Weekly Roundup - April 17, 2026
Top Federal Stories
Monday night finally delivered a majority government for the Liberals. The majority comes with expectations. As New West CEO Hon. Monte Solberg told CTV's Power Play, now that the governing party has the numbers to act decisively, they must meet their promises with action and deliver for Canadians navigating an affordability crisis. In that vein, Prime Minister Carney held a press conference on Tuesday where he promised faster movement on Build Canada Homes, major projects, and affordability.
Responding to spiking gas prices amid the Iran conflict, Carney announced a temporary federal fuel tax suspension running until Labour Day. The cut is expected to shave roughly 10 cents per litre off gasoline and four cents off diesel at a cost of $2.4 billion in forgone revenue. Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre called the pause insufficient and pressed for it to run through year-end, arguing Ottawa can afford a longer cut on the strength of elevated oil tax revenues.
On energy, the industrial carbon price drew pointed criticism at the BMO CAPP Energy Symposium in Toronto. Cenovus CEO Jon McKenzie characterized the price as an incremental cost rather than an incentive to decarbonize, while Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers head Lisa Baiton argued the levy erodes Canadian competitiveness, given that no other major producing nation imposes an equivalent cost on its industry. Nonetheless, recent analysis from Clean Prosperity found oilsands producers could more than recoup carbon costs through higher export prices if a new pipeline reaches tidewater.
On Tuesday, Energy Minister Tim Hodgson appeared before a Senate committee reviewing Bill S-4, which updates the 1992 Energy Efficiency Act. The amendment updates the act by widening its scope to capture more products and sellers, including online resellers. It lets the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources grant short-term exemptions so new technologies can be tested outside existing rules, and bans misleading efficiency claims in labelling and advertising.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb spent the early part of the week in Ottawa, meeting with Carney on Parliament Hill before joining him for a skate at an Ottawa Charge practice. Stubb later sat down with Industry Minister Mélanie Joly at Nokia’s Canada headquarters for a discussion centred on Arctic security and deeper bilateral defence cooperation. Both leaders pressed the case for middle powers banding together in a similar vein to Carney’s Davos address in January.
In his first Parliament Hill press conference since becoming leader of the NDP, Avi Lewis proposed a national ban on surveillance pricing, framing cost of living as the central focus for his caucus. Lewis praised Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew for leading on the issue provincially and argued the Liberals will only act on AI regulation once public pressure builds.
Top Alberta Stories
It was a week of big announcements, but the one that captured the most attention and controversy came Thursday when the government introduced a motion to fast-track a new review of electoral boundaries. The motion follows last month’s report from the independent Electoral Boundaries Commission, which included both a majority opinion and a dissenting minority report. The two UCP-appointed members broke from the earlier consensus, putting forward an alternative set of maps that would create more than a dozen hybrid ridings, blending urban and rural areas. The approach drew significant criticism and was flagged by the commission chair as potentially unconstitutional.
Rather than adopt the commission’s primary recommendations, the government is now moving to effectively restart the process under a committee of MLAs, expand the legislature to 91 seats, and eliminate public hearings. Critics argue the move undermines the independence of the process and raises concerns about political interference ahead of the next election, a charge NDP leader Naheed Nenshi punctuated with a direct warning to the UCP if it redraws commission-approved maps: "We'll see you in court."
With the house scheduled to rise next month, the government is pushing forward with its ambitious legislative agenda. Tuesday saw Energy and Minerals Minister Brian Jean introduce Bill 30, aimed at accelerating approvals for major energy projects by proposing a 120-day timeline for regulatory decisions on projects deemed strategically important. The bill would allow cabinet to designate qualifying projects (those aligned with provincial priorities, backed by at least $250 million in investment, and largely complete in terms of environmental assessments and Indigenous consultation), triggering a fast-tracked review process led by regulators like the Alberta Energy Regulator. Jean says the changes are intended to cut through delays and help Alberta remain competitive in attracting investment. Critics, however, argue the timeline is overly aggressive and could create more problems if assessments are rushed or incomplete, raising concerns about consultation standards, legal challenges and long-term project certainty. The proposal also aligns with broader efforts by the Premier to streamline approvals and echoes recent agreements with Ottawa to speed up project reviews.
Earlier in the week, the government introduced legislation that would allow residents to pay out of pocket for private diagnostic tests, without needing a doctor’s referral. When asked during Monday’s news conference about the range of tests, LaGrange said it’s “a little premature” to provide examples of what will be included, but added the plan from October hasn’t changed. The approach builds on earlier direction from Premier Danielle Smith and reflects a broader shift toward increasing private-sector involvement in health care delivery. Critics, including opposition members and medical professionals, warn that the changes could deepen inequities by prioritizing those who can afford to pay and may lead to unnecessary testing that ultimately increases demand on the public system through follow-up care. Questions also remain about whether private insurers would cover the cost of the tests if serious conditions are discovered and how the policy will affect overall system capacity.
This week, the provincial government also announced funding for 189 modular classrooms for the 2026–27 school year, creating space for roughly 5,450 students. Education and Childcare Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said some units are expected to be ready for the start of the school year, while others will come online later depending on construction timelines and site readiness. Edmonton will receive the largest share, followed by Calgary, with additional units distributed across other school authorities.
Top Ontario Stories
Education Minister Paul Calandra tabled the Putting Student Achievement First Act on Monday. In addition to creating mandatory written exams for students in Grades 9 through 12 and making attendance and participation part of their grade, Bill 101 caps elected trustees at 12 per English-language board, limits their discretionary spending, and creates two new non-elected executive roles for each board: a Chief Executive Officer responsible for finance and operations, and a Chief Education Officer, appointed by the CEO. The move is a walk back of earlier plans to abolish elected trustees outright.
Government House Leader Steve Clark is moving to bypass committee hearings on Bill 97, the budget implementation bill that contains the retroactive shield for ministerial office records from freedom of information requests. The Plan to Protect Ontario Act also merges conservation authorities, caps resale ticket prices, and clears the way for redevelopment around the Rogers Centre. Bypassing committee removes the stage where the Information and Privacy Commissioner, civil liberties groups, and other stakeholders would normally press the government for amendments.
Thursday marked the launch of tunnelling on the Ontario Line, the $29.5-billion, 15.6-kilometre subway project that will eventually carry close to 400,000 daily riders. It is the first subway tunnel dug under downtown Toronto in decades, and the kind of milestone that would normally run away with a week’s coverage. Instead, the news cycle was taken over by the province’s $28.9-million purchase of a used Bombardier Challenger 650 for the Premier’s travel, promptly dubbed the “gravy plane” by opposition parties. The Premier’s office defended the purchase by pointing to Ontario’s geographic size and the Premier’s extensive travel schedule.
More scrutiny came for the Ford government following a report that 157 inmates were improperly released from Ontario jails between 2021 and 2025 due to administrative errors. Premier Ford said he was “absolutely furious” and promised no more releases, while Solicitor General Michael Kerzner, who was first briefed on the issue in 2025, promised to get to the bottom of it.
The Ontario Liberal leadership race is coming into focus. Navdeep Bains, a former federal industry minister, is said to be seriously considering jumping in, with a group of federal Liberal MPs actively pushing him to go. An internal memo issued by Rogers’ CEO, Tony Staffieri, informed employees that Bains will be leaving his post as the company’s Chief Corporate Affairs Officer as of May 8, 2026, fuelling further speculation that a leadership bid announcement is imminent. Nate Erskine-Smith, federal Liberal MP for Beaches—East York, and the runner-up to Bonnie Crombie in the last Ontario Liberal Leadership Race, is also preparing to enter the race. The deadline to register as a leadership candidate is July 31, and the party will announce the winner of the leadership race on November 21.
The New West Team is ready to guide clients through this uncertain time in Canadian politics.
