First up today, the CBC At Issue panel
TL;DW - Tonight's panel seemed inordinately puzzled about why so many MPs are crossing the floor to join the Carney Liberals. Should we tell them?
Because Carney is our only hope to strengthen Canada enough to withstand Trump for the next three years. If Carney can't get the job done, we are doomed.
For all their deep understanding of Canadian politics, these panelists still act like Canada is still just business as usual these days. They don't seem to grasp the existential danger we now face from the United States and the absolute necessity for alliance with other nations that only Carney can achieve.
Carney's big Arctic announcement
Political Science professor Rajan Menon writes Trump, Sensing that He Can't Win In Iran, May Be Looking for an Exit Strategy There is a scenario in which he can end the war and spin it as a victory
Canada didn't win any medals today - the curling and hockey semi-finals and finals are still to come.
Our curling team is outstanding:
By the way, the Arctic Winter Games in Whitehorse started on Sunday - this is extraordinary:
Carney's big Arctic announcement
Hey, THIS is why MPs are joining the Liberals - they want to be part of what Carney is doing:
TL;DW - Canada Today writes
Good summary here:
In his Rest of the World Report for Thursday evening edition, Rudy Martinez writes:
Not impressive, Anand and Carney! Canadians deserve to be kept better informed than this.
Carney is expected to forward four projects — Mackenzie Valley Highway, which will connect Yellowknife and Inuvik, the Grays Bay Road, the Arctic Economic and Security Corridor and the Taltson Hydro Expansion Project — to the major projects office.
— Canada's National Observer (@nationalobserver.com) March 12, 2026 at 4:37 PM
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TL;DW - Canada Today writes
Canada has just announced one of the largest Arctic investments in its modern history. Prime Minister Mark Carney unveiled a sweeping strategy worth more than $40 billion aimed at strengthening Canada’s sovereignty, expanding military presence, and transforming infrastructure across the Arctic.US/Israel/Iran War update
The plan includes new Northern military hubs, highways, deepwater ports, and major energy projects designed to connect remote communities and unlock economic potential in the north. It also signals a dramatic shift in Canada’s Arctic strategy as global competition for influence in the region intensifies.
With countries like Russia, China, and the United States increasingly focused on the Arctic, Canada’s northern frontier is quickly becoming one of the most strategically important regions in the world. Carney’s plan aims to secure Canada’s Arctic sovereignty while building the infrastructure needed to support long-term economic growth and national security.
From the Mackenzie Valley Highway to a new Arctic deepwater port, this announcement represents a generational transformation of Canada’s northern frontier.
In this video, we break down what Canada’s new Arctic strategy means, why the Arctic is becoming a global geopolitical battleground, and how this historic investment could reshape Canada’s role in the region.
Good summary here:
Al Jazeera casualty map:Iran war: What is happening on day 14 of US-Israel attacks? https://aje.news/j5bw9d
— Al Jazeera English (@aljazeera.com) March 13, 2026 at 1:00 AM
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In his Rest of the World Report for Thursday evening edition, Rudy Martinez writes:
...At a Kentucky rally Wednesday night, President Trump declared victory. “Let me say, we’ve won,” he told the crowd. “We won the bet — in the first hour, it was over.” He also said the US has to “finish the job.” He said oil prices are “gonna come down more than anyone understands.” He said Iran has been “virtually destroyed.” He said the war will end “anytime I want.”And things are getting very real for Canada now, aren't they. Turns out our troops were in danger during this war after all
Thursday, the markets offered their assessment.
The Dow fell 739 points — its worst day of 2026, closing below 47,000 for the first time this year. The S&P 500 hit its lowest close since November. The Nasdaq posted its worst day of the year. The Russell 2000, which tracks small and mid-size companies, fell 2%. All three major indexes are now at 2026 closing lows. The 30-year fixed mortgage rose to 6.30% — pushed up by war-driven bond yields — the highest since early February. The average gallon of regular gas nationally is $3.61.
The trigger was the IEA’s monthly oil market report, which dropped Thursday morning and was about as grim as a document of its kind can be. The IEA declared the Iran war is “creating the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.”
...Bloomberg added a detail that went largely unnoticed: the oil shock is now reaching into the private credit market. Morgan Stanley and Cliffwater LLC were forced to cap withdrawals on private-credit funds Thursday amid redemption requests. Deutsche Bank flagged $30 billion in exposure to the sector. The war’s financial contagion is spreading into parts of the system that have nothing obvious to do with oil or Iran.
Trump’s response to the market close, on Truth Social: “When oil prices go up, we make a lot of money.”
Axios published its own assessment of the endgame Thursday, and it is worth reading in full. The bottom line: with no direct dialogue between Washington and Tehran, with Trump publicly hinting he wants the new supreme leader dead, Iran has little incentive to stand down. Even if Trump decides to pull out, Iranian attacks on US forces and Gulf states could continue regardless. CNN framed it more starkly: “Trump declared a win after 12 days that he has not yet earned or seen accepted by his adversary.”
Outside the US, the word “won” landed like a provocation. In markets from London to Tokyo, the response was immediate — oil up 9%, stocks down across every major exchange. The international financial press is not debating whether Trump’s claim is premature. It is treating it as evidence that the US does not have a strategy for ending this war, only rhetoric for managing domestic perception of it. RBC Capital Markets chief commodities strategist Helima Croft put it plainly: “This absolutely dwarfs what we saw in the Russia-Ukraine crisis.”
The Toronto Star writes (gift link)Base hosting Canadian troops hit in Iranian missile strike
— Toronto Star (@thestar.com) March 12, 2026 at 10:33 PM
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...In an emailed statement to the Star, Pamela Hogan, a spokesperson for the Department of National Defence, did not confirm whether any Canadian soldiers were present when the strike reportedly took place. She would only say that the government is “aware of reports of strikes in the vicinity of Ali Al Salem airbase” and that all Canadian personnel in the region are “currently safe and accounted for.”The Star also notes that Canadians only learned about the incident when it was reported Thursday by Montreal’s La Presse though the strike apparently "occurred in the early hours of the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran".
Hogan also said that, since the war broke out in late February, the Canadian Armed Forces has relocated some personnel in the region and recalled some to Canada, while others have remained in place if “force protection is appropriate.”
Not impressive, Anand and Carney! Canadians deserve to be kept better informed than this.
Political Science professor Rajan Menon writes Trump, Sensing that He Can't Win In Iran, May Be Looking for an Exit Strategy There is a scenario in which he can end the war and spin it as a victory
...Imagine a press conference in which Trump, using slides, puts on display the massive damage he has done to Iran, boasts about destroying much of its ballistic missile arsenal and its entire navy and hitting Iranian nuclear enrichment sites even harder. He then declares that the US military has demonstrated, yet again, that, under his leadership, it’s the world’s best. He ends by saying that Iran has been reduced to a shadow of itself and will never again threaten the US or “our ally, Israel.” He can, in this way, end the war and claim success. That will lower the price of oil, natural gas, fertilizer, and diesel (70% of all cargo in the US is hauled by diesel-burning trucks) and avert a big increase in inflation and interest rates—all in time for the midterms.Paralympics Catch-up
Iran continues to rule out negotiations with the US, but it might help Trump’s exit plan work if it concludes that, despite its mistrust of the US, it stands little to gain by continuing the war and absorbing even more punishment. The unknown? What will its terms for a deal be, and can Trump agree to them without looking like he was forced to end the war and make concessions to Iran that he had ruled out?
Netanyahu May Have the Most to Lose: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may come out of this looking worse than Trump. Netanyahu has dreamed for years about toppling the Islamic Republic. He may have played a role in convincing Trump that the Islamic Republic could be brought down and that he, Trump, was the only American president with the guts to do it. Trump excels at the strongman act, but he is vain and can easily be flattered. Once he was persuaded to go to war, no member of Trump 2.0 (unlike 1.0, filled with toadies and flatterers) could dare say, “Mr. President, don’t do this.” So it won’t be just Witkoff, Rubio, and Kushner whom Trump tosses under the bus; Netanyahu, too, might suffer that fate—if not in public, then in private. Trump neither forgets nor forgives.
Canada didn't win any medals today - the curling and hockey semi-finals and finals are still to come.
Our curling team is outstanding:
CANADA 🇨🇦 FOR THE WIN PARALYMPIC HISTORY The Canadian wheelchair curling team defeats USA 7-3, becoming the first-ever team in Paralympic history to go through the round robin without a loss. What a team. What an achievement. Outstanding.
— Devin Heroux (@devinheroux.bsky.social) March 12, 2026 at 1:55 PM
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Friday's semi-finals feature Canada v China and United States v Czech Republic.The United States and Canada are on track for another gold-medal showdown, this time in Paralympic ice hockey. >>
— KEYC News Now (@keyc.com) March 12, 2026 at 12:58 AM
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By the way, the Arctic Winter Games in Whitehorse started on Sunday - this is extraordinary:
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