When it’s Friday, the first day of FIFA World Cup in Canada, and the temperatures are pushing the high 20s. In other words, the iPolitics newsroom would very much like to be sitting and vibing at a patio right now. Alas, the news doesn’t stop, so here’s what we got on tab.

Canada and France will deepen their defence and industrial co-operation through a new general security of information agreement, Prime Minister Mark Carney said while in Paris on Friday.

Carney made the announcement in a joint statement alongside French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palais de l’Elysée.

“Businesses in both of our countries are doing more together, in energy, defence, critical minerals and now in (artificial intelligence),” Carney said.

“What this means is an ability to exchange classified information between our defence, our space, our AI and our aerospace sectors.”

Macron said he and Carney are discussing trade, defence and security in a closed-door meeting, and he hailed Canada as a friend to Europe and France.

The meeting, which comes ahead of next week’s G7 summit, could be one of the last between the two world leaders. Macron’s second term in office is set to end next spring.

The Canadian Press has more. 

Also, while Carney said there’s absolutely “no drama” on Gordie Howe Bridge delayed opening on Thursday, here’s an update from the White House official.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has been leading the charge in the Trump administration on the Gordie Howe International Bridge, which has seen its opening delayed at the request of the United States, a White House official said.

Speaking on background, the administration official says Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer spoke with the White House recently about the bridge but was not given a green light for it to open.

Invitations had already been sent out for a ribbon cutting event that was supposed to take place today to mark the opening of the $6.4-billion bridge connecting Windsor and Detroit.

But on Thursday morning, the interim chief executive of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority said Canada and the U.S. agreed to delay the opening as the two countries attempt to “resolve any outstanding issues.”

Another source who is not authorized to speak publicly about the matter says Lutnick and U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra intervened in the file.

CP’s got this one too. 

On another note, a coalition of public-sector unions and farm advocates is warning that Ottawa’s plan to cut hundreds of food inspection jobs, combined with new powers proposed in Bill C-30 could undermine Canada’s food safety system and concentrate too much authority in cabinet.

Representatives from the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the Agricultural Union, the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada and the National Farmers Union held a press conference on Thursday to lay out concerns regarding provisions from the 2026 Spring Economic Update.

“This could have devastating results for consumers, producers, and to the reputation of Canada’s food system,” said Sharon DeSousa, National President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

Introduced in April, Bill C-30 largely implements measures from the federal government’s spring economic updates, but it also proposes amendments to several statutes, including the Canadian Food Inspection Agency Act.

In Other Headlines

Internationally

Meanwhile, SpaceX made the biggest stock market debut in history on Friday after nearly two and a half decades as a private company. Public trading began around midday with a starting share price of $150, which quickly jumped by a double digit percentage and sent the company’s valuation above $2tn. The company’s initial public offering made the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, the world’s first trillionaire.

“It is certainly hard to believe that a little company that started in a warehouse in El Segundo is now going public with the largest IPO ever,” Musk said in an address at SpaceX’s headquarters. He reiterated the company’s mission to “make humanity multiplanetary” and “take the fiction out of science fiction”.

Executives rang the bell to open trading as Elton John’s Rocket Man played on the floor of the Nasdaq exchange.

“Today, we make history again. We have a history of making history,” said SpaceX’s president, Gwynne Shotwell, from the exchange building. Shotwell announced that the company had launched a Falcon 9 rocket on Friday morning from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, to take 29 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit.

The Guardian has more. 

President Trump said Thursday he was canceling strikes on Iran and that a peace deal is imminent. It’s the latest salvo in a series of whiplash proclamations threatening more strikes and promising peace.

“Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved, I have, as President of the United States of America, cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening,” he wrote on Truth Social.

“The Naval Blockade will remain in full force and effect until this Transaction is finalized — Time and place of the signing to be announced shortly,” he added.

He said later in the Oval Office: “We should get done over the next few days. We’re going to have a signing, maybe in Europe, and it’s a great thing.”

Trump was asked if they secured an agreement on nuclear issues and he said “yes, conceptually.”

Read more from NPR. 

In Other International Headlines

Kicker

And finally, a correction.

At the top of this newsletter, it’s suggested that the iPolitics newsroom would be spending its Friday evening dutifully keeping an eye on the news cycle.

That was true 30 minutes ago, but Canada’s first-ever FIFA World Cup match on home soil only happens… once? The weather is perfect, patios in downtown Ottawa is buzzing, and Team Canada has a date with history.

Take this as a sign to clock out and head outside to cheer.

Have a great weekend!