Start your day off right with five things you need to know this morning.
Five things you need to know
A group of Canadians is planning to sail to Gaza next month, claiming they intend to deliver aid to the Palestinian territory. The "Global Sumud Flotilla" is due to depart from Spain and Italy on April 12, and Safa Chebbi, the spokeswoman for the Canadian contingent, said more than 100 boats carrying 3,000 people are planning to make the voyage.
Canadians plan to sail to Gaza despite detention risks.https://t.co/wNurMwFiuE
— Globalnews.ca (@globalnews) March 21, 2026
Canada should follow the lead of other countries around the world and ban Chinese electric vehicles from entering military bases, intelligence analysts have warned. Ontario Tech University's Dennis Molinaro, a counter-intelligence specialist, said Canada should "absolutely" go ahead with the prohibition. Beauceron Security's David Shipley added: “The Chinese sometimes send us a good signal about what the risks are. They banned Teslas from their major political events and military bases for the same reason Israel is banning their BYDs.”
Canada should ‘absolutely’ match Poland’s Chinese EV ban at military bases: expert. https://t.co/NAPpGQ4lUG
— CityNews Winnipeg (@CityNewsWPG) March 21, 2026
A new poll focused on the BC Conservative Party's leadership race has been released, with this one showing Caroline Elliott ahead at 21.2 per cent. The poll, carried out by Mainstreet Research, was commissioned by Peter Milobar, who came second at 20.8 per cent.
📊 New BC Leadership Poll: Milobar and Elliott down to the wire.https://t.co/twiX4d9o32
— Mainstreet Research (@MainStResearch) March 23, 2026
Some of the biggest carmakers in the world are scaling back their plans to build electric vehicles amid "stubborn demand" for gas and diesel models, according to a report in the Financial Times newspaper. At least 12 global players are backing away from ambitious plans to phase out combustion engines and phase in battery-powered vehicles, including Honda, which last week said it was no longer aiming to end its production of oil-powered vehicles by 2040. Ford, Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Audi, Lotus, Ferrari and Porsche have also backed away from EV targets. The head of Lamborghini, meanwhile, said it won't be building its first electric car by 2030, choosing instead to build a plug-in hybrid. Its chief executive explained: "One of the biggest [factors in] the rejection of fully electric cars was the missing sound of the engine.”
Global carmakers retreat en masse from electric vehicle plans via @FT
— Arvind Vijh 🇨🇦 (@arvindvijh) March 23, 2026
https://t.co/572qtXoXdv
Should Canada ask the French to extend the protection of its nuclear umbrella to the Great White North? That's what the CBC has been investigating, prompted by similar questions being asked in European capitals, including Paris. The article cites political science professor Julian Spencer-Churchill, who wrote last year that: "A formal Canadian nuclear program, designed to assure its citizens, would instead excite anti-Americanism to new heights and would likely provoke a physical and irreversible U.S. intervention." CBC added: "It may well be his arguments against Canada acquiring the bomb could also be transferred to the notion of openly joining France's extended deterrence."
Europe is eyeing France's nuclear shield. Should Canada follow? Would French deterrence in North America would risk inflaming tensions with Washington? #cdnpoli #NATO #nuclear #Greenland https://t.co/GXe8DNiPkT
— Murray Brewster (@Murray_Brewster) March 21, 2026
