Federal Government: 1)Canada will maintain Russian oil sanctions, despite 30-day U.S. pause: Carney; 2)’We’re ready to defend the Arctic,’ Carney says alongside German, Norwegian leaders; 4)Carney expected to be a no-show as MPs debate Iran war in House of Commons; 5)Prime Minister Carney announces three byelections for April 13
1) Canada will maintain Russian oil sanctions, despite 30-day U.S. pause: Carney
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Kyle Duggan, March 13, 2026.
Canada will maintain its sanctions on Russia and its shadow fleet of oil transports, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to ease sanctions, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Friday.
The United States placed a 30-day waiver on its Russian oil sanctions Thursday in response to oil price shocks caused by the war in Iran.
“Canada’s position is to maintain sanctions on Russia … including on the shadow fleet which is moving this oil,” Carney said. “There’s been very tight co-operation between Russia and Iran at great cost to the people of Ukraine and a great threat to peace and security in Europe.”
Carney made the comments at a Friday news conference in Bardufoss, Norway, alongside the leaders of Norway and Germany.
The three leaders all agreed that the sanctions are necessary to maintain pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine, which has raged on for more than four years now.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said six out of seven of the G7 leaders agreed during a Wednesday conference call that they should not ease their Russian sanctions as the Middle East war pushes up gas prices.
Merz said he was a “little bit surprised” to hear this morning that the American government had decided otherwise.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said allies should be increasing their pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“There should be no pressure on the energy side taken off Russia,” he said. “It needs to be consistent and it needs to be felt from the Russian side so they come to the negotiation table, accept a ceasefire and accept a just and durable peace.”
Analysts have said the Iran war’s disruption of the global supply of oil is helping the Russian economy and filling Moscow’s war chest, fuelling the invasion of Ukraine. Lower oil revenues had pressured Putin into borrowing from banks and raising taxes.
Just last month, as he marked the anniversary of the start of the full-scale Ukraine war, Carney rolled out new sanctions on 100 vessels in the tanker fleet Russia uses in its attempts to evade sanctions.
Oil and gas revenues made up about a quarter of the Russian treasury’s revenues last year, even with global sanctions in place, according to a Canadian government sanctions analysis published in February.
It said Russia’s seaborne exports make up a “significant” amount of the global oil supply — about nine per cent.
Russia relies on a “shadow fleet” of vessels to distribute oil covertly to evade sanctions. It employs deceptive tactics such as disabling tracking, concealing ownership and mislabelling cargo.
The Trump administration has meanwhile sought to allay fears about the economic impacts of the sanctions pause and the war in Iran.
As he announced the temporary sanctions reprieve, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed on social media Thursday that the move would not significantly bolster Russia’s financial position.
“This narrowly tailored, short-term measure applies only to oil already in transit and will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government, which derives the majority of its energy revenue from taxes assessed at the point of extraction,” Bessent’s post said.
The war also has stoked fears that Persian Gulf oil production could be blocked for a long time and feed global inflation.
U.S. Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth said at a Friday briefing that the U.S. will not allow Iran to block energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump said in a Fox News interview that aired on Friday that the American military will hit Iran “very hard over the next week,” and that the U.S. may ultimately resort to escorting oil tankers through the strait.
“We would do it if we needed to,” the president said.
— With files from David Baxter in Bardufoss, Norway, and The Associated Press
2)’We’re ready to defend the Arctic,’ Carney says alongside German, Norwegian leaders
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By David Baxter, March 13, 2026
Canada and its allies are prepared to defend the Arctic, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday in Bardufoss, Norway, after observing NATO’s Cold Response exercises.
He held a news conference alongside Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Asked by a German reporter whether the “conflict” over the Trump administration’s demands for Greenland is settled, the leaders emphasized Greenland’s independence.
“It’s up to the people in Greenland and the King of Denmark to trace the future for the people in Greenland,” Store said.
Carney said he fully supported that statement and added allies are “prepared, individually and collectively, to defend the Arctic.”
“What this operation is about, this training exercise, is to further build those capabilities, against Russia, against any external threat,” Carney said.
Carney is visiting at the invitation of Norway, which hosts these joint NATO exercises every two years.
This year, about 32,000 troops from 14 different nations are taking part in the exercises, which are aimed at enhancing the alliance’s Arctic military capabilities. Twenty-five thousand troops are taking part in the Norwegian exercises, while the remaining 7,000 are in neighbouring Finland.
The Canadian Armed Forces would not say exactly how many Canadian troops are taking part.
Norwegian military officials described the exercise as covering “everything from space to submarines.”
The demonstration put on for Carney, Store and Merz on Friday began with the three leaders being brought to a field outside Bardufoss in a tank to watch Norwegian and German troops execute a variety of Arctic drills.
The drills began with advance patrols on cross-country skis and snowmobiles.
An unmanned ground vehicle nicknamed the “R2-D2” shot down aerial drones once the advance patrols cleared the area.
With the aerial adversaries taken care of, a squadron of tanks rumbled through the snow, engaging in fire drills with green-clad soldiers portraying enemy combatants hiding in nearby woods.
Once the tanks were close enough to the treeline, they provided suppressing fire as Arctic camo-clad soldiers exited a tank and engaged the soldiers in green.
Lt. -Col. Robert Girouard, commanding officer of the Canadian Special Operations Regiment, said this kind of training is important because the Arctic has a very different meaning in Europe than it does in Canada.
For example, on Thursday the Canadian delegation left Yellowknife, where there were dry winter conditions and wind chill pushing the temperature to nearly -40 degrees.
Carney was in the N.W.T. capital to announce $32 billion for northern defence and infrastructure projects. The money is part of Canada’s 2022 commitment to Norad’s modernization.
The new funding for base infrastructure includes plans to improve airfields to accommodate F-35 fighter jets, and to build or repurpose hangars, ammunition compounds, fuel facilities and housing.
During the drills in Norway on Friday, troops were still operating in snow-covered fields but with the added challenge of rain.
“One of the things we’ve learned is we really have to go back to basics as far as what we call fieldcraft and our ability to operate and hide from adversary capability,” Girouard said during a media scrum following the demonstration Friday.
Girouard said such exercises demonstrate the need to “harden” military equipment so that it can operate and survive in any conditions.
The Canadian Special Operations Regiment primarily operates deep behind enemy lines, Giroaurd said, and taking part in these drills provides valuable lessons in how the weather can challenge both communications and supply lines.
Carney is scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Store on Saturday. They’re expected to talk about foreign investment, clean energy, critical minerals, aerospace and artificial intelligence.
The two are also expected to talk about global energy security as the war in Iran continues to disrupt global supply chains.
3)Carney announces $32B for northern defence and infrastructure projects
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By David Baxter, March 12, 2026.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday the government is putting an additional $32 billion into military forward operating locations in Yellowknife, Inuvik and Iqaluit and Deployed Operating Base 5 Wing in Goose Bay, N.L.
The prime minister made the announcement in Yellowknife on Thursday before taking off for a planned visit to Norway.
“With this plan, we are taking control of our future,” Carney said. “We will no longer rely on others to defend our Arctic security or to fuel our economy. We’re taking full responsibility for defending our sovereignty.”
The $32 billion is part of Canada’s 2022 commitment to Norad’s modernization, which at the time included plans to spend $38.6 billion over 20 years. The Norad spending includes the purchase of two over-the-horizon radar modules.
A senior government official briefing reporters said the government envisions getting the work on the bases done over the next 10 years or so.
Asked by a reporter Thursday if there will be a bigger bill for Norad modernization, Carney said Thursday that the threat environment is “constantly evolving,” which he said implicates Norad.
“We will be constantly updating what we need,” Carney said. “Sometimes we won’t need expensive systems that we thought we needed because things have moved in a different direction, sometimes we’ll need new systems, and we’ll be updating those through updates to the defence strategy, but also through the budget process.”
The new funding for base infrastructure includes plans to improve airfields and to build or repurpose hangars, ammunition compounds, fuel facilities and housing.
The official said all of these bases will be able to accommodate fighter jets — including F-35s.
The announcement includes $2.67 billion for four new remote operating hubs across the North to assist with rapid deployment.
The two main Northern Operation Support Hubs will be built in Whitehorse and Resolute, Nvt. The government says they will include airstrips, logistics facilities and critical supplies to enable faster military responses.
They will complement three previously announced hubs in Yellowknife, Iqaluit and Inuvik.
The two smaller facilities, referred to as Northern Operation Support Nodes, will be built in Cambridge Bay and Rankin Inlet, Nvt. The government says they will be able to provide the same response services as the larger hubs, but at a smaller scale.
The government is also putting a combined $294 million into revitalization efforts at the Rankin Inlet and Inuvik airports.
“These defence investments will strengthen our military’s presence and at the same time, what they will require is new energy infrastructure, new broadband and new telecommunication services, new wastewater services,” the prime minister said. “What that means is as we build these military operations, we can transform and benefit the surrounding communities.”
Carney is also referring four northern “national interest” projects to the federal major projects office for accelerated approval.
They include the Mackenzie Valley Highway, which will connect Yellowknife and Inuvik. This road will be about 1,200 kilometres long and is expected to serve as an all-season economic corridor in the region.
Carney said Thursday that construction on the Mackenzie Valley Highway will start in the summer.
The prime minister is expected to forward three other projects — the Grays Bay Road, the Arctic Economic and Security Corridor, and the Taltson Hydro Expansion Project — to the major projects office.
The Grays Bay Road is expected to extend from the Nunavut boundary with the Northwest Territories to a deepwater port in Gray’s Bay on the Arctic Ocean.
The Arctic Economic and Security Corridor would be a 400-kilometre road through the Slave Geological Province to the Nunavut boundary, where it would link with the Grays Bay Road. A specific route for this road is still being determined.
The Northwest Territories government is proposing the Taltson Hydro Expansion Project, a 60-megawatt project that would double the territory’s hydroelectricity capacity.
The senior official said building up power projects is key to supporting expanded CAF operations.
Yukon Premier Currie Dixon said in a statement Thursday that he was “surprised and disappointed” to see that none of the money will flow to the Yukon.
“The Yukon is home to the largest city in the North and more than a third of the total population of the North,” said Dixon. “Despite this the federal government seems to have completely overlooked the Yukon.”
The premier added that he is pleased to see the “significant investment” in the neighbouring territories.
“A plan to defend and transform Canada’s Northern and Arctic region cannot neglect one third of the North,” he said. “I call on the Government of Canada to recognize the Yukon’s strategic potential in this plan and to provide financial support to address our urgent energy, road and health care infrastructure needs vital to the sovereignty of our territory and of Canada.”
Northwest Territories Premier R.J. Simpson said Carney’s announcement marks “an important step forward” for the Northwest Territories and for Canada’s Arctic.
“The Arctic is central to Canada’s future,” he said. “Strengthening infrastructure, transportation and energy systems in the North helps ensure that Canada can fully exercise its sovereignty while unlocking opportunities for people who live here.
“A stronger North means a stronger Canada, and we look forward to working with our federal and Indigenous partners to turn this vision into reality.”
4) Carney expected to be a no-show as MPs debate Iran war in House of Commons
Courtesy Barrie360.com
By Sarah Ritchie, March 9, 2026
Members of Parliament are expected to debate Canada’s approach to the U.S.-Israel war on Iran on Monday evening, although the prime minister won’t be taking part.
After opposition parties called for some form of debate, the government proposed a take-note debate in the House of Commons about the conflict and its impact on Canadians abroad.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office said he will not take part. He is set to attend a community event in the evening.
NDP interim leader Don Davies slammed the government’s communications on the conflict so far.
“Prime Minister Carney’s position on this conflict has been unprincipled, incoherent and contradictory. It changes by the day. Even more troubling, Mr. Carney refuses to rule out sending Canadian Forces into this illegal war,” Davies said in a media statement.
He added the NDP wants Canada to condemn the war as a violation of international law and categorically rule out any Canadian participation.
In Australia on March 4, Carney said the notion of Canadian participation was a “fundamental hypothetical” but said he could not “categorically rule out participation” particularly if allies needed defending.
Some of Carney’s own caucus members publicly expressed unease after the prime minister expressed support for the U.S.-Israel attack on Iran on Feb. 28.
Days after the attack, Carney stepped back from that position somewhat by stating the airstrikes likely violate international law and insisting he expressed support for the mission “with regret.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Carney has been contradicting himself and no one understands his position on the war. He accused the prime minister of hiding from Monday’s debate.
Poilievre condemned the Iranian regime as illegal and said his party supports U.S. and Israeli action to overturn it and replace it with a democratically elected government.
He said Parliament should be able to assess any request for Canadian participation in the conflict, if there is one, and the government should be focused on what it can control.
“Here at home, this war should not be used as an excuse for higher food and gas prices. We have the energy here at home, we have the food here at home to make life affordable,” he said.
The Conservatives have demanded an emergency debate about how the conflict is affecting global energy supplies.
“The war in the Middle East has caused an energy scramble,” Poilievre said, adding that allies are looking for alternative sources of energy and Canada is not able to provide it.
He called for changes to laws he claimed are preventing Canadian energy from reaching markets in Europe and elsewhere. He called for the termination of the industrial carbon price and the repeal of the West Coast tanker ban.
“I’ll work with the prime minister to get these things done,” he said.
Poilievre also said the Carney government needs to use the powers it granted itself through the One Canadian Economy Act — the first bill passed by the Liberal government last summer, with the support of the Tories.
The law allows the government to quickly approve major infrastructure projects that are deemed to be in the national interest. A number of proposed projects have been referred to the Major Projects Office.
— With files from Dylan Robertson, Kyle Duggan and Rob Drinkwater
5) Prime Minister Carney announces three byelections for April 13
Courtesy Barrie 360.com and Canadian Press
By Alessia Passafiume, March 8, 2026
Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced three byelection for ridings in Ontario and Quebec which could result in the governing Liberals securing a razor-thin majority in the House of Commons.
A statement posted on the prime minister’s website on Sunday says the votes will be cast on April 13 in the Toronto-area ridings of Scarborough Southwest and University-Rosedale and in the Montreal-area riding of Terrebonne.
The Supreme Court nullified the Liberal’s one-vote federal election win in Terrebonne after the Bloc Québécois candidate challenged the results when a supporter complained she tried to vote by mail using a special ballot that wasn’t counted.
Liberal Tatiana Auguste had been the member of Parliament since being declared the winner over Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, the Bloc Québécois candidate, until the Supreme Court invalidated the election last month.
“The Supreme Court decided today that every vote counts and that the vote of one person isn’t worth more than the vote of another, and that, when there is a tie, there should be a new election,” said Sinclair-Desgagné, reacting to the decision at the time.
“Up until today, someone was representing the riding who, however, did not have the legitimacy to do so. Fortunately, this was corrected today.”
Former Liberal MP Chrystia Freeland’s departure to become the adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy left the riding of University—Rosedale vacant.
Family physician Danielle Martin will run for the Liberals in that riding, while Serena Purdy, a community organizer and academic with the University of Toronto, has been selected as the NDP candidate.
Bill Blair, also a former Liberal MP, left the riding of Scarborough Southwest vacant after he was appointed Canada’s high commissioner to the United Kingdom.
Former provincial NDP deputy leader Doly Begum is running for the Liberals in the riding.
The Toronto ridings are considered to be safe seats for the Liberals, while Terrebonne was held by a Bloc Québécois MP before the last federal election.
The Conservatives have not announced candidates for either riding.
Elections Canada said in a news release that voters in the three ridings can vote in advance from April 3 to 6 at their assigned polling stations, or at their Elections Canada office any time before April 7. Ridings residents can also cast their vote by mail, with the application to do so due by April 7.
The byelections will come two weeks after the federal NDP will select a new leader during their national convention in Winnipeg in late March. It also comes days after the Liberals hold their national convention in Montreal on April 9 to 11.
The Liberals currently have 169 MPs in the House of Commons, but they need 172 to secure a majority government.
The Conservatives currently hold 141 seats, the Bloc Québécois has 22, there are seven members of the NDP and the Greens have one seat.
Three Conservative MPs, Chris d’Entremont, Michael Ma and Matt Jeneroux, defected from their party to join the Liberals in recent months.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has accused Carney of trying to sidestep the will of Canadians by using the defections to gain a majority government.
Laura Stephenson, chair of the political science department at Western University, previously told The Canadian Press there’s a “possibility” of the Liberals securing a majority if they can win Terrebonne — “a very, very slim, itty-bitty majority.”
If the Liberals do win all three byelections, House of Commons Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia would still need to cast tiebreaking votes to ensure the government’s legislation passes.
— With files from Michel Saba