Top Federal Stories
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne tabled Budget 2026 last Thursday, the first since the Liberals secured a majority. The budget projects a $62.3-billion deficit this year and pairs new incentives for investment and major projects with a plan to end homelessness within a decade.
You can find New West’s complete analysis of Budget 2026 here.
Last Tuesday, Democrats took control of both the House and the Senate during the midterm elections. Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, a senior Democrat, told CBC News that returning to free and fair trade will be a priority for his party moving forward. These developments come after Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke with President Donald Trump on Nov. 1 about a new trade deal that is said to be coming in a few weeks.
Carney will be taking the trade agenda abroad this week with four summits over eight days. He departs after Remembrance Day for the European Political Community meeting in Dublin. From there he goes to Manila for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit, where Canada is likely to sign free trade agreements with the bloc and with the Philippines. He then attends the Francophonie summit in Cambodia before finishing at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China. He is due back in Ottawa on Nov. 19.
In Ottawa, Chief Electoral Officer Stéphane Perrault told a House committee last week that he cannot reliably distinguish well-made AI content from authentic material. As such, he recommended a legal requirement to label AI-generated material in election communications. Perrault suggested Ottawa could follow the EU and place obligations on AI companies instead of on candidates and parties. AI Minister Evan Solomon’s office pointed to the Strong and Free Elections Act, which became law in June. The law makes it a criminal offence to produce or spread deceptive images or fake voices of candidates, party leaders and election officials.
Prime Minister Carney has called six byelections scheduled for December 7. On the back of recent surges in the polls, the Liberals will be looking to flip a few of the ridings up for grabs. Complicating matters for the Conservatives, Dave Carroll, a longtime Conservative, has decided to run as an independent in his riding of Brantford-Brant South. Pierre Poilievre’s party has faced weak polling, floor crossings and early retirements, and the Liberal lead in fundraising dollars has just reached its largest gap in about a decade. If the CPC candidate loses Brantford-Brant South, all eyes will be on the Conservative caucus and whether or not it will continue to stand behind its leader, though Poilievre has stated he will “continue to fight” even if the CPC loses the seat the party has held since 2008.
Last week the government tabled the report of its independent advisory panel on a new electoral map, chaired by former Alberta Court of Appeal Justice Brian O’Farrell. On Wednesday, the UCP members of the legislature voted to endorse the report, and the government will now introduce a bill to formalize the map before the sitting ends Dec. 3. The map adds four seats, bringing the legislature to 91, and restores two rural ridings that had been slated for elimination. In question period Thursday, Premier Smith said that if the 2023 election were replayed on the new lines, the NDP would gain three seats to the UCP’s one.
Accountability was a key theme of the week with both the UCP and NDP having to answer for past actions.
Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally is facing questions over more than $4,000 in expenses from a 2025 trade mission to Kentucky, billed as taxi fare to a company that offers private distillery tours. The NDP is calling for an apology and a refund. Nally said the trip was a trade mission that helped inform the Alberta Whisky Act, which he noted the NDP voted for. The Premier says government rules bar expensing alcohol, and the Finance Minister will review the charges.
A $1.2-million provincial report on Calgary’s water main failures alleges city staff acted improperly when reviewing the city’s water utility. The report found that city staff failed to notify council of five out of nine key recommendations from a 2015 review. The report found that then-mayor Naheed Nenshi and his chief of staff were briefed on the review while council was not, though the evidence does not establish that he directed or knowingly approved the omission. Whether the province will intervene in response to the report's findings remains to be seen. Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams says it will take months to decide what comes next.
On Saturday, Premier Smith said on her radio show that Nenshi “chose, for whatever reason, not to have that full report debated at the council,” adding that much of what Calgarians are experiencing now “could have probably been avoided.” Nenshi has said he does not recall the specific recommendations in the 2015 review.
Top Ontario Stories
The OSAP pause at private career colleges continued to stir debate at Queen’s Park last week. On Monday, PC MPPs on the public accounts committee voted down a Liberal motion that would have asked the Auditor General for a value-for-money audit of OSAP at career colleges. On Tuesday, Colleges and Universities Minister Nolan Quinn said he will not release the government-commissioned KPMG audit, citing confidentiality, though he says he plans to act on its findings. NDP Leader Marit Stiles said that since the public is paying for the KPMG audit, the public should see it. According to released court filings, the ministry is alleging that more than half of 2025-26 OSAP applications at each of two Academy of Learning campuses came from a single IP address.
MPPs have started working through the legislative agenda. Bill 143, the budget measures bill that accompanies the Fall Economic Statement, passed second reading Thursday and now goes to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs. Bill 140, the Building Ontario Faster Act, is scheduled for one day of public hearings on November 17, despite calls from the opposition for more comprehensive hearings. Dianne Saxe, Ontario’s last environmental commissioner, told The Narwhal that under Bill 140's proposed changes, “the Environmental Bill of Rights is basically gone.”
Ontario Liberal members vote from today until November 20 to choose a new permanent leader. Navdeep Bains, Stephanie Bowman, Lee Fairclough and Dylan Marando are on the ballot, with results announced November 21.
New West in the News
Samantha Milles on energy in the federal budget
New West Senior Consultant Samantha Milles joined the political panel on The Courtney Theriault Show on 880 CHED last week to discuss the federal budget, Ottawa’s shifting approach to Alberta’s energy sector and the long-term implications of a growing deficit.
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