In the news today: Carney to make sovereignty announcement in Arctic

Statistics Canada is set to release inflation figures for February today. Most economists expect inflation picked up as the federal government’s temporary tax break on a number of household staples came to an end in February. The two-month GST holiday cooled prices in December and January, but inflation is forecast to rise again as the sales tax returned mid-month. Economists polled by Reuters ahead of Tuesday expect the annual rate of inflation rose to 2.2 per cent in February, up from 1.9 per cent in January.

Here’s what else we’re watching…

New Brunswick Liberals to table budget today

New Brunswick’s Liberal party is scheduled to table its first budget today since winning the October election. The budget comes as Canada is in a trade war with the United States, and Premier Susan Holt has said the economic uncertainty has made balancing the budget an “exceptionally difficult” task. New Brunswick exports about $12 billion worth of products to Maine every year, and Holt has said the tariff threats have upended that trading relationship and risk damaging GDP growth.

Manitoba byelection held today in east Winnipeg

Voters are going to the polls today in the Transcona area of Winnipeg. A provincial byelection is being held to fill the seat formerly held by Nello Altomare, the Manitoba education minister who died in January. The seat has been a longtime NDP stronghold, and has only voted for another party — the Progressive Conservatives — once since 1988. The NDP has a majority in the legislature with 33 of the 57 seats, while the Tories have 21, the Liberals have one and there is one Independent.

Quebec MP, businesses to join Vermont senator’s border discussion on trade war

A Liberal member of Parliament is set to join a United States senator at the Canada-U.S. border today for a discussion on how to navigate the trade war between the two nations. Democratic senator Peter Welch is convening the roundtable of mainly Quebec- and Vermont-based businesses in the state to talk about how the tariff battle is impacting them. Trump’s trade war escalated last week as the U.S. imposed 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports entering the country, prompting Canada to expand its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods.

Canadian farmland values see slower growth

Farm Credit Canada says the average value of agricultural land grew 9.3 per cent last year, continuing the trend of more than 30 years of increases. However, the chief economist at the Crown corporation says the rate of growth, while robust, has been slowing over the last two years. JP Gervais says there’s been a reset in commodity prices after earlier spikes driven by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has led to lower revenues for farmers who may otherwise look to expand their operations.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 18, 2025.

The Canadian Press

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Prime Minister Mark Carney departs Montreal, on route to Paris, France on Sunday, March 16, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

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by Canadian Press

In the news today: Carney to make sovereignty announcement in Arctic

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