In the news today: Carney unveils energy agreement with Germany

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed…

Carney unveils energy agreement with Germany

Canada is signing a critical minerals partnership with Germany that encourages the joint public financing of natural resources projects.

Prime Minister Mark Carney says for too long, key Canadian minerals such as nickel and cobalt have gone underdeveloped while China and Russia dominate the global critical minerals market.

Carney says the two countries also aim to closely co-operate in energy, including on liquefied natural gas and hydrogen energy.

Carney is currently on a five-day trip through Europe and will meet with German business leaders later on today.

When the prime minister met with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz this morning, the two world leaders also discussed the war in Ukraine.

Here’s what else we’re watching…

Canada narrows sub suppliers to two options

Government officials say Canada has narrowed down its shopping list for its next fleet of submarines to those made by a German and a South Korean supplier.

Canada plans to replace its current fleet of four aging submarines over the next decade with up to 12 new subs.

Ottawa says Germany’s Thyssen Krupp Marine Systems, or TKMS, and South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean Co. are the two best qualified suppliers for that job.

Prime Minister Mark Carney is in Germany today and is scheduled to visit the TKMS facility later in the day.

Carney is aggressively ramping up Canada’s defence spending plans in the coming years in a bid to meet NATO spending targets.

Alberta Next panel set for event in Fort McMurray

Premier Danielle Smith’s Alberta Next panel is heading to Fort McMurray tonight to gather ideas from the public on getting the province a better deal from Ottawa.

The panel’s town halls have been aimed at addressing grievances that Smith says are inspiring separatist sentiment.

It has pitched six policy ideas, including pulling out of the Canada Pension Plan and creating a provincial police force to replace the RCMP.

Another issue up for discussion is the idea of withholding social services from some immigrants.

The panel has received enthusiastic support, but also has faced fierce criticism and drawn protesters at three previous events in Red Deer and Edmonton.

Byelection today in western Manitoba

Voters are going to the polls today in a provincial byelection in western Manitoba.

The Spruce Woods riding is largely rural and has voted strongly for the Progressive Conservatives since it was formed in 2011.

The Tories, who are now in Opposition, have never received less than 60 per cent of the vote, but the governing New Democrats are riding high in provincewide opinion polls and have made a series of promises and announcements in the area.

The seat has been vacant since March, when Grant Jackson resigned to run for the federal Conservatives in the April general election.

The outcome of the vote won’t affect the NDP’s majority in the legislature, where the party has 34 of the 57 seats to the Tories’ 20. There is one Liberal and one Independent.

Woman being sued over ‘pretendians’ allegations

A First Nations woman is being sued for calling four women “pretendians,” with the plaintiffs seeking more than $500,000 in damages and retractions to the heavily publicized comments made about them.

Michelle Christine Cameron, also known as Crystal Semaganis, who heads the Ghost Warrior Society, says she conducts research to safeguard community spaces designated for Indigenous Peoples and says those pretending to be Indigenous pose a real harm to communities and nations.

In the lawsuit filed in July to the Supreme Court of Yukon, Amanda Buffalo, Krista Reid, Amaris Manderschied and their mother Louise Darroch, say Semaganis conducted research into their backgrounds and concluded they are of Ukrainian heritage, not Indigenous, and then engaged in a “relentless” social media campaign against them.

Court documents say she is accused of calling them “‘grifters,’ liars and racists who exploit their falsely claimed Indigenous heritage for personal gain.”

Three of the four plaintiffs hold positions working with or for Indigenous communities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 26, 2025.

The Canadian Press