Start your day off right with five things you need to know this morning.
Five things you need to know
Prime Minister Mark Carney has finally got his majority, two weeks before the one-year anniversary of the 2025 federal election, courtesy of a clean sweep of three by-elections in Toronto and Montreal on Monday. Speaking in Ottawa today, Carney made the first announcement of his majority government: a temporary suspension of the federal fuel excise tax on gas and diesel, an idea first proposed by the Conservatives. The suspension, which is expected to save 10 cents per litre of gas and four cents per litre of diesel, will come into effect on April 20 and extend through to Sept. 7.
LIVE: Cutting fuel costs in Canada • EN DIRECT : Réduire les coûts de carburant au Canada https://t.co/4tgH71OyJy
— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) April 14, 2026
The overall economic picture in both Canada and the world is looking bleaker in the wake of the Iran war, according to the IMF, which today released its latest forecasts for 2026 and 2027. The institution downgraded Canada's 2026 GDP growth estimate to 1.5 per cent (from 1.6 per cent). The US is still expected to be the best-performing advanced economy, with growth of 2.3 per cent this year.
IMF Growth Forecast 2026:
— IMF (@IMFNews) April 14, 2026
🇺🇸 US: 2.3%
🇩🇪 Germany: 0.8%
🇫🇷 France: 0.9%
🇮🇹 Italy: 0.5%
🇪🇸 Spain: 2.1%
🇬🇧 UK: 0.8%
🇯🇵 Japan:0.7%
🇨🇦 Canada: 1.5%
🇨🇳 China: 4.4%
🇮🇳 India: 6.5%
🇷🇺 Russia: 1.1%
🇧🇷 Brazil: 1.9%
🇲🇽 Mexico: 1.6%
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia: 3.1%
🇳🇬 Nigeria: 4.1%
🇿🇦… pic.twitter.com/hs7T3ebF1v
BC Premier David Eby has delayed his plans to suspend parts of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act – DRIPA – because of a lack of support in his own party and among First Nations leaders. Eby said BC NDP MLA Joan Phillip could not bring herself to back the changes, which have been deemed necessary by the premier to shore up the principle of private property in the province.
Pause of Indigenous rights act won't be confidence vote, B.C. election prospect fades https://t.co/HaElBxl9i8
— Times Colonist (@timescolonist) April 13, 2026
In more BC news, Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry has hit out at the BC NDP government's decision to roll back the controversial drug decriminalization trial. She said it was "disappointing," adding that she believes "there was political pressure" to end the trial.
B.C. health officer Bonnie Henry is disappointed by reversal of decriminalization https://t.co/V35VOD9Sxt
— CP24 (@CP24) April 14, 2026
New NDP leader Avi Lewis has called on the Liberal government to ban "surveillance pricing," which refers to firms using customer data – including search history – to change prices. "It's unfair, it's a ripoff, and it's downright creepy – and it's time to put a stop to it," he said.
NDP pushing for ban on AI surveillance pricing as Avi Lewis makes Parliament Hill debut. https://t.co/tb1I1FaKB7
— CityNews Edmonton (@CityNewsYEG) April 13, 2026
