This Week's Round-Up: June 22, 2026

• Stop panicking about CUSMA

• Canada’s social media ban for teens

• Alberta separatists find unlikely ally in Quebec

• Hockey Night in Canada is over

• Letters section is back

Inside Canada’s $500 Billion Defence Spending Gamble

Carney has pledged to remake the military. The obstacles may be bigger than the budget

BY KYLE VOLPI HIEBERT

The country is already contending with housing costs, strained health care, climate pressures, weak productivity, and an aging population. Military spending at 3.5 percent of GDP—more than $150 billion annually—will demand trade-offs. Without visible competence, it will be difficult to persuade Canadians that defence deserves that share of limited fiscal and political capital.

There’s a deeper credibility problem. For defence spending on this scale to be politically sustainable, the public has to believe the system can deliver. Right now, that belief is shaky.

The Walrus Announces the Mansbridge Essay

The Walrus is partnering with Peter Mansbridge to launch a new $5,000 essay program supporting emerging writers in Canada. Writers in the first five years of their career are invited to pitch original reported essays for publication in The Walrus.

Adopt Don’t Shop

Catherine Bush begins “How Many Poodle Rescues Have I Followed? Oodles” (March/April) by highlighting the surge of unwanted and abandoned dogs post-pandemic, an important reminder of the long-term responsibility of pet ownership. But after a few heart‑tugging anecdotes about rescue dogs, Bush abruptly pivots to explaining that she did not want to adopt any of them and instead purchased a poodle from a breeder. I found myself frustrated by the disconnect between the problem she raises and the choice she ultimately makes. All dogs require “devotion and patience,” and the idea that buying an expensive, purpose‑bred poodle somehow reduces the risk of behavioural or health challenges is both naive and inaccurate. We can’t normalize the idea that it is okay to feel momentarily guilty about shelter dogs while still spending thousands on a bred puppy when, as Bush herself notes, so many dogs are in need of a home.

Rachel Kidd
Calgary, AB

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