Weekly Roundup - February 27, 2026
Top Federal Stories
Prime Minister Mark Carney left Ottawa on Thursday for a ten-day trip to India, Australia, and Japan. Similar to his recent trip to China, the visit to India is an effort to reset relations after the 2023 diplomatic crisis over alleged Indian involvement in the assassination of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The two countries have since reappointed high commissioners and relaunched trade negotiations, with both seeking to diversify away from dependence on the United States. Notably, Matt Jeneroux, the former Conservative MP who recently crossed the floor to the Liberals, will join the delegation for the trip, as will Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt.
On the day Carney and the rest of the delegation departed, an LNG tanker that spent over a month travelling roughly 25,000 kilometres from Australia arrived on Canada's east coast. It is the first Australian LNG shipment to eastern Canada, a result of slumping Chinese demand pushing Australian exporters to find new buyers. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre mused on social media about whether there might be "a faster way to get Canadian LNG to Eastern Canada." Calgary Liberal MP Corey Hogan pushed back, arguing shipping costs from Australia are comparable to the toll on TC Energy's existing west-to-east Mainline, and that imports and exports are normal features of a functioning market. The optics remain difficult for a government positioning Canada as an energy superpower, while Western Canada posts record natural gas production.
On trade, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc confirmed he will meet U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington late next week as both countries prepare for the mandatory CUSMA review. LeBlanc says he is not pessimistic about the deal's future, but acknowledged American officials have engaged in a "public prosecution" of trade ties, with private discussions taking a different tone. Greer, for his part, says Canada must accept "some level of higher tariff" and help reshore American industries if it wants a deal.
In Parliament, the Budget Implementation Act, Bill C-15, passed a confidence vote in the House after opposition parties worked with the Liberals to fast-track the legislation. The bill will now move to the Senate. The Parliamentary Budget Officer also projected zero population growth in 2026 for the second consecutive year. Driven by cuts to temporary resident admissions, the non-permanent resident population is expected to decline by 385,000.
On the AI file, AI Minister Evan Solomon signalled that chatbot safety regulation could be on the table after OpenAI confirmed it banned the Tumbler Ridge shooter from ChatGPT several months before the shooting, but did not alert police. Despite having been kicked off the platform, in a letter to Minister Solomon, the company revealed it has found a second ChatGPT account that belonged to the shooter.
Top Alberta Stories
Alberta has released Budget 2026, and the headline figure is a $9.4 billion deficit. Beneath the headline, the subtext is less about ambition and more about managing risk. The government has chosen to stabilize rather than transform, increasing operating spending largely to keep service pressures at bay while avoiding deep cuts and splashy new promises. With deficits projected above $6 billion annually for the coming years, lower commodity revenues have weakened the province’s fiscal position and the government is prepared to repeal its own fiscal framework to accommodate multiple years of red ink.
Infrastructure spending is rising to $28.3 billion over three years, with investments largely targeting the areas where Albertans have felt service strains most acutely: health and education. While the raw numbers are bigger than ever, rapid population growth may still outpace the scale of new spending. The strategic logic in response to these challenges is pragmatic: hold the system together and maintain flexibility for what comes next. A more ambitious electoral pitch can wait.
For the full breakdown of what Budget 2026 signals politically and fiscally, read our in-depth analysis here.
Top Ontario Stories
The Ford government unveiled final designs and awarded the contract for a new Science Centre this week. Infrastructure Ontario announced that Ontario Science Partners has been awarded a $1.04 billion contract to design, build, finance, and maintain the facility over a 30-year term. Construction is set to begin this spring, with completion targeted for 2029.
The project, which is part of the province’s plan to revive Ontario Place, has provoked fierce opposition. NDP MPP Chris Glover argued it would have been cheaper to repair the original facility, while Liberal critic Adil Shamji called the new centre a “shadow” of what served Ontarians for decades. The opposition also jumped on revelations that the Ford government spent a further $1.7 million on advertising to promote the redevelopment, on top of a previous $2 million campaign in 2023 to “raise awareness about the government’s vision for Ontario Place.”
Education Minister Paul Calandra’s moves to place school boards under provincial supervision continue to generate pushback. Since taking the education portfolio last March, Calandra has put seven boards under supervision, alleging financial mismanagement. This week, the Black Trustees’ Caucus sent Premier Ford an open letter raising concerns that moves in supervised boards are undermining equity and anti-racism efforts. Meanwhile, the Ontario Public School Board Association says it hasn’t had any formal communication with the Ford government over the future of elected trustees and is urging the government toward more open conversations.
Opposition is also mounting against the Ford government’s overhaul of the Ontario Student Assistance Program. The changes, announced February 12, will reduce the maximum OSAP grant-to-loan ratio by 60% per cent beginning fall 2026, while allowing colleges and universities to raise tuition by two per cent annually for three years. NDP Leader Marit Stiles called on Ford to reverse course, warning the cuts will increase barriers to post-secondary access at a time of high youth unemployment. The Ontario Federation of Labour joined the pile-on, issuing a statement calling for an immediate reversal. For his part, Ford has shown no signs of budging, telling reporters that OSAP “is not a freebie anymore.”
As for the upcoming CUSMA negotiations, Ford said the “walls are closing in” on the Trump administration’s trade posture and added he “can’t wait” for the U.S. midterm elections. To that end, the Premier is planning on travelling to the southern U.S. to meet with the governors of Texas and Utah.
Upcoming Events Calendar
March 23, 2026: Ontario legislative assembly resumes
March 29, 2026: Federal NDP Leadership Race Results Announcement
November 21, 2026: Ontario Liberal Party Leadership Race results announced
