inflation you have to talk about a basket of goods. And according to Statistics Canada, food inflation was running at 3.4 per cent in August. General inflation is now low, at 1.9 per cent. Prices are still high, but inflation is no longer raging.
— Campbell Clark, Chief Political Writer
To get through to Trump on his tariff policy, we have to get through to his base
That button is not to be found in Washington or on Wall Street, but rather among those to whom Mr. Trump made a promise time and time again – namely, the American people. “We’re going to get the prices down. We have to get them down. It’s too much. Groceries, cars, everything. We’re going to get the prices down,” he declared repeatedly throughout the 2024 presidential election campaign.
— Preston Manning is the former leader of the Reform Party of Canada and a former federal leader of the Opposition.
Too many Canadians are leaving ERs before getting assessed
But the data show the risk is real. A 2024 Ontario study found that patients who left ERs without being seen were 14 per cent more likely to die or be hospitalized within seven days compared to those who stayed. Walking out is not a sign of wellness – it’s an unwanted gamble and, too often, a losing one.
— Iris Gorfinkel is a family physician and clinical researcher in Toronto.
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: Stephen Harper. In May, 2007, Harper went to visit Ma’sum Ghar, Afghanistan, during Canada’s combat mission in that country.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly said Eurasia Group was the host of the U.S.-Canada Summit. BMO and Eurasia Group are co-hosts of the summit.