The News Rundown

Carney signs deals worth billions in diplomatic breakthrough with India's Modi

Prime Minister Mark Carney has been travelling through the Asia-Pacific region over the past week, with notable stops in Australia, India, and Japan. While championing Australia's history as a fellow Commonwealth country and middle power, and negotiating a deal with Japan, it was the India section of the trip that was the most interesting.
Carney and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met at the colonial-era Hyderabad House in Delhi's diplomatic core, and by all accounts had a productive meeting, certainly one that was devoid of fancy socks or costumes or impromptu Bollywood dancing like Carney's predecessor was infamous for. Instead, it seemed that the political relations between India and Canada were reset.
Carney and Modi announced Monday what they're calling a "new partnership," a series of multimillion-dollar deals and a commitment to sign a free trade agreement by year's end as the two look to turn the page on years of frosty bilateral relations marked by allegations of Indian foreign interference.
Carney said Canada is going all-in on diversifying trade. The two countries have set a goal to more than double two-way trade to some $70 billion a year by 2030, he said, as Canada continues a push to reduce its dependence on the U.S.
Carney framed this new course as not just a return to how things were but rather an ambitious revisioning of what the two Commonwealth countries can do together in an uncertain era marked by instability. At the centre of this more robust relationship will be a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement — a free trade deal — that Carney said the two sides hope to sign by December, which will offer Canada exports relief from Indian tariffs that are quite high on some goods.
Perhaps the most significant is a $2.6 billion deal between the Government of India and Saskatoon-based Cameco to supply nearly 22 million pounds of uranium for nuclear energy generation from 2027 to 2035. That's a big boon for Saskatchewan, which sits on one of the world's largest reserves of high-grade uranium.
Carney said alongside Modi: "This is not merely the renewal of a relationship. It is the expansion of a valued partnership with new ambition, focus, and foresight — a partnership between two confident countries charting our course for the future."
Modi was effusive in his praise of Carney, noting his leadership at two central banks and saying the only reason the two countries are on a better footing is because of his leadership.
Canada and India have had a frosty relationship for the past few years. Some Indian diplomats were dramatically expelled from Canada after former prime minister Justin Trudeau accused Indian agents of involvement in the murder of Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was a supporter of an independent Khalistan state. The RCMP subsequently alleged India was behind incidents of extortion and violence on Canadian soil.
Canadian national-security officials were presented with evidence that Indian consular staff operating in Vancouver supplied information to assist in the assassination of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar
Canada’s spy agency says India remains one of the main perpetrators of foreign interference and espionage against Canada, contradicting a claim by a senior government official last week that Indian agents are no longer linked to such crimes.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has repeatedly cited the Indian government as one of the main perpetrators of foreign interference and transnational repression in Canada in recent years.
But, with Carney at the helm, the relationship has become friendlier with much more diplomatic dialogue — with even more to come after the prime minister invited Modi to visit Canada sometime soon.
That doesn't mean the problems that Canada has with India are going away anytime soon. Carney's stance prompted India’s top diplomat in Ottawa to applaud what he sees as the federal government’s newfound understanding that India is not behind any ongoing violence, repression, or political meddling — an assertion that has sparked blowback from Sikh activists, intelligence experts and some MPs in Carney’s Liberal caucus.
Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Patnaik said of the foreign interference and Singh murder: “It’s not a question of ‘no longer.’ It never happened... and I’m glad that people are realizing that. People have to look deep into seeing where the problem is happening, where extortion is happening, where all the illegal activity in Canada is happening. I’ve been telling from the very beginning: it’s a problem Canada has to resolve itself. We are there to help you. And so let’s look at it very clearly.”
A senior Canadian government official told reporters that Ottawa believes the country is no longer engaged in transnational repression and political meddling inside Canada. That statement prompted outrage from Sikh activists groups, who pointed to how a prominent leader in B.C. received a police warning of death threats to himself and his family — which they believe is linked to India because of his Khalistani activism — just days before Carney’s trip.
Some Liberal MPs have also spoken out, including Ruby Sahota, a Brampton MP who is secretary of state for combatting crime in Carney’s cabinet.
“Any suggestion these threats have been resolved does not reflect the current security reality facing Canadians,” Sahota wrote on social media Saturday.
“Attempting to minimize these threats risks eroding public confidence and overlooks the ongoing efforts to protect communities targeted by intimidation and violence.”
Jody Thomas, who was Trudeau’s national security adviser from 2022 to 2024, told the CBC on Friday that she believes the Canadian official “misspoke.” To say the behaviour has ceased is a “gross” understatement, she said.
Speaking to reporters earlier Saturday in Mumbai, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand refused to say whether she agrees India is no longer behind transnational repression and foreign interference. But she stressed repeatedly that she has “concerns” after speaking with Sikh MPs, and said the government’s top priority with India is to ensure the dialogue on law enforcement and security cooperation that started last year will continue.
Regardless of the minimizing done by Anand and the rest of the Carney government, it's clear that they value normalized relationships with India over whatever else may have happened in the past. Time will tell if this approach is better for Canada than the previous one under Trudeau.
Supplementals:

CNRL otherwise known as Canadian Natural Resources Limited has deferred an oil sands expansion project worth $8.25b. They cite a lack of clarity around the regulatory regime, specifically carbon pricing and methane rules.
CNRL President Scott Stauth said that the project is at an early enough stage that the timeline can be shifted until governments provide more clarity.
The federal government’s memorandum of understanding that was inked last fall calls for a host of other discussions to happen, one of which is further clarity around industrial carbon pricing and methane by April 1.
Stauth said, “We’re just being very prudent from our perspective and ensuring that the outcomes from that are reviewed internally here to ensure that we can tell our investors that growth in oilsands is going to be economically competitive.”
Following this Stauth said the company will wait to see the announced decisions on carbon pricing and methane to determine if the project is economically viable.
Stauth feels that the company should not be subject to carbon pricing because of the Pathways Project, a massive carbon capture and storage project that was greenlit.
He also feels that the outcome of the federal-provincial discussions will govern whether oil companies will actually build the Pathways project and what the sector’s overall viability is.
He and his company feel that the industrial carbon price should scrapped for companies that use emissions reductions technology such as carbon capture and storage.
This story is important and did not get much coverage in the media. It’s important because it clearly shows how a company thinks and how the federal regulations that have been in place for many years now are a hinderance to growth and development of the sector.
This of course comes at a time with the global oil supply under pressure in the Middle East and oil rising on Friday to north of $90/barrel USD.
That mere increase in the price of oil could have funded schools, hospitals, and any amount of services in this country if the people involved at the federal level were doing anything and everything to make Canada succeed. But they aren’t.
Instead this week another phase of discussion moved forward on the memorandum of understanding, this, one that would see Alberta take control of regulatory approval for major projects.
Upon the announcement Premier Danielle Smith said, “This agreement is a meaningful next step toward faster, more efficient project reviews, and includes the removal of federal oversight of projects that are squarely within the province’s jurisdiction to approve. This will see Alberta projects approved faster, and shovels in the ground sooner.”
She continued, “…I think that this really restores the balance that was always envisioned in how our country should work in approving major projects."
Under this agreement projects that fall under Alberta jurisdiction would rely on the provincial environmental and impact assessment process. If projects include federal work or are on federal land, Ottawa would blend Alberta's process into the federal review.
In the event that both federal and provincial assessments apply, the agreement says regulators would work together to develop a single decision to minimize duplication.
This part of the agreement is important for two reasons, first it normalizes the process of how projects should be approved constitutionally, meaning that the province controls its own natural resources projects as per the constitution.
Second, it takes any wind out of the sails that suggests that Smith is campaigning on the side of Alberta independence.
This agreement while nice on paper ignores the realities of what the energy companies presently see and what the reality of the world is.
CNRL put things simply and said that they need to wait and see what the outcome of the talks are. If there were no talks as has been the trend for the better part of the last 10 years, the project would likely have been gone. But the question remains, given the global energy situation is the province and federal government moving fast enough to greenlit projects and seize the opportunity that exists?
The impact assessment act, sometimes called the no more pipelines act, or Bill C-69 is being challenged in court by Alberta and the agreement this week underscores that Alberta still sees the impact assessment act as unconstitutional.
Meanwhile these projects could’ve been approved and Alberta and Canada could’ve been raking in billions in resource royalties as the price of oil goes up. But instead the reality is bringing forth dithering and talk by both the federal government and Alberta government.
Supplementals:

Musqueam sign Aboriginal rights deals with federal government

The saga of Aboriginal title in BC ironically got a little bit more complicated this week, with news of a set of deals signed between the lower Mainland's Musqueam First Nation and the Federal government that has the BC government and other First Nations in the province very interested.
The Musqueam Indian Band and the federal government have signed three deals that recognize the First Nation’s Aboriginal rights and increase its role in fisheries and marine emergency management in an area that encompasses Greater Vancouver.
In an announcement on Feb. 20, the federal government said the first agreement recognized the Musqueam have Aboriginal rights including title within their traditional territory and establishes a framework for “incremental implementation” and nation-to-nation relations with Canada.
The Musqueam’s traditional territory encompasses a large area including Vancouver, the North Shore, Richmond, Burnaby, and parts of Delta and Surrey, and overlaps traditional territories of other First Nations including the Kwikwetlem, Squamish, Tsawwassen and Tsleil-Waututh.
Crown-Indigenous Relations Canada said the agreement provides general recognition the Musqueam have Aboriginal rights and title within their territory and established a framework for negotiations to define how and where those rights and title could apply. The federal government said private lands are not affected by the agreement and did not say whether there was money attached to the agreements.
In a statement posted to the Musqueam’s website on Sunday, the 1,435-member First Nation said the agreement does not recognize legal title to the land and does not change Musqueam’s recognition of private property.
Musqueam Chief Wayne Sparrow said: “Musqueam is not coming for anyone’s private property. Our approach to traditional unceded territory is one of partnership and relationship with our neighbours, not trying to take away our neighbours’ private property.”
Public interest in aboriginal title rights and private lands has been under the spotlight after a precedent-setting B.C. Supreme Court ruling last year granted the Cowichan Tribes on Vancouver Island land title rights to about half the 7.5 square kilometres it had claimed that encompassed private properties in Richmond, including home, farms and businesses.
It caused a public uproar, although the Cowichan Tribes have said they are not seeking to displace private homeowners or invalidate existing fee-simple title. The Cowichan decision is being appealed by the province, the federal government, the city of Richmond and the Musqueam and Tsawwassen First nations.
In an unrelated announcement on Monday, B.C. Premier David Eby said he had not been briefed on the agreements and looked forward to learning more. Eby said these types of agreements need to be negotiated because the courts and the Constitution require it.
Eby said Tuesday: “I was glad to see the federal government working with the Musqueam people. But I didn’t know the content of the agreements until they were released publicly by the federal government.”
BC Indigenous Relations Minister Spencer Chandra Herbert picked up the baton of denial and deflection in his ministry’s estimates later Tuesday afternoon, claiming he only heard about the bilateral deal between Canada and Musqueam through the media.
Chandra Herbert said: “I have reached out to the federal minister to certainly share my displeasure at learning about this through the news. I think we should try and proceed on a less of a surprises kind of environment.”
However, federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty said: “The federal government did brief the provincial government, it was a number of weeks ago.”
Interim Opposition Conservative Leader Trevor Halford grilled Eby on the denial in the Legislature, and said it was inconceivable the premier would have sat mutely during a signing event that affected the most densely populated area of the province, including Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, North Vancouver, West Vancouver and parts of Delta.
Halford said: “You would expect the premier of this province to be briefed on what event he is actually at. If not, we’ve got a way bigger problem with what’s going on in that office.”
The information vacuum from Ottawa also angered neighbouring Squamish Nation, which said it was “deeply concerned” by maps that seem to show Musqueam was able to achieve a deal on Aboriginal title that included Squamish traditional territory.
“Any implication that another Nation’s agreement could extend into Squamish Territory will be challenged,” Squamish Nation council chair Sxwíxwtn-Wilson Williams said in a statement.
“Squamish Nation was not consulted or meaningfully engaged by the federal government prior to the announcement of these agreements.
“We have formally requested an urgent meeting with federal officials to obtain full transparency on the agreements, including their scope, intent, and any implications for our territory and interests.”
Full transparency? Good luck to the Squamish on that one. When it comes to the B.C. and federal governments right now, some basic plain old honesty would be a good first step.
Tsawwassen First Nation also announced Thursday it is analyzing Musqueam’s three agreements with the federal government to determine their meaning and possible implications. Tsawwassen’s response took a more measured tone, than Squamish's acknowledging the Musqueam agreement as a milestone while emphasizing the need for further dialogue among First Nations and governments.
Still, it shows that in a province with few to no treaty rights, there are many missteps that can be made. A lack of communication between the federal and provincial governments could spell disaster for reconciliation, and it's clear that the people of BC are concerned with what's going on.
Supplementals:

Firing Line

Canada won’t rule out military participation in Middle East conflict

Shortly after recording last week the US and Israel began military operations on Iran. The goal being to destroy the country’s nuclear capability and to end the islamic regime.
The strikes on Iran have continued to this day and the government of Canada has taken an evolving position.
The first statement from the Prime Minister said: “Canada’s position remains clear: the Islamic Republic of Iran is the principal source of instability and terror throughout the Middle East, has one of the world’s worst human rights records, and must never be allowed to obtain or develop nuclear weapons.”
It ended by saying, “Canada supports the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent its regime from further threatening international peace and security.”
Later in the week speaking in Australia, Carney said, “Geostrategically, hegemons are increasingly acting without constraint or respect for international norms or laws, while others bear the consequences. Now the extremes of this disruption are being played out in real time in the Middle East.”
The statement evolved to saying that he still backs strikes on Iran but “with some regret”.
This goes into his statement that we must see the world as it is, not as we wish it to be, further saying, “we also take this position with some regret because the current conflict is another example of the failure of the international order," he said.”
The evolving series of statements is interesting because it highlights an important through line. But before we get to that though we have two more steps on Canada’s stance.
On Wednesday the Prime Minister then said that Canada “would not rule out military participation in the Middle East.”
Then finally on Friday Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jennie Carignan said that Canada could be called on to help defend Persian Gulf states from Iranian strikes.
She said, “the situation is quite dire and dangerous for the Gulf states… our Gulf partners may require defence and support ][and] this would be the type of military options that we could consider."
The reality of the situation is that the Prime Minister and the government’s official stance seems to be to support the strikes on Iran. This is a good sign and different compared to what we saw out of many countries in Europe.
What has emerged though is a question of concern from some in the party.
The party held a virtual caucus meeting on Friday with the opportunity to discuss Iran.
It has been reported that at least two MPs expressed concern privately.
Publicly though Victoria Liberal MP Will Greaves said, "Canada cannot endorse the unilateral and illegal use of military force, the killing of civilians or the kidnap and assassination of foreign heads of government while also insisting that our sovereignty, our fights and our independence must be protected”
The private MPs in question cited concern of international law and went even as far as to say that former PM Jean Chretien wouldn’t have supported the strikes on Iran.
There is split amongst MPs of almost all parties on Iran and the Conservatives have called for a debate in the House of Commons before any possible military deployment.
The reality though is that Iran’s theocratic regime existing since 1979 has been responsible for much of the instability we have seen in the Middle East. They’ve exported roadside bombs to Iraq and Afghanistan. Routinely launched drones at Israel and provided drone technology to Russia for use in Ukraine. They are also one of the biggest sponsors of terrorism in the region going back to backing the insurgency in Iraq, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas in Gaza.
The Iranian people are different from those in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan in that they have a society that remembers life before the islamist regime and want to go back to something more secular.
There have been protests in the streets through 2026 and support in the streets for the recent strikes on the country.
There are an estimated 280,000+ Iranian Canadians, a number which has ballooned over recent years. Iran is different than Iraq and Canada owes it to the Iranian Canadians to support the end of the regime.
The government of Canada seems to support the goals of what the US and Israel is doing but there are those in the media and our representatives that feel a need to oppose these strikes simply because they’re led by the US and Israel.
That has been apparent in media reporting this week and what’s been lost is how supportive the government of Canada seems to be of these strikes on Iran.
Supplementals:

Quote of the Week

“Canada’s position remains clear: the Islamic Republic of Iran is the principal source of instability and terror throughout the Middle East, has one of the world’s worst human rights records, and must never be allowed to obtain or develop nuclear weapons.” - Mark Carney’s initial position on Iran strikes.

Word of the Week

regime - a government, especially an authoritarian one

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Show Data

Episode Title: A Surprise Environment
Teaser: Carney resets relations with India, an Alberta oilsands giant halts its expansion plans, and a BC First Nation makes a set of deals with the federal government. Also, Carney doesn’t rule out Canadian military participation in the Middle East.
Production Code: WC-459-2026-03-07
Recorded Date: March 7, 2026
Release Date: March 8, 2026
Duration: 1:01:17
Edit Notes: First story coughs

Podcast Summary Notes

Duration: XX:XX