Canada

Canadians celebrating holidays in December may have to consider swapping some of their favourite foods due to increased costs.

High inflation continues to impact the cost of living in Canada, which could lead some people to create new traditions or forgo some holiday items to lower their food bills.

The federal NDP’s confidence-and-supply deal with the Liberals was always a dubious venture — propping up an exceptionally unpopular government for any length of time, let alone for over three years, typically doesn’t endear voters to one’s side.

While Jagmeet Singh’s NDP should be merrily capitalizing on the current economic environment with their eyes closed, the party is instead bleeding support from key demographics to Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives. Even a Liberal slump of epic proportions, particularly among younger voters, hasn’t been enough to breathe life into a party that increasingly resembles a paper straw disintegrating into a useless, soggy mess.

The governing minority Liberals’ decline in the polls has now placed them in a tie for support with their confidence-and-supply partners the NDP, while the Conservatives are now 19 points ahead, according Nanos’ latest ballot tracking.

Under the current trend line, Nanos Research founder Nik Nanos(opens in a new tab) said if the Liberals want to have a chance at winning the next federal election, a “complete reboot” will be needed heading into 2024.

Controversy and Canadian defence procurement appear to be inseparable, if not co-dependent.

At issue this time is the Canadian Multi-Mission Aircraft (CMMA), a project to replace the air force’s fleet of CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol aircraft. Ottawa appears to have scrapped earlier plans for a competition, signalling instead that it is likely to sole-source the P-8 Poseidon, built by the U.S. company Boeing, to the tune of about $8-billion. Bombardier, headquartered in Montreal, has fiercely objected to this plan, demanding that it be allowed to bid for the CMMA contract with a modified version of its Global 6500, which is in use by various militaries around the world, though not yet for maritime patrol. Bombardier is proposing to work with General Dynamics Mission Systems Canada, the firm that recently upgraded the Auroras. Both the Ontario and Quebec governments are supporting Bombardier’s call, as has the House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defence.