The End of Hockey Night in Canada 2026

The renewal of the very lengthy 12 year Rogers NHL contract should have been a clue. Some of the changes were already announced such as Amazon Prime games as well as more Netflix games. Television came to Canada in 1952 and that is when CBC began to broadcast it on Saturdays. Foster Hewitt led the TV broadcast from that year until 1965. It was familiar territory for him as he had been the national radio broadcaster for hockey since 1931. From 1952 to 1965 CBC TV and CBC radio simulcast Hockey Night in Canada.

Everything about hockey broadcasting was as a result of the CBC and it went on to become the most watched sport on a weekly basis across Canada. Alas, the profitability of it made it more difficult for CBC to keep bidding on it and winning. They could have possibly had a partnership and retained some rights but dropped the puck on that. Rogers took control in 2014 and only used the CBC network for its coast to coast broadcast reach as well its talent.

As of June 16, the CBC will not host any NHL hockey on Saturday as Rogers brings it all in house. Both sides, Sportsnet and CBC, jointly announced the end of the arrangement. Neither side as really indicated what comes next aside from the name will change for Rogers broadcasts on Saturday on CityTV, Sportsnet channels and streaming partners like Netflix and Amazon Prime. It will likely cost more to see hockey each year as more things move to streaming.

In the early part of my life, Hockey Night in Canada was on a bit too late for me. By 1968, they were on at 7 in Winnipeg on Wednesdays on CTV and Saturdays on CBC. The French channel broadcast every Montreal Canadiens game Saturday so if, by chance, the Canadiens were not on CBC, the switch was made to French. The Canadiens were on a lot though because they were a winning team with the best players. By 1975 CTV was no longer doing weekday games but individual channels were. Winnipeg was not one of them. Our family only got cable and a colour TV by 1971.

There was only one game a night Saturday even though Vancouver Canucks joined in 1970. Back to back games only happened occasionally when Wayne Gretzky was traded to Los Angeles Kings in 1988. After, when a Canadian team was in LA, CBC made time for a back to back game. It was in 1994 that back to back games became the staple of Hockey Night in Canada's Saturday. It was no doubt because of the frustration in much of Canada that the Toronto Maple Leafs were locked into Saturday night, every night, despite the lack of a winning record.

Winnipeg, Edmonton and Calgary all came on broad the NHL from 1979 to 1980, the most any western team could hope for was many one or two games on HNIC. This is where the regional broadcasts by CTV and CKND became very important. Many fans of the Winnipeg Jets came to believe there was a curse playing on Hockey Night in Canada and still do. We often performed poorly.

Prior to 1979 though, it was possible to be a fan of the WHA Jets as well a team in the NHL. And there were plenty of those. My dad was originally from Montreal so the Canadiens were a favourite and the fact they were a very winning team meant I liked them a lot. The first NHL game for the Jets versus Canadiens, everyone wore tuxedos and ball gowns. It felt like a royal affair.

To get NHL hockey for the 2027-2027 season, Canadians will have to have pay for a cable or streaming subscription. CBC was free for everyone. It is hard to get regular season viewer numbers but Hockey Night in Canada likely got a base of 500,000 people for the first game of the night and rose higher according to who was playing the Leafs. In the playoffs, Canadian matches could bring in 5 million viewers in Canada alone if a Canadian team was playing.

This was the best year for NHL ratings for playoffs in many years. Live television is still something that can attract eyeballs but the new Rogers contract is more than double the last contract. A licence agreement on CBC is not enough money and certainly more than CBC was willing to pay when it doesn't get any ad revenue from broadcasting it. The grand bargain was that CBC was able to provide studio and labour resources. Rogers took that all in house three years ago. So, coming this fall, there will be no Saturday NHL that is free to watch for Canadians.

The CBC has been instrumental in creating the dynamic of how the NHL, CFL and curling are broadcast. Eventually, these sports became so successful, they longer needed the public broadcasters support. The private networks now want these jewels and it will be to Canadians to see if they want to pay for them. With many people cutting cable, the hunt for sports could take people to many streaming sites. In the end, it might be as expensive as cable was.

Rogers will be going into details about the new name and look and where to find their NHL games. Toronto fans might end up paying the most since they have the most games broadcast. There may be a re-evaluation on hosts, panels and even how the broadcast is filmed. At this point, all we know is it will look different. And if a new streamer is added for the mid-week game, what will that look like? Another subscription? A new broadcast team?

As for CBC, the new program will feature sports on Saturday. The Hockey Night in Canada name will pop up from time to time. More than likely for women's hockey although we might see university hockey for men and women now as well. To be blunt, compared to the U.S., Britain and Australia, we are pathetic for sports coverage. There is superior high school and college sports coverage in much smaller North Dakota. Some of our national newspapers barely cover sports. We are luckier than most in Winnipeg that we have reporters who cover sports for both our newspapers but it has been a long time since The Sun has sent reporters on the road to travel with teams. The Free Press is one of the last newspapers to do that. CJOB does exceptional sports coverage but it is for programs they could rights for.

Our national news media barely covers it. Nada is in the National Post. The Globe has a tiny sports section. The media companies have gutted their local sports departments in radio and TV. Most newspapers barely report on amateur sports even in their own areas. The CBC could have plenty of material in sports they could build an audience in at a fraction of the cost. It has been many a year since ABC and CTV's Wide World of Sports but it does show that one network can cover a range of amateur and professional sports. No one else in Canada is covering these areas and CBC has a proven track record of building an audience for Canadian sports.

I remember watching Jim McKay on Wide World of Sports and so many sports were introduced to me from watching that show. In Canada, Rod Black eventually hosted the CTV version. One of the reasons these sports shows ended is because of the rise of the four professional sports leagues taking up more and more of the schedule. Expansion teams like the Blue Jays in 1977 and the Jets and Nordiques in 1979 and Calgary shortly after in 1980 expanded coverage of those sports. CTV gave up on the Wide World of Sports in the mid 1970s but had other sports they began to cover.

CBC has one other asset that can enhance their newly focused Saturday Night and that is their streaming service Gem. Sports on the network can be mirrored on CBC.ca as well as Gem. In fact, Gem has been seriously underutilized since it was founded in 2018. It seems only now they are realizing they can actually bring older CBC material there that is still popular as well as commission to kids and documentary material. This applies to news and sports. There is no reason that Gem can't be the Tubi or DAZN of the north. It is time the CBC took sports seriously as part of its national mission.

Anti-Semitism in Manitoba

A lot of focus has happened with Prime Minister Mark Carney speech on anti-Semitism in Toronto. It is notable that the government felt it necessary, even essential to indicate that the people of Canada need to do everything to combat anti-Semitism. Depending on who you talked to after, it was a very productive speech or it was an utter failure. Those that say Carney anti Semite or heads an anti Semite government and nothing will be better till the right party is in place should be taken with a grain of salt.

The latter opinion comes from the American owned National Post that runs more opinion pieces on anti-Semitism than the Jerusalem Post. That isn't an exaggeration. The newspaper seems to run pieces on the federal government and anti-Semitism every day. The Conservative titled newspaper is outrageously focused on the Liberal party and often ignores provincial and municipal issues, including hate crimes that fall as much on other levels of government than the Feds.

To that end, let's focus on the hate crime report from the Winnipeg Police Service for 2025. One interesting note: This story was published in the Jerusalem Post as well. The report stated that hate crimes have gone up 154% since 2019. In 2025 there were 112 incidents versus 44 incidents there year before. Race and ethnicity accounted for 49 incidents with black people accounting for 13 reports.

In terms of religious hate crime. there were 37 incidents with 32 incidents that were against Jewish people. Some critics say there are so many unreported claims. This may well be true but government and police can only do much when incidents are not reported. All we can do is encourage people to report and to try to ensure their safety. If people fear to report because because they will be killed, the police have to investigate deeper. If swastikas are all over the place, it might be important to figure out if you have a cowed population living in fear.

To be fair, despite Winnipeg's large increase in hate crime since 2019, it doesn't even come close to other provinces in total numbers or per capita. One incident is too many but we are in no way close to other places in the country. Still, we need to dig down at Jewish hate here. There has always been an undercurrent in the far left and far right. For some on the left is not accepting Israel's existence and that Jewish people are to blame wherever they are.  For some on the right, it is that Jewish people are part of world cabal that plans to take over the world and control things.

Zionism is the crux here for many. Most Jewish people who live in Canada are not citizens of Israel, can vote in Israel or are even involved in day to day things that happen in Israel. What the majority of Jewish people do support is the right of Israel to exist. Supporters of Hamas and Hezbollah cheering the murder and rape of Israelis on the streets of Canada is both hatred and terrorism. It should be dealt with.

Israel has a right to exist and those who push a "river to the sea" are preaching death to Jews. Driving Jews into the sea basically shows all that some people care about is killing. And if you are in Winnipeg and gather at Kenaston and Grant just to harass Jewish people at a synagogue with death threats, you are preaching hatred. Trying to appoint collective guilt to Jewish people living in Canada about Israel by protesting outside their places of worship, business and homes is not freedom of speech. 

In 1982, the Israel occupation in Lebanon was the last time we saw such a rise of anti-Semitism in Canada. We are kind of back in that time again. If Canadians wish to protest, which is their right, they can do embassies, consulates, various government offices and the like. The moment you go to someone's home, place of worship or business should be dealt with every time. Harassment online doesn't get a free pass either.

Israel is a democracy. They do change their policies and have exchanged land for peace. The Sinai Peninsula is evidence of that. If a Winnipegger wants to lobby for that, do so. But advocating for death should earn you a time in court. This applies to all hate crimes. Criticizing Israel's government policy on Gaza, West Bank and Lebanon is fair game. Even Trump does that. Spray painting a synagogue is not.

In terms of what Carney can do, there have been legislative changes to help police track and make arrests like those for anti-Semitism. However, even Conservatives are wary of such warrantless searches. I guess it depends on whose ox you gore. Still, the federal government needs to show zero tolerance for hate violence and work to prevent that.

As for those who disagree with Israeli actions, do to the Legislature or City Hall. Push for sanctions or divestment. Go to constituency offices and protest. Those are your rights. Protest at universities. But cross the line with violence, harassment of worship places or business and pay the price. Threaten hate and violence online and prepare for legal consequences. No more free rides for bad behaviour.

For those Winnipeggers who socially engage without nonsense, good on you. Report stuff when you see it. Let's not have this end up with terrorism and gunfire. We're better than that. 

Conrad Black Sings Trump's Praises

As the founder of the National Post, Conrad Black gets to prattle on about the man who gave the convicted felon a pardon for crimes committed in the United States. Black would probably laugh at the charges were it not for the prison time he did as a result. Surprising to some, Black was the son of a prominent Winnipeg family and had connections to some of the families associated with the city. The family moved to Montreal where Black was born. Most of his education was in Ontario and Quebec where, when he was not being ejected for things he had done, was either a failure or an exceptional academic. Money was always available to him thorough his family and he bought small newspapers as early as 1966 as investment vehicles. In 1976, everything changed when he and his brother inherited the family fortune upon the death of their father. By 1978, Black was stripping the wealth out of various shareholdings, pension funds and the like to create his media company. On occasion, there was pushback by the courts but companies like Dominion Stores were pillaged.

As the industrial assets were dismantled, Black invested more and more in newspapers in Canada and beyond and eventually his company Hollinger because the third largest in the world with assets such as The Telegraph, Jerusalem Post and the Chicago Sun-Times. It was the U.S. paper that caused him later trouble as it was listed on the stock exchange and that brought scrutiny that he rarely faced before. During this period of growth, Black started up the National Post as news counterpart to his purchase of the Financial Post in 1998.

There was a time that my family subscribed to Free Press, The Sun, the Globe and Mail and yes, the National Post. No Internet meant a lot more reading. And a lot more viewpoints. Back then the National Post was full of columnists and it wasn't the full on political paper it is now with light reporting on news. While the Post may have had lots of resources, it came at the expense of other papers owned by Black. Large cuts at the Calgary Herald left it reeling.

As mentioned, the purchase of the Chicago Sun-Times brought scrutiny from Securities Exchange Commission because outside investors didn't like the non-compete fees Black and his partners took on newspapers sales. This led to civil and criminal charges that eventually led to Hollinger and the entire newspaper empire being dismantled and Black serving time. While some of the charges were dropped, some remained. After serving time, he was to be deported to Canada but had to re-claim his citizenship from the Canadian government after denouncing it to take a Lordship in Britain from Queen Elizabeth for owning the Telegraph.

Black was particularly bitter about Chretien who denied his peerage in Britain as Canadian. He had to take British citizenship and renounce Canadian citizenship to become a lord. This was the path that Roy Thomson had to take when he became a Lord through his ownership of the Times and Sunday Times. His grandson David Thomson is one of the Winnipeg Jets owners and a Canadian citizenship but retains the lordship which is hereditary.

Chretien was not prepared to give Black a pass on being a Canadian Lord when Thomson was not allowed to in the past. Canada was trying to create and support and honours system itself with the Order of Canada. It wasn't a good look for Canada and Jean Chretien was despised by Black for it. None of his court challenges on the subject worked. 

Black has sought out a pardon ever since Trump was elected. He must have thought his time was passed when Biden was elected. However, when Trump got back in, he ingratiated himself, wrote a book about Trump and continues to write favourably. The pardon in 2023 finally allows Black to travel back to the U.S. again.

The regular columns in the National Post have pretty much been all about Trump. He has called Canadian reactions to the man as overwrought. He routinely downplays the incoherence of Trump on policy and ignores unintended consequences. The tariff harm on U.S. farmers is of particular note on both exports and imports. Farmers need Canada's potash and they need China's purchase of soybeans. If the policy is to gain something from Canada and China, it doesn't seem obvious.

In his most recent column on April 3, Black suggests Trump has Iran right when he wants them and this will also bring China and Russia to heel. To do this he has suggested that Trump will destroy Iran's power grid. 

"This can only mean that he will, if necessary use amphibious or airborne forces to take over the distribution of Iran’s oil, while destroying its power grid and closing its ports as tightly as its airspace."

Destroying civilian infrastructure is a war crime in case Black has forgotten. It isn't a weapons site. 

"A reduced number of tankers is still moving through the Strait of Hormuz, and there are clearly back-channel communications between the Americans..."

There have been ships moving that have been approved by Iran and supposedly paying a fee to travel inside an island close to the country. This is likely to bring quite a lot of cash to Iran. The communications that Black says must be going on are not self evident.

"Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, and Iran, are all being detached from their Russo-Chinese sponsors. The United States is about to take over as much as half of Chinese sources for oil and will be substantially replaced by Russia while Western Europe becomes predominantly dependent upon America and its clients for oil and gas and ceases to finance the Russian aggression in Ukraine with oil and gas purchases from Russia while beseeching America to do the heavy lifting in preventing the Russian takeover of Ukraine."

I'm not sure what information Black has to make this conclusion. If he tried to publish this comment in the Wall Street Journal or the Telegraph, the editors would tell him he was speculating to the point of wish fulfilment. 

"With the return of President Trump, the U.S. led discussions that produced a delicate ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages, and Israel eliminated approximately 80 per cent of the Hamas trigger pullers. It remains to disarm Hamas and to reconstruct Gaza."

Black seems to forget that Trump has supported removing all Palestinians from Gaza, presumably to Somaliland. Black also doesn't take into account how October 7 was a catastrophic failure of Netanyahu on military preparedness and an intelligence failure in protecting Israelis. Their policy of "mowing the grass" was one of just periodically attacking Gaza while expanding settlements in the West Bank. In Netanyahu's cabinet, expansionist cabinet ministers look to Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq for their next targets. Netanyahu has been talking nuclear weapons are two weeks away from completion in Iran since 1996.

"In one long lifetime, the remarkable American presidents Roosevelt, Truman, Nixon, Reagan, and Trump will have transformed the war-ravaged world of Hitler and Stalin into comparative peace and prosperity."

Black would have a hard time getting his opinion published in any American, British or Australian paper with this conclusion. The National Post, American owned, seems to be a cheerleader paper too much of the time, full of grievance and as delusional as some of the so-called leftist media they criticize.

The American public never wanted this war and their reactions reflect that. Congress has given Trump the rope to go forward but the time to conclude this so that the economic impact doesn't hit right when the mid-terms are in November is being overly hopeful. It could be that in January Trump himself might be in retreat and seeking a pardon.

Conrad Black has always been a observer of history but increasingly, he is becoming yesterday's man. It is unlikely young conservatives are looking to him for direction for the future.

U.S. Makes It's Position on Trade Clear

Figuring out the the Trump position on anything is a difficult one. He can contradict himself in the same day. But fair to say that his tariffs on Canada for steel, aluminum, lumber and cars is not just a negotiating position but the actual position he is taking so long as he is president. Jamieson Greer, the U.S. Traded Representative has made it very clear. He has stated that Canada's manufacturing sector has to move to the U.S. and Canada will have at least 10% tariff on all goods and possibly 15% tariff and Canada can't have any corresponding tariff or face punishment. He says the U.S. wants the liquor ban abandoned (even though it is in response to U.S. sectoral tariffs), they want access to Canada's dairy

The conservative viewpoint in Canada is that Trudeau and now Carney were just playing games on a deal. It is apparent that Poilievre in 2026 has seen popularity drop even steeper for not even mentioning Trump by name for few of alienating his base who, in some cases, support Trump and even advocate for the U.S. to annex Canada or for parts to separate. The steady migration of his MPs to the Liberals and low poll numbers could indicate that made in his own party see Trump as a drag on their support and chanced of government.

July 1st is the day that CUSMA, the free trade agreement is to be negotiated in earnest although discussion are going on non-stop since Trump came back into office. NAFTA and now CUSMA have been around since 1994 and aside from a few areas such as culture and supply management, it is almost entirely tariff-free. As such, Canada, Mexico and the U.S. have configured supply chains so that we are all supplying elements to an overall economy. The end of free trade means those supply chains disappear.

It would appear the U.S. thinks that all manufacturing will be in the U.S. and we will buy the products. However, the U.S. car companies of Ford, GM and Stellantis have already indicated now high priced the cars will be and that they are likely to go under as a result. For Canada, we are likely just to stop buying those products and get cheaper ones elsewhere. Chinese electric cars are far cheaper.

Many Republicans know how damaging tariffs are but the fear they have of Trump is so high, they will say nothing. The strategy of waiting or dragging out negotiations has been mentioned a few times. The Supreme Court has struck down some tariffs and others have time limitations on them. All the while, the mid-term elections are coming and some Republicans fear they will lose the House and possibly the Senate. By then it is game over and the House will take responsibility for tariff control again and Trump will see more Republicans distance from him.

Or at least that is what the Carney and the Canadian government is probably hoping for. Signing a bad deal is worse than no deal. As most countries are finding, Trump changes the deals he has in place every week.  With this in mind, Carney has been going to country after country to begin the process of restoring old trading relations and beginning new ones. In this past week, a deal with India on energy has been made despite misgivings about Indian involvement in the death of Canadians.

There is probably no trade deals out there that don't have some sort of naysayer. Sanctions for countries like Belarus and Russia because of Ukraine invasion. Tariffs, boycotts and tensions with the U.S. with Trump. Issues with China and India because of foreign intervention. And the list goes on. Any attempt to change those dynamics comes with challenges. And conservative media keeps says Carney is holding up real work on a U.S. trade agreement.

It starts to feel like gaslighting as we often see from Conrad Black contributions from the National Post. Or puff pieces from Postmedia about Poilievre. It is no wonder why Ford Progressive Conservatives get so annoyed. Ford knows that the deal the U.S. wants is to close down all car manufacturing in Canada and have a 15% tariff on top of that. Some federal Tories seem convinced Carney is holding up the deal but the provincial ones know that only a quick bad deal is in the offing.

Time is on Carney and Canada's side. Tariffs are unpopular among Americans. War fares even worse and the United States is doing both. The mid-term election in November possibly means the House of Representatives and Senate go Democrat. And while Democrats are not always trade friendly, they are not likely to pursue blanket tariffs on Canada and the world. Trump seems pretty set on his path and for the foreseeable future, Canada is likely to try to stay off his radar while leaving negotiating to the backrooms.

Harper Nostalgia from Conservatives

The Conservatives have been have been all mushy nostalgic for Stephen Harper this past week during the Calgary convention to affirm Pierre Poilievre as party leader. It is the Conservative convention so they can mush all the want. However, the Conservatives certainly leave out a lot of stuff when they talk about Harper, not the least of which is how he got thumped by Justin Trudeau for a terrible campaign and based on his record. And thereafter, Trudeau beat the new two Conservative leaders. It was the Liberals themselves who replaced Trudeau and thereafter Carney beat yet another Conservative leader in Pierre Poilievre.

The last time the Conservatives held power was back when Harper was Prime Minister. The National Post are been particularly strong in singing the praises of Harper the past weekend crediting him with a golden era in Canadian governance. They are very strong in condemnation of Trudeau. There is plenty to criticize Trudeau about but on things like military spending, Trudeau's government easily surpassed Harper who had .08% GDP spending even while we were in Afghanistan. Trudeau was at 1.3% and Carney is to bring it to 2% by March and head past that to 5%. Somehow the way the conservative media frames it, Harper was superior. He wasn't but they seek to downplay that. 

In terms of deficits, Harper media supporters say it was the result of the 2008 stock and economy crash. They credit Harper for managing the crisis while saying that Carney had nothing to do with it. I expect if Carney didn't help, Harper would not have offered him the job of Finance minister or be so effusive in praise of his job as Bank of Canada governor. It is all such nonsense. Such obvious digs sound just like they are: blindly partisan.

The seeds of most leaders demise show themselves early. The electorate initially appreciates or tolerates it in the early going. Most voters are are not extremists. They tend to vote for their own reasons. Having said that, the seeds of Harper's demise came from the social conservative side and his desire to end collection of data in some quarters. The cancelling the long form census and gagging government departments from reporting stuff not approved by his office was very concerning. The focus on immigrants and what they wore turned off a number of people as well as associating with the extremist side with the cultural barbaric practices hotline. Holy ICE in Canada! For Trudeau, it was the performative side of things. He went to India and was annoying in his costume and family holiday. Serious trade and security issues needed to be talked about and they were outshone by superficial stuff. Eventually, with high cost of living, the charismatic Trudeau looked destined for a thorough defeat.

Usually the leader are blind to their own weakness. And why would they think that anything other than victory was possible. Both Harper and Trudeau clobbered opposition. Liberals are not nostalgic for Trudeau insofar that they want him back. I personally believed that some of his personal foibles would have resulted in loss of position by almost every other Liberal MP if they had committed them. Still, I approved in general the change in cannabis law, the handling of the pandemic and the free trade agreement in Trump's first term. As for the cost of living and handling the crime and drug addictions, I was like many people not very happy.

It has been interesting to note in recent days that Harper and Chretien were on stage together talking about national unity. It is hard to imagine this in the U.S. right now. In fact, both men mentioned the issue of Donald Trump and how the country should come together. It was fairly funny to but it also emphasizes Poilievre's problem. While he can embrace nostalgia for Harper, he is having a hard time being critical because there are so many Trump supporters in his party, some who even welcome being the 51st state.

Based on the way the Conservatives are acting, it is clear they don't want to pull the trigger on an election right away. If the act with bravado and block things, Carney might be compelled to call a snap election and call their bluff. Minorities don't have long. If no more floor crossers join the Liberals, the election could be in 2026. Poilievre is meeting Carney to discuss the session. It doesn't seem likely he would do that if he was going to vote non-confidence in the next month.

In the mean time, conservative media will continue to say what a grand time a Harper conservative government was and say nothing bad ever happened. The relationship between Canada, the U.S. and China was never as good as some on the right have said. Harper never did get a pipeline in Canada or the U.S. either. Trudeau got the one in Canada completed. Harper kept the worst instincts of the party down until he didn't. 

Carney and Chretien were present this week when Stephen Harper had his portrait unveiled in Ottawa on 20th anniversary since he was in office. Peter McKay was present too. But no Poilievre. It was probably not a thing he wanted to show a non-partisanship appearance at. A missed opportunity to grow his base. However, his base in furious and angry. About everything. They want to control the courts and judges. They want to end bilingualism. Go to zero immigration. They will go to extremism if they see the Conservatives give on these issues.

It is hard to believe that the Harper nostalgia doesn't teach anything new to present day Conservatives. They certainly don't seem to be listening to Harper now.

Carney in the Post Davos World

 

Much has been made of Mark Carney's speech in Davos, Switzerland about the current situation the world sees itself after one year of Donald Trump's return to office. It is interesting to note that is has had a world-wide response and the speech was re-printed in Le Monde and the New York Times. Donald Trump has reacted negatively and disinvited Carney to his Board of Peace. This may be a blessing for Carney. And Trump is escalating. He says he will launch 100% tariffs on Canada for the recent trade deal with China which does not involve sending any goods to the U.S. but a lowering of tariffs to pre-2024.

In Canada, Pierre Poilievre credited Carney with with an excellent speech and then went on for pages after criticizing him and his government. His main argument is that Carney has done nothing and his party has done nothing. This could be posturing for the election leadership review that Poilievre faces in two weeks. Every opportunity to bring down the minority government he has passed on. We'll see if he is ready to take the government down in February.

We don't have as many silos of only right wing or left wing views as the U.S. has. The American-owned National Post just doesn't have the reach nor does right wing radio or podcasting media in Canada have near the influence it does south of the border. Our bookstores have smaller politics section than U.S. ones where every politician or media person has a book out, it seems. Even social media is light on politics in Canada even on X (Twitter), TikTok and YouTube. Most Canadians seem to get their news from a diverse number of sources and stubbornly hug the middle in most things.

Nevertheless, Conrad Black, who received a pardon from Trump, says that Canada and NATO countries have been have been letting the U.S. do all the work. He seems to forget Afghanistan when Canada honoured Article 5 and went to fight. The first four Canadians killed in Afghanistan were killed by "friendly fire" from American forces. A total of 158 Canadian Forces killed along with 6 civilians seem to have been forgotten. Not just by Trump but by Conrad Black. The Super Conservative forgetting all this is appalling as is the soft pedaling of the disgust many Canadians feel about the threats that Black largely ignore. He gaslights us by calling it derangement syndrome.

The election in 2025 very much felt like a vote for stability when Mark Carney was elected. Canadians seemed to have a visceral response to the chaos south of the border. Many are angry at the aggressive bullying from Donald Trump. It has changed travel and shopping patterns and continues to alter them. It seems like whatever conservative media there is clearly is not reading the room at the rage against the U.S. and Trump in Canada. Every time the Conservatives blame Carney, they are likely setting their own prospects back.

The Winnipeg Sun seems to recognize that Trump's criticism of Carney helps the Liberals get their majority. The editorial believes it might be a conspiracy. The truth is a lot of conservatives are not looking for a united Canada. Some want separation. Some want 51st state. Polls consistently say that the majority in every province are against that. Even when Conservatives have power provincially and federally, there has been a separatist minority so blaming Liberals for them doesn't wash.

Pierre Poilievre had said the Liberals under Carney are not doing anything which is not exactly true. The budget passed but other pieces of legislation have been held up in the minority parliament. Parliament seems stalled as so often happens in a minority. The Carney government has announced GST relief that Poilievre says he will support. Since it is a financial measure, a vote down would likely trigger an election which Conservatives don't seem prepared for.

Trump might be miffed with Carney and his ambassador and cabinet are uttering threats and encouraging separation of Alberta. The ambassador seems perplexed why we won't just surrender our industry to the U.S. or why we'd consider them a threat? Not entirely sure some in Trump's team will every get why were not on board with their plans. Ultimately, it could be Carney is waiting for the Supreme Court to weigh in on the tariffs. Based on the questions the Supreme Court had for Trump officials, it seems likely they are worried that it might be an overreach on Congress and their constitutional power. However, given how the administration looks to dump the Second Amendment when it is a anti-Trump rally and shoot a protestor, who knows?

Although Poilievre has been critical of it, Carney has been travelling lots. He will continue to do in 2026 with India and Australia in search of business and security deals. The Europeans just signed a massive trade deal with India this week and Canada may be close to doing so as well. In Australia, Canada is buying a billion dollar defense system to be used in the north to detect intrusions. It is hard to believe that Poilievre would sit at home in some chauvinistic way to appeal to his base rather than making business, security and business deals around the world. His fear of being called a globalist would do harm to Canada.

Poilievre using the same talking points of the last election may not serve him well. The Canadian public has pivoted and it has a lot to do with Trump. And Poilievre still doesn't know how to respond well to Trump because a lot of his base loves the man. As we swing to separation talks in different regions, the fear is that the U.S. will meddle. They already are. And Poilievre can't be seen to lead the conga line for that. 

The Trump people have so many fires to put out that they started and the mid-term elections are happening this year. Time is running out to run on a winning message. The Supreme Court is to weigh in at any time on tariffs any time up till mid-February. This could result in a reversal of Trump tariffs. As it stands now, China has ordered many shiploads of canola at a reduced tariff and should stay within American red line limits. Prime Minister Carney might just have to wait things out till then.

For now we have to put up with Treasury Secretary Bessant and Commerce Secretary Lutnick gaslighting us about how it is Canada that started this fight with drugs crossing the border and our unfair trading practices. A list of Trump officials will have nothing good to say no matter what concessions are made. And Trump himself is likely to take it as weakness to try for a takeover. It isn't just negotiating strategies. After Venezuela, everything has to be looked at as a shakedown.

The Conservatives in Canada have been saying they are not Trump MAGA while re-posting MAGA comments. Liberal support is up mostly at the cost of the NDP and Bloc in the post Davos speech polling. The Conservatives have called it virtue signaling and said if the Liberals are not adopting the the Poilievre plan, they are doing nothing. Given the tax and GST cuts, the Liberals are not exactly doing nothing. And the canola shipments are hard to argue with except if Conservatives are saying they wouldn't sign tariff reduction deals with China.

A number of media outlets have indicated that Carney has a long list of additional travels in 2026, Some Conservatives are critical saying he should be back in Canada in Parliament facing a blocking opposition. This ignores the amount of Team Canada trips that Stephen Harper did that Conservative are extolling now. India and Australia trips are coming up and there are hints that trade agreements are pending. We can't completely replace American trade. It is simply too big and North American is too integrated to not reach a deal. However, we can't act like we are the ones blocking a deal.

It is still likely an election happens this year unless there is another few floor crossers to the Liberals. Minority governments never last long. Until then, Carney will run a government trying to mitigate the chaos in the U.S.

The Winnipeg Sun Re-Design

The Winnipeg Sun under the Klein Group has tried to distinguish itself from Postmedia Sun and National Post papers since the purchase in 2024. The first obvious step was the paper format with a switch from tabloid or broadsheet. It's actually a hybrid with sports tabloid inside a broadsheet. The font and the marquee also were also new. In fact, some said it looked like Free Press. I credited the Sun for local ownership which the Sun had lost way back in the 1980s.

It is expensive running a newspaper. However, it is possible to generate income if the product gets subscribers, advertisers, sponsors and finds their audience. Print newspaper remains where best profit is but newspapers like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Minnesota Star Tribune make money in a variety of ways digitally and with specialized products like Wordle in the case of the Times.

The Sun digital web page leaned too heavily on the Sun look. Now it looks cleaner and more focused on news with sports and opinion following. Video media was left to the bottom of the page. The Toronto Sun and their group has the videos prominently on the side. It always looks cluttered,

The Conservative opinion in The Sun is not a problem unless it can't make money. If the Klein Group doesn't look at increasing its sports and entertainment as well as news reporting, it risks not growing its audience. It really needs to have a reporter who travels to away Jets games. How that is funded, I'm not sure. I think it has to be a presence on something like YouTube that pays for the news content.

Make no mistake, I want the two main local papers to be successful. And to be successful, it means covering a range of subjects from news to sports, appealing to men and women, having stuff that kids will like, offer entertainment and advice as well as opinion. It isn't an easy task. I approve the new look of the print paper and the digital format looks much better than what they had previously.

In 2026, there is likely going to be a new Manitoba journalism initiative. While the PCs and NDP disagree on parts of it, it is likely the broad strokes of a plan will be to spend 25% of the provincial advertising budget locally and to have tax credits and other initiatives to support newspapers, radio stations and even newsletters. A number of federal programs are in place and others about to start although big online companies want to kill them. It is interesting to note that even in the U.S. antitrust and national security is raising some concern ala TikTok and Middle Eastern investors making a bid for Warner Bros. and CNN.

The Winnipeg Sun and other news companies across Manitoba might benefit from greatly from a province that is not spending their considerable amount money on American-owned media. The Manitoba government won't even say how much they pay for Facebook. Politics aside, The Sun can be a lot more and will be if it keeps looking to increase readability from print to digital. Keep working on it and for goodness sake, start sending a reporter on the road for Jets and find a way to monetize it.

So, good job to the Sun. Winnipeg has to local papers whereas it doesn't exist elsewhere in the west. Let's keep building on that. Build your audience, push for better anti-trust protections and find ways to monetize the product. That comes from the best look and feel of content produced here at home.

Kevin Klein Group Buys Winnipeg Sun

 The announcement that Kevin Klein, former publisher of The Sun, former Councillor and former PC cabinet minister has purchased the Winnipeg Sun, the Portage la Prairie Graphic Leader and the Kenora Miner and News in Ontario. All related print and digital assets, employees and other associated activities of Postmedia Network related to the businesses is included in the sale to the Klein Group and its investors.

It is probably one of the most significant newspaper stories in Canada in a very long while. With this purchase, Winnipeg becomes the only other city in Canada aside from Toronto with at least two locally owned newspapers, owned by two different owners. The Free Press is owned by Bob Silver of Winnipeg and former Winnipegger and Vancouver resident Ron Stern and the The Sun will be owned by Winnipeg resident Kevin Klein. Compare to Toronto where the National Post and Toronto Sun are foreign owned, locally based newspapers, the Globe and Mail is the only remaining newspaper owned by David Thomson and the Toronto Star is owned by the Bitove Family of Toronto.

It simply is unheard of today that two competing newspapers have local ownership. Up until the 1980s Manitoba's local TV media aside from the public broadcaster were locally owned. This was true of radio stations ways back as well but this is true of neither now. In short, it is great news that both newspapers are locally owned by competing groups.

In the mix is Portage la Prairie and Kenora's newspaper which likely means a tighter focus on regional strengths. The National Post will still be a supplier content which should help, For 18 months there has been no agreement between the 37 union members at the Winnipeg Sun. New ownership will be tasked with getting an agreement for stability on that front. There are are agreements with non-unionized staff that will have to be settled but if labour issues are settled, Klein will be tasked with finding a way to make money in the news business.

Kevin Klein as former publisher knows the money side of the business. He has been providing to the content side as a columnist after his political career came to an electoral halt. One of the the things that will be interesting to see is if there is a return of sports reporters travelling with the Jets and the Bombers. The home games have reporters present but the away games have been covered from home base. This is a weakness because exclusives and on the spot coverage are suddenly lacking. 

For the Winnipeg Sun, sports and local stories, particularly crime and court stories are likely things to bring readers in. The paper, which was founded in 1980, started off as a locally owned tabloid publishing a few times a week. It was an act of faith that kept it goes before it got scooped up in 1983 by the larger national Sun chain. It adopted the corporate model of the Sun girl...or boy and the editorial comment on letters. Sports and local news became the focus and Peter Warren would contribute columns. It had its own comics section and TV and movie reviewers. 

In recent years, the Sun has lost some columnists to the Free Press and shrank its newsroom. It still puts out content but it has been in need of TLC from ownership who will both invest and somehow let the journalists pursue news, analysis and opinion. They need to fill the gaps the Free Press leaves open. Crime, city hall could all use a new perspective. It will be a challenge to reach skeptical citizens. And somehow make money on print and digital.

It seems Klein is likely to drop the local journalism initiative. The government money is needed to replace lost ad revenue. Also, the new media group is likely to apply for the digital fund supports coming from Google and the like. But more will be needed to support the business. Government ads of all kinds for announcements used to be helpful. There is no way Canada should be using Facebook when all money goes out of the country. However, the government has used media not based in the country.

Big media companies in Canada have been shutting down newspapers, radio stations and TV stations for years after stripping them down. It has seemed they are more willing to shut them down than sell them. Postmedia has owned The Sun since 2015. The Klein Group purchase The Sun and the other two papers is a welcome change.

I think there will be shockwaves across media in Canada about the purchase and what it might mean for other communities to purchase newspapers, radio stations and the like from large corporations who otherwise would just shut down these companies. I hope for success for The Sun and a healthy competition for readers with the Free Press.

Metro Winnipeg to Close

In a whirlwind it is over for the free newspaper Metro Winnipeg. This morning it was sold by the Toronto Star along with over 20 other newspapers to Postmedia, owner of the National Post. Immediately, Postmedia announced the shutdown of the majority of those paper including Metro Winnipeg.

Most of the newspapers are in Ontario and around 250 jobs will be lost as a result of the closure. It is uncertain how many jobs are affected in Winnipeg although to be sure there will be a number of full-time jobs gone.

Metro was not a detailed newspaper but it had few local and outside the region stories that made it a quick commuter read. It also ran ads that did not appear in regular papers about local activities

It is uncertain if Metro Winnipeg ever made money and to sure it was a long reach for a Toronto Star publication  reaching into Winnipeg's market. However, since Postmedia owns the Winnipeg Sun, the addition of Metro meant the company would own two newspapers in the same market. Obviously this could not stand.

Postmedia shut down Metro to bolster The Sun. It could not be anymore plain and simple as that.

It remains to be seen if Winnipeg Sun will ultimately be saved by the move. Postmedia has been aggressive in removing staff and it is a wonder how the put the paper out. Truth is that all newspaper companies have been. One wonders in five years if there will be any print media left and if any local content will be produced.

The Great Canadian Talk Show - National Post Story

National Post picture.

The national post has a story on the cancellation of The Great Canadian Talk Show.

Of interest to note:

Graham Thomson, the college’s dean of business and applied arts and a non-voting executive member of the board that canned the show, acknowledged that the Winnipeg Free Press contacted president Stephanie Forsyth, but denied any outside influence. Ms. Forsyth declined to comment.

“As I understand it, the president did get a communication from the Free Press,” he said, later adding that he believed the communication came from editor Margo Goodhand. “There were some concerns about Marty having taken shots at the Free Press ... I believe that the concern about the show was voiced by the president to one of our vice-presidents who is on the board.”

I have no idea what the Winnipeg Free Press involvement was but it looks like the college is acknowledging that someone from the paper was not happy and contacted the college to have something done about it.