Weekly Roundup - September 4, 2026
Top Federal Stories
Prime Minister Mark Carney spent much of the week defending the federal government’s handling of the breakdown in trade talks with the United States. He rejected suggestions that Ontario Premier Doug Ford was responsible and said the decision to walk away ultimately rested with him and cabinet. Washington continues to blame Ottawa for the collapse, while Carney maintained that a mutually beneficial agreement remains possible.
Attention is now shifting to what comes next. The first face-to-face meeting between senior officials of both nations happened at the G20 in North Carolina earlier this week. Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, but it remains unclear whether the meeting produced any progress toward a deal. Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on roughly $27.8 billion in American goods take effect on September 8.
Back at home, Minister Champagne announced that the federal fuel excise tax holiday will continue until January 31, 2027. The gasoline and diesel levies will return at half rate on February 1 and in full on April 1. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre wants the relief extended through Canada Day and has called for the removal of all federal taxes on gasoline and diesel. NDP Leader Avi Lewis is instead calling for a windfall tax on oil and gas producers.
Ottawa also continued its push to steer major federal procurement toward Canadian production. Carney announced a $4.7 billion contract for 313 new VIA Rail passenger cars to be built at Alstom’s Thunder Bay plant. The Swedish aerospace and defense company Saab also stepped up its efforts to sell Canada at least 40 Gripen fighters, arguing an order of that size could support full Canadian assembly and a network of roughly 250 suppliers. The feds are still reviewing whether to complete the remaining F-35 orders.
The Liberals ended the week with a boost after winning all three byelections on Monday. Two of the ridings were safe Liberal seats so those results were not surprising. The third riding, Chicoutimi–Le Fjord in rural Quebec, has been held by a Conservative since 2018. The Liberals won it with 51 per cent of the vote while the Conservatives ended in third place with under 13 per cent. Six more byelections are pending after a run of resignations in the House, with three in Quebec, two in Ontario, and one in Saskatchewan.
The scale of Alberta’s October referendum is already testing the province’s election machinery. Elections Alberta has received more than 290,000 special ballot applications,prompting the agency to move the application deadline up from October 9 to September 25.
The first ballots to land in mailboxes have also created controversy as some packages included outdated language asking voters to declare they are unable to vote in person,backed by a warning of fines or imprisonment for making a false declaration. Elections Alberta says the language is a holdover from previous legislation, voters can simply cross it out, and new packages will be corrected.
As Albertans prepare for the vote, the independence movement is putting more detail behind what separation could actually look like. A volunteer group called the Alberta Transition Council, released a 29-chapter transition plan this week laying out a potential path from province to independent country, covering everything from currency, banking and pensions to borders, policing, defence, trade and Indigenous relations. However, the plan leaves questions, including how much the transition would cost, what share of the federal debt Alberta could inherit and what long-term currency arrangement the province would ultimately adopt, unresolved.
The report also acknowledges that independence would require extensive negotiations, including a new economic agreement with Canada and individual discussions with First Nations, some of which could stretch on for years. A separate University of Calgary analysis commissioned by the province is expected after Labour Day and will provide more detail on the potential transition costs and broader economic risks and benefits of separation.
The Alberta government has launched a new online portal asking businesses to share how U.S. tariffs and Canadian counter-tariffs are affecting their operations, including costs, investment, employment, market access and supply chains. The province says the feedback will help shape its response and identify where targeted support may be needed as trade tensions continue.
The portal is the latest step in Alberta’s response to the dispute, following the creation of a cabinet committee to coordinate work across ministries and a meeting of the Alberta Trade Advisory Council with Premier Danielle Smith and Jobs Minister Joseph Schow. The government continues to push for a negotiated resolution with the United States while Ottawa prepares to impose retaliatory tariffs on $27.6 billion worth of U.S. imports beginning September 8
New West Partner Keith McLaughlin joined the Alberta Edge podcast this week to share his thoughts on Canada’s response to growing trade tensions with the U.S., the politics shaping that response and why he remains bullish on Canada’s ability to emerge stronger. Listen here.
Top Ontario Stories
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Despite a tumultuous summer that saw deflated polling number for the Progressive Conservative government, Ontario’s three byelections on September 3 returned every seat to the party that held it. In Hamilton East–Stoney Creek, Hamilton city councillor Jeff Beattie took 38.9 per cent of the vote to hold onto the seat for the PC’s, while in York–Simcoe, East Gwillimbury councillor and PC candidate Susan Lahey sailed to a win with 49.8 per cent of the vote. The New Democrats held Scarborough Southwest, where Fatima Shaban won 40.5 per cent, in what was a two-way race with the Liberals. All three byelections were the result of resignations but the standings at Queen’s Park are back to where they stood before those departures, leaving the government’s majority untouched.
While seats didn’t change hands, the vote underneath them moved considerably. Compared to the February 2025 general election, the Progressive Conservative share fell 3.2 points in Hamilton East–Stoney Creek and 9.6 points in York–Simcoe. The New Democrats gained 15.3 points in Hamilton East–Stoney Creek with former Hamilton Mountain MPP Monique Taylor as the party candidate. She carried a United Steelworkers endorsement into a riding where American steel tariffs are the dominant local issue. The results confirm what recent polling suggested, that the confrontation with Washington is holding the Progressive Conservative coalition together, even as the vote share beneath it softens.
On Monday Premier Ford appeared at Marten Falls First Nation with Chief Achneepineskum, Indigenous Affairs Minister Rickford, and Transportation Minister Sarkaria to break ground on the Marten Falls Community Access Road. At 184 kilometres, it is the longest segment of the proposed Ring of Fire road network. The road is scheduled to open by November 2031 and will connect the community to the provincial highway network. The province puts the network’s contribution at $22 billion in economic activity and 70,000 jobs.
School is back in session next week, though teachers and education workers are currently without a collective agreement.Bargaining is stalled and Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation attributes the delay to a broken process that has left unions waiting to bargain. Some unions are taking the matter to the Ontario Labour Relations Board. While Education Minister Calandra says he is optimistic and that neither side wants a dispute that reaches graduating students, strike action has not been ruled out and the government has no quick legislative option if talks fail before the return to session on October 27.
The New West Team is ready to guide clients through this uncertain time in Canadian politics.
