Hello, welcome to Politics Insider. Let’s look at what happened today.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that North America is not going back to the free-trade regime that existed for decades and dismissed the possibility of a trade deal that removes U.S. tariffs on Canadian automobiles, according to sources who heard Lutnick address a Toronto audience today.
Lutnick was speaking virtually at the BMO Eurasia U.S.-Canada Summit the day after U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney met for the second time in Washington to discuss trade.
Mark Rendell reports that, according to the sources, Lutnick said that the U.S. is determined to dominate auto manufacturing and that his country no longer wants vehicles that are assembled in Canada, but would continue to import auto parts.
The U.S has placed a 25-per-cent tariff on Canadian-made cars with a carve-out for the value of the vehicle made from U.S. parts. Last year, around 90 per cent of the 1.3 million vehicles manufactured in Canada were exported to the U.S.
Lutnick’s remarks echo those made by Trump in the Oval Office meeting with Mr. Carney on Tuesday. The President repeatedly said Canada and the U.S. had a “natural conflict” when it comes to auto production.
In other news, Prime Minister Carney said he had a “meeting of the minds” with President Trump in Washington and that deals are being negotiated for tariff relief on steel and aluminum exports. However, he came under sustained criticism from his political rivals in Ottawa, and received mixed reviews from the premiers, for his trip to the White House.
Stephanie Levitz and Mark Rendell report that during a fiery Question Period today, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre accused Carney of betraying Canadian workers by telling Trump that Canada would make US$1-trillion worth of investments in the United States in the next five years, if Canada gets the deal it expects.
“The Prime Minister went pathetically to the White House to offer a trillion-dollar gift, bowing before the President in weakness,” Poilievre said, asking where deals were on softwood lumber and autos.
“Where, in his platform, did he promise to give a trillion of our investment dollars to the Americans?”
Carney appeared to give a short sigh as he responded to Poilievre by citing the private sector – a phrase he put in air quotes – where that investment would come from, an answer that drew loud cheers from the Liberal benches.
Also today, Defence Minister David McGuinty defended a growing partnership with President Trump’s Golden Dome missile defence system, saying Canada and the United States will have mere minutes to respond to the latest generation of incoming threats from “malign state actors.”
Steven Chase reports that McGuinty didn’t use the term Golden Dome, while speaking at a Toronto conference today but instead said Canada is “talking to the United States now about what we call a continental shield, because we’re going to need one.”
The minister was speaking to the matter a day after Trump announced that Canada is collaborating with the U.S. on his ambitious and potentially expensive project to connect the U.S.’s air defence systems and expand them, including with new defences in outer space.
“We may have 3½ or four minutes to be able to respond to the kind of capabilities that we’re seeing now that are out there that a number of states possess,” McGuinty told the Toronto conference.
Open this photo in gallery:
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday.Annabelle Gordon/Reuters
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What else is going on
South Bow explores increasing crude exports: The company says it is exploring ways to leverage existing oil pipeline corridors to increase crude exports, in the wake of Prime Minister Carney raising the prospect of reviving the long-dead Keystone XL pipeline project in discussions with President Trump.
Three Newfoundland activists detained by Israel: An advocacy group in Newfoundland and Labrador says three activists from the province were recently detained by the Israeli military while they were part of a flotilla attempting to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip.
Conservative premiers call on Ottawa to stop nothwithstanding-clause case: Five provinces are calling on Prime Minister Carney to back down in a landmark Supreme Court of Canada case that revolves around the Charter’s notwithstanding clause and governments’ power to override the rights of Canadians.
Carney criticized for not meeting Oct. 7 families: The Canadian families of victims of the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on Israel are raising concerns about Carney not reaching out to them since taking office.
BC Conservative Leader muzzles MLAs: John Rustad, who promised his caucus free votes and freedom of speech, took the unusual step this week during a contested vote that would have exposed the divides within his caucus.
Lululemon founder fined for NDP is `Communist’ signs: Elections BC says billionaire Chip Wilson contravened third-party election advertising rules because of signs in front of his Vancouver mansion last year, one of which said the provincial NDP is “Communist.”
On our radar
Prime Minister’s Day: Following a Tuesday visit to the White House to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump, Mark Carney departed Washington for Ottawa today where he attended Question Period and was scheduled to participate virtually in a conversation on the Canada-U.S. relationship at the BMO and Eurasia Group’s 2025 U.S.-Canada Summit in Toronto. The moderator was set to be Gerald Butts, who was a principal secretary to then-prime-minister Justin Trudeau.
Party Leaders: Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May attended Question Period. NDP Interim Leader Don Davies attended the weekly NDP caucus meeting, held a news conference on his recent budget-oriented meeting with Prime Minister Carney and later met with Cuba’s ambassador to Canada, to discuss Cuban-Canadian relations. No schedule released for Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre.
Quote of the Day: “You guys were so excited there. I’ve never seen a group of Canadian journalists’ faces light up. You’re in the Oval Office. You’re going to ask the President a big question. When you look at me, you’re just … ” – gestures, and adopts a blank expression, then laughs – Prime Minister Mark Carney, arriving for Question Period, teases Canadian journalists for their exuberance, or lack of it, at this week’s Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump.
New diplomat: Sonya Thissen has been named Canada’s new ambassador to Greece.
Question period
For the first time in 100 years, voters in the Nov. 3 Yukon election will also cast ballots on a territorial plebiscite. What is the subject of the plebiscite?
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for the answer.
Perspectives
Lessons on dying well from the father of palliative care
Dr. Balfour Mount was a truly great Canadian, a healer on a global scale.
— André Picard, Health Columnist
A warm White House and trade talks cooking again
This time, the U.S. President was going out of his way to help out Mr. Carney, calling him a world-class leader, and talking up his toughness as a negotiator. He even stepped in front of a reporter’s question for Mr. Carney, fielding a query about why the Canadian Prime Minister had failed to make a trade deal when other leaders had managed to do so – insisting it’s a lot harder when the two countries are right next to each other.
— Campbell Clark, Chief Political Writer
We must not allow immigration to become a major cultural concern for Canadians
The risk of resentment remains. If political leaders are unable to do what it takes to restore confidence in this country’s immigration system, we could see in Canada what we are seeing elsewhere: whites resenting non-whites; rural residents estranged from urban; ideologies hardening and polarizing; and resentment toward immigrants becoming the dominant political issue.
— John Ibbitson is a writer and journalist. Darrell Bricker is CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs. They are the authors of the forthcoming book, Breaking Point: The New Big Shifts Putting Canada at Risk.
Go deeper
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The answer to today’s question: Electoral reform. On Nov. 3, voters are being asked this question: “Should the way members of the Yukon Legislative Assembly are elected be changed from the current system of first past the post to a different system of ranked vote?”
