Hello, welcome to Politics Insider. Ian Bailey is off so it’s Marie Woolf in The Globe’s Ottawa bureau filling in. Let’s look at what happened today.
The chief executives of Canadian insurance and asset management companies Manulife and Sun Life say they see opportunities for growth in the Chinese market in areas such as health care and investment advice.
Sun Life CEO Kevin Strain and Manulife CEO Philip Witherington are members of a Canadian delegation that Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne is leading in Beijing, where meetings are taking place this week as part of a push to diversity trade with China, the world’s second-largest economy.
“There’s a tremendous opportunity for Canadian businesses to grow here and to build new capabilities and to build new client bases,” Strain told Globe deputy Ottawa bureau chief Bill Curry in Beijing.
Champagne, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem and some of the business leaders are scheduled to meet Friday with China’s Vice-Premier He Lifeng, who is responsible for major economic files.
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne leads a meeting with business leaders at the Embassy of Canada to China on Thursday.Gilles Sabrié/The Globe and Mail
What else is going on
Trump and Carney discuss Canadian/U.S. co-operation in space: After Jeremy Hansen became the first Canadian to blast off into deep space as part of the Artemis II lunar mission on Wednesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney picked up the phone to congratulate President Donald Trump on the successful launch.
In a post on X, Carney said he talked with Trump, about “the courage of the astronauts, including Colonel Jeremy Hansen” and the value of co-operation in space.
“Developments in the Middle East conflict,” were also discussed, he wrote.
30,000 asylum claimants could face deportation under new rules: Asylum claimants are being warned by the Immigration Department that they may face imminent deportation, with many letters sent the day after a bill tightening up asylum rules became law. A spokesperson for Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab said 30,000 people with refugee claims could be affected by the law, which bars those who have been in Canada for more than a year from having a hearing at the independent refugee tribunal.
First Nations Chiefs demand apology after Carney says he could ‘outlast’ demonstrator: Two First Nations chiefs are calling on Carney to apologize for saying he could “outlast” a First Nations woman who was protesting against mercury poisoning in her community.
Chrissy Isaacs, a Grassy Narrows woman who is suffering from mercury poisoning, was in Toronto on Monday to demand compensation from the provincial government.
On our radar
Party Leaders: Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre held a news conference in Ottawa. Green Party Leader Elizabeth May attended events in Victoria and Salt Spring Island in B.C. No schedules released for other party leaders.
Ministers on the Road: In Mississauga, Rechie Valdez, Minister of Women and Gender Equality and secretary of state for small business and tourism, highlighted Canada’s defence priorities and support for small and medium-sized businesses.
In Vancouver, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly announced investments through the Strategic Response Fund to support two major projects in the city.
Quote of the Day
“We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong. In the meantime, discussions are ongoing” – U.S. President Donald Trump about the war on Iran in a TV address on Wednesday evening.
Question period
Which Winnipeg-born spymaster and fighter pilot – code-named Intrepid – is believed to have been an inspiration for Ian Fleming’s James Bond?
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for the answer.
Perspectives
Air Canada employees and investors deserve better than Michael Rousseau
By failing to learn French despite years of promising to do so, the Montreal-based chief executive officer let down his company, his customers and his people at a time when they needed him most.
— Andrew Willis, Business Columnist
Stephen Lewis: a Man of Moral Vision
In all the reflections pouring in at the passing of Stephen Lewis, you’ll be hard-pressed to find – notwithstanding his left-side politics, with which many differed – a negative word.
— Lawrence Martin, Public Affairs Columnist
The separatists on Premier Danielle Smith’s team
Any doubts that Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party caucus is a safe haven for separatists have now been laid to rest.
— 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
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The answer to today’s question: Sir William Stephenson, Britain’s top intelligence officer in the U.S. during the Second World War. Author Ian Fleming once said: “James Bond is a highly romanticized version of a true spy. The real thing is … William Stephenson."