Good morning. Today we start with a look at leadership changes at two federal investment agencies. More on that below, along with the goings-on at a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bankers, Brayden Bushby’s parole and a greenhouse gas emissions lawsuit.
Doug Guzman, left, listens as Mark Carney takes questions at the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries annual defence industry trade show in Ottawa, May 27.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
TOP STORIES
Change of leadership at the Defence Investment Agency
Former banker Doug Guzman is expected to depart as head of Canada’s newly created Defence Investment Agency after only a year on the job, two sources say. It is not known whether Prime Minister Mark Carney will ask Guzman, a close personal friend, to take on another government role.
The details: The sources told The Globe and Mail that Guzman was frustrated by the slow pace of government bureaucracy in getting defence procurement projects moving and approved. The Globe is not naming the sources, who were not authorized to discuss the matter.
Another move: Ottawa is also overhauling the leadership of Invest in Canada, appointing private equity executive Gurinder Grewal as chief executive officer and former consultant and diplomat Dominic Barton as board chair.
World leaders in finance participate in a plenary session for the 2026 G20 Financial meetings on Aug. 31, in Asheville, North Carolina.Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images
The latest from the trade war
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he plans to meet with his Canadian counterpart at this week’s gathering of G20 central bank governors and finance ministers in Asheville, N.C. The G20 gathering began yesterday and continues today.
He said: Bessent said Prime Minister Mark Carney was offered “the best trade deal of any country on the globe,” and he chose to walk away. “How are we going to be at war with Canada? What are they going to do, take their two-cent submarines from the Edmonton Mall and sic them on us?” he asked.
She said: Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said in a statement she will be travelling this week to join a meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers. She said her attendance, the first by a Canadian foreign minister, will help set the stage for a Canada-EU Leaders’ Summit scheduled for late October in Canada.
Meanwhile: The leaders of China, Russia and India gathered with other heads of state in Kyrgyzstan for a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a group billed as a counterweight to U.S. global influence.
Keep reading
Connie Kentner participates in a march following a decision to grant full parole to the man who was convicted of manslaughter in connection with her sister’s death, in Ottawa, on Aug. 31.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Relatives of Barbara Kentner decry parole decision
Family members of Barbara Kentner, an Indigenous woman who died after an attack fuelled by hatred, say they want an explanation for why they weren’t told of a decision to give the man who killed her full parole earlier this month. Brayden Bushby served only five years of an eight-year sentence for manslaughter.
On the ground: Indigenous leaders joined Connie and Melissa Kentner, Barbara’s sisters, on Parliament Hill to call for a review of the Parole Board of Canada’s decision. “There are families who are asking themselves whether the justice system will protect them and whether their voices will matter if something happens to them,” Connie said.
Elections Canada signage.Laura Proctor/The Canadian Press
Liberals claim victory in three by-elections
The federal Liberals won three by-elections on Monday – one in Ontario, and another in what was expected to be a tight three-way race in Quebec, where the seat was previously held by a Conservative. The final by-election, in the riding of North Vancouver-Capilano, was also an easy win for the Liberals.
The victories in all three ridings bolstered the government’s slim majority in the House of Commons, as additional by-elections loom after the recent departures of several MPs.
More politics: A’a:liya Warbus has left the BC Conservative caucus, citing the party’s departure from core issues and a “critical breakdown in communication” under leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay.
Once the shore near West Vancouver is divvied up into plots, researchers take notes on purple sea stars and other species of the intertidal zone. The sea stars are a useful indicator of the ecosystem’s health.Jesse Winter/The Globe and Mail
B.C. scientists find a mysterious killer of sea stars
A mysterious disease is destroying starfish and threatening critical ecosystems. Last year, Canadian researchers identified the culprit: star-killing bacteria called vibrio pectenicida. Now that they’ve got the cause, the scientists see an ingenious way to stop it.
Fun fact: One of the team’s most surprising discoveries feels ripped from the script of Project Hail Mary. The seemingly unstoppable vibrio pectenicida does, in fact, have natural predators of its own: bacteriophages, or phages for short – viruses that attack bacteria by infecting them and reproducing inside them.
The Take
But Nepal will not be meaningfully safer unless policy-makers start treating the transboundary watershed as a standing security and disaster-preparedness problem rather than a recurring emergency.
— Brabim Karki, writer and columnist based in Nepal
Nepal must work to avert the next disaster instead of just responding to it, writes Brabim Karki.
The chart
Five years later, we take a closer look at the numbers behind Canada’s legalization of single-event sports gambling in five charts.
The Wrap
What else we’re following
At home: The federal government is asking a Federal Court judge to toss out a lawsuit accusing Ottawa of having no intention of meeting its 2030 greenhouse gas emissions target.
Abroad: Trump promised further strikes against Iran as the conflict threatened to escalate into open fighting again.
At home and abroad: The Belgian federal prosecutor’s office says a former Canadian NATO intern facing espionage charges will remain in custody.
Aerospace: Renowned Canadair water bombers are in high demand, but can’t be built fast enough as the planet burns, writes Eric Reguly.
End of an era: Argentine superstar Lionel Messi announced his retirement from international soccer, ending 21 years of national-team duty.
