Monday was a weird day of expectations management as prime minister Mark Carney headed to Washington for a “working lunch” with Trump to happen today. There were murmurs from Senior Government Sources™ that there could be some kind of relief for some—but not all—of the steel and aluminium tariffs, but those were heavily caveated and is not going to be any kind of comprehensive tariff deal, because Trump loves his tariffs. (And there is no deal to be had). Oh, and while all of this expectations management was going on, Trump declared new 25 percent tariffs on medium and heavy-duty trucks. Because of course.
Amidst this, Pierre Poilievre released a peevish open-letter to Carney that demanded “no more losing” when it comes to dealing with Trump, and a list of things he wants “wins” on, whether it’s tariffs or softwood lumber, or what have you. Because remember, under this framing, Trump is the rational actor and Carney is the one who is the inept negotiator who simply can’t get anything done. Reality of course, is entirely the opposite, that you can’t really negotiate with Trump because he has no logical basis or consistency for his “deals,” and anything he agrees to isn’t worth the paper its written on (if it’s even written down, as some “deals” were nothing more than blank pages with a signature on it).
To that end, Andrew Scheer went on Power & Politics looking to pick a fight with David Cochrane about this, and when Cochrane pointed out that yes indeed, Trump’s tariffs are both affecting our economy and we still do have the best deal of anyone with Trump, that Scheer twisted this into “agreeing” that Carney’s ineptitude has cratered the economy and soured any deal with Trump, because Scheer is a liar and a braying doofus. But this is what everyone has to deal with when it comes to the level of rhetoric and sheer sophistry coming from the Conservatives these days, which is not exactly conducive to informed debate.
Ukraine Dispatch
Ukraine’s forces say that Russian sabotage groups are active in the city of Pokrovsk, which Russians have been trying to capture for months. Ukraine’s long-range drones have struck a Russian ammunition plant, a key oil terminal, and an important weapons depot.
Good reads:
- François-Philippe Champagne announced that moving forward, the government’s budget cycle will be realigned to be released in the fall rather than the spring.
- It looks like the government will be tabling a different border bill than C-2 after pushback on the lawful access provisions.
- Patty Hajdu says that there has been a 70 percent drop in low-wage temporary foreign workers, and that fines for delinquent employers have increased.
- The government’s visa programme for the families of Canadians in Gaza has been under-resourced, and faced internal resistance from the start.
- Here’s a look at how the government changed direction on Canada Post.
- Members of the government’s digital asbestos task force are grousing that the thirty-day timeframe they’ve been given is not enough for the job at hand.
- Israel is releasing three Canadians detained from the Gaza flotilla.
- NDP officials say that would-be leadership Yves Engler may have broken the rules by collecting donations before being formally approved.
- It looks like vehicles registered to Ford’s Cabinet ministers got hit by speed cameras more than 20 times, which explains why he decided to make them illegal.
- Danielle Smith says that Alberta and Quebec are “united” in their desire to resist federal overreach. (Erm, except when she demands the feds override BC, right?)
- Kevin Page offers some thoughts on the announced changes to the budget cycle.
- Philippe Lagassé contemplates the role of independent officers of parliament, and what happens when they go rogue, as the interim PBO has.
- Paul Wells talks to Anita Anand about how she conceives of her role as foreign minister, and how she is shaping her time in the portfolio.
- Susan Delacourt muses about the changed dynamics between Trump and Carney as Carney heads to Washington.
Odds and ends:
My Loonie Politics Quick Take points out that the interim PBO disqualified himself from the role permanently, but that the Conservatives will push for his appointment.
For National Magazine, I attended the Ceremonial Opening of the Supreme Court of Canada, the first such event in 39 years, where they also debuted their new robes.
New episode released early for C$7+ subscribers. This week I talk to @lindsaytedds.bsky.social about the things we're not talking about when we talk about austerity #cdnpoli
— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-10-06T22:58:18.067Z
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