Good morning. The Canada Investment Summit is over, but Ottawa hopes that the global dealmaking is just getting started. More on that below, along with an NDP win in Calgary and Grifols documents from Regina.
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Former prime minister Stephen Harper speaks during the Canada Investment Summit in Toronto on Tuesday.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
TOP STORIES
From the Canada Investment Summit
Stephen Harper said Canada had no choice but to walk away from trade talks with the United States as he endorsed the Carney government’s efforts to diversify the economy. The former prime minister’s comments were the closing remarks from the first-of-its-kind two-day summit aimed at attracting foreign investment to the country.
Unveiled: Prime Minister Mark Carney revealed a permanent corporate tax deduction that will allow companies to write off the full cost of acquiring or building new business assets sooner, a costly change to the tax system that is intended to boost productivity.
Up in the air: It was also announced that Canada will open up its four largest airports to private investment. Ottawa will retain ownership of the underlying land and assets for the facilities in Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Toronto, but seek private investment through long-term concessions.
Up next: Carney can expect a warm welcome when he speaks to the European Parliament tomorrow, after Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday that she wants Canada to be the bloc’s first associate member. The EU’s growing relationship with Canada won’t necessarily make striking trade deals any easier, Europe correspondent Paul Waldie writes.
Keep reading:
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Kenneth Law appears in court in Brampton, Ont., in an artist’s sketch from 2023.Alexandra Newbould/The Canadian Press
Kenneth Law says he is not a ‘diabolical madman’
The Canadian man who has admitted that he helped end the lives of at least 93 suicidal people by selling toxic salts and other deadly paraphernalia online has told a psychiatrist that he considers himself a “pathfinder” and not a psychopath.
The interviews: “I was just trying to serve a need that I thought was humane,” Kenneth Law said to psychiatrist Jonathan Rootenberg in a Lindsay, Ont., jail this July. He added that he now understands what he was doing was legally wrong and that “we all learn from our mistakes.”
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Houthi armed forces patrol the Yemeni capital of Sanaa last weekend. The Iran-backed rebels captured the Red Sea coast, cementing their hold on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a vital waterway.MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP/Getty Images
Relief agencies struggle after Houthi advance
Humanitarian agencies say they are facing a “triple chokepoint” on their food supply routes after Houthi rebels captured strategic sites on the Red Sea, adding to pressures caused by earlier blockages in the Black Sea and the Strait of Hormuz.
On the ground: Saudi Arabia issued security alerts over a range of territory yesterday, including in the holy city of Mecca, after a week of attacks from Iran-aligned fighters that have drawn it deeper into the Middle East war.
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A person walks into a Grifols Plasma Donation Centre in Regina on Tuesday.Danielle Tocker/The Globe and Mail
Inspection of Grifols’s Regina site finds improper assessments
A Health Canada inspection of a Regina plasma centre run by Grifols found multiple donors who were allowed to donate without proper medical assessments, newly obtained documents show. Grifols is the country’s only major private collector of blood plasma.
The findings: In one example, the report found that a donor who had disclosed they had sexual contact with someone who had HIV/AIDS was inappropriately allowed to donate twice. Plasma is used to make medicine, particularly for patients with immune deficiencies.
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Kyle Campbell, MLA-elect for Calgary-Shaw, speaks in Calgary on Tuesday while Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi looks on.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
A surprising NDP win in an Alberta by-election
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party was hit with a stunning by-election upset in one of the most reliably conservative urban ridings in Canada. The result in Calgary-Shaw was confirmed late Monday night, with just 582 votes separating Alberta NDP candidate Kyle Campbell and the UCP’s Mike Derry.
The context: The New Democrats’ surprise win in the staunch conservative district was widely viewed as a rebuke of how Smith has handled the question of Alberta separatism.
The Take
The fact is that Mr. Poilievre’s efforts to win the daily headline war, and his instinct to swing at every pitch, is not serving him or the country. No one’s listening, even when he has something genuinely important to say.
— Robyn Urback, columnist
Pierre Poilievre should oppose the government – but he can support it too, Robyn Urback writes.
The Shot
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Decade after decade, a sense of fashion shifts with time, trends and life’s big changes.Mark Binks; Kitt Woodland; Rachelle Simoneau/The Globe and Mail
The Canadians in our 2026 portfolio of sartorial standouts are learning a lot while forever discovering their personal style.
The Wrap
What else we’re following
At home: First Nations leaders demand answers for woman’s death after she was denied medical travel.
Abroad: For the first time, NATO fighter jets shot down a drone that entered Lithuanian airspace.
In Quebec: Quebec’s five main party leaders tried to sell themselves to voters in the first debate of the election campaign.
On stage: Four supporting acts have quit Ed Sheeran’s tour in solidarity with Macklemore, who was initially dropped from the tour over pro-Palestinian comments.
Maple tech: Cohere Inc. and Open Text Corp. are partnering to sell Canadian-made AI tools as an alternative to U.S. tech.
Maple moments: From Michael J. Fox receiving the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award to Sally Field praising “blessed Canada,” here were the top Canadian moments from the Emmys.
The cost: They racked up debt from going abroad for medical school. Was it worth it?
The balance: Is your child considering specializing in a sport? Read this first.