We’re starting the newsletter with a major deal signing.

Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith have signed a deal on carbon pricing that injects some much-needed certainty into carbon markets throughout the country.

Carbon pricing is the backbone of the Carney government’s climate action, and it is at the heart of the viability of Pathways, the carbon capture project that must be built for Ottawa to approve a new bitumen pipeline that could carry a million barrels a day towards Asian markets.

Friday’s announcement revealed more about the timeline of the proposed pipeline, including a possible designation as national interest project in the fall. Alberta also says construction could begin in 2027, with operations launching in 2034. Federal officials deflected questions about whether the project would be eligible for designation even without private sector proponents on board.

Meanwhile, the province has agreed to implement a minimum price for carbon credits starting in 2030. In turn, the Carney government has agreed to significantly roll back the previous “headline” prices.

Aya Dufour has more. 

Also, the Montreal Port Authority has nominated Paul Bird as new President and CEO following the sudden departure of Julie Gascon earlier this year.

Bird knows the port’s ambitious Contrecoeur terminal expansion well, having been hired six years ago to specifically oversee the planning of the project.

He was the chief commercial officer of the port before leaving to take on a role with Alto’s high speed rail project in March.

In a press release, the Montreal Port Authority says Bird’s return and promotion “comes at a new strategic phase for the organization, marked in particular by the securing of a $1.16 billion loan from the Canada Infrastructure Bank.”

It is still unclear why Gascon abruptly left after only two years of being in the role. The Montreal Port Authority has offered no comment.

Dufour’s got this one too. 

Roadwork ahead…

Ottawa kicks off construction season, as city officials announced a slate of infrastructure projects on Friday.

Public Works and Infrastructure Committee chair Coun. Tim Tierney joined Mayor Mark Sutcliffe on 4550 Bank Street to launch the city’s annual construction season, unveiling nearly $700 million in infrastructure projects ranging from road rehabilitation and bridge repairs to drinking water, wastewater and stormwater upgrades. City officials said it will involve roughly 700 infrastructure projects across the capital this year.

Under the major investment is the $50-million Bank Street widening upgrade, a push that Sutcliffe said will help prepare Ottawa for an expected population boom over the next 25 years.

The corridor serves as a key commuter route into Ottawa’s south end, an area that has seen rapid residential growth in recent years.

Sydney Ko has more. 

In Other Headlines

Internationally

Elsewhere, Donald Trump left China on Friday after a much-hyped summit of the world’s two major powers that was rich in pageantry and promises of stability, but offered little by way of tangible progress.

The US president had gone into the two-day talks with China’s Xi Jinping weakened by his prolonged war in Iran, and did little to change the perception that he and his nation are diminished on the global stage.

Instead it was Xi who delivered the sharpest rhetoric of the meeting – over the future status of the self-governing island of Taiwan, with Trump notably failing to push back.

In his final remarks in Beijing on Friday, Trump did claim that the US and China struck “fantastic trade deals”, although details were scarce, and that he and Xi settled “a lot of different problems.”

The Guardian has more. 

Meanwhile, the US Justice Department is working to secure criminal charges against former Cuban president Raul Castro, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The scope of the investigation is unclear. But federal prosecutors have examined a number of possible charges including some related to the Cuban military’s 1996 downing of two planes belonging to the Cuban-American exile organization Brothers to the Rescue.

Four men — three of them American citizens — were killed in the attack.

If approved by a grand jury, an indictment could be announced as soon as next week.

Read more from CNN. 

In Other International Headlines

The Kicker

And… tonight’s newsletter is ending with Toronto’s latest “only in the 6ix.”

After turning downtown into a full-blown scavenger hunt for his new Iceman album, completed with giant ice sculptures, Drake left Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow a thank-you note.

“Thank you my cordi,” the note reportedly read.

Have a great long weekend!