Subs, pipelines and getting online safety right...

Mark Carney has chosen a sub and Doug Ford is backing a pipeline from Alberta and Ontario.

So, Mark Carney made his announcement today, he picked the German U-Boats, I mean submarines, over the Korean ones.

I jest, I have nothing against the product on offer from TKMS, a German and Norwegian offering. In fact, in my conversations with high ranking navy officials, none had a bad word to say about either the TKMS product nor Korea’s Hanwha Ocean offering.

Carney himself said it was a difficult choice.

There had been some discussion about buying a mixed fleet, something the Carney government seems intent on for the fighter jet fleet, but steered away from on the sub fleet. Over the past few weeks, and especially ramping up in the last five days, I had sources telling me it would be a mixed fleet and sources telling me the whole thing would go to TMKS.

None said Korea’s Hanwha would win despite an impressive vessel and a very impressive offer of investment in Canada including buying steel from Algoma and setting up a hydrogen truck plant in Ontario.

I broke the story that the announcement was happening today, I was wrong on what the pick was. That said, I still beat the gallery in Ottawa while walking my dog through Toronto parks and writing from my little condo miles away from the nation’s capital.

Doug Ford wants to be captain pipeline…

Ontario Premier Doug Ford went to Calgary for a quick two day visit, took in some parties and events on Sunday and then made a major announcement alongside Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on Monday.

Ontario is backing a push for a 3,300km West to East pipeline from Hardisty, Alberta to Sarnia, Ontario called Northern Sheild.

Hardisty is the major transit point for Alberta oil, Sarnia is Ontario’s refining capital near the original oil patch in Ontario, Petrolia.

Let’s not get too excited, this project is just at the study stage with Ontario fronting a feasibility study headed up by GHD Limited, Ernst & Young LLP (EY Canada), Mokwateh, AtkinsRéalis Group Inc., Wood PLC, and Turner & Townsend Limited.

Ford said he expects the study to be completed by the end of the year.

Asked about a private proponent coming forward, Ford and Smith both said they would like a private proponent but would be fine with their taxpayers putting up the funds because they would get paid back.

We are a long way from this project being given a green light, but it’s an interesting project. Unlike Enbridge’s Line 5, which currently supplies much of the oil heading into Sarnia, this project wouldn’t skirt through the United States.

Line 5 has become a political hot potato for Democrats in the State of Michigan with governors and members of the state assembly calling for it to be shut down. The Northern Shield project, if it goes ahead, would be wholly in Canada, built with Canadian steel, on Canadian land, by Canadian workers.

And finally…

Canada waited too long to rein in dangerous Big Tech platforms.

That’s the takeaway from this week’s episode of the Full Comment Podcast. I spoke with Dr. Emily Laidlaw, Canada Research Chair in cybersecurity law at the University of Calgary about Bill C-34, the new Safe Social Media Act.

While she has concerns, especially around free speech, Dr. Laidlaw believes the government is mostly on the right track.

Unlike most of the online legislation the Carney Liberals pushed through at the end of the House session, this one is still at the first reading stage and can be tweaked in the fall.

From the official show notes:

Balancing protection for kids online while ensuring free speech and privacy for everyone else isn’t easy, which is why Ottawa has muffed it so many times, leaving Canada decades behind other countries in monitoring the harmful excesses of social media algorithms. With Bill C-34, the new Safe Social Media Act, the government just maybe has something workable, as Emily Laidlaw, Canada Research Chair in cybersecurity law at the University of Calgary, tells Brian. She explains the strengths and potential weaknesses of the legislation, how far it will go in protecting people from harm, concerns about the new “digital regulator,” and whether the government is now going to force us all to scan our IDs and carefully watch what we say online. (Recorded June 25, 2026)