Hello, welcome to Politics Insider. Let’s look at what happened today.
Prime Minister Mark Carney promised sweeping new economic legislation and a punishing pace this fall as his caucus met in Ottawa today ahead of Parliament’s return on Monday.
Stephanie Levitz reports that Carney said the economic bill is a follow-through on the momentum of the past seven days: a meeting with Ukraine’s President, a landmark investment summit and a whirlwind trip to Europe to forge a new relationship with that continent.
“It’s a lot, but that was just the warm-up,” he told his MPs in a speech at the start of their caucus meeting today. His benches now have three new members after the Liberals won several by-elections in August.
Carney said the legislation – which he called the Building Canada Strong Act – is the next phase of his government’s promise to speed up infrastructure and other projects.
In other news today, Laura Stone reports that Ontario Premier Doug Ford took to the airwaves today to try to clarify that he definitely did not endorse Olivia Chow for Toronto mayor when he spoke publicly about supporting her earlier this week.
In a friendly radio interview with former Toronto mayor John Tory on Newstalk 1010, Ford said he gets along well with Chow, but insisted he didn’t issue a full-throated endorsement of her candidacy when he praised her and told reporters to “read between the lines.”
“Let’s be very, very clear. When I endorse someone, which I’m not, you come out and fully endorse them. You don’t say read between the lines,” Ford told Tory.
The confusion started earlier this week when Ford, asked by a reporter whether he’s endorsing anyone for mayor, talked up his working relationship with Chow. The two were side-by-side, along with federal ministers, this week at the opening of a new biomanufacturing facility in Toronto.
“I just want to say the Mayor and I have a phenomenal relationship. Phenomenal. And we’ve given the City of Toronto more money than they’ve ever seen in their lives, over $9-billion,” he said.
“We’re going to continue supporting the Mayor. She’s doing an incredible job. So, read between the lines.”
Ford said today that the “read between the lines” reference meant he’s going to continue to work things out with the mayor, whom he once predicted would be an “unmitigated disaster” for the city before she was first elected in 2023.
After Chow’s main opponent in the race, councillor Brad Bradford, declared that Ford had endorsed Chow because she has “never stopped Doug Ford from doing exactly what he wanted to do,” the Premier’s Office released a late-night clarification Thursday trying to walk back Ford’s comments.
Several ex-Ford staffers are supporting Bradford’s campaign, including the Premier’s former executive director of communications, Laryssa Waler, and his longtime campaign manager Kory Teneycke.
Prime Minister Mark Carney addresses his caucus in Ottawa on Friday.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
This is the daily Politics Insider newsletter, curated by Ian Bailey. It is available exclusively to our digital subscribers. You can sign up for more than 20 other newsletters on our signup page.What else is going on
Eby vows to scrap plan to buy ferries from afar: B.C. Premier David Eby made a series of election-style promises during a press conference after a speech to the Union of B.C. Municipalities Conference in downtown Vancouver, including committing to pause a controversial expansion of the provincial sales tax, and to build future generations of ferries at home instead of sourcing them from elsewhere.
B.C. Conservatives lose 10th MLA since August: Claire Rattée issued a scathing exit statement that says she was among at least 10 Conservatives who signed a letter calling on party leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay to quit.
‘Father of Nunavut’ challenges territory’s refusal to pay for his housing, home care in Iqaluit: John Amagoalik, a former politician in his late 70s, is credited for his involvement in the creation of the territory in April, 1999.
Ottawa mayoral candidate charged over alleged death threats against Mark Sutcliffe, Doug Ford: Ottawa mayoral candidate Geoffrey Nicholas Griplas was arrested on Sept. 15 in Ottawa and has been charged with two counts each of criminal harassment and uttering death threats, along with several weapons-related offences.
On our radar
MPs return to Ottawa: The House of Commons sits again on Monday after its summer break. The Senate sits again on Sept. 28.
Prime Minister’s Day: Mark Carney today addressed a national caucus retreat on Parliament Hill. The retreat is being held today and Saturday. On Sunday, Carney is visiting Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Party Leaders: Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet will be at a caucus meeting in the Quebec municipality of Cantley on Sunday. Green Party Leader Elizabeth May attended a community meeting on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia. No schedules released for other party leaders.
McPherson to focus on unity: NDP Leader Avi Lewis says Alberta MP Heather McPherson is leaving her role as NDP caucus house leader to campaign for unity ahead of the Alberta referendum. Don Davies will assume McPherson’s role in addition to his parliamentary leader duties, while Jenny Kwan will take over from Davies as whip.
Newly appointed diplomat: Joël Dupuis is Canada’s new ambassador to Belgium, succeeding Nicholas Brousseau.
Summer books
Ahead of the return of the House of Commons on Monday, Liberal MP Marilyn Gladu talks about what she has read this past summer.
“I read so much non-fiction (mostly articles, papers and reports) at work that I usually read for entertainment, and it is typically an Agatha Christie-type “ who done it”. This summer , I decided to try three authors I have never read that write this similar type of novel,” Gladu wrote.
Dead in the Morning by Margaret Yorke (First published by Geoffrey Bles, 1970) – A delightful British mystery set in a small village with a dysfunctional family. Excellent! (I then went on to read the rest of the things she has written.)
Death at the Fireside Inn by Kitty Kildare (K.E. O’Connor Books, 2024) – Veronica Vale, the eccentric but brilliant crime solver accompanied by her little dog Benji gets to the bottom of a murder that happened in one of the inns the family owns. Turns out they own a lot of inns and so I read the rest of her series as well.
Her Silent Bones by Pamela Fagan Hutchins (StoryFire LTD, 2024) – Terrific first book in a series about Detective Delaney Pace, ex-trucker, and the solving of gruesome murders.
Political Books this Fall:
As the fall political scene gets under way, here’s a look at some of the political books coming soon:
The Dawn of Competitive Party Politics in Alberta, An End to Solitude by Anthony M. Sayers, Royce Koop and David K. Stewart, Sept. 15 (UBC Press)
A look at Alberta’s political history and party politics from the birth of the province through to its political evolution in the last two decades.
Justin Trudeau: Power, Promise, and the Fight for Canada by David Olive – ECW Press, Sept. 29, 2026 (ECW Press)
Journalist Olive ponders the legacy of Canada’s 23rd prime minister, contrasting Trudeau with those who most influenced him.
Into the Breach, A Soldier’s Journey by General Wayne Eyre, Oct. 6. (Simon & Schuster)
The former chief of defence staff chronicles a 40-year career in the Canadian armed forces.
Unreliable Boyfriend, An Insider’s View of Dealing with a Chaotic Superpower, Plutocrats and Other Complicated People by Chrystia Freeland. (Simon and Schuster) Oct. 13
A mixture of polemic and memoir from the former deputy prime minister.
24 Sussex Drive, The Past and Future of Canada’s Official Residence by Dean Beeby and Ian Bailey, (Sutherland House Publishing), Oct. 20
Ahead of the move to renovate the prime ministerial residence, a look at the history and challenges of sustaining one of Canada’s most famous addresses.
Here for Canada: Memoirs of the 22nd Prime Minister by Stephen J. Harper. Nov. 3. (Penguin Random House Canada)
The first prime-ministerial memoir since Paul Martin’s 2009 title Hell or High Water: My Life in and out of Politics, Harper’s 656-page title covers his time in office as Canada’s 22nd prime minister.
Joe Clark: Progressive, Conservative, Canadian by Matthew Hayday. March 16. (McGill-Queen’s University Press)
The professor of Canadian history at the University of Guelph looks at the life of Canada’s 16th prime minister as well as the issues that animated his life in politics.
Quote of the Day
“I don’t think it’s ever a bad idea to ask British Columbians, especially at a moment like this, about which direction we should be going. I don’t have an announcement about an election today, but there are absolutely crucial issues in our province.” – Premier David Eby, speaking to reporters following a speech today to the Union of British Columbia Municipalities, addresses the issue of a possible snap election in B.C. amidst turmoil rocking the opposition B.C. Conservatives.
Question period
Former prime minister Stephen Harper has written his memoirs. Here for Canada, Memoirs of the 22nd Prime Minister will be released in November. But who was the first Canadian prime minister to write their memoirs?
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for the answer.
Perspectives
We may look back on this as the week Canada began to take its fate into its own hands
There are, as Lenin apparently did not say, decades when nothing happens, and weeks when decades happen. This was one of those weeks: a remarkable series of policy and diplomatic moves that give unmistakable form to what until lately had been mostly rhetorical flourish. The Carney doctrine remains only partly visible, and may only be partly developed, but there’s no denying any more that there is a doctrine.
— Andrew Coyne, Columnist
Mark Carney has become the heir to C.D. Howe
Mark Carney succeeded Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister. But it feels more spiritually accurate to say that he succeeded C.D. Howe, who transformed Canada’s industry and infrastructure before, during and after the Second World War, much of it with foreign money.
— John Ibbitson is a writer, journalist and the author of The Duel: Diefenbaker, Pearson and the Making of Modern Canada.
The Quebec election could result in a ripple, not a wave
With two televised debates down, and one to go, Quebec’s party leaders are running out of chances to move the needle in an election campaign that has lacked any sparkle.
— Konrad Yakabuski, Columnist Go deeper
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The answer to today’s question: Sir Charles Tupper, Conservative prime minister for 68 days from May to July of 1896, wrote Political Reminiscences of the Right Honourable Sir Charles Tupper. It was published in 1914. Canada’s sixth prime minister died in 1915 in England.