Hello, welcome to Politics Insider. Let’s look at what happened today.
Prime Minister Mark Carney says Ottawa is not prepared to impose countertariffs against the United States while intense talks are under way to resolve the trade war with the Trump administration.
Carney has been under pressure from several premiers, including Ontario’s Doug Ford, unions and some in the corporate sector to hit back at the U.S. over its tariffs on steel, aluminum, autos and lumber.
But Robert Fife reports that, at a news conference today, the Prime Minister ruled out countermeasures at this time.
“Right now with the Americans we are engaged in deep negotiations, intensive negotiations on several sectors of the Canadian economy – energy, aluminum and the steel sector,” Carney said at an announcement on crime policy.
“There are times to hit back and times to talk and right now is the time to talk.”
Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, Privy Council Clerk Michael Sabia and Kirsten Hillman, Ottawa’s chief negotiator, are holding talks in Washington with senior Trump administration officials.
The negotiations with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer have been going on since last Tuesday’s Oval Office meeting between Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump. The participants took a pause in negotiations over the weekend but resumed Monday.
In other news, Carney announced today that his government will move ahead with promised bail changes next week.
At the same news conference, Stephanie Levitz and Laura Stone report, Carney said the proposed amendments are related to bail for those accused of serious and violent crimes.
The amendments will include allowing for consecutive sentencing and restricting conditional sentences for some sexual offences, plus new penalties for organized retail theft.
The government will also introduce what’s known as “reverse-onus bail” for more crimes. That’s the practice of requiring an accused to demonstrate they should be released from custody, as opposed to the prosecution being required to make the case as to why they should remain.
Also today, Niall McGee reports that Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson brushed off national-security concerns about the Trump administration taking equity stakes in Canadian critical minerals companies, saying the positions are small and the U.S. is an ally.
In the past few weeks, the Trump administration announced it had taken equity stakes in two Canadian critical-minerals companies, Lithium Americas Corp. and Trilogy Metals Inc, both of which are advancing projects on U.S. soil.
“The fact that an ally of ours chooses to make an equity investment into a Canadian company whose sole asset is in the United States, I don’t think that bothers us at this time,” Hodgson said.
“I think that’s capitalism in action. If they’re interested in doing that, that’s up to them.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney visits an Etobicoke, Ont., RCMP detachment on Thursday.Laura Proctor/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
Carney hints at easing corporate tax burden in budget: Prime Minister Mark Carney said the coming federal budget will include measures that give Canada “a highly competitive corporate tax system,” but stopped short of providing any details.
Ottawa threatens to sue Stellantis: The possible action against automaker Stellantis NV is a response to its plans to shift production of the Jeep Compass to Illinois from Brampton, Ont.
Too much immigration, say more than half of Canadians: But a new poll also finds the percentage of people who believe this has remained stable after a sharp rise over two previous years.
Manitoba trade rep earns more than premier: Richard Madan, a former television reporter hired in the spring to head up a provincial trade office in Washington, is making $387,000 a year.
G7 foreign ministers pressed to raise Lai case: Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand is facing calls to raise the plight of jailed publisher Jimmy Lai at next month’s G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Ontario’s Niagara Region.
On our radar
Prime Minister’s Day: In the Toronto area, Mark Carney made a crime-policy announcement and later visited a bakery in suburban Woodbridge, north of Toronto. He was also scheduled to meet with Premier Doug Ford.
Party Leaders: Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet concluded a four-day tour of the Laurentides and Lanaudière regions of Quebec. In Vancouver, interim NDP leader Don Davies met with members of the Filipino Seniors Club of B.C. No schedules released for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre or Green Party Leader Elizabeth May.
Quote of the Day: “We are very hopeful that we can get through this difficult time, and we can resume the type of relationship that we’ve had with the Americans for a long, long time.” – Energy Minister Tim Hodgson, during a news conference in London, on challenges in the relationship between Canada and the United States.
New Carney press secretary: Laura Scaffidi has been named the new lead press secretary for Prime Minister Mark Carney, effective today. Scaffidi has previously worked as a director of communications of Transport Canada and a press secretary at Canadian Heritage.
NDP leadership debate: Candidates to lead the federal NDP will appear next Wednesday in Ottawa in their first forum. The Canadian Labour Congress is organizing the evening gathering featuring candidates participating in moderated discussions. The candidates are Rob Ashton, Tanille Johnston, Avi Lewis, Tony McQuail, and Heather McPherson. New Democrats will choose their leader March 29 at a party convention in Winnipeg.
Ministers on the road: Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, on a trip that has included stops in India, has travelled from Singapore and arrived in Beijing. On Friday, she will meet with her Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, as well as Canadian embassy staff.
Question period
What broadcast announcement did Pierre Elliott Trudeau, as prime minister, make on this day in 1970?
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for the answer.
Perspectives
How Canada can help build a path to peace in the Middle East
There is a role that Canada can play. When Canada recognized a Palestinian state last month, the Palestinian Authority committed to Canada and the international community that it would fundamentally reform its governance, most notably to hold free and fair elections next year. Canada must ensure Palestinian leaders uphold those commitments.
— The Globe and Mail Editorial Board
Canada cannot wait for Europe and must act alone to `double-freeze’ Russian assets
How might history, our Ukrainian friends or Canadians judge us if $22-billion in frozen Russian state assets are drained overnight from Canadian banks and funnelled back into Russia’s war machine?
— Bill Browder, KCMG, is the chief executive of Hermitage Capital Management and head of the Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign. Marcus Kolga is the founder of DisinfoWatch and a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute. Aaron Gasch Burnett is a security analyst at the European Resilience Initiative Center, based in Berlin.
How to save the young and the jobless of Canada
Addressing these challenges and creating a more seamless and inclusive transition for Canadian youth into the work force won’t be easy. It will require stronger collaboration between the various social partners, more support for youth at risk, strengthening some existing government programs, creating new ones and changing some employer and educational-institution incentives. Easier said than done, but an investment in the future that will pay in spades.
— Claude Lavoie is a contributing columnist for The Globe and Mail. He was director-general of economic studies and policy analysis at the Department of Finance from 2008 to 2023.Go deeper
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The answer to today’s question: Trudeau went on the air to announce he had invoked the War Measures Act for the first time in peacetime. The measure was taken after the Quebec separatist group, the Front de libération du Québec, kidnapped James Cross, who was Britain’s trade commissioner, and Pierre Laporte, the Quebec labour minister. The act gave the police sweeping powers of arrest and internment.