The Canadian government has made historic commitments to rebuild its military. The budget showcased its resolve, with an $84-billion increase in defence spending over five years. Yet the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) faces equally historic challenges with recruitment and retention — and without the people, our ambitions will be lost. Read More

Well isn't this refreshing: a politician of the left putting the concerns of regular people ahead of criminals, drug users and professional activists. Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew may be running an NDP government, but his star is rising because he blends his social democratic worldview with a clear understanding of the world as it is, and for him that is a world light on social justice platitudes. If the federal NDP ever hopes to be relevant again, they should strongly consider drafting Kinew for leader in the current race, though he might be difficult to pull from the premier's chair. Read More

The new federal budget makes it clear that Prime Minister Mark Carney is unprepared to tackle the national housing crisis. His proposed measures are half-hearted at best and fail to adequately address the overregulation throttling construction of new supply. Read More

No Canadian federal budget in my conscient lifetime, going back to finance minister Walter Harris in the St. Laurent government, has been as noisily hyped or widely anticipated as the Carney-Champagne budget of this past Tuesday, and none has been such a stultifying anti-climax. What was promised was a cornucopia of “generational investments” that would ”define our next century” by making a series of “difficult choices (and) sacrifices.” The same prime minister who is in a photo finish with his British analogue Keir Starmer for who can be more obsequious to President Donald Trump, but who promised to keep his ”elbows up,” promised also to “swing for the fences” in the budget with intermittent hints of ”austerity.” Read More

Quebec would like the storied Florentine Diamond, as well as other jewels deposited secretly in a Quebec bank vault by the last Empress of Austria, to be on permanent display in the Quebec National Museum of Fine Arts. Read More

The poppy is a symbol of remembrance that’s supposed to transcend political tiffs, honouring those who sacrificed their lives to ensure Canada's continued existence. And yet, to some judges in the country, it’s now considered so political that it must be banned from the courtroom. Read More

Prime Minister Mark Carney swept aside criticism of the federal emissions cap and environmental assessment regime Friday, saying critics arguing the policies are preventing energy projects from being brought forward are “wrong.” Read More

OTTAWA — RCMP in Nova Scotia says it is investigating online threats made against Liberal MP Chris d'Entremont after his floor-crossing from the Opposition Conservatives. Read More

In the recently released Audible series The Downloaded 2: Ghosts in the Machine, Brendan Fraser’s character, Mayor Roscoe Koudoulian, is tasked with starting a new colony on Mars because Earth is about to get destroyed by an asteroid. Read More

After a chaotic week in Ottawa, with a floor-crossing, a resignation and a failed attempt to bring down the government, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre travelled to Toronto to put the focus back on cost-of-living issues. Read More

Several gunshots heard at a B.C. ostrich farm signalled the end of an almost year-long saga to shield the lives of more than 300 birds. Read More

In the never-ending saga that is now land title in British Columbia, another bomb has been set off. It has come to light that the Secwépemc First Nation is seeking a declaration of Aboriginal Title to the entire City of Kamloops, a city in British Columbia’s interior of over 100,000 people, along with the surrounding area, including the ski resort of Sun Peaks, an area with an assessed value of at least $43 billion. While no decision has been made on this claim, the Cowichan ruling from August, which declared fee simple titles and interests in the City of Richmond “defective and invalid” in the title area, has sparked a flurry of interest and panic. Read More

OTTAWA — Who is Kristalina Ivanova Georgieva-Kinova? And how did she apparently convince the debt-ridden Canadian government to spend billions of dollars?  Read More

OTTAWA — The minority Liberal government lives to see another day, after Liberals and Conservatives joined forces to crush a Bloc Québécois amendment to the budget on Friday. Read More

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston is threatening to pass a law enshrining the right to wear a poppy in the workplace after two of the province’s judges asked court staffers not to wear poppies in their courtrooms. Read More

OTTAWA — Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree sidestepped questions Thursday about the delayed appointment of a foreign interference watchdog, which was originally expected two months ago. Read More

Of all the questions surrounding Chris d’Entremont’s decision to switch teams from the Conservatives to the Liberals earlier this week, the biggest is: why? d’Entremont has provided a somewhat unconvincing ideological explanation, saying that he as a “Red Tory” felt uncomfortable working under leader Pierre Poilievre. Read More

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump is using tariffs on steel imports — especially Canadian steel — to bolster the U.S. industry. But protectionism in this sector is nothing new. Read More

The Senate plans to vote Friday on whether to advance a revamped package to reopen the government, testing Democrats after a week of internal debate over how long to hold out for their policy aims. Read More

First Reading is a Canadian politics newsletter curated by the National Post’s own Tristin Hopper. To get an early version sent directly to your inbox, sign up here. Read More

Our cookbook of the week is Indian Food Is Easy by Toronto-based TV personality, food media producer, author and cooking expert Vijaya Selvaraju. Read More

The immigration levels plan Prime Minister Mark Carney released Tuesday addresses Canada’s population overload in the same way that partially mending a plumbing leak helps drain a flooded basement. It doesn’t. Read More

OTTAWA — Most Canadians say Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government has fallen short on its campaign promises, even as his overall satisfaction and approval ratings edge upward, a new Postmedia-Leger poll finds. Read More

An antisemitism conference this week at Queens Park ended on a hopeful, resolute note with Ontario Premier Doug Ford pledging to support the Jewish community. There is so much at stake here not just for Canadian Jewry, but for all Canadians. Most haven’t noticed the incredible threat to the Judeo-Christian values that have grounded our nation in freedom and democracy for 158 years. Read More