The last byelection buzz may still be lingering, but attention is already shifting to round two, and this one might actually be worth watching, thanks to a surprise vacancy in Montreal that’s shaping up to be a three-way fight.

NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice announced earlier this week he would resign his Montreal seat to run in the Quebec provincial election in the fall.

While Boulerice has held the seat since 2011, many pundits are speculating a hobbled NDP will have a difficult path ahead in retaining Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie in a byelection, with the Liberals and Bloc Quebecois expected to put forward strong runs.

The Liberals haven’t won the riding in recent decades but are polling in the high 40s in Quebec. Prior to Boulerice’s win in 2011, the Bloc Quebecois had held the seat.

Karl Bélanger, a former NDP strategist and president of Traxxion Stratégies, said there’s “no question” that Boulerice’s departure is a “major blow” for the NDP, but stressed the party could still win the riding in a byelection.

Marco Vigliotti has more. 

Also, Canada has been selected to host a multinational bank to provide “long-term, low-cost financing” for defence projects by NATO members and allies, the federal government said Wednesday.

The Globe and Mail newspaper first reported the decision following the end of multinational negotiations earlier Wednesday that were hosted in Montreal.

A news release issued late Wednesday says the defence bank will allow member countries, including Canada, to leverage shared resources to “meet today’s defence challenges.”

National Defence Minister David McGuinty, in the release, called it a “resilient and responsive defence industrial base — for Canada and our allies.”

A source with direct knowledge told The Canadian Press there’s still a lot to discuss and sort through — and cautioned there’s still a world in which it doesn’t happen.

Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal are all competing to have the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank located in their jurisdictions.

The Canadian Press has more. 

Prime Minister Mark Carney insisted his government is doing an effective job of keeping Iranians associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps out of the country, after one former IRGC official was granted a visa.

When asked Thursday about Iranian Football Federation president Mehdi Taj being denied entry to Canada earlier this week, Carney said he can’t talk about individual cases due to privacy legislation.

Online news outlet Iran International reported Monday that Taj was granted a temporary resident visa that allowed him to enter Canada, despite his ties to the IRGC, which is a listed terrorist entity in Canada.

“There are multiple hurdles in order to get into the country and I think the important thing is that those hurdles are effective and we continue to see that,” Carney said at a press conference in Oakville, Ont.

Read more from CP. 

In Other Headlines

Internationally

Elsewhere, Keir Starmer has pledged to crack down on those “venerating the murder of Jews” at protest marches as the UK terror threat level was raised to “severe” in the wake of the Golders Green attack.

The prime minister promised to do “everything in our power to stamp this hatred out” after meeting emergency workers and community leaders near the scene in north-west London where two Jewish men were stabbed on Wednesday.

The UK terrorism threat level was raised on Thursday evening to severe by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC), based at MI5, meaning a terrorist attack is “highly likely”. It is the second-highest of the five tiers, the highest, “critical”, meaning an act is likely to be “imminent”.

Amid fear and anxiety among British Jews, Starmer is facing calls to do more to protect them after a string of antisemitic attacks, which appear to have intensified amid the Israel-Gaza war, and US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

The Guardian has more. 

Meanwhile, Congress voted to reopen key parts of the Department of Homeland Security — including the Transportation Security Administration — Thursday after weeks of GOP infighting that prolonged a record shutdown of the critical agency.

The bill to fund the department, which has gone unfunded for 75 days, now goes to President Donald Trump for his signature.

House GOP leaders conceded in a weeks-long DHS funding fight in a major retreat by Speaker Mike Johnson as he faced a growing revolt from centrists in his party, multiple sources told CNN. The House abruptly passed the package — which includes no money for federal immigration enforcement, in a major win for Democrats — by a voice vote Thursday afternoon.

The move brings an end to a historic shutdown that led to long lines at airports across the country and comes just before paychecks were about to stall out once again for DHS employees.

Read more from CNN. 

In Other International Headlines

The Kicker

Get this, stolen fries really do taste better.

A recent study found people rated identical fries significantly higher when they believed they’d swiped them, especially if there was a risk of getting caught.

Add a little risk, a dash of guilt, make lunch feel like a bit of a heist—because it’s not about what’s on your plate, but how you got it in the first place.

Read more from the Toronto Star.