Bailout or bargain? – iPolitics

Prime Minister Mark Carney faced reporters’ questions today on Parliament Hill to mark the end of the spring sitting.

He used the opportunity to defend his government’s decision to partner with B.C. in purchasing unsold condos to convert to rent-to-buy affordable housing units this week, but made it clear Ottawa isn’t examining acquisitions just yet.

Critics have derided the deal as a bailout for wealthy condo developers.

He provided some additional information, saying Ottawa had pledged to cover 10 per cent of the costs of the $1.5 billion program.

He stressed the idea came from the B.C. government and wasn’t a pitch to his office from desperate condo developers.

“We start, as we always do, with Canadians. We don’t start with developers. What we care about is affordable housing… in this case for the people of British Columbia,” Carney told reporters.

Opposition parties have slammed the Liberals for the agreement with B.C., arguing it amounts to a handout to developers who miscalculated the market’s appetite for expensive housing.

More from iPolitics editor-in-chief Marco Vigliotti.

The shuttered Iranian embassy in Ottawa is seen after protesters hit it with anti-regime icons and red paint on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld Adrian Wyld

While at the National Press Theatre, Carney also said Canada is “at a disadvantage” in countries where it lacks a diplomatic presence, citing Iran and Venezuela as examples.

But he quickly clarified his government is not looking to re-establish relations with Tehran.

“There are a series of countries with whom we have not seen eye to eye, to put it mildly, where we do not have representation … Iran, Venezuela (are) two examples, there are others,” he said.

“That puts us at a disadvantage, first and foremost, to helping Canadians that are in these countries,” he said, adding in some consular cases Ottawa has leaned on countries that “aren’t our natural allies” to help Canadians leave Iran.

This week, a diaspora group called the Iranian Justice Collective said it had heard the Carney government intends to restore diplomatic relations with Iran and reopen the embassies in Tehran and Ottawa.

The group would not cite the source of its information but said Iran is already behind transnational repression in Canada.Carney said there have been “no discussions about” restoring ties with Iran.

“We’ve had no discussion. I’m making a general point,” he added.

CP has that write-up.

The economist-turned-mayoral candidate says Ottawa has spend decades “moving sideways.” Neil Saravanamuttoo’s platform promises 100 days of open books, a $1 transit fare and a housing strategy focused on building within existing communities. (Sydney Ko/iPolitics)Ask Neil Saravanamuttoo what’s wrong with Ottawa, and he won’t start with potholes or transit delays. He’ll start with the city’s books.The economist-turned-mayoral candidate says after decades of watching the city “move sideways,” Ottawa’s biggest problem isn’t a lack of ideas or money, but a city hall that has lost sight of who it’s working for.Saravanamuttoo said there’s so much “potential” for the city, and argues that there’s a need to tackle the issues in a pragmatic approach.
For him, that starts with transparency.
His campaign promises “100 days of open books,” an initiative aimed at giving residents a clearer picture of how the city spends its money.
Sydney Ko writes this second piece for an iPolitics’ Ottawa mayoral candidates series.

In other headlines

Internationally

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority delivered President Donald Trump a pair of significant affirmations of his immigration policy Thursday, paving the way for the administration to effectively remove more than 1 million people from the US and keep many others from entering in the first place.

The decisions, both of which were written by conservative Justice Samuel Alito over scathing dissents from the court’s three liberals, will have a sweeping impact on asylum claims at the US border and on a program known as Temporary Protected Status, a form of humanitarian relief that allows beneficiaries to live and work in the country legally.

There was also tension in the courtroom between the justices, as liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor took the symbolic step of reading her dissent from the bench. Alito then retorted publicly, stunning court observers accustomed to decorum from the justices.

A United Nations agency paused the evacuation of ships through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday after the British military said a vessel was hit by a projectile off the coast of Oman following the passage of several tankers that used a route backed by the U.N.

The head of the International Maritime Organization said the plan to move stranded ships out of the Persian Gulf through the strait will be on hold until the agency can confirm safety guarantees for the ships on the evacuation list and in the region.

It was unclear who launched the projectile or the type of vessel that was targeted. The report of a strike came hours after Iran threatened vessels to stop using the route through the strait without Tehran’s permission.

The vessel that was attacked was not part of the evacuation effort, said Arsenio Dominguez, the U.N. agency’s secretary-general.

Following reports of the attack, Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority — a new government agency Iran established to control shipping in the strait — wrote on X that transit outside its own designated routes “will not be covered by the guarantee of safe passage.”

The Associated Press has the latest.

In other international headlines

The kicker

“We are not ideological twins,” writes Alberta Energy Minister Brian Jean after showing up to this week’s Energy and Mines Ministers Conference in Yellowknife wearing the same blue shirt as his B.C. counterpart, Adrian Dix.

You don’t say…