Hello, welcome to Politics Insider. Let’s look at what happened today.
U.S. President Donald Trump said today he is forging ahead with tariffs targeting imports from Canada and Mexico.
“The tariffs are going forward on time, on schedule,” Trump said at the White House during a joint news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron.
“We’re on time with the tariffs, and it seems like that’s moving along very rapidly. We’ve been mistreated very badly by many countries, not just Canada and Mexico. We’ve been taken advantage of,” Trump said, referring to previous trade deals.
His commitment to 25-per-cent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods comes despite a Canadian lobbying campaign that has involved Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, federal cabinet ministers and provincial premiers, among many others.
Trudeau has threatened to respond with dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister is not ruling out sending Canadian troops to Ukraine as part of a possible peace deal.
Trudeau is in Kyiv with a dozen other world leaders to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It’s his fourth visit to the country since the war began.
When asked at a news conference whether Canada is willing to send troops to Ukraine, Trudeau, who will be replaced as Prime Minister and Liberal Leader in March, said Canada will be involved in some way – that “everything is on the table.”
And tonight the federal Liberals will hold the first of two leadership debates in Montreal. The French-language debate will be followed by an English-language debate Tuesday.
Four candidates still in the race will take part in the proceedings, which are expected to be dominated by issues raised by the U.S. President, his “America First” economic agenda and threats to Canadian sovereignty.
U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron leave a joint press conference at the White House on Feb. 24, 2025.Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
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What else is going on
Saskatchewan Premier travelling to Washington again to push against U.S. tariff threat: Scott Moe was scheduled to leave Monday with a delegation of Saskatchewan business leaders in the steel and energy sectors. He’s set to return Thursday.
Carney says he would put a temporary cap on immigration: The commitment is among the proposals in policy documents, released today, that flesh out the economic and housing plans of the federal Liberal leadership hopeful ahead of the first leadership debate tonight in Montreal.
New chair for the Canada Council for the Arts: Cheryl Hickman, the general and artistic director of Opera on the Avalon in St. John’s, has been named to the leadership role of the national public arts funding organization.
Ontario PCs make $40-billion in platform promises: The list of commitments comes three days before election day in the province and includes a proposal to get rid of the minimum retail price for liquor.
Perspectives
As best I can, during this war, I follow Ukrainian friends and colleagues on social media. They are not cowering in bomb shelters.
— Marusya Bociurkiw, a filmmaker, writer and professor emeritus at Toronto Metropolitan University
How Canada’s nearly 50-year romance with Wayne Gretzky came to an end
He’s a 64-year-old man of the world now, creased by experience and not much the better for it. He’s an other-direction carpet bagger, a golf world hanger-on and a Mar-a-Lago regular.
— Cathal Kelly, columnist
Freeland’s last chance is Carney’s high-pressure moment
There are two last chances for Chrystia Freeland. They are also two tests that could blow up Mark Carney’s front-running campaign. The Liberal Party’s two leadership debates, Monday and Tuesday, are the only possible game-changers left.
— Campbell Clark, chief political writer
On our radar
- Prime Minister’s Day: Justin Trudeau is in Kyiv for a summit of world leaders on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with an agenda that included chairing a hybrid meeting of G7 leaders, holding a news conference and meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
- Party Leaders: NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in Ottawa, gave a speech to the Canadian Health Coalition SOS Medicare Conference, then took media questions.
- Joly in England: Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is in London on the first day of a two-day visit that includes a meeting with her British counterpart, David Lammy.
Question period
What is Canada’s largest federal riding, by square kilometres?
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for the answer.
Go deeper
- Keep track of who’s in the Liberal leadership race to replace Justin Trudeau
- 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: Nunavut, where the incumbent is Lori Idlout of the NDP. The riding, created in 1979 as Nunatsiaq, covers 2,093,190 square kilometres – more than three times the size of France.