Weekly Roundup - September 5, 2025
The Temporary Foreign Worker program was in the spotlight this week as the federal government grapples with youth unemployment. In Alberta, Danielle Smith’s government pushed ahead with major health reforms, but headlines were dominated by a fiery fight over school library books. And in Ontario, Doug Ford went on the offensive—threatening school trustees, clashing with Ottawa on crime, and theatrically dumping whisky to protest a plant closure.
We dig into those stories and more this week:
Top Federal Stories
Prime Minister Mark Carney wrapped up a fall Cabinet Planning Forum in Toronto that was framed by the “fundamentally transform[ed] trade relationship” with the United States. In that context, Carney’s Cabinet met to discuss the government’s fall priorities, including nation-building infrastructure projects through the new Major Projects Office, building more affordable housing, launching Canada’s defence industrial strategy, and supporting workers impacted by U.S. tariffs.
Flanked by members of his Cabinet, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a significant policy response to address trade uncertainty and strengthen the foundations of Canada’s economy to better respond to shocks going forward. The announcement was made as unemployment reached 7.1 per cent and comes on the heels of the launch of the Major Projects Office, fulfilling a signature commitment under Bill C-5.
The announcement included new labour and workforce supports targeted at workers – particularly those impacted by tariffs and U.S. trade measures; a $5 billion Strategic Response Fund meant to help business pivot to new markets, help re-train and retain workers, and make businesses globally competitive; a new buy-Canadian policy to ensure the federal government buys from Canadian suppliers and to require local content; liquidity relief for businesses; support for the agriculture and seafood industries, including amendments to the Clean Fuels Regulations to spur investments in the biofuel industry; an update to the Regional Tariff Response Initiative which supports SMEs impacted by U.S. tariffs; and a pause and rethink of Canada’s electric vehicle sales mandate.
In the Q&A with reporters, the Prime Minister touched on topics like Canada’s tariff on Chinese electric vehicles, industrial carbon pricing, Canada’s new Climate Competitiveness Strategy, and other priorities that will set the stage for the Liberal caucus retreat in Edmonton next week, and the return of the House of Commons on September 15.
Our full analysis of Prime Minister Carney’s announcement can be found here.
New West Public Affairs stands ready to help your organization navigate the evolving federal landscape.
With youth unemployment at 14.5 per cent nationally – levels normally seen during a recession, according to a report by Desjardins – Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is demanding an end to the temporary foreign worker (TFW) program. “Why aren’t employers offering jobs to Canadian kids first?” mused Poilievre at an announcement in Mississauga on Wednesday. He’s calling on the government to immediately stop issuing TFW permits and end this “wage-suppressing, opportunity-stealing program.”
The Conservatives are gearing up to make immigration a major political headache for the Carney government, and the TFW program is an area where the Conservatives sense weakness. Carney has resisted making sweeping changes to the program. The government is reviewing the immigration system as a whole, but Carney told reporters that when he talks to businesses around the country, “their No. 1 issue is tariffs, and their No. 2 issue is access to temporary foreign workers.”
Poilievre isn’t alone in laying on the pressure. British Columbia Premier David Eby is also calling on the TFW program to “be cancelled or significantly reformed.” Eby is citing “unacceptably high” levels of youth unemployment, which he says is linked to both international students and the temporary foreign worker program, in addition to allegation of fraud and abuse in the TFW program.
Meanwhile, Liberal MPs are preparing for a national caucus meeting in Edmonton next week ahead of the return to Parliament. Some Liberals are showing reservations about how far Prime Minister Carney has moved away from the party’s Trudeau-era climate policies. Those MPs are joining together to create an environmental caucus to discuss the government’s climate policies.
As for the NDP, the party’s leadership race officially launched on September 2. Edmonton MP Heather McPherson is expected to put her name in for contention, as well as left-wing activist Avi Lewis and Yves Engler.
Top Ontario Stories
Its back to school for students this week but the province is looking at a complete governance overhaul of the education system. Education Minister Paul Calandra announced plans to potentially eliminate school trustees entirely across Ontario's 72 school boards. In an interview, Calandra declared he was "100 per cent looking at the elimination of the trustee position," with a concrete plan due by year-end.
Some school boards are facing significant financial pressures, and currently, five of Ontario's largest boards, including the Toronto District School Board, are operating under provincial supervision, with appointed supervisors replacing elected trustees.
Financial challenges and mismanagement at school boards is a growing thorn in the side of the Ford government. Premier Doug Ford's frustration with "school board spending scandals" was evident at an announcement last week, where he specifically cited the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic board's $190,000 Italy trip, saying "people are done with these school trustees wasting money.”
The NDP opposition critic warned that centralized control eliminates meaningful parental voice in education decisions.
A fatal Vaughan home invasion dominated the headlines this week. Abdul Aleem Farooqi, 46, was killed confronting three masked suspects in his home. Crime and public safety is an area where the provincial government is butting heads with the federal government. Premier Ford said the perpetrators are "scumbags" and is taking the opportunity to call for stronger criminal justice laws to protect residents' right to self-defence.
The incident intensified federal-provincial tensions over bail reform, with Ford repeatedly blaming Ottawa's "bleeding hearts" approach. A controversial case involving a 12-year-old charged with attempted murder, while already on bail became ammunition for Ford's criticism of federal Criminal Code provisions.
In a move that makes for good politics, Premier Ford theatrically poured out a full bottle of Crown Royal whisky at a Kitchener press conference, calling parent company Diageo "dumb as a bag of hammers" over plans to close the Amherstburg bottling plant.
The plant closure will result in the elimination of 180 jobs, and once again demonstrates Ford's willingness to take a public swing at companies that take their businesses out of Ontario. "You hurt my people, I'm gonna hurt you," Ford warned Diageo's CEO, leveraging the LCBO's $740 million annual purchases of the company’s product as pressure.
Ford's requirement that 60,000+ public servants return to full-time office work by January 2026 triggered the most significant labour dispute of his third term. AMAPCEO union filed a formal policy dispute September 2nd, claiming the government violated collective agreement notification requirements with only "about an hour's notice."
Meanwhile, the Eglinton Crosstown LRT's long awaited September opening was officially pushed back again, with Metrolinx CEO Michael Lindsay citing ongoing "vehicle reliability issues" with 10-year-old trains that have never carried passengers. The $1 billion over-budget, five-year-delayed project is now aiming for an October opening without firm commitments.
Top Alberta Stories
Labour Day shortened the work week, but you wouldn’t know it based on the volume of news coming out of the Government of Alberta.
The week started with two health announcements, including a major milestone in the province’s health care refocus initiative. As of September 1, Cancer Care Alberta, Give Life Alberta, and the emergency health services provincial health corporation are fully operational.
The move means more than 7,000 staff have shifted out of Alberta Health Services (AHS) and into the new corporations overseeing cancer care, organ donation, and EMS. While the government says Albertans will see seamless care with more accountability and focus, the transition is getting mixed reviews from frontline workers. Some doctors, nurses, and paramedics see opportunities to fix long-standing problems like ambulance delays, while others describe the restructuring as confusing.
For background, AHS became Canada’s first and largest provincewide integrated health system when the Province dissolved its regional health authority system in 2008. In 2023, work began to dismantle that system, and last year the Premier and Health Minister started reassembling it under the four pillars of mental health and addiction, acute care, primary care, and continuing care.
In May, Premier Danielle Smith appointed four cabinet ministers to lead the new health pillars. Former Health Minister Adriana LaGrange was sworn in as Minister of Primary and Preventative Health Services, while former Jobs Minister Matt Jones took on Hospital and Surgical Health Services. Rick Wilson, previously Minister of Indigenous Relations, became Minister of Mental Health and Addiction, and Jason Nixon, who already oversaw continuing care, expanded his responsibilities from Seniors, Community, and Social Services, to lead the now renamed Ministry of Assisted Living and Social Services.
Training new doctors falls under Primary and Preventative Health Services and on Tuesday, Minister LaGrange, and Minister of Advanced Education, Myles McDougall, celebrated the start of the Northern Alberta Medical Program in Grande Prairie, which welcomed its first cohort of 30 students on Tuesday.
The new program in Grande Prairie is part of Alberta’s investment of about $376 million over four years to increase the number of graduates from Alberta’s medical schools. Under the Northern Alberta Medical Program, the University of Alberta has partnered with Northwestern Polytechnic to deliver Doctor of Medicine education at the Rural Medical Education Program Training Centre in Grande Prairie. The University of Calgary has partnered with the University of Lethbridge to deliver Doctor of Medicine education through a similar centre now under development in Lethbridge.
The province also unveiled the Alberta Jobs Strategy this week, a plan to prepare the province’s rapidly growing population for the workforce of the future. Like health care, it’s framed around four pillars – career awareness, readiness, removing barriers, and employer focus. The strategy pulls together nearly 50 programs aimed at connecting employers with job seekers, expanding training opportunities, and creating clearer pathways into work for youth, newcomers, Indigenous people, and others facing barriers.
Minister of Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration, Joseph Schow, called it a blueprint for sustaining Alberta’s long-term economic competitiveness, while business leaders from Calgary Economic Development and the Alberta Chambers of Commerce praised it as a smart investment in people and a signal to investors that Alberta will have the skilled inclusive workforce needed to fuel growth for decades to come.
While these are significant announcements, the news was eclipsed by the heated debate over school library books. What began as a ministerial order to remove explicit sexual content from shelves spiraled when Edmonton Public Schools circulated a list of more than 200 titles, including classics like The Handmaid’s Tale and Brave New World.
The controversy drew national attention with author Margaret Atwood weighing in on social media. In response, Premier Danielle Smith accused the board of “vicious compliance” and sharpened the tone in a social media post saying, “I'm going to be more explicit than usual so there is no misunderstanding this policy: 1. Get graphic pornographic images out of school libraries. 2. Leave the classics on the shelves. 3. We all know the difference between the items in 1 and 2. Let's not play any more games in implementing this policy for our kids.”
Opposition leader Naheed Nenshi pounced, accusing Smith and her education minister of misplacing priorities when classrooms are overcrowded and labour strike looms. On Tuesday, the government hit pause on the order, with a new one expected to be released Monday. Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides says the government is "taking the time needed" to make sure the new ministerial order is clear.
On the environment, Alberta has accepted four new recommendations from the Oil Sands Mine Water Steering Committee, including pilots for treatment technologies, standards for treated water release, criteria to end pit lakes, and broader community monitoring. The province aims to move quickly on an accelerated plan, signalling it wants to get ahead of growing water concerns and push Ottawa to set federal rules.
Finally, the Alberta Next Panel continued its tour this week. Premier Smith took the stage in her own riding for the roving series of town halls pitching greater provincial autonomy. In Medicine Hat, a crowd of around 400 people offered applause and criticism as the panel raised ideas like an Alberta Pension Plan, provincial policing, and more control over immigration and taxation. Immigration in particular proved polarizing, with supporters cheering the call for slower growth while others warned against “scapegoating newcomers.” For her part, Premier Smith linked the pace of population growth to crowded classrooms, while reiterating the need for, “a more sustainable number newcomers that will more strongly contribute to our economy.”
The tour is moving into its final stretch heading to Lethbridge, Airdrie and Grande Prairie before wrapping up in Calgary on September 29. At its conclusion the more popular ideas will be put to a provincial referendum in 2026.
Upcoming Events Calendar
September 11, 2025: Alberta Next panel Lethbridge town hall
September 12-14, 2025: Ontario Liberal Party AGM
September 15, 2025: House of Commons returns
October 20, 2025: Ontario Legislature returns
October 27, 2025: Alberta Legislature returns
January 29-31, 2026: Conservative Party of Canada National Convention
March 29, 2026: Federal NDP Leadership Race Results Announcement
