dailynewsnblog
Good evening, readers!
Staying true to Canada’s core values will be key to maintaining its sovereignty, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday.
In a speech to kick off the cabinet retreat in Quebec City today, Carney says Canada was created by people of different backgrounds coming together to build a nation on the principles of multiculturalism and openness.
With this foundation, he said, Canada can serve as a “beacon” to the rest of the world as authoritarianism spreads.
“In a time of rising populism and ethnic nationalism, Canada can show how diversity is a strength, not a weakness. In a time of democratic decline, we can show how rights can be protected and equal freedoms endure,” Carney said.
This speech comes two days after Carney delivered a high-stakes speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland — one which called on middle powers to band together in the face of “great power” economic coercion.
While Carney did not mention U.S. President Donald Trump by name, he was widely seen as taking a stand against the Trump administration’s use of tariffs and threats to conduct foreign policy.
That drew a rebuke from Trump, who said in his own address to the WEF on Wednesday that Carney should be “grateful” and “Canada lives because of the United States.”
Carney offered a reply to Trump in his cabinet speech.
“Canada and the United States have built a remarkable partnership in the economy, in security and in rich cultural exchange. But Canada doesn’t live because of the United States,” he said.
“Canada thrives because we are Canadian.”
The Canadian Press has this one.
And on a similar vein, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick called Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum “political noise” and criticized Canada’s recent deal with China today.
Speaking on Bloomberg TV, Lutnick said Canada has “the second-best deal in the world” and accused Carney of complaining.
CP also has this one.
Staying with Carney, he also used his speech to narrow in on separatist sentiment at home.
He delivered the speech on the Plains of Abraham, the site of the 1759 battle that brought Quebec under British rule.
Carney spoke of the resilience of Francophones, and how it led to a country where different people came together to build.
“The Plains of Abraham symbolize the battle field, but also the place where Canada picked adaptation over assimilation, partnership over domination, and collaboration over division,” he said.
He acknowledges the foundation was imperfect, and relied on the dispossession of Indigenous peoples.
But he goes on to talk about strength in diversity, and the importance of common values on a number of fronts, including AI, human rights, healthcare, equality and justice.
The separatist Parti Quebecois is leading the polls in the run-up to the Quebec election expected in the fall and there’s renewed discussion around support for separatism in Alberta.
Aya Dufour reports.
The House of Commons will resume sitting on Monday for the first time in 2026 but it’s unclear how many of Canada’s major political issues will be decided in the nation’s capital as focus shifts to the start of renegotiations of the North American free trade pact and efforts to bolster economic ties beyond the continent.
That means the work of parliamentarians may be overshadowed by rumblings in Washington on Prime Minister Mark Carney’s latest overseas trade pitch, or even disputes amongst the provinces as talks on overhauling the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) come into focus.
But Stevie O’Brien, a chief of staff in the Trudeau government, said no one can afford to discount Parliament, especially as the Liberals remain a minority government — at least for the time being.
“While many of the big things in 2026 are not focused on parliamentary activities or processes, it would be very foolish for any party to take their eyes off of off of Parliament,” she said in an interview.
Marco Vigliotti has more in our weekly Adjournment Proceedings long read.
Economic Insights: ‘A history lesson’
Hill Movers: Platt lands new role
Comings & Goings: Kyle Larkin named president and CEO of Canadian Meat Council, while Kylie Villeneuve rejoins NorthStar Public Affairs
In Other Headlines
Internationally
President Donald Trump on Thursday inaugurated his Board of Peace to lead efforts at maintaining a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas, insisting that “everyone wants to be a part” of the body he said could eventually rival the United Nations — despite many U.S. allies opting not to participate.
In a speech at the World Economic Forum, Trump sought to create momentum for a project to map out a future of the war-torn Gaza Strip that has been overshadowed this week, first by his threats to seize Greenland, then by a dramatic retreat from that push.
“This isn’t the United States, this is for the world,” he said, adding, “I think we can spread it out to other things as we succeed in Gaza.”
The event featured Ali Shaath, the head of a new, future technocratic government in Gaza, announcing that the Rafah border crossing will open in both directions next week. But there was no confirmation of that from Israel, which said only that it would consider the matter next week.
The Gaza side of the crossing, which runs between Gaza and Egypt, is currently under Israeli military control. Shaath, an engineer and former Palestinian Authority official from Gaza, is overseeing the Palestinian committee set to govern the territory under U.S. supervision.
AP reports.
Keeping with Trump, he said on Thursday he had secured total and permanent U.S. access to Greenland in a deal with NATO, whose head said allies would have to step up their commitment to Arctic security to ward off threats from Russia and China.
News of a framework deal came as Trump backed off tariff threats and ruled out taking Greenland by force, bringing a degree of respite in what was brewing to be the biggest rupture in transatlantic ties in decades.
But the details of any agreement were unclear and Denmark insisted its sovereignty over the island was not up for discussion.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said relations between the bloc and the U.S. had “taken a big blow” in the past week, as EU leaders met for an emergency summit.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen welcomed Trump’s latest comments but said he was still in the dark on many aspects.
“I don’t know what there is in the agreement, or the deal, about my country,” he told reporters in the capital Nuuk.
Reuters explains.
In Other International Headlines
Featured Opinion
Sponsored Content
The Kicker
Here’s an ‘interesting’ story from the ‘States.
The White House admitted on Thursday that its official X account posted a fake image of a woman arrested in Minnesota after interrupting a service at a church where an ICE official appears to be a pastor.
As Daniel Dale wrote on X, the White House image altered the actual photo to wrongly make it seem like the defendant was sobbing.
The response? The White House sent a link to a spokesperson’s X post that said, “Enforcement of the law will continue. The memes will continue.”
Yes, we’re apparently here in 2026.
Have a great night!
