Start your day off right with five things you need to know this morning.
Five things you need to know
The head of the Assembly of First Nations has asserted that the Alberta independence movement is "illegitimate," "fuelled by misinformation and foreign interference," and doomed to failure without her permission. Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak also made an antagonistic comment about race and ethnicity: “(Separatists) can take the dirt that maybe their ancestors brought with them under their fingernails when they came over here from other places, because that’s the only piece of land that they’re going to take."
First Nations’ permission needed for Alberta separation, AFN chief sayshttps://t.co/cPzKfoYa5n
— Global Calgary (@GlobalCalgary) February 10, 2026
Kelowna MP Stephen Fuhr is in the national news again, this time for telling a House of Commons committee that the Liberal government will "probably" announce the winner of the competition to build Canada's new submarines this year. Fuhr also said the subs will be in the water by 2032. Two companies, one from South Korea and one from Germany, are bidding for the multibillion-dollar contract.
Ottawa ‘probably’ will announce winner of submarine contract this year: MPhttps://t.co/m48UUlUrIG
— CityNews Halifax (@CityNewsHFX) February 11, 2026
The debate about whether British Columbia should open public grocery stores is continuing after the idea was backed by BC Green Party leader Emily Lowan and federal NDP leadership hopeful Avi Lewis. Former Whole Foods executive Errol Schweizer said the only way to get grocery prices "to 2019 levels" is through subsidies, adding: "You can either do that through a subsidized grocery store or by giving people more money." But Gary Sands, from the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers, said the idea is "just nonsensical," adding: "It's like the four horsemen of the apocalypse have taken up careers in the food industry. And for someone to suggest that, poof, all of those issues go away because now it's a government-run grocery store, to me, it's just a head scratcher."
B.C.'s Union Gospel Mission enters the debate on government-run grocery stores amid rising food costs. https://t.co/JBsGUqz8Ij pic.twitter.com/G6vE8koQfb
— Canadian Grocer (@CanadianGrocer) February 11, 2026
A Canadian pollster has been asking Americans what they think of Donald Trump's policy of tariffing imports. A majority (56 per cent) said the tariffs are making life more expensive, while 49 per cent said the taxes are "very bad for the United States." A plurality of Americans (48 per cent) also backed the continuation of the US-Mexico-Canada free trade deal, while 64 per cent said they feel positively about Canada. In related news, the US House of Representatives is set to vote today on a resolution against Trump's tariffs on Canadian imports after the White House failed to persuade enough Republicans to block the move.
In more Trump news, the New York Times newspaper has reported that the owner of the Ambassador Bridge between Detroit and Windsor spoke with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick "hours" before Trump railed against the new Gordie Howe International Bridge set to connect the same two cities. Matthew Moroun, the head of the billionaire family that profits from tolls on the Ambassador Bridge, has long been opposed to a second bridge between Windsor and Detroit. According to the New York Times, Lutnick spoke with Trump soon after meeting with Moroun.
Gifting my online bubble the story that blew up the story that’s dominated the conscience of every political reporter in Michigan since last night: Bridge Wars.
— Lily Catherine Guiney (@LilyCGuiney) February 10, 2026
Bridge Owner Lobbied Administration Before Trump Blasted Competing Span to Canada https://t.co/lxqY1WSiRO via @NYTimes
