The latest Trump eruption has prime minister Mark Carney backpedalling some more, and he has said that his deadline for retaliatory tariffs, which was July 21st, is now going to be August 1st, since this is when he’s extended the negotiation deadline to, again letting Trump continue to string him along. Nevertheless, he has also called a Cabinet meeting next week, and will be meeting with the premiers on the 22nd in Huntsville, Ontario. The Conservatives immediately jumped on this and tried to insinuate that this was rich snob Carney being too good to have meetings in Ottawa…except that Doug Ford had already called the Council of the Federation to meet there, and Carney will now be joining in to make it a First Ministers’ meeting.

There is further clarity that New NAFTA-compliant goods will continue to be exempt from these new tariffs (for now, anyway), and energy and potash tariffs will continue to be ten percent instead of the new threat of 35 percent, but it’s entirely incoherent, other than the usual threats about Supply Management (with no reciprocal offer to reduce any American agricultural subsidies). Of course, Trump said a lot of wrong things about Supply Management, so that’s not helping matters any either.

The latest from @clareblackwood.bsky.social on the constantly shifting tariffs.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-07-11T18:11:42.200Z

In the meantime, the Conservatives want to recall the trade committee to hear from trade-exposed businesses. Of course, this is really just about getting clips for social media, since they’re not getting them from Question Period, and much like the transport committee and the ferries to be built in China, this will likely be members of all parties shaking their heads and expressing their dismay at Trump and his tariffs, but not too much dismay because that’s what they do—performative displays of dismay (again, to feed their social media channels). I expect nothing to come out of these meetings (other than a fresh supply of clips), but performers gotta perform, and that’s pretty much all MPs are these days (and yes, that is a Very Big Problem).

Ukraine Dispatch

A Russian attack on Kharkiv on Friday damaged a maternity hospital. Ukrainian drones, in contrast, hit a Russian fighter aircraft plant and a missile production facility. It’s almost like there’s a very different way in which the war is being conducted on either side.

Good reads:

• Carney’s office has asked the AFN to submit their questions to him in advance of his meeting with chiefs on Bill C-5 and the major projects they are looking to build.
• Carney’s ethics submission has been made public, and the list of companies in his ethics screen top over 100, given Brookfield connections to them.
• Canadian firms are lagging behind investing in Ukraine’s rebuilding, even though there are plenty of sectors where Canadian firms have expertise.
• Poilievre says Carney should have had some “wins” in negotiating with Trump by now, which is laughable and sad that he seems to believe that.
• Ontario’s environment minister “apologised” (but not really) over the “confusion” of his letter saying the government shouldn’t table the First Nations clean water bill.
• Alberta has signed a $203 million deal with the federal government to help build new affordable housing units.
• Philippe Lagassé and Patrick Lennox argue that the higher defence spending needs to come with more robust transparency and accountability measures.
• Blayne Haggart reminds us that the “security vs trade” dichotomy with the US has never been an imperative  but a choice, and one that is currently indefensible.
• Justin Ling sees Carney as the second coming of Jean Chrétien, which he praises (but misses the problems where Carney’s moving in haste will create problems).

Odds and ends:

For National Magazine, I delve into yesterday’s Supreme Court of Canada decision around judge-only trials during the pandemic, and the broader implications.

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