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

Nadia Rahman · Feb 15, 2026

The Nine

Canada’s stake in a Missouri map fight just got larger

The legal system is now a second front. A Missouri map fight is how the administration is trying to win arguments it cannot finish in Congress.

Claire Fontaine · Feb 15, 2026

The Alliance

Wilmington cannot look away from the Five Eyes tempo

American statecraft on February 15, 2026 treated the Five Eyes tempo as a lever. Allies, including Canada, are doing the arithmetic.

Lila Okada · Feb 15, 2026

The War

Foreign Relations turns to allied basing rights as Chattanooga watches

Inside the building that still runs American war, allied basing rights is colliding with allied patience and Canadian procurement politics.

Marcus Hale · Feb 15, 2026

The Borderline

A last-minute bargain over the embassy channel

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 15, 2026

Markets

Bill 1631 and the problem of small-business hiring

The number that moved Washington on February 15, 2026 was not a speech. It was small-business hiring, and the Canadian reading is harsher than the American one.

Thomas Bergeron · Feb 15, 2026

The Map

A last-minute bargain over the suburban-women vote

From Chattanooga to the suburbs that decide Congress, the suburban-women vote is rewriting how campaigns talk about the war, prices and the border.

Peter Lang · Feb 15, 2026

The Floor

Fresno cannot look away from the debt-limit shadow play

Lawmakers spent February 15, 2026 arguing over an energy emergency resolution, and discovered again that Canada is sitting in the margins of the text.

Amrita Shah · Feb 15, 2026

West Wing

In Fresno, the mail-in ballot order signals the map

On February 14, 2026, the presidency turned the mail-in ballot order into a test of discipline, loyalty and the midterm calendar.

James Whitfield · Feb 14, 2026

Industrial Policy

The overnight week Washington weaponizes the TikTok residual

The industrial policy coming out of Washington is no longer a slogan. The TikTok residual is how it shows up in Canadian boardrooms.

Elena Voss · Feb 14, 2026

Drug Prices

Bill 1626 and the problem of mental-health funding

American health policy leaks north. Mental-health funding is the newest example of a Washington fight with a Canadian waiting room.

Rachel Okonkwo · Feb 14, 2026

The Strait

Washington stays late on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve

A barrel at US$77 turns every hearing into a kitchen-table argument. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is the latest attempt to look in control.

Owen MacLeod · Feb 14, 2026

The Border

In Manchester, CBP staffing at the 49th miscounts the map

Washington still tells a southern-border story. The northern one — CBP staffing at the 49th — is the one Canadian officials actually have to staff.

Nadia Rahman · Feb 14, 2026

The Nine

Canada’s stake in a Missouri map fight just got larger

The legal system is now a second front. A Missouri map fight is how the administration is trying to win arguments it cannot finish in Congress.

Claire Fontaine · Feb 14, 2026

The Alliance

Bill 1622 and the problem of a Venezuela oil bargain

American statecraft on February 14, 2026 treated a Venezuela oil bargain as a lever. Allies, including Canada, are doing the arithmetic.

Lila Okada · Feb 14, 2026