This Week's Round-Up: January 12, 2026

Canada’s Best Answer to Trump’s New World Order? Build Faster

Our race for sovereignty runs through housing, transit, pipes, and ports

Image of President Donald Trump looking at a construction crane.

In some ways it’s obvious how to respond to a changing US. (i) Keep as much of the bilateral relationship as can be salvaged, consistent with Canadian values and the whims of the White House incumbent; (ii) seek other markets and friends east, west, and further south; and (iii) build up a Canadian community that’s less dependent, not just on the Americans but on anyone. Option (i) will be frustrating, and just about everyone will disagree on terms. Option (ii) will take years.

Option (iii) probably gets the least attention. It should get more.

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Close-up photo of United States president Donald Trump's eyes and nose.

The United States Has Gone Full Villain

Trump's foreign policy is reviving the brutal logic of nineteenth-century conquest

BY DAN GARDNER

Image of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro blindfolded and wearing noise-cancelling headphones against a red background.

After Venezuela, the Unthinkable Enters Canadian Politics

The age of predators has returned, making once-impossible scenarios suddenly real

BY MICHAEL IGNATIEFF

Photograph of Canadian politician Chrystia Freeland waving while sitting behind a table.

Chrystia Freeland’s Very Strange Goodbye

Her biographer explains how one of Canada’s most disciplined politicians fumbled her final act

BY WENDY KAUR

Image of the Canadian maple leaf made up of blue lights on a circuit board.

AI Slop Will End Canadian Culture as We Know It

Synthetic content is drowning the human voices our policy was built to protect

BY VASS BEDNAR

Image of three windows on a building containing silhouettes of people having wine, playing with a cat, and playing the violin.

The Housing Market Isn’t for Single People

Government policy is married to outdated expectations of how we live

BY RENÉE SYLVESTRE-WILLIAMS

Today's Quiz Question

Amidst economic uncertainty and the rise of viral “get rich quick” stories, many young people are bypassing the expertise of traditional financial advisors. According to a 2023 Pew Research survey, what percentage of Gen Z investors are making financial decisions based on social media advice?

Yes, I Know the Answer

Illustration of a tabletop with a bowl of cereal, keys, a plant, a coffee cup, a tea bag, and other assorted clutter.

How to Keep Your House Clean

Your kids are sticky. Your partner leaves their shoes by the door. It’s fine

BY COURTNEY SHEA

An illustration featuring a pixelated, close-up face of a woman's face staring at a dollar sign, all in a blue similar to the Canadian five-dollar bill

Why You’re Bad with Money

We can spend decades following financial blueprints we didn’t even know we inherited

BY KELLEY KEEHN

Photo looking into an office cubicle. The employee's legs are visible, and one ankle has a ball and chain attached.

Welcome Back to the Office. You Won’t Get Anything Done

Return to office mandates aren’t about output. They’re about asserting control

BY KATHY CHOW

Illustration of a yellow road going over hills to the horizon with a sign at the beginning which reads "Start"

“I Know I’m Not Going to Win”: Why People Set Out on Impossible Quests

I spent years documenting the lives of those who refuse to quit

BY MARK MEDLEY

Two female students studying STEM on university campus with generic molecule statue in background

The Secret to Making Friends at University? Ask Introverts

Talking to new people is not my strong suit. Turns out, a lot of people feel that way

BY ABIGAIL MCGHIE

Photo of two men in tuxedos standing in front of a window with their foreheads pressed together.

Heated Rivalry Author on Writing Explicit Sex Scenes

Rachel Reid talks about the hit TV adaptation and learning to be unapologetic for her steamy stories

BY NATHAN WHITLOCK

A MESSAGE FROM THE WALRUS LAB IN PARTNERSHIP WITH MOUNT PLEASANT GROUP

Supporting Children Through Grief

This episode of Sorry for Your Loss explores how children experience grief and how adults can talk with them about death in supportive, honest ways.

Sarah Keast reflects on losing her husband and speaking with her young daughters about his death, followed by a conversation with Kitrina Fex of Hospice Mississauga on how caregivers can help grieving children feel seen and supported.

Listen and Subscribe

This week on What Happened Next, host Nathan Whitlock is joined by National Magazine Award–winning journalist and author Bonny Reichert. Bonny and Nathan talk about her initial resistance to writing the book that became How to Share an Egg: A True Story of Hunger, Love, and Plenty, about how publishing a very revealing memoir can lead readers to demand that authors reveal even more about themselves, and about her newest work in progress, a work of fiction, which she is finding both difficult and a relief.

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We’re halfway through January, but you can still make a resolution worth keeping

As a new year eases in, many of us are thinking about what we’re carrying with us into 2026.

What matters to you? If one of those things is a strong, independent Canada, then make a resolution to back fact-checked journalism through The Walrus. You can even help your future self out and commit to it throughout the year with an automatic monthly donation.

Covering Canada is a public service. Your support helps ensure our reporting remains thoughtful, accessible, and free to read, and directly supports the writers, editors, and artists who bring Canada’s stories to life. All the best in this new year.

— Jennifer Hollett

Executive Director, The Walrus

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