Good evening, readers.

We start off the newsletter with grim news about the Canadian economy.

Statistics Canada said the economy faced sharp job losses in February in a report that suggests the labour market is struggling after nearly a year of U.S. tariff pressure.

“This was a very bad report on almost every single measure,” CIBC senior economist Katherine Judge said.

In its monthly labour force survey, Statistics Canada said Friday that employers collectively shed 84,000 positions in February, driving the unemployment rate up two-tenths of a point to 6.7 per cent.

February saw more than 100,000 jobs lost in full-time work, while private sector employment fell by 73,000 positions.

A Reuters poll of economists heading into the report Friday expected a slight rise in the unemployment rate, but also called for a gain of 10,000 jobs last month.

Despite a flurry of hiring in late 2025, back-to-back months of job losses to start 2026 mean the economy has added just 80,000 positions over the past six months.

The Canadian Press explains.

Meanwhile, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s “realistic proposal” to end U.S. tariffs on the Canadian auto industry this weekend.

He says his proposed auto pact would align regulations between Canada and the U.S. and remove the GST from Canadian-made vehicles.

He told reporters his plan, which he intends to roll out on Sunday, is “literally the only hope of keeping our auto sector in Canada.”

The Tory leader says he hasn’t brought his specific proposals to any American business or political leaders yet, and he’s planning to share the plan with Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Poilievre is in Windsor, Ont., today and is heading to Detroit this weekend to meet with auto executives and lawmakers from Ohio and Michigan.

He says he was not able to schedule a meeting with Stellantis but plans to meet representatives from Ford and General Motors.

The Canadian Press has more.

After three days of debate, the Senate on Thursday passed the Liberal government’s immigration legislation but not before making amendments to the controversial bill.

It will now move to the House of Commons, which will vote to either accept or reject the changes.

Bill C-12 aims to tighten immigration enforcement and manage security and fraud concerns, while combatting transnational crimes.

At third reading in the Upper Chamber, senators adopted two oversight amendments but rejected several others aimed at limiting asylum rules and executive powers.

Senator Tony Dean, the Upper Chamber’s sponsor of Bill C-12, proposed to add an oversight and review mechanism, which forces the government and Parliament to collect data, report on the new asylum restrictions and revisit the law after five years.

“This bill strikes that balance, enabling Canada to deter those who would misuse our generosity and to uphold the integrity of our borders, while maintaining Canada’s proud legacy as a welcoming nation for refugees and immigrants. We can be both secure and compassionate,” Dean said during debate on Tuesday.

Sydney Ko has more.

In today’s edition of Adjournment Proceedings, our weekly long read series, we look at what lessons — if any — have been applied from Ottawa’s light rail public inquiry.

In 2022, the province launched a public inquiry into Ottawa’s troubled light rail system after years of derailments, shutdowns and safety concerns.

Led by Justice William Hourigan, the inquiry’s commissioner, the final report issued 103 recommendations, concluding that the system’s failures were caused not by a single technical issue, but by a combination of unproven technology, complex contracts and governance failures.

Hourigan also found senior city officials withheld key information from councillors about the system’s final testing phase, limiting council’s oversight of the project.

Experts say the lessons from Ottawa’s experience extend beyond a single transit system.

Ko also has this one.

In Other Headlines

Internationally

Elsewhere, the U.S. military said on Friday that all six crew members were killed when a KC-135 refueling aircraft went down in Iraq, raising the death toll after two weeks of war with Iran.

The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees Middle East operations, reported an unspecified incident involving two aircraft Thursday. It said the U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft was lost in western Iraq, while the other landed safely. It is investigating the circumstances but confirmed the “loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.”

The news came as President Trump and his defense secretary touted success in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran but complained about negative media coverage of Operation Epic Fury.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that joint U.S.-Israeli military strikes have hit more than 15,000 targets and injured the new Iranian supreme leader.

President Trump, in a post on Truth Social, said the U.S. is “totally destroying” Iran’s regime, militarily and economically.

NPR has more. 

With the eyes of the world on the United States and Israel’s war in Iran, Israeli strikes and raids in Gaza and settler attacks and military operations in the occupied West Bank have continued unabated.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed more than 72,000 people in its genocidal war on Gaza, the majority of them women and children, and reduced almost the entire enclave to rubble. About 1,200 people were killed in Israel and more than 250 taken captive in the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel led by Hamas.

In the West Bank, Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians, many of them civilians, since the start of the Gaza war, according to Palestinian Ministry of Health figures. At least 45 Israelis, including both soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the region in the same period, according to official Israeli figures.

Here’s what we know of the situation in Gaza and the West Bank since the war in Iran began on February 28.

Al-Jazeera’s got this one. 

Other International Headlines

The Kicker

Ottawa may have kicked off its St. Patrick’s celebration early with last weekend’s parade — the first since 2019 — but the green outfits and Guinness are likely continuing its flow this weekend.

Whether you’re hitting Heart and Crown or taking a stroll around ByWard market, consider it a reminder that come Monday, it’s the Ides of March. Celebrate wisely.