Prime minister Mark Carney started his day in Berlin, where he signed a critical mineral partnership with Germany, intent on encouraging joint-financing of resource projects and to boost exports to Europe. There was also talk about an energy partnership, both with respect to energy and LNG, with Carney going so far as to muse about maybe using the Port of Churchill for an LNG terminal, but that seems wildly unrealistic given the timelines and realities at play, and the fact that the market is changing rapidly. As much as some of the lesser fill-in hosts at CBC’s Power & Politics have been trying to play the dumb game of “Trudeau said there was no business case for LNG!” with European diplomats on air, there hasn’t been a business case because no European buyers were willing to sign long-term contracts for proposed LNG facilities on the East Coast, much as Asian buyers have largely been unwilling to commit to long-term contracts for LGN proposals on the west coast that have all of their permits in hand.

Carney then headed to Latvia, where Carney announced a “three-year extension” to the NATO mission there, which he didn’t need to do because we have a long-term commitment and were not about to let it lapse because we have plans to further expand our presence. But he had to look like he’s doing something…

A classic announcement that is not an announcement–Canada is committed to the Latvia mission for the foreseeable future. To put term limits on it is silly. The real problem is a good one–if the war ends in Ukraine, maybe CA might reduce a bit in Latvia so that it can help deter/reassure in Ukr

— Steve Saideman (@smsaideman.bsky.social) 2025-08-26T19:49:30.742Z

Ukraine Dispatch

One worker was killed and at least three wounded in a Russian attack on a coal mine in Donetsk region. Russia has also captured two more villages in the Dnipropetrovsk region, which they claimed to have captured weeks ago.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1960353705879846944

Good reads:

• Dominic LeBlanc says he had a “productive” meeting with Howard Lutnik in Washington, for all the good that does because there is no deal to be had.
• Gregor Robertson says that BC is due to receive $326 million this year from the Canada Community-Building Fund.
• Staff in Julie Dabrusin’s office “accidentally” added a reporter to their text chain about where to cut in the department to meet their targets.
• The government has narrowed the potential new submarine suppliers to one in Germany and one in South Korea.
• There was a glitch in payments for people receiving the (wholly inadequate) disability benefit, meaning payments are being delayed.
• The Parliamentary Budget Officer says that 3.2 million houses are needed in the next decade to close the housing gap, because of “decreased” demand.
• CBC is going to court to avoid disclosing subscriber data from its Gem streaming service from Access to Information requests.
• The CEO of Trans Mountain says that Canada should actually maximize its existing pipeline network rather than trying to build new ones.
• Investors have started looking into drone companies in Canada on the promise that they will get a cut of the increased defence spending.
• The tentative new Hydro-Quebec deal is an issue in the forthcoming Newfoundland & Labrador election.
• Mike Moffatt’s Missing Middle Initiative has some suggestions for the design and implementation of Build Canada Homes.

Odds and ends:

Apparently we don't need pro-AI Super PACs in Canada, because the prime minister has bought into the hype, and appointed one of his friends to be Minister of AI, who guzzles the hype like it's cherry Kool-Aid.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-08-26T20:28:46.293Z

https://bsky.app/profile/emmettmacfarlane.com/post/3lxdtjam4zk2i

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