Big changes coming – iPolitics

Good morning, readers.

We start today’s Holiday Brief with news of Canada’s much-hyped defence industrial strategy.

The Canadian Press says the plan brings sweeping changes to Ottawa approaches supporting the domestic defence industry as part of a transition away from overreliance on the United States for military gear.

“In this uncertain world, it is more important than ever that Canada possess the capacity to sustain its own defence and safeguard its own sovereignty,” reads the strategy, expected to be released this week

“This is especially important when it comes to protecting Canada’s Arctic sovereignty and promoting a secure North.”

The government was expected to announce its strategy last week, but Prime Minister Mark Carney suspended his travel due to a mass-shooting in B.C. and pushed the announcement to later this week. Media outlets on Sunday published the details of the document officials shared with journalists ahead of its official launch.

The $6.6-billion strategy aims to help small and medium-sized Canadian businesses break into the defence industry and reorient spending decisions to prioritize equipment made in Canada, instead of relying on foreign military contractors such as American firms.

The document claims it will spur 125,000 jobs over a decade. According to a government press release last December, the Canadian defence industry “supports” more than 81,000 jobs.

The strategy promises to restructure how Ottawa takes into consideration benefits to the Canadian economy when it awards contracts, known as an industrial technological benefit policy.

Canada intends to partner with “Canadian champions” that actually deliver within stated budgets and timelines, in exchange for benefits such as research funding, export promotion, financing and access to testing infrastructure.

Stephen Fuhr, Secretary of State (Defence Procurement), holds a press conference regarding the Defence Investment Agency in the foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

This comes as the feds have signalled that they’ll leverage investments in the defence space to create opportunities here.

Stephen Fuhr, secretary of state for defence procurement, told iPolitics earlier this month that Canada’s defence investments could create much-needed manufacturing jobs to help offset losses in sectors targeted by U.S. tariffs.

He noted that the submarine project, in particular, could offer significant employment opportunities for Canadians, and noted that both bidding countries South Korea and Germany boast major auto companies that design and build their own vehicles.

“They’re very aware sectoral tariffs are hurting Canada right now. They’re working diligently to see where they can help us,” he said, adding that a company involved in South Korea’s Hanwha’s bid, LIG Nex1, offered to start manufacturing torpedoes in Canada as part of the deal.

*Jamil Jivani, Conservative MP for Bowmanville-Oshawa North, is photographed in his constituency office in Bowmanville on Saturday, May 31, 2025. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press)*

Let’s see how Pierre Poilievre handles this one…

Conservative MP Jamil Jivani told Sirius XM’s Breitbart News Saturday that Canadian officials are harming the country with their “anti-American hissy fit” on trade.

Jivani joined Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle on the program on the heels of meeting with President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this month.

He told the show that Canada is hurting itself by its positioning in these negotiations, noting that Canada is very dependent on the U.S. trade.

“We share the largest border in the world. We have to work together. But for Canada in particular, three-quarters of our exports go through the United States,” Jivani said. “We are shooting ourselves in the foot if we continue this anti-America… hissy fit, and this is the kind of reason I’m trying to talk into our government and some of the liberals who have just gone way off the reservation on this.”

It’s worth nothing that Prime Minister Carney says this over-dependency needs to change and has set a target of doubling non-U.S. exports in the next decade.

*Liberal Tatiana Auguste was declared the winner in Terrebonne by a single vote. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press)*

As for the big news from last week, we’re getting another byelection.

The Supreme Court of Canada on Friday invalidated a federal Liberal candidate’s one-vote victory in last spring’s federal election, pushing the governing party further away from a majority in the House of Commons.

Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, the Bloc Québécois candidate in the April 28 election, let out a long sigh of relief shortly after she heard the ruling, announced from the bench following a hearing earlier on Friday.

She had challenged the election results and demanded a byelection after a Bloc Québécois supporter complained that she had tried to vote by mail using a special ballot that was never counted. The voter, Emmanuelle Bossé, said the special ballot was returned to her own mailbox, due to an error on the postal code printed on a label supplied by Elections Canada.

Liberal Tatiana Auguste — who has been sitting in the House of Commons since the vote — is no longer an MP because of the ruling.

The byelection has to be called between 11 and 180 days after the chief electoral officer is notified of a vacancy.

We’re already bracing for byelections in two Liberal strongholds in Toronto.

The Canadian Press explains.

In Other Headlines

Internationally

Lawmakers and the White House offered no signs of compromise Sunday in their battle over oversight of federal immigration officers that has led to a pause in funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

A partial government shutdown began Saturday after congressional Democrats and President Donald Trump’s team failed to reach a deal on legislation to fund the department through September. Democrats are demanding changes to how immigration operations are conducted after the fatal shootings of U.S. citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal officers in Minneapolis last month.

Congress is on recess until Feb. 23, and both sides appear dug into their positions. The impasse affects agencies such as the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Coast Guard, the Secret Service, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

AP reports.

Meanwhile, a man accused of killing 15 people in a mass shooting at a Jewish festival on Sydney’s Bondi Beach appeared in court Monday for the first time since his release from the hospital.

Naveed Akram appeared in Sydney’s Downing Center Local Court via a video link from the maximum security Goulburn Correctional Center 200 kilometers (120 miles) away.

He did not enter pleas to the charges against him, including murder and committing a terrorist act. The brief court appearance focused on extending a gag order that suppresses the identities of victims and survivors of the attack who have not chosen to identify themselves publicly.

AP has more.