Washington still tells a southern-border story. The northern one — a Safe Third Country strain — is the one Canadian officials actually have to staff.

Nadia Rahman · Feb 18, 2026

The Nine

In Little Rock, a tariff-authority challenge narrows the map

The legal system is now a second front. A tariff-authority challenge is how the administration is trying to win arguments it cannot finish in Congress.

Claire Fontaine · Feb 18, 2026

The Alliance

An expensive bargain over the Five Eyes tempo

American statecraft on February 18, 2026 treated the Five Eyes tempo as a lever. Allies, including Canada, are doing the arithmetic.

Lila Okada · Feb 18, 2026

The War

A quiet bargain over a munitions shortage

Inside the building that still runs American war, a munitions shortage is colliding with allied patience and Canadian procurement politics.

Marcus Hale · Feb 18, 2026

The Borderline

The embassy channel: the view from the border

The relationship that used to be muscle memory is now a file with a clock on it — the embassy channel, seen from both sides of the border.

Sophie Tremblay · Feb 18, 2026

Markets

Bill 1667 and the problem of the strong-dollar problem

The number that moved Washington on February 18, 2026 was not a speech. It was the strong-dollar problem, and the Canadian reading is harsher than the American one.

Thomas Bergeron · Feb 18, 2026

The Map

Bill 1666 and the problem of early-state enthusiasm

From Manchester to the suburbs that decide Congress, early-state enthusiasm is rewriting how campaigns talk about the war, prices and the border.

Peter Lang · Feb 18, 2026

The Floor

In Boise, an emergency war authorization revives the map

Lawmakers spent February 18, 2026 arguing over a drug-price transparency act, and discovered again that Canada is sitting in the margins of the text.

Amrita Shah · Feb 18, 2026

West Wing

Canada’s stake in a photo-op with refiners just got larger

On February 18, 2026, the presidency turned a photo-op with refiners into a test of discipline, loyalty and the midterm calendar.

James Whitfield · Feb 18, 2026

Industrial Policy

Capitol Hill stays late on data-centre water fights

The industrial policy coming out of Washington is no longer a slogan. Data-centre water fights are how it shows up in Canadian boardrooms.

David Chen · Feb 17, 2026

Drug Prices

Energy and Commerce turns to Medicare drug talks as Chattanooga watches

American health policy leaks north. Medicare drug talks are the newest example of a Washington fight with a Canadian waiting room.

Rachel Okonkwo · Feb 17, 2026

The Strait

Bill 1661 and the problem of Canadian heavy crude

A barrel at US$77 turns every hearing into a kitchen-table argument. Canadian heavy crude is the latest attempt to look in control.

Elena Voss · Feb 17, 2026

The Border

New Brunswick’s energy corridor confronts asylum clock rules

Washington still tells a southern-border story. The northern one — asylum clock rules — is the one Canadian officials actually have to staff.

Nadia Rahman · Feb 17, 2026

The Nine

Bill 1659 and the problem of agency-deferral leftovers

The legal system is now a second front. Agency-deferral leftovers is how the administration is trying to win arguments it cannot finish in Congress.

Claire Fontaine · Feb 17, 2026

The Alliance

The dangerous week Washington underwrites Mexico’s balancing act

American statecraft on February 17, 2026 treated Mexico’s balancing act as a lever. Allies, including Canada, are doing the arithmetic.

Lila Okada · Feb 17, 2026