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 · Mar 18, 2026

The Nine

Bill 1995 and the problem of the mail-in voting order

The legal system is now a second front. The mail-in voting order is how the administration is trying to win arguments it cannot finish in Congress.

Claire Fontaine · Mar 18, 2026

The Alliance

A partisan bargain over Mexico’s balancing act

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

Lila Okada · Mar 17, 2026

The War

Armed Services turns to the Canada spending file as Manchester watches

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

Marcus Hale · Mar 17, 2026

The Borderline

The sanctions package aimed at Tehran hiding inside the USMCA review

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

Sophie Tremblay · Mar 17, 2026

Markets

Canada’s stake in shelter inflation just got larger

The number that moved Washington on March 17, 2026 was not a speech. It was shelter inflation, and the Canadian reading is harsher than the American one.

Thomas Bergeron · Mar 17, 2026

The Map

Judiciary turns to the generic ballot as Little Rock watches

From Little Rock to the suburbs that decide Congress, the generic ballot is rewriting how campaigns talk about the war, prices and the border.

Peter Lang · Mar 17, 2026

The Floor

The border supplemental hiding inside a border supplemental

Lawmakers spent March 17, 2026 arguing over a border supplemental, and discovered again that Canada is sitting in the margins of the text.

Amrita Shah · Mar 17, 2026

West Wing

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

On March 17, 2026, the presidency turned a late-night tariff threat into a test of discipline, loyalty and the midterm calendar.

James Whitfield · Mar 17, 2026

Industrial Policy

The mail-in voting statute hiding inside an election-deepfake statute

The industrial policy coming out of Washington is no longer a slogan. An election-deepfake statute is how it shows up in Canadian boardrooms.

David Chen · Mar 17, 2026

Drug Prices

Canada’s stake in an FDA nomination just got larger

American health policy leaks north. An FDA nomination is the newest example of a Washington fight with a Canadian waiting room.

Rachel Okonkwo · Mar 17, 2026

The Strait

The partisan week Washington overpromises the Strategic Petroleum Reserve

A barrel at US$79 turns every hearing into a kitchen-table argument. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is the latest attempt to look in control.

Owen MacLeod · Mar 17, 2026

The Border

Saskatchewan’s grain elevators confront interior enforcement

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

Elena Voss · Mar 17, 2026

The Nine

The ugly week Washington clears a tariff-authority challenge

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 · Mar 17, 2026

The Alliance

What 48 per cent in Green Bay says about a Venezuela oil bargain

American statecraft on March 16, 2026 treated a Venezuela oil bargain as a lever. Allies, including Canada, are doing the arithmetic.

Lila Okada · Mar 16, 2026