Normand Smith

Canada’s trade surplus widens to more than four-year high in September theglobeandmail.com/business…

The federal government will beef up Canada’s intelligence-gathering capabilities and "prepare for all contingencies up to and including war" under a new national-security strategy that says protecting sovereignty now requires building "strategic capabilities" in eight sectors from critical minerals to defence and emerging technologies. The Plan for a Stronger Canada, released Thursday, is the first national-security strategy from Ottawa in more than two decades. Only 13 pages long, it’s a framework guiding the development of five new detailed national policies for defence, foreign affairs, economic security, public safety and intelligence. A new foreign policy will be released in about one month with others to follow, the government says. Senior officials at a briefing Thursday said threats facing Canada are increasingly complex, ranging from climate change, terrorism, pandemics to cyberattacks, cutting-edge artificial intelligence and the increasing possibility of a major war. The Globe and Mail is not identifying the officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. Officials did not say where specifically war might break out but some European leaders and military commanders have said that by 2029, Russia will have the capacity to attack another North Atlantic Treaty Organization country. theglobeandmail.com/politics…