National News

Underlying inflation remained stubbornly hot in June, leading financial markets and many economists to firm up calls for a third straight interest rate hold from the Bank of Canada later this month.

Statistics Canada said Tuesday that the annual pace of inflation accelerated to 1.9 per cent in June, up from 1.7 per cent in May and largely in line with economists’ expectations.

Prices didn't ease much at the gas pumps last month, the agency said, and higher prices on motor vehicles and other durable goods also drove inflation higher.

The annual pace of inflation accelerated to 1.9 per cent in June as consumers were paying more at car dealerships, Statistics Canada said Tuesday.

The June price hike is up from 1.7 per cent in May and was largely in line with economists’ expectations.

StatCan said gasoline prices were nearly unchanged in June as higher crude oil prices and geopolitical conflicts ratcheted up pressure at the pumps. Motorists saw a steeper monthly decline in prices this time last year, which the agency said led to a rise in headline inflation.

Prime Minister Mark Carney is scheduled to convene the Incident Response Group in Ottawa today to discuss the ongoing wildfire situation across the country.

Carney also convened the group of ministers and senior officials a little over a month ago in response to an earlier wave of wildfires, which peaked in May and June, then receded, and have now flared up again.

More than 6,000 people are currently out of their homes in Manitoba, and the communities of Lynn Lake and Snow Lake ordered residents to flee for the second time in just weeks.

The Conservatives want Prime Minister Mark Carney to sell all the assets in his blind trust to avoid any possible conflicts of interest.

Carney set up the blind trust after he was sworn in as prime minister in March and the details of how it works were made public on Friday.

They show that the prime minister has set up screens to avoid potential conflicts related to his previous interests in Brookfield Asset Management, Brookfield Corporation and Stripe Inc.

But Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre believes that's not enough.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says the economy is becoming the primary focus of Canada's relationships in the Indo-Pacific — a shift that appears linked to Canada's recent moves to overcome its security dispute with India.

Anand was in Japan and Malaysia this week for her first trip to the region since taking over as foreign minister in May. Her message coming out of that trip was that Canada's foreign policy is shifting — though not abandoning — the priorities set by the previous Liberal government of former prime minister Justin Trudeau.

The Department of National Defence is looking at the possibility of complementing its incoming F-35 fleet with uncrewed combat aircraft.

Unclassified documents obtained by The Canadian Press show the department is researching various options for acquiring the emerging technology.

The documents suggest that purchasing a fleet of aerial combat drones that could fly alongside fighter jets could cost as much as $16 billion and would require hundreds of staff.

Prime Minister Mark Carney's chief of staff and the country's top public servant will be responsible for maintaining an ethics screen preventing him from making decisions that benefit his former employer, says a disclosure issued by the office of the ethics commissioner on Friday.

A new poll by Leger has found that Quebec residents are the happiest in Canada.

The web survey of nearly 40,000 Canadians found that Quebecers rated their happiness at an average of 72.4 out of 100, which is well above the national average.

New Brunswick followed Quebec with an average of 70.2, while Manitoba and Prince Edward Island finished at the bottom of the list. 

Mississauga, Ont. had the highest happiness rating of the 10 largest cities, while Toronto was lowest. 

Montreal finished second in the category.

Canada’s labour market topped expectations in June amid a surprise surge in hiring.

Statistics Canada said Friday that the unemployment rate dropped a tenth of a percentage point to 6.9 per cent in June as the economy added some 83,000 jobs.

The vast majority of those jobs were part-time, the agency said, with 47,000 positions added in the private sector.

A Reuters poll of economists heading into Friday’s release had expected the jobless rate would rise to 7.1 per cent in June as employment levels held flat.

The NDP's leadership race to replace Jagmeet Singh will formally begin in September, with a six-month race to follow according to a rules framework adopted by the party's national council. 

A new leader will be chosen no later than March 29, when the party holds its 2026 convention in Winnipeg.

An entry fee of $100,000 has been set for candidates to show their "organizational and fundraising capacity."

Debates and other leadership events hosted by the party will be streamed online in both official languages, according to the framework.