Weekly Roundup - December 5, 2025
Top Federal Stories
Reaction and debate to the Carney government's memorandum of understanding with Alberta continued this week, with two members of the federal Net-Zero Advisory Body announcing their departures. Simon Donner, co-chair of the advisory group since its creation in 2021, resigned Wednesday, suggesting that the body's advice was being "neglected" and that the process had become "performative." Catherine Abreu, another member and director of the International Climate Politics Hub, also announced her departure.
The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) held its special Chiefs meeting in Ottawa this week. The Chiefs unanimously passed a resolution calling for the Alberta MOU to be rescinded and urged Ottawa to uphold the tanker ban on B.C.'s northern coast. Energy Minister Tim Hodgson, who had been scheduled to address the assembly, was removed from the speaking agenda following his controversial remarks last week, when he responded to Coastal First Nations president Marilyn Slett's scheduling concerns by saying "it's called Zoom" on CBC's Power and Politics. Hodgson has since apologized, calling it a "poor choice of words." His office said the decision to remove him from the panel was made by organizers, though AFN officials said they were not given an explanation for his withdrawal.
The Major Projects Office sent vice-president Rob Van Walleghem to address Chiefs on Wednesday. Van Walleghem previously led Indigenous affairs at Trans Mountain, and acknowledged tensions in the room over concerns about the Building Canada Act and the MOU between the federal and Alberta governments. Notably, during a meeting with the Prime Minister on Wednesday, Chiefs from Treaties 6, 7, and 8 expressed openness to pipeline ownership, though Alberta Chiefs do not have a regional representative at the Assembly.
We saw a minor cabinet shuffle this week with Marc Miller becoming the new minister for Canadian identity and culture, filling the portfolio vacated by Steven Guilbeault's resignation last week. Miller previously served in immigration, Indigenous services, and crown-Indigenous relations under Justin Trudeau. Joël Lightbound will take over as Quebec lieutenant, and nature has been added to Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin’s portfolio.
Top Alberta Stories
The Canada–Alberta MOU is landing smoothly at home, giving Premier Danielle Smith a rare intergovernmental win, and a needed one the roller coaster of the Alberta fall legislative session continued this week.
Elections Alberta confirmed Monday the “Alberta Forever Canada” petition cleared the bar by a wide margin, with more than 404,000 verified signatures. Launched by former PC deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk, the initiative is now moving through the formal legislative process. Speaker Ric McIver tabled the petition in the legislature on Tuesday afternoon. A committee will now decide whether to report on it or recommend a provincewide referendum. Speaking to media, Lukaszuk said he would prefer to see Premier Danielle Smith call the petition’s question, “Do you agree that Alberta should remain within Canada?" in the house and have MLAs vote on it. "There is nothing good that comes out of a referendum when you know the outcome. Albertans - by far - want to stay in Canada," he told reporters. Justice Minister Mickey Amery congratulated the group on gathering the signatures, but was tight lipped on next steps saying only, “now that the petition has been verified, caucus and cabinet will discuss how to proceed under the legislation.”
It was a busy week for the Justice Minister who on Thursday introduced Bill 14, a sweeping justice statutes amendment act. The legislation tightens rules around political party names and, in the process, reshapes the terrain for both would-be Progressive Conservative revivalists and Alberta’s separatist movement. Amery framed the changes as a way to reduce voter confusion by barring parties from using words like “conservative,” “green,” or “reform,” and by requiring Elections Alberta to reject any name that could be confused with an existing one. In July, Independent MLAs Peter Guthrie and Scott Sinclair announced plans to revive Alberta’s Progressive Conservative party. In response to the legislation, Gutherie posted a video calling the move “astonishing.”
Alberta’s Privacy Commissioner stepped squarely into the Bill 11 debate this week, cautioning that while the government has adopted some of her recommendations, the proposed updates to the Health Information Act still leave Albertans’ most sensitive data exposed. In a letter to Ministers Adriana LaGrange and Matt Jones, Commissioner Diane McLeod praised progress on abandoned records and modernized systems, but warned that the legislation’s new shared-custodian model, expanded data-sharing powers, and use of automated decision systems lack clear guardrails or accountability. She also flagged risks tied to adding personal health numbers to driver’s licences and reiterated her call for stronger enforcement tools and real whistleblower protections.
Finally, the province is kicking off a fresh round of public engagement on the role nuclear power could play in meeting the province’s long-term electricity needs, with a series of virtual and in-person information sessions running through December and January. Led by the Nuclear Energy Engagement and Advisory Panel, the sessions aim to give Albertans a chance to learn about nuclear energy and weigh in on whether it should be part of Alberta’s future grid. Parliamentary secretary Chantelle de Jonge says the panel is eager to hear directly from Albertans as demand for reliable power continues to grow. Feedback gathered over the coming months will shape the panel’s final report to the Minister of Affordability and Utilities by March 31, helping guide the creation of a formal nuclear energy roadmap. Additional engagement with Indigenous communities and further in-person meetings will roll out in the new year.
Top Ontario Stories
Auditor General Shelley Spence delivered her annual report this week. As usual, the report offered up a series of stinging assessments of government programs and spending. This year’s report exposes failures in everything from primary care planning and medical school expansion to pandemic stockpile management and, of course, the regular government advertising spending review.
On primary care, the Auditor General found the province lacks a coordinated framework to plan and oversee programs meant to improve patient access and has no ability to measure whether primary care is actually accessible. The criticism comes despite the Progressive Conservatives passing the Primary Care Act in June with promises to attach every Ontarian to a family health team by 2029. Analysis showed the government's centralized tool for connecting patients with doctors has no target wait times and sees some patients wait more than 520 days for a referral. Moreover, Spence found that the government has not yet established timelines to collect data to measure the effectiveness of the new Primary Care Action Plan.
The medical school expansion fared no better under scrutiny. The report suggests that government ignored warnings from medical school leaders that training sites were already at full capacity, in the rush to create two new medical schools and expand six existing ones. The result has been that medical schools had to roll out 44 per cent fewer postgraduate family medicine seats than originally planned by the end of the 2025-26 academic year. Internal documents note medical schools had been clear that without infrastructure investments in new training sites, expansion will be constrained after 2025, given a lack of sufficient family physician training sites.
The auditor also flagged the government's record-breaking advertising spending. In the fiscal year ending March 2025, the province spent $111.9 million on advertising, $8.4 million more than the previous year's record. Spence said some advertising, such as the continued use of the "It's Happening Here" campaign ahead of the election, appeared designed to improve Ontarians' impression of the province rather than inform them about services and programs, with a subtext that promotes the governing party.
On pandemic equipment stockpiles, the report found the province may need to throw out millions of dollars worth of protective equipment purchased during or following the pandemic and has already written off $1.4 billion in stockpiled between 2021 and 2025. Despite the oversupply of personal protective equipment, not enough is being distributed to hospitals and healthcare settings, creating a looming waste problem.
The release of standardized test scores added to the government's difficult week. The released Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) test scores show just 51 per cent of Grade 6 students met the provincial standard in math in the 2024-25 school year, while 58 per cent of Grade 9 students met the benchmark. Education Minister Paul Calandra, who initially withheld the scores to review them, acknowledged the results show "not enough" progress and said he was “frustrated” after receiving the results. After seven years of Progressive Conservative governance, Calandra acknowledges the government bears some responsibility. He announced a new two-member advisory panel, which will conduct a wide-ranging review of curriculum, testing, and teacher consultation, with results expected in 2026.
Calandra also confirmed that his plan to potentially eliminate English public school board trustees won't come until the new year. The minister said he has heard "absolutely nothing" to dissuade him from major governance reform, though he emphasized the need to respect charter and constitutional protections for French-language and Catholic boards.
On a welcome note for the Ontario government, the Eglinton Crosstown LRT officially achieved substantial completion on Friday after more than a decade of construction, with Metrolinx handing the line over to the Toronto Transit Commission. Premier Doug Ford says he expects the opening date to be in early 2026. Meanwhile, Premier Ford and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow were on hand to announce that the Finch West LRT opens to the public on Sunday, marking Toronto's first major new transit line since the Spadina subway extension in late 2017.
Upcoming Events Calendar
January 29-31, 2026: Conservative Party of Canada National Convention
March 29, 2026: Federal NDP Leadership Race Results Announcement
