Start your day off right with five things you need to know this morning.
Five things you need to know
The Liberal government released its spring economic update on Tuesday with much fanfare, but Canada's underlying fiscal reality – a $67 billion deficit for 2025-26, down from the previous estimate of $78 billion – remains precarious. Part of the reason for the slightly brighter picture is the energy crisis caused by the war in the Middle East, which has pushed up the prices Canadian firms can get for fossil fuels. Randall Bartlett, a senior economist at Desjardins Group, said that, for every US$1 increase in the price of oil, Ottawa gets an extra $175 million. The Liberals, however, didn't express an interest in saving any of that new cash on Tuesday, instead confirming plans to spend $25 billion on the "Canada Strong Fund" – what they have called a "sovereign wealth fund" – and the $6 billion "Team Canada Strong Plan," a subsidy scheme designed to boost the number of trade workers. The update also formalizes a change in how Ottawa classes so-called "enhanced oil recovery," making the process eligible for carbon capture and storage tax credits.
Feds formalize enhanced oil recovery tax credit flip-flop in spring economic update https://t.co/PIflwMYinv
— BOE Report (@BOEReport) April 28, 2026
Despite surging revenues from oil – most of it extracted from Alberta – residents of the Wild Rose Province are struggling to keep their heads above water, according to a survey by CBC News. The national broadcaster's poll found that 59 per cent of Albertans are finding it "somewhat or very difficult" to afford their monthly expenses. Just 12 per cent said it was "very easy."
60% of Albertans say it’s difficult to meet monthly expenses: CBC News poll https://t.co/u5FDqKGas4
— calgarynews (@calgarynews) April 29, 2026
The deputy governor of the Bank of England has added her voice to other senior figures in the world of finance in warning that the global economy faces serious risks from the ballooning – and unregulated – private credit market. Sarah Breeden said she sees "echoes of the global financial crisis in what we're seeing now," adding: "Private credit has gone from nothing to two and a half trillion dollars in the last 15 to 20 years. There is leverage, there's opacity, there's complexity, there's interconnections with the rest of the financial system. All of that rhymes with what we saw in the [global financial crisis of 2007-08]." She added: "There is leverage on leverage on leverage. What we want to make sure is that everybody understands how that layer cake of leverage adds up."
Why would anyone expect a similar crisis?
— Eddy Elfenbein (@EddyElfenbein) April 29, 2026
BBC: "A fresh financial crisis may be coming - it won't play out like the last one"https://t.co/L8Q709Yh4N
Canada's king enjoyed a warm reception in the US on Tuesday, charming lawmakers during a speech in Congress in which he referenced the burning of the White House in 1814. King Charles was loudly applauded when he discussed the English concept of "checks and balances" enshrined in Magna Carta, though his speech's coda received a mixed response: "America's words carry weight and meaning, as they have since independence. The actions of this great nation matter even more."
In a special address to Congress, King Charles issued a pointed 30-minute declaration that included several thinly veiled messages for the Trump administration. https://t.co/rfSIfHSrJr
— Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) April 29, 2026
Things haven't gone quite so well for the UK's new ambassador to the US, who recently replaced the disgraced Peter Mandelson following the release of emails revealing the latter's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Just as King Charles was set to arrive in the US, a recording was released in which Sir Christian Turner said the US and UK do not have a special relationship, and that if the US has a special relationship with any country, it's "probably Israel."
America’s special relationship is ‘probably Israel’, says UK ambassador to US via @FT
— Bill Davies (@nycmaven44637) April 28, 2026
Gift Link https://t.co/bVtzCKFtXG
