In the news today: Trump affirms tariff plan in front of Congress

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed…

Trump tells Congress tariffs benefit U.S. as commerce secretary floats idea of deal

U.S. President Donald Trump has launched a North American trade war but a key member of his team floated that a compromise could materialize today. Trump addressed a joint session of Congress Tuesday night and remained adamant that tariffs would benefit America. But Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick says there could be a ramp off the devastating duties. Lutnick told Fox Business on Tuesday that the government was looking to work something out in a deal that could be announced today.

Bailey set to cheerlead B.C. budget amid tariffs

British Columbia’s finance minister is starting to sell her budget to the public complete with a record deficit in the early days of a trade war with the United States. Brenda Bailey is expected to speak today at an event hosted by the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce, her first public appearance after tabling the budget on the same day U.S. President Donald Trump imposed 25 per cent on Canadian goods. Bailey told reporters on Tuesday that the budget will focus on education and health care, while also boosting a “self-sufficient economy.”

Here’s what else we’re watching…

Manitoba legislature resumes amid U.S. trade war

Politicians are set to return to the Manitoba legislative chamber today amid economic fallout from U.S. tariffs and ongoing challenges in provincial health care. Premier Wab Kinew says tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump will be a “serious economic headwind” as the NDP government prepares its spring budget. The province has run deficits in every year but two since 2009, and the government has promised to balance the budget before the next election in 2027. Several bills are expected to be introduced, including one to enshrine school nutrition programs in law and another to make it harder for landlords to raise rents above provincial guidelines.

Smith to speak on Alberta’s tariff response

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is scheduled to speak today about her province’s response to U.S. tariffs. Smith has been tight-lipped for weeks about what measures her government might take, although she has repeatedly said counter-tariffs on the province’s energy are off the table. The premier is also set to give an update on Alberta’s security efforts at the Canada-U.S. border, a long-standing irritant for Trump. Alberta’s latest budget, introduced last week, earmarks $4 billion in part to deal with the expected economic fallout of the tariffs, but the government hasn’t offered specifics.

Rivals eye ‘strategically valuable’ Arctic: CSIS

Canada’s spy agency warns that colliding global developments make the Arctic an “attractive, strategic and vulnerable destination” for foreign adversaries seeking to establish a presence in Canada. A newly released Canadian Security Intelligence Service assessment flags the environment, critical infrastructure, economic activity and geopolitics as converging factors making the region susceptible to threats from abroad. It sees resource extraction projects, increasing ship traffic, the building of ports and possible militarization of the Arctic as some of the avenues nefarious actors could use to gain a foothold in the region.

Families who lost loved ones to COVID feel stuck

It’s been almost five years, but family members of Canadians who died of COVID-19 in the first year of the pandemic often feel as if they are frozen in 2020. It pains them that they couldn’t hold the hands of their parents, siblings, spouses and friends in the final moments of their lives. Instead, they said goodbye over speaker phone, or through a glass window. Ahead of the five-year anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring a global pandemic on March 11, The Canadian Press spoke to five people who lost someone they loved as the virus started circulating in those frightening early days.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2025.