The King and Queen of Sweden on a state visit to Canada, for the first time since 2006, bringing with them some top ministers and business officials. It was also the first visit since Sweden joined NATO, and has been noted that Canada was the first country to support that membership, and that Swedish troops are now under Canadian command in Latvia. Prime minister Mark Carney announced that Canada and Sweden have signed a strategic partnership, before there was a state dinner in their honour, hosted by the Chief Justice as Mary Simon is still recovering from her recent hospitalisation.

Of course, one of the things looming over this visit is Sweden trying to convince Canada to buy Gripen fighter jets, given the reconsideration of the F-35 purchase thanks to American unreliability (particularly when their president muses openly about nerfing the planes they sell us, and where they could hold software or necessary upgrades hostage). Mélanie Joly made it known yesterday that Lockheed Martin has not exactly been generous with its industrial benefits for the F-35 programme—as participants in the Joint Strike Fighter programme, Canadian firms are part of the manufacturing process, but that’s fairly limited, and doesn’t include any of the intellectual property concerns. (That participation in parts manufacturing is being labelled by activists as “complicity” in Israel’s slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza, incidentally). SAAB, meanwhile, is dangling the prospect of 10,000 jobs in Canada as part of assembling Gripens, not just for Canada, but also to expand their production capacity for orders from countries like Ukraine. The question is essentially becoming whether we want a mixed fleet, which is more expensive, but may provide better reliability given the state of relations with the US, even though we will likely need some number of F-35s as part of continental defence with the Americans.

Meanwhile, I also learned that the King of Sweden’s great-grandfather was Prince Arthur of Connaught, who served as Governor General in Canada in the 1910s, and lived at Rideau Hall, which meant that it was a bit of a homecoming for said King. The more you know.

From the state dinner pool report: "In his speech, King Carl XVI Gustaf thanked Canada for the warm welcome and said it was a "pleasure" to be back in the country. He said his great grandfather, Prince Arthur of Connaught, was Governor General of Canada in the 1910s, and lived in Rideau Hall."

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-11-19T02:42:11.788Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Russian drones struck an apartment building in Kharkiv, injuring at least thirty-two, while drones and missiles have also been hitting civilian targets in Ternopil and Lviv in the western part of the country. President Zelenskyy is off to Türkiye this week try and jumpstart negotiations with Russia (for all the good that will do). Russian intelligence is being blamed for railway sabotage in Poland, on lines that connect to Ukraine and carry vital supplies.

Good reads:

• Carney will be in Abu Dhabi today before heading to the G20 in South Africa.
• South Africa’s High Commissioner says they are trying to forge a bilateral deal with Canada that essentially trades wine for LNG.
• The Ways and Means motion to introduce the budget implementation bill was passed “on division” (meaning agree to disagree but let it pass).
• That budget implementation bill will end the Digital Services Tax for good.
• Mélanie Joly announced a $528 million investment in European Space Agency programmes, which will allow access for more Canadian technology.
• One of the top digital asbestos experts in the civil service is trying to pump the brakes on Carney/Solomon’s fever dreams about deploying it at scale.
• The CRTC released their updated criteria for what counts as Canadian Content, and it will exclude digital asbestos (thankfully).
• Canada Post says they are effectively insolvent, but that hasn’t changed the union’s position around their demands.
• Canada, the US and Finland took another step forward on the “ICE Pact” to build more icebreakers and share associated technology.
• A dozen former high-ranking members of the RCAF sent a letter to the government in support of carrying on with the full 88 F-35 fighter order.
• A report out this week shows that one in five highly skilled immigrants doesn’t stay in Canada (and lo, it doesn’t mention provincial failures in any of this).
• Here is an interesting look at the spread of avian flu in the US, research that tracks wind and dust spreading to farms, and the incuriosity of the USDA.
• Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs is explaining her medical absence as a result of chin surgery, as rabid Conservatives are calling her a traitor online.
• The NDP are pissy that the government didn’t negotiate with them seriously about budget support (never mind that they demonstrated they can’t act in good faith).
• Danielle Smith is invoking the Notwithstanding Clause yet again to protect her anti-trans legislation, and lying to justify doing so.
• Alberta is destroying its public healthcare system by contemplating allowing doctors to work in both public and private sectors (further reducing capacity).
• John Main has been selected as Nunavut’s new premier, the first non-Inuk to hold the post in the territory.
• Mike Moffatt explains why cutting the HST on new homes is a supply-side measure and not a demand-side one.
• Supriya Dwivedi notes that the close budget votes shows that Carney is still a political rookie who is not doing his job of securing confidence.
• Paul Wells ponders the problem of “getting big things done” in Canada, and why so many of the attempts wind up doing nothing at all.
• My column points out that Carney’s budget is using inflammatory language about immigration that comes from the likes of Nigel Farage, and that’s a problem.

Odds and ends:

My Loonie Politics Quick Take wonders why nobody is correcting Poilievre on his horseshit assertions about what is causing food price inflation.

Hey BSers! Need a copy of my book, for yourself or for a holiday gift? @dundurnpress.bsky.social is having their holiday sale! Use code HOLIDAY25 to save 25% on this, or any Dundurn book. Check out my book #UnbrokenMachine, or the book I contributed a chapter to, #RoyalProgress.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-11-19T02:01:04.435Z

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