Canada

Brent crude jumped 10 per cent to about $80 US a barrel over the counter on Sunday, oil traders said, while analysts predicted that prices could climb as high as $100 US after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran plunged the Middle East into ​a new war.

The global oil benchmark has rallied this ​year and reached $73 US a barrel on Friday for its highest since July, buoyed by growing concern over the potential attacks that arrived a day later. Futures ​trading is closed over the weekend.

"While the military attacks are themselves supportive ⁠for oil prices, the key ⁠factor here is the closing of the ‌Strait of Hormuz," said Ajay Parmar, director of energy and refining at ICIS.

A former senior Canadian general says it's highly likely some Canadian military members, on exchange with the United States, would have been involved at some level in the planning and co-ordination of air strikes on Iran — something the Department of National Defence disputes.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has said he supports U.S. actions to destroy Iran's nuclear program. On Saturday, speaking in Mumbai during his four-day visit to India, he said Canada as a country is not participating militarily and that the federal government was "not party to the military buildup or planning."

His statement, however, did not specifically address the fate of exchange officers currently serving with the U.S. military.

The Department of National Defence website shows that as many as 18 military personnel with the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) are attached to Operation Foundation, working at the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain and at the Combined Aerospace Operations Center (CAOC) at Al Udeid airbase in Qatar.

I have my doubts this will actually lead to anything, but I figured a number of people here would be interested in signing this.

I’m sure the separatists movement is really happy about this one.

I know it is a Saskatchewan thing but hey thought I would advertise it here.

(That day was February 26, 2026)

The vote was 50 against. 37 in favour.

Names, districts, and email addresses of all MLAs voting 'yea' included

First Nations chiefs across Alberta unanimously passed a vote of non-confidence in the Alberta government this week, citing concerns around the separatist movement and a failure to meet their treaty responsibilities.

In a news release, the Assembly of Treaty Chiefs of Treaty No. 6, Treaty No. 7, Treaty No. 8 said the provincial government, governed by the United Conservative Party, has repeatedly shown a lack of understanding and respect for its treaty responsibilities, demonstrating its “inability to responsibly and respectfully govern the province of Alberta."

“We have to put [the government] on notice that this is completely unacceptable,” Trevor Mercredi, grand Chief of Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta, told CBC News.

Turns out Alberta’s blue lakes freeze into a canvas unlike any other this New York artist has ever seen or worked with.

Canada's energy minister says the country is poised to become one of the world's biggest suppliers of liquefied natural gas, exporting as much as 100 million tonnes per year.

Tim Hodgson delivered that optimistic outlook to a parliamentary committee earlier this month, noting that countries such as Japan, South Korea, China and India all want Canadian gas.

"If we deliver, as we hope proponents would deliver, up to 100 million tonnes per annum, that would make us one of the largest suppliers of LNG in the world," he said.

Hitting that goal would require more than just the LNG projects currently underway — which at full capacity would provide less than 50 million tonnes for export each year.

The truth is that homes deliver enormous non‑financial value — stability, community, belonging. Those are reasons to buy. But as financial assets, they come with structural constraints: They are expensive to maintain, difficult to trade, impossible to diversify, and usually purchased with significant leverage. The investment component is real but volatile, and its return path can be long and uneven. For home buyers now facing losses, this is not an individualized failure. It is the predictable outcome of society promoting an undiversified, illiquid, highly leveraged asset as if it were the ultimate life goal.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-the-myth-of-homeownership-as-an-investment-is-wreaking-untold-damage/

In 2024, Canada allocated a larger share of its total fixed capital formation to residential real estate than any of the other top 20 economies. ... the trend has been building for nearly two decades, peaking in 2021 before moderating slightly.

Yet despite substantial residential construction in Canada, affordability challenges persist.

Of that total investment, roughly one-third flows into residential real estate, leaving only about 15 per cent for machinery, infrastructure and intellectual property. That imbalance may constrain the productivity growth needed to sustain higher wages and living standards. It could also help explain the continued dominance of legacy firms in the Canadian economy.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/personal-finance/article-canada-capital-wrong-places-investment-real-estate/

If restoring price stability cannot ease the cost-of-living pressures weighing so heavily on the national psyche, what can? There is but one escape route: course-correcting the country’s miserable record on productivity, and artificial intelligence can help get us there [relax Lemmy, this is the only mention of AI in the piece].

“Deep down, Canada’s affordability problem is really a productivity problem,” Bank of Canada deputy governor Nicolas Vincent said in speech in November. “To make things more affordable, we need to raise our income. And the way to grow our income is by increasing productivity.”

...

This wouldn’t be such a huge issue had productivity growth merely kept pace with the G7 average. In that case, the Canadian economy would be about 9 per cent larger than it is today, Mr. Vincent pointed out. That translates to an additional $7,000 per person, or $18,000 per household.

...

Sadly, Canada has been doing very little of either for many years now. Canadian businesses are investing 20 per cent less in machinery and equipment per worker than they did 10 years ago, according to OECD data.

They are also trailing badly on research and development. At around 1 per cent of gross domestic product, Canada’s private sector investment in R&D is about half the OECD average.

Hardly surprising then that Canadian productivity growth has been trending downward for years, decades even.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/inside-the-market/article-there-is-only-one-escape-from-the-affordability-crisis/

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/56086298

Following the events in Iran, Alexandre Boulerice, NDP Foreign Affairs Critic, issued the following statement:

"The NDP strongly condemns the American and Israeli bombings of Iran. This is a dangerous escalation that risks dragging the entire region into a major conflict. The oppressive and bloody regime of the Ayatollahs is reprehensible, but its nuclear program must be managed through the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In fact, its Director General, Mr. Grossi, recently indicated that he was working with the Iranian administration to resume inspections and reiterated that there could be no solution other than a diplomatic one.

The NDP deplores the Carney government's decision to blindly support this dangerous venture by Israel and Donald Trump's administration. We want Canada to be a voice for diplomacy, peace, and international law."