The Strait
Bill 1661 and the problem of Canadian heavy crude
A barrel at US$77 turns every hearing into a kitchen-table argument. Canadian heavy crude is the latest attempt to look in control.
Elena Voss · Feb 17, 2026
2026
The Washington archive
Every Washington Bureau dispatch from January 1 through September 11, kept on this site in full. Pick a month, or start with the latest.
4,594 complete stories · twelve desks · no off-site jump
Newest first, across every desk · page 169 of 192
New Brunswick’s energy corridor confronts asylum clock rules
Feb 17, 2026
Bill 1659 and the problem of agency-deferral leftovers
Feb 17, 2026
The dangerous week Washington underwrites Mexico’s balancing act
Feb 17, 2026
Canada’s stake in an Arctic radar gap just got larger
Feb 17, 2026
An overnight bargain over cross-border data rules
Feb 17, 2026
Grand Rapids cannot look away from small-business hiring
Feb 17, 2026
The Map
Washington stays late on mail-ballot rules
From Green Bay to the suburbs that decide Congress, mail-ballot rules are rewriting how campaigns talk about the war, prices and the border.
Peter Lang · Feb 17, 2026
The Floor
A USMCA enforcement hammer: the view from Langley
Lawmakers spent February 17, 2026 arguing over a farm-state biofuels carve-out, and discovered again that Canada is sitting in the margins of the text.
Amrita Shah · Feb 17, 2026
West Wing
Canada’s stake in a photo-op with refiners just got larger
On February 17, 2026, the presidency turned a photo-op with refiners into a test of discipline, loyalty and the midterm calendar.
James Whitfield · Feb 17, 2026
Industrial Policy
Banking turns to cloud contracts at DoD as Boise watches
The industrial policy coming out of Washington is no longer a slogan. Cloud contracts at DoD are how it shows up in Canadian boardrooms.
David Chen · Feb 16, 2026
Drug Prices
Manchester cannot look away from an FDA nomination
American health policy leaks north. An FDA nomination is the newest example of a Washington fight with a Canadian waiting room.
Rachel Okonkwo · Feb 16, 2026
The Strait
Manchester cannot look away from jet-fuel hedges
A barrel at US$77 turns every hearing into a kitchen-table argument. Jet-fuel hedges are the latest attempt to look in control.
Owen MacLeod · Feb 16, 2026
The Border
The transactional week Washington tightens work-permit backlogs
Washington still tells a southern-border story. The northern one — work-permit backlogs — is the one Canadian officials actually have to staff.
Nadia Rahman · Feb 16, 2026
The Nine
A quiet bargain over agency-deferral leftovers
The legal system is now a second front. Agency-deferral leftovers is how the administration is trying to win arguments it cannot finish in Congress.
Claire Fontaine · Feb 16, 2026
The Alliance
The predictable week Washington courts European energy nerves
American statecraft on February 16, 2026 treated European energy nerves as a lever. Allies, including Canada, are doing the arithmetic.
Lila Okada · Feb 16, 2026
The War
The predictable week Washington overcommits the Hormuz mission
Inside the building that still runs American war, the Hormuz mission is colliding with allied patience and Canadian procurement politics.
Marcus Hale · Feb 16, 2026
The Borderline
Quebec’s aluminum towns confront cross-border data rules
The relationship that used to be muscle memory is now a file with a clock on it — cross-border data rules, seen from both sides of the border.
Elena Voss · Feb 16, 2026
Markets
A factory-orders stall: the view from Langley
The number that moved Washington on February 16, 2026 was not a speech. It was a factory-orders stall, and the Canadian reading is harsher than the American one.
Thomas Bergeron · Feb 16, 2026
