VOLUME 171 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2025

MAKING DEMOCRACY DIGESTIBLE. ONE BITE AT A TIME.



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 unpredictability persists. Canada just won a month-long reprieve from U.S. tariffs, but now U.S. President Donald Trump says he’ll impose 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, including from Canada. “Shifting goalposts and constant chaos, putting our economy at risk,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford wrote on social media. Meanwhile, PM Trudeau recently met with business and labour leaders at the Canada-U.S. Economic Summit to discuss trade. He had a hot mic moment, saying Trump thinks absorbing Canada is the easiest way to benefit from its resources. Trudeau also told attendees that Canada’s premiers are united in wanting to drop internal trade barriers — something Minister of Transport and Internal Trade Anita Anand says could crumble within a month. Find out how those interprovincial barriers impact your daily life, from booze to maple syrup. And if, amid all this, you’re heeding calls to buy Canadian, make sure you know the difference between “Made in Canada” and “Product of Canada” labels.

With less than a month to go before Liberals choose their next leader (and by extension, Canada’s next PM), there’s lots going on. Let's catch up! We now know there will be two leadership debates (one in English and one in French) in Montreal on Feb. 24 and Feb 25. There’s five remaining candidates in the race — Mark Carney, Chrystia Freeland, Karina Gould, Frank Baylis and Ruby Dhalla — but there’s a possibility not all five make it to the debate. Why? Candidates need to pay a hefty total entry fee of $350,000, and a final instalment of $125,000 is due Feb. 17. Gould had warned her supporters she might not make it past a recent deposit deadline (she ultimately did), while Freeland’s campaign has also suggested the entry fee was set too high. P.S. The task force set up to monitor foreign election interference says China may have launched a disparaging and malicious campaign against candidate Chrystia Freeland.


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NEWS NUGGETS

Parliament Prorogued: Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh want PM Trudeau to recall Parliament — remember, it’s still prorogued — as both leaders want the gov to pass new legislation amid an unpredictable Trump administration. Find out why experts say Trudeau is unlikely to recall Parliament, given he currently has the powers he needs, and because there’s no parliamentary truce in place. 

Aid Agency: As the Trump admin dismantles the United States’ lead foreign aid agency, aka USAID, Canada is deeply concerned, federal gov officials say. “This decision will hit hardest for those who depend on aid for food security, health care and emergency relief,” says a spokesperson for International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen, adding the shutdown represents a dangerous retreat that risks decades of progress. 

Building Better: Why is it so hard to build better public transit in Canada? Listen to this pod for a closer look at the long list of public transit projects that have gone off the rails across Canada — as in way over budget and very delayed. Find out why this keeps happening, what role political micromanagement plays, and what can be done about it. 


WHAT ELSE WE'RE NIBBLING ON

President Trump recently shocked the world with an out of the blue proposal, saying all Palestinians should be removed from Gaza so the U.S. could take it over as a territory. The remarks caused global outrage including from Canadian MPs — with Human Rights Watch saying the plan would amount to ethnic cleansing. Find out what’s behind Trump’s colonial dreams here. And the swap of prisoners and hostages continues under the fragile Gaza ceasefire deal, including three freed Israelis and 183 Palestinian prisoners on the weekend. It was the fifth hostage-prisoner exchange, and it came as negotiations are set to begin on the next phase of the ceasefire. 


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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