Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed …
Carney, Trump and Sheinbaum to meet at 2026 World Cup draw in Washington
Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in Washington today as the future of the continental trade agreement hangs in the balance.
The 2026 World Cup draw marks the first time all three leaders have gathered in person and comes ahead of next year’s mandatory review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade, known as CUSMA.
While relations among the three nations have been upended by Trump’s sweeping tariffs, Canada and Mexico have been shielded from some of the devastating duties through a carveout for goods compliant with CUSMA.
The trade pact was negotiated during the first Trump administration to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, which Trump previously described as the best deal ever but has since changed course.
Minister says government launching review of firearms classification regime
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree says the federal government is launching a review of Canada’s firearms classification regime that will include consultations with Indigenous communities on the SKS rifle.
The government has been heavily criticized by gun control advocates for not including the semi-automatic SKS in its list of banned firearms.
Anandasangaree says the review will take a broad view of the legal framework for firearms, ammunition and magazines while emphasizing simplicity and consistency.
The SKS is commonly used in Indigenous communities to hunt for food and has also been used in police killings and other high-profile shootings in recent years, and one gun control group has asked those hunters be exempted.
Critics question Saab’s offer to bring 10,000 aerospace jobs to Canada
Critics are casting doubts over just how solid Saab’s pitch is to deliver 10,000 jobs in Canada if it decides to set up shop in the country to assemble Gripen fighter jets.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war and his comments about making Canada the 51st state spurred Prime Minister Mark Carney to launch a review of the F-35 procurement back in March.
Richard Shimooka, with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute think tank, says he thinks the total jobs figure is “completely unrealistic.”
Conservative defence critic James Bezan has said the review, which he called unnecessary, threatens Canadian jobs part of the F-35 supply chain.
Former Alberta premier Jason Kenney says politician recall legislation being misused
The original architect of Alberta’s politician-recall legislation says it was never to be used as a political weapon.
Jason Kenney says the Recall Act was designed as an ultimate tool of accountability if a politician engages in illegal or unethical behaviour — not created to settle policy disagreements.
His comments come as 14 United Conservative caucus members face recall petitions from citizens, while another petition against Premier Danielle Smith herself is looming.
The theme of those seeking recalls is that the U-C-P politicians are not listening to constituent concerns and broke trust by overriding teachers’ rights by using the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to end a recent provincewide strike.
Bryzgalski painting of snowshoers in striped coats star of HBC’s first online auction
The first in a series of online auctions to sell off Hudson’s Bay’s treasures closed Thursday with one Kuba Bryzgalski painting of snowshoers in striped coats going for $170,000 and a single bidder dropping $27,100 total on seven vintage point blankets.
The purchases were some of the highlights of a frenetic sale Heffel Fine Art Auction House hosted to find new homes for 159 pieces from HBC’s collection.
Heffel already sold the highest profile pieces in the defunct retailer’s collection, including a Moroccan painting by former British prime minister Winston Churchill, in a live auction last month that raised more than $4.9 million for HBC’s creditors.
It will sell the remainder of the 4,400-piece HBC trove online over the next year to shave down the $1.1 billion in debt it had when it filed for creditor protection in March.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2025.
The Canadian Press
