Welcome to The Feed, your weekly resource to Canadian politics and policies broken down into itty bitty (super witty) bite-sized knowledge by Apathy is Boring.
Pun intended.

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WHAT'S THE SCOOP? 

The trade war continues. What now? A new executive order from U.S. President Donald Trump raised tariffs on steel and aluminum from 25 per cent to 50 per cent. The additional levies went into force a week ago, with Ottawa calling them unlawful and unjustified. The move disproportionately harms the Canadian economy, as Canada is the largest supplier of both steel and aluminum to the U.S. Listen to this pod for all the deets. So what’s Canada doing in response? PM Mark Carney says his gov is readying further retaliation measures, to be put in place if ongoing negotiations with the U.S. fail, but the steel industry is calling for more urgent action. Discussions between PM Carney and President Trump are reportedly happening in private, with sources saying the convos are aimed at reaching an agreement on the trade war. Would love that for us.

PM Mark Carney and his Liberal gov have survived their first test of confidence. Tell me more. The House of Commons adopted the throne speech delivered by King Charles the week before. The NDP had earlier vowed to vote against the minority Liberals, but in the end, the throne speech was adopted “on division”, which means no recorded vote was held. If it had proceeded to a standing vote, the Liberals would have needed another opposition party to survive the confidence vote. The adoption sets the stage for a strong and focused agenda, said Gov House leader Steven MacKinnon on social media. The House has been busy since then, including unanimously voting in favour of the Liberals’ promised income tax cut. The Liberal gov also introduced legislation — The One Canadian Economy Bill — to eliminate federal barriers to interprovincial trade plus speed up nation-building infrastructure projects (more on that in a sec). 

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NEWS NUGGETS

Build Mode: PM Carney has plans to fast-track what he’s calling nation-building infrastructure projects — a way to boost Canada’s economy as the trade war continues. “Canada's a country that used to build big things,” Carney recently said. “But in recent decades it's become too difficult to build in this country.” What type of projects are included? Have a closer look here, but think infrastructure like highways, railways, pipelines, mines, nuclear facilities and electrical transmission projects.

Work Vibes: Looking for a summer job? The federal gov is creating up to 6,000 more spots in the Canada Summer Jobs program for young people between the ages of 15 and 30 years old, Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu announced Friday. The move comes as many struggle to find work, with recently released data suggesting a decline in job postings traditionally aimed at students and entry-level workers. Job hunt status: still grim, but slightly less so.

New Priorities: Canada will rapidly advance its military spending to meet the NATO target this year, PM Carney announced Monday. The NATO benchmark target is 2% of national gross domestic product, but the federal gov currently spends about 1.45% of GDP. In announcing the policy shift, Carney said Canada’s defence is too dependent on an increasingly unreliable United States. 

WHAT ELSE WE'RE NIBBLING ON

The RCMP, Canada’s national police force, is probing potential war crimes related to the violence in Gaza. The news came in a statement from Mounties last week, in which they stressed no criminal investigations are underway. Still, they want to proactively collect info on possible crimes by any party involved in the conflict. Meanwhile, in Gaza, hunger continues to be used as a weapon. Recently, at least 31 Palestinians were killed and more injured near an aid distribution site, run by the controversial U.S.-Israeli backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. As the entire population of Gaza faces the risk of famine, the United Nations is warning that the new aid distribution mechanism has become a death trap. 

CROSSWORD

And now it's time for dessert...your weekly crossword! A little hint for you: you can find all these words in last week's newsletter!

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