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Written by Hanna Lee Copy Editor, Digital News
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Good morning. Canada is looking to deepen its trade ties with Europe — should we also beef up our payments infrastructure while we're at it? We'll get into that below, along with a look at how early election calls have fared for leaders in history. We also have more information on the now-deceased suspect in the Belleville, Ont., synagogue shooting.
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FEATURED STORIES
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(Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)
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As Canada deepens ties with Europe, could it leave U.S. banks and dollars behind?
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While U.S. President Donald Trump has mainly doled out punishments to countries in the form of tariffs, there's concern he could shift to other kinds of pressure — like ordering U.S. payments processors to turn off Canada's access.
What's happening: Such a situation is unfathomable, but it's not impossible, said Vass Bednar, head of the Canadian Shield Institute think-tank. It shows how reliant Canada is on companies like Visa and Mastercard, which wield tremendous power, handling about $32 trillion in transactions each year. And while Canada is expected to launch a new payments system called the Real-Time Rail later this year, that was conceived with efficiency in mind, not sovereignty.
The alternative: Some countries are setting up so-called swap lines that go around the U.S., including China, which has a digital currency interchange that lets it pay for commodities like oil without touching American banks. Bednar believes Canada should also work with middle powers to build up payments infrastructure. The goal isn't to completely work around U.S. banks, but to reduce our reliance on them.
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Will Eby's early election gamble pay off or backfire in B.C.? Here's what history tells us
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On Tuesday, B.C. NDP Leader David Eby called a provincial election two years early in the hopes of extending his mandate. With voters set to return to the polls on Oct. 24, here's a look at how similar gambits have worked for leaders in the past.
Go big: A few leaders used their COVID-19 pandemic-era popularity to take their governments from a minority to a majority in 2020, including Eby's predecessor, the late John Horgan, and Blaine Higgs of New Brunswick. In 2025, Ontario Premier Doug Ford called an early election; like Eby, he invoked Trump and the trade war, and won a historic third majority government.
Or go home: Voters have also punished politicians for calling early elections. Take Ontario's David Peterson, for example. In 1990, just three years after his Liberals had won a majority, he called an election and ended up losing his premiership to NDP Leader Bob Rae. Quebec, meanwhile, has had two different governments tossed out after two subsequent early election calls.
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Synagogue shooting suspect's online username alluded to killing Jews weeks before attack, friend says
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Sean Ward, the man who died after a Sunday shootout with police outside a synagogue in Belleville, Ont., was showing concerning signs in the lead-up to the attack, CBC News has learned.
What's happening: Our visual investigations team got in touch with Ward's childhood friend, who asked not to be named over fears of losing his job because of his association with the suspect. Along with that interview, the team pieced together text messages and online accounts to put together a partial profile of Ward.
More details: Ward was part of the Canadian Armed Forces from 2017 to 2022. Multiple friends told CBC News he was released due to his refusal to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The childhood friend said Ward, 29, routinely used slurs for Jewish people, trying to name himself "k--ekiller" in an online game and settling on "kitekiller" after it was censored. He also blamed immigrants for his inability to find work. "I just didn't think he would do anything to that extreme," the friend said.
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