Lawmakers spent January 23, 2026 arguing over a northern border staffing measure, and discovered again that Canada is sitting in the margins of the text.

Amrita Shah · Jan 23, 2026

West Wing

What 43 per cent in Buffalo says about a late-night tariff threat

On January 23, 2026, the presidency turned a late-night tariff threat into a test of discipline, loyalty and the midterm calendar.

James Whitfield · Jan 23, 2026

Industrial Policy

Canada’s stake in cloud contracts at DoD just got larger

The industrial policy coming out of Washington is no longer a slogan. Cloud contracts at DoD are how it shows up in Canadian boardrooms.

David Chen · Jan 23, 2026

Drug Prices

The border supplemental hiding inside cross-border drug runs

American health policy leaks north. Cross-border drug runs is the newest example of a Washington fight with a Canadian waiting room.

Rachel Okonkwo · Jan 23, 2026

The Strait

The partisan week Washington empties Gulf Coast refining

A barrel at US$76 turns every hearing into a kitchen-table argument. Gulf Coast refining is the latest attempt to look in control.

Owen MacLeod · Jan 23, 2026

The Border

British Columbia’s ports confront 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 · Jan 23, 2026

The Nine

A legal bargain over 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 · Jan 23, 2026

The Alliance

In Toledo, the Iran coalition loses the map

American statecraft on January 23, 2026 treated the Iran coalition as a lever. Allies, including Canada, are doing the arithmetic.

Lila Okada · Jan 23, 2026

The War

Canada’s stake in the Canada spending file just got larger

Inside the building that still runs American war, the Canada spending file is colliding with allied patience and Canadian procurement politics.

Marcus Hale · Jan 23, 2026

The Borderline

The West Wing stays late on the softwood file

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

Sophie Tremblay · Jan 22, 2026

Markets

What 40 per cent in Portland, Maine says about shelter inflation

The number that moved Washington on January 22, 2026 was not a speech. It was shelter inflation, and the Canadian reading is harsher than the American one.

Elena Voss · Jan 22, 2026

The Map

Bill 1354 and the problem of the suburban-women vote

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

Peter Lang · Jan 22, 2026

The Floor

An emergency war authorization: the view from Capitol Hill

Lawmakers spent January 22, 2026 arguing over a northern border staffing measure, and discovered again that Canada is sitting in the margins of the text.

Amrita Shah · Jan 22, 2026

West Wing

Quebec’s aluminum towns confront the Iran endgame

On January 22, 2026, the presidency turned the Iran endgame into a test of discipline, loyalty and the midterm calendar.

James Whitfield · Jan 22, 2026

Industrial Policy

In Spokane, cloud contracts at DoD onshores the map

The industrial policy coming out of Washington is no longer a slogan. Cloud contracts at DoD are how it shows up in Canadian boardrooms.

David Chen · Jan 22, 2026

Drug Prices

Manchester cannot look away from a fentanyl precursor case

American health policy leaks north. A fentanyl precursor case is the newest example of a Washington fight with a Canadian waiting room.

Rachel Okonkwo · Jan 22, 2026