The House of Common resumed sitting today. In a heated Question Period session, the conversation devolved into a federal identity crisis with MPs battling over Alberta Separation, B.C. property rights, “Netflix taxes,” and whether Liberals are doing enough to tackle affordability. Here’s the rest of the news.

Former federal cabinet minister Navdeep Bains has officially entered the race to lead the Ontario Liberals, becoming the first high-profile candidate to formally register.

Bains registered Monday with Elections Ontario to run in the Ontario Liberal leadership race, formally launching a bid that had been the subject of speculation for weeks after QP Briefing and iPolitics first reported in April that senior Liberals were encouraging him to enter the contest.

At the time, party and Bains-linked sources said he had been quietly reaching out to influential Liberals and generating enthusiasm among party insiders, with one source describing “excitement” around a potential candidacy after Bains attended the federal Liberal convention in Montreal.

The Nov. 21 leadership race is shaping up as a critical moment for a party still attempting to rebuild after years of electoral losses and searching for a leader capable of challenging Premier Doug Ford in the next provincial election.

Queen’s Park reporter Barbara Patrocinio has more. 

Prime Minister Mark Carney says he’s throwing his weight behind the campaign for Canadian unity after Alberta announced it was calling a referendum this fall on separation.

Speaking to reporters in Ottawa on Monday, Carney said the federal government is reviewing and making sure that the referendum question complies with the Clarity Act, a law introduced following Quebec’s sovereignty referendums that requires any province seeking to leave Canada to pose a clear and unambiguous question.

“Part of the campaign is not a campaign, but it’s actions,” Carney said. “It’s practicing cooperative federalism with Alberta, with Quebec, with all provinces and territories in the country, with Indigenous peoples as well.”

This comes after Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s announcement on Thursday on her plans to put a question on her government’s fall referendum ballot that will ask Albertans if the province should remain in Canada or a future binding referendum on separation.

Sydney Ko has more. 

Also, India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal says Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent visit to his country paved the way for a complete overhaul of the Canada-India relationship.

Goyal is in Canada for meetings on trade and investment this week and met Monday morning with International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu.

Goyal said before the meeting the relationship between Canada and India will be very important in the coming years. He said both countries are keen to reach a free-trade agreement in 2026.

Canada and India have been in trade talks since 2010. Talks were shut down by Ottawa in 2023 after the federal government accused New Delhi of playing a role in the assassination of a Canadian Sikh activist in Surrey, B.C.

Carney, who made resetting relations with India a priority after he became prime minister in 2025, visited Mumbai and New Delhi in March. It was the first visit by a Canadian prime minister in eight years.

This one’s from the Canadian Press.

In Other Headlines

Internationally

Elsewhere, Iran has poured cold water on suggestions that a deal with the US is imminent, pointing to the confusion in US positions and Israeli interference as key factors in why a complete agreement is proving difficult to secure.

Speaking at the weekly foreign ministry press briefing, Esmail Baghaei, the spokesperson for Iran’s negotiating team, also said future management of the strait of Hormuz was a matter for Oman and Iran to reach agreement on, and that it was not tolls that were being proposed but “fees for navigational services”.

Referring to the state of the talks, Baghaei said: “It is correct to say that we have reached a conclusion on a large portion of the issues under discussion. But to say that this means the signing of an agreement is imminent – no one can make such a claim.”

He also insisted that a ceasefire in Lebanon had to be included in the memorandum of understanding that would lead to Iran allowing commercial shipping through the strait, and the US lifting its blockade of Iran’s ports.

The Guardian has more. 

Meanwhile, leaders of the California State University system, the CSU, want it to become the nation’s first artificial intelligence-powered institution of its kind.

It entered into a $17 million no-bid contract with OpenAI last year to provide students, faculty and staff with a new resource: ChatGPT Edu — a version of the popular generative AI chatbot intended for use by educational institutions. The system recently renewed that contract for another $13 million a year for the next three years.

“No other university system in the U.S. or internationally is doing anything like this, not at this scale,” said Mildred García, the CSU’s chancellor, during a February 2025 press conference announcing the partnership.

But in a recent survey, majorities of its students and faculty said they were skeptical of the benefits of AI for education, and they worry about AI’s impacts on job security, creativity and the environment.

Read more from NPR. 

In Other International Headlines

The Kicker

Katy Perry is officially Team Air Canada after an X post praising a cabin crew’s handling of a medical emergency.

On her recent flight to from L.A. to Montreal-Trudeau International Airport on AC779 (which she’s likely taking this flight a lot), the singer wrote that she’s impressed by the level of “attentiveness” and “quick action” from the crew.

Forget the Habs’ “L” on Saturday, this is the optimism Canadians need now.

More from Global News.