Prime Minister Carney is expected to announce a decision later today regarding the procurement of a new submarine fleet for the Royal Canadian Navy. 2 companies are vying for the contract. One is the German-Norwegian consortium TKMS; the other is South Korea’s Hanwha. The contract is to build 12 new submarines. The newly created Defense Investment Agency is responsible for evaluating the bids. Currently, only one of the Navy’s existing 4 Victoria class subs are operational. The others are undergoing maintenance. Following the expected announcement, Prime Minister Carney will be heading to Turkey for the Nato Summit this week.

Several Ottawa city councillors and MPPs are calling on the province to make disaster funding available for residents facing financial burdens after the Canada Day storms. More than 3200 basements were flooded and groups all over the city were forced to cancel activities due to flooded roads and downed trees. Knoxdale-Merivale councillor Sean Devine is calling on the government to activate the Disaster Recovery Assistance for Ontarians program aimed at helping those who are uninsured or underinsured to recover costs associated with natural disasters. Financial help would be capped at $250,000 per application.

Following the Trump administration’s decision to require annual reviews of the Canada US Mexico agreement instead of renewing in its current form until 2042, the Canadian government finds itself uncertain about next steps. Canada US trade minister Dominic LeBlanc stated that this is somewhat uncharted territory. It is not typical for this kind of agreement. It was agreed that conversations would continue over the coming weeks. Le Blanc said at the conclusion of their July 1 conversation, we suggested bringing some structure and rigour to the review process the Americans have proposed. How those annual reviews will be conducted is yet to be determined.