Hello, welcome to Politics Insider. Let’s look at what happened today.
Canada’s new Prime Minister says the government is eliminating the consumer carbon price immediately and ensuring that Canadians who have received rebates will continue to receive a rebate in the next quarter.
“This will make a difference to hard-pressed Canadians but it is part of a much bigger set of measures that this government is taking to ensure that we fight against climate change, that our companies are competitive, and the country moves forward,” Mark Carney said on Parliament Hill today at the end of his cabinet’s first meeting.
Carney did not elaborate. During the Liberal leadership race he won in a landslide, Carney had promised to get rid of what he described as the “divisive consumer carbon tax,” which was set to rise in provinces without their own programs from $80 a tonne to $95 a tonne on April 1.
Carney earlier said he is headed to Paris and London in coming days, and has no plans to meet, at this point, with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has launched a trade war against Canada.
Carney outlined the agenda after he was sworn in as Canada’s 24th prime minister, along with a cabinet of 23 members. That compares with 36 ministers under former prime minister Justin Trudeau.
The new Prime Minister said he had received and accepted invitations to visit from French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to discuss varied economic, commercial and security issues.
He added, “I hope I will have a conversation with President Trump, but I don’t have a plan at this point to do that.”
There’s an explainer here on Carney’s next moves, now that he is Prime Minister.
Meanwhile G7 foreign ministers meeting in Quebec called on Russia to agree to a Ukraine ceasefire or face sanctions.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was dismissive about a question on why Canadians are taking umbrage at Trump’s threats to annex Canada, and his arguments that Canada would be better off as the 51st state.
“The Canadian government has made their position, how they feel about it, clear. The President has made his argument as to why he thinks Canada would be better off joining the United States, for economic purposes. There’s a disagreement between the President’s position and the position of the Canadian government,” Rubio told a news conference.
“I don’t think that’s a mystery coming in and it wasn’t a topic of conversation because that’s not what this summit was about.”
Rubio did say he enjoyed the meeting, describing La Malbaie as “ a beautiful place,” and noting Canada did a great job of hosting the gathering. Of Joly he said, “She has become a friend in the last few weeks as we worked together.”
The Globe and Mail
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What else is going on
Ontario man accused of stealing portrait of Winston Churchill pleads guilty: Jeffrey Wood submitted his plea in an Ottawa courtroom today, more than three years after the photo of the former British prime minister disappeared from Ottawa’s Château Laurier hotel.
Why ‘elbows up’ is Canada’s rallying cry in the trade war against Trump’s tariffs: The hashtag #ElbowsUp has graced thousands of social-media posts, calling on Canadians to keep strong in this trade war.
Supreme Court of Canada rules to bolster rights of inmates in provincial jails: “This is a huge victory for prisoner rights,” said Samara Secter, a lawyer at Addario Law Group LLP in Toronto, who represented an intervener in the case, the Queen’s Prison Law Clinic. “A prison is not a Charter-free zone.”
Ottawa was warned about problems with Indigenous procurement but it grew into a $1.6-billion program anyway: A Globe and Mail investigation has found the government ignored decades of internal and external warnings about the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business, allowing companies with minimal staff and very little separation from their larger, non-Indigenous partners to flourish and win contracts earmarked for Indigenous businesses.
Perspectives
In the face of American antagonism, I simply remember my favourite Canadian things
I have been going heavy on Canadian dreaming, imagining unexplored domestic bucket-list destinations – PEI, Cape Breton, Newfoundland and Labrador – which I hope to get to sooner, now that I’m off U.S. travel.
— Marsha Lederman, Columnist
There’s no Pierre Poilievre without Justin Trudeau. That’s why the Conservative Leader seems broken
There is no baby without a mother, no Sideshow Bob without a Bart, and no Pierre without a Justin. It was all Destrudeau, and Mr. Trudeau has left the building.
— Jillian Horton, a physician and author of `We are All Perfectly Fine: A Memoir of Love, Medicine and Healing.'
The Hudson’s Bay Company’s collapse might be another chance to rewrite Canada’s story
The HBC was set up by one empire, in Britain, and driven by consumer demand for furs; now, the American empire and changing consumer behaviours are threatening to take it down.
— Tanya Talaga, Columnist
On our radar
- Prime Minister’s Day. At Rideau Hall, the Governor-General swore Mark Carney in as prime minister along with members of his cabinet. Carney held a news conference and chaired a cabinet meeting.
- Party Leaders: Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet is touring the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec through Saturday. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre held a news conference on Parliament Hill. Green Leader Elizabeth May has no public engagements. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh held a news conference to react to Carney’s newly appointed cabinet.
Question period
What fish was central to the 1995 dispute between Canada and Spain over overfishing that saw a Spanish fishing vessel seized at sea by a Canadian Fisheries vessel and taken into St. John’s where the crew and ship were held?
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for the answer.
Go deeper
- A federal election will take place in the coming months. Follow for updates.
- Follow along for our stories on Canada-U.S. relations as news develops
- Like a long read? Check out the fall of Justin Trudeau and the making of Pierre Poilievre
- 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
Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com. Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop.
The answer to today’s question: Turbot, also known as Greenland halibut. The seized ship was the Estai.