Start your day off right with five things you need to know this morning.
Five things you need to know
Canada's in deep trouble when it comes to electricity, according to an energy expert at the MacDonald-Laurier Institute. Heather Exner-Pirot's latest research suggests Canada has become "complacent" with its power-generation, and now faces a "looming electricity shortage." She adds: "Over the past two decades, governments in Canada prioritized grid sustainability, even at the expense of reliability and affordability."
The electricity abundance and affordability that Canada has enjoyed for decades are ending. Generation is down, exports are now imports, and investment is flat. Canada’s impending electricity shortage is not just an affordability
— Heather Exner-Pirot (@ExnerPirot) March 16, 2026
crisis; it is an economic and security one as… pic.twitter.com/MNvJK79dJ2
Mark Carney's government is on track to vastly outspend Justin Trudeau's, despite promising a different new to finances, according to a think tank report published today. According to the Fraser Institute analysis, Carney is planning to run combined deficits of $321.7 billion through to 2029/30. "Rather than take a new approach, this analysis reveals the Carney government will instead continue, and exacerbate, the same fiscal policies as the Trudeau government," the authors write.
But whatever the experts are saying about Canada's looming power shortages, fiscal deterioration, economic slowdown and whatever else, the Canadian people are saying something very different. Mark Carney's Liberals have opened up a gigantic 17-point lead over the Conservatives, according to the latest poll from Nanos, the best results the pollster has ever recorded for the party and beating even the highs of Justin Trudeau's honeymoon in 2016. On a personal level, the poll is even better news for Carney: the former central banker was the preferred choice as prime minister for 56.5 per cent of respondents, compared to Poilievre at 22 per cent.
Latest @niknanos federal poll: Liberals at record high in Nanos Tracking: LPC 47.6, CPC 31.1, NDP 11.2 https://t.co/DjqAtHDdan
— National Newswatch (@natnewswatch) March 17, 2026
Find out more at https://t.co/1zbPY5GAhV pic.twitter.com/yHnSdz2bnU
Mixed news related to the Iran war today. A senior US official – National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent – has resigned after claiming Iran "posed no imminent threat to our nation," instead alleging the US had been pushed into the war "due to pressure Israel." Separately, Israel said its military has killed Ali Larijani, head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and one of the most powerful and influential men in the Islamic Republic.
After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today.
— Joe Kent (@joekent16jan19) March 17, 2026
I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this… pic.twitter.com/prtu86DpEr
In Cuba, meanwhile, millions of people have been left without power after the communist-ruled nation's electricity grid collapsed. Cuba's leaders have long struggled to obtain enough fuel to keep the island's ageing electricity infrastructure working, but the situation has worsened after the US blockaded oil shipments following the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.
Millions without electricity as Cuba's power grid collapses https://t.co/wFPAwyDqrW
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) March 17, 2026
