Privatizing airports is a terrible deal for travellers, workers, and the public purse. Around the world, it has led to higher travel costs, fewer jobs and worse working conditions. Private equity moguls and fund managers love it! Once they’re in, they own a piece of a natural monopoly, and they print money for decades. This is a mistake we do not need to make. The alternative to privatizing our airports is to NOT DO IT.

Today’s announcement shows what this federal government will protect above all else: the profits of Big Oil. As we mark the five-year anniversary of a heat dome that killed 619 people in British Columbia – and as many communities across the country are facing extreme weather right now – Canadians deserve leadership that protects us. Instead, this government is doubling down on yesterday’s failed solutions and dragging us into further danger, risk and insecurity. The opaque and confusing public-private partnership ownership structure means it's very likely that we, the public, will not only bear the risks and the damages, but also the lion's share of the costs. Canada’s New Democrats unequivocally oppose this pipeline proposal. If anything, this is a pipeline to the courts. It ignores the federal government’s legal responsibility to meaningfully consult Indigenous nations, including Treaty 8 nations in Alberta, threatens endangered species, and accelerates climate change. It will sow the very divisions the Prime Minister claims he wants to avoid. We do not achieve unity or prosperity from projects that pit communities against one another, all while a handful of oil and gas CEOs walk away with enormous profits. While we're stuck fighting yesterday's battles over pipelines, and the Prime Minister openly admits that our emissions will rise, the rest of the world is racing ahead on renewables. We cannot afford to fall behind while other countries build the industries of the future. Canadians deserve better than being told our only choice is another fight over another pipeline. This country needs an alternative to the Liberal-Conservative consensus that is doubling down on a future of climate-wrecking corporate welfare. New Democrats are ready to build something bigger, safer, and better – a Canada that is a renewable energy superpower, with an east-west clean electricity grid and good green jobs in every region. Lower costs for families with home retrofits and heat pumps for all. Investing in the care economy as a nation-building project. That’s what it looks like to build big things that actually unite this country.

The Liberal government might as well have called its AI strategy “All in for AI”. This is a document that is heavy on hype, but light on the right guardrails that we need to protect people – and to ensure that the benefits of the technology don’t just flow to a handful of tech giants and investors. It proposes a massive boost to business adoption of AI, with no concern for the consequences this will have for workers, especially young workers who are already watching careers vanish before their eyes. This government is imposing a world-changing technology on all of us without any public debate. Instead of putting in place strong regulations to safeguard workers, youth, privacy, and our water and energy supply, they prefer to “move fast and break things” as the Silicon Valley motto goes. That’s why before rushing ahead, with no brakes, we need a robust regulatory framework. Every other industry in this country, from forestry to banking, is regulated. Yet somehow, when it comes to generative AI that is controlled by MAGA-aligned billionaires, the usual rules don’t apply. New Democrats support the development of cutting edge technology. For AI, that looks like responsible machine learning with small, contained datasets and targeted applications. We’re calling for a humans-first AI strategy. One that protects Canadian jobs, data and natural resources. Not a strategy that mimics the worst tendencies of AI chatbots: hallucinating benefits and flattering big tech CEOs by telling them exactly what they want to hear.

Cuba is out of fuel, strangled by the US fuel chokehold. People are dying, systems are breaking down. This is collective punishment against a people who have done absolutely nothing except live their lives under hard conditions imposed by the US blockade for decades. It’s a blatant violation of international law, a crime in progress. Canadians are connected to Cuba: we’ve been welcomed, had great holidays, heard incredible music, done business and made friends. We need to help Cuba right now, even if it bothers Trump: Canada should send immediate humanitarian fuel aid, in as much quantity as we can quickly assemble. And we should be speaking out loudly on the international stage: US military action against Cuba is absolutely unacceptable! It’s time for the countries of the world to rally and stop this impunity before it takes another sovereign country into chaos. We have to come to Cuba's aid. What's happening is too cruel, too horrible.