There was a time when Canada was a genuine military power.

Toward the end of the Second World War, Canada’s Armed Forces numbered more than one million men and women, and this nation’s navy and air force were among the largest in the world. As columnist Louis Delvoie stated in an op-ed for The Kingston Whig Standard back in 2015, “Canada’s war effort had been massive for a country of only 11 million people.”

Here we are, 80 years later, a nation of 44 million — and yet the Canadian Armed Forces are but a shadow of their former strength by comparison.

Last March, the CBC reported that only 58 per cent of the Canadian Armed Forces would be able to respond to a crisis if called upon by NATO allies, as nearly half of the military’s equipment is considered “unavailable and unserviceable.”

During the first ministers meeting in Saskatoon on Monday, Prime Minister Mark Carney told the premiers around the table that the threat posed by U.S. tariffs means that Canadians must rally behind “nation-building projects” to boost the Canadian economy.

And in the same breath, according to a report by The Toronto Star, he praised the provincial leaders for working together to eliminate interprovincial trade barriers.

“I can’t keep up with the flurry of announcements of free trade agreements between provinces and across the country,” the prime minister said, in reference to to Ontario’s recent deals with Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

Certainly the Carney government is making many of the correct political noises around that table when it comes to breaking down interprovincial barriers — part of an election promise to counter the financial disaster those tariffs pose to the Canadian economy.

With Advanced Placement (AP) exams just finishing, high school students in Brandon and around the world are nearing the end of their university-level courses.

The AP program first started in the United States during the Cold War as an academic program for high-achieving, typically wealthy, white students who demonstrated readiness for university-level work. The U.S. feared that high schools were not adequately preparing their students for university or post-graduate studies. Over the years, the program has expanded to numerous countries and has become more inclusive with a focus on equity and diversity.

On March 20, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to begin dismantling the Department of Education. This has since been followed by further cuts to higher education and research. As students both local and international are preparing for the summer, beginning post-secondary plans or eagerly waiting for graduation, these developments south of the border are something to consider as impacting future plans.

The decision to dismantle the Department of Education will greatly affect low-income students, students of colour, students with disabilities and students from rural areas with less funding. Trump states on the White House website that taking out the Department of Education will drastically improve program implementation in higher education. By closing the Department of Education and returning authority to the states, he hopes to help “children and their families to escape a system that is failing them.” He says that the American education system through federal programs has failed their children, teachers, and families.

Amid the torrent of bad news coming at Canadians from many directions — but especially south — it’s good to take time to appreciate a positive move when it happens.

On that note, Manitoba has the distinction of being the first province to jump aboard the federal government’s national pharmacare program, which will see diabetes medication and birth control covered by federal funding.

Manitoba’s deal with Ottawa — which will see the federal government spend $219 million on pharmacare for the province over four years — is hopefully one of many to be inked across the country. Manitoba’s coverage is expected to start in June.

These baby steps into a comprehensive national pharmacare are welcome — and overdue. As much as Canadians take pride in our national health care (despite its struggles), the system has long covered less than it could. Between pharmacare and federally supported dental care for Canadians, the country is heading toward a much more holistic way of covering its citizens’ needs.

Luigi Mangione is in some circles being celebrated as a modern-day Robin Hood.

The 26-year-old stands accused in the slaying of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York last week. Following news that Thompson had been gunned down moments before he was to attend a board meeting, social media erupted with postings of unbridled glee. Someone who was the face of an industry known for making despicable decisions that affect people’s lives had been taken out. Justice at long last.

Except, it’s not, of course. It’s not justice in any sense of the word.

There’s little doubt the health-care system in the United States creates unnecessary stress. The No. 1 reason for declaring bankruptcy in the U.S. is health-related debt. According to some studies, nearly one in five U.S. health-care claims is initially rejected by health-care companies.

Housing is an important political issue. Politicians and experts now talk about it as a major crisis that could threaten our economic and social well-being. But this is nothing new. Another housing crisis raged at the beginning of the 20th century.

Back then, it concerned working-class slums. Today, it’s much more widespread: many households are struggling to acquire property, while others are spending too much of their income on rent, and still others are living in substandard housing, or simply have nowhere to live.

As a specialist in the history of urban planning and a full professor at the Université de Montréal’s School of Urban Planning and Landscape Architecture, I hear arguments today that are similar to those made 120 years ago, although there are new elements now.

The promise of decent housing