THE UPHEAVAL IN the international order prompts Canadians to think thoughts that would have seemed preposterous a short time ago. We hear our Department of National Defence is “modelling” what a US invasion might look like. A former Canadian chief of defence staff says we should keep our “options open” with respect to building our own nuclear deterrent one day.

Anyone who had been asleep for a few years and suddenly woke up would think the world had gone mad. They would be right.

One of the key developments of the last year is the loss of confidence that the United States will honour its Article V commitment under the NATO Treaty, particularly in the light of a Russia that is seen to pose a greater threat than at any time since the end of the Cold War. Article V is the promise to come to the aid of any ally under attack. A strike against one member, in other words, would automatically widen into a war with the entire alliance. If adversaries believe that promise is now conditional, negotiable, or politically fragile, then the deterrent logic collapses. Indeed, there is now a fear—apparently put aside for the moment as far as Greenland is concerned—that the US might itself attack (or at least coerce) its allies.

This raises monumental questions for the rest of NATO. One of these is whether the US nuclear guarantee, the ultimate expression of its willingness to fulfill Article V, is still worth anything. In a major study prepared for the Munich Security Conference, European security experts explored possible responses, including the creation of an independent deterrent for the continent.

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/48461568

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Trade ministers from Canada and the European Union are set to sign on to a series of improvements to their bilateral trade agreement.

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CETA was signed in 2016 and everything but its investment chapter took effect provisionally in 2017. Even though some EU member countries have yet to ratify the treaty in their respective legislatures, the two partners agreed to implement the deal's economic benefits, such as its tariff cuts, without waiting for its complete ratification.

CETA's current text was negotiated between 2009 and 2016, and requires modernization to address emerging issues in this rapidly evolving sector. Negotiations will officially launch Thursday to add a digital trade agreement to the existing treaty.

Other recently approved enhancements include:

• A mutual recognition agreement for architects, something the Carney government hopes will open up access to Europe's $1.1-trillion construction market to Canadian professionals.
• Expanded protocols for the manufacturing of pharmaceutical ingredients, which the two countries hope will reduce duplicative inspections and costs for that sector.
• Revisions to strengthen CETA's investment protections for small and medium-sized businesses.

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Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand is set to brief Liberal MPs on Friday morning about the government's position on the war that has now engulfed Iran and surrounding countries in the Middle East, after some both privately and publicly raised concerns about Prime Minister Mark Carney's initial statement regarding the U.S.-Israeli strikes, CBC News has learned.

Four sources with knowledge of the event told CBC News about the briefing, which will take place virtually as the House of Commons is not sitting this week.

One source said the briefing will provide MPs a chance to learn about the situation in Iran and consular services provided by Global Affairs Canada (GAC).

The source also said MPs will have a chance to ask questions about Canada's position and the government's messaging, given Carney's multiple statements on the matter.

“What we’re hearing right now, at a time when it really matters, is … that we’re giving in,” Neve said. “We’re not prepared to be that bold leader in that ‘middle power’ space. Instead, we are capitulating to the ‘might is right’ world that Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are intent on forging.”

The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has ruled that the RCMP discriminated against First Nations former students when it investigated claims of historical abuse at two northern B.C. schools.

The decision comes 12 years after the RCMP concluded its investigation into a “well-known Canadian” accused of sexually, physically and mentally abusing children at two schools where he worked as a physical education teacher in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The man’s identity is protected by a confidentiality order issued by the tribunal in 2022. He is referred to by the tribunal as “A.B.”

The ruling, which was released Monday, had been more than a year overdue.

Harrington found that officers failed to fully inform witnesses of their legal options and improperly asked for one to take a lie detector test. She ruled that Indigenous identity was likely “at least a factor” in the discrimination and that police actions further eroded First Nations’ trust in police.

“The evidence shows that, as a result of these negative interactions and beliefs about the RCMP, the Indigenous witnesses did not expect that the RCMP would take them or their complaints seriously,” she wrote.

Don't you dare you fucking idiot, I voted for you and I don't want us getting involved at all.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) detected and tracked two Russian TU-142 military aircraft operating in the Alaskan and Canadian Air Defense Identification Zones (ADIZ) on March 4, 2026.

NORAD launched two U.S. Air Force F-35 fighter aircraft, two F-22 fighter aircraft, four KC-135 tankers, one E-3 AWACS, two Canadian CF-18 fighter aircraft, and one CC-150 tanker to positively identify, monitor, and intercept the Russian aircraft in the American and Canadian Air Defense Identification Zones.

The Russian aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace. This Russian activity in the Alaskan and Canadian ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat.

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An ADIZ begins where sovereign airspace ends and is a defined stretch of international airspace that requires the ready identification of all aircraft in the interest of national security.

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State-owned German energy group Uniper is holding talks with Canada to expand its ‌liquefied natural gas purchases, three people familiar with the matter said, as part of Berlin's plans to strike a broad economic partnership and cut reliance on U.S. supplies.

The discussions, which the sources said are taking place on ​a corporate and political level, are happening as Germany pitches for a Canadian submarine tender that ​is likely to involve deals in other areas, including rare earths, batteries and ⁠energy.

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Canada has been ​seeking alternative offtakers to reduce its gas export dependency on the United ​States, including Japan, India ⁠and Malaysia.

Germany's economy ministry said there was an expectation that any submarine tender award would generate added value in the client's country as part of a so-called offset agreement, adding it was supporting such efforts.

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Australia and Canada on Thursday signed a series of new agreements on critical ​minerals, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said, including Australia ‌joining the G7 minerals alliance.

Western nations have been attempting to diversify their supply chains away from China, which still controls the majority of production and ​processing of critical minerals, essential for semiconductors and defence applications.

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The two countries [Canada and Australia] produce around a third of global ​lithium and uranium, as well as over 40% of global iron ​ore.

Canada believes that the best way to address the issue of concentrated supply ‌of ⁠critical minerals is through a production alliance or a buyers' club rather than just a price floor, Energy and Mining Minister Tim Hodgson [said].

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As well as critical minerals, Australia and Canada are also expected to deepen cooperation in areas including defence ⁠and ​maritime security, trade and artificial intelligence, ​Carney's office said ahead of the visit.

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