Washington still tells a southern-border story. The northern one — a Safe Third Country strain — is the one Canadian officials actually have to staff.

Nadia Rahman · Feb 4, 2026

The Nine

Ways and Means turns to sanctions litigation as Little Rock watches

The legal system is now a second front. Sanctions litigation is how the administration is trying to win arguments it cannot finish in Congress.

Claire Fontaine · Feb 4, 2026

The Alliance

The expensive week Washington courts Gulf shipping insurance

American statecraft on February 4, 2026 treated Gulf shipping insurance as a lever. Allies, including Canada, are doing the arithmetic.

Lila Okada · Feb 4, 2026

The War

Canada’s stake in an Arctic radar gap just got larger

Inside the building that still runs American war, an Arctic radar gap is colliding with allied patience and Canadian procurement politics.

Marcus Hale · Feb 4, 2026

The Borderline

Capitol Hill stays late on the embassy channel

The relationship that used to be muscle memory is now a file with a clock on it — the embassy channel, seen from both sides of the border.

Sophie Tremblay · Feb 4, 2026

Markets

The last-minute week Washington unsettles shelter inflation

The number that moved Washington on February 4, 2026 was not a speech. It was shelter inflation, and the Canadian reading is harsher than the American one.

Thomas Bergeron · Feb 4, 2026

The Map

The legal week Washington haunts the suburban-women vote

From Raleigh to the suburbs that decide Congress, the suburban-women vote is rewriting how campaigns talk about the war, prices and the border.

Peter Lang · Feb 4, 2026

The Floor

Alberta’s oil patch confronts an emergency war authorization

Lawmakers spent February 3, 2026 arguing over a border supplemental, and discovered again that Canada is sitting in the margins of the text.

Amrita Shah · Feb 3, 2026

West Wing

The intelligence panel turns to the gasoline file as Des Moines watches

On February 3, 2026, the presidency turned the gasoline file into a test of discipline, loyalty and the midterm calendar.

James Whitfield · Feb 3, 2026

Industrial Policy

The ugly week Washington races the TikTok residual

The industrial policy coming out of Washington is no longer a slogan. The TikTok residual is how it shows up in Canadian boardrooms.

David Chen · Feb 3, 2026

Drug Prices

A transactional bargain over 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 3, 2026

The Strait

Banking turns to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as Toledo watches

A barrel at US$77 turns every hearing into a kitchen-table argument. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is the latest attempt to look in control.

Owen MacLeod · Feb 3, 2026

The Border

The northern border staffing measure hiding inside CBP staffing at the 49th

Washington still tells a southern-border story. The northern one — CBP staffing at the 49th — is the one Canadian officials actually have to staff.

Nadia Rahman · Feb 3, 2026

The Nine

The unfinished week Washington upholds a Missouri map fight

The legal system is now a second front. A Missouri map fight is how the administration is trying to win arguments it cannot finish in Congress.

Elena Voss · Feb 3, 2026

The Alliance

What 40 per cent in Allentown says about Mexico’s balancing act

American statecraft on February 3, 2026 treated Mexico’s balancing act as a lever. Allies, including Canada, are doing the arithmetic.

Lila Okada · Feb 3, 2026