Good evening, readers

The federal government is moving to accelerate a major expansion of Canada’s largest port, referring the Port of Vancouver Gateway Strategy to the Major Projects Office (MPO) on Thursday and taking the first steps toward designating the long-delayed Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project as one of national interest under the Building Canada Act.

Roberts Bank Terminal 2, a proposed three-berth terminal that would increase the port’s container capacity by 50 per cent, just as Canada seeks to diversify its trading partners away from the United States.

After years of bottlenecks caused by the pandemic, climate events and labour disputes, the Port of Vancouver handled record cargo volumes last year.

Ottawa says the effort to double Canadian exports to non-U.S. markets by 2035 cannot be met without significantly more capacity on the West Coast.

Aya Dufour reports.

The federal government intends to spend nearly $2 billion over the next four years on made-in Canada armoured vehicles, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday.

The planned addition of 190 armoured combat support vehicles will bring the Canadian Armed Forces’ total fleet up to 550 vehicles, he said. The new vehicles will be used in training exercises at military bases across the country, according to a media release.

Carney announced the deal Thursday in London, Ont., at General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada, an aerospace and defence contractor whose parent company is headquartered in the United States.

The prime minister said every single vehicle will be built at the company’s Ontario factory with parts sourced from providers across the country.

The Canadian Press has this one.

In Other Headlines

Internationally

President Donald Trump is set to address the nation on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on topics he said will include elections and voting machines, suggesting he could revisit long-debunked conspiracy theories about his 2020 defeat to Democrat Joe Biden. The speech comes as he’s escalated his calls for Republicans to pass tighter federal voting rules ahead of November’s midterm elections.

At Trump’s last primetime presidential address in April, he said the U.S. would accomplish its Iran war objectives “very shortly.” But days of back-and-forth attacks by the U.S. and Iran across the Middle East and in the Strait of Hormuz have shredded the interim deal to pause the fighting. U.S. strikes intensified early Thursday against a widening set of targets, including a ship it accused of breaking its blockade on Iranian ports. Iran retaliated by firing on U.S. allies in the region.

Trump, meanwhile, wants Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to keep pulling over vehicles, signaling his opposition Wednesday to new plans to suspend most traffic stops after another string of fatal shootings by ICE officers. Three people died during encounters with ICE officers within a week, including motorists in Texas and Maine who were shot in their vehicles. It’s not clear whether ICE will quickly reverse course and resume most stops, which have been a key tool in Trump’s immigration crackdown.

AP reports.

In Other International Headlines

The Kicker

Hey Ottawa folk, looking to cool off?

Our Sydney Ko has this look at the brewing debate over whether a once-a-week water testing of our beaches and other swimming areas gives residents enough information to judge when it’s safe to get in.

Have a great night!