We have three federal byelections happening today, and iPolitics is doing liveblog on the election coverage.

Two of the ridings are considered fairly safe Liberal seats, both of which were vacated by former cabinet ministers. In Quebec, where voters had elected a Conservative four consecutive times, the Tories may have a difficult time holding their ground.

That race in Chicoutimi-Le Fjord is expected to be the mostly closely watched, and comes as the province’s general election campaign is underway.

That seat opened up after Prime Minister Mark Carney named Conservative MP Richard Martel to the Senate, and the Liberals and Bloc Quebecois are seen as in the hunt to flip the seat, though no one is writing off the Tories.

Follow along here. 

United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is insisting that the U.S. is “not at war” with Canada, but later proceeded to mock the threat Canada could pose to his country with “submarines from the Edmonton mall.”

The secretary also suggested Prime Minister Mark Carney was to blame for the current “political shouting match” between the two countries because keeping the fight alive is good for his poll numbers.

Bessent made the remarks Monday in an interview with the U.S. cable news network CNBC, where he was asked if his country is now in a trade war with Canada.

“Well, I don’t think you can be in a tit for tat with someone that’s 13 times larger than you are,” he said.

CBC has more. 

Also, communities across Canada are set to rally against Alberta’s move toward a two-tier health-care system as Bill 11 takes effect on Tuesday, allowing some physicians to treat both publicly funded and privately paying patients.

At a press conference Monday, members of the Canadian Health Coalition called on the federal government to intervene, arguing the legislation violates the Canada Health Act and risks drawing doctors and other resources away from the public system.

The coalition is organizing more than 30 demonstrations across the country as part of a national campaign against the legislation.

“We don’t understand why the federal government is mute on this. This is an issue of national consequence,” Jason MacLean, Chair of the Canadian Health Coalition said, arguing that once “queue jumping” in health care starts in Alberta, it could set a precedent for other provinces.

Bill 11, formally known as the Health Statues Amendment Act, 2025, received royal assent in December and amended Alberta’s health legislation to establish a “dual practice” model.

Sydney Ko reports. 

In Other Headlines

Internationally

Meanwhile, the Trump administration announced an agreement with the Venezuelan government on Friday to develop a vast amount of Venezuela’s oil reserves.

The U.S. government says it is entering into a joint venture with a private Venezuelan company, according to an official who spoke to NPR on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the deal. The Trump administration says the U.S. would get 55% of the oil from the joint venture. That’s equivalent to about 65 billion barrels of oil that’s under the ground.

On Truth Social, President Trump called it the “biggest oil deal in the world.” But energy experts say there are many reasons to be skeptical.

“So the initial reaction is, ‘wow, this is crazy,’” says Paasha Mahdavi, associate professor of political science at UC Santa Barbara who studies the oil industry. “But then you look into it, and you’re like, ‘well, this may not actually do anything.’”

NPR has more. 

Rescue teams are working to reach more than 900 missing hydropower workers, hundreds of whom are feared trapped in the tunnels and underground areas of 12 hydropower projects in Nepal after the devastating flash floods, ​the ⁠country’s disaster ​management authority has said.

The death toll from the ⁠unprecedented deluge of ice, rock, mud ​and debris on Wednesday last week has risen to 939 people, with 16 more dead reported in Tibet. More than 4,400 are missing on the two sides of the border.

About 500 of the missing hydropower workers at projects damaged by the flooding in Nepal’s Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts are thought to be trapped in tunnels built to control the flow of water.

As rescue efforts drag on, experts fear the chances of finding survivors in tunnels are diminishing as oxygen levels fall.

Read more from The Guardian. 

In Other International Headlines

The Kicker

And finally… contest to represent Canada at Eurovision is now open and anyone can enter.

According to CBC/Radio-Canada, the portal is open for performers to apply, but they’re looking for folks with a “proven track record.”

Currently, there are three potential competitors. There’s Rêve, a Montreal-born artist who won the 2023 Juno Award for Dance Recording of the Year; Talk, who won the Juno for breakthrough artist in 2024; and bbno$, who won the Fan Choice Juno this year and in 2025.

Read more here.