Justin Trudeau answers a question in the House of Commons on Feb. 6, 2017.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
CANADIAN NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW
> Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Nunavut today, his first trip to the North since winning the 2015 election. His office announced he'll head to Germany next week and also address the European Parliament. His first in-person visit with U.S. President Donald Trump is set to happen soon.
> The parade of cabinet ministers to Washington continues, with Finance Minister Bill Morneau in the U.S. capital today. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says she warned the Trump administration yesterday that Canada wouldn't put up with any new tariffs. Canadians whose Nexus cards were revoked because of the immigration ban have had them reinstated (for now) and the Prime Minister says he's "very concerned" about an influx in refugees to Canada.
> The Canadian government has assembled an eight-person team to campaign for a seat on the United Nations Security Council, the Hill Times reports.
> RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson has ordered a review of all sex-assault cases investigated by the police force that were marked as "unfounded." A Globe investigation into how police handled sexual assault complaints has prompted reviews in many forces across the country.
> An ammunition depot in Halifax is in serious risk of a fire, CBC reports.
> Some cabinet ministers and Liberal MPs donated too much to their party, according to an iPolitics count.
> Police chiefs say they hope the Liberals do not allow home grows when they legalize marijuana.
> And yesterday's census told us the West is on the way up, the East is on the way down and the suburbs are spreading. But how did Statistics Canada actually pull it together? Reporter Joe Friesen explains.
U.S. NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW
> A few weeks into the Trump era, America's global alliances are already being tested. The Canada-U.S. relationship, however, appears to be strong, according to U.S. citizens. Both Democrats and Republicans think Canada ranks second among U.S. allies; independents, meanwhile, think we're number one. Republicans think that Australia is the country's strongest ally while Democrats think that honour belongs to the British. The country thought of as America's greatest enemy, North Korea, is the same on all sides of the aisle with Iran coming in a close second.
> Mr. Trump is taking his first steps to break the ice with China.
> The President's executive orders are reasonably popular, according to a Morning Consult poll, at the same time as his approval ratings continue to slide.
> Mr. Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court is not thrilled with the President's attacks on the judiciary.
> The White House can't find a director of communications.
> And Ambassador Sarah Palin? Ottawa Citizen columnist Andrew Cohen says the former Alaska governor and vice-presidential candidate should be Mr. Trump's woman in Ottawa. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was asked about it in a briefing and would not confirm or deny.
WHAT EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT
John Ibbitson (Globe and Mail): "With every passing year, Canada becomes more urban. According to the census, more than a third of us now live in Greater Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver. Add in the Golden Horseshoe, Lower Mainland and Victoria, Calgary and Edmonton, Winnipeg, Guelph-to-London, Ottawa/Gatineau and Quebec City, and the number approaches two-thirds. In contrast, Saint John was the only city to lose population over the past five years. Atlantic Canada remains largely rural, even as the rest of Canada continues urbanizing."
Laurin Liu (Globe and Mail): "Progress in gender equity is never a given; the risk of backsliding is all too real. Making sure that women are given conditions for success in their political workplaces requires that the conversation be ongoing and that the issue be flagged as an organizational priority. And it requires male colleagues and leaders to have an ally mentality."
Jutta Brunnée and Stephen Toope (Globe and Mail): "If the United States jettisons the rule of law, other states are encouraged to do the same. Instead of building shared institutions to address common issues such as terrorism, refugee flows or environmental degradation, the approach is to beggar thy neighbour, build up your military and ensure you can win any dispute through the application of economic or military force."
Paul Wells (Toronto Star): "Resuscitating two cherished Liberal programs, and fulfilling a couple of election promises, may help [Mr. Trudeau] shore up his left flank."
Robyn Urback (CBC): "Sorry, kids: you've been had. I don't mean to be patronizing — to the extent that I can be patronizing of my own contemporaries — but it appears the millennial fantasy of Liberal exceptionalism when it comes to 'the same old politics' in Ottawa is, at last, starting to fade. Thanks, electoral reform."
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Written by Chris Hannay and Mayaz Alam.