Good evening, readers!

Former finance minister Chrystia Freeland’s resignation as a member of Parliament takes effect today as she takes up a new voluntary role advising the Ukrainian government.

Freeland’s absence from the Liberal caucus will leave Prime Minister Mark Carney two seats short of a majority government, despite his party’s gain of a pair of seats last year when two Conservative MPs crossed the floor.

A byelection must now be called for the Toronto riding of University-Rosedale which Freeland represented for more than a decade. The Canada Elections Act requires the writ to be issued between 11 and 180 days after the Speaker of the House of Commons notifies Elections Canada of a vacancy.

The earliest date for a byelection would be in March.

The Canadian Press reports.

Washington frames United States ownership of Greenland as a matter of national defence, but Canadian Inuit worry what this could mean for their Arctic homeland.

“The relationship Denmark has with the U.S. for Greenland is in many ways similar to the relationship the U.S. has with Canada for shared military considerations in the Arctic,” Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Natan Obed said in an interview with iPolitics.

U.S. President Donald Trump is justifying his annexation ambition by saying Denmark hasn’t done enough to secure Greenland against foreign threats.

For Obed, that same reasoning could be used to justify threats to the Canadian Arctic, Inuit sovereignty and the country in general.

Aya Dufour explains.

Conservative delegates will vote later this month on whether Pierre Poilievre should continue to serve as leader, and while party insiders expect him to easily survive, they say changes are needed to defeat the Liberals in the next election.

A Conservative insider who previously worked for Poilievre said the Tory leader doesn’t need to drastically overhaul his style but has to limit the amount of unforced errors that make him seem unsuited for the country’s top job, citing as an example, his comments last fall that RCMP leadership covered up scandals by former prime minister Justin Trudeau.

The source, who asked not to be identified to share their concerns freely, also pointed to Poilievre’s social media post last week congratulating U.S. President Donald Trump for the capture of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro as something a “conservative influencer would say.”

Marco Vigliotti has more.

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In Other Headlines

Internationally

European leaders urged Iran late Friday to allow its citizens to demonstrate without reprisal after Tehran signaled security forces would crack down on the protesters whom U.S. President Donald Trump has pledged to support.

At least 62 people have been killed in the protests that began in late December over Iran’s ailing economy and have morphed into the most significant challenge to the government in years.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed Trump as having hands “stained with the blood of Iranians” as his supporters shouted “Death to America!” in footage aired by Iranian state television. State media later referred to the demonstrators as “terrorists,” setting the stage for a violent crackdown as in other protests in recent years.

Protesters are “ruining their own streets … in order to please the president of the United States,” the 86-year-old Khamenei said to a crowd at his compound in Tehran. “Because he said that he would come to their aid. He should pay attention to the state of his own country instead.”

AP reports.

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The Kicker

A huge black bear that made its den in the crawl space under a Los Angeles area man’s house for more than a month has finally been evicted.

Altadena resident Ken Johnson said the animal began denning beneath his home around Thanksgiving, twisting gas lines and toppling bricks as he came and went. Surveillance video showed the bear easily tearing away screening and other obstacles and squeezing through a small opening.

AP explains.

Have a great weekend. We’ll see you on Monday!