Weekly Roundup - September 26, 2025
Top Federal Stories
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand were in New York this week for the United Nations General Assembly. There, Canada formally recognized Palestinian statehood, joining a coordinated effort with the UK, Australia, and Portugal that marked a significant shift in Middle East policy. Carney characterized the current global moment as "not a transition but a rupture," positioning Canada as a trustworthy and reliable partner that has "what the world wants.”
On the sidelines of the UNGA Carney reportedly had a "very constructive set of discussions" with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in New York, representing the highest-level Canada-China engagement in years. The leaders discussed steel tariffs, as well as trade opportunities in clean energy and agriculture, with Carney announcing expectations to meet President Xi Jinping "at the appropriate time." This comes as the Carney government is reviewing tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles amid efforts to recalibrate the trade relationship with the world’s second largest economy.
Fresh off his trip to New York, Carney is in London for a visit to the UK in an effort to reinforce ties with Canada's third-largest trading partner and to participate in the Global Progress Action Summit alongside British PM Keir Starmer and Australian PM Anthony Albanese and other world leaders. Keen to tout deliverables amidst the rhetoric, Prime Minister Carney welcomed the President of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto, to Ottawa to sign Canada's first-ever bilateral trade agreement with an ASEAN country.
Back home, interim Parliamentary Budget Officer Jason Jacques delivered a scathing assessment of the federal government’s fiscal situation. The PBO projected a $68.5 billion deficit for 2025-26, up from $51.7 billion the previous year, with federal debt-to-GDP ratios rising for the first time in 30 years. Jacques expressed "considerable concern" over the lack of clear fiscal anchors, as annual deficits are expected to remain near $60 billion through the forecast horizon.
Meanwhile, AI Minister Evan Solomon announced a major refresh of Canada's national AI strategy during Montreal's ALL IN conference, promising an updated strategy by year's end and a 20-member task force reporting in November. A major goal of the government’s revamped AI strategy is the commercialization of technologies developed in Canada. To that end, Solomon is promising capital and customers to help startups attract investment and keep their headquarters, talent, and IP here in Canada.
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree found himself in a quagmire of his own making this week. The Minister is facing calls for his firing following a leaked audio recording in which Anandasangaree questioned the effectiveness of the government’s proposed firearm buyback program and admitted the program was politically motivated, stating that Quebec politics drove the policy and that he would "have a very different approach" if starting over. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre repeatedly called for the minister to be fired, while Carney expressed confidence in his minister, calling Anandasangaree's work "important." The Liberals launched the first phase of the beleaguered firearm buyback program with a pilot project in Nova Scotia, with a full rollout of the program anticipated later this autumn.
The NDP continues its rebuilding efforts as former MPs Peter Julian and Matthew Green launched a six-month volunteer renewal project, which they say complements the official party post-mortem ahead of the March 2026 leadership convention.
Top Alberta Stories
Premier Danielle Smith unveiled another set of mandate letters this week. On Monday, Education and Childcare Minister Demetrios Nicolaides, Advanced Education Minister Myles McDougall, Transportation and Economic Corridors Minister Devin Dreeshen, Infrastructure Minister Martin Long and Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams all received new marching orders.
Three days later, new mandate letters were issued to Minister of Public Safety Mike Ellis, Minister of Justice Mickey Amery, Minister of Children and Family Services Searle Turton, and the Ministry of Intergovernmental and International Relations. The letters were issued under the theme “increasing Alberta’s sovereignty within a united Canada.”
Amery and Ellis didn’t wait for the new letter to start executing that mandate, releasing a statement on Tuesday calling the federal government’s Firearms Buyback Program a “gun grab” and making it clear that the Alberta government will not enforce the program and will “make clear to law enforcement that this is not an enforcement priority.”
The focus on sovereignty comes as the Alberta Next panel prepares to wrap up it’s in-person engagement. Monday marks the final in-person town hall which will take place in Calgary. Chaired by the Premier, the 16-member panel has been traveling across the province since the middle of July to gather feedback on federal transfers and equalization, establishing an Alberta Pension Plan and provincial police force, immigration, tax collection and constitutional changes. The more popular ideas will be put to a provincial referendum next year.
Alberta’s teachers have reached a tentative contract agreement, a move that could avert a provincewide strike. The deal, announced by Finance Minister Nate Horner, includes four years of three per cent annual wage increases starting in September 2024, funding for 3,000 new teaching positions and 1,500 educational assistants by 2028, and a shift to a single salary grid that could mean pay increases for some teachers.
The agreement also addresses substitute pay rates, anti-discrimination commitments, and premium pay for teachers with skilled trades credentials. Despite these measures, some educators and parents remain skeptical, arguing the agreement fails to address class size and classroom complexity - two of the biggest issues facing Alberta schools. Teachers will vote on the deal from Saturday morning until Monday evening, with results expected shortly thereafter. According to the ATA, if teachers do not vote to ratify the agreement, they will still strike on October 6. In June, teachers voted 95 per cent in favour of a strike.
Nominations for the upcoming municipal elections officially closed at noon on Monday. Albertans will head to the polls on October 20 and this year’s local elections come with several major changes under the province’s Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act, including the introduction of political parties and slates in Edmonton and Calgary and the banning of electronic vote tabulators, meaning all ballots will be hand-counted on election night. The change will require an additional 1,000 election workers to support advance voting, Election Day operations, and manual counting.
Top Ontario Stories
Premier Doug Ford isn’t letting up on the pedal in his war on speed cameras. This week he doubled down on his "tax grab" rhetoric while promising alternative traffic safety measures. Speaking at a Chapman's ice cream facility, Ford declared, "there's better ways to slow down traffic than gouge the taxpayer... God knows the government gouges people enough on their taxes and every other penny they get off them." His promise to reveal alternatives comes after threatening to force municipalities to remove cameras when the legislature returns in the fall.
The Association of Municipalities of Ontario has pushed back against Ford’s insistence to remove speed camera, writing to the Premier the organization said, "speed limits are legal requirements and enforcement of the law is not a cash grab or a tax." The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police is also urging the premier to reconsider, saying that speed cameras are "traffic safety tools" that have been “proven to reduce speeding” particularly in school zones.
Ontario’s skills development fund training program is under auditor scrutiny. The Ford government is defending the program as the Auditor General prepares to investigate the $2.5 billion Skills Development Fund before year's end. The controversy centers on questions about political considerations in grant approvals, particularly a $11 million grant to Scale Hospitality, a Toronto restaurant company with ties to the Ford government .
Speaking of Auditor General reports, the AG is also looking into how the province’s transit agency Metrolinx selected stops on two news subway lines, the strategies and governance framework for the adoption of artificial intelligence on the Ontario Government, the government’s processes and systems to design and oversee the delivery of commercial truck driver training, examination and licensing programs, the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Program, and access to Primary Care (among others). The Auditor General typically releases an annual report in early December.
The Ontario Liberal Party plunged into its third leadership contest since 2018 when Bonnie Crombie announced her resignation on September 14 following a weak 57 per cent support result in her mandatory leadership review. While technically sufficient to remain leader, the result fell far short of the two-thirds support critics demanded and triggered an immediate succession battle.
Nate Erskine-Smith is among the early names to emerge to replace Crombie, having telegraphed his intentions in a July 2025 manifesto calling for "renewal starting at the top." The federal MP for Beaches-East York, who narrowly lost to Crombie in 2023, has positioned himself as the progressive alternative to Crombie's centrist approach. Other names floating around as potential leadership contenders include (but is not limited to) federal MP Karina Gould, who unsuccessfully ran to replace Justin Trudeau as leader of the federal Liberal Party, Former Trudeau-era Innovation, Science and Industry Minister Navdeep Bains, and Jeff Lehman, the former Barrie mayor who was "strongly considering" a run.
The Ontario NDP is meeting in Niagara Falls this weekend for their AGM. NDP Leader Marit Stiles also faces a leadership review by the party members. Compared to Crombie’s gauntlet at the Liberal AGM last weekend, Stiles is likely to have an easier go with her party’s membership. The NDP, despite losing seats and votes in this year’s provincial election, managed to win more seats than the Ontario Liberals thanks to their more efficient vote. This allowed the NDP to maintain its role as the Official Opposition at Queen’s Park, which means more money, resources, and time to hold the Ford government to account in the legislature. That said, Stiles isn’t taking a win for granted. She too has been touring the province and meeting with party members to discuss the outcome of the election. The results of the leadership review are expected to be released on Saturday.
Upcoming Events Calendar
October 20, 2025: Ontario Legislature returns
October 23, 2025: Alberta Throne Speech
October 29, 2025: Alberta Next panel Calgary town hall
January 29-31, 2026: Conservative Party of Canada National Convention
March 29, 2026: Federal NDP Leadership Race Results Announcement
