Political Press 🍁

Political news, analysis, and opinions for Canadians

Year: 2026 (Page 10 of 12)

80% of Canadians support U.S. alcohol ban

2026-08-20 /

… but majority willing to lift it in exchange for tariff relief

Released on August 19, 2026 — Pollara’s Trump Tracker shows 9% of Canadians feel positively and 80% feel negatively about President Trump, a record high in negativity since the Trump Tracker launched in January 2024.

As trade talks intensify, Canadians are feeling very positive about Prime Minister Carney, with 59% approving and 32% disapproving of how he’s handling Canada-US relations. This represents a 16-point increase in approval of Carney on this file over the past year.

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Mexico is watching Canada-U.S. trade talks closely in order to ‘live to negotiate another day’

2026-08-20 /

Sources told The Globe and Mail the U.S. wanted to strike a deal with Canada on autos similar to the agreement it is negotiating with Mexico. Mexican Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, the country’s point person on international trade, confirmed shortly after midnight Wednesday that he had met with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to discuss tariffs.

Analysts say Mexico watched the Canada-U.S. negotiations with an eye on rules of origin in the automotive sector, which has mushroomed in Mexico over the past 30 years of continental free trade. “Whatever Canada agrees with the U.S. will become the departing point” for Mexico-U.S. talks, said Juan Carlos Baker Pineda, a former Mexican vice-minister of foreign trade and researcher at the Universidad Panamericana in Mexico City.

“We probably have to agree to what we can in order to lower the burden of those tariffs and then live to negotiate another day,” he said of the Mexican negotiating position.

Dominic LeBlanc and Janice Charette return to Washington to finalize Canada-U.S. trade deal

2026-08-20 /

Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc is heading back to Washington to meet again with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, alongside Canada’s chief negotiator Janice Charette, at 12:15 p.m. ET as work continues to finalize a deal to avert a new round of U.S. tariffs, reports The Canadian Press.

LeBlanc was in Ottawa on Wednesday to brief Prime Minister Mark Carney on the status of talks and take part in a virtual cabinet meeting that was followed by one with the premiers.

Reuters: Top Canada, US trade negotiators to meet again as deal deadline nears

U.S. national debt has topped US$40 trillion for the first time [updated]

2026-08-20 /

The Independent: US national debt more than doubling in only a decade.

The United States has never owed so much money.

On Tuesday, the debt surpassed the US$40 trillion (CA$55 trillion) mark, according to the Treasury Department, reports JesĂșs SĂ©rvulo GonzĂĄlez of EL PAÍS.

The figure comes amid growing concerns about rising financing costs for the economy, with 30-year bond yields hitting highs not seen in nearly two decades. The yield on those long-term securities has climbed to 5.3%, the highest level since 2007, driven by doubts that the Trump administration can rein in inflation and curb the public deficit, as well as the frenzy around artificial intelligence (AI), which is prompting big tech companies to take on more debt.

The budget deficit has worsened since Trump returned to the Oval Office.

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Opposition to AI data centres is surging across Canada

2026-08-20 /

Public opposition to artificial intelligence data centre projects is surging across Canada as outrage over the projects’ energy and water use, noise pollution, carbon footprint—and their proponents’ habit of often ignoring or flouting community opposition—unites voters across the political spectrum, reports The Energy Mix.

The latest poll for Heatmap showed public support for data centres collapsing, with 75% of respondents now saying they oppose development in their communities. The poll results arrived as the Alberta Utility Commission (AUC) disallowed a $1-billion, 1,400-megawatt gas power plant that would have powered a data centre in the rural community of Olds, where 900 people out of a population of about 9,500 were given standing to speaking out on the project.

 

Switzerland seeks additional CA$1.6 billion for air defence

2026-08-20 /

The Swiss government is seeking parliamentary approval to allocate an additional 970 million Swiss francs (CA$1.6 billion) for air defence under the 2026 budget, citing a heightened threat situation and long delivery times for defence equipment, reports Defensenews.com.

The tight international arms markets with “sharply” higher demand means production capacities are fully booked for years to come, with delivery times lengthening, according to the government. Arms makers also increasingly demand “substantial” down payments, and failure to meet those demands could delay urgent procurements by several years, the government said.

*1.00 CHF = 1.726 CAD

Lula is considered to be Brazil’s presidential frontrunner

2026-08-20 /

Luiz InĂĄcio Lula da Silva is broadly considered the favourite to beat right-wing challenger FlĂĄvio Bolsonaro, whose campaign has been marred by a feud with his stepmother and links to a banker at the center of a massive financial fraud probe, according to Daniel Carvalho, Martha Beck, and Vinicius Andrade at Bloomberg.

Influential centrist lawmakers are endorsing him. Betting markets give Lula better than 60% odds of reelection, while investors have begun selling off Brazilian assets amid worries about his willingness to tackle ballooning deficits and debt.

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Allies forge alternate partnerships, realizing they can no longer depend on the U.S.

2026-08-19 /

The only remaining U.S. aircraft carrier patrolling the Pacific departed Asia through Singapore last week en route to the Middle East, marking the latest step in a steady drawdown of American military assets across the region, reports Michael Wilner for the LA Times.

The Trump administration’s snub of South Korea has America’s allies in Asia rethinking how much they can depend on the U.S. — and looking to each other to reduce their reliance on Washington, reports Phelim Kine at Politico.

Trump said this week he is cutting back joint military exercises with South Korea, and announced Wednesday that he will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later this year. That is pushing countries in Asia to accelerate their defence spending and forge alternate partnerships, according to Asian diplomats and others familiar with discussions among regional governments.

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