Afternoon front page: ‘No open channels’ to resume Canada-U.S. trade talks, says Greer; the murky waters of renaming Lake Ontario; and more

It’s Wednesday, Aug. 26. Here are the top stories we’re following today.

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United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said it’s “not clear” to him when negotiations with Canada will resume. Steve Verheul, meanwhile, the man who served as Canada’s chief CUSMA negotiator when the deal was struck, warned that a review of the pact has “now been put into some question” following the abrupt and acrimonious breakdown of trade talks between Canada and the U.S. Read the story.

The Ontario premier stood by his previous suggestion that he would consider cutting off Ontario electricity and critical minerals sent to the U.S., but stressed such a move would require a “Team Canada approach,” one that he’d be happy to captain. Read the story.

As Joseph Brean explains, there are both bilateral and multilateral reasons the U.S. president shouldn’t proceed with an executive order to change the great lake’s name to Lake America. But even should it come to pass, like when Trump ordered the Gulf of Mexico “renamed” the Gulf of America, Canada and Canadians won’t have to call it that. Read the story.

Whether via nuclear winter, huge volcanic eruption or asteroid strike, a research paper found that Canada is “probably near the worst among wealthy democracies for abrupt sunlight reduction scenarios.” Meanwhile, it’s a nation the author said others can learn from when it comes to protecting their electric grids from geomagnetic storms. Read the story.

“Whatever one thinks of U.S. President Donald Trump’s actions, particularly on trade, the critics of the Mark Carney government who point to how it has handled the bilateral relationship with the U.S. are, it must be said, absolutely right,” writes Jerema. “The Liberals always seem to prioritize the interests of the party over the country, unless it is something that affects Quebec, while leaving other regions (read: Alberta) neglected.” Read the column.

The emeritus professor of sociology and Jewish studies at University of Toronto writes that members of the Jewish Faculty Network “are wrong to claim that being Jewish is only a matter of religion and not a matter of statehood. Moreover, just as it is antisemitic to discriminate against Jews based on their religion, I believe it is antisemitic to erase support for the existence of a Jewish state as a core part of Jewish identity.” Read the column.

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