Start your day off right with five things you need to know this morning.
Five things you need to know
The Liberal government's counter-tariffs against the United States last year caused affected goods to increase in price by about six per cent, the Bank of Canada has revealed. Ottawa slapped the 25 per cent tax on certain American items – including groceries, clothing and household staples – in March 2025, but Mark Carney quietly removed them half a year later. The Bank of Canada said the tariffs added about 0.3 percentage points to inflation last year.
BoC report estimates U.S. counter-tariffs pushed prices up about 6% last yearhttps://t.co/gXNqsIFNfM
— CP24 (@CP24) May 12, 2026
The Trans Mountain oil pipeline is a "sovereign pipeline" and an "incredibly strategic asset" that could be owned by the Canadian people indefinitely, the CEO of the Crown corporation that manages it has said. Mark Maki said there's "no question" that taxpayers, who forked out $4.5 billion to buy the pipeline from Kinder Morgan in 2018, will see their investment repaid.
Trans Mountain and its federal parent see case for Ottawa owning pipeline for good https://t.co/yFud0C2G4y
— BOE Report (@BOEReport) May 11, 2026
More Canadians care about economic growth than protecting the environment, according to a new survey from the Angus Reid Institute. The pollster found that 61 per cent of respondents said economic growth should be the biggest priority in energy policy rather than environmental conservation. The same question asked in 2019 received the opposite answer, with most respondents saying the environment should be the top priority.
More Canadians now say economic growth should be a bigger priority in Canada’s energy policy than protecting the environment, a new Angus Reid Institute report suggests. https://t.co/dEra8QkqjO
— CityNews Calgary (@citynewscalgary) May 11, 2026
Boys are disadvantaged in schools and are being left behind by girls, according to experts in Canada and the US. Catherine Haeck, an economist in Montreal, said there has been a "systemic failure" in education and "boys as young as five years old can be observed falling behind their female peers." She added: "There is an impact on their mental health, future job prospects and our economy as a whole." In an article published by CBC News, the national broadcaster refers to a "boy crisis" that many are reluctant to discuss "given the existing inequalities for women in today’s society." For its story about boys suffering at school, it chose to interview the author of a book titled: All We Want Is Everything: How We Dismantle Male Supremacy.
Boys are falling behind in school, and some experts say it starts in kindergartenhttps://t.co/V1LmKl0naK
— ONTSpecialNeeds (@ONTSpecialNeeds) May 12, 2026
The US inflation rate was at its highest level in three years in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with prices rising 3.8 per cent compared to the previous year. Almost half of the increase was due to surging energy prices caused by the Iran war.
US economy and inflation: Consumer prices in the U.S. climbed 3.8% last month as the 10-week war with Iran continued to push gasoline prices higher. https://t.co/6iZ0yDui8e
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 12, 2026
