TGIF, it's been a busy week of news...

So many stories to cover off, but it's been interesting.

What a week it’s been and I’ll be honest, I’m happy it’s over - at least the writing. I’ve covered off Danielle Smith, Doug Ford, Mark Carney, Donald Trump and more over the week.

It’s been a lot and glad to be stopping for a bit.

On Saturday morning I’m heading to Ottawa for a quick visit to be on a panel with Vassy Kapelos and David Herle at the Paul Well Christmas Party at the National Arts Centre.

I’m not sure if I suddenly became respectable or not, but looking forward to the chat on stage.

How the week went…

I started the week writing about how Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is strengthening self-defence in her province. She’s not doing it by changing the law, the experts all tell me the law doesn’t need changed, she changing the policy manuals for police and Crown prosecutors.

Smith is also following the lead of Saskatchewan’s Moe in taking steps to block the federal gun grab. I’ll have more on that in the coming days.

For now, if you want more, you can watch a short video, part of a longer conversation that I had with Ian Runkle - AKA Runkle on the Bailey about the gun grab. It’s one of the more popular videos this week on my personal YouTube Channel.

Giving advice to Mark Carney on talking to Trump…

On Tuesday I was blasting Mark Carney again over his “Who cares?” comment as we discussed the Algoma Steel layoffs. Yes, there is more to the Algoma layoffs than Trump’s tariffs, in fact it’s mostly about converting to an electric arc furnace to make green steel, but tariffs are playing a role and there are thousands of other jobs lost over tariffs.

That’s why on Thursday, as Carney was heading to Washington for the World Cup draw I was writing advice on what he should be saying to Trump to get trade talks moving again.

I quite liked our Friday front page. It was fun, cheeky and grabbed attention.

Here’s some of what I suggested Carney offer Trump.

– Offer to sit down with Trump to hash out a high-level framework for an agreement that covers trade, critical minerals and defence – including the Golden Dome and the arctic.

– As a gesture of goodwill, tell him that American booze will return to Canadian store shelves early in the New Year. Yes, he will need to convince some premiers, but that’s his job.

– On autos, commit to increasing the percentage of American parts found in every Canadian built car, in exchange for dropping tariffs. This is something the industry can handle with ease and something that would still benefit both countries.

– Commit unequivocally to buying the F-35, playing political games on this issue isn’t helping our trade talks, and it is not good for our military, including for recruitment.

– Lay out a plan to fast track the extraction and processing of critical mineral facilities in Ontario, Alberta and Quebec with special access for American companies and the American military, but only as part of a comprehensive trade deal that doesn’t include tariffs.

– Offer to work with the American tech sector to deal with the irritants contained in the Online Streaming Act and other policies being put forward by this government.

Did he follow my advice? Not sure, we know there were quick talks on trade on the sidelines of the draw event.

By the way, Canada drew Qatar and Switzerland and quite possibly Italy for its group. We will find out if it is Italy, Northern Ireland, Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina after they hold a playoff in a couple of months.

Bring on the World Cup!

Fixing the education system with a full-scale review…

I’ve been covering education stories as long as I’ve been in the media. Governments of all stripes are always looking to fix and tinker with the system.

They should always be looking to fix the system, after health care, education is their biggest expense.

Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra was so upset with the results of the most recent standardized testing scores that he has ordered a full review of the system. I wrote about that here, but if you want to really get a sense of what he plans, watch our in-depth discussion below.

Trump derangement syndrome on full display for the NDP’s Jenny Kwan…

Did you see that the NDP’s Jenny Kwan is complaining about a Canadian company that makes armoured cars being sold to ICE in the USA? There is a push on the left to have the Carney government step in and stop the sale of these vehicles, because Orange Man Bad!

Problem for Kwan is that the vehicles aren’t being made in Canada, they are being made in the states. Read the column here…

I haven’t even posted all the columns and videos that I’ve done this week and I’ve probably overwhelmed you.

Enjoy the weekend, I’ll probably post at some point or watch my socials, X and Facebook for shorter updates.