Good evening, readers.
We start the Evening Brief with some confusing messaging on the trade front.
U.S. President Donald Trump says he expects to come to an agreement with Canada soon.
But Canada is saying something different.
CBC News and Radio-Canada are reporting that while trade discussions between the two countries have intensified, that doesn’t mean a deal is imminent.
A source familiar with the discussions said that there are “substantive conversations, but there are still key elements that remain unresolved.”
“We are not on the verge of an agreement just yet,” the same source said.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Monday that he hasn’t heard an update on the state of Canada-U.S. trade talks as he told reporters before a joint first ministers’ and Indigenous leaders meeting (more on that below).
Ford said he hoped the two sides returning to the negotiating table and believed that Trump is starting to feel the pressure to lower costs in advance of next week’s midterm elections.
“I’ve always said on American news that a tariff on Canada is nothing more than a tax on the American people, and I think President Trump’s feeling it, so let’s get back to the table and negotiate a fair [deal],” he said.
Asked by iPolitics if Carney had provided an update, Ford said “not lately.”
Marco Vigliotti explains.
First Nations leaders sat down with Prime Minister Mark Carney and some of the country’s premiers in Ottawa on Monday for what the national chief called a long overdue face-to-face meeting.
“The prime minister has said that Canada is built on the bedrock of three peoples, First Nations, French and British. But there is no getting around the fact that First Nations have inhabited these territories long before any colonial borders were established,” National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said in her opening remarks at the gathering on Monday.
“That is why we are here, to build prosperity and well-being for our children and the next seven generations. It can’t just be about ramming through major projects as fast as we can.”
Monday’s meeting is the first such gathering since the Kelowna Accord talks of 2005, which brought premiers and then-prime minister Paul Martin together with Indigenous leaders to discuss ways to close the socioeconomic gaps in Indigenous communities.
This meeting comes as Carney’s government works to speed up major project approvals and development — efforts some First Nations chiefs say threaten their rights.
The Canadian Press has more.
A post-meeting press conference with the PM was scheduled for 3:30 but it’s start time has been delayed.
Canada and eight European countries are partnering together to officially launch a new bank to finance defence purchases.
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said Monday the member states will gather in Luxembourg next month to sign the agreement to establish the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank.
“In an increasingly uncertain and divided world, Canada is working to bring together like-minded partners to mobilize and deploy private capital in support of collective security by unlocking long-term financing, expanding defence industrial production, and building more resilient supply chains,” he said in a statement.
Canada has already been selected as the bank’s headquarters, while Luxembourg will act as the European hub.
Vigliotti has this one too.
In Other Headlines
- Sophie Chatel says her Gatineau Park bill could become law soon after government signals approval (iPolitics)
- Kinew calls on Carney to abolish the Indian Act at meeting with chiefs (CP)
- Ontario says 511,000 more residents connected to primary care (QP Briefing)
- OSAP, affordability questions likely to dominate as Queen’s Park resumes sitting (CP)
- Trump says he expects trade war with Canada to end ‘pretty soon’ (CP)
- Federal Conservatives propose bill that would end B.C.’s tanker ban (CP)
Internationally
Israelis will vote Tuesday in the first national elections since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack in what is widely seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership.
The deadliest day in Israel’s history features prominently in the campaign, but not in the way many outsiders might expect.
There’s been almost no debate over Israel’s wartime conduct in Gaza — which led to an international arrest warrant against Netanyahu — its occupation of much of southern Lebanon and parts of Syria, or its two wars launched against Iran, all of which have broad support.
Instead, candidates have focused on Netanyahu’s leadership and moral character; his role in the security breakdown on Oct. 7; his efforts to exempt ultra-Orthodox Jews from military service and a 2023 judicial overhaul seen by critics as an assault on Israel’s democratic institutions.
Both of the main electoral blocs are dominated by parties that support Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank and oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state, and no major candidate is advocating a return to the long-moribund peace process.
AP has this look.
In Other International Headlines
- Anthropic files for potentially the biggest IPO ever as CEO warns of risk to humanity from AI (AP)
- In China, the AI bubble has already burst (Reuters)
- France pledges new university admissions for students to quell anger after violent mass protests (AP)
- They fled Darfur as boys. Now their children are growing up in the same refugee camp (Reuters)
- Lula mobilized millions to win Brazil’s election, while Bolsonaro contests victory (AP)
The Kicker
And this one stings, folks.
The COVID-conscious lesbian bar at the centre of the internet’s most beloved recent Boston Globe story is shutting down.
But if you’re in Ontario, don’t let that stop you from voting in today’s municipal elections.
What are we watching tonight? The races in Ottawa, Toronto, Mississauga and Hamilton. In all those cities, incumbent mayors are facing tough fights to win a second term in office.
Have a good night!