A deal is on the table, a gentle giant passes and who can beat Olivia Chow...

As I first reported, we are very close to a new trade deal with Trump.

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There is a draft agreement in place, a proposal if you will between Ottawa and Washington on trade. The longer details of what is happening are in my Toronto Sun column that went live at 5 a.m. today.

It has been described to me as a very high-level proposal that covers off issues in broad strokes and that a full CUSMA/USMACA agreement would be updated later. It will be good news for Canada if we can get this deal done in the next few days.

Prime Minister Mark Carney acknowledged that negotiations are intensive at the moment and also quite delicate.

The new deal wouldn’t deal with all issues, and I was told that supply management and the Digital Services Tax (DST) will be put off until later. CBC is reporting that Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, his tax reform package, has a provision that could hurt Canadians if the DST stays in place.

It’s a stupid tax, the DST, and even if Harris had won the election, we’d be in trouble over this tax. The Americans see it as discriminatory against them because it is. We were warned it violates trade and tax agreements by the Biden administration and didn’t listen.

An astronaut and a gentleman...

Terribly sad news to hear about the passing of Marc Garneau at the age of 76. His wife Pam said in a brief statement that he had been sick but died peacefully.

We all got to know who Marc Garneau was in 1984 when he became the first Canadian astronaut in space. He served Canada in many roles including as an MP and cabinet minister in Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government, but don’t hold that against him.

In my limited personal dealings with Garneau, the man was what he appeared to be on TV. He was smart, impressive, and humble. A true gentleman.

My deepest condolonces to his loved ones.

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Starting the mayors’ race in Toronto...

The next municipal election in Toronto isn’t until October 26, 2026. That isn’t stopping people from chatting about who can replace Olivia Chow.

National Post had a story out the other day showing the mayor with high approval ratings, but in any discussion amongst Liberal or Conservative leaning voters in the city, there is a constant question – who can beat Olivia Chow?

I’ve put together a short list of candidates and detailed some of the reasons Chow must go, but there is one name from the past still hanging over this race.

John Tory.

Yes, the former mayor may make a comeback, and some people want him to announce his candidacy sooner rather than later.

What to read...

Did you know that Tax Freedom Day is this coming Sunday? That’s the day of the year that you have worked enough to pay your full tax bill for the year. Lorrie Goldstein has all the depressing details in his latest column.

It’s behind a paywall, but John Ivison takes up the warning that Stephen Harper gave the other day about political parties getting involved in Indian domestic politics. Harper doesn’t think it is a good idea, and Ivison puts forward the argument that the Conservatives aren’t listening to their old boss on this front.

As discussions about building more pipelines to tidewater continues, British Columbia is still saying no, they don’t want a pipeline. In his latest, Vaughn Palmer, who is the dean of the press gallery in Victoria, lays out the NDP government’s faulty argument against another pipeline and it is all about the existing Trans Mountain pipeline.