2026 Canadian Political Thread

[licks2nite]

Former Liberal foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy pushed back on Carney's claim in Beijing that Canada is being pragmatic with China by taking "the world as it is."

Axworthy argued in a blog post that this amounts to "an abandonment of an eighty-year project of activist Canadian engagement on the world stage" on issues like human rights.

Conservative MP Shuv Majumdar chided Carney on the platform X over his outreach to China and Qatar, citing their dire human rights records and past support for Canada's adversaries.

"They traffic in the worst elements of the world, because they turn these assets they’ve built up into the indispensable dependencies" that Carney is consenting to, Majumdar argued.

https://www.biv.com/news/carney-bac...-china-qatar-focused-on-non-us-trade-11768471

Mr.Carney, while we're securing trade on your promise with middle powers let's not forget about internal trade in Canada. Through immigration Canada's population triples in my lifetime but nobody but me ever writes about how Canadians forfeited Canadian economic prosperity filling countless apartment towers with imported plumbing, elevators, large appliances and furnishings. If Canada could rather value-add more often by refining oil on site and shipping finished fuel rather than exporting oil, Canada would have ample feedstock for plastic plumbing products. Traditionally industrial Ontario & Quebec didn't pick up the baton of manufacturing building components over what I guess were inconsistent interprovincial trucking regulations since addressed but not proven. When I walk into big box Lowe's and Canadian Tire I want to find Canadian made fridges, ranges, washers, sofas, tables and chairs. Not just a small corner display of kitchen cabinets from Manitoba.

 

[licks2nite]

Forest Landscape Planning (FLPs) in light green. Pilot projects in dark green.

Forestry companies complain of a persistent inability to access economical trees, wood waste and fibre that is crippling the industry, leading to sawmill closures that compound into pulp mill closures that compound into hundreds of jobs lost in just the last year.

Eby though, had a different view at the Natural Resources Forum. “Certainty matters and reform is overdue. That is why the minister has announced we are moving away from a permit-by-permit system and toward an operational approach to forestry.”

The core of this new approach?

https://www.biv.com/news/commentary...orms-moving-too-slowly-to-save-mills-11769387

From AI Overview:
BC's operational approach shifting toward Forest Landscape Planning and, where established, mandatory Forest Operations Plans, which integrate First Nations consultation, biodiversity, and strict harvesting regulations to replace older industry-led plans [such as site-level forestry].

Site-level forestry focuses on operational, stand-specific actions like harvesting methods, planting, and silviculture prescriptions. Conversely, landscape-level planning manages broad, long-term ecological patterns—such as habitat connectivity, old-growth retention, and watershed management—across vast, interconnected regions. The province is shifting toward "Forest Landscape Plans" to bridge these scales.

Mandatory Forest Operations Plans in British Columbia are being implemented specifically in areas with established Forest Landscape Plans (FLPs), designed to modernize forest management. Key areas undergoing this planning include Bulkley-Morice, Mackenzie, Central Vancouver Island, Cariboo-Chilcotin, 100 Mile House, Thompson Watersheds, and Kootenay Lake. Mandatory Forest Operations Plans provide clear, legally binding direction for forest development, replacing or supplementing older, less specific planning methods like Forest Stewardship Plans


And everything takes too long.

 

[licks2nite]

NORAD pact would change if Canada pulls back from F-35 order, warns U.S. ambassador

Diplomat says U.S. fighter jets would enter Canadian airspace more often to address threats

"They're [the F-35s] in for repairs about half the time or even more so the Americans have all the power of actually destroying our air force just by shutting down [parts] supplies."

Rasmus Jarlov, head of the Danish parliament's defence committee, has described "second thoughts" over the [F-35] order, but says the country has little choice now that it is their only operational fighter aircraft.

The Gripen "is a highly proficient aircraft used by some of our NATO allies" and works well in Arctic conditions. Whereas the F-35 "would allow for easier and greater interoperability with the U.S. Air Force — an important consideration both in NORAD and overseas operations."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/norad-canada-us-f35-9.7059800

Arctic coast of prime consideration for Canada. Interoperability in Overseas missions isn't. The F-35 downtime so bad Canadians could see American F-22, F-15 and F-18 SuperHornets in Canadian airspace filling missions while Canadian crews wait for parts from the scattered supply chain of every NATO member.

 

[licks2nite]

Kamloops' New Afton mine will change hands after shareholders approve $7B sale to U.S. firm

The New Afton mine is expected to produce a total of 20 million ounces of silver, 900,000 ounces of gold and 100 million pounds of copper in 2026.

https://www.biv.com/news/resources-...reholders-approve-7b-sale-to-us-firm-11804517

Existing New Afton investors hold 38% of shares. Mine would realize about $1.5 billion silver, $3.15 billon gold, $400 million copper in 2026 before costs mostly labour. A 2% tax on Net Current Proceeds until capital costs are recovered. Shifting to a 13% Net Revenue Tax after capital recovery. Ashton in productive growth phase.

Operating costs typically run $1500/oz. gold, $25/oz. silver. The below ground costs of copper about $2/lb.

Afton the only operating block cave mine in Canada. Potential for further mine life extensions beyond 2031 in the K-Zone and eastern section.

 

[licks2nite]

Bitcoin off 5% today. Harvest MicroStrategy etf ticker: MSTE record date today. Buy today for a 20 cent distribution on February 6th on a $4.05 or lower etf. (Bitcoin currently USD 84000 could test USD 80000.)

 

[dare.devil]

"B.C. Premier David Eby had some stern words for a group of Alberta separatists who, according to the Financial Times, went to the White House seeking the assistance of U.S. officials to "break up" Canada. "There's an old-fashioned word for that, and that word is treason," Eby said."

I am with Eby on this and inafct they should be dealt ike it.
They are as stupid as MAGA if they dont see this admin's treatment of its own people and sovergenity of other countries.

 

[licks2nite]

German ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems Type 212CD submarine

AI Overview
The KSS-III (South Korean) is a larger, blue-water submarine with Vertical Launch System (VLS) for land-attack missiles, offering greater firepower and range, while the Type 212CD (German-Norwegian) is a compact, stealthier design focused on covert operations, Air-Independent Propulsion (AIP), and NATO interoperability, with both representing different strategic philosophies for Canada's next submarine, balancing power projection (KSS-III) versus specialized Arctic/littoral stealth (Type 212CD).

Compares Korean Hanwha Ocean KSS-III vs. Type 212CD

https://www.biv.com/news/economy-la...ith-seaspan-on-submarine-sustainment-11807233

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/algoma-steel-submarine-hanwha-ocean-deal-9.7063879

The Korean sub choise employs vertically launched missles to attack land targets. Clearly meant for aggressive warfare. Promises Ontario Algoma Steel jobs and emphasises fast delivery as a selling point.

The German sub stealth choise designed for Arctic environment with Norwegian collaboration. Ultra silent hydrogen fuel cell air independent technology and 3-week submerged capability. Surpasses nuclear subs for stealth without the heat signature of nuclear. Service agreement with Seaspan. Emphasises interoperability with NATO partners.

 

[licks2nite]

In an interview with CBC News last fall, Swedish Lt.-Col. Marcus Wandt, a Gripen test pilot, insisted the Saab-manufactured jet was fully capable of plugging into the NORAD defence grid.

In Sweden, "we are under threat the second we take off, and so we really had to build something that we knew would be able to fight in tomorrow's air domain.… That's why we built Gripen-E."

"We would have to ensure that our Canadian Gripen-Es would have the same encrypted, secure communication and data exchange capabilities that any aircraft — the F-35, the F-22, the F-16 — all of those aircraft are going to have to be compatible with the NORAD command and control and data-sharing architecture."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/f35-greenland-canada-missile-defence-9.7069059

If the '90s era F-16 can plug into NORAD command and control and data-sharing architecture certainly the Gripen-E can plug into NORAD command and control and data-sharing architecture or Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) sometimes referred to as "Golden Dome".

Ironically for Canadian military choices, stealth in the air becomes a vehicle of aggressively penitrating somebody else's airspace while stealth in the sea protects from aggressors in Canadian coastal waters. With 6th generation (F-47, B-21) in the works employing ceramics to absorb heat and radar signatures, the fragile advanced polymer-based stealth coating and associated down-time of F-35 still looks like a waste of time and money. Externally mounted weapons further defeat the F-35 stealth. The F-35 unloads weapons, turns around and stealthfully runs away provided the fragile polymer coating remains intact.