The Globe and Mail - 05.11.2026 — 2026-11-05

OTTAWA/QUEBEC EDITION ■ THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2026 ■ GLOBEANDMAIL.COM

Swing voters, economic worries drive decisive blue wave in U.S.

Latinos, young voters veer away from Trump in midterms, helping to flip even reliably red states

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the site of the planned White House ballroom in Washington on Wednesday. Mr. Trump agreed with the suggestion that frustration with the war in Iran contributed to his party's midterm losses. ANDREW HARNIK/GETTY IMAGES

ADRIAN MORROW WASHINGTON

NATHAN VANDERKLIPPE COLUMBUS, OHIO

As the dust settled on the Democratic Party's landslide victory in U.S. midterm elections, the scale of the blowout came into sharper focus – as did the key groups of voters who delivered President Donald Trump a thundering rebuke and the reasons for their anger.

The Democrats' popular-vote margin in the U.S. House of Representatives was the highest in any election since 1976, with the Republicans routed across several of their strongholds, from Texas to South Carolina to Kansas.

Latinos and young voters swung sharply away from Mr. Trump, while Black

Americans' message to Trump was clear. What comes next, less so ■ A8

Americans turned out in disproportionately high numbers, particularly across the South.

Economic anxiety, particularly frustration with consumer inflation driven by Mr. Trump's war on Iran and global tariffs, was the election's dominant issue. But there are signs that the President's violent and often deadly immigration crackdown and accusations of corruption also played a part in the backlash.

Mr. Trump seemed uninterested in discussing his party's bloodbath during a public appearance on Wednesday. He spent more than 20 minutes touring reporters through his under-construction White House ballroom and touting various other Washington building projects, including a triumphal arch and a

ANALYSIS

golf course.

Asked about the election, he said it was "largely true" that frustration with the Iran war caused the Republican defeat "because it drove the gasoline up a little bit short term" when Tehran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz.

TARIFFS

In an era of divided politics and tight electoral margins, the Democratic victory was surprisingly decisive. The party is on track to win the popular vote for the House by 13 percentage points. By comparison, the Democratic margin in 2018 was a little under nine, and the Republican one in 2010 was 6.6.

■ MIDTERMS, A7

"At the same time, if I had to do it again, I'd have to do it again," he said. "You can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon."

How strained trade relations with Canada factored into some key races ■ A8

OPINION

Republicans took a pounding.

They deserved worse,

Andrew Coyne writes ■ A11

Manitoba says it shut down another carrier tied to deadly truck crash

SARA MOJTEHEDZADEH

The Manitoba government says it has shut down, for the second time, the operators of a trucking company linked to a fatal collision in May – an accident that has become a rallying cry across the industry for better information sharing between transport regulators.

Conquer Transport was first decertified in Manitoba over chronic safety issues in 2021. However, the company reincarnated several months later in Alberta under a slightly different name, according to transport authorities. That Alberta carrier was involved in a deadly crash in Brandon, Man., earlier this year that killed a 49-year-old woman. Alberta subsequently revoked its safety credentials.

Now, the Manitoba government says it has uncovered a third company related to Conquer Transport and shuttered it.

In a statement to The Globe and Mail, the Manitoba government said regulators began investigating the company after receiving a tip from another province. The probe found the carrier was “operating under the direct control” of individuals connected to Conquer.

The province has now revoked the third company's safety credentials, eliminating its ability to operate in Manitoba.

Manitoba transport records obtained by The Globe under freedom-of-information laws show that a Winnipeg-based carrier named 7Star used a phone number that also appears on corporate records for Conquer Transport. When asked if 7Star was the related carrier, the Manitoba government responded that the province recently cancelled 7Star's safety fitness certificate.

7Star did not respond to The Globe's requests for comment. When The Globe called a phone number affiliated with Conquer Transport, an individual who did not identify themselves denied any connection with 7Star.

The fatal Brandon accident this May prompted calls for a national trucking registry to better share safety data and crack down on “chameleon carriers” – companies that move jurisdictions or change names to dodge safety regulation.

■ TRUCKING, A17

Sovereignty and affordability seen as major themes of federal budget

BILL CURRY

MERCEDES STEPHENSON

STEPHANIE LEVITZ OTTAWA

Thursday's federal budget will focus on affordability and Canadian sovereignty, and advocates are hopeful it will include an expanded cost-of-living support through the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit.

The budget will also stretch beyond purely fiscal measures, with a focus on strategic independence in a volatile world, according to three sources with knowledge of the government's thinking and preparations on the budget.

Two of the sources expected to see space policy addressed in the budget, noting the government's concern about reliance on other countries.

The Globe is not identifying the sources because they were not authorized to comment on the budget before its release.

Speaking on the eve of tabling his second budget as Finance Minister, François-Philippe Champagne said sovereignty – including cultural sovereignty – will be a key theme.

Mr. Champagne took part in the tradition of buying a new pair of shoes before the budget. At the factory of Montreal shoemaker Pajar, he was asked what Canadians can expect.

“Affordability is top of mind,” he said. “If we go in the streets, it’s the price of rent, the price of foods, the price of gas. That’s a reality for Canadians.”

Mr. Champagne said the government has already taken a number of steps “to support Canadians with affordability.” He did not say whether the budget would include additional measures.

Anti-poverty advocate Alexi White, policy director with the Toronto-based human-rights group Maytree, said his organization is optimistic the budget will increase the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit.

The tax-free quarterly payment is aimed at low-and-modest income Canadians and was previously called the GST/HST credit.

“We are hopeful that there will be further investments in refundable tax credits that would immediately help families,” he said in an interview.

The government announced in January that it was increasing the benefit by 25 per cent for five years. It also approved a one-time payment equal to a 50-per-cent increase, which was issued in June.

BUDGET, A17

LEAH HENNEL/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

LIFE & ARTS

Slow and steady: How a Calgary family became World Champions of southern barbecue ■ A13

ALBERTA

Who will be affected by the province's new electoral map ■ A4

REPORT ON BUSINESS

China extends tariff relief on some seafood, canola items through 2028 ■ B1

SECRET CANADA

INSIDE

LAWRENCE MARTIN ....A11

KONRAD YAKABUSKI ....A11

LAWRENCE HERMAN....B4

GUS CARLSON....B4

TIM CESTNICK....B10

CATHAL KELLY....B13

A SECTION

FOLIO....A8-9

EDITORIAL & LETTERS....A10

OPINION....A11

LIFE & ARTS....A13

WEATHER & FIRST PERSON...A15

PUZZLES....A16

B SECTION

REPORT ON BUSINESS....B1

OPINION & ANALYSIS....B4

GLOBE INVESTOR....B10

SPORTS....B13

COMICS....B14

OBITUARIES....B18

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PODCAST

Doug Saunders looks at what the results of the U.S. midterms might mean for Canada

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COLOURS

FRED HERZOG'S GRANVILLE/ROBSON 1959

MADE IN CANADA

ELIZABETH SCHINDLER

The Globe and Mail is committed to maintaining the highest ethical, legal and editorial standards. SANDRA E. MARTIN, STANDARDS EDITOR, standardiseditor@globeandmail.com

ELIZABETH SCHINDLER

(416) 789-1919 – 1987 LESLIE ST

GERRY WEBER TORONTO

(647) 258-7727 – 1177 YONGE ST

GERRY WEBER BURLINGTON

(905) 681-0197 – 442 BRANT ST

elizabethschindler.com

FRED HERZOG, GRANVILLE/ROBSON 1959, 2006. INKJET PRINT ON PAPER, ED. 6/20, 19 ½ X 29 ¾ IN. COLLECTION OF THE KELOWNA ART GALLERY. GIFT OF KATHY AND RICHARD PRINCE, 2023.

Since 1977, the Kelowna Art Gallery's collection has grown to more than 1,000 works by significant Canadian artists. Located in the heart of the Okanagan Valley, the collection highlights groundbreaking contemporary Canadian art, rich historical works and significant works by celebrated Indigenous and British Columbia artists. kelownaartgallery.com

Fred Herzog is celebrated for his extraordinary photographs of Vancouver street life. Working in colour at a time when most art photography was still associated with black-and-white imagery, Herzog documented the city's people, architecture, signage and everyday moments with remarkable sensitivity. Granville/Robson 1959 captures one of Vancouver's most recognizable intersections, preserving a fleeting moment from the city's past while offering a vivid glimpse into its evolving urban character.

American voters are through with tolerating Trump and a reckoning has begun ■ A11

[ COLUMNISTS ]

AISLING MURPHY

THEATRE

Operation Mincemeat is unapologetically British and a fabulous piece of musical theatre ■ A13

JAKE

FUSS

CORRECTION

A Tuesday news article about First Nations challenges against the Pacific Link oil pipeline incorrectly stated that two applications, representing nine First Nations, had been filed requesting judicial review of Ottawa's declaration of the pipeline as a project of national interest. Nine First Nations on Monday announced they had filed the applications for judicial review.

OPINION

Younger Canadians are going to have to pay for Carney's continued spending spree ■ B4

CORRECTION

A Tuesday news article about First Nations challenges against the Pacific Link oil pipeline incorrectly stated that two applications, representing nine First Nations, had been filed requesting judicial review of Ottawa's declaration of the pipeline as a project of national interest. Nine First Nations on Monday announced they had filed the applications for judicial review.

OPINION

Younger Canadians are going to have to pay for Carney's continued spending spree ■ B4

NASA space telescope plunges to Earth after two decades studying cosmic explosions

MARCIA DUNN

CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA.

An artist's concept shows the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory being ferried to a higher orbit over Earth. A rescue mission will soon be under way for NASA's Swift telescope. NASA/NYT

One of NASA's premier space telescopes plunged to Earth on Wednesday, ending its 22-year investigation of the universe's biggest explosions.

The Swift Observatory's demise came less than three months after a long-shot rescue mission failed.

The U.S. Space Force confirmed Swift's re-entry near Indonesia after tracking its sinking orbit, the result of intense solar activity the past few years.

NASA hired a private company to whip together an orbit-boosting effort, but Katalyst Space's three-armed robotic craft ran into trouble following its July launch and came crashing down in September.

It was not immediately known how much of the 1½-ton spacecraft burned up in the atmosphere. NASA anticipated some of the denser pieces surviving.

Swift rocketed into orbit in 2004 on what was expected to be a two-year study of gamma ray bursts and exploding stars. It observed thousands of them over a mission that lasted 11 times longer than planned, serving as a first responder for other telescopes that could probe deeper.

NASA is gauging industry's interest in mounting a rescue mission for another observatory whose orbit is being chipped away by solar storms: the Hubble Space Telescope. Launched in 1990, Hubble is expected to come crashing down by the mid-2030s, according to recent analyses.

The space agency is looking for input from private companies on whether and how they might boost Hubble's orbit, upgrade its systems or guide it to a controlled re-entry – or all three.

Any such mission would need to happen by 2032.

Unlike the rush job with Swift, the space agency has more time to explore options for saving Hubble, said Nicky Fox, NASA's science mission chief.

“Hubble still has important science ahead of it,” NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said in a statement, “and we should be looking at every reasonable opportunity to keep it delivering for as long as possible.”

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

FORD SAYS ONTARIO 'ALL IN' ON ENDING SEASONAL TIME CHANGES IF EASTERN U.S. AGREES

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he's “very open” to discussions with the new Quebec Premier on whether to keep up seasonal time changes.

Quebec Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said last month that his government intends to abolish the twice-annual switch, but hasn't yet decided whether to keep daylight time or standard time year-round and will consult with experts before making a

final decision.

British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Northwestern Ontario and the Northwest Territories all chose this year to stick with daylight time.

Asked whether the rest of Ontario would follow suit, Mr. Ford says he's "easy going."

Mr. Ford says he's “all in” if not only Quebec, but also New York and the “eastern corridor of the U.S.” agree.

Permanent daylight time would push Toronto's winter solstice sunrise to around 8:45 a.m. and sunset to around 5:45 p.m.

A move to darker winter mornings has drawn criticism from some sleep experts, with a recent analysis from the Canadian Medical Association Journal favouring permanent standard time instead.

THE CANADIAN PRESS

[ MEMORIAL ]

Honouring family

A statue of First World War flying ace William Barker is unveiled by his grandson Ian MacKenzie, left, and great-grandson Henry MacKenzie in Toronto on Wednesday

SAMMY KOGAN/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

B.C. conservation investigating bear link

Officers determining

if same animal could

be behind two separate

high-profile attacks

ANDREA WOO

B.C. conservation officers investigating a suspected grizzly bear attack that killed a mother and daughter on the province's central coast say they are working to determine whether it was the same animal that mauled a group of schoolchildren and teachers last year.

Inspector Jeff Tyre with the province's Conservation Officer Service said Wednesday that it is still early in the investigation and that the bear population is large in the Bella Coola Valley, where both attacks took place.

"We do have the DNA from the last attack site and we will be working to collect DNA; that would be the only linkage we could put toward that," Insp. Tyre told reporters. "It's too early to draw any conclusions."

Residents have been on edge since Jennifer Balcarras, 48, and her 19-year-old daughter, Selah Reed, were found dead earlier this week in the Snooka West Trail area of the unincorporated community, with evidence suggesting a bear was responsible. Ms. Balcarras was located on Monday and Ms. Reed was found a day later about 150 metres away. The pair were minutes away from their home.

Family members reported the pair as missing on Sunday.

The Nuxalk Nation, whose traditional territories are in and around Bella Coola, has issued a recommended 8 p.m. curfew and is operating a shuttle service for 12 hours daily as safety measures. Conservation officers and RCMP will conduct night patrols.

A local school hosted a healing drumming circle on Wednesday afternoon.

Insp. Tyre said it's not yet known whether more than one bear was involved in the attack, and that the Conservation Officer Service has received reports of grizzly bear sightings in the area.

The service brought bear-capture equipment into the region late Monday afternoon and continued installing the devices on Tuesday, Insp. Tyre said.

“We understand a fatal grizzly bear attack can generate many questions and concerns in the communities and beyond,” he said. “I can assure you, a thorough investigation is being conducted to try and find answers as to what may have led to the attack.”

On Nov. 20, 2025, a grizzly bear attacked a large group of elementary-school students and teachers on a trail south of Highway 20 in Bella Coola. Eleven people were injured, including four – a teacher and three students – who were airlifted to hospital in Vancouver.

The teachers had used bear spray and bear bangers in an effort to fend off the grizzly, which was believed to be with her two cubs.

After the attack, authorities captured and tagged eight bears, but the offending animal was never found. At that time, there had been no other record of such an attack in the area.

Terry Webber, chief administrative officer for Nuxalk Nation, estimated the two attack sites to be three or four kilometres apart.

To the Nuxalk people, the grizzly bear is a respected creature, an emblem of physical and spiritual strength. “We’ve occupied these lands for thousands of years, and there always has been a co-existence of grizzly bears and Nuxalk people,” Mr. Webber said Wednesday.

The two recent attacks, however, have raised questions about the changing dynamics of human-grizzly contact in the Bella Coola Valley.

The grizzly bear population in the region has increased in part because the province banned grizzly hunting at the end of 2017. First Nations have still been permitted to harvest the bears pursuant to treaty rights or Aboriginal rights for food, social or ceremonial purposes.

Ms. Balcarras was an art therapist who had recently moved to Bella Coola from Bella Bella, about 110 kilometres west. She had four grown children and one grandson. Ms. Reed, Ms. Balcarras's youngest, had worked as an educational assistant, loved ballet and doted on her cat, Suga.

Matthew Balcarras, Ms. Balcarras's brother, told The Globe and Mail that she had lived for years in remote communities in southeast Alaska and was no stranger to the wilderness. He believed the two had intended to go for a short walk when the attack occurred and may not have had bear deterrents on them.

“She was comfortable with wild animals, firearms, hunting,” Mr. Balcarras said Tuesday. “She was a brave, outdoorsy person.”

CAF member's case sent to trial, official-secrets charges dropped

Master Warrant Officer Matthew Robar, pictured arriving to court in December 2025, continues to face three lesser National Defence Act charges. KEITO NEWMAN/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

STEVEN CHASE

SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER

The Canadian Forces counterintelligence operator arrested and charged after allegedly sharing sensitive information with a foreign power is no longer being charged under the country's official secrets law, the military says, but he still faces prosecution under the National Defence Act.

Master Warrant Officer Matthew Robar had been facing the more serious charges under Canada's Foreign Interference and Security of Information Act (FISIA) of “communicating special operational information” and “breach of trust in respect of safeguarded information.”

Such information can include highly safeguarded government data, from confidential sources, to military plans for armed conflict, to covert intelligence methods and vulnerabilities or other secrets.

This law, once called the Official Secrets Act, has been renamed several times. It criminalizes conduct that may be harmful to Canada, such as spying, economic espionage and foreign-influenced threats or violence, according to a federal website.

MWO Robar continues to face three lesser National Defence Act charges. One of those is under the act's section 124: Negligent performance of a military duty.

The military said Wednesday that the section 124 charge addresses its allegations, first levelled last year, that between September 2024 and February 2025, the soldier “had an unauthorized relationship with a foreign entity and shared unauthorized information with that person” while employed at Canadian Forces National Counter Intelligence Unit Headquarters.

The Globe and Mail last year reported that the foreign entity the soldier is alleged to have communicated with is Ukraine.

Retired colonel Michel Dra-

peau, an expert in military law, said the remaining charges against MWO Robar are less serious. “At the end of the day, his alleged breaches are exclusively against the Code of Service Discipline and hence restricted to military law.”

Five charges, including the two under FISIA, have been dropped but MWO Robar still faces the charges under the National Defence Act. In addition to the section 124 charge, he is charged under the act's section 129 – Conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline – because he allegedly was “dishonest with his chain of command about the nature and extent of his relationship with a foreign entity," the military said.

The third remaining charge is under the act's section 130 for allegedly improperly storing a firearm, which the military said was a Mossberg 500 shotgun, “contrary to subsection 5(1)(b) of the Storage, Transportation and Handling of Firearms by Individuals Regulations.

The Forces said Wednesday that the Director of Military Prosecutions has “preferred the charges” against MWO Robar, meaning that he made a formal decision to send the case forward for trial.

The Forces said that MWO Ro-bar has opted for a standing court martial, meaning a process with a judge alone presiding over the matter, and that it will start Dec. 9 in Ottawa.

The military said Wednesday that the revised charges reflect what it felt was appropriate for the case. “Deciding whether to prefer charges to court martial is among the most important steps in the prosecution process, and considerable care is taken in each case to ensure an appropriate decision is made,” said Nathan James, senior public affairs officer.

He said before a matter proceeds to court martial, military prosecutors conduct an independent post-charge review. As part of that review, prosecutors determine whether there is a reasonable prospect of conviction and whether the public interest requires that a prosecution be pursued.

"The charges currently before the court reflect the outcome of that process and the charges that military prosecutors have determined should proceed to court martial," Major James said.

Mr. Drapeau said if the military had pursued the FISIA charges it could have risked having to disclose restricted information in court.

Charlotte Duval-Lantoine, a fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, a think tank, said being found guilty of contravening Section 124 of the National Defence Act can nevertheless carry serious consequences. The charge carries a maximum penalty of dismissal with disgrace, according to the act.

MWO Robar served as a counterintelligence operator since 2019 and an intelligence officer since 2007, the government has said. Counterintelligence involves trying to protect sensitive information and thwart foreign spying while intelligence agents gather information.

The unnamed foreign spy to whom MWO Robar is accused of passing secrets is neither a Canadian citizen nor does he have security clearance to receive classified information from Canada, a military court heard last December.

Alberta voting map would dilute urban vote

Residents walk through downtown Edmonton. Analysis by The Globe and Mail shows that under the most recent election results, Alberta's latest electoral map would not affect the political playing field as severely as some expected in April. CORY WRIGHT/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

But an analysis finds the new boundaries would not tilt the field as much as previously assumed

MATTHEW SCACE CALGARY

DEXTER McMILLAN TORONTO

Premier Danielle Smith's government has taken the first steps to approve Alberta's new electoral map, unanimously voting to move forward with the redrawn boundaries emerging from a process that has faced charges of gerrymandering.

Ms. Smith's governing United Conservative Party voted on Wednesday night to approve a motion that will result in the government creating a bill to put the map into law. The Alberta NDP voted against the motion.

The new map has added four new seats and will likely benefit Ms. Smith's UCP – particularly owing to a slate of changes in Calgary's northwest and in Lethbridge.

It has also ignited fierce debate over a process that's traditionally a sleepy affair. Ms. Smith forced a redraw of the map in April, a decision she said was motivated by a desire to preserve rural voters' electoral representation in light of massive population gains in Alberta's two major cities, Calgary and Edmonton. But her decision has triggered questions about the process itself, with critics voicing concerns that the latest redrawing effort has not followed Alberta's traditionally independent and transparent procedures.

Analysis by The Globe and Mail shows that under the most recent election results, the latest map would not tilt the political playing field as severely as some expected in April when Ms. Smith rejected the previously proposed map and restarted the process.

Specific changes to the map, however, would provide an advantage to the UCP while significantly diluting the power of voters in urban centres, where support for the Alberta NDP is most concentrated. Calgary, where some of those changes are centred, is expected to be the battleground where next October's provincial election is won.

Earlier this week, Ms. Smith said she didn't want urban representation to come at the expense of the rest of the province: "We did not want rural Alberta to be under-represented."

The Alberta NDP has promised the map will end up in court. Ms. Smith has batted away accusations of gerrymandering and endorsed the changes. Alberta's elections agency has warned it doesn't have enough time to implement the new map, even without the prospect of a legal challenge.

Brian O'Ferrall, a retired judge and chair of the most recent five-person panel, wrote in the report of “unnecessary and counterproductive controversy” that dogged the five-person group as it attempted to redraw the map. He dismissed accusations of gerrymandering at several turns.

Meanwhile, the two panelists selected by the NDP – University of Alberta constitutional law professor Gerard Kennedy and former Okotoks, Alta., town councillor Brent Robinson – wrote a separate report suggesting that aspects of the new map would be “constitutionally fraught.”

"This 2025-26 Alberta redistricting process has pushed the envelope of democratic norms," they wrote, adding that adopting the new map “will likely force the courts to enter this fray.”

It is unclear what effect the new map would have on the outcome of next October's provincial election, as political tides continue to shift in Alberta. But applying the 2023 provincial election results to the new map, the UCP would hold on to its majority with a similar 11-seat margin over the NDP.

Some of the deepest divisions on the latest panel were over changes to Lethbridge and Calgary, where three panelists proposed to blend the cities' suburban neighbourhoods with rural communities.

Boundaries commissioners typically aim to achieve similar populations across all ridings. But it can be impossible in certain cases to avoid creating ridings with small populations due to sparsely populated rural regions, resulting in electoral divisions with below-average populations.

Population disparities between city and rural ridings increase under the new proposed map. If approved, the average rural riding would be nearly 11-percent smaller than the province-wide average of 53,722 people. Calgary and Edmonton's populations, meanwhile, would be roughly 6-per-cent greater than average.

These differences were key concerns for Prof. Kennedy and Mr. Robinson, the minority authors, who wrote that new ridings in northwest Calgary “subtly dilute Calgarians’ votes in ways that are not necessary to achieve effective representation.”

They added that the proposed recommendations “exacerbate the underrepresentation of the four largest cities in Alberta.” Those are Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer and Lethbridge.

Mr. O'Ferrall, meanwhile, defended the proposals while accusing Prof. Kennedy and Mr. Robinson of unfairly criticizing the proposed hybrid ridings. The former judge wrote that changes in Lethbridge were reasonable because of “an identifiable, shared southern Alberta community of interest driven by dependency on agriculture and food processing industries.”

At several points, Mr. O'Ferrall wrote that residents in the new hybrid Calgary ridings shared similar interests.

"One's vote is only diluted if a large number of people with whom one doesn't share the same interests is added to his or her electoral division," he wrote.

It is not boundaries commissioners' job to assess the electoral implications of their work. But should the map slide past the legislature and a legal challenge, it will have electoral implications in key parts of the province.

Professor regrets giving Galloway accuser degree despite unfinished thesis

MIKE HAGER VANCOUVER

A University of B.C. creative-writing professor says she regrets her role in the granting of a degree to the woman who accused bestselling author Steven Galloway of sexual harassment and sexual assault, even though the woman did not finish her mandatory graduate thesis.

Annabel Lyon told B.C. Supreme Court Wednesday that she felt pressed by a more senior colleague to sign off on the incomplete thesis.

“I regret it to this day,” she said.

Ms. Lyon was testifying in a defamation case brought by the bestselling author. She was one of two dozen defendants initially named in his lawsuit filed in 2018 alleging that his lucrative career was effectively ended by the allegations. He was never charged with a crime and has always denied the allegations.

Prof. Lyon, who is now the director of UBC's creative-writing program, said she agreed to be the second professor to approve the partial thesis after being asked by fellow faculty member Keith Maillard. The court heard that he deemed the incomplete novel excellent enough to merit approval.

Prof. Maillard was advising the student on her thesis and later gave her an A+ for 144 pages of a half-completed novel, which was her final requirement to graduate, according to Wednesday's hearing.

Prof. Lyon said she recalled a phone call from Prof. Maillard, after the student submitted her incomplete draft, wherein he told his colleague: "She needs to be finished, she needs to complete her degree' and he was asking me to sign off on it."

She added that she approved the thesis after only reading a few the pages with the proviso that the former student, who can only be identified as A.B. because of a publication ban, submit her full novel to Prof. Lyon for detailed feedback. A.B. never did.

Four months later, the trial has heard, A.B. e-mailed Prof. Maillard and described feeling at risk and “unsafe.” She alleged that she had been sexually assaulted and harassed by Mr. Galloway.

In November 2015, the university announced that it was investigating “serious allegations” against him, setting off a firestorm in Canada’s literary world. Mr. Galloway was suspended and then fired in June 2016 as head of UBC’s creative-writing program without severance because of breach of trust. News of the incident spurred a national debate over Mr. Galloway’s rights to due process versus the rights of his alleged victim.

A retired judge hired by the university to investigate the complaint found that, on a balance of probabilities, it could not be established that he committed sexual assault or assault, but that he had sexually harassed her and committed other misconduct.

Most of the defendants named in Mr. Galloway's defamation suit have since settled, including Prof. Lyon and Prof. Maillard. A.B. is one four defendants remaining.

A.B. is not testifying and, at the start of the trial, her lead lawyer Arden Beddoes told the court that he was withdrawing her defences of truth and fair comment, but his client does not admit that she spread lies about Mr. Galloway. Mr. Beddoes has said that she had tried to kill herself twice this year because of the stress of the case.

Prof. Lyon testified Wednesday that UBC had no policy at the time dictating what constitutes a complete graduate thesis in the creative-writing department and that, after this “one-off” incident with A.B., she crafted one herself.

“I wrote subsequent policies so that nobody could ever be in this position again,” she said.

Wednesday's testimony provided more information about how the university treated A.B. before and after her allegations. A month before Mr. Galloway was dismissed, the court recently heard, UBC awarded A.B. a post-graduation bursary of \$30,000, to which she was not entitled.

Prof. Lyon was asked Wednesday about an e-mail that she sent university administration after the 2016 publication of a letter signed by dozens of prominent writers, including Margaret Atwood, calling on UBC to afford Mr. Galloway due process.

Court heard that Prof. Lyon wanted to issue a statement saying she believed in the students that complained about Mr. Galloway.

"The university is losing a PR war here and they need someone to put a human face on their side of things," Prof. Lyon wrote in the e-mail, which was read in court by Daniel Burnett, lead counsel for Mr. Galloway.

Prof. Lyon testified that she was trying to protect her creative-writing students who had complained and were still in the program.

“I know there was a real feeling of despondency amongst the students that they had not been heard, and I wanted to reassure them that, as a unit, we had heard them,” she said.

Also on Wednesday, Justice Neena Sharma denied The Globe and Mail's request to access an exhibit filed earlier in the court proceedings involving a draft statement of claim that A.B. allegedly intended to file against the university for \$3-million for negligence, breach of contract and other reasons. The judge said the lawsuit threat may be discussed during closing arguments in the coming days.

CORNELL INVESTIGATION TO BE LED BY FORMER PROSECUTOR IN DIDDY CASES

A reopened criminal investigation into gang rape allegations at Cornell University will be led by a former Manhattan federal prosecutor who oversaw high-profile sex crimes cases against music mogul Sean (Diddy) Combs and fashion executive Peter Nygård, New York At-

torney-General Letitia James announced on Wednesday.

Jacqueline Kelly, a Cornell alumna and partner at the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner, will serve as outside counsel for Ms. James' investigation, which was spurred by a former student's allegations in a September

lawsuit that several men raped her at a fraternity party in 2024.

Ms. Kelly and a team from her firm and the attorney-general's office will be responsible for gathering evidence, interviewing witnesses, reviewing records and reports, Ms. James said.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A crashed shuttle bus is pictured on Highway 39 near MacKenzie, B.C., on Wednesday. RCMP/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Police say 20 injured in northern B.C. bus crash

ASHLEY JOANNOU

Police say 20 people were hurt when a shuttle bus chartered by a contractor for a data centre company went off a highway near Mackenzie, B.C., resulting in two hospitals declaring Code Orange events as patients were transported in a fleet of air and ground ambulances.

A statement from the RCMP said it was a “chaotic scene,” and injuries ranged from minor to serious.

Police said they were called to the remote site on Wednesday around 9:10 a.m. about a single-vehicle crash on Highway 39.

The bus was found down an embankment about four kilometres south of Mackenzie, which is about 900 km north of Vancouver.

The complete shutdown of the highway was required and the Northern Health Authority said the Mackenzie and District Hospital and the University Hospital of Northern BC in Prince George both declared a Code Orange, which is typically used to designate a mass casualty event.

“This was a chaotic scene, and police will need time to sort out many of the details,” Sergeant Michael McLaughlin with BC Highway Patrol said in the statement.

"We need to speak with anyone who has dash camera video of the bus, or any witnesses who saw what was happening prior to the crash."

The Northern Health authority said the Code Orange was lifted at the Mackenzie hospital at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, while it was taken down an hour later at the university hospital.

A statement from BC Emergency Health Services said one patient was transported from the scene by air ambulance in serious condition.

Six others were transported by ground ambulance to a hospital then transferred by air ambulance to another facility. Two were in serious condition and four were in serious but stable condition. Another 13 patients in stable condition were transported by bus to hospital accompanied by advanced-care paramedics.

A spokesperson for the multinational data centre company IREN, which has a 4.5-hectare data centre site in Mackenzie, confirmed that the bus was chartered by one of its contractors.

IREN, which operates three data centres in B.C., said its immediate concern was for those on the bus and their families and the company is supporting the response.

Police said the cause of the crash is still uncertain and “nothing has been ruled out.”

THE CANADIAN PRESS

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ANC faces more losses in South Africa's local elections

A voter casts her ballot at the Mai Mai Bazaar Hall polling station in Johannesburg on Wednesday during South Africa's local government elections. EMMANUEL CROSET/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

African National Congress expected to lose ground, leaving power increasingly fragmented among smaller parties

GEOFFREY YORK

AFRICA BUREAU CHIEF

JOHANNESBURG

The African National Congress, the former liberation movement of Nelson Mandela that ruled South Africa for decades after apartheid ended, is expected to tumble deeper into minority status as votes are counted in local elections this week.

Wednesday's elections are likely to confirm the ANC's long-term decline, leaving power increasingly fragmented in the hands of smaller parties. Among them are populist anti-immigration parties that will wield stronger influence in emerging coalitions in many cities and towns across the country, polls suggest.

Early results on Wednesday night showed the ANC running well below the 46 per cent that it captured in the last local election in 2021, although only a small fraction of votes have been counted so far.

The ANC, which battled to topple the white-minority regime during the apartheid era, brought Mr. Mandela to power as the country's first democratically elected president in 1994 and then dominated South African politics for the next three decades. Its eroding popularity led to the loss of its national majority in 2024, forcing it into a coalition with opposition parties, and it now faces a surge of similar setbacks at the local level.

The second-biggest party in recent elections, the Democratic Alliance, warned that “coalition chaos” will cause instability in many municipalities. But with polls predicting no clear winner in the local elections, the political turmoil is likely to continue. Several polls have found the ANC running barely ahead of the DA in electoral support, with neither close to a majority in most of the larger cities.

Growing dissatisfaction with the biggest parties has led to the creation of a slew of new parties. Wednesday's election was one of the most fractious in South African history, contested by 546 parties and nearly 137,000 candidates.

"My view is that we've never really in years had a local govern-"

ment election like this, where we have so many parties, so many South Africans interested in representing our people," South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told journalists after casting his vote in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

Earlier in the week, he conceded that the failures of many local governments – including widespread corruption and poor municipal services – have “contributed to declining public trust and confidence in democratic governance.”

At least 50 people have been killed in political violence in South Africa since the beginning of this year, mostly within the ANC – a higher death toll than in any previous national or local election in the past decade.

“Contestations over power and access to resources in local government have contributed to acts of violence, including disruptions of council meetings and the killings of ward candidates, councillors and municipal officials,” Mr. Ramaphosa said in a pre-election statement on Monday.

In the country's biggest city, Johannesburg, the near collapse of municipal services has angered many residents. Some neighbourhoods have gone weeks or months without a regular water supply. Broken streetlights have left major roads and highways in darkness, garbage went uncollected because of a labour dispute, and the national government was threatening to take control of the city's administration because of mismanagement by the ANC and its coalition partners.

Last weekend, Johannesburg's city government introduced what it called a “throttling schedule” to reduce the water supply in many neighbourhoods. Poor maintenance has meant that about a third of all water in the city is lost to leaks and burst pipes.

At a meeting with ANC councillors last year, Mr. Ramaphosa made headlines by acknowledging that South Africa's best-performing local governments were not run by the ANC.

More recently, the ANC has been in such disarray that it was unable to announce its mayoral candidates before the election. Instead, its campaign posters featured a photo of Mr. Ramaphosa, who is not on any local election ballot.

A poll of 3,600 South Africans, conducted by Ipsos last month, found that about half of respondents could not identify any political party that represents their views. Two-thirds said politicians cannot be trusted.

“Voters are disappointed, disillusioned and frustrated with the situation in the country, especially with lack of service delivery,” Ipsos political analyst Mari Harris said in a report on the poll.

Because of growing fragmentation in the electorate, coalitions will become a “defining feature” of the political landscape, Ipsos said. Most of the biggest cities will need weeks of negotiations to settle their new coalition arrangements, it said.

A South African think tank, the Institute for Security Studies, cited the recent surge in hostility to foreign migrants – one of the most visible trends in South African politics this year – as a symptom of a growing disaffection and alienation from the country's democratic system.

ANC faces more losses in South Africa's local elections

A voter casts her ballot at the Mai Mai Bazaar Hall polling station in Johannesburg on Wednesday during South Africa's local government elections. EMMANUEL CROSET/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

African National Congress expected to lose ground, leaving power increasingly fragmented among smaller parties

GEOFFREY YORK

AFRICA BUREAU CHIEF

JOHANNESBURG

The African National Congress, the former liberation movement of Nelson Mandela that ruled South Africa for decades after apartheid ended, is expected to tumble deeper into minority status as votes are counted in local elections this week.

Wednesday's elections are likely to confirm the ANC's long-term decline, leaving power increasingly fragmented in the hands of smaller parties. Among them are populist anti-immigration parties that will wield stronger influence in emerging coalitions in many cities and towns across the country, polls suggest.

Early results on Wednesday night showed the ANC running well below the 46 per cent that it captured in the last local election in 2021, although only a small fraction of votes have been counted so far.

The ANC, which battled to topple the white-minority regime during the apartheid era, brought Mr. Mandela to power as the country's first democratically elected president in 1994 and then dominated South African politics for the next three decades. Its eroding popularity led to the loss of its national majority in 2024, forcing it into a coalition with opposition parties, and it now faces a surge of similar setbacks at the local level.

The second-biggest party in recent elections, the Democratic Alliance, warned that “coalition chaos” will cause instability in many municipalities. But with polls predicting no clear winner in the local elections, the political turmoil is likely to continue. Several polls have found the ANC running barely ahead of the DA in electoral support, with neither close to a majority in most of the larger cities.

Growing dissatisfaction with the biggest parties has led to the creation of a slew of new parties. Wednesday's election was one of the most fractious in South African history, contested by 546 parties and nearly 137,000 candidates.

"My view is that we've never really in years had a local govern-"

ment election like this, where we have so many parties, so many South Africans interested in representing our people," South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told journalists after casting his vote in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

Earlier in the week, he conceded that the failures of many local governments – including widespread corruption and poor municipal services – have “contributed to declining public trust and confidence in democratic governance.”

At least 50 people have been killed in political violence in South Africa since the beginning of this year, mostly within the ANC – a higher death toll than in any previous national or local election in the past decade.

“Contestations over power and access to resources in local government have contributed to acts of violence, including disruptions of council meetings and the killings of ward candidates, councillors and municipal officials,” Mr. Ramaphosa said in a pre-election statement on Monday.

In the country's biggest city, Johannesburg, the near collapse of municipal services has angered many residents. Some neighbourhoods have gone weeks or months without a regular water supply. Broken streetlights have left major roads and highways in darkness, garbage went uncollected because of a labour dispute, and the national government was threatening to take control of the city's administration because of mismanagement by the ANC and its coalition partners.

Last weekend, Johannesburg's city government introduced what it called a “throttling schedule” to reduce the water supply in many neighbourhoods. Poor maintenance has meant that about a third of all water in the city is lost to leaks and burst pipes.

At a meeting with ANC councillors last year, Mr. Ramaphosa made headlines by acknowledging that South Africa's best-performing local governments were not run by the ANC.

More recently, the ANC has been in such disarray that it was unable to announce its mayoral candidates before the election. Instead, its campaign posters featured a photo of Mr. Ramaphosa, who is not on any local election ballot.

A poll of 3,600 South Africans, conducted by Ipsos last month, found that about half of respondents could not identify any political party that represents their views. Two-thirds said politicians cannot be trusted.

“Voters are disappointed, disillusioned and frustrated with the situation in the country, especially with lack of service delivery,” Ipsos political analyst Mari Harris said in a report on the poll.

Because of growing fragmentation in the electorate, coalitions will become a “defining feature” of the political landscape, Ipsos said. Most of the biggest cities will need weeks of negotiations to settle their new coalition arrangements, it said.

A South African think tank, the Institute for Security Studies, cited the recent surge in hostility to foreign migrants – one of the most visible trends in South African politics this year – as a symptom of a growing disaffection and alienation from the country's democratic system.

Israeli President to begin talks with party leaders on forming new government

JOSEF FEDERMAN

NATALIE MELZER JERUSALEM

Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday accepted the certified results of last week's parliamentary elections as legally binding and began consultations with party representatives on forming a new government.

The move dealt a blow to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's efforts to discredit the vote, in which he and his allies lost their majority in parliament, known as the Knesset, while Arab-led parties made historic gains.

"The elections are over. Now is the time to face reality," Mr. Herzog said.

Mr. Netanyahu and his supporters have repeatedly made unsubstantiated claims that Arab-led parties had “stolen” the election, possibly with foreign assistance. Mr. Herzog began consultations with party leaders on Wednesday night to determine whom to designate to form a government – a process that could bring Mr. Netanyahu’s opponents to power.

Israel's elections commission said earlier on Wednesday that after a thorough investigation of all parties' claims of fraud, it had found “no evidence of irregularities that compromised the integrity of the election or affected its results.”

Mr. Netanyahu's Likud Party did not respond to a request for comment.

A separate investigation by the Shin Bet intelligence service, which is headed by David Zini, a Netanyahu appointee and loyalist, into allegations of foreign interference in the election is still ongoing.

In a private meeting Wednesday of the elections committee's members, its head, Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, read out an intelligence assessment from the Shin Bet saying the agency believed there had been a “widespread phenomenon involving the influx of substantial funds into Israel from foreign states,” including from countries hostile toward Israel.

The Shin Bet provided no evidence to explain its assertion. The Associated Press obtained a transcript of the assessment from a person who attended the meeting and requested anonymity to discuss a closed-door meeting.

The committee has previously said that while claims about foreign actors seeking to influence the election are serious and under investigation, it does not believe that any such interference affected the results – even if it had happened.

Justice Sohlberg reiterated that stance on Wednesday. “At this stage, these are merely suspicions, and even if they are substantiated, the scope of their potential impact is limited,” he said during a ceremony to present the certified election results to Mr. Herzog.

Justice Sohlberg added that it was dangerous to cast doubt on the results and said they are legally binding.

Public trust in the electoral process is “easy to destroy, yet very difficult to repair,” he warned.

In the Oct. 27 vote, neither Mr. Netanyahu's bloc nor the bloc of allies of his chief rival, opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot, secured a parliamentary majority needed to form a new government, raising the possibility of an alliance between the two rivals or an alliance between Mr. Eisenkot and some of the Arab-led parties.

Mr. Herzog began a series of sit-downs with political parties on Wednesday. Three factions – all aligned with Mr. Netanyahu's religious-nationalist base – recommended Mr. Netanyahu be given a chance to form a coalition government, while a fourth – led by a former Netanyahu ally turned rival – recommended Mr. Eisenkot. Eight more parties, including the two Arab-led factions, are scheduled to meet Mr. Herzog on Thursday, with Mr. Eisenkot's Yashar and Mr. Netanyahu's Likud speaking last.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog stands in front of Central Elections Committee members after receiving the official results of the 26th Knesset elections in Jerusalem on Wednesday. OLIVIER FITOUSS/REUTERS

After the consultations, Mr. Herzog will choose the candidate – most likely Mr. Netanyahu or Mr. Eisenkot – who he believes is most likely to be able to form a coalition government. He has several days to announce his decision, which will then set the stage for weeks of negotiations.

If neither man can put together a government, the country would hold a new election early next year.

The Shin Bet sought approval from Israel's attorney-general on Tuesday to interrogate several elected officials as part of its separate investigation, including Ra'am party leader Mansour Abbas and other senior Arab lawmakers, Israeli media reported.

In a statement rejecting the request, attorney-general Gali Baharav-Miara said: "It is not permissible to interrogate citizens or elected officials without evidence to justify such action.”

The Joint List of Arab parties condemned the request, calling it a “campaign of incitement” by Mr. Netanyahu and his allies designed to delegitimize the Arab vote.

Mr. Herzog said Wednesday that the Shin Bet's investigation into possible foreign interference should proceed, but cautioned that Arab Israeli voters “must not be smeared.”

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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World leaders react to Republican rout

Dominic LeBlanc, Canada's minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade, seen in Washington in August, discounts the idea Ottawa's countertariffs had a political impact on the midterms. MANDEL NGAN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Midterm results don't change who sits at trade negotiating table, LeBlanc says

JILL LAWLESS LONDON

World leaders who have sparred with President Donald Trump greeted the rout of his Republican Party in the midterm elections with a measure of relief on Wednesday, allowing themselves to hope for a less combative U.S. foreign policy.

But that hope was seasoned with expectation that American voters' rebuke would not necessarily end the U.S. conflict with Iran or change Mr. Trump's policies on tariffs or his lukewarm-at-best support for Ukraine and the U.S.'s European allies.

Progressive politicians cast the results as part of a trend of liberal comebacks around the world, after recent defeats for populists on the right in Hungary, Brazil and Serbia.

The United States' immediate neighbours reserved judgment on whether the Republican defeat would smooth rocky relations with Washington.

“We must wait and see,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said.

Dominic LeBlanc, Canada's minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade relations, said it wouldn't be constructive to interpret the results in any particular way, noting that Ottawa's trade talks are with Mr. Trump and his cabinet, and they remain in office.

He also discounted the idea that Canada's countertariff strategy had a political impact; in the past, other cabinet ministers have explicitly said countertariffs were placed to exert political pressure.

But Mr. LeBlanc said he has never said that himself.

"The purpose of our tariffs were to add to the protection of Canadian industries and Canadian workers," he said.

"How they were interpreted by American voters is up to Americans to discuss."

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Wednesday the midterms outcome clearly “demonstrates that Americans hate tariffs.”

“A tariff on Canada is a tax on Americans,” Mr. Poilievre told reporters in Ottawa.

“What [Prime Minister Mark Carney] has got to do is take advantage of the immense leverage that Canada has had all along with the goodwill of the American people to get tariff-free trade with our biggest market in

the world."

Provincial leaders also reacted Wednesday. Ontario Premier Doug Ford, whose province has been battered by Mr. Trump's tariffs on automobiles and steel, said the Democrats' sweeping victory would give Canada "a little more leverage" and declared it a win for the country and the world.

“I was doing cartwheels down the street,” Mr. Ford said.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said during Question Period at the provincial legislature that the midterm results are “a vindication of our approach when it comes to tariffs.”

She has refused to use oil and gas exports as a trade weapon, though Alberta briefly halted purchases of U.S. liquor in 2025.

“We always have objected to tariffs. We know it hurts us. It hurts the Americans," she said.

Spain's social democratic Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote on X that Americans had voted “Against hate. Against machismo. Against climate denialism and against the privileges of the elites.”

"It happened in Brazil. It just happened in the U.S. And it will happen soon in Spain," wrote Mr. Sánchez, who faces an election on Nov. 29.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham expressed hope the election results would focus minds in Washington and other capitals on ending the Iran war, which has sent fuel prices soaring – a major source of frustration for voters.

"The world has an opportunity now to unite around the issue that is affecting us all, and that's the cost of living," Mr. Burnham said during a visit to the Commonwealth summit in Antigua. "But I can't get people's cost of living pressures down until the conflict in the Middle East is resolved."

That and “the conflict in Ukraine started by Russia. These are the things we have to focus on now.”

But others in Europe cautioned that, with Mr. Trump in power for two more years, there would be no quick change to American foreign policy, which has strained defence, economic and diplomatic alliances. The President has berated European leaders over everything from immigration to wind farms, roiled their economies with tariffs, threatened to pull the U.S. out of NATO and expressed a desire to take over Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark.

Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger said that “independently of the election outcome, our security and prosperity in Austria and Europe must not depend on how people in Kansas or Iowa vote. That’s why we are strengthening our own defence capability and our own competitiveness.”

Laurel Rapp, director of the U.S. and North America program at the Chatham House think tank, said there won't be “a ‘we’re back’ moment in the U.S. relationship with Europe.”

"I don't expect this will significantly change the administration's approach to Europe," she said. "It's been a very transactional one, one that has deep skepticism about the value Europe can offer the U.S. in terms of a defence relationship."

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

With reports from Stephanie Levitz and The Canadian Press

Supporters of jailed Canadian hope to free him from China after 20 years

Huseyin Celil is pictured with one of his youngest children shortly before his arrest in 2006.

JAMES GRIFFITHS

ASIA CORRESPONDENT

HONG KONG

It has been 20 years since Canadian Huseyin Celil was detained in Uzbekistan and ultimately deported to China, where he has been jailed ever since, a legal and diplomatic saga that has bedevilled three consecutive Canadian governments.

A Uyghur political activist who grew up in China's northwestern Xinjiang region, Mr. Celil was convicted on charges of terrorism and separatism in 2007 over the staunch objections of Ottawa and human-rights groups. Beijing has always refused to recognize his Canadian citizenship, despite supporters saying Mr. Celil renounced his Chinese passport prior to his arrest.

Originally sentenced to life, in 2016 he was among a group of 11 Uyghurs who saw their sentences reduced – in his case to 20 years, starting in 2018 – after they “had confessed their crimes and shown remorse,” according to a contemporaneous Chinese state media report, which held them up as an example of a successful “deradicalization” program.

The following year, that “de-radicalization” approach would be applied across Xinjiang as a whole, as hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs were processed through a sprawling network of what the Chinese government would ultimately term “vocational educational and employment training centres,” but which outside observers have denounced as re-education facilities.

In 2021, Parliament voted unanimously to declare that China's actions in Xinjiang constituted a genocide against the Uyghur population. The vote, along with the detention of two other Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, saw relations with China enter a deep freeze, which has only begun to thaw since Mark Carney became Prime Minister.

With Mr. Carney due to travel to the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen this month for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference, after a hugely successful state visit to Beijing in January, supporters of Mr. Celil see this as an ideal opportunity to push the Chinese government on his case, which has been largely dormant for a decade now since his resentencing.

"The campaign to free Husey-in Celil is as vibrant as ever, because of his family's refusal to give up and their supporters' insistence on invoking his name any chance they get," said Ketty Nivyabandi, secretary-general of Amnesty International Canada. "They have kept the flame of hope alive and sent Canadian officials an unequivocal message: We will demand justice and answers for as long as it takes, and we expect our leaders to do the same on the world stage."

Wilf Ruland, a co-ordinator of the Huseyin Celil Action Network, which lobbies on behalf of Mr. Celil's family in Canada, said Ottawa's engagement “has waxed and waned over the 20 years since his arrest and sentencing.”

“We can only see what the government tells us it is doing on the case – we don’t know what is happening behind the scenes in terms of the Canadian government putting pressure on China to release Mr. Celil,” he said. “Certainly, the Harper government was very active and engaged in pressuring China on this case, probably more so than any government since then.”

Thida Ith, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada, said Ottawa continues to advocate on behalf of Mr. Celil with Chinese officials and provides consular assistance to his family in Canada. She declined to provide any further details, citing privacy considerations.

The Canadian government was similarly reticent about Mr. Celil's situation when podcaster Yusuf Zine began working on a series about his detention for broadcaster TVO, which brought renewed attention to the case up-on its release in 2024.

“It’s jumping through hoops that lead you to nowhere,” Mr. Zine said of trying to get information out of Global Affairs. “We expected it from the Chinese government. We certainly didn’t expect it as much from the Canadian government.”

With so much uncertainty surrounding the case – Mr. Zine and his producers didn't even know if Mr. Celil was still alive – they were able to track him down to a prison in Xinjiang, where a member of the staff appeared to confirm he was still being held, though he refused to allow anyone but members of Mr. Celil's family to send him a message.

“Part of the goal of the podcast was to create enough noise. We hoped the Canadian government would sort of say, ‘We have to look into this,’ ” he said. “If they did, we have not heard about it.”

Similarly, Conservative MP Garnett Genuis, a long-time critic of consecutive Liberal governments' approach to China and an advocate for Mr. Celil, said he has received “no additional information” about what Ottawa is doing on his behalf.

"Our office is in the process of submitting a written question to the Canadian government on his case, identifying the Carney government's intended approach going forward," Mr. Genuis said.

“Unfortunately, the government’s response to this case does not match the intensity of their response to the detention of the Two Michaels. My view is that a Canadian is a Canadian, and the government should be fully and sharply engaged to secure Mr. Celil’s release.”

Former RBC employee found guilty after viewing PM's data, opening fraudulent accounts

JIM BRONSKILL OTTAWA

A former Royal Bank of Canada employee has been found guilty of three criminal charges after opening fraudulent accounts and viewing the personal banking information of Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Ibrahim El-Hakim, who worked at a downtown Ottawa bank branch, was recruited by someone he believed “to be associated with organized crime,” says an agreed-upon statement of facts in the case filed in an Ontario court.

The RCMP began an investigation last year after a complaint from RBC.

The agreed statement says Mr. El-Hakim opened at least 43 fraudulent accounts at the bank between November 2023 and June 2025.

In late June 2025, Mr. El-Hakim admitted his involvement in the fraud to an RBC corporate security official, saying he was recruited on Telegram, a social-media messaging app, by a person using the alias AI WORLD, the statement says.

“Mr. El-Hakim stated that he participated in the scheme because he was experiencing financial difficulties,” it adds.

Court documents show Mr. El-Hakim pleaded guilty in August to fraud over \$5,000, unauthorized use of a computer and identity theft.

Mr. El-Hakim did not turn up for a sentencing hearing late last month.

His lawyer at the time told Ontario Court Justice Norm Box-all that Mr. El-Hakim was no longer in Ottawa.

The court has set a new date for sentencing later this month.

The agreed statement of facts says Mr. El-Hakim described how he created bank profiles and opened credit products after receiving requests from AI WORLD through Telegram.

AI WORLD would send instructions and personal identifying information, including name, date of birth, social insurance number, driver's licence information, passport data and customer profile information. It would request that a credit card be linked to a particular account.

Mr. El-Hakim would also send identity information back to AI WORLD, including online banking passwords.

Mr. El-Hakim received at least \$5,000 in compensation – \$500 for each account issued in the form of an e-transfer deposited into one of his accounts at other banks, the statement says.

It adds that, shortly after interviewing Mr. El-Hakim, RBC became aware he had used his work computer and software to conduct unauthorized queries on customer profiles.

On June 17, 2025, Mr. El-Hakim accessed the customer banking profiles of Mr. Carney, Justin Trudeau and another individual, the statement says. The Trudeau account he accessed “was determined not to belong to the former prime minister,” the statement adds.

While accessing these profiles, Mr. El-Hakim was observed consulting a smart watch, the statement says. On the surveillance video, he was seen at one point taking a cellphone out of his pocket, using it and alternating his gaze between the phone and the computer screen of his bank workstation.

“Mr. El-Hakim committed these offences despite having received training in ethics, privacy, security and fraud prevention as part of his employment at RBC,” the statement says.

“He used customer information provided by third parties, opened fraudulent accounts, attempted to obtain credit products, accessed customer information without authorization, verified and transmitted identifying information, and received compensation for his participation.”

RBC has had to pay \$14,634 for 27 clients to receive a two-year credit monitoring service as a result of their identity being stolen, the statement says.

THE CANADIAN PRESS

In U.S. midterms, echoes of shifts in Hungary, Serbia

Supporters of the student-led movement celebrate moments after Serbia's Aleksandar Vucic conceded defeat in the parliamentary election in Belgrade, Serbia, in October. SIEGFRIED MODOLA/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

Elections acted as referendum on out-of-touch leader

PAUL WALDIE

EUROPE CORRESPONDENT

LONDON

First came Hungary, then Serbia, and now voters in the United States have turned their backs on an out-of-touch populist leader who built his political career on relentless negative campaigning.

While the political landscape in each country differs, all three have had elections that turned into referendums on their leaders – Donald Trump, Viktor Orban in Hungary and Serbia's Aleksandar Vucic. And the resounding results demonstrated the limits of fear-mongering and attack ads.

"There is definitely a place where the propaganda and the negative campaigning become so ridiculous that it completely undermines the trustworthiness of the messenger," said Alexander Bor, a post-doctoral researcher at the Central European University in Budapest. "People are less credulous than we often assume and they have this ability to discern when they are being taken advantage of."

Mr. Orban's Fidesz Party was swept from power last April after 16 years of increasingly authoritarian rule. The party had built an enormous propaganda machine by taking control of almost every media outlet and using taxpayer money for political promotion. During the April election, Fidesz used its overwhelming advantage to attack the opposition Tisza party and raise fears about the European Union dragging Hungary into the war in Ukraine.

Last month, Mr. Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party, SNS, was defeated in a snap election that ended his 14 years of similar authoritarian leanings. The SNS also relied on propaganda and disinformation tactics to discredit a student-led opposition movement. Mr. Vucic cast his opponents as foreign-paid agents who would sell out the country, ruin the economy and steal public money.

Both men put themselves at the centre of their campaigns and patterned their political style after Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump's MAGA movement provided support for Mr. Vucic and planned a conference in Belgrade this month. And U.S. Vice-President JD Vance campaigned for Mr. Orban last April.

But like Mr. Trump, Mr. Vucic and Mr. Orban badly misread the public discontentment that had been building over corruption and a lack of economic opportunities.

Shortly after the Hungarian election, researcher Gergely Romsics said the result raised important questions about the effectiveness of propaganda.

“Is there a natural ceiling to how societies react to these kinds of onslaughts and propaganda?” said Dr. Romsics, an associate professor of humanities at ELTE University, Budapest. “Does it devalue itself over time and with increasing intensity? Is it just not a case of diminishing returns, but actually negative returns?”

The same questions could be asked after the Democrats' sweeping victory in Tuesday's midterms in the U.S.

The party did far better than expected despite being vastly outspent by the Republicans and their aligned groups. Most of the extra spending went toward negative advertising, which has become ubiquitous in U.S. elections.

Experts have long debated the effectiveness of attack ads. Like the propaganda and fear-mongering in Hungary and Serbia, these ads drew attention but it's unclear how many votes they swayed.

“We know that it cuts through and folks remember the negative information from ads they hear. But there is little historical evidence that it will shift an actual vote from one party column to the other,” said Melissa K. Miller, a professor of political science at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio.

Dr. Miller said one ad by Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy against his Democratic opponent Amy Acton in Ohio was particularly controversial. The ad featured Dr. Acton's estranged mother calling her daughter a liar. Dr. Acton suffered childhood sexual abuse by her stepfather, who fled the state and later died after being indicted.

The ad was widely criticized, and Dr. Acton won the election. "Was Ramaswamy's ad the decisive factor? We'll never know with certainty," Dr. Miller said. "But we do now know how far is too far when it comes to negative advertising. Exhibit A is the Ramaswamy ad that backfired."

Like Mr. Orban and Mr. Vucic, Mr. Trump also put himself and his record at the centre of the campaign, and he often ignored voters' concerns. And just like in Hungary and Serbia, American voters came out in high numbers to turn Republicans out of office.

Dr. Bor said the three elections showed “that when Orban and Vucic and Trump are popular, their supporters are willing to endorse and repeat a lot of ridiculously sounding narratives.” But when the leaders fail to perform, “people just stop paying too much attention to the top-down narrative of the government and vote against it.”

Alina Rocha Menocal, a senior research associate at the London-based ODI Global think tank, said the decisive result in all three elections also left little room for conspiracy theories or challenges to the legitimacy of the vote. Mr. Orban and Mr. Vucic conceded on election night, and Mr. Trump has not, so far, invoked the same allegations of fraud he has raised in previous elections.

“It’s interesting that the victories are so resounding that there’s no amount of narrative that you can invent here about the elections being stolen,” Ms. Menocal said. “That’s also very encouraging.”

Midterms: Democrats see major swings from groups Trump won in 2024

FROM A1

Democrats have secured at least 237 of 435 House districts, their best result since 2008, with dozens of races still to be called. They will hold at least 54 seats in the Senate, with counting continuing in both Mississippi and Alaska.

More stunning than the size of the new Democratic majorities was where they were won. Texas, which Mr. Trump handily carried three times and where no Democrat has prevailed in a Senate contest since 1988, sent James Talarico to the chamber by a 12-point margin.

Adam Hamilton became the first Democrat to win a Senate race in Kansas since 1932 while South Carolina, which Mr. Trump took just two years ago by 18 points, chose Annie Andrews over Darline Graham, the sister of the state's long-time Republican senator.

Other red-state Senate-seat pickups for the Democrats included Ohio and Iowa. The party also flipped Republican upper-chamber seats in North Carolina, a swing state, and Maine, which is predominantly blue.

Democratic gains in the House stretched from the populous swing state of Pennsylvania to reliably red Kentucky, Iowa and Texas. The party took governors' mansions away from the Republicans in Texas, Georgia, Ohio, Iowa and Nevada.

Mr. Trump solidified his 2024 return to the White House by making inroads with young men and Latinos. This time, both groups moved resoundingly to the Democrats.

Polling by the New York Times showed a 17-percentage-point swing away from the Republicans among men, along with a 32-point swing for voters between 18 and 29 years of age. NBC's exit polling showed the Democrats winning nearly three-quarters of voters in this age group.

Latino voters, according to the Times' data, voted 69 per cent for the Democrats, a 28-point swing from two years ago. They said they trusted Democrats more on the issue of immigration than Republicans by a 27-point margin. The group has been the primary target of the President's campaign of roundups and deportations.

The effect of this was particularly clear in Texas: Mr. Trump won Hidalgo County, with its overwhelmingly Latino population along the Mexican border, in

2024; this week, it gave Mr. Talarico more than 72 per cent of its vote.

Turnout among Black voters in much of the South, meanwhile, was high. This voting demographic is consistently the Democrats' most loyal.

Democratic gains in the House stretched from the populous swing state of Pennsylvania to reliably red Kentucky, Iowa and Texas.

An Associated Press survey put election participation among voters in DeKalb County, a majority-Black part of the Atlanta suburbs, for instance, at 86 per cent of 2024 levels, unusually elevated for a non-presidential race. Georgia Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff won re-election by 18 percentage points.

It was a similar story in Mississippi, where 89 per cent of 2024 voters in the county that contains the state capital, Jackson, also cast ballots this week. The vote count in the state is virtually tied between incumbent Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith and

Democratic challenger Scott Colom.

The AP also found that two-thirds of midterm voters believed Mr. Trump's policies had made the economy worse, amid persistently high gas and grocery prices. In addition to petroleum, the Hormuz blockade has cut global fertilizer supplies.

Scott Elisar, an Ohio lawyer who joined a cheering crowd at the Democratic Party's election night event in Columbus, said the midterm vote was “a rejection of a war that makes no sense to people, of gas prices that are \$4.40 a gallon and make no sense to people.”

Mr. Trump's protectionist trade policies, which have entailed imposing tariffs on nearly every country in the world, have also saddled American consumers with billions of dollars in additional costs.

Willie Mitchell, a 56-year-old bus driver in the Detroit suburbs, described the President's trade war on Canada as “the dumbest thing ever” as it led to shifts being cut at Michigan auto plants.

“It hurts a state like this because we have such close relations. We do a lot of trading back and forth,” he said.

In the AP poll, half of respondents cited government corruption as important to their midterm vote – a result that could reflect growing public anger over accusations that Mr. Trump and his family have used the presidency to enrich themselves.

Successful Democratic candidates spanned the party's ideological spectrum from centrists to socialists, but many of them adopted rhetoric seemingly inspired by leftist Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, tying a message of economic populism to criticism of a corrupt elite.

“While the wealthy and well-lobbed feast on inside information and official favours, America’s forgotten families are treated to systemic corporate disrespect and official indifference,” warned Mr. Ossoff in his victory speech.

Mike Nellis, an Illinois Democratic strategist, said the result showed that campaigning on issues such as “class, the economy and taking on entrenched power” is “the magic secret sauce.”

The seven Democratic Senate candidates who won seats previously occupied by Republicans also represent generational change: they are, on average, nearly a decade younger than the average among sitting U.S. senators.

NOVEMBER 12. 2026

NOVEMBER 12, 2020

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Americans spoke loudly, but time will tell whether this is a turning point

Fascination with Trump now turns to how the Republican debacle affects his presidency and the trade war

DAVID SHRIBMAN

ANALYSIS

merica listened.

America listened. It listened to a President who urged people to cast their votes as if his name were on the ballot.

It listened to its instincts about high prices at the gas pump and the grocery checkout.

It listened to its qualms about a war that didn't seem to end and whose rationale seemed to be constantly changing.

It listened to its misgivings about where the country was headed, how it was being governed and how Donald Trump had coarsened the public debate even as his family reaped profits from his presidency.

Having listened, it spoke – and it will be sending a freshly empowered group of new Democrats to control Congress and to fill the seats of committee chairs that Republicans will relinquish in early January.

But it may have been speech-

A jogger runs in front of the U.S. Capitol Building on Wednesday. With Democrats now in control of both houses, they are likely to try to restore congressional power over trade policy.

ERIC LEE/REUTERS

less as it witnessed an 80-year-old President, who earlier had asserted the midterm results would have been different had he actually been running, devote much of his remarks after a historic political pummelling to how he has recast the footprint of the White House.

Taken all together, American voters delivered a stern message to Mr. Trump and capital Republicans that might have come from God's biblical declaration to Job, referring to the move-

What role did the Canada-U.S. trade war play in some key midterm races?

Tariffs have caused economic strain in five tossup states that were up for grabs in the Senate

JOY SPEARCHIEF-MORRIS

In Tuesday's midterm elections across the United States, Democrats were victorious in flipping both the House of Representatives and Senate, putting pressure on President Donald Trump's second administration, which has been mired in international tensions, including the trade war with Canada.

Five of the tossup states that were up for grabs in the Senate – Michigan, Maine, Ohio, Texas and Kansas – all trade billions annually in goods and services with Canada and are where the trade war has caused economic strain. They became major battlegrounds for candidates in the lead-up to election day.

A report by policy analysts at Advancing American Freedom found that trade between Canada and the U.S. fell by US\$50-billion in the past year.

Since January 2025, tourism from Canada has dropped across the U.S. by about 24 per cent, according to Statistics Canada, with Forbes estimating that this cost America about US\$4.5-billion last year. A study of cellphone activity data by the University of Toronto places the travel decline as high as 42 per cent, accounting for drops in business travel to metropolitan areas and transport traffic crossing the border.

Here is a look at how tariffs are affecting some of the states that are most vulnerable to trade relations with Canada.

Abdul El-Sayed rallied with former president Barack Obama on the campaign trail. BRIAN SNYDER/REUTERS

MICHIGAN

Senate winner: Abdul El-Sayed (D)

Senate incumbent: Gary Peterson (D)

House of Representatives in 2026: Democrats leading as of Wednesday afternoon

House in 2024: Republican majority

Annual trade with Canada: US\$64.7-billion

As the epicentre of Mr. Trump's trade war with Canada, Michigan's automobile and steel industries have been hit hard by tariffs over the past year. Ontario and Michigan together produce 22 per cent of North America's vehicles. However, increased production costs caused by U.S. tariffs targeting Canadian steel and aluminum have led to significant declines in trade.

In 2025, Michigan was responsible for about 11 per cent of the total national trade decline to Canada as exports from Michigan fell to US\$20.9-billion from US\$24.4-billion in 2024, while the state also lost more than 15,600 jobs.

Trade tensions also hit tourism from Canada, with Michigan seeing about an 18-per-cent drop in visits by car last year, according to Statistics Canada. The University of Toronto's study on cellphone data shows cities with close ties to the auto industry, including Flint, Grand Rapids and Detroit, all had visits fall from between 41 per cent to more than 50 per cent.

Tariffs featured highly in both campaigns for the Democratic and GOP Senate candidates. Republican Mike Rogers released an ad last month denouncing Mr. Trump's tariffs while drinking a well-known Canadian beer, Labatt Blue, despite the President personally backing him. Abdul El-Sayed, the winning Democrat, also ran on an anti-tariff campaign, appearing at a rally with former president Barack Obama, who mocked Mr. Trump's tariff war with "evil empire" Canada.

Troy Jackson unseated Susan Collins, who had held the Maine seat since 1997. ROBERT F. BUKATY/AP

MAINE

Senate winner: Troy Jackson (D)

Senate incumbent: Susan Collins (R)

House in 2026: Democrats leading as of Wednesday afternoon

House in 2024: Democratic majority

Annual trade with Canada: US\$5.4-billion

The Senate race in Maine also focused on tariffs. The Republican incumbent Susan Collins successfully lobbied Mr. Trump's administration last month to lift 50-per-cent tariffs in nine product categories. This included seaweed, a multibillion-dollar industry with Canadian ties through New Brunswick's Aqua Veggies Ltd. However, Ms. Collins's efforts were not enough, as the long-time senator who had held her seat since 1997 lost to Democratic candidate Troy Jackson.

Mr. Trump did replace the levies with new ones of equal value on other goods, including waste products. Agriculture accounted for 30 per cent of the \$1.3-billion in exports to Canada from Maine in 2025. According to Statistics Canada, imports to Maine from Canada dropped 8 per cent between January 2025 and August 2026, the most recent period for which data is available. Tourism to Maine from Canada also took a hit, with Statscan finding a 35-percent drop in visits by car in 2025. Governor Janet Mills attributed the decline directly to the tariff war.

ment of the sea: You may come so far and no farther. Here your surging waves will stop.

The damage to Mr. Trump's political reputation was considerable, much of it because of decisions he made that shaped the Republican field, particularly in southern states.

Mr. Trump sided with a deeply flawed candidate in a high-profile Texas Senate race (Ken Paxton) over an established but not wholly establishment-oriented incumbent (John Cornyn) who surely would have put up a better fight against James Talarico, who prevailed by a considerable margin Tuesday.

He endorsed a political neophyte who never successfully suppressed her look of abject fear (Darline Graham, sister of the late senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina), and he essentially chased a stronger candidate (Representative Ralph Norman Jr.) from the race. His range war against Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, punished for not hewing the MAGA line, led to the lawmaker's retirement, clearing the way for former governor Roy Cooper to slip effortlessly into the Senate like a Carolina Panthers wide receiver who had evaded a free safety in a weak defensive secondary.

And he never repressed his resentment against Governor Brian Kemp of Georgia for his refusal to help overturn the 2020 election, calling him “a bad guy” and “a very average governor” and muscling him out of a Senate campaign only to see one of his principal antagonists, Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff, glide easily to re-election with 59 per cent of the vote.

The fascination with Mr. Trump now turns to how the Republican debacle affects his presidency.

One area where there might be some movement is in trade, especially since Hakeem Jeffries of New York, likely to be the next Speaker of the House of Representatives, has included among his initial goals the restoration of congressional power over trade policy.

"This may help Canada," former U.S. ambassador James Blanchard, himself thrust into the House of Representatives in 1974 in a similar midterm Democratic avalanche, said in an interview.

“Congress, not the president, is supposed to have the power to make tariffs, so now Congress could pass a law rescinding the tariffs against Canada. I bet a lot of Republicans would support it – and it could be a big enough margin to survive a presidential veto.”

With the Republicans in residence at one end of Washington's Pennsylvania Avenue and the Democrats in control at the other, 16 blocks away, power in the capital now might be viewed in a split-screen fashion.

So just as the Trump administration already is contemplating its postelection strategy, so, too, are the Democrats, who like their rivals face important challenges.

They need to reconcile the moderate and progressive elements of their party, to decide whether they will use their new majorities as levers of vengeance or instruments of policymaking; to calculate whether to be prudent or daring; and whether to pursue incrementalism or attempt the “bold, persistent experimentation” that Franklin Delano Roosevelt urged on the party in a speech at Georgia’s Oglethorpe University, five months before prevailing in the 1932 election.

"The millions who are in want will not stand by silently forever while the things to satisfy their needs are within easy reach," he said. "We need enthusiasm, imagination and the ability to face facts, even unpleasant ones, bravely. We need to correct, by drastic means if necessary, the faults in our economic system from which we now suffer."

As the dust settles on the political world in coming months, it may become clear whether Tuesday's election was a true turning point or merely the next phase of a political version of Newton's Third Law of Motion.

The emeritus political scientist Dennis Goldford of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, compared these circumstances to the scene in the 1976 film Network where news anchor Howard Beale screamed, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this any more.”

“That was MAGA in 2016,” Prof. Goldford said, “and now the Democrats in 2026.”

Special to The Globe and Mail

Rep. 138

SOURCE: REUTERS

Senator-elect Sherrod Brown has called levies on Canadian goods 'idiotic.' SHANNON STAPLETON/REUTERS

James Talarico linked tariffs to the affordability crisis during his successful run. BRANDON BELL/GETTY IMAGES

Adam Hamilton ran his campaign on challenging the trade war with Canada. JIM VONDRUSKA/GETTY IMAGES

OHIO

Senate winner: Sherrod Brown (D)

Senate incumbent: Jon Husted (R)

House in 2026: Democrats leading as of Wednesday afternoon

House in 2024: Republican majority

Annual trade with Canada: US\$33.9-billion

After losing his seat to Republican Bernie Moreno in 2024, Democrat Sherrod Brown was victorious Tuesday night, returning to the Senate for Ohio. A notable opponent of the 1993 North American free-trade agreement, Mr. Brown ran on an anti-tariff campaign in the midterms, calling the 50-per-cent levies on Canadian goods “idiotic” and “even more of a disaster.”

Ohio and its manufacturing sector have been particularly exposed to Canadian countertariffs. Exports from Ohio to Canada also declined by 7 per cent and imports declined by 2.4 per cent since January 2025. Ohio cities highly linked to the manufacturing sector, including Toledo, Dayton and Columbus, are all down in visitations from Canada by more than 45 per cent.

TEXAS

Senate winner: James Talarico (D)

Senate incumbent: John Cornyn (R)

House 2026: Republicans leading as of Wednesday afternoon

House in 2024: Republican majority

Annual trade with Canada: US\$68.99-billion

Democrat James Talarico made history in Texas on Tuesday night, becoming the first blue candidate to win a Senate seat in the state since 1988.

Texas's manufacturing industries, with a strong presence in the automotive, aerospace and oil refining sectors, have been exposed to the tariff war, with half of the state's exports going to Canada. Imports to Texas from Canada have decreased by 5 per cent since January 2025.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas reported from a survey this year a positive impact from tariffs on the states' imports and selling prices. But the survey also said manufacturers have been disproportionately affected, with 40 per cent reporting that tariffs hurt them, such as through increased input costs and selling prices. Mr. Talarico has advocated for a full repeal of the tariffs, linking them to the affordability crisis and calling them "corrupt."

Cellphone data from the University of Toronto showed a decrease in visits to major cities such as Houston, Austin, Dallas and San Antonio of between 42 per cent and 52 per cent in 2024 and 2025.

KANSAS

Senate winner: Adam Hamilton (D)

Senate incumbent: Roger Marshall (R)

House 2026: Republican majority projected

House in 2024: Republican majority

Annual trade with Canada: US\$4.3-billion

Adam Hamilton also made history on Tuesday, becoming the first Democrat elected to the Senate for Kansas since 1932. Unlike Republican incumbent Roger Marshall, who supported Mr. Trump's tariffs, Mr. Hamilton ran on a campaign that challenged the trade war with Canada, which he said targeted Kansas farmers and aircraft manufacturer Bombardier Inc.

Wichita has been the U.S. headquarters for the Montreal-based aircraft company since 2022, employing more than 3,000 U.S. workers and contributing to the state's export of US\$309-million to Canada in aircraft and parts in 2025. Last year, Wichita saw a decrease of more than 43 per cent in visits from Canada, according to cellphone data, while Kansas's capital city, Topeka, had a 32-per-cent drop in visitors.

Mr. Hamilton said tariffs drove up production costs for farmers. A report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture said that 700 farms in Kansas had to close last year.

The subject who is truly loyal to the chief magistrate will neither advise nor submit to arbitrary measures - Junius

A bad day for Trump, a great day for America

Oh, how Donald Trump would have been gloating this week. The U.S. President repeatedly told Americans to vote as though he were on the ballot in the midterm elections (47 instances, according to The New York Times). He intervened in the Senate races in critical states by anointing candidates, and by supporting preferred gubernatorial candidates. He urged Republican-controlled states to gerrymander their districts to ensure more House seats for the party, which eight of them obediently did.

Tuesday should have been his big day. He would have claimed a Republican victory in the midterms, or even a respectable showing, as his own personal accomplishment.

Instead, the Democrats routed the Republicans in a historic sweep. Tuesday's results are a blunt repudiation of Mr. Trump, both personally and politically, that he won't be able to wave away. They are also a victory for a democracy that seemed to be in peril.

The damage to Mr. Trump is catastrophic. Both houses of Congress have flipped to Democratic control. Seven Republican-held Senate seats are now in Democratic hands, and two more, in Alaska and Mississippi, could yet fall to the Democrats once all the votes are counted.

Texas, Iowa and Ohio, all Republican redoubts, elected both a Democratic senator and a Democratic governor. Kansas elected its first Democratic senator since 1932, and a Democrat was leading the governor's race as of press time

All the major candidates Mr. Trump backed for Senate were defeated; four of his five gubernatorial candidates lost, too. And of the 15 congressional seats across eight states that Republicans targeted through gerrymandering, Democrats won or were poised to win 12.

Just as devastating is the Democrats' 13-point lead in the popular vote for the House of Representatives, a startling gap for modern midterm elections.

Mr. Trump, true to character, is blaming everyone but himself for the outcome – including, somehow, the handpicked candidates who followed his script to the letter.

But it is impossible not blame a President who broke loud promises to reduce the cost of living and stay out of needless wars, who turned the roundup of suspected illegal immigrants into an orgy of violence and cruelty, and whose policies cut social services and raised health insurance premiums for Americans while he nakedly used his office to enrich himself.

At the same time, his collapse is a healthy sign for American democracy.

Mr. Trump's repeated false claim that the 2020 presidential election was rigged, his attempts to usurp states' control over voting lists and his repeated threat to deploy troops or ICE agents at polling stations had raised fears about the future of the country's voting system.

But the midterms went off without a hitch, and Mr. Trump says he won't challenge the results. Better still, key Republican states will soon have Democratic governors who won't supplicate themselves to Mr. Trump's demands for gerrymandering and other chicanery, thereby hardening protections for the 2028 election.

The results could also be good for Canada. They are a clear rejection of the tariffs that raised Americans' costs, and of Mr. Trump's attacks on their friendly northern neighbour.

How that plays out remains to be seen. The Liberal government should stick to its plan to decrease Canada's dependency on the U.S., while saying as little as possible. But the Democrats will have at least a four-seat majority in the Senate and a 15-seat majority or more in the House of Representatives when the electees take office in January, meaning Congress will finally serve as a check on the President's worst instincts.

Congressional Democrats might even find they have support from Republican colleagues who are none too pleased to be blamed by a weakened Mr. Trump for the midterm loss.

And the downside? Well, the Democrats are still the Democrats. It would be a painful stretch to say the results were anything more than a vote against Mr. Trump; that they were an endorsement of the party that orchestrated the debacle of the 2020 election, and which leaned so hard into identity politics at the peak of the woke era.

What the results ultimately show is that the United States is not defined by the character and policies of Mr. Trump, and that its future is not destined to be determined by Trumpism.

SINCLAIR STEWART

DEPUTY EDITOR

ANGELA PACIENZA

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

JAMES KELLER

NATIONAL EDITOR

CHRISTINE BROUSSEAU

MANAGING EDITOR, PRIORITIES

David Parkin 2026

A bad day for Trump, a great day for America

Oh, how Donald Trump would have been gloating this week. The U.S. President repeatedly told Americans to vote as though he were on the ballot in the midterm elections (47 instances, according to The New York Times). He intervened in the Senate races in critical states by anointing candidates, and by supporting preferred gubernatorial candidates. He urged Republican-controlled states to gerrymander their districts to ensure more House seats for the party, which eight of them obediently did.

Tuesday should have been his big day. He would have claimed a Republican victory in the midterms, or even a respectable showing, as his own personal accomplishment.

Instead, the Democrats routed the Republicans in a historic sweep. Tuesday's results are a blunt repudiation of Mr. Trump, both personally and politically, that he won't be able to wave away. They are also a victory for a democracy that seemed to be in peril.

The damage to Mr. Trump is catastrophic. Both houses of Congress have flipped to Democratic control. Seven Republican-held Senate seats are now in Democratic hands, and two more, in Alaska and Mississippi, could yet fall to the Democrats once all the votes are counted.

Texas, Iowa and Ohio, all Republican redoubts, elected both a Democratic senator and a Democratic governor. Kansas elected its first Democratic senator since 1932, and a Democrat was leading the governor's race as of press time

All the major candidates Mr. Trump backed for Senate were defeated; four of his five gubernatorial candidates lost, too. And of the 15 congressional seats across eight states that Republicans targeted through gerrymandering, Democrats won or were poised to win 12.

Just as devastating is the Democrats' 13-point lead in the popular vote for the House of Representatives, a startling gap for modern midterm elections.

Mr. Trump, true to character, is blaming everyone but himself for the outcome – including, somehow, the handpicked candidates who followed his script to the letter.

But it is impossible not blame a President who broke loud promises to reduce the cost of living and stay out of needless wars, who turned the roundup of suspected illegal immigrants into an orgy of violence and cruelty, and whose policies cut social services and raised health insurance premiums for Americans while he nakedly used his office to enrich himself.

At the same time, his collapse is a healthy sign for American democracy.

Mr. Trump's repeated false claim that the 2020 presidential election was rigged, his attempts to usurp states' control over voting lists and his repeated threat to deploy troops or ICE agents at polling stations had raised fears about the future of the country's voting system.

But the midterms went off without a hitch, and Mr. Trump says he won't challenge the results. Better still, key Republican states will soon have Democratic governors who won't supplicate themselves to Mr. Trump's demands for gerrymandering and other chicanery, thereby hardening protections for the 2028 election.

The results could also be good for Canada. They are a clear rejection of the tariffs that raised Americans' costs, and of Mr. Trump's attacks on their friendly northern neighbour.

How that plays out remains to be seen. The Liberal government should stick to its plan to decrease Canada's dependency on the U.S., while saying as little as possible. But the Democrats will have at least a four-seat majority in the Senate and a 15-seat majority or more in the House of Representatives when the electees take office in January, meaning Congress will finally serve as a check on the President's worst instincts.

Congressional Democrats might even find they have support from Republican colleagues who are none too pleased to be blamed by a weakened Mr. Trump for the midterm loss.

And the downside? Well, the Democrats are still the Democrats. It would be a painful stretch to say the results were anything more than a vote against Mr. Trump; that they were an endorsement of the party that orchestrated the debacle of the 2020 election, and which leaned so hard into identity politics at the peak of the woke era.

What the results ultimately show is that the United States is not defined by the character and policies of Mr. Trump, and that its future is not destined to be determined by Trumpism.

SINCLAIR STEWART

DEPUTY EDITOR

ANGELA PACIENZA

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

JAMES KELLER

NATIONAL EDITOR

CHRISTINE BROUSSEAU

MANAGING EDITOR, PRIORITIES

David Parkin 2026

A bad day for Trump, a great day for America

Oh, how Donald Trump would have been gloating this week. The U.S. President repeatedly told Americans to vote as though he were on the ballot in the midterm elections (47 instances, according to The New York Times). He intervened in the Senate races in critical states by anointing candidates, and by supporting preferred gubernatorial candidates. He urged Republican-controlled states to gerrymander their districts to ensure more House seats for the party, which eight of them obediently did.

Tuesday should have been his big day. He would have claimed a Republican victory in the midterms, or even a respectable showing, as his own personal accomplishment.

Instead, the Democrats routed the Republicans in a historic sweep. Tuesday's results are a blunt repudiation of Mr. Trump, both personally and politically, that he won't be able to wave away. They are also a victory for a democracy that seemed to be in peril.

The damage to Mr. Trump is catastrophic. Both houses of Congress have flipped to Democratic control. Seven Republican-held Senate seats are now in Democratic hands, and two more, in Alaska and Mississippi, could yet fall to the Democrats once all the votes are counted.

Texas, Iowa and Ohio, all Republican redoubts, elected both a Democratic senator and a Democratic governor. Kansas elected its first Democratic senator since 1932, and a Democrat was leading the governor's race as of press time

All the major candidates Mr. Trump backed for Senate were defeated; four of his five gubernatorial candidates lost, too. And of the 15 congressional seats across eight states that Republicans targeted through gerrymandering, Democrats won or were poised to win 12.

Just as devastating is the Democrats' 13-point lead in the popular vote for the House of Representatives, a startling gap for modern midterm elections.

Mr. Trump, true to character, is blaming everyone but himself for the outcome – including, somehow, the handpicked candidates who followed his script to the letter.

But it is impossible not blame a President who broke loud promises to reduce the cost of living and stay out of needless wars, who turned the roundup of suspected illegal immigrants into an orgy of violence and cruelty, and whose policies cut social services and raised health insurance premiums for Americans while he nakedly used his office to enrich himself.

At the same time, his collapse is a healthy sign for American democracy.

Mr. Trump's repeated false claim that the 2020 presidential election was rigged, his attempts to usurp states' control over voting lists and his repeated threat to deploy troops or ICE agents at polling stations had raised fears about the future of the country's voting system.

But the midterms went off without a hitch, and Mr. Trump says he won't challenge the results. Better still, key Republican states will soon have Democratic governors who won't supplicate themselves to Mr. Trump's demands for gerrymandering and other chicanery, thereby hardening protections for the 2028 election.

The results could also be good for Canada. They are a clear rejection of the tariffs that raised Americans' costs, and of Mr. Trump's attacks on their friendly northern neighbour.

How that plays out remains to be seen. The Liberal government should stick to its plan to decrease Canada's dependency on the U.S., while saying as little as possible. But the Democrats will have at least a four-seat majority in the Senate and a 15-seat majority or more in the House of Representatives when the electees take office in January, meaning Congress will finally serve as a check on the President's worst instincts.

Congressional Democrats might even find they have support from Republican colleagues who are none too pleased to be blamed by a weakened Mr. Trump for the midterm loss.

And the downside? Well, the Democrats are still the Democrats. It would be a painful stretch to say the results were anything more than a vote against Mr. Trump; that they were an endorsement of the party that orchestrated the debacle of the 2020 election, and which leaned so hard into identity politics at the peak of the woke era.

What the results ultimately show is that the United States is not defined by the character and policies of Mr. Trump, and that its future is not destined to be determined by Trumpism.

SINCLAIR STEWART

DEPUTY EDITOR

ANGELA PACIENZA

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

JAMES KELLER

NATIONAL EDITOR

CHRISTINE BROUSSEAU

MANAGING EDITOR, PRIORITIES

David Parkin 2026

A bad day for Trump, a great day for America

Oh, how Donald Trump would have been gloating this week. The U.S. President repeatedly told Americans to vote as though he were on the ballot in the midterm elections (47 instances, according to The New York Times). He intervened in the Senate races in critical states by anointing candidates, and by supporting preferred gubernatorial candidates. He urged Republican-controlled states to gerrymander their districts to ensure more House seats for the party, which eight of them obediently did.

Tuesday should have been his big day. He would have claimed a Republican victory in the midterms, or even a respectable showing, as his own personal accomplishment.

Instead, the Democrats routed the Republicans in a historic sweep. Tuesday's results are a blunt repudiation of Mr. Trump, both personally and politically, that he won't be able to wave away. They are also a victory for a democracy that seemed to be in peril.

The damage to Mr. Trump is catastrophic. Both houses of Congress have flipped to Democratic control. Seven Republican-held Senate seats are now in Democratic hands, and two more, in Alaska and Mississippi, could yet fall to the Democrats once all the votes are counted.

Texas, Iowa and Ohio, all Republican redoubts, elected both a Democratic senator and a Democratic governor. Kansas elected its first Democratic senator since 1932, and a Democrat was leading the governor's race as of press time

All the major candidates Mr. Trump backed for Senate were defeated; four of his five gubernatorial candidates lost, too. And of the 15 congressional seats across eight states that Republicans targeted through gerrymandering, Democrats won or were poised to win 12.

Just as devastating is the Democrats' 13-point lead in the popular vote for the House of Representatives, a startling gap for modern midterm elections.

Mr. Trump, true to character, is blaming everyone but himself for the outcome – including, somehow, the handpicked candidates who followed his script to the letter.

But it is impossible not blame a President who broke loud promises to reduce the cost of living and stay out of needless wars, who turned the roundup of suspected illegal immigrants into an orgy of violence and cruelty, and whose policies cut social services and raised health insurance premiums for Americans while he nakedly used his office to enrich himself.

At the same time, his collapse is a healthy sign for American democracy.

Mr. Trump's repeated false claim that the 2020 presidential election was rigged, his attempts to usurp states' control over voting lists and his repeated threat to deploy troops or ICE agents at polling stations had raised fears about the future of the country's voting system.

But the midterms went off without a hitch, and Mr. Trump says he won't challenge the results. Better still, key Republican states will soon have Democratic governors who won't supplicate themselves to Mr. Trump's demands for gerrymandering and other chicanery, thereby hardening protections for the 2028 election.

The results could also be good for Canada. They are a clear rejection of the tariffs that raised Americans' costs, and of Mr. Trump's attacks on their friendly northern neighbour.

How that plays out remains to be seen. The Liberal government should stick to its plan to decrease Canada's dependency on the U.S., while saying as little as possible. But the Democrats will have at least a four-seat majority in the Senate and a 15-seat majority or more in the House of Representatives when the electees take office in January, meaning Congress will finally serve as a check on the President's worst instincts.

Congressional Democrats might even find they have support from Republican colleagues who are none too pleased to be blamed by a weakened Mr. Trump for the midterm loss.

And the downside? Well, the Democrats are still the Democrats. It would be a painful stretch to say the results were anything more than a vote against Mr. Trump; that they were an endorsement of the party that orchestrated the debacle of the 2020 election, and which leaned so hard into identity politics at the peak of the woke era.

What the results ultimately show is that the United States is not defined by the character and policies of Mr. Trump, and that its future is not destined to be determined by Trumpism.

SINCLAIR STEWART

DEPUTY EDITOR

ANGELA PACIENZA

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

JAMES KELLER

NATIONAL EDITOR

CHRISTINE BROUSSEAU

MANAGING EDITOR, PRIORITIES

David Parkin 2026

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

TO THE LEFT

Re “Democrats take U.S. House and Senate after winning key races in Republican strongholds” (Nov. 4): Canada and the free world feared we had forever lost our strongest ally.

To America: Welcome back

■ Donald Hall Ottawa

The prolonged Trump fever has finally broken and Americans can get on with healing the body politic.

It will take prudence and patience, on the part of both Democrats and Republicans, to restore the decent and respectful political discourse requisite to properly inform U.S. domestic and foreign policy in an era of disintegrating democratic norms.

Terrence Downey Calgary

After America's historic election, it's easy to be optimistic. It's easy to be hopeful.

Let us not forget it wasn't the American people as a whole who fractured the relationship between our two countries, but the grotesque ambitions of a would-be dictator.

We are not out of the woods. Not yet.

■ Rodney Beatty Sarnia, Ont.

As someone who came to Canada from the United States as a political refugee in 1968, I am heartened by these election results.

The U.S. electorate soundly rejected the many venal, self-serving Republicans who tolerated and encouraged Donald Trump. The election of numerous women of many minority backgrounds, along with the acceptance of LBGTQ senators and congressional representatives, demonstrates a tolerance the party in power has disdained.

Perhaps, just perhaps, they are becoming a bit more Canadian.

■ Michael Gilbert Toronto

It was probably a bad night for Wayne Gretzky.

■ Doug Paul Toronto

OWN BACKYARD

Re “Strategic autonomy is the new Carney foreign policy. Where does that leave human rights?” (Nov. 3): The physical world we live in isn’t fuelled by values and principles, but the products of viable economies.

Civil rights, principles and values are icing a country can apply to its own cake, not requirements one nation can force on others. This highly presumptuous attitude of “we won’t deal with you, unless you become more kind like us,” was hardly a winning policy in the past and most likely won’t be going forward, given that even fewer trading partners adhere to principles and values. The most we ever had was moral persuasion.

It's fine that Canada was able to promote values and principles abroad over the last 80 years, when the United States and more nations were on our side. “The implication is that Canada’s commitment to uphold important values ends at the border.” Yes.

The real world requires difficult but practical solutions, such as those based on strategic autonomy.

W. E. Hildreth

Prince Edward County, Ont.

GIVE A HOOT

Re “Did the B.C. Conservatives’ election win run against the federal tide, or with it?” (Opinion, Oct. 31) and “Russia’s return from the cold will force sporting rivals to make a choice” (Sports, Oct. 31): As a longtime believer in true democracy, I am grateful to columnists Andrew Coyne and Cathal Kelly for their unintended but helpful journalistic teamwork.

Why do we in Canada continue to accept election and referendum “shenanigans,” as highlighted by Mr. Coyne, which debase our democracy and allow us only “now and then … a glimpse of the democracy that might be?”

Mr. Kelly helpfully provides the answer: "Not because we don't care, but because we don't care enough ... deeply held beliefs don't require explaining, because they are acted upon. That's always the tell."

How true and sad for us all.

■ Carey Thomson Ottawa

AT THE TABLE

Re “First Nations court challenges pile up against Pacific Link pipeline” (Nov. 3): Recently, the Prime Minister offered 15 per cent of the Trans Mountain pipeline to First Nations. Some Indigenous leaders would ask for 50 per cent. This spread is not tenable.

The Supreme Court has determined that consultation does not automatically require consent. I would like to think the political will now exists, supported by balanced legal opinion, to allow Canada to proceed with these nation-building projects.

First Nations would be better served to decide that Canada is the only game in town.

■ Stephen Gross Toronto

IS THIS THE PLACE?

Re “Data centres are on the rise – and they’re hyperscaling Canadians’ anger, too” (Nov. 2): Don’t worry about us here in Saskatchewan, our government is on top of this issue and ready to suffocate it. Witness these snippets from the recent Throne Speech.

"[Bell Canada's \$50-billion data centre outside Regina] is the largest private capital investment in Canadian history, creating thousands of new jobs and protecting Canadians' online data.

"There are some who would try to block this project and send those jobs, that investment and Canadians' online data to another country, but Canadians understand the importance of home ice advantage."

That's some crafty stage-setting: Demonize others. Praise patriotic, sensible folks. Finish with a down-home metaphor.

Then the government vows legislation “to ensure that our critical infrastructure ... cannot be disrupted by occupations or other illegal activities.”

Quite a coincidence.

Quite a coincidence.

■ Kishore Visvanathan Saskatoon

Re “A data centre developer wanted to buy their Alberta farm. They said no” (Report on Business, Oct. 31): Thank god I live in British Columbia, where farmland is protected by the Agricultural Land Reserve.

If companies want to build data centres in B.C., they will have to buy expensive urban land and deal with a large population of resistance.

In 30 years, when Alberta looks around and realizes it has sacrificed farmland and the ability to feed its citizens, the province might regret these decisions. Jane McCall Delta, B.C.

ON TOAST

Re “How fraudsters got a slice of Canada’s bread price-fixing settlement” (Oct. 31): Rather than the fear of being caught, a newcomer to Canada rejected the offer to engage in class-action fraud because it was wrong.

Although Loblaw supports “efforts to protect the integrity of the claims settlement process,” the company is able to shirk any responsibility for it. No doubt that is the right thing for shareholders and executives.

I suspect the newcomer's right-or-wrong assessment required neither return-on-investment calculus nor legal advice. ■ Chris Irwin Toronto

How about sending to food banks whatever remains in the class-action settlement fund? Then the people who need it most would benefit.

■ Carol Town Hamilton

Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include name, address and daytime phone number. Keep letters under 150 words. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. E-mail: letters@globeandmail.com

DENNIS CHOQUETTE

DEPUTY EDITOR, REPORT ON BUSINESS

GARY SALEWICZ

EDITOR, REPORT ON BUSINESS

PATRICK BRETHOUR

EDITORIALS EDITOR

MATT FREHNER

MANAGING EDITOR,

PRODUCTS AND PLATFORMS

NATASHA HASSAN

OPINION EDITOR

MATT FRENCH

HEAD OF VISUALS

MELISSA STASIUK

HEAD OF NEWSROOM DEVELOPMENT

Hallelujah! Sanity has returned to America

Voters had their

intelligence insulted

one too many times,

and at long last have

started to wake up

LAWRENCE MARTIN

OPINION

In his 2016 election campaign, Donald Trump made a remarkable observation. “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose supporters.”

At a rally in Tennessee last month, he demonstrated that his attitude hadn't changed. He told his audience, "I could say the stupidest things, and you clap."

Throughout the midterms campaign he stayed true to his word on “the stupidest things” part. But given the ransacking he took in the results, the clapping has finally stopped.

American voters, it seems, have had their intelligence insulted one too many times. They have at long last started to wake up. Their toleration of Mr. Trump has been jarring. A rightful reckoning has hopefully begun.

Such was Mr. Trump's talking down to the electorate in this campaign that he praised one of his candidate's butt more than his brains. Ohio's John Husted, he said, "has a great ass."

Such was the President's megalomania that he paid more attention to vanity projects – building monuments to himself like ballrooms and arches – than the people.

Such was his cluelessness that he accused Canada countless times of ripping off the U.S. on trade while forgetting his own White House happily authored the renegotiated NAFTA that governs most bilateral trade between the two countries.

How about – never mind his own glaring profiteering at the White House – his harebrained promise of \$5,000 in bribe-like cheques to every American if his Republicans maintained control of the Congress?

Or his continued kowtowing to Vladimir Putin. Or his continuing war of choice in Iran that has been driving up gas prices? Or his keeping his inflation-inducing tariff war going?

Mr. Trump didn't even offer up a platform for the next two years. While celebrating their blow-out victory, Democrats should realize that his cocky horror show made losing pretty much impossible. This was less a victory of the left than a luminous example of the old adage that governments defeat themselves.

With the Democrats in control of Congress, Canada will have far more voices of support in Washington.

The critical factor was Mr. Trump making the campaign totally about himself. Had he kept a distance he could argue that the party still badly needs him. But now he has to own the beating, a beating so brutal that he can't even blame it on fraud or, amusingly, Canadian interference.

With his veto power and executive orders he'll still be able to often ride herd over Congress. But with his battered and diminished status Republican Party members will be able to stand up and challenge him.

And so will foreign governments. With Canada it's obvious that Mr. Trump paid a price for his tariff war in toss-up border states. It's not to say the losses will trigger an about-face on tariffs. But the size of the defeat will make it easier for Prime Minister Mark Carney to drive a harder bargain in trade talks. The midterms outcome suggests Mr. Carney was wise to bide his time in seeking a new trade agreement as opposed to buckling under Mr. Trump's threats and making a quick deal as many other countries did.

With the Democrats in control of Congress, Canada will have far more voices of support in Washington. The Democrats can be tough on trade but they view Canada with the traditional respect and friendship that has always existed before this President came along.

The big question is whether MAGA populists will be able to maintain control of the Republican Party or whether moderates can now make significant inroads. In the Conservative Party in Canada a similar dynamic is at play. With the harder right populist elements holding sway the party is unpopular but they are far from ceding control.

The Republican fight for the 2028 nomination will now begin in earnest. The midterms mark a setback for Vice-President JD Vance, who was slavishly touting the Trump line throughout the campaign. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been a no-show on major foreign policy issues like Iran, Russia and Canada, letting Mr. Trump's cronies have the spotlight. His strategy may prove to be wise.

It need be remembered that Mr. Trump has suffered many major embarrassments before and always found a way to recover. And it need be remembered that, as Trump bootlicker Sean Hannity was repeatedly reminding his Fox News viewers, big defeats in midterms for presidents are very common.

Not defeats of this magnitude, however. For House Democrats it was the widest margin of victory in the popular vote in more than 40 years. More importantly for the American voter – and therefore for the world – it marked a return to sanity.

GOP drubbing helps restore balance to U.S. democracy

Supporters react during a midterm election night watch party for Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico at the Long Center in Austin on Tuesday. BRANDON BELL/GETTY IMAGES

KONRAD

YAKABUSKI

OPINION

It turns out competence, character and compassion still trump chaos, cruelty and corruption in American politics after all.

There is another “c” word that springs to mind in the wake of the spectacular drubbing of President Donald Trump’s Republicans in Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections: comeuppance.

In race after race, voters not only rejected Trump-endorsed candidates, they handed such massive majorities to their Democratic opponents so as to leave no ambiguity about their disgust with the politics of hate practised by the President and his helpmates.

Yes, Americans were mad about high gas prices and the cost of living. They were angry about the war in Iran that Mr. Trump has so poorly prosecuted and should never have started. They felt betrayed by a President who appeared not to care about their well-being.

But voters' discontent with economic conditions cannot fully explain the rout Republicans experienced on Tuesday. Not when such deep-red states as Texas, Kansas and South Carolina swung so decisively to the Democrats on statewide ballots. The results reflected a deep desire among voters to restore a sense of decency to American democracy.

"If you join a cult, at some point the cult leader takes you to Jonestown," CNN commentator Van Jones declared in a graphic reference to the 1978 mass murder-suicide of members of the Peoples Temple under Jim Jones.

"This is Jonestown for the Republican Party. They drank the Kool-Aid and they have candidates that are dropping like flies across the country because they did not stand up to this guy when he was doing things that were wrong."

In Texas, which had not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1988, voters chose James Talarico, a 37-year-old seminarian and former middle-school teacher who preached Christian values, over MAGA-acolyte Republican Ken Paxton, the state's attorney-general, who had been impeached by the Texas House of Representatives in 2023 on a string of alleged ethics violations. Many lifelong Republicans could not stomach voting for Mr. Paxton.

Hispanic voters, who represent almost a third of the Texas electorate, massively backed Mr. Talarico in a repudiation of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's brutal crackdown on suspected illegal immigrants under Mr. Trump. The July killing of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by an ICE agent loomed large in the Texas campaign. Mr. Talarico called Mr. Salgado Araujo, a business owner who had been seeking permanent resident status after living in the United States for decades, "a child of God, endowed with infinite worth," one who "deserves justice."

In Kansas, Methodist minister Adam Hamilton became the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in the state since 1932. He beat the sitting Republican Roger Marshall, whose campaign unravelled after revelations he sued more than 700 patients for unpaid bills while working as an obstetrician in the state, routinely charging an 18-per-cent interest rate.

In South Carolina, Darline Graham, the sister of Trump ally Lindsey Graham, who died suddenly in July, lost the Senate seat to which she had been appointed by the state's governor on Mr. Trump's urging. It was not just because even many Republicans considered her unqualified for the job. Voters rejected Mr. Trump's vicious attacks on her Democratic rival. He repeatedly used an anti-transgender slur against Annie Andrews, a pediatrician who had opposed 2022 state legislation banning transgender athletes from girls' sports.

Ohio Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy stooped perhaps the lowest with an ad in which the elderly and long-estranged mother of his Democratic rival, Amy Acton, accused her daughter of lying about her childhood. Ms. Acton had been removed from her mother's custody at the age of 12 after her stepfather was indicted for allegedly raping her. The ad sickened many Republicans, but Mr. Trump and Vice-President JD Vance both defended it. The MAGA-allied Mr. Ramaswamy ended up losing to Ms. Acton.

It might be too optimistic to believe that these midterm results signal the beginning of the end of Trumpism. That enough Republicans will finally have the guts to defy the MAGA leader. But with large Democratic majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate, there is now at least a chance of restoring some balance to American democracy.

"The founders knew they had to reverse engineer against a potential tyrant," documentary filmmaker Ken Burns wrote Tuesday in The New York Times, referring to Article I of the U.S. Constitution, which empowers Congress to act as check on the executive branch.

Democrats will need to play their cards right, however. Luckily, with such large caucuses, Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, who are set to become House Speaker and Senate Majority Leader, respectively, will not be beholden to the left wing of the Democratic Party and can chart the moderate – and decent – course most Americans want.

U.S. midterms are a rebuke to the Republicans, but not the wipeout they deserved

ANDREW COYNE OPINION

By the standards of American elections, this was an earthquake. The two-party system is so entrenched, and American voters' political identities so immovable, that shifts in the balance of power in any given election tend to be muted.

So the Democrats' gains last night are, in this context, historic. When all the votes are counted, they will probably emerge with at least 45 more seats in the House – the biggest swing to the party in any election since Watergate. They may also take as many as nine Senate seats from the Republicans – matching the largest Senate gain for either party since 1958.

It wasn't just the numbers. It was where the Democrats were winning. Among the states to add to the Democrats' tally in the Senate were South Carolina, which had not elected a Democratic senator since 1998, Texas (1988), and Kansas (1932!). If these seats are now vulnerable, so are a good many others.

So yes, the Republicans took a pounding - by recent American standards. By the standards of most other countries, however, the loss was relatively modest. The Republicans may have fallen to as low as 41 or 42 per cent in the popular vote for the House. That would be the worst showing for either party since Watergate. But it would exceed the winning party's vote share in most recent Canadian elections.

The rebuke is even milder when compared with the scale of Republican misgovernment over the past two years. The record of Donald Trump since his return to office in 2025 has been recklessness abroad and lawlessness at home.

Highlights would include the kidnapping of the President of Venezuela, a calamitous war in Iran, and outright support of Russia in its genocidal war on

Ukraine; threats to invade Greenland and annex Canada; tariffs that are as constitutionally dubious as they are economically ruinous; murderous attacks on immigrants and others by the masked agents of ICE; the use of the Department of Justice to stifle and intimidate critics; and the open abuse of federal power to the benefit of the President, his family and friends – a Watergate a day, as it has been described.

And through it all, through all the incompetence and the corruption and the mounting evidence of the President's insanity, the Republicans in Congress stood by him. That is the kind of record that ought to result in political annihilation, an epic wipe-out from which a party never recovers. And yet, after two years of this madness – six, if you count his first term, including the attempted overthrow of the 2020 election – tens of millions of Americans continue to support him, and them.

That is as much the lesson of this election as the Republican losses. In the short term, the scale of the defeat appears to be large enough to deter Mr. Trump from trying to contest it (though we will not know for sure until January). In the medium term, it will mean a more vigilant Congress, ready to blow the whistle on his administration's abuses and to check, through its legislative power, some of its more outrageous policies.

But the Democrats lack the two-thirds majority of both houses that is required to overturn a presidential veto, or the two-thirds of the Senate needed to convict in an impeachment trial. Even if the Democrats had such powers it is debatable whether Mr. Trump would be much bothered by them, but it is unlikely that mere defeat, even on this scale, will materially improve his behaviour. It may even make it worse.

As always with Mr. Trump, it is important not to fall prey to the temptation of normalizing. Any other president would be severely chastened by this result, indeed would have already altered course in a bid to avoid it. Mr. Trump spent the closing days of the campaign musing on the shape of people's posteriors and boasting of his efforts to remodel the White House.

Even if he did not care about the country, you might think he would care about his party, or even his own best interests. There is no evidence that he does. The Democrats, for their part, will have one eye on the 2028 elections, and may hesitate to properly confront him, for fear of being painted as the “do-nothing Congress,” more interested in “persecuting the President” than “working for the American people.”

Even a lame-duck president has considerable powers, particularly one who is unbound by any norms of political or personal conduct. This is especially true in his dealings with other countries. Weakened he may be, but at home and abroad Mr. Trump is as dangerous as ever.

Four expert tips for modern hosting at home

Association found that at-home hosting is on the rise, with 28 per cent of respondents planning to host more this year – up four per cent from 2025, particularly among Gen Z and Millennials.

For Cédric Dion, a cookware, bakeware and small kitchen appliances buyer at Quebec-based home retailer Tanguay, the rise in hosting, especially among younger generations, makes sense. Social media is full of beautifully styled tablescapes and multi-course dinners coming to life onscreen.

"Over the past few years, we've seen hosting become much more intentional and creative," Dion says. "There is now a much wider selection of kitchen and tabletop products available at different price points and for every style, making it easier for people to create a table that reflects their personality."

For Canadians who are facing sky-high restaurant prices and an overall time of economic instability, hosting also provides the opportunity to combine social connection with creativity and practicality.

"People are looking for meaningful ways to get together," says Ashley Couture, a tableware and dinnerware buyer at Tanguay. "Hosting at home creates a more relaxed and personal environment where friends and family can spend quality time together."

What holds people back from hosting is the perceived cost for the host. “One common misconception [I see] is that hosting has to be complicated or expensive,” says Veronica Biriucov, a tableware and dinnerware buyer at Tanguay. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.

"It can be as simple as putting together a beautiful, relaxed apéro with a few good ingredients and a welcoming table. You don't need to make a major investment to create something special."

Here, Dion, Biriucov and Couture share their top tips for the modern host. Use them to kickstart your hosting journey or as a little refresh heading into the holiday season.

tanguay

[TIP #1] START WITH THE ESSENTIALS

First-time hosts can plan their first soiree with just a few key, versatile pieces that work both for everyday meals as well as entertaining. Dion recommends starting with a set of dinnerware, wine glasses and serving utensils, along with a tablecloth to instantly set the tone of the table. A set of four simple but classic black Bauhaus placemats and scalloped checkered tablecloth from Tanguay would be the perfect starter kit.

In addition, a luxe wood cutting board can be used for appetizers, as a charcuterie board or to elevate food presentation overall. A versatile salad bowl, like this blue vintage-looking mixing bowl, is another great touch.

In the kitchen, Dion recommends a quality baking or cooking dish, such as a Le Creuset Braising Pan, that can go straight from the oven to the table. "It's practical, beautiful and makes serving much easier," he says.

[TIP #2] FOSTER A CERTAIN ATMOSPHERE

Whether you're celebrating Diwali, Christmas or your best friend's birthday, curating the right vibe is one of the most important components of hosting. "It's really about creating an atmosphere where people feel comfortable and want to stay," Dion says. "Having the right dinnerware, glassware and kitchen accessories makes serving easier and can also elevate the presentation of the meal."

"Don't underestimate the atmosphere," Couture adds. "The table setting, lighting and music can all help create a warm and inviting experience for your guests."

Exactly which pieces you choose can vary depending on the occasion or holiday you're celebrating. You can add warmth and ambiance with lighting and music.

A surprisingly well-received add-on? Games. "I love having a few board games on hand," Dion says. "They're a great way to get people interacting and can make the evening feel more spontaneous and fun."

DON'T BE AFRAID OF MIXING AND MATCHING (YOUR CUTLERY AND YOUR GUESTS)

One assumption Biriucov often sees from first-time hosts is that everything – from dishware to cutlery to table linens – has to match perfectly. While this may be the wisdom of hosting generations past, the Tanguay expert advises playing around with your tableware so that it's not so formal.

"I actually think mix-and-match tableware can make a table feel much more personal, interesting and contemporary," she says. Biriucov also recommends adding colour and texture through linens and small decorative elements, like marble candlesticks and chrome martini glasses.

And just like your tableware, Couture advises mixing guests rather than seating everyone next to the person or people they know best. This encourages conversation, helps guests connect with each other and creates a more lively atmosphere.

"That said, it's also important to think about the personalities and dynamics of your guests," Couture says. "The goal is to create a comfortable mix where everyone feels included and the conversation flows naturally."

And don't forget to think about your own seat at the dining table. If you're serving and moving between the kitchen and table, Couture suggests sitting near the kitchen. If conversation is the priority of the evening, choose a position where you can easily engage with the whole table.

[TIP #4] DON'T TAKE ON TOO MUCH

No matter how much hosting experience you have, experts advise to keep it simple. "I often see people trying to prepare too much food or choosing recipes that are overly complicated," Biriucov says. While it's understandable that ambitious hosts would want to wow guests, it's important to keep your hosting within a manageable realm.

"The best approach is to keep it simple, focus on a few things you really enjoy and leave yourself enough time to actually enjoy your guests," she says.

LIFE & ARTS

ARTS & REVIEWS | OPINION | PUZZLES | WEATHER

Calgary family masters Southern barbecue

Janice Smella and team earned the highest score in the event's history at this year's Jack Daniel's World Championship

JULIE VAN ROSENDAAL

In Canada, we tend to associate barbecue with the backyard grill, but one Calgary family is making waves in the highly competitive culinary sport of low and slow barbecue, which has strong cultural ties to the Southern U.S. states.

Last month, barbecue enthusiast and self-taught pitmaster Janice Smella, who lives in Calgary, led her family to win the top honour at the 37th annual Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue in Lynchburg, Tenn., one of the most prestigious competitions in the world of Southern barbecue.

Her team, SmellaQue, which consists of herself; her husband, Russell; their 17-year-old daughter, Katie; and 15-year-old son, Colin, became the second international team and second woman-led team to win, while also earning the highest score ever tallied in the event's history.

"The Jack is prestigious – it's definitely the most coveted contest to participate in," said Smella, who fell in love with barbecue and spontaneously bought a pit after a weekend in Texas with her husband back in 2013.

“We flew to Houston, drove to Austin and got in line at Franklin Barbecue at eight in the morning so we could eat at noon,” she said. “We ate ourselves silly that weekend.”

When it was time to return home, they worried about the lack of real southern barbecue back in Canada, where, with so much cold weather, the culture is more focused on grilling – a fast, high-temperature cooking method that doesn't require the cook to spend hours outdoors.

"In Alberta there are lots of cows, but we don't have any hardwood," said Smella, who sources fruit woods from B.C. "I'm not going to smoke pine. Sourcing wood is a problem – it's why we use propane grills."

Janice and Russell spontaneously bought a Pitmaker Vault – a vertical insulated smoker they thought would be well-suited to the cold Canadian climate. “It arrived on a snowy day in January,” said Smella. “We thought

Above: Janice Smella and her daughter Katie, 17, prepare dinner outside their home in Calgary last month.

LEAH HENNEL/

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

Right: Smella's winning family team were one of three Canadian groups among the 99 entrants that competed in this year's Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue in Lynchburg, Tenn. JANICE SMELLA

we'd put it on our deck, but it turns out the pit was 900 pounds – we ended up rolling it into the garage."

With few local resources, the couple taught themselves by watching the television show BBQ Pitmasters – and by competing.

“Calgary is home to Canada’s oldest barbecue competition, Barbecue on the Bow. Russell said to me: ‘If we compete, we’ll learn how to use the pit,’” recalled

Smella. Edmonton also held its inaugural BBQ competition, Por-kapalooza, in 2014.

That became their first contest. "We borrowed a truck, lifted the smoker into the back, cooked brisket and pork shoulder for the first time, and we somehow finished fourth overall." Back in Calgary, they placed third overall.

“We thought, ‘Wow, we totally know what we’re doing!’ We travelled to Chilliwack and came in second from last," said Smella. "So that was great – it humbles you, and forced us to learn, practice and figure out exactly what we're doing."

The pair stayed on the barbecue circuit, bringing their kids along to competitions, and in 2019, they were the first Canadian team invited to cook at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo – a big deal, as the wait-list to participate is more than a decade long.

"I've since cooked at the Houston Rodeo four or five times, and for the first time in 2024 had the opportunity to walk the stage when I finalled the ribs," said Smella. "There are 300 teams, and they only invite the Top 10 to walk the stage."

In order to get into The Jack, teams are required to win a qualifying contest, and in the U.S., each state draws one team (or in the case of Texas, three) from the qualifiers to go to Tennessee. This year, three Canadian teams were among the 99 teams from 20 different countries that competed.

Smella's foursome also managed to compete last year, finishing sixth overall. "I was over the moon, it was the best we've ever done at a major contest," Smella said. "So when we were invited again this year, I thought we can't top that. We invited a bunch of friends, and thought we're just going to have a good time and experience this with people we love. That's what barbecue is all about. We went with that mindset."

It came as a surprise when they were announced as the winners, but they came out on top thanks to their consistency. “Because all of our meats were in the Top 20 or Top 15, we managed to have the highest score overall,” said Smella of this year’s result, noting that Katie, who is in Grade 12, smoked the chicken that earned the highest of all their meat scores.

The crowd went wild. “We’re friends with all the teams,” said Smella when I asked about the response to a Canadian team bringing home the top honour in a U.S.- and male-dominated culinary sport. “It was so beautiful – when we got called, it took 20 minutes to get to the stage because everyone was coming up to hug us,” she said. “I can’t tell you how many of our friends were crying because they were happy with us. It was not about boundaries, not about borders. Barbecue is about community.”

Smella's advice for home barbecue enthusiasts: Cook as often as you can, and trust yourself. "You don't need all the WiFi gadgets, you just need to cook until things are tender," she said. "I use the thermometer as a probe – if it goes in like butter, it's done. If there's resistance, you're not done."

When it comes to adding flavour, Smella seasons heavily. “I tell people to use whatever they like, and remember for big meats, it’s really hard to overseas.”

Special to The Globe and Mail

Calgary family masters Southern barbecue

Janice Smella and team earned the highest score in the event's history at this year's Jack Daniel's World Championship

JULIE VAN ROSENDAAL

In Canada, we tend to associate barbecue with the backyard grill, but one Calgary family is making waves in the highly competitive culinary sport of low and slow barbecue, which has strong cultural ties to the Southern U.S. states.

Last month, barbecue enthusiast and self-taught pitmaster Janice Smella, who lives in Calgary, led her family to win the top honour at the 37th annual Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue in Lynchburg, Tenn., one of the most prestigious competitions in the world of Southern barbecue.

Her team, SmellaQue, which consists of herself; her husband, Russell; their 17-year-old daughter, Katie; and 15-year-old son, Colin, became the second international team and second woman-led team to win, while also earning the highest score ever tallied in the event's history.

"The Jack is prestigious – it's definitely the most coveted contest to participate in," said Smella, who fell in love with barbecue and spontaneously bought a pit after a weekend in Texas with her husband back in 2013.

“We flew to Houston, drove to Austin and got in line at Franklin Barbecue at eight in the morning so we could eat at noon,” she said. “We ate ourselves silly that weekend.”

When it was time to return home, they worried about the lack of real southern barbecue back in Canada, where, with so much cold weather, the culture is more focused on grilling – a fast, high-temperature cooking method that doesn't require the cook to spend hours outdoors.

"In Alberta there are lots of cows, but we don't have any hardwood," said Smella, who sources fruit woods from B.C. "I'm not going to smoke pine. Sourcing wood is a problem – it's why we use propane grills."

Janice and Russell spontaneously bought a Pitmaker Vault – a vertical insulated smoker they thought would be well-suited to the cold Canadian climate. “It arrived on a snowy day in January,” said Smella. “We thought

Above: Janice Smella and her daughter Katie, 17, prepare dinner outside their home in Calgary last month.

LEAH HENNEL/

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

Right: Smella's winning family team were one of three Canadian groups among the 99 entrants that competed in this year's Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue in Lynchburg, Tenn. JANICE SMELLA

we'd put it on our deck, but it turns out the pit was 900 pounds – we ended up rolling it into the garage."

With few local resources, the couple taught themselves by watching the television show BBQ Pitmasters – and by competing.

“Calgary is home to Canada’s oldest barbecue competition, Barbecue on the Bow. Russell said to me: ‘If we compete, we’ll learn how to use the pit,’” recalled

Smella. Edmonton also held its inaugural BBQ competition, Por-kapalooza, in 2014.

That became their first contest. "We borrowed a truck, lifted the smoker into the back, cooked brisket and pork shoulder for the first time, and we somehow finished fourth overall." Back in Calgary, they placed third overall.

“We thought, ‘Wow, we totally know what we’re doing!’ We travelled to Chilliwack and came in second from last," said Smella. "So that was great – it humbles you, and forced us to learn, practice and figure out exactly what we're doing."

The pair stayed on the barbecue circuit, bringing their kids along to competitions, and in 2019, they were the first Canadian team invited to cook at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo – a big deal, as the wait-list to participate is more than a decade long.

"I've since cooked at the Houston Rodeo four or five times, and for the first time in 2024 had the opportunity to walk the stage when I finalled the ribs," said Smella. "There are 300 teams, and they only invite the Top 10 to walk the stage."

In order to get into The Jack, teams are required to win a qualifying contest, and in the U.S., each state draws one team (or in the case of Texas, three) from the qualifiers to go to Tennessee. This year, three Canadian teams were among the 99 teams from 20 different countries that competed.

Smella's foursome also managed to compete last year, finishing sixth overall. "I was over the moon, it was the best we've ever done at a major contest," Smella said. "So when we were invited again this year, I thought we can't top that. We invited a bunch of friends, and thought we're just going to have a good time and experience this with people we love. That's what barbecue is all about. We went with that mindset."

It came as a surprise when they were announced as the winners, but they came out on top thanks to their consistency. “Because all of our meats were in the Top 20 or Top 15, we managed to have the highest score overall,” said Smella of this year’s result, noting that Katie, who is in Grade 12, smoked the chicken that earned the highest of all their meat scores.

The crowd went wild. “We’re friends with all the teams,” said Smella when I asked about the response to a Canadian team bringing home the top honour in a U.S.- and male-dominated culinary sport. “It was so beautiful – when we got called, it took 20 minutes to get to the stage because everyone was coming up to hug us,” she said. “I can’t tell you how many of our friends were crying because they were happy with us. It was not about boundaries, not about borders. Barbecue is about community.”

Smella's advice for home barbecue enthusiasts: Cook as often as you can, and trust yourself. "You don't need all the WiFi gadgets, you just need to cook until things are tender," she said. "I use the thermometer as a probe – if it goes in like butter, it's done. If there's resistance, you're not done."

When it comes to adding flavour, Smella seasons heavily. “I tell people to use whatever they like, and remember for big meats, it’s really hard to overseas.”

Special to The Globe and Mail

Musical slice of Second World War operation gives new life to a dead body

Each of Operation Mincemeat's five actors hop nimbly between characters of all types throughout the show. MATTHEW MURPHY

AISLING MURPHY

THEATRE

Operation Mincemeat

AT THE ROYAL ALEXANDRA THEATRE

IN TORONTO

Book, music and lyrics by David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts Directed by Robert Hastie Starring Mariah Copeland, Katie Kleiger, Luke Antony Neville, Erin Ramirez, Jake Bentley Young

CRITIC'S PICK

Deep in the throes of the Second World War, a homeless vagabond eats rat poison and dies. British intelligence officers, hoping to trick the Nazis into moving out of Sicily to make room for the coming Allied invasion, quickly seize the body – it is perfect.

The cadaver is christened Bill, and the plan plummets into place. Bill – whose actual name and biography are low-priority for the officers of MI5 – receives a Royal Marine uniform, plus a briefcase stuffed with trumped-up details about the Allied Forces' plans for Italy.

When the Brits dump the corpse off the coast of Spain – with a tightly harmonized send-off song à la Elton John, no less – they can only hope he'll stay intact long enough for Hitler to get wind of the phony documents floating by his side.

Operation Mincemeat, the un-apologetically British musical by David Cumming, Felix Hagan,

Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts, doesn't attempt to justify the real-life means Allied forces used to deceive the Nazis. Its lyrics highlight the paradox of British gentility, the barbarism baked into the country's upper crust; its earwormy score, which ranges in genre from German techno to sea shanty, illustrates rather than obfuscates the complexity of the dilemma at hand.

When we meet lead officer Ewen Montagu (an outstanding Katie Kleiger), it's in a haze of self-adulating showmanship. He's charming and waggish, a Barney Stinson type used to getting his way – not once does he give even the appearance of caring if the corpse in his care had a family.

Charles Cholmondeley (Jake Bentley Young) shows a touch more compassion for Bill's former identity, but then again, Operation Mincemeat was his concoction in the first place – Monty's simply who packaged it for Colonel John Bevan (Mariah Copeland)'s approval. As such, Charles' fidelity to the plan shifts between scenes, in stark contrast to Monty's belligerent belief that all will work out.

Hester Leggatt (Luke Antony Neville, another standout in a cast of standouts), meanwhile, doesn't seem to feel any particular way about the mission at hand. It's simply what needs to be done. But before long, the matronly senior secretary and supervisor to young clerk Jean Leslie (Erin Ramirez) reveals a tender inner life that underscores the importance of understanding exactly who MI5 has recruited as its maritime bait. Her song Dear

Bill, about the fake love letters in the body's briefcase, brings sharply into focus the terrible – and necessary – task the team has carried out.

Indeed, Operation Mincemeat doesn't answer the enormous questions it lobs into the air: Is life truly only for the living? Was the desecration of a helpless corpse worth the liberation of continental Europe? Does the luxury of hindsight justify the unjustifiable?

Instead, the high-energy show passes those debates to the audience, in the blazing technicolor glamour of musical theatre. Sure, Monty's a scoundrel – but he sings like a dream and supplies the show's best laughs. Yes, Bill's fate is completely, indefensibly tragic – but the won war results in a glitzy finale (cheekily titled A Glitzy Finale) that rivals any you'd see in a less morally thorny piece

of theatre.

Add in the show's highly British use of drag - each of the show's five actors play jump-rope with gender, hopping nimbly between characters of all types in the spirit of Monty Python - and Operation Mincemeat emerges as one of the most entertaining touring musicals to play a Mirvish stage in years.

But those questions of culpability hang heavily over the confection, enriching the musical into something far deeper than K-pop-inspired Nazi dance routines. (Yes, seriously, and yes, it works.) Until Operation Mincemeat's surprisingly poignant conclusion – which I won't spoil here – the audience is tasked with computing all manner of ethical calculus, a trolley problem to the nth degree. The show is as much a riddle as a musical.

As such, I suspect Operation

Mincemeat benefits from repeat viewings – its weaker beginning likely improves with knowledge of its gut-punch ending – and I intend to test that hypothesis thoroughly before the production leaves Toronto in December.

But in those encore encounters with the show, I also have to hope that Mike Walker's surprisingly crude sound design is tweaked to the needs of the Royal Alexandra Theatre. On opening night, nearly half of Operation Mincemeat's lyrics were obscured by microphone feedback and fuzzy speakers; entire songs, delivered quickly and in thick British accents, were all but lost to muddy mixing.

Those perplexing snafus might overpower a weaker piece of theatre. But director Robert Hastie runs a tight ship, and gleefully leans into Operation Mince-meat's scrappy sense of spectacle. In the tradition of fellow West End farces (I'm looking at you, The Play That Goes Wrong), the show embraces low-budget sight gags that elevate rather than cheapen the story. Think big hats, silly sets and impish props (set and costumes are by Ben Stones).

Was Bill's legacy as a war hero appropriately preserved once MI5's mission reached completion? I'll leave that up to you. But Operation Mincemeat offers audiences a madcap whirlwind of a Second World War thriller – with hummable songs and a terrific cast to boot – and, despite the sequin-spangled odds, couldn't be better calibrated to the intricacies of the history at hand.

Operation Mincemeat runs until Dec. 13.

How augmented reality helps patients stay motivated

At McMaster University, Dr. Stevie Foglia, right, monitors Annette Bullen as she does exercises with ARISE augmented reality glasses to help improve the mobility in her neck. KENNETH CHOU/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

AR glasses enable users to do exercises at home while clinicians monitor their progress remotely

KALYANI VITTALA

Each day, Annette Bullen dons a pair of augmented reality (AR) glasses that look like Ray-Bans and does about 15 minutes of exercises to help improve the mobility in her neck.

“It’s very hip. My kids call me Maverick,” says the 59-year-old from Caledonia, Ont., referencing Tom Cruise’s character in the Top Gun movies.

Bullen was diagnosed with a rare head and neck cancer called mucoepidermoid carcinoma in 2023. Multiple surgeries and radiation treatment left her barely able to move her head and neck and caused problems eating.

Bullen's physiotherapist introduced her to the Augmented Reality Integrated Sensorimotor Exercise (ARISE) platform. ARISE's specially designed glasses project virtual objects onto her real-life environment that guide her through physiotherapy exercises and offer real-time feedback on her progress. For example, she tracks a virtual orb as it moves through a virtual spiral, controlling the tracking with her head and neck movements.

Bullen says the exercises have improved her range of motion, and that being able to do them at home rather than in a clinical setting is a big advantage.

"As long as you can connect to WiFi, it will run," she says.

"I've visited my parents in Watford, Ont., and I've done them there. I visited my son in Durham, Ont., and I even went to Mont-Tremblant [in Quebec] and I could do them there. So there is a great flexibility within that program that keeps me motivated."

GAMIFIED INTERVENTIONS 'CAN BE A BIT MORE FUN'

ARISE is one of a growing number of wearable AR devices being used in physiotherapy and rehabilitation health care, including mobility, balance and fall prevention for seniors.

Stevie Foglia, founder and CEO of Neuro-Mod Inc., a McMaster University-based health technology company in Hamilton, began developing ARISE in 2022 to treat chronic neck pain during his PhD.

“We ran a study on older individuals and saw some really nice improvements with mobility, function and pain,” says Foglia, who runs Neuro-Mod with Dr. Aimee Nelson and Dr. Harsha Shanthanna. The next step was to advance the technology into other applications patients consistently expressed a need for, he says, such as balance and fall prevention.

"You play these gamified-type training interventions that help with your mobility, your posture, centre of balance, things like that." Patients can view the data themselves to see how they're progressing and the platform also connects with clinicians so they can monitor their patients' progress remotely.

ARISE is one of a growing number of wearable AR devices being used in physiotherapy and rehabilitation health care, including mobility, balance and fall prevention for seniors.

Falls are a major risk for older adults, often leading to injury, reduced independence and lower quality of life. According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, falls are the leading cause of injury-related hospitalizations among people who are 65 or older, and the cost of fall-related injuries among this group was estimated to be \$5.6-billion in 2018.

“Behind these figures are people who may hesitate to leave home, withdraw from their communities or question whether they can continue living independently,” says Xiru Wang, a neurophysiology PhD student at McMaster who is using the ARISE platform to examine this issue. (Foglia and Wang are currently recruiting subjects for their study on the use of augmented reality in balance and mobility training.)

Anita Gross, an associate clinical professor in the School of Rehabilitation Sciences at McMaster University, says that loss of motivation can be a major barrier to compliance with prescribed rehabilitation programs.

“That’s something that can be pretty boring to do on a regular basis,” says Gross, who was the physiotherapist who introduced Bullen to ARISE. “But by gamifying the mobility training and giving them target scores to pursue, it can be a bit more fun.”

'REAL INNOVATION' SUPPORTING OLDER ADULTS

Neuroscientist Dr. Allison Sekuler, president and chief scientist for the Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation at Baycrest in Toronto, says “this is probably the most exciting time that I’ve lived through” because of how the colliding technologies of AR, VR (virtual reality), AI, robotics and sensors are transforming research and health care.

“You’ve also got an aging population and now we’re starting to see these two areas connecting,” Sekuler says. “So we’re seeing real innovation supporting older adults.”

Although Sekuler says she doesn't favour one technology over another because it depends on its specific use, AR is especially exciting for her. “It's not separating you from the real world,” she says. “It's adding more information to the real world that is useful to you, whereas virtual reality is like shutting you off from the real world.”

It's an issue that Foglia encountered while developing ARISE. He says he started creating the platform with VR, "but we saw a lot of side effects like nausea and vertigo with the participants being thrown into a full VR space. The AR allowed us to mitigate those effects."

He notes that participants in his initial study asked to continue the ARISE treatment after the study ended.

“That’s where we realized we need to make this technology more accessible to a larger population, and that’s why we are focusing our efforts, not only on the research side, but also on the side of getting it into physiotherapy clinics, so that a larger population can access the tech.”

Special to The Globe and Mail

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I deleted social media and now I feel alive again

FIRST PERSON

Hours lost to scrolling became a wake-up call to reclaim my time and myself, writes Judy An

Who doesn't love a story? I live for stories. Especially the ones that spark an emotion, whether sad, happy, charmed, righteous, angry or funny. They all work. The devices in our hands have gradually become an endless source of these stories. Short reels populate Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube Shorts and who knows what other platforms.

Over time, when I found myself waiting in line or for a certain time to pass, I would watch these reels. The stories hooked me and drew me in; I'd keep swiping up, looking for more of the same. Sometimes, I reacted with laughter; other times, I'd bring my device to my partner to share the story with him. Most of the time, I was alone, scrolling. When I finally looked up, I realized three hours had disappeared. I couldn't believe the time had gone and it was time to sleep. Where did my day go?

After some prompting from my partner and some low-key comments from my children, I made the decision to delete my social-media accounts.

In the back of my mind, this idea had already floated about, untethered and free, a faint outline. But I had never articulated it nor acted on it. So what pushed me? Why now? I was starting to realize that I was losing time – first an hour here, then a few hours there, until it became a cycle of days, weeks and months where I started to feel stuck. It became a great effort on my part to complete ordinary little tasks such as deciding what to make for a meal or what to do in my afternoon. Watching reels and being entertained became my default activity when I did anything at all.

What pushed me to commit was my daughter's comment – she was surprised that while there's been lots of research on the effects of social media on the young, there hadn't been much focus on older adults. She and her friends noticed a concerning change in the behaviour of their parents and grandparents who were addicted to watching reels. This idea shook me. I wondered if I was one of those parents?

So, without thinking too much, I went on Instagram, created an artful post letting everyone know that I was taking a break from social media and deleted my Instagram and Facebook accounts.

Twenty-four hours later, for the first time in almost a year, I found myself with pen in hand scribbling in a mostly empty notebook, writing my story. It's been a while.

Has it made a big difference? Am I a changed person? No. But definitely, some things I've forgotten are starting to resurface. I have more time. It doesn't disappear so quickly. I have time to stop, to listen, to be still, to pay attention, to think my own thoughts.

I remember the feeling of struggling through trial and error, writing my thoughts and ideas and feelings on paper. I remember playing with words, constructions and expressions to capture a thought, an emotion, a story. I remember what it's like to hear my voice emerge from that tangled mess into something crystalline, clear and beautiful. It's been a while.

I feel like I've been asleep for a long time and I'm regaining consciousness. I can feel the sensation of the bed covers on my skin. I can feel my chest rising with each breath I take, low and slow. I can see the low light from the distant window grow bright with each passing minute. I had forgotten what it is to be alive and to live in the moment.

Today, I filled my time with things to do. Things like tidying a room, making a meal, doing a load of laundry, practising guitar, organizing stuff, having tea, reading the news, solving a Sudoku puzzle, stepping out into my backyard, breathing the fresh autumn air, feeling the warm sun-

TODAY'S SUDOKU SOLUTION light on my face. A pleasant change from being slumped in a chair, eyes fixed on a tiny screen.

I had forgotten what it was like to live.

I had given away my time, my movement and my mind without realizing it.

Deleting social media helped me find my freedom. But more than that, it's helping me find myself. It's been a while.

Judy An lives in Thornhill, Ont.

First Person is a daily personal piece submitted by readers. Have a story to tell? See our guidelines at tgam.ca/essayguide.

TODAY'S KENKEN SOLUTION | 11+6 | 8+2 | 3 | 1-4 | 5 | 4×1 | 5 | 3 | 96×2 | 66 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 4 | $3 \div 1$ | 3 | 11+5 | 3-4 | 1 | 60×5 | 6×3 | 2 | 6 | 9+1 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 9+4 | 3 | 3 | 3-4 | 1 | 11+5 | 6 | 2 | WORLD FORECAST | TODAY | TOMORROW | SATURDAY | AMSTERDAM | 9/2 | S | 9/2 | S | 8/5 | PC | ATHENS | 17/11 | S | 15/8 | S | 16/9 | S | BANGKOK | 32/25 | T | 32/25 | T | 31/24 | T | BEIJING | 16/4 | S | 13/3 | S | 6/1 | R | BERLIN | 10/2 | S | 8/1 | PC | 8/1 | S | BRUSSELS | 10/2 | S | 8/5 | C | 10/6 | C | COPENHAGEN | 9/5 | S | 8/7 | PC | 9/6 | PC | FRANKFURT | 10/1 | S | 10/1 | S | 8/1 | C | HONG KONG | 28/24 | SH | 28/24 | SH | 26/24 | PC | JERUSALEM | 20/13 | PC | 17/12 | SH | 16/11 | SH | LAS VEGAS | 20/12 | S | 21/12 | S | 23/13 | S | LONDON | 10/7 | C | 11/7 | SH | 11/6 | C | LOS ANGELES | 27/14 | S | 29/15 | S | 29/16 | S | MADRID | 15/5 | S | 15/9 | S | 17/10 | S | MIAMI | 30/23 | S | 30/23 | S | 30/23 | SH | MOSCOW | 5/1 | RS | 3/-1 | RS | 1/-1 | PC | NEW DELHI | 30/18 | S | 30/20 | S | 30/17 | S | NEW YORK | 21/16 | SH | 19/12 | R | 17/8 | SH | NICE | 18/14 | SH | 18/11 | SH | 17/12 | SH | ORLANDO | 30/21 | S | 29/20 | S | 28/18 | S | PARIS | 11/6 | PC | 10/6 | R | 11/4 | PC | PHOENIX | 25/15 | S | 26/15 | S | 27/15 | S | ROME | 19/11 | PC | 16/12 | SH | 19/11 | SH | SAN FRANCISCO | 17/13 | S | 18/13 | PC | 20/13 | S | SEOUL | 16/4 | SH | 9/0 | S | 7/2 | S | SINGAPORE | 30/25 | T | 29/24 | T | 29/25 | T | SYDNEY | 23/15 | S | 19/16 | S | 29/12 | T | TOKYO | 16/15 | R | 23/14 | S | 18/10 | S | WASHINGTON | 24/16 | R | 20/11 | PC | 16/9 | S | NATIONAL FORECAST

LEGEND | TODAY | TOMORROW | SATURDAY | BANFF | 5/3 | PC | 6/1 | PC | 7/1 | RS | BARRIE | 14/9 | PC | 12/7 | SH | 10/4 | R | BRANDON | 5/3 | PC | 9/2 | S | 12/0 | S | CALGARY | 11/3 | PC | 11/1 | S | 11/3 | PC | CHARLOTTETOWN | 14/12 | PC | 16/9 | PC | 12/10 | R | CHICOUTIMI | 14/10 | SH | 11/3 | SH | 7/3 | SH | CHURCHILL | 0/1 | PC | 3/1 | S | 2/0 | RS | CORNER BROOK | 9/7 | PC | 13/6 | SH | 7/4 | SH | CORNWALL | 18/11 | SH | 16/7 | PC | 10/4 | SH | EDMONTON | 8/1 | S | 9/1 | S | 8/1 | PC | HALIFAX | 15/13 | PC | 17/12 | SH | 13/12 | R | HAMILTON | 15/10 | PC | 14/8 | PC | 12/5 | SH | HUNTSVILLE | 14/8 | SH | 10/5 | R | 9/4 | R | IQALUIT | -3/9 | SN | -3/8 | SN | 1/1 | C | JASPER | 7/1 | PC | 7/3 | SH | 6/3 | R | KELOWNA | 10/3 | PC | 10/5 | C | 11/6 | R | KINGSTON | 16/11 | SH | 14/8 | PC | 12/6 | SH | LONDON | 14/9 | PC | 13/6 | SH | 11/3 | SH | MONTRÉAL | 17/11 | R | 16/7 | PC | 10/5 | SH | NIAGARA FALLS | 16/10 | SH | 14/8 | PC | 12/6 | SH | NORTH BAY | 13/4 | SH | 7/2 | SH | 7/1 | SH | OTTAWA | 18/10 | SH | 14/6 | PC | 11/4 | PC | PRINCE GEORGE | 9/6 | S | 9/0 | SH | 5/3 | SH | PETERBOROUGH | 16/10 | SH | 13/6 | SH | 11/5 | R | QUEBEC | 15/11 | R | 15/6 | PC | 8/5 | R | REGINA | 9/0 | S | 10/4 | S | 11/0 | S | SASKATOON | 9/3 | S | 9/3 | S | 10/1 | S | SAULT STE MARIE | 12/2 | R | 7/1 | RS | 7/3 | S | SAINT JOHN | 15/13 | PC | 16/10 | SH | 13/11 | R | SEPTÈLES | 7/6 | R | 8/0 | SH | 5/3 | PC | ST JOHN'S | 5/3 | S | 9/8 | PC | 8/3 | SH | SUDBURY | 12/4 | SH | 6/2 | SH | 7/0 | SH | THUNDER BAY | 4/3 | PC | 5/1 | S | 7/3 | S | THOMPSON | 1/2 | PC | 5/0 | S | 4/0 | R | TORONTO | 15/11 | PC | 14/9 | C | 12/6 | SH | VAL-D'OR | 14/3 | SH | 4/0 | C | 6/0 | RS | VANCOUVER | 11/9 | SH | 11/9 | R | 13/9 | R | VICTORIA | 13/9 | S | 12/9 | R | 14/10 | SH | WHISTLER | 8/6 | SH | 7/5 | R | 8/5 | R | WHITEHORSE | 1/1 | SN | 2/2 | SN | 1/5 | S | WINNIPEG | 5/2 | PC | 8/2 | S | 13/3 | S | YELLOWKNIFE | 3/1 | FG | 0/2 | SN | -2/3 | SN |

| C CLOUDY | RS RAIN/SNOW | FG FOG | S SUN | FR FREEZING RAIN | SN SNOW | HZ HAZE | SF SNOW FLURRIES | NA NOT AVAILABLE | SH SHOWERS | PC PARTLY CLOUDY | T THUNDERSTORMS | R RAIN | W WINDY |

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UNIVERSAL CROSSWORD USE YOUR NOGGIN BY JACOB ORTEN

1 Female chickens

5 Vengeful anger

10 "\_\_\_\_ Ruins Everything" (truTV series)

14 Soothing balm

15 Eagle's dwelling

16 Divide into districts

17 \*Neighborhood celebration

19 Grace ending

20 Many an October baby

21 "Holy \_\_\_\_!"

22 Indecent

23 Balance sheet listings

25 Mink's cousin

27 Solve a crossword online, say

29 Country that borders the Dominican Republic

32 Site for a light bite

35 Tropical lizard

39 Neptune or Mercury

40 Flying saucer, for short

41 \*Cornhole projectile

42 Forest green, for one

43 For every

44 Passes the smell test

45 "\_\_\_\_ girl!"

46 Just dandy

48 Snitch

50 Lifts with ropes or pulleys

54 Consolation

58 Queen of the Nile, for short

60 "The Joy of Cooking" author Rombauer

62 Medicinal capsules

63 It falls in fall

64 \*Dish like pho or ramen

66 Verdi heroine in Egypt

67 The "K" in K-Town

BRIDGE

BY STEVE BECKER

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2026

68 "Goodness gracious!"

69 Clean off

70 Forget to save?

71 Goes out during the day?

East dealer.

Both sides vulnerable.

The bidding:

East South West North

1 [S] 2 [D] 2 [S] 3 [D]

4 [S] 5 [D] Pass Pass

Dble Pass Pass Pass

Opening Lead – two of spades.

1 "Se \_\_\_\_ espanol?"

2 New York Harbor's \_\_\_\_ Island

3 Inexperienced gamers

4 Discharge like a gland

5 2020 Cardi B hit

6 500 sheets of paper

7 Bow and \_\_\_\_

8 Name on a spine

9 2003 Outkast hit

10 Georgia's state wildflower

11 \*Car's interior illuminator

12 Once more

13 Fix, as a ripped tee

14 "Dark Horse" singer Perry

15 Gathered intel

16 Thick carpet variety

17 "Zounds!"

18 Praise loudly

19 What a light bulb symbolizes in comics

20 Beer pong containers

21 "\_\_\_\_ Good Men"

22 What bangs often cover ... or a homophonic description of the starts to the starred clues' answers

23 Young \_\_\_\_ (kids)

24 Share a border with

25 Kittens' pickup spots

26 Indonesian vacation destination

27 "Get Out" actress Williams

28 Bath sponge

29 Leisurely gait

NORTH

♠ 5

♥ K 8 4

♦ Q 9 7 2

♣ K 10 9 5 3

WEST EAST

♠ K J 8 2 ♠ A Q 10 9 7 3

♥ J 10 5 2 ♥ A Q 7

♦ 8 4 ♦ 6

♣ 7 6 4 ♣ J 8 2

SOUTH

♠ 6 4

♥ 9 6 3

♦ A K J 10 5 3

♣ A Q

EDITED BY AIDAN DESHONG

51 Doesn't float

52 Group of Girl Scouts

53 Sandwich to enjoy by a campfire

55 Waikiki Beach greeting

56 Mass of dirt

Anyone who writes a book or a column on bridge has to be careful of what he says, because his words will sometimes come back to haunt him. He may put forth any number of sound general rules – and be right about them – knowing full well that, on occasion, a particular rule might best be forgotten.

This is, of course, as it should be, since the word “general” implies, by definition, that there are times when a general principle should be temporarily abandoned.

Take this case where South is in five diamonds doubled and

57 Annual athletic awards

58 Prize picker-upper at an arcade

59 "Star Wars" princess

61 Gulf of \_\_\_\_ (body of water bordering Yemen)

65 Young fellow

West leads the two of spades. East takes the ace and returns a trump. South has no difficulty from here on, since his heart losers eventually are discarded on dummy's clubs and he finishes with an overtrick.

Of course, if West had led the king of spades and shifted to the jack of hearts, East-West would have been plus 500 instead of minus 950 – a difference certainly not to be sneezed at.

But ask West why he led the deuce instead of the king, and he might tell you that the two was the right lead and that he could prove it by citing a hundred different books on the play of the cards.

In a sense he would be right, because the books clearly advise the lead of a low card from three or more cards including an honour, rather than the highest card. However, there is such a thing as common sense.

West should lead the king in this specific case because he wants to retain the lead in order to decide what to do next, after he has seen the dummy. If he leads the two, he is not likely ever to be on lead again.

©2026 King Features Syndicate Inc.

CRYPTIC CROSSWORD

© News Licensing/Times Media Limited

SUDOKU DIFFICULTY RATING: ★★★★☆

INSTRUCTIONS

Fill in the grid so that each row of nine squares, each column of nine and each section of nine (three squares by three) contains the numbers 1 through 9 in any order. There is only one solution to each puzzle.

© 2026 Andrews McMeel Syndication

ACROSS

SOLUTIONS

1 City hospital that has its own church (6)

4 Small clubs turn and move around display (6)

8 Got together around post office for speed (5)

9 Legendary woman Mike and I dream about (7)

10 Wingless biting insects in meadow (3)

11 Moroccan and Argentine dancing (9)

12 Politicians mostly acknowledge Poles (6)

13 Head of Euro Millions bagging £25 in Peterlee? (6)

16 Meeting involving church's withdrawal (9)

18 Organised funding for study having dropped case (3)

19 Provide weapons for group, and safety equipment (7)

20 Regularly envy Andrew's escape (5)

22 Pardon former copper before Senate evacuated (6)

23 Auditor's immediately in crisis (6)

1 Pan lid upside-down (3)

2 Search odd magazine at back of store (7)

3 Filming celebrities' heavenly bodies (8,5)

5 Journalist, or similar (13)

6 Nationality of some womanisers ... (5)

7 ... one of whom mad aliens fancy (6,3)

9 A lot of people like neck hair? (4)

10 Support is overdue to pass laws (9)

14 A peaceful state, Iran somehow restricting vehicle for transporting goods (7)

15 Rear female deer (4)

17 Funny man caught Greek character ignoring Ron (5)

21 Consume flesh, but start to be shunned (3)

KENKEN

©2026 KENKEN Puzzle LLC. KENKEN is a registered trademark of Nextoy, LLC. Dist. by Andrews McMeel www.kenken.com

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Each row and each column must contain the numbers 1 through 6 without repeating.

2. The numbers within the heavily outlined boxes, called cages, must combine using the given operation (in any order) to produce the target numbers in the top-left corners.

3. Freebies: Fill in single-box cages with the numbers in the top-left corner.

Solutions to today's Sudoku and Kenken can be found in the Life & Arts content area of the A section. Crossword solutions will be with tomorrow's puzzles.

Dozens of soldiers still hospitalized weeks after CFB Wainwright disaster

Department of National Defence says 14 people have been released since a wildfire killed four and injured 39

JESSE WINTER

Twenty-five people remain in hospital almost three weeks after a devastating fire killed four soldiers and injured dozens at a Canadian Forces base outside Wainwright, Alta., according to the Department of National Defence.

In a statement released Wednesday, the military said 14 people have so far been released from hospital, while four of the injured have been transferred to health care facilities closer to their home communities in Ontario and B.C.

“Recovery will look different for each injured person and their family. Some may face a long journey ahead, but they will not face it alone,” said the statement, which was not attributed to a specific person.

“Ongoing support and services remain available to injured personnel, their families, and all CAF members as they continue to navigate the effects of this tragedy.”

Disaster struck on Oct. 17 when soldiers from The Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry were caught and overcome by a wildfire while conducting training at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright. Four soldiers were killed and 39 injured.

At a news conference last month, Brigadier-General Vanessa Hanrahan said the fire had started hours earlier on CFB Wainwright's automatic grenade launcher range and was monitored continuously for hours. She did not say whether the firing of live ammunition or explosive rounds ignited the fire.

Brig.-Gen. Hanrahan is the

A motorcade escorts the casket of Private Aidan Goulding, who died in the Canadian Forces Base Wainwright wildfire, at Vancouver International Airport, in Richmond, B.C., on Wednesday.

JUSTINE BEAULIEU-POUDRIER/

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

Canadian Forces Provost Marshal, the top soldier in charge of Canada's military police, and the force is conducting one of several concurrent investigations into the fire. The military is holding its own board of inquiry, and Alberta's Chief Medical Examiner is also investigating.

The Department of National Defence has said little about the fire itself, citing the investigation. Major-General Wade Rutland- ,Commander of the Army's 1st Canadian Division, told reporters in late October that troops had been aware of the fire burning roughly one kilometre away for several hours, but that the fire was “not originally assessed as a threat.”

“Canadians and families are rightly asking how that assessment was reached, what information it was based on, and whether different decisions should have been made. Those are amongst the central questions the investigation must answer,” Maj.-Gen. Rutland said last month.

The wildfire risk in Wainwright on Oct. 17 was high. Data from the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System showed a measure called the Fire Weather Index, which gauges the expected intensity of a potential fire, was rated as “extreme.” Environment Canada issued warnings of high winds for Wainwright that day and data showed forest and grassland vegetation as very dry.

Maj.-Gen. Rutland, citing the investigation, would not comment on whether the scale of those risks was adequately communicated to troops on the ground.

Internal communications obtained by The Globe and Mail showed the military was told the "fire index," a measure of risk, "was low" for CFB Wainwright that day. The DND has not responded to The Globe's questions about this apparent disparity, or whether the "fire index" referenced in the memo is the same as the CWFIS Fire Weather Index.

Budget: New measures to help small and medium-sized businesses, Champagne says

Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, left, puts on new a pair of Pajar shoes alongside owner Jacques Golbert during a tour of the shoe factory ahead of the release of Thursday's federal budget, in Montreal on Wednesday. GRAHAM HUGHES/THE CANADIAN PRESS

FROM A1

Maytree, as well as the Canadian Construction Association, which represents contractors and manufacturers, also said the budget's affordability focus could include new support for low-income housing.

“We are expecting some news on that,” said CCA president Rod Gilbert in an interview. “I think we need more housing altogether.”

Many of the budget's big-ticket items have already been announced in recent weeks, including a Productivity Mega Deduction, worth \$36-billion over five years, which expands the ability of businesses to immediately write-off investments in eligible capital assets.

Mr. Champagne also recently announced an extension of the federal gas tax cut until the end of March, at a fiscal cost of about \$2.9-billion. Further, the government announced a \$2-billion program last month to provide rebates for homeowners who install electric heat pumps.

Canadian consumers are facing a combination of rising inflation, driven in part by higher oil prices, and increased borrowing costs after the Bank of Canada raised its benchmark interest rate last week for the first time in three years.

Since becoming Prime Minister early last year, Mark Carney has framed his economic agenda as an effort to boost growth through domestic and international policies so that Canada is less dependent on U.S. trade in light of President Donald Trump's tariffs.

While Mr. Trump's Republican Party lost control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in Tuesday's midterm elections, Mr. Champagne and other ministers were reluctant to comment directly on the vote's potential impact on Canada.

Mr. Champagne pointed out that the budget's title is Masters of Our Destiny.

“Whatever happens south or somewhere else in the world, we need to be more resilient. We need to be more independent. We need to open up new markets. We need to build one Canadian economy. We need to buy Canadian,” he said.

An industry source expects the budget will include changes to the Canadian Exploration Expense, a tax deduction for junior mining companies that currently covers costs incurred while determining the existence, location and quality of a mineral or natural gas resource.

The Globe is not identifying the industry source because they were not authorized to comment publicly on the matter.

In their 2025 campaign, the Carney Liberals pledged to expand the list of eligible expenses to cover engineering and feasibility studies used to assess if a project is worth building.

The commitment followed a B.C. Supreme Court ruling in favour of Seabridge Gold, which successfully challenged a Canada Revenue Agency decision denying exploration tax credits. However, the federal government reversed course in its 2025 budget, explicitly stating that such studies do not qualify under the incentive.

The Association for Mineral Exploration has spent months lobbying for the change, securing letters of support from seven provincial and territorial governments. An EY report commissioned by the association estimated the measure would reduce federal tax revenues by roughly \$6.6-billion over 10 years. Finance Canada officials have told industry representatives their own estimate is closer to \$10-billion.

The budget's cover page, released last week, features hydroelectric transmission lines. The government has promised major new spending as part of a National Electricity Strategy to double Canada's grid capacity by 2050.

Cultural groups are looking to the budget for new details on previously announced funding.

Marc Miller, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and the Minister responsible for Official Languages, announced \$600-million a year in new funding for Canada's audio and audiovisual sectors in June. However, no further details have been released.

The policy was touted as an alternative to an earlier plan to force large online streamers such as Netflix and Amazon to increase their contributions to Canadian culture through Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act.

Washington has expressed strong opposition to Bill C-11, which it views as unfairly targeting American tech companies.

Mr. Miller told reporters Wednesday on his way into caucus that for culture groups, the budget will be “very positive.”

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said affordability and cost-of-living issues should be a budget priority.

“Job one for the budget is to save you money,” he said. “That’s our mission as Conservatives, and it’s our demand for the budget.”

The fiscal plan is expected to provide new details related to some major announcements the government has made in recent months.

For instance, in April, the Prime Minister announced the Canada Strong Fund, which would be the country's first national sovereign wealth fund, worth \$25-billion. It would make investments alongside the private sector in areas such as clean and conventional energy, critical minerals, agriculture and infrastructure.

At a prebudget event in Toronto Monday, Mr. Champagne suggested the budget would provide more details on the fund, which has yet to launch. He also promised more information related to opening public assets, including airports, to more private investment.

He said the budget will include new measures to support small and medium-sized businesses and suggested it could involve efforts to simplify some tax matters.

Mr. Carney recently said the government plans to release a technical paper related to the sovereign wealth fund “in the not-too-distant future.”

Last year's budget, which was also released in the first week of November, unveiled the government's annual update to its immigration levels plan. A similar update is expected Thursday.

Budget watchers will also be looking closely for any word on federal defence spending.

A recent report by the Parliamentary Budget Officer said Ottawa has not been clear about the year-by-year timing of how it will meet its NATO commitments to significantly increase defence spending.

As for Ottawa's overall bottom line, economists expect the budget will show a short-term boost in revenues largely because of higher energy prices. But they do not expect much improvement for federal deficit projections over the next few years.

The budget officer projected the federal deficit, before any new budget measures, will be \$63.3-billion in the current fiscal year and \$70.2-billion next year. Those projections are slightly higher than what Mr. Champagne estimated in his spring economic update, which projected deficits of \$65.3-billion this year and \$63.1-billion next year.

With a report from Aya Dufour

Trucking: Conquer Transportation closed after probe identified ‘chameleon practices’

FROM A1

Chameleon carriers can typically be identified through the use of shared phone numbers, addresses or vehicle identification numbers. However, trucking experts have long argued that poor data collection and slow information-sharing between jurisdictions hamstring efforts to do so.

Aaron Dolyniuk, executive director of the Manitoba Trucking Association, said a national trucking database is a crucial first step to addressing communication gaps that some companies exploit.

“It’s having one consistent system with consistent information from coast to coast to coast,” he said. “If all jurisdictions are managing that appropriately, they’ll have line of sight when a bad actor tries to start up a trucking

company."

Canada's current carrier information-sharing system was developed more than 20 years ago, with few updates since, and makes it difficult to share data between provinces in real time. Last month, the body that brings together federal and provincial transport regulators said it had approved a plan to modernize the system.

Manitoba authorities have said that after Conquer Transport was decertified in 2021, the province's motor-carrier enforcement officers observed a company on its roads named Conquer Transportation using the same trucks previously registered in Manitoba under a new Alberta-issued safety fitness certificate.

This May, a Conquer Transportation truck blew through a stop sign and collided with an SUV at

This May, a Conquer Transportation truck blew through a stop sign and collided with an SUV at 'highway speeds,' killing a 49-year-old woman, Brandon police have said.

“highway speeds,” killing a 49-year-old woman, Brandon police have said.

After the fatal crash, Alberta authorities said they were investigating Conquer Transportation. In August, the provincial transport regulator shut down the carrier after its probe identified “chameleon practices” at the company.

Brijpal Panwar, the driver of the truck, has also been charged with dangerous driving causing death. He was released on bail and is scheduled to appear in Brandon court later this month.

Earlier this year, The Globe revealed that Conquer Transport was granted permission by the federal government on three occasions to hire temporary foreign workers after its safety fitness certificate was revoked by Manitoba regulators in 2021.

It's unclear when 7Star established itself in Manitoba or when individuals connected to Conquer allegedly became involved with the carrier. Records from the U.S. Transportation Department show the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration granted 7Star authority to send trucks to the U.S. in 2022, but revoked it in 2024.

On top of stronger government enforcement, Mr. Dolyniuk said companies that rely on contracts with trucking firms need to vet carriers more rigorously.

“Good trucking companies that really care about safety are having to compete with companies that are cutting corners, and are getting jobs simply because they have the cheapest prices,” said Mr. Dolyniuk.

“What we really need is the general public to take notice.”

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OTTAWA/QUEBEC EDITION ■ THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2026 ■ GLOBEANDMAIL.COM

S&P/TSX

36,341.40

+809.12

DOW

53,356.12

+1,569.40

S&P 500

7,688.62

+119.70

NASDAQ

25,736.51

+364.50

DOLLAR

71.63/1.3961

+0.17/-0.0033

GOLD (oz.)

US\$4,073.00

+132.60

OIL (WTI)

US\$88.12

-7.97

GCAN (10-YR)

3.70%

-0.08

China extends tariff relief for certain farm, seafood products

STEVEN CHASE

SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER

China has extended significant tariff reductions on Canadian lobster, crabs, peas and canola meal for another two years after a meeting in Beijing between Chinese officials and International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu.

The announcement, part of a deal struck Wednesday, removes a cloud of uncertainty that had been hanging over Canada's agriculture and seafood sector.

The tariff reductions, set to expire on Dec. 31, have been extended to the end of 2028, Mr. Sidhu said in a statement from Beijing.

The suspended tariffs include 100-per-cent levies on peas and canola meal and 25 per cent on lobster and crab. Shipments of these products for the first eight months of the year reached \$1-billion, according to Mr. Sidhu's office.

“This extension gives farmers, producers and harvesters predictable access to the Chinese market, and it’s how we will grow our exports to China by 50 per cent by 2030 to create good-paying jobs and new opportunities for businesses across Canada,” the minister said.

In return for this tariff relief, Canada has agreed to extend until the end of 2028 remission measures for some Chinese steel and aluminum products.

CHINA, B8

Alberta power firms bullish on province's push for data centres

EMMA GRANEY

ENERGY REPORTER

CALGARY

Alberta's data-centre policies will go a long way toward successfully drawing projects to the province and could help avoid development pushback seen in the United States, say the heads of two of the province's largest independent power providers.

Alberta is determined to be a prime location for data centres as the world's technology giants drive a global construction gold rush.

The province launched its data-centre strategy in late 2024, promising a “concierge service” to help projects come to fruition in a bid to capture \$100-billion of investment within five years. In total, there are 20 active data centres in Alberta, with another 149 announced and four under construction, according to data provider Aterio.

The province prioritizes projects that come with the ability to generate their own power to avoid straining the public grid. For electricity producers such as Capital Power Corp. and TransAlta Corp., taking advantage of Alberta's huge natural-gas reserves to build facilities that will power data centres is a burgeoning economic opportunity.

COMPANIES

CENOVUS ENERGY ....B5

IMPERIAL OIL ....B5

IVANHOE MINES ....B11

MAPLE LEAF FOODS ....B7

SUNCOR ENERGY ....B5

EQUITIES

[MARKETS SOAR ON DEMOCRATIC WIN] Traders bet that looming political gridlock in Washington will curb some of the worst-case scenarios in areas such as the Iran war ■ B11

Markets have been jittery for weeks about how the election would affect the U.S. fiscal outlook, AI regulations and the Mideast conflict, which have wreaked havoc in bond and stock markets. TIMOTHY CLARY/GETTY IMAGES

Ottawa is making payments-system security a top priority as global tensions escalate

STEFANIE MAROTTA

MARK RENDELL

Canadians process tens of billions of payments transactions every day, a constant financial flow that operates on the assumption the money from those card taps and electronic transfers will change hands without interruption.

But if any part of Canada's payments system were to come to a standstill – whether by another country shutting off access to critical networks or by a cyberattack causing an outage – the impact on the economy could be debilitating.

As geopolitical tensions escalate and the trade relationship with the United States becomes increasingly volatile, Prime Minister Mark Carney has added security of Canada's payments system to the top of his to-do list, placing it alongside major priorities including defence and critical minerals.

Canada's payments system is made up of multiple parts, both foreign and domestic.

The country's debit-card and digital money-transfer system, Interac Corp., is domestically owned and operated, which is not the case for similar networks in some other countries.

However, Canada depends heavily on U.S. giants, such as Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc., for other parts of its payments infrastructure, as well as U.S. banks for cross-border transactions.

“Payments infrastructure is economic infrastructure. How money moves is increasingly tied to how Canada trades, competes and protects its economic sovereignty,” Deloitte global head of payments Todd Roberts said in an interview.

"I don't think people really understood this before because we just took a whole bunch of things, including our place in the world, for granted." PAYMENTS, B8

AMD to pay \$2.9-billion for AI chip firm Taalas in one of the largest Canadian tech takeovers

MURAD HEMMADI

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. said Wednesday that it will pay about US\$2.9-billion for Toronto-based semiconductor startup Taalas Inc., making it one of the largest takeovers of a Canadian technology company.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based AMD announced the deal in August, and in a securities filing Wednesday it disclosed the price of the cash-and-stock acquisition. It said US\$1.4-billion of the purchase amount is dependent on unspecified conditions.

The deal has yet to close and is subject to regulatory approval and other conditions.

known transaction involving a Canadian technology company since Ecolab Inc. of St. Paul, Minn., agreed to acquire Calgary-based CoolIT Systems, which makes data-centre cooling equipment, for US\$4.75-billion in March. AMD's Taalas takeover also tops the US\$2.75-billion that Nasdaq Inc. paid in November 2020 for Verafin Inc., a St. John's-based cybersecurity startup – then a landmark exit of a venture-backed, private Canadian technology company.

Former long-time AMD executives Ljubisa and Lejla Bajic and Drago Ignjatovic co-founded Taalas in August 2023. The startup set out to meet the growing demand for chips to run large language models (LLMs) and the generative tools they power. Rather than building general-purpose processors, Taalas bet that it could develop faster and more energy-efficient semiconductors by designing its hardware for specific AI systems. Its first chip was tailored to Meta Platforms Inc.'s Llama family of LLMs, which have been widely used and modified because they are freely available.

Taalas had raised over US\$225-million in venture financing, including a US\$169-million funding round in February that included Fidelity Management & Research Co. and San Francisco-based Quiet Capital. At the time, CEO Ljubisa Bajic said the startup had 24 employees and had spent just US\$30-million of its cash.

■ TAALAS, B8

ECONOMY

Snowbirds miss out on Florida's biggest tax cuts. But there's a silver lining

B3

SERVICES

MTY Group faces pressure to resume takeover talks with Foodtastic

B3

LYNNE SLADKY/

THE CANADIAN PRESS

OPINION

With Democrats taking control of Congress, the U.S. trade war could worsen

B4

OPINION Canada flexes its hockey muscle in its anti-Russia stand, Cathal Kelly writes ■ B13

HOCKEY With a slow start to the season, Bobrovsky is playing the long game in net for Leafs ■ B13

CPPIB puts \$50-million in Toronto AI firm

Rare investment in Beacon Software by pension giant's growth equity unit, which also backed Cohere and Wealthsimple

SEAN SILCOFF

TECHNOLOGY REPORTER

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has made a rare investment in a Canadian technology startup, buying a US\$50-million stake in Toronto's Beacon Software, which is putting an AI spin on the software consolidation playbook pioneered by Constellation Software.

Beacon announced in June it had raised US\$225-million in a financing led by U.S. private capital giants General Catalyst and HarbourVest Partners. It has since increased the round size to US\$425-million, including CPPIB's investment, which it will announce Thursday.

The upsized deal values the company, legally named Beacon Acquisition Corp., at US\$1.75-billion, including cash received. Beacon has now raised \$750-million-plus since its 2024 founding, an unprecedented haul for such a young Canadian company.

That has fuelled equally head-spinning growth. The profitable company, following in the footsteps of fellow software giant Constellation, has bought 45 businesses in the sector. (Company leaders ring gongs in Beacon's Toronto, New York and San Francisco offices on a Google Meet videocast every time it announces a new acquisition internally.)

Consolidated annual revenue at Beacon now tops US\$200-million. Other investors include U.S. heavyweights Lightspeed Venture Partners, D1 Capital Partners and Canada's Intrepid Growth Partners.

The growth hasn't just come from acquisitions. Beacon buys software companies serving small conventional businesses such as campgrounds, concrete makers, dance studios, wealth managers, unions and private schools. It then adds AI agents built to address hundreds of workflows common across software businesses, such as incident response management and invoicing, said chief executive officer and co-founder Nilam Ganenthiran. Deploying those autonomous tools saves its acquired companies an average of 9.6 employee hours a week each, he said, freeing them for other business-building tasks.

Beacon's strategy has paid off: Revenue growth at acquired companies has expanded by 10 percentage points after a year, increasing to a 20-percentage-point gain after two years, without any change to their employee head count, he said. That improves their operating profits. Intrepid co-founder Mark Shulgan called Mr. Ganenthiran “an execution machine” who has “far exceeded the base case that we underwrote.”

Mr. Ganenthiran said, “On the surface it looks like we’re building another Constellation, but that isn’t my goal.” He calls Beacon a “centralized AI holding company.”

Beacon CEO Mr. Ganenthiran, 42, grew up in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough after emigrating with his parents to Canada from Malaysia when he was a child. He was a young entrepreneur with an interest in grocery and consumer product businesses. He went to Harvard Business School and worked as an assistant brand manager on the IAMs pet food line for Procter & Gamble. He joined Instacart in 2013, later becoming president of the grocery delivery giant. He left in 2022, briefly serving as an investor with D1.

Mr. Ganenthiran was inspired to start Beacon as the first generation of AI agents came to market. His early goal was to bring the advances of AI to companies serving customers. He tried to build an AI incubator to create AI software for small companies, but customers were content with their existing vendors. So he decided to buy the vendors instead. He targeted self-financed, entrepreneur-led subscription software vendors with between US\$1-million and US\$25-million in annual revenues that provided essential software used by specific subsectors to run their businesses, but were limited in their ability to deploy AI.

Beacon has integrated acquired companies into a shared operating platform, deployed its own engineers to improve their code, provided sales leaders and embedded fintech for payment processing, banking and payroll – and added AI agents to their operations.

The company now has the capacity to go after larger deals, said Mr. Ganenthiran, and has also started making “acquihires,” buying small AI companies primarily for their talent, to beef up its engineering capacity.

CPPIB, Canada's largest institutional investor, backed Beacon through its growth equity unit, which has \$13-billion under management. It buys US\$50-million-plus stakes in tech companies globally except in Asia, often co-investing with venture capital firms it backs. It also has stakes in Canadian companies Cohere Inc. and Wealthsimple Financial Corp.

The CPPIB group has leaned into AI, backing U.S. companies Anthropic, OpenAI and Data-bricks. Max Miller, CPPIB's head of growth equity, said he was impressed by Beacon's combination of "an exceptional founder with a great market opportunity. That made a ton of sense to us. A lot of software companies realize they need to AI-ify themselves. Beacon can help with that." Other companies including Bending Spoons and Banyan Software are following similar strategies, he noted.

Mr. Ganenthiran said “it’s a tremendous point of pride” to have CPPIB invest. “It’s great validation for a team that is Canadian to be able to tell their parents ‘Hey, the work I’m doing will help pay for your retirement.’”

Unifor launches union drive at Toronto-area Amazon warehouses

VANMALA SUBRAMANIAM

FUTURE OF WORK REPORTER

Amazon worker Jevorne Dickson speaks at an event in Scarborough on Wednesday launching a new Unifor initiative for Amazon workers in the Greater Toronto Area. EDUARDO LIMA/GLOBE AND MAIL

Unifor is launching an organizing drive for thousands of Amazon.com Inc. workers across warehouses in the Greater Toronto Area in an effort to replicate its success in unionizing a facility in British Columbia last year.

Amazon has more than 1,000 warehouses globally, mostly concentrated in the U.S. and Canada. Only two of them are unionized – one on Staten Island, N.Y., and the other in Delta, B.C. However, neither has a collective agreement that can be enforced yet. Amazon and Unifor, Canada's largest private-sector union, are embroiled in a tense legal dispute in B.C. over terms of a contract, while a separate group of workers in that warehouse is trying to decertify the union.

The organizing drive launches on Wednesday and will involve simultaneous outreach to workers in all Amazon facilities across Ontario.

"If there are workers in the world that need to be unionized right now, it is Amazon workers," Lana Payne, Unifor national president, said in an interview. "They are up against one of the biggest, richest, most powerful corporations in the world and the way to counterbalance that is for them to be able to have a say in improving their own working conditions."

In a statement, Amazon spokesperson Sam Stephenson said that the company sees “value in having direct relationships between teams and their managers, which means every person’s voice is heard, not just a few.”

Ms. Payne said Unifor has been talking to Amazon workers for months. The move to formalize union drives across all GTA warehouses was urgent and necessary, she said, citing working conditions at Amazon facilities.

Specifically, she referred to rising injury rates among workers. Data from Ontario's Workplace Safety and Insurance Board shows that injury rates at Amazon facilities across the province nearly tripled between 2020 and 2025.

Brandon Hart, who has worked at various Amazon warehouses across the GTA since 2017, said that observing worker injuries and the speed at which they work to pick up and load boxes motivated him to begin pushing for improvements to worker safety.

Two years ago, he joined a facility health and safety committee run by Amazon managers at YYZ9, a warehouse in Scarborough, east of Toronto. He began organizing workers to speak up to highlight what he believed was a “serious lack of accommodation” for injured workers.

Jevorne Dickson worked at an Amazon warehouse in Bolton, Ont., between 2022 and 2024, before getting injured when a heavy box fell on her foot. She has been out of work since, unable to find a job that allows her to work part-time hours, given her limited mobility. She is trying to rally current employees at the Bolton warehouse to join Unifor. She described her work as a box picker as “gruelling.”

“I worked a 10-hour shift with a 30-minute break. You have to work fast. There were some days where I would do 30,000 to 40,000 steps ... it takes a toll on your body,” she said.

Unifor has considerable experience organizing warehouse workers in Ontario. This past September, the union successfully negotiated a first collective agreement for more than 800 Walmart workers at a distribution facility in Mississauga, Ont. The two-year contract secured wage gains of \$5 an hour in workers' first year, and a 3-per-cent wage bump in the second year.

But forming a union in Ontario is not straightforward, and involves multiple layers of voting. Workers are first required to sign cards authorizing the union to represent them, and if at least 40 per cent of workers sign, the provincial labour board will hold a vote. If a majority of workers vote in favour of unionizing, then a union is certified as a bargaining agent for that workplace.

Unions and labour experts have long criticized the two-step process, saying that it effectively makes it more difficult to form unions, especially in workplaces where the employee turnover rate is high.

British Columbia introduced single-step certification in 2022, meaning that a majority of workers only need to sign a union card once before a union is certified by a labour board. At the time, the provincial NDP government said the legislation was designed to minimize interference by employers in union drives. Since then, B.C.'s unionization rate has increased from 28 per cent in 2021 to 30.5 per cent in 2025, according to data from Statistics Canada.

Montreal-based Avenir Global is acquiring three tech-focused PR agencies

Avenir Global CEO Jean-Pierre Vasseur said he jumped at an opportunity to buy the division when Next 15 put it up for sale earlier this year, ROGER LeMOYNE/ THE GLOBE AND MAIL

ANDREW WILLIS

Public relations firm Avenir Global has acquired three technology-focused agencies with 650 employees from British consultant Next 15 Group PLC for roughly \$160-million, vaulting the Montreal-based company into the ranks of the world's largest communications platforms.

Avenir, parent to National Public Relations and 10 other PR firms, is purchasing a division of Next 15 called the Marker Collective. It is home to three agencies - Archetype, Nectar and Outcast - which focus on advising technology companies. Avenir is also buying an AI-powered media intelligence platform called Delve.

The Marker Collective agencies have 20 offices in Europe, Asia and the U.S. The division has approximately 450 clients, including Google parent Alphabet Inc., Microsoft Corp., Meta Platforms, Inc. and Nvidia Corp.

"Our strategy is to acquire and build companies that specialize in serving specific sectors," Avenir chief executive Jean-Pierre Vasseur said in an interview. The acquisition brings Avenir's total headcount to 1,500 employees.

Avenir has worked with Marker Collective executives in the past and Mr. Vasseur said he jumped at an opportunity to buy the division when Next 15 put it up for sale earlier this year, in order to focus on its data and insights business.

"The Market Collective agencies fit our culture and expand our expertise in tech," said Mr. Vasseur. He said the transaction makes Avenir one of the world's 15 largest communications firms.

"Today's announcement is a strong vote of confidence in our people, our clients, and the model we have been building," said Helena Maus, CEO of Marker Collective, in a press release on Thursday. She said the firm is known for "distinct agencies with strong points of view, connected by shared intelligence and technology."

Avenir plans to use Delve as a shared technology platform across its entire stable of agencies.

Mr. Vasseur said Avenir's short-term focus, over the next year, is to integrate the Marker Collective teams. In the long term, the firm plans to continue using acquisitions to expand in sectors such as tech, health care, consumer products, food and nutrition.

Avenir is one of several platforms consolidating the fragmented communications industry, where firms were historically employee-owned. The largest transactions include last year's US\$13.5-billion takeover of The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc. by Omnicom Group Inc., which is headquartered in New York.

Founded in 1976, Avenir is controlled by chair Andrew Molson, part of the seventh generation of the Montreal brewing dynasty.

In 2023, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec took a minority stake in the firm and pledged to back its international growth strategy. At the time, Caisse executive vice-president Kim Thomassin said the investment was meant to “maintain Avenir’s strong presence on the international stage.”

Over the past decade, Avenir made a series of acquisitions, purchasing Boston-based Shift Communications in 2016, Minneapolis-based Padilla two years later and European agencies Cherry and Hanover in 2018 and 2019 respectively. In 2023, it bought Halifax-based media agency Time & Space.

In March, Avenir added to its British portfolio by acquiring London-based agency Thinks Insight & Strategy. The company also owns health care communications agency AXON, which has offices in Toronto, New York, London and Copenhagen.

Privately held Foodtastic, the Montreal-based company behind brands such as Second Cup, went public Tuesday with a \$43-per-share cash offer for MTY. SAMMY KOGAN/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

Restaurant franchisor MTY faces pressure to resume takeover talks with Foodtastic

NICOLAS VAN PRAET

Canadian restaurant franchisor MTY Food Group Inc. is coming under pressure to reopen takeover talks with rival Foodtastic Inc. as the two companies exchange verbal punches over the best path forward for investors.

Privately held Foodtastic, the Montreal-based company behind brands including Milestones, Freshii and Second Cup, went public Tuesday with a \$43-per-share cash offer for MTY after saying MTY's board refused to engage in substantive talks. The bid values the company at roughly \$1-billion.

On Wednesday, Foodtastic said it was well ahead in its due diligence and suggested it could get a deal done quickly if MTY reopened the door to acquisition talks. It said price was the main stumbling block to striking an agreement during previous discussions between the companies.

"The company had unrealistic expectations about its value," Foodtastic said in a statement. "We call on MTY's shareholders to voice their perspectives about our proposed transaction to the board and stand ready to engage with the company as soon as possible." MTY, whose headquarters is a two-minute drive from Foodtastic's base, operates the Thai Express, Manchu Wok and Big Smoke Burger banners, among others. The company has struggled to boost the bottom line in recent months and ended a strategic review in October with a decision to go it alone.

Foodtastic chief executive officer Peter Mammas counters that shareholders should take his offer instead. He argues MTY's strategy equates to a “highly uncertain and unsubstantiated bet” that MTY leaders can turn things around. MTY is better off in the hands of a private owner, he says.

MTY did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

The company has cast doubt on Foodtastic's ability to fund a takeover. In response to Foodtastic's move to publicize its offer, it said Tuesday that its rival has been in the picture for a while as a potential buyer and that during the strategic review, it was offered “multiple extensions of its exclusivity period” to secure financing and close the transaction.

Those comments about financing are “a red herring,” Foodtastic said in a statement Wednesday. Shareholders are not being asked to vote on a deal without financing, the company said. Foodtastic is backed by funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management LP.

MTY has said that when Food-tastic put its offer in writing in mid-October and repeated the same offer five days later, it considered the proposals but concluded it was not in the best interest of the company or its shareholders. It rejected the bid and formally ended discussions with Foodtastic.

Some analysts said MTY should kick-start negotiations again.

"We view the \$43 non-binding proposal offered by Foodtastic as a highly credible offer and one that MTY's board should engage on," Raymond James analyst Michael Glen said in a research note. He said he does not understand how the offer "can be simply dismissed" on funding concerns.

The offer “probably represents the optimal outcome for MTY shareholders,” Scotiabank analyst John Zamparo said in a separate note, estimating a 60-percent probability of a deal at \$43 per share.

“Though the stock exceeded this price just nine months ago, we consider this the best option for value-creation over the next few years.”

MTY traces its origins back to Hong Kong émigré Stanley Ma, who is currently its chairman and largest shareholder. It has been known historically as a shopping mall food court consolidator, but it has morphed over time: About three-quarters of its restaurant system sales now come from free-standing restaurants such as Baton Rouge, Barrio Queen, and Pizza Delight.

MP asks Competition Bureau to review impact of big banks' dominance over mutual funds

CLARE O'HARA

WEALTH MANAGEMENT REPORTER

Conservative MP Adam Chambers is calling on the federal Competition Bureau to review the impact of Canada's Big Five banks' growing dominance of the mutual fund sector, saying their decision to stop selling third-party investment funds has dramatically increased their influence while harming branch customers.

In a letter sent ahead of Thursday's federal budget, Mr. Chambers asks the bureau, an independent law enforcement agency that protects competition for consumers and businesses, to review the banks' decision and if warranted, initiate an investigation, publish a market study, or pursue legal action.

The Big Five – Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, the Bank of Montreal and Bank of Nova Scotia – started removing competitors’ mutual funds around 2021. Although various groups have raised concern over the years, no formal action has been taken against the move.

The banks' total market share of mutual fund assets has grown to 50 per cent in 2026 from just 20 per cent in 2000, Mr. Chambers, who previously worked in financial services, said in his letter.

“All options, no matter how aggressive, should be considered including commencing legal action against the incumbents for anti-competitive conduct and abuse of dominance in their branch networks,” Mr. Chambers wrote to Jeanne Pratt, the bureau’s interim commissioner.

Another option could include amending the Bank Act to prohibit the big banks from operating “proprietary only” shelves in their branches, said Mr. Chambers, who represents the Simcoe North riding.

"There is little incentive for the banks to fix this themselves."

Rosalie Leblanc, a spokesperson for the Competition Bureau, confirmed in an e-mail to The Globe that it has received Mr. Chambers' complaint. She said the bureau is required by law to conduct its work confidentially, and was therefore unable to confirm whether it is investigating the alleged conduct. The issue originally erupted in 2021 when Royal Bank of Canada, TD and CIBC notified clients in their financial-planning businesses that advisers would no longer sell third-party funds for any investment portfolios. (The changes do not apply to any of the banks' full-service brokerage accounts or do-it-yourself investing clients.)

Other banks began to follow suit.

At the time, the banks said they made the changes in response to new regulations – known as client-focused reforms – that, in part, require advisers to have a deeper knowledge of the investment funds they recommend to clients. The result was that financial planners could only offer their banks' in-house proprietary products.

Shortly after The Globe reported the banks' actions in late 2021, Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy called on the Ontario Securities Commission to undertake an analysis, which was completed in early 2022.

Mr. Bethlenfalvy never released the findings publicly, while Ontario's watchdog said the recommendations were exempt from a freedom of information request by The Globe because they fall under the category of “advice to the government.”

Now, five years after the bank's move to halt sales of third-party funds, concerns about competition in the financial services sector continues to grow.

Earlier this year, the Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP) filed a similar complaint with the bureau against the Big Five, alleging the sales practices used by branch advisers are both harmful to customers and anti-competitive as they do not provide advice based on the entire marketplace of available investment products.

CARP chief executive officer Anthony Quinn told The Globe that he met with the bureau shortly after he sent his letter in January, but that he has not been notified about whether there is an investigation.

The OSC and Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) jointly conducted a review of the Big Five, which they released in July 2025. It found, among other things, that mutual fund advisers face a high degree of pressure to meet sales targets, which could lead them to offer products or services that are not in a client's best interests.

Yet, 15 months later, Mr. Quinn said the OSC has failed to act publicly on its own findings.

“No published findings. No announced requirements for the dealers. No announced enforcement arising from the review,” he added.

OSC spokesperson Curtis Lindsay said the sales practice review remains a key priority as they conduct the second phase of the initiative with CIRO, and he anticipates sharing more information publicly before the year end.

Snowbirds who miss out on Florida tax cuts see silver lining

Small change approved as part of midterm voting could help keep a lid on rising home ownership costs in the Sunshine State

MEERA RAMAN

Florida voters approved major property tax cuts in Tuesday's U.S. midterm elections. While most Canadian snowbirds won't qualify for the biggest savings, a smaller change could help them keep a lid on rising home ownership costs in the Sunshine State.

The state's Amendment 3 passed with 62 per cent of the vote, narrowly exceeding the 60-per-cent threshold for approval.

Under the new rules, homesteaders – homeowners who use their Florida property as their primary residence – will be able to exempt up to US\$150,000 of their home's assessed value from non-school property taxes in 2027, rising to US\$250,000 in 2028.

Most Canadian snowbirds who own property in the state won't qualify for those exemptions. However, starting in 2027, the maximum annual increase in the assessed value of properties that aren't primary residences will fall from 10 per cent to 5 per cent, which could slow future property tax increases for Canadian owners.

In 2023, Canada’s then-consul-general in Miami, Sylvia Cesaratto, estimated that Canadians owned \$60-billion worth of residential real estate in Florida and contributed more than \$600-million annually in property taxes.

Property taxes are calculated using a property's assessed value and the applicable tax rates. For example, under the new rules, a vacation home assessed at US\$300,000 could see its assessed value rise by up to US\$15,000 annually instead of up to US\$30,000 under the old cap.

But experts say any savings may be outweighed by other expenses associated with owning a vacation home in Florida, including high insurance premiums, condo fees and the weak Canadian dollar.

“This is going to be very beneficial for anyone owning a home in Florida,” said Kris Rossignoli, a cross-border tax and financial planner at Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC in New York. But “property taxes are only one piece of the puzzle,” he said.

The 5-per-cent cap applies to assessed values, not the total tax bill. Local governments can still change tax rates, meaning homeowners could face larger increases in their actual property taxes.

“It just provides them with more certainty on the increased cost of owning a home in Florida,” Mr. Rossignoli said.

Outgoing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who supported the amendment, has previously said he wants tax cuts to benefit Florida residents rather than tourists.

"I want Canadian tourists and Brazilian tourists subsidizing the state and making it so Florida residents pay less taxes. I don't want to give Canadians a tax cut," he said at a real estate event in Orlando last year. Republican Byron Donalds won Tuesday's election and is set to replace Mr. DeSantis in January.

While the lower cap may provide some financial relief to snowbirds and help support property values, it won't necessarily make owning a Florida vacation home more affordable, said Kathryn Smiley, an Ontario realtor with eXp Realty and a licensed Florida broker who works with Canadian buyers.

Other costs, including insurance and condo fees, are likely to play a bigger role in Canadians' decisions to buy or sell a property in the state, she said.

Average annual insurance premiums for condo owners rose by 56 per cent between early 2021 and late 2024, from about US\$1,170 to more than US\$1,800, according to data from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.

The assessed value of a property can also reset when it changes hands, meaning a Canadian buying a vacation home may face a higher property tax bill than the previous owner.

Tim Wilkin, 74, who lives in Kingston and owns a condo in Estero, Fla., has seen his annual property-tax bill climb from about US\$4,260 in 2017 to US\$6,850 in 2026, an increase of nearly 61 per cent.

“Anything that keeps the cost down is appreciated,” Mr. Wilkin said of the new changes. The weak Canadian dollar has made maintaining his Florida property more expensive, he said. The biggest annual jump came between 2022 and 2023, when his property-tax bill rose by more than 17 per cent. Mr. Wilkin said much of that increase came from charges for capital improvements in his gated community, rather than higher municipal property taxes.

While the new rules could help slow down future increases to his property's assessed value, they wouldn't necessarily prevent similar jumps in his overall tax bill. Still, he has no plans to sell his condo any time soon. With the rising value of his property, coupled with the decline of the loonie, "it will ultimately turn out to be a very good investment."

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The trade war will continue, could get worse

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, right, holds a chart as U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House in 2025.

CARLOS BARRIA/REUTERS

With Democrats

taking Congress, Trump

will likely double down

and rely even more

aggressively on his

presidential powers

LAWRENCE HERMAN

OPINION

Counsel at Herman & Associates, a member of the Expert Group on Canada-U.S. Relations and a senior fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute in Toronto

It's premature – and even naive – to think that the Republicans' loss of control of the House of Representatives (and the Senate) will change U.S. President Donald Trump's anti-Canadian policies or lessen his aggressive trade war against this country.

Quite the contrary.

This week's political upset in Congress will mean Mr. Trump will double down and rely even more aggressively on his presidential powers over trade relations. Even if Mr. Trump's use of tariff authority under the long-forgotten 1930 Smoot-Hawley Trade Act doesn't survive legal challenge, experts say his tariffs issued under the 1962 Trade Expansion Act and the 1974 Trade Act are on sound legal footing.

Without the Democrats having the necessary 60-seat Senate majority, these laws are not going to be amended. The Democrats don't want these laws changed either.

The result is that the current tariff wars against Canada are going to continue. They could even get worse.

Mr. Trump and the MAGA team have relentlessly targeted Canada, even before the election period, with insults and derogatory comments unprecedented in the annals of Western democracies, from a neighbour, a fellow G7 and G20 member, a NATO and NORAD ally, a long-standing free-trade partner.

Nothing in post-1945 history compares to this.

Given this level of belligerence, whatever the domestic political impact of this week's changes in Congress, it's impossible to see Canada reaching any mutually acceptable, balanced trade deal with this administration.

Even before these more recent developments, the efforts of the Canadian negotiating team in Washington last August, trying to hammer out some agreement with the MAGA team, were doomed.

What should have been Canada's approach, once Mr. Trump announced his latest Smoot-Hawley tariffs last July, would have been to immediately proclaim countermeasures and suspend further talks then and there. In any case, that's where we are now after the ill-fated negotiations collapsed in August.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has repeatedly said Canada will resume trade talks under the “right circumstances.” And even if it appears some form of talks may be back on, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement still faces a wobbly future as a free-trade agreement. Let’s be realistic. Tariffs and trade restrictions will be part of the Canada-U.S. landscape for the foreseeable future.

Some say things could change after Mr. Trump's term ends, that with a new administration there will be a renewal of good faith and a return to balanced negotiations without diktats and unilateral demands, a willingness to restore predictability and stability in two-way trade. Who knows?

If this were to happen at some distant point – and maybe it will – there are two things that must be on top of Canada’s agenda.

The first is to eliminate the use of self-defined “national security”

exemption as a way of the U.S. circumventing trade obligations, an exemption in the USMCA that Mr. Trump has employed without limit. Otherwise, as Mr. Carney observed, any signature of the part of the U.S. will only be in pencil. There are ways trade partners can deal with legitimate national security, such as requiring good faith consultations aimed at resolving the issue short of peremptory trade actions.

Another way is to remove constraints on Canada concluding other trade arrangements, including with countries such as China. When the USMCA was being negotiated, the provision in the agreement giving the U.S. oversight on third-party deals with non-market economies didn't seem totally unreasonable. But the MAGA team has used this as a cudgel, in its opposition to Canada allowing imports of even a small volume of Chinese EVs. There are ways of combatting China's flouting World Trade Organization rules and exporting its massively subsidized overcapacity without giving the U.S. a right of supervision.

However, it's hard to see matters improving to the point of there being serious free trade engagement with the U.S. Even with the Democrats taking control of Congress – and maybe at some future time the White House itself – it won't mean a major shift in U.S. trade policy, given the Democrats' own penchant for protectionism as a result of organized labour's influence. While the tone may be better and less antagonistic, don't expect a return to anything akin to the long-gone NAFTA days.

Taking the world as it is, to borrow the Mr. Carney's words at Davos, Switzerland, it's about “variable geometry” as the motivating feature of Canada's new trade strategy. Canada has to move full speed ahead to cement arrangements with more steadfast and reliable trading partners.

Younger Canadians will pay for Carney's massive spending and borrowing

JAKE FUSS

OPINION

Director of fiscal studies at the Fraser Institute

On Thursday, Prime Minister Mark Carney's government will table its second federal budget since taking office in March 2025, and based on its record so far, we can expect more new spending and large deficits. Ottawa's fiscal situation may rank low on the list of priorities for most young people in Canada. But make no mistake – more than any other group of Canadians, they'll pay the price for this approach.

On the campaign trail, Mr. Carney promised a “very different approach” to federal finances relative to former prime minister Justin Trudeau. That was welcome news, as the Trudeau government unwisely borrowed hundreds of billions of dollars to fuel its spending addiction. Federal spending on a per-person basis and debt reached historically high levels (after adjusting for inflation), and Ottawa hasn't balanced a budget in nearly 20 years.

Enter Mr. Carney, who said he would be “spending less” yet quickly broke that promise and actually increased spending significantly. His government posted a \$66.9-billion deficit for 2025-26, a projected deficit of \$65.3-billion in 2026-27 and deficits of at least \$53-billion for the subsequent four years. These cumulative deficits – from 2025-26 to 2029-30 – are double the size of what Mr. Trudeau planned before leaving office.

Of course, to cover the deficit, Ottawa must borrow money. Total federal debt will eclipse a projected \$2.9-trillion by 2029-30 – that's almost \$300-billion more in debt accumulation than Mr. Trudeau planned – and debt interest costs will hit a projected \$75.7-billion, which is more than the combined total that Ottawa plans to spend on employment insurance and the Canada Child Benefit that year.

The burden will land disproportionately on younger Canadians who will likely pay higher taxes, enjoy fewer services or some combination of both for decades to come. As baby boomers sail off into the sunset, the government will stick millennials, Gen Z and other younger generations with the bill.

Ottawa's red ink also has immediate consequences for Canadians today. When the government runs deficits, it competes with individuals, families and businesses for the money available to borrow. In response, lenders increase interest rates and it becomes more expensive for Canadians to pay a mortgage, buy a new car, pay for home renovations and so on. Today's higher interest rates exist in part because of the relentless and historic level of spending and borrowing by the federal government (and many provincial governments).

Which takes us back to the upcoming budget. In light of the dismal state of federal finances, what should Canadians expect?

More red ink, and some creative accounting. Specifically, to create the impression of fiscal prudence, last year the Carney government separated “operating spending” – referring to day-to-day spending on programs such as Old Age Security and EI – from “capital spending,” defined as “anything that builds an asset.” Then last month, it said it would balance the “operating budget” by 2028-29.

But “operating spending” and “capital spending” both have an impact on the bottom line. Separating these two categories only obscures the true state of federal finances. The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) – the independent federal fiscal watchdog – has criticized how the government classifies “capital spending,” illustrating that the government has an incentive to conveniently shift items from “operating” to “capital” spending to purportedly balance the operating budget. (A separate PBO report last month said the Carney government is not even on track to balance the operating budget by 2028-29, regardless of any accounting sleight of hand.)

In reality, absent any substantial spending reductions or huge jumps in revenue, the overall budget deficit will remain massive and well beyond the Trudeau government's already large projections.

The Carney government has talked about fixing federal finances without actually fixing them. Instead, it seems likely that Mr. Carney will not only continue the Trudeau approach but may accelerate it even further. That's bad news for all Canadians, particularly younger Canadians who will inherit the bill.

The other midterms issue: Florida voted against Canadian snowbirds

GUS CARLSON OPINION

U.S.-based columnist for The Globe and Mail

Canadian snowbirds who own vacation properties in Florida got a clear message from Sunshine State voters this week: It's time to pay your fair share of property taxes, or at least take some of the weight off our backs.

By a 62-per-cent majority, Floridians approved a sweeping state constitutional amendment that will give property-tax relief to state residents and shift more of the burden to non-residents who own second homes in the state.

The situation is particularly acute for Canadians, who consistently rank as the number-one group of foreign owners of property in the state.

It is another slap in the face souring the long-standing love affair that Canadians had with Florida as a relatively inexpensive, easily accessible, snowbird-friendly tropical getaway.

In recent times, rising home insurance costs, back-breaking condominium fees, skyrocketing house prices in many areas of the state and a perpetually sluggish Canadian dollar – hovering in the low 70-cent range in U.S. dollars – have made Florida an increasingly costly place for Canadians to live and play in the winter.

The political climate hasn't helped. The trade battle, exacerbated by U.S. President Donald Trump's numerous jibes, has led to many Canadians boycotting vacations to the U.S.

Florida, one of the most popular U.S. destinations alongside Arizona and California, has been hit hard as many Canadians stay away. Canadian airlines have cut back on flights, and cars bearing Ontario and Quebec licence plates don't seem as plentiful on Florida roads as in past years.

The numbers bear that out. According to Visit Florida, Canadian tourism to the state dropped nearly 14 per cent in the first half of this year. Almost 1.7 million Canadians visited Florida during that time, down from close to two million during the same period in 2025.

The economic impact of the situation is so significant that Florida and other states are mounting promotional campaigns and sending tourism delegations to Canada to mend some bridges.

And now, this. Florida's property-tax proposal singled out Canadians as part of the problem – and pitted them against the state's residents.

“I want Canadian tourists and Brazilian tourists subsidizing the state and making it so Florida residents pay less taxes – I don’t want to give Canadians a tax cut,” outgoing governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, said at a real-estate convention in Orlando last year.

Mr. DeSantis's successor, governor-elect Byron Donalds, also a Republican, has advocated for the measure and is expected to support it as he takes office and it moves to implementation on Jan. 1, 2027.

The new measure does not actually increase taxes for non-residents. But because most of the properties they own are not primary residences, it does cut foreign owners out of a key exemption and enables residents to take more advantage of Florida's homestead provision, which limits property-tax increases even as the values of properties increase.

The amendment increases the homestead exemption for residents from US\$50,000 to to US\$150,000 next year, and then to US\$250,000 in 2028. As an example, a resident property owner with a house assessed at US\$500,000 would eventually have local non-school taxes calculated as if the home was half that value.

Non-residents whose Florida properties are typically second homes would have no such benefit, and would be required to pay full freight on the assessed value of their homes. In simple terms, they would make up the difference as the higher homestead benefits take effect.

There is a ray of sunshine in the new measure – sort of. Now, any annual tax increase on a property ineligible for the homestead exemption will be capped at 5 per cent, rather than the current 10-per-cent limit. That reduction will apply to second homes, vacation properties and rental apartments or condominiums.

Any non-residents, including Canadians, hoping to become Florida residents to take advantage of the new measure should beware – and move quickly. The amendment imposes a five-year residency requirement for anyone who is not a resident by Dec. 31 of this year before they can qualify for the larger homestead exemption. In the interim, they can get an annual exemption of US\$50,000.

On its own, the new property-tax amendment may seem like small potatoes when compared with other factors driving up the costs of vacationing in Canada's most popular foreign playground. And few people will shed a tear for any Canadian who can afford a second home in Florida.

Tesla, SpaceX shares fall after midterms

Democratic victories could complicate potential merger after Musk's massive Republican spending

RYAN MAC

JACK EWING

Elon Musk spent nearly US\$500-million supporting Republican candidates in the midterm elections, especially in his home state, Texas. After Democrats won sweeping victories, gaining control of both houses of Congress and capturing other important state races, shares of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. and Tesla Inc., which are both run by Mr. Musk, fell sharply Wednesday.

Tesla's stock dropped when markets opened, and later traded down more than 2 per cent. SpaceX, which conducted a blockbuster public offering in June, followed a similar pattern, before settling at a loss of closer to 3 per cent. The declines stood out among tech stocks, as Meta, Microsoft, Google and the wider stock market rallied at the start of trading.

SpaceX and Tesla are exploring a merger, which could be complicated by a Congress controlled by Democrats, some of whom have already signalled their intent to investigate the world's richest person and his companies. In recent years, Mr. Musk has antagonized Democrats, spending heavily to elect President Donald Trump, involving himself deeply in firing federal workers and shutting down government agencies while aligning his companies' interests with those of the administration.

“They are going to need to plant new forests for all of the subpoenas we’ll be printing,” Senator Ed Markey posted on the social-platform X on Tuesday night about potential hearings for technology executives.

Investigations could also complicate plans by SpaceX's Starlink division, which offers satellite-internet access, to expand into mobile telecommunications. Qualcomm Technologies said Wednesday that it would supply Starlink with equipment for base stations that would be part of a nationwide cellular network.

Mr. Musk spent at least US\$474-million on the midterm elections, the most money of any donor in a

U.S. election cycle, apart from candidates who have funded their own runs for office. About US\$224-million was spent on races in Texas, particularly in support of the losing campaign of Republican Ken Paxton for a Senate seat against Democrat James Talarico.

Both SpaceX and Tesla have their headquarters in Texas. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Musk moved there after declaring that California had become too liberal for his taste. He also complained about overbearing regulations.

Both companies are developing extensive infrastructure in Texas, including a joint effort to build a more than US\$100-billion chip-manufacturing plant in the state, though those efforts could now face greater scrutiny. Texas is set to have a Democratic governor after the election of Gina Hinojosa, as well as a Democratic attorney-general and lieutenant governor.

Ms. Hinojosa campaigned on promises to rein in development of data centres. That could create problems for Tesla, which is testing autonomous driving technology in Austin that relies on a data centre there.

“Texas welcomed data center companies who were unable to get permits in other states,” Gary Black, managing partner of the Future Fund, an investment firm, said on X. “Its status as a data center hub may now be over.”

Mr. Musk was also attracted to Texas by corporate law that limits shareholders' ability to sue. Tesla shifted its corporate domicile to Texas from Delaware after a Delaware judge voided his pay package in response to a shareholder lawsuit. The decision was later overturned. SpaceX is also domiciled in Texas.

Democrats also appeared poised to take control of the Texas House and the court that hears appeals from the Texas Business Court, which would hear any lawsuits stemming from the merger of SpaceX and Tesla. Judges on the appeals court are elected.

But the law that shields company managers from shareholder lawsuits has bipartisan support and is unlikely to change, said James Spindler, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

"It was seen as a way of bringing business here," Prof. Spindler said. "Everyone wants more tax revenue. Everyone wants more jobs."

Mr. Musk, 55, did not return a request for comment.

Mr. Musk's midterm spending, while substantial, will have little impact on his overall wealth. As of Tuesday, he was worth US\$898-billion, according to Bloomberg, meaning that his political contributions amounted to a tiny sliver of his net worth.

In relative terms, it was akin to a 55-year-old with the median U.S. net worth of about US\$411,000 spending a little more than US\$217.

Mr. Musk, who avoided posting on X for most of Tuesday night as votes were being counted, returned to his social-media platform in the early hours of Wednesday to joke about his political losses and his companies' prospects.

“Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now,” he wrote, referring to SpaceX’s goal to put artificial-intelligence computing clusters in orbit.

Mr. Musk also appeared to be deleting old posts. On Tuesday, he told his more than 240 million followers on X to “vote red today!”

On Wednesday, that post could no longer be found on his account.

NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE

Aluminum industry hopeful of tariff relief after U.S. midterms

BRETT BUNDALE

Aluminum logs are pictured at Spectra Aluminum in Bradford, Ont., in August. Canada produces roughly 3.3 million tonnes of aluminum annually, exporting about 90 per cent of its output. CHRISTOPHER DROST/THE CANADIAN PRESS

The head of Canada's aluminum industry says the U.S. midterm election results could mark a turning point in the trade dispute between Canada and the United States.

Jean Simard, president and chief executive of the Aluminum Association of Canada, said Wednesday the election sent a clear message that American voters are frustrated with the economic impact of U.S. trade policies.

The results could increase pressure on Washington to roll back tariffs, he said.

Canada produces roughly 3.3 million tonnes of aluminum annually, exporting about 90 per cent of its output, according to Mr. Simard.

The vast majority of those exports historically went to the United States, but U.S. tariffs of 50 per cent have prompted Canadian producers to redirect shipments to Europe, he said.

Mr. Simard said he hopes the election results embolden lawmakers to challenge U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policies and create new momentum for an agreement with Canada.

"I'm certainly far more optimistic than I've ever been, because the signal is overwhelmingly clearer than I thought it would be," he said.

Meanwhile, in a post on X, Canadian Federation of Independent Business president Dan Kelly said he hopes the election results will push Washington toward a lasting trade deal with Canada.

He said the results show the trade dispute has worsened affordability concerns in border states and the Midwest. Mr. Kelly added that 87 per cent of Canadian small businesses want an agreement reached as quickly as possible.

But Andreas Schotter, a professor of international business at Western University's Ivey Business School, said Canadian companies should not expect a dramatic shift in U.S. trade policy.

“Even on the Democratic side, there’s a strong ‘America First’ notion,” he said. “For businesses, there’s no immediate change ... I don't see us all of a sudden going back to full CUSMA."

The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement replaced NAFTA in 2020.

Mr. Schotter pointed out former U.S. president Joe Biden left most of the trade policies introduced during Mr. Trump's first term in place.

The first Trump administration imposed tariffs of 10 per cent on aluminum imports in 2018. Canada was initially exempt but faced the tariffs from June 2018 until May 2019, when the exemption was restored. Mr. Trump briefly reimposed tariffs on certain Canadian aluminum products in 2020, but the exemption was restored before Mr. Biden took office.

That changed when Mr. Trump returned to the White House. The U.S. imposed tariffs of 25 per cent on Canadian aluminum in March 2025 before doubling them to 50 per cent on June 4, 2025.

Mr. Simard said Canada's three major primary aluminum producers – Rio Tinto, Alcoa and Aluminerie Alouette – initially continued fulfilling orders to American customers despite the tariffs before redirecting shipments to Europe. He said Canadian producers have exported roughly 800,000 tonnes of aluminum to Europe since March 2025, compared with about 100,000 tonnes over a comparable period under normal market conditions.

Mr. Simard said the strategy has allowed the industry to maintain production without layoffs or production cuts.

Blair Dickerson, president and chief executive of the Canadian Steel Producers Association, said a change in the political landscape in Washington doesn't guarantee an immediate change in U.S. trade policy.

Still, she said the steel industry is encouraged by Prime Minister Mark Carney's recent comments that Canada-U.S. trade talks are progressing, and that the government remains focused on getting a good deal for all Canadians.

THE CANADIAN PRESS

'Tight timeline' to hammer out Pathways deals, Cenovus executive says

LAUREN KRUGEL

An executive at Cenovus Energy Inc. says top oil sands producers, Ottawa and the Alberta government face a time squeeze to finalize agreements on moving the Pathways carbon storage project forward by their mid-month target.

“We have some incredibly nuanced, bespoke agreements to hammer out, and they’re tough because they’re new. No one’s drafted them before,” Jeff Lawson, corporate development and chief sustainability officer, told a conference call with analysts Wednesday.

“What you should take away is that both levels of government – the feds and the province – have been excellent to deal with. They’ve been pragmatic. They’re trying to push this ahead.”

Members of the Oil Sands Alliance, which includes Cenovus and four of its peers, reached a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Ottawa and the province in July. They set a Nov. 15 target to pin down binding agreements with each of the companies.

Mr. Lawson listed off several positive developments for the sector in recent months: a major expansion in investment tax perks, reforms to simplify regulatory reviews, the national-interest designation for a new West Coast pipeline and expected royalty incentives from the Alberta government.

"Now we need to hammer out actually the trade-off for that, which is what our six-megatonne carbon capture project looks like. All the companies are aligned in hammering that out if we have all the supports in place. So it's all coming together," he said.

“Nov. 15 is a pretty tight timeline to get all this stuff done, but we're working towards that. And I guess we'll play it week by week if we actually hit that timeline. But we are on a path, we're not falling off the path and we're pushing forward on it.”

The Pathways-pipeline quid pro quo was part of a sweeping accord Ottawa and Alberta signed in November 2025 on a wide array of energy matters. The idea is for Pathways to offset some of the carbon-dioxide emissions the proposed West Coast pipeline, Pacific Link, would enable through increased oil sands production.

Pathways involves a pipeline network that would carry carbon dioxide captured from various oil sands sites in northern Alberta to an underground storage hub near Cold Lake, Alta. The alliance said that Pathways will have the capacity to transport and store about six million tonnes a year of captured CO2 by the mid-2030s. The parties are aiming for another 10 million tonnes of reductions by 2045.

That's a significant scale-back from the 22 million tonnes of emissions by 2030 they had earlier targeted.

In the July Pathways-centred MOU, governments agreed to pursue regulatory and fiscal policies that would spur oil sands growth, which in turn would ensure the pipeline from Alberta to a tanker port in southern British Columbia can be filled. Ottawa agreed to extending investment tax credits for certain carbon-capture equipment, while Alberta has agreed to “financial supports” to encourage oil sands growth, alluding recently to potential royalty incentives.

The other Oil Sands Alliance members are Suncor Energy Inc.,

Canadian Natural Resources, Imperial Oil Ltd. and ConocoPhillips.

"The parties are all sleeves rolled up, meeting endlessly, working hard together," Suncor CEO Rich Kruger told analysts on his company's third-quarter conference call on Wednesday.

“From a Suncor standpoint, we would far rather have a good deal when we’re ready versus a bad or an incomplete deal at an artificial date or deadline ... The days on the calendar are just other days to me. Nov. 15 is coming up. Whether we have something on Nov. 15 or not, I don’t know.”

Imperial Oil CEO John Whelan said on a conference call last week that there's still a lot of work to do, but “there's no lack of energy or desire to get to a definitive agreement.”

Last month, Cenovus signed a deal to buy Athabasca Oil Corp. in a \$5.7-billion cash-and-stock deal. Athabasca shareholders are to vote on the deal later this month, with its expected close set for December.

"The rationale for this transaction for Cenovus is very clear. Athabasca brings a high quality oil sands resource base with decades of development potential adjacent to our existing lands where we have strong understanding of the resource and its potential," said Cenovus CEO Jon McKenzie.

“Opportunities to have thermal reserves and development inventory of this scale are increasingly rare. We have a proven track record of applying our operating model to improve performance and create value from these types of assets.”

Earlier Wednesday, Cenovus reported a third-quarter profit of \$3.36-billion, up from \$1.29-billion in the same quarter last year. The profit amounted to \$1.83 a diluted share, up from 72 cents per diluted share in the third quarter of 2025.

Revenue for the quarter was \$15.98-billion, up from \$13.20-billion a year ago.

Upstream production totalled 1,023,500 barrels of oil equivalent a day for the quarter, up from 832,900 in the same quarter last year.

Downstream crude throughput amounted to 437,200 barrels a day, down from 710,700 a year ago.

THE CANADIAN PRESS

First Nations Bank raises \$50-million

Bill Lomax, left, president and CEO of First Nations Bank of Canada, speaks as Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation Chief Margaret Sault listens during a Canadian Club Toronto luncheon in Toronto on Wednesday. NATHAN DENETTE/THE CANADIAN PRESS

New financing

adds capacity to meet

loan demand as bank

weighs entering

wealth management

JAMESON BERKOW

CAPITAL MARKETS REPORTER

First Nations Bank of Canada has completed a \$50-million funding round, allowing the country's only Indigenous-owned chartered bank to expand its commercial lending activities and consider entering the wealth management business.

Saskatoon-based FNBC announced a \$15-million investment by Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation on Wednesday, making MCFN one of the bank's largest shareholders with a roughly 10-per-cent ownership stake. The \$50-million in total equity financing that FNBC has raised since 2024 from First Nations and Indigenous communities across Canada represents more money than the bank had raised from when it was founded in 1996 to when Bill Lomax became chief executive in 2023.

"When we look at the community, we see a lot of opportunity and a lot of need," Mr. Lomax said in an interview. "And this is giving us some of the ability to meet some of that."

FNBC will be able to issue “at least” \$400-million in new commercial loans as a result of the funding round, he said, adding that a persistent backlog of loan applications means the bank will likely need to raise even more capital soon.

“Given the amount of growth that we have, I wouldn’t be surprised if, within the next three years, we are back out raising our next tranche,” Mr. Lomax said. “As long as the nations continue to do well, I am optimistic on that, very optimistic on that.”

He added, “There is just going to be more and more demand for what we are doing.”

FNBC's commercial loan book grew 26 per cent in its most recent fiscal year and nearly 20 per cent the year before that.

"One of the challenges for our team has been just keeping up with the demand for loans, because we can only properly vet and book so many loans at a time, and 26 per cent is already break-neck speed for us," Mr. Lomax said.

"But we are also making bigger loans now. We have almost doubled the size of our capability to make loans over the past three years from \$17- or \$18-million to now up to \$30-million. It is really quite something."

The new capital will also allow FNBC to consider entering new lines of business, Mr. Lomax said. When he first joined the bank after having spent the better part of a decade with Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Mr. Lomax stated an ambition to build a wealth management business that would ensure its clients could remain in charge of their own money.

"We are going to be, over the next year, doing some soul searching to figure out what is the right next step. And wealth man-"

agement is absolutely very high on that list," Mr. Lomax said. "But there are some other opportunities that are compelling as well."

He declined to specify what other opportunities FNBC is considering, saying they are too early-stage to discuss publicly.

Following the MCFN investment, the lender is now more than 90 per cent owned by 117 First Nations and Indigenous communities across Canada. In 2025, FNBC received large investments from several communities, including the Lheidli T'enneh First Nation in B.C. and the

Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation in Ontario. Toronto-Dominion Bank, which was among FNBC's founding investors alongside the Saskatchewan Indigenous Enterprise Foundation Inc. and the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, remains the bank's primary non-Indigenous investor.

“We see ourselves as a reflection of the community, and this was a real shot in the arm for us and for the nations that we work with,” Mr. Lomax said. “They are kind of betting on themselves in a way.”

Nutrien misses forecasts, earnings slide 39% in third quarter

KATE HELMORE

AGRICULTURE AND FOOD POLICY REPORTER

Saskatchewan-based Nutrien Ltd. reported a 39-per-cent decrease in net earnings in its third-quarter results Wednesday.

The fertilizer giant reported profit of US\$288-million compared with US\$469-million in the same period last year, a decline primarily driven by underperformance in its phosphate and nitrogen divisions.

Net earnings per share fell 37 per cent from 97 US cents to 61 US cents, falling short of projections of US\$1.06, according to estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ. Net sales in the company's nitrogen division fell 6 per cent and the cost of goods increased 8 per cent compared with the same period last year. Nutrien's shutdown of the company's facility in Trinidad contributed to these costs.

On Oct. 5, the company announced the indefinite closure of its Trinidad Nitrogen operations, citing continuing natural gas constraints. The facility had been shut down on a temporary basis since October 2025. Net sales in phosphate climbed 4 per cent to US\$514-million from US\$495-million in the third quarter of 2025, but the cost of goods rose 29 per cent because of higher sulphur costs. Sulphur is an essential input in phosphate production. Prices have surged to near-record levels this year, driven by constraints around the Strait of Hormuz through which a substantial volume of sulphur trade is shipped.

Nutrien announced that it would shutter operations at its White Springs phosphate facility in Florida in the second quarter of 2027 as part of a broad review of the division. The company has received a number of non-binding bids for the division but decided the proposals did not reflect the long-term value of the assets, according to the earnings report. Its North Carolina-based Aurora facility will continue to operate.

Nutrien's legacy potash division recorded unchanged net sales in the third quarter of 2026 compared with 2025. The division reported high potash sales in the first six months of the year that drove an overall 9-per-cent growth in sales across the nine months ending Sept. 30. The company also reported a 10-per-cent climb in gross margins during this period.

Nutrien has increased its potash sales guidance to 14.8 million tonnes from 14.3 million tonnes because of continuing strong global demand driven by farmer forecasts of high crop prices in 2027.

The company has maintained its forecast for global potash shipments of 74 to 77 million tonnes in 2026, in line with consumption trends.

Uber's fourth-quarter profit forecast disappoints

AKASH SRIRAM

Uber Technologies Inc. forecast adjusted profit below Wall Street expectations on Wednesday, as driver shortages, higher fuel costs and the Middle East conflict weighed on ride-hailing growth in markets ranging from India and Brazil to Canada.

The company is responding by spending more to recruit and retain drivers, a cost that will be watched closely because it comes as the company also funds a major push into autonomous vehicles and a string of acquisitions.

Shares of the ride-hailing company were down nearly 2 per cent in premarket trading.

Uber forecast fourth-quarter adjusted profit of 95 US cents to 99 US cents per share, below estimates of US\$1.06 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.

The company said the Middle East conflict was a 75 basis-point drag on Mobility bookings growth and that it assumes a 100 basis-point hit in the fourth quarter.

“Elevated fuel prices and tighter driver availability weighed on supply growth in several international markets,” CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said.

“We also saw an impact in Canada from tighter immigration flows, and the market is currently meaningfully undersupplied.”

Uber said mobility trends improved in October and it is spending on driver acquisition, retention and reactivation.

The company expects gross bookings of US\$63.25-billion to US\$65.25-billion, compared with analysts' estimates of US\$64.42-billion.

It expects adjusted core profit of US\$3.13-billion to US\$3.23-billion compared with estimates of US\$3.19-billion.

Third-quarter revenue of US\$14.77-billion grew 10 per cent and was the slowest since the first quarter of 2021, but it topped estimates of US\$14.69-billion. Delivery bookings grew 22 per cent and Freight 35 per cent.

REUTERS

Data: Backlash against development in the U.S. helping Alberta, energy executive says

FROM B1

During earnings calls this week, Capital Power chief executive Avik Dey and his TransAlta counterpart, Joel Hunter, said there has been a sea change in how the sector views Alberta compared with just one year ago. They both expect that interest to spur a bevy of projects in the province.

What is helping Alberta is an increasing backlash against data-centre development in the U.S., Mr. Hunter told analysts on Trans-Alta's Tuesday call.

“We’ve seen what’s happened in other jurisdictions where maybe the build-out has gone too quickly and, as a result, has required a lot more infrastructure that results in higher utility bills for customers and as a result of that we’ve seen the moratoriums,” he said.

More than 45 states have a combined 575 active restrictions, including permanent bans, zoning restrictions and executive orders. As of mid-October, 24 state legislatures had tabled more bills to limit development.

Data-centre development proved to be a hot-button issue in the U.S. midterm elections this week, too. Opinion polls have shown Democratic voters favouring more control over AI. Investors expect the Democratic-controlled Congress to apply more scrutiny to the sector.

Fears that rapid AI-sector growth could be hamstrung by regulatory scrutiny after the Democratic win was an immediate focus for the markets Wednesday morning. AI's capital-investment surge and highly indebted governments have helped drive up borrowing costs to multidecade highs, exposing markets fault-lines.

Yet demand for power is not abating, Mr. Hunter said, and that has proponents looking north to the province and its strong support for data centres by the government and the Alberta Electric Systems Operator.

“I think that there is a real opportunity here for Alberta,” Mr. Hunter said.

He said using tools such as the bring-your-own-power provision ensures that power reliability and affordability are not compromised – even if “at times, people might feel a bit frustrated by that.”

Moratoriums across the U.S. also have Capital Power courting hyperscalers and large-scale data-centre proponents, Mr. Dey said. The company is particularly focused on opportunities for its massive Genesee power plant outside Edmonton, which has 26,000 acres on which to build. It can already produce more electricity than it can deliver to the grid and has been part of the local landscape for decades.

Like Mr. Hunter, Mr. Dey said that the province's focus on addressing consumers' reliability and affordability concerns – while also bringing new capacity to the market – has put Alberta “in an enviable position today relative to other markets.”

John Mould, a power and utilities analyst with TD Securities Inc., said that as it develops policy, the government has been mindful of the importance of where data centres will be located.

“Projects that have made progress so far in Alberta have been more along the lines of sites that are zoned for industrial use that have existing industrial utilization,” Mr. Mould said in an interview.

Those that have been at the receiving end of more local concerns have tended to be closer to urban centres or on sites less suitable for industrial development, he said.

Alberta's Industrial Heartland in Sturgeon County, outside Edmonton, is already being eyed as a potential data-centre site by various companies.

Artificial intelligence giant Anthropic is negotiating with developer Calgary-based Beacon Data Centers Inc. to be the tenant of a proposed project located in the region, The Globe and Mail first reported last week.

In July, Capital Power announced a long-term energy supply agreement for 250 megawatts of capacity and energy in support of Meta's new data centre in Sturgeon County.

In February, TransAlta entered into a memorandum of understanding with Brookfield and CPP Investments to evaluate a large-scale artificial-intelligence and digital-infrastructure project called the Boreal Technology Hub, roughly 80 kilometres west of Edmonton.

Mr. Hunter said the project partners “continue to make meaningful progress” to move Boreal forward, including a four-hour open house on Oct. 7 that attracted roughly 180 people, mainly locals.

Although TransAlta is “laser focused on the prize here and really thinking about what we’ve got here at Boreal with our partners,” he said, the company may partner with other companies on data-centre projects down the road.

Mr. Mould with TD said there is “lots of optimism around broader economic opportunities in Alberta right now,” along with “substantial investor interest in the opportunity for these companies to secure offtake agreements with data centres.”

With a report from Reuters

Maple Leaf Foods plans price hikes early next year

Adjustment is necessary to offset inflated costs of poultry, energy, labour and packaging, meat processor says

KATE HELMORE

AGRICULTURE AND FOOD POLICY

REPORTER

One of Canada's largest meat processors will increase the cost of its products in a bid to offset price inflation in fuel, feed, freight, packaging and poultry.

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. plans to adjust its prices in the first quarter of next year in response to a “challenging external environment,” chief executive Curtis Frank said in the company’s third-quarter earnings call on Wednesday morning. The company said it had not yet announced the details of the price hike to its customers, which include all major grocery retailers across Canada. Maple Leaf products are found in 92 per cent of households across the country.

Maple Leaf is paying 8 per cent more for live poultry compared with the same period last year, Mr. Frank said, adding that chicken products account for 40 per cent of the company's overall sales. Fuel surcharges have also increased 17 per cent in the last quarter, alongside “near everything else,” including labour, packaging and ingredients.

"When you lump all those together, there's just more overhanging general inflation than we would have expected at this point in the year," Mr. Frank said. "We're going to have to address that early in the year next year."

The war in the Middle East drove a 27.8-per-cent spike in gasoline prices in September compared with the same period last year, according to Statistics Canada. High oil prices drove annual inflation to rise 3.1 per cent, reported the agency.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz also substantially hiked the cost of farming. Approximately one-third of global fertilizer trade moved through the narrow channel.

Chicken prices have also climbed substantially as demand soars in response to high beef prices and a consumer craze for protein. Farmers have struggled to keep up because of a shortage of fertilized eggs and chicks resulting from the avian flu.

Maple Leaf has already passed some of the costs of the global energy crisis on to consumers.

In April, The Globe and Mail reported that Maple Leaf Foods was introducing a fuel surcharge of \$0.11 a kilogram on its prepared meats and poultry shipments. The fee would add as much as \$2,200 in additional costs per 20,000-kilogram tractor-trailer of food, The Globe reported.

But it is becoming increasingly challenging to pass along costs to consumers, who are also struggling with widespread inflation and rising interest rates, Mr. Frank said in the investor call Wednesday.

The company is responding by investing more heavily in advertising and promotions, and by continuing its disciplined cost allocation strategy. In mid-September, Maple Leaf announced it would close plant-based meat-processing plants in Seattle and Turners Falls, Mass., to consolidate operations in a “Plant Protein Centre of Excellence” in Indianapolis.

As a result of the company's broad strategy, it still “delivered a strong third quarter” despite challenging circumstances, said Mr. Frank.

Sales increased by 2.4 per cent to \$1.03-billion, the company's eighth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth. The company's branded products – in particular its protein snack kits – benefited from the consumer protein trend, as did its relaunch of Yves Veggie Cuisine, a 40-year-old Canadian brand Maple Leaf purchased late last year. The company reported 4-per-cent growth in retail and food service sales of poultry.

But the inflationary environment will take a toll on the company's performance in the 2026 fiscal year results. Maple Leaf's full-year adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) will be around the bottom of its previous outlook range of approximately \$520-million to \$540-million, and the company's capital allocation range will span from \$130-million to \$150-million, compared with its previous range of \$160-million to \$180-million.

“We are managing the near-term environment with discipline, while continuing to make the right choices for the long-term health of the business,” Mr. Frank said.

McDonald's U.S. sales show signs of recovery after weak third quarter

NEIL J KANATT

WAYLON CUNNINGHAM

McDonald's has faced mounting tensions with franchisees who have complained about eroding control and rising costs. CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

McDonald's Corp. said its U.S. sales were improving on the back of promotions and marketing, following a decline in the third quarter as financially stretched consumers cut back on dining out.

Executives highlighted gains from increased marketing toward entry-level meal deals and extra-value meals alongside the return of promotional offers, including a US\$2 breakfast sandwich and free fries with a US\$1 minimum purchase.

This helped bring back customers who were opting for cheaper alternatives from rivals, convenience stores and home-cooked meals as they face the rising cost of living.

"We're taking the right steps to improve our near-term performance in the U.S., and I'm encouraged by our baseline traffic trends in September and October," CEO Chris Kempczinski said.

Customer visits to McDonald's restaurants fell 4.6 per cent from a year earlier in the third quarter, according to Placer.ai, and rose recently due to the return of the chain's Monopoly promotion and Halloween-themed Boo Buckets, though still below year-ago levels.

McDonald's announced its new turnaround strategy called "NEXT" in June. The plan includes simplifying operations, modernizing restaurant designs and investing in employee training, and aims to improve restaurant-level efficiency.

However, the company has faced mounting tensions with franchisees who have complained about eroding control and rising costs. McDonald's executives in August said execution of its under-US\$3 menu was hurt by a third of franchisees that did not participate.

“How deep and how lasting those meal deals are will depend on whether McDonald’s or its franchisees are willing to carry the cost,” said Nagham Hassan, market analyst at eToro.

"If McDonald's leaves the cost to franchisees, expect the deals to be patchy and the recovery slow."

Mr. Kempczinski said corporate and U.S. franchisees are in conversation about pricing, and the two sides are “in a good spot with the exception of this entry-level value.”

Comparable sales in McDonald's largest market fell 0.2 per cent in the quarter ended Sept. 30, missing analysts' expectations for a 0.1-per-cent fall, according to data compiled by LSEG. It was the company's first such decline after five quarters of growth.

REUTERS

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Taalas: Market for AI chips heating up as cloud services, businesses seek alternatives

FROM B1

The deal represents a big markup in the company's valuation, based on an analysis of corporate filings. Taalas issued new equity as part of its Series B funding round in November 2025 at a price of US\$94.51 a share. That would have given the company an implied valuation of over US\$750-million, based on the number of shares it was authorized to issue at the time.

AMD said in August that it would integrate Taalas's technology into future chips designed for so-called inference – the process of running AI models to produce outputs like text, images or the actions of AI agents.

At the time, AMD chief software officer Andrej Zdravkovic, who is based in Toronto, said in a social media post that the Taalas team would be joining AMD's Canadian work force.

The U.S. semi-conductor company has made a series of acquisitions recently as it tries to catch up to Nvidia Corp., which dominates the market for the chips used to train and run AI models.

In September, AMD announced it was buying World Labs, a San Francisco-based AI company, for US\$8.2-billion. AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li co-founded the startup, which developed world models, a new type of system that more accurately reflects the real world. World Labs was backed by Radical Ventures, a Toronto-headquartered tech investor where Ms. Li is a scientific partner. And in June 2025, AMD agreed a deal to hire the engineering employees of Toronto-based

Untether, a chip startup that subsequently shut down.

AMD has over 3,800 employees in Canada, including many engineering and other technical staff. The firm has maintained a major office in Markham, Ont., since acquiring ATI Technologies – at the time Canada's second-largest technology company – in October 2006.

The market for AI inference chips is heating up as cloud services and businesses seek cheaper alternatives to Nvidia's processors to run generative tools and

AI agents.

Last month, Tenstorrent Holdings Inc. raised US\$1.5-billion in a financing that valued the company at US\$6.2-billion. Backers included Fidelity, Morgan Stanley, Sandisk Corp. and T. Rowe Price.

Taalas CEO Mr. Bajic founded Tenstorrent in Toronto in March 2016 after leaving AMD. But he gave up the CEO role to early investor Jim Keller, a prominent chip designer, in October 2022 and left the firm a few months later. Tenstorrent relocated to the United States in November 2023.

China: Tariff reductions took effect this year following Carney's visit to Beijing

The combined value of lobster, crab, pea and canola meal exports to China amounted to about \$2-billion in 2024, the last year before Chinese tariffs were imposed.

SHANNON VANRAES/REUTERS

FROM B1

Starting in 2025, Ottawa began offering remission, or refunds, on Canadian tariffs for a number of types of Chinese steel that Canada doesn't produce domestically.

These steel and aluminum concessions for China will be a complicating factor for Canada's trade negotiations with the United States, said Vina Nadjibulla, chief executive of the foreign policy think tank Centre for Strategic Statecraft. The Trump administration has been pressing Canada into aligning its tariffs with steep American levies against China.

“Ottawa is increasingly having to navigate its economic relationships with Beijing and Washington simultaneously, and decisions made in one relationship inevitably have implications for the other,” she said.

Mr. Sidhu took part in the Joint Economic and Trade Commission meeting with China, a high-level channel for communications between Beijing and Ottawa that was recently reactivated as ties have warmed between the countries. He led the meeting with China's Minister of Commerce, Wang Wentao.

The initial tariffs on Canadian agricultural and seafood products were put in place by Beijing in March 2025, after Ottawa's imposition of tariffs on Chinese steel, aluminum and electric vehicles.

The Chinese tariff reductions took effect this year following Prime Minister Mark Carney's visit to Beijing in January, when he announced a new strategic partnership with China, trying to turn a page with the country after seven years of strained relations. The rollback of levies however was due to expire this Dec. 31.

The combined value of lobster, crab, pea and canola meal exports to China amounted to about \$2-billion in 2024, the last year before Chinese tariffs were imposed. About \$1-billion of these products were shipped to China in 2025, while tariffs were in effect.

Despite rekindled relations, Chinese tariffs remain in place for a number of Canadian exports, including 25-per-cent tariffs on pork, shrimp and geoduck clams.

Chris White, president of the Canadian Meat Advocacy Office in Beijing, said industry has been pressing Ottawa to achieve tariff relief for products where levies are still weighing down exports such as pork.

Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson said on X that Canada is continues to talk to China about seafood products still facing tariffs.

The delegation to China this week included Mr. Sidhu, Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald as well as Glenn Purves, the deputy minister for international trade, and Aaron Fowler, the chief trade negotiator at Global Affairs Canada.

Securing this agreement before Mr. Carney meets Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen this month removes another trade irritant from the table and allows the two leaders to focus on the next phase of their budding relationship: more Chinese investment in Canada, Ms. Nadjibulla said.

A source familiar with this week's Canada-China talks in Beijing said the Canadian government is trying to generate more deals on easing trade that could be announced when Mr. Carney and Mr. Xi meet at APEC. The Globe and Mail is not identifying the source who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Guy Saint-Jacques, a former Canadian ambassador to China, said he believes the Carney government is “self-censoring” on matters that are sensitive to Beijing including Taiwan. China considers the self-governing democracy of 24 million to be a break-away province. He noted a trade agreement with Taiwan has been left unsigned for years.

"The Chinese are very good at impressing on you that you must refrain from crossing their red lines and you have to avoid offending 1.4 billion Chinese and things like this," he said.

Jeff Mahon, a former deputy director of the China division at Global Affairs Canada, said he sees the two-year extension of the tariff rollback as a gesture of goodwill from Beijing that gives both sides more time to stabilize trade relations.

Separately, Wednesday, Canada announced Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Mr. Sidhu will meet with He Lifeng, Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China, in Vancouver next week. This visit follows up on the May visit to Ottawa of Foreign Minister Wang Yi and will include a meeting of the Canada-China Economic and Financial Strategic Dialogue that will also include Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem and Peter Routledge, superintendent of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions.

China's commerce minister Mr. Wang said China was willing to work with Canada to “shorten a list of problems and lengthen a list of co-operation,” according to a Wednesday statement from his ministry. He said the two countries “should consolidate co-operation in traditional sectors such as energy, agricultural and aquatic products and consumer goods, and expand co-operation in emerging fields such as advanced manufacturing, clean energy and smart agriculture.”

With reports from Reuters

Payments: Carney made financial services central fixture of economic resiliency plan

FROM B1

Mr. Carney has made financial services a central fixture of his plan to improve the resilience of Canada's economy. In past federal budgets, Ottawa has committed to launching an open-banking regime aimed at improving competition and reducing fees in the sector.

The federal government has also been signalling its growing concern over financial data sovereignty, which broadly refers to Canada's ability to control the financial services infrastructure and data generated in the country.

Ottawa's new national security strategy, published last week, puts an unprecedented focus on economic security – highlighting eight areas, including payments, where Canada wants to increase its “strategic autonomy.” The federal government also unveiled plans on Friday to work toward connecting Canada and the EU’s instant payment systems to allow Canadians to send money to people and businesses in the region with greater speed and at lower cost.

In a speech to the European Parliament in September, Mr. Carney highlighted the importance of sovereignty in payments, ranking it alongside AI, semiconductors, critical minerals, defence and other critical capabilities.

“We all have important gaps in these strategic capabilities, and we each must rely on individual nations or companies to fill them,” Mr. Carney said. “This creates vulnerabilities, particularly when supposedly ‘global’ companies prove national in the breach.”

Ottawa is recognizing that to bolster trade and grow the economy, Canada will need to improve its payments infrastructure's connections with global markets,

KPMG Canada executive director and Canadian payments lead Edwin Isted said in an interview.

"When you reduce the friction in your movement of value, you have a commensurate uptick in economic value being delivered into your industry," Mr. Isted said. "When money moves slowly, that has a negative impact on trade."

The Prime Minister's speech in September followed news in August that Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal had sold Canadian payment processor Moneris Solutions Corp. to a U.S. private equity firm for \$2-billion, which critics complained compromises part of Canada's infrastructure used to move money.

Thousands of businesses in Canada use Moneris's point-of-sale machines and other services that allow businesses to accept and manage payments.

Payments leaders questioned whether Canadian businesses' data and financial security could be at greater risk given the increasingly volatile relationship with Washington.

Independent payment strategy adviser Doug Macdonald said the Moneris sale needs to be examined to ensure Canada retains control over key networks.

Moneris is “one of the choke points in the payments system, where a significant amount of retail payments volume goes through one vendor, and any disruption to that would be catastrophic to small businesses and enterprises across the country,” he said.

Canada relies on several foreign-owned payment systems, including Visa, Mastercard and the U.S.-based CLS Bank, for clearing foreign exchange transactions, and the Britain-based SwapClear for settling interest rate swap transactions.

Filipe Dinis, a former chief operating officer at the Bank of Canada, said it is unlikely Canada would try to replace these systems outright.

"My view is that having fully redundant systems is quite expensive," he said in an e-mail, although he added that having some critical functions assumed by Canadian operators could help mitigate risk.

Europe has already been grappling with the task of securing its payments and financial data sovereignty. Europe relies heavily on U.S. companies to power its payments infrastructure, and the EU and individual countries have been rushing to rebuild and reinforce their own payments system.

In 2024, the European Payments Initiative – which is backed by 18 regional banks and financial services companies – launched its own digital wallet to facilitate peer-to-peer transactions. The initiative removes the need for international payments networks and offers an alternative to foreign payments providers, such as PayPal Holdings Inc.

To hedge against a cyberattack or other emergency that could take down payments systems, Sweden's central bank, Riksbank, has enabled consumers to purchase essential goods with their Visa and Mastercard cards without needing a network connection. It also wants to enable offline purchases through a local payments network that does not rely on the Visa and Mastercard systems.

In Britain, about 95 per cent of card transactions are processed by Visa and Mastercard, and the country's banks and policy-makers are assessing how to rebuild domestic capabilities, according to a report by Interac.

In the early 2000s, Britain permitted its own domestic debit scheme, Switch, to be merged into Mastercard. In 2016, 18 British lenders sold Vocalink, which oversees the systems that run key parts of Britain's financial infrastructure, to Mastercard.

While Canada and the EU share similar concerns, they face different challenges. In Europe, 13 countries rely entirely on international networks to process card transactions, according to a 2025 report by the European Central Bank.

Canada's primary retail payments and debit network operator, Interac, has remained domestically owned by a group of banks, credit unions, caisses populaires and payment acquirers.

In August, Interac issued a report calling on the federal government to develop a national payments strategy that prioritizes the sovereignty of critical infrastructure.

Mr. Macdonald said Canada's resilience will not come from reducing its payments options, such as by removing access to Visa and Mastercard. Instead, the country should be expanding its systems, companies and methods for moving funds in order to protect from foreign actors, cyberattacks and other threats.

"There's any number of things that can bring a payments network down, and we don't want to get stuck with only having one option," Mr. Macdonald said.

Canada got a lesson about the risk of relying too much on one company to underpin critical payments infrastructure in July 2022, when Rogers Communications Inc. experienced a nationwide service outage that lasted for 26 hours. This knocked out the Interac debit system and e-transfer system, freezing payments across much of the country.

In the aftermath of the outage, Interac added a second network provider and a “third link” that could reroute user traffic in the event the other systems failed.

Canada is also preparing to launch real-time rail, a new system that would allow payments to be sent and received instantly, and the network that Ottawa hopes to connect to Europe's instant payments system.

But Canada's system is still reliant on credit card networks. Visa and Mastercard make up approximately 96 per cent of Canadian credit card volume, and about 90 per cent of Canadian mobile payments move through wallets operated by three U.S. platforms, according to Interac.

U.S. tech giants are not the only concern. With much of global trade being done in U.S. dollars, many of Canada's cross-border transactions are routed through correspondent banks and entities in the U.S., which can be a cumbersome, costly process.

“Global trade inflows and outflows from Canada, have crossed through New York City, through a handful of correspondent banks through the SWIFT network,” Mr. Roberts, the Deloitte payments head, said. “A complement rather than an alternative to that is directly connecting Canadian national infrastructure with the national infrastructure of other jurisdictions.”

Mr. Dinis, the former Bank of Canada official, said there are two types of payments risk that need to be managed: interconnectivity risk and concentration risk. The first refers to the fact that a shock or an outage in one part of the payments system – either domestic or international – could ripple to other parts of the financial system. The second refers to the fact that certain key capabilities are reliant on a single operator.

"The current geopolitical risks have only increased the focus on the need to have sovereign and operationally resilient critical systems like our payments and settlement systems," Mr. Dinis said.

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Seniors auto-enrolled for OAS without consent

Financial advisers say Service Canada is taking up to a year or more to process deferral requests

RUDY MEZZETTA

Service Canada is enrolling some seniors for Old Age Security automatically at the age of 65 even though they requested a deferral, creating headaches for those who still earn income and want to maximize the pension's benefits.

Several financial advisers say Service Canada is taking up to a year or more to process their clients' deferral requests.

These clients are spending time calling Service Canada agents to get their auto-enrolment reversed and asking for guidance on what to do with the payments they receive in the meantime.

“If you have clients who plan to defer their OAS, prepare them for the fact it won’t be easy and doesn’t appear to be guaranteed to work,” says Adam Chapman, a certified financial planner at YES Money in London, Ont.

As recently as September, Mr. Chapman says one of his clients was auto-enrolled in OAS after having called Service Canada to defer. Liana Brault, a spokesperson for Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), which oversees Service Canada, said in a response sent by e-mail to questions from The Globe that it processes most deferral requests before auto-enrolled clients begin to receive OAS benefits.

Ms. Brault said Service Canada “makes every effort to process client requests for the deferral of OAS benefits within the standard time frame,” which is 120 days.

However, “processing times may vary depending on workload volumes and the complexity of individual cases,” she added.

The OAS pension, which is separate from the Canada Pension Plan, provides Canadians with a monthly benefit starting at the age of 65. When seniors' income exceeds a certain threshold for the year, their OAS is clawed back.

In 2013, the OAS rules were changed to allow deferrals. For every month someone defers after turning 65, they receive 0.6 per cent more in OAS benefits. After turning 70 years of age, there's no benefit to deferring.

Service Canada also began auto-enrolling Canadians for OAS in 2013, sending out a notification letter the month after someone turns 64. If the person doesn't want their OAS to start at 65, they must contact Service Canada. (If someone doesn't receive an automatic enrolment letter, they need to contact Service Canada to start OAS.)

Advisers say many clients who are still working at 65 and earning an income above the claw-back threshold choose to defer.

Cameron Graham, certified financial planner with Sterling Mutuals Inc. in Sarnia, Ont., says one of his clients who's still working submitted his deferral request letter to a Service Canada location in August, 2025, four months before turning 65.

However, Service Canada didn't process the request until this past August and the client received OAS payments until then.

The client now wants to start his OAS pension in January, 2027. However, the client is unable to apply through Service Canada's online platform until the agency processes his repayment, Mr. Graham says.

"Our workaround, after chatting with a Service Canada employee, was to paper-file the OAS application, which could also take six months to process," he says. "[We have] very little hope for him to receive his first payment in January."

Mr. Chapman says two of his clients, a couple, called Service

Canada together to defer their OAS.

However, the woman's deferral request was processed and the man's wasn't. The man didn't find out he'd been auto-enrolled until the couple came home from an extended trip to find several OAS cheques addressed to him in their mailbox.

Mr. Chapman says Service Canada told his client he can't reverse his auto-enrolment because it doesn't have a record of his deferral request. Also, OAS rules allow someone to cancel their enrolment and repay what they've received for up to six months after they started receiving payments, but his client missed that deadline.

Some clients are able to reverse OAS payments if they're caught in time, Mr. Chapman says.

“But with [Service Canada’s] processing delays, it seems to open up a window for people like my clients who got caught not realizing these cheques were even showing up.”

Marc Sabourin, portfolio manager with Trans Canada Wealth Management at Harbourfront Wealth Management Inc. in Winnipeg, said in an e-mail to The Globe that one of his clients informed Service Canada two months before turning 65 in July, 2025, that he wanted to defer

OAS payments, but was auto-enrolled anyway.

Every month since, the client has contacted Service Canada to have the auto-enrolment reversed. Service Canada hadn't yet resolved the issue as of September, when Mr. Sabourin last met with the client.

ESDC spokesperson Samuelle Carbonneau said Service Canada is focused on ensuring seniors receive their benefits.

“Urgent and dire needs cases are prioritized and are typically processed within two to three business days,” she said.

Since OAS auto-enrolment was introduced, more than 2.1-million Canadians received their payments without having to apply.

If Service Canada receives a deferral request within six months after someone begins receiving OAS benefits, “the deferral will be honoured, subject to the repayment of any OAS benefits already paid,” Ms. Brault said.

A request received after that “will most likely not be granted” unless, for example, Service Canada caused the delays; then the client would not be penalized.

Clients who received OAS payments but want to defer should set aside the funds received until their deferral request has been accepted, she said, at which point they can repay the funds.

As year-end approaches, business owners should consider these ideas to save tax

TAX MATTERS

Author, co-founder and CEO of Our Family Office Inc.

My good friend Danny wanted to create a part-time income from a small business. He settled on clowning and bought himself a very expensive clown costume, which he proudly says is made of poly-jester. That's his newest bad dad joke.

But no joking, he's built a thriving, multi-clown agency. He says his son now wants to take over the business, but he's got big shoes to fill – literally. Danny called me looking for ways to pay less tax. I shared these year-end tips with him this week.

1. Buy it, and use it, before Dec. 31. The proposed Productivity Mega Deduction (PMD) allows a 100-per cent first-year write-off for most equipment, computers and software purchased and available for use after Sept. 14. "Available for use" means a laptop still in its box at year-end won't count this year. Buildings, goodwill and certain vehicles are generally excluded, and if you're unincorporated, the deduction can't create or increase a business loss.

2. Hire your family. Pay a lower-income spouse or kids a reasonable salary for working in the business. The business deducts it, they pay less tax than you, and they build RRSP room and CPP eligibility. Just be careful. Paying your 10-year-old \$60,000 to stuff envelopes won't fly. The wages have to be reasonable for the work done.

3. Deduct your health costs. Premiums paid to a private health services plan (PHSP) may be deductible against your business income, within limits (there's no deduction for proprietorships in Quebec). A PHSP can cover eligible medical costs, and the deduction could provide more tax relief than claiming a medical expense tax credit for those same costs paid personally.

4. Don't forget your retirement. No workplace pension? Contribute to an RRSP for yourself, or a spousal RRSP. You could also consider the Saskatchewan Pension Plan, which any Canadian resident can join. You can contribute up to \$33,810 for 2026, subject to your RRSP room. Just remember, dividends don't create RRSP room. You'll need \$196,611 of earned income in 2026 to make the maximum RRSP contribution of \$35,390 in 2027, so paying yourself additional salary or bonus by year-end could help. Salary also builds your CPP pension.

5. Consider an individual pension plan. An IPP can boost your retirement savings beyond what an RRSP allows. Contributions are deductible to your company, and income earned in the plan isn't caught by the passive investment income rules that can erode your company's small business deduction (see tip 8). Talk to an adviser or actuary familiar with these plans.

6. Consider EI special benefits. If you own more than 40 per cent of your business you're generally excluded from paying employment insurance premiums or claiming benefits. But you can opt in to qualify for maternity, parental, sickness or compassionate care benefits. Expect a 12-month wait before you can claim, so don't leave it late. Once you've claimed, you'll pay premiums for as long as you're self-employed.

7. Think about incorporating. If you earn more than you spend, a corporation can defer tax on earnings you leave in the company. Thanks to the small business deduction, the tax rate on active business income averages just 10.8 per cent across Canada in 2026 and 10.6 per cent in 2027 – much lower than personal tax rates anywhere in the country. This leads to my next tip.

8. Leave cash in the company. If you don't need the money, leaving it in your corporation leaves more after-tax dollars to reinvest. But once passive investment income in your company tops \$50,000, your small business deduction (SBD) shrinks by \$5 for every \$1 over that threshold, disappearing at \$150,000. That increases the effective tax rate on your corporate earnings. An IPP, or investing in a permanent life insurance policy, are ways to shelter that investment income from these rules.

9. Sprinkle dividends, but carefully. An adult family shareholder with no other income can receive about \$80,700 in dividends tax-free, depending on your province and your company's ability to pay eligible dividends. But the tax on split income rules can tax those dividends at the top rate, unless an exception applies, such as dividends to a spouse when you're 65 or older. By the way, tax rates on non-eligible dividends rise in Ontario in 2027 (and are proposed to rise in Quebec), so consider paying planned dividends before Dec. 31. Watch for alternative minimum tax.

10. Withdraw money tax-free. If your company owes you money on a shareholder loan, draw down that balance when you need funds. It's a tax-free repayment. And if your company has a capital dividend account (CDA) balance, pay out tax-free capital dividends as soon as you can. You never know when the rules could change, or capital losses could erode that balance.

An electric vehicle is charged in Ottawa. Globe readers have offered helpful tips for long-distance driving and how the charging infrastructure could be improved. SEAN KILPATRICK/THE CANADIAN PRESS

Are you frustrated with public EV charging options? Readers chime in

er more range, so this may be a factor that tops your shopping list.

DAVID BERMAN

OPINION

When I bought my electric vehicle in 2022, I knew I was embarking upon an adventure: Though EVs were gaining popularity, it was well un-

derstood that the public infrastructure for charging them had some catching up to do. Four years later, the infrastructure can still fail to meet our needs.

Two weeks ago, I wrote about a frustrating experience during a one-day road trip in Southern Ontario, when I encountered chargers that were slower than advertised or didn't work at all.

I received a large number of e-mails in response to the article. Many readers agreed that, as much as we love our EVs at home, road trips can be difficult. But readers also offered helpful tips for long-distance driving, and how the charging infrastructure could be improved.

PLAN AHEAD WITH APPS

PlugShare received several mentions because it identifies charging options across various networks and the quality of each stop is rated by consumers. You can filter charging options by speed and consumer scores.

Also, consider A Better Routeplanner (ABRP). This is a navigation tool built for EV drivers and can accept a number of variables, including how much charge you want on your battery when you arrive at your destination.

Are you frustrated with public EV charging options? Readers chime in

er more range, so this may be a factor that tops your shopping list.

DAVID BERMAN

OPINION

When I bought my electric vehicle in 2022, I knew I was embarking upon an adventure: Though EVs were gaining popularity, it was well un-

derstood that the public infrastructure for charging them had some catching up to do. Four years later, the infrastructure can still fail to meet our needs.

Two weeks ago, I wrote about a frustrating experience during a one-day road trip in Southern Ontario, when I encountered chargers that were slower than advertised or didn't work at all.

I received a large number of e-mails in response to the article. Many readers agreed that, as much as we love our EVs at home, road trips can be difficult. But readers also offered helpful tips for long-distance driving, and how the charging infrastructure could be improved.

PLAN AHEAD WITH APPS

PlugShare received several mentions because it identifies charging options across various networks and the quality of each stop is rated by consumers. You can filter charging options by speed and consumer scores.

Also, consider A Better Routeplanner (ABRP). This is a navigation tool built for EV drivers and can accept a number of variables, including how much charge you want on your battery when you arrive at your destination.