From Carney’s Australia trip, we saw him first in Syndy at a fireside chat event at the Lowry Institute, where he regaled the attendees with talk about how Trump is different behind closed doors than in public, as well as talking about his interactions with Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi. Interestingly in the part about Xi, there was a lot of talk about how Xi was basically drilling into him that he wasn’t to be ambushed on any topics not discussed beforehand, and that he wasn’t to be lectured to in public. He also regaled them with tales of wine-fuelled central bankers’ meetings, for what it matters.

Carney then headed to Canberra to address Parliament, where his speech was not only about Canada’s ties and similarities to Australia, but also invited them to join his middle power alliance in the “post-rupture” world. He also had a joint press conference with prime minister Albanese, where he said that the possibility exists that Canada could need to deploy troops to defend our allies in the Iran conflict, but this may be another situation where just which allies we’re defending may be the question—could we be talking the US (who is only dubiously an ally), or Türkiye? In either case, Carney’s language is being deliberately vague, because he’s all about that these days.

Meanwhile, there is a side drama happening around the technical briefing before the trip, where that senior official said that India was no longer engaging in foreign interference and transnational repression. When confronted with this, Carney got shirty with a reporter and said that the quote was “not for quotation,” erm, even though the transcript came from PCO, and it was “not for attribution,” which means that the official is and has remained nameless in the press. Carney also made comments about his security clearance, which pretty much gave Poilievre vindication for why he’s refused to get his clearance so as to avoid being “silenced,” which is again nonsense—he could talk, but in generalities. Nevertheless, because Carney decided to be flip about the security clearance remark, he’s undermined the whole case for Poilievre getting his clearance as opposition leader, so good job there. (Honest to Zeus, you guys…)

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2026-03-04T23:02:03.515Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Russia attacked rail infrastructure in the south of Ukraine, injuring at least five. It is likely that the conflict in Iran will prevent promised weapons from being shipped to Ukraine.

Good reads:

• There was a significant deputy minister shuffle that puts the Carney/Michael Sabia stamp on senior levels of the public service.
• Anita Anand says that Canada is working to charter some planes to help retrieve Canadians stuck in several the Middle Eastern countries.
• Evan Solomon had a meeting with OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, and he continues to let the corporations police themselves and ensure a light touch of regulation.
• The federal government has agreed to pay the Bay du Nord project’s UN law of the sea fees, which could be as much as $1 billion. (Quite the oil subsidy!)
• The federal government is promising stricter enforcement of the rule for its Indigenous procurement programme to weed out scam bidders.
• Here is a look at the state of the Canadian energy export industry given the concerns over what is happening in the Middle East and the demand for Canadian product.
• There is a possibility that if Canada did get Gripen fighters that the US would withhold access to the Link 16 system that makes them interoperable with F-35s.
• Poilievre keeps making promises he can’t keep about LNG, this time at a keynote speech in Berlin. (“Overriding” other levels of government? Really?!)
• Alberta is especially vulnerable to foreign interference, particularly when it comes to disinformation, as its series of referendums are on the way this fall.
• Lindsay Tedds delves into the Alberta budget, its false claim about no tax increases, the property tax grab by the province, and the province’s fiscal bind.
• Stephen Saideman considers Carney’s various statements on the Iran conflict, and provides some good context on diaspora politics and PMO reflexive actions.
• Andrew MacDougall offers some lessons for Poilievre and Carney based on what is happening with the mainstream parties in the UK at the moment.
• Susan Delacourt remarks on Carney’s Lowry Institute chat, and what it reveals about him on a personal level.
• My column takes a slightly tongue-in-cheek approach to pointing out why constitutional monarchy is superior to American presidentialism.

Odds and ends:

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