Canada yanks sponsorship of disinformation conference discussing U.S. as a threat

BUT IT IS!

CBC
Wed, October 7, 2026 


Canadian and European diplomatic services pulled their support for a disinformation conference in Lithuania's capital on Wednesday. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press - image credit)


The federal government has withdrawn sponsorship of a European disinformation conference that includes panels discussing the U.S. government as a foreign interference risk.

Samantha Lafleur, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada (GAC), said the government took issue with the framing of some panels at the event organized by EU DisinfoLab, a non-profit based in Brussels.

The conference features panels about the U.S. as a source of "foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI)," a phenomenon where foreign governments or actors on their behalf manipulate information to confuse, divide or mislead the public and erode confidence in institutions.

GAC — Ottawa's diplomatic arm — Lithuania's Foreign Ministry and the European External Action Service were initially listed as supporters of the annual conference largely attended by researchers and civil society organizations.

(Submitted)

As the gathering got underway in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Wednesday, their names were covered up on signs spotted around the conference, according to photos shared with CBC News. As of writing, the French government remains a sponsor.

In a statement to CBC News, GAC did not deny that it had concerns with describing the U.S. as a foreign interference threat.

"Following changes to the framing of several panel discussions, GAC decided to revise its participation in those sessions at the EU DisinfoLab 2026 conference," wrote Lafleur.

She did not respond to questions about particular changes GAC took issue with or whether the U.S. raised concerns.

According to the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, the description of Wednesday's panel discussing how to push back on the U.S. as a foreign interference threat appears to have been unchanged since Sept. 9.

GAC no longer chairing Arctic panel

A GAC official also pulled out of chairing a session on disinformation in the Arctic scheduled for Thursday, said presenter Ben Shultz with the American Sunlight Project.

The panel proposes to talk about Greenland and "growing evidence that the United States has, in specific Arctic contexts, operated as a FIMI actor."

Shultz shared the initial plan for the panel from months ago, which includes talking about the U.S. as a foreign interference actor.

He called three governments withdrawing a "shock" and questioned whether they were pressured.

"Thankfully every speaker has still shown up, which is awesome, and I think a testament to the resolve of the research community. But it's definitely put a bit of a damper on the atmosphere," he said in an interview.

The European External Action Service, the EU's diplomatic service, said in a statement it asked to have its logo removed from the material associated with the conference "in view of the content of the programme."

Asked if it was related to the U.S. foreign interference panel, an EU spokesperson repeated that the EEAS logo was removed because "organizers chose to frame some of the discussions in a way which does not align with the official positions held by the EU."

Neither Lithuania's Foreign Ministry nor the conference organizers responded to a request for comment.

Canada's withdrawal comes the same week the Globe and Mail reported that some people involved in campaigning for Alberta independence had met on both sides of the border with U.S. entities.

CBC News previously reported that some of those meetings took place in U.S. State Department offices in Washington, D.C., last year.

GAC's move also comes as the country is embroiled in an often bitter and personal trade dispute with U.S. President Donald Trump's administration.

Lafleur said Canada "remains firmly committed to addressing the challenge of disinformation and misinformation" and that Global Affairs Canada officials "look forward to engaging with partners and stakeholders on efforts to counter disinformation."

Mark Carney Fires Back at Elon Musk Over Calls for Quebec, Alberta and Saskatchewan to Break Away — ‘Large Tech Firms’ Can’t Tell Canadians What to Do

Namrata Sen
Sun, October 11, 2026 
BENZINGA

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney answering questions (Credit: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney answering questions | Photo courtesy: Shutterstock)

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has pushed back against Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk's public support for separatist movements in Quebec, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Carney responded Thursday in Quebec after Musk backed separation efforts involving the three provinces. Speaking with reporters, Carney said Quebec residents would determine their own priorities, alongside the government's 43 members of Parliament representing the province. He cited affordability, social justice and homelessness as key concerns, while supporting "a strong Quebec within a strong Canada."

The Canadian Prime Minister also called for a Canada that is more independent, sovereign and prosperous, while preserving Quebec's language, culture and way of life.

"Free from interference from foreign governments and large tech firms that think they can tell us what to do," he said.

Musk Backs Quebec, Alberta, Saskatchewan Secession

On Wednesday, Elon Musk weighed in on Quebec independence after responding Wednesday to a post about premier-designate Paul St-Pierre Plamondon's pledge to achieve independence.

"Good. Quebec should separate," Musk wrote on X. In another post, he added, "They would be better off. Alberta and Saskatchewan should separate too."

Good. Quebec should separate.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 7, 2026

Notably, in an interview with the New York Times last month, Carney signaled that Canada would reduce its reliance on Musk's Starlink satellite internet service. "Starlink we will diversify away from, no question." he said.

Carney Warns of Brexit-Style Crisis

The dispute comes as separatist sentiment in Alberta has gained organizational momentum. In February, volunteers with the Alberta Prosperity Project and allied groups pursued the roughly 177,000 signatures needed to trigger a citizen-initiated independence referendum. The campaign unfolded as Canada faced strained relations with the United States, including tariff disputes and annexation rhetoric.

Carney later warned that an Alberta referendum could create a Brexit-style crisis that Canada might struggle to reverse, calling Premier Danielle Smith's proposed October 19 referendum "a very dangerous bluff."

Carney says Canadians will decide their future after Elon Musk expresses support for separatism

Associated Press
Updated Thu, October 8, 2026 

Prime Minister Mark Carney announces a new federal heat pump rebate program while visiting Dettson, a manufacturer of residential and commercial HVAC systems in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP) (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

Prime Minister Mark Carney announces a new federal heat pump rebate program while visiting Dettson, a manufacturer of residential and commercial HVAC systems in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP) (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

Prime Minister Mark Carney, center right, arrives at Dettson, a manufacturer of residential and commercial HVAC systems in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP) (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

SHERBROOKE, Quebec (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday that Canada's future will be decided by Canadians, pushing back on Elon Musk's call for Quebec, Alberta and Saskatchewan to separate from Canada.

"The future of Canada will be decided by Canadians and the priorities of Canadians, the priorities of the people of Quebec," Carney said when asked about Musk's comments.

Carney said Canadians should be free to live according to their languages and cultures, without interference "from foreign governments and large tech firms that think they can tell us what to do."

Musk weighed in on Canada's separatist debates Wednesday in a post on X about Quebec Premier-designate Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, whose separatist Parti Québécois won Monday's provincial election.

The PQ's victory was not a mandate for independence. The party won about 28% of the popular vote and fell short of a majority of the seats in the Quebec legislature. Support for Quebec independence remains at about 30%, said Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal. He said the election was driven more by a desire to oust the Coalition Avenir Québec government than by support for separation.

"Good. Quebec should separate," Musk wrote, adding that "They would be better off. Alberta and Saskatchewan should separate too."

Alberta is scheduled to hold a vote Oct. 19 on whether the province should remain in Canada or move toward a future referendum on separation. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has said she will vote to remain in Canada.



Smith said Thursday that separatist sentiment in her province has weakened as her government and Carney's have worked to address Albertans' concerns.

"The federal government has changed. Their approach to us has changed and they're willing to work together on addressing those issues," Smith said in Edmonton.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe responded to Musk on X with a single word: "No."

Musk, the world's richest man and first-ever trillionaire, is a South African-born Canadian-American.

Why Canada is preparing for a (long shot) US invasion

Nadine Yousif; Robin Levinson-King - in Toronto
Sat, October 3, 2026 
BBC


[Getty Images]

Prime Minister Mark Carney admitted last week that he has prepared for a once-unthinkable scenario - a US invasion.

Noting the risk was low and the likelihood highly improbable, he told the New York Times he had a responsibility to consider all possibilities as the US-Canada relationship is redefined under the Donald Trump presidency.

"That's just risk management," Carney said.

Trump's global tariffs and his often-repeated desire to make Canada the 51st state has led Canada to war game an attack by the Americans.

In 2025, the US president said it was "highly unlikely" that the US would ever use force against Canada. Instead he said, he would continue to exert economic pressures to obtain political aims.

"President Trump has done more than anyone to protect the great people of Canada," the White House told the BBC in a statement this week.

Military experts who spoke to the BBC also think an invasion is a long shot, pointing to the multiple ways the two countries work together on defence.

But the issue is clearly weighing on Canadians' minds.

In January, after the US captured Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, a Leger poll suggested that over 30% of Canadians believed that a US invasion was likely.
Why it is unlikely to happen

A war between Canada and the US would be complicated and almost difficult to imagine, said Lt-Gen Christopher Coates, a former military officer of 34 years with the Royal Canadian Air Force who held various senior positions

"I was involved in military operations for my whole career, and we never considered the possibility that there would be a military attack coming from US territory," he told the BBC.

Coates, who had served on Nato missions, noted that Canada and the US collaborate on many aspects of military defence.

They are both members of the north Atlantic defence alliance, which mandates members to defend a fellow member-nation should they be attacked.

The two countries also conduct joint Arctic defence missions under the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD), and frequently share intelligence.

Because of this, Coates said he believes an attack by the US on Canada would not begin with an armed assault, but rather with more discreet means like cyberwarfare.

After President Trump shared an AI meme with gun-toting geese, the BBC's Jessica Murphy asks how Canada could hit back economically
Not always the best of friends

After World War II, Canada and the US became natural allies for the latter part of the 20th Century, and have become heavily integrated economically, militarily and culturally.

But it wasn't always this way. In fact, a core tenet of Canada's identity is its resistance of US expansionism in the 18th and 19th Centuries, said Tim Foran, a researcher with the Canadian War Museum.

"Fear of the United States is foundational to the political project that is Canada," he said.

Canada was formed as a collection of British North American colonies who remained loyal to the British Crown when the colonies in the modern-day US rebelled.

Before the formation of Canada, the US had attempted to invade British North American colonies, taking control of Montreal in 1775 and nearly conquering Quebec City.

In the war of 1812, the Americans invaded what was known then as Upper Canada, Lower Canada and the maritime colonies repeatedly, resulting in a stalemate. During that war, British troops famously burned down the White House in retaliation.

Foran said that at the time, the colonies that later became Canada relied on Great Britain and its Royal Navy for its defence, as well as indigenous peoples who served as generals in major battles.

Canada again contemplated war with the US post-World War I in response to its growing power and influence.

It drafted a plan that was informed by secret trips to border cities made by Canadian army generals, who would pose as tourists and snap photos of bridges and highways for intelligence.

They also spoke to local residents to better understand their enemy.

A war was an unlikely scenario then, said Andrew Burtch, a researcher with the Canadian War Museum with expertise on Canada in the 20th Century, but the Canadians still wanted to be prepared.

"That's part of what militaries do," he said. "They envisage all sorts of different scenarios."

Canada-US relations have deteriorated under the second Trump presidency. [Getty Images]

What a US invasion could look like

Even if a US invasion is extremely unlikely, Matthew Schmidt, an associate professor of national security at the University of New Haven in Connecticut, said the fact that Canadians were preparing was a sign of just how drastically the global order has shifted.

He added Canadian leaders do have hard questions to ask about how closely they want to continue working with the American military - a partnership that gives them valuable information should they want to harm Canada in any way.

"It's really doing harm to relationships with the United States, and there's a certain amount of legitimate fear," he said.

Americans might not take Trump's comments about making Canada the 51st state seriously, he said, but Canadians clearly do - and are prepared to defend themselves if needed.

So what would it be like if it happened?

The first phase of a war could be quite short.

According to the model used by the Canadian military, as reported on by the Globe and Mail newspaper earlier this year, a US attack would see Canada's strategic positions overwhelmed within a week

Its military would quickly be outnumbered, forcing Canadian forces to resort to guerilla-type warfare to try to suppress their enemy.

Allied nations like France and Britain would be called on to provide support and defence for Canada, the newspaper reported in January, citing senior government officials.

The theoretical model is believed to be the first time in a century that Canada planned for an American assault.

The modelling is on the lighter end of military combat planning, Coates said.

He said that Canada, unlike its Nato allies, was lagging behind when it came to having a response plan in place in the event of any ground invasion, and that it was now playing catch-up in this era of unpredictable geopolitics.

Part of that, he said, was made evident by a recent call by Canada's defence chief to drastically increase the size of its military, including the addition of as many as 300,000 lightly trained citizen soldiers.

An invasion of Canada might not be straightforward from the US point of view either.

Even with its outsized military, the US would have a difficult time getting buy-in for a fight with Canada, said Schmidt.

"I think you would have a large number of American officers who would resign if given the order to invade Canada," he said.

"They would see it as an illegal and immoral order."

Schmidt said Canadian soldiers and American soldiers routinely train together, and share a mutual respect.

But in the unlikely scenario that relations would deteriorate to the point of combat, Schmidt said the US would likely focus on acquiring valuable Canadian resources like oil and minerals, and political decapitation.

"You would see a a kind of operation that would mirror perhaps what you saw in Venezuela," he said, referring to US military action earlier this year to capture former Venezuelan President Maduro.

Although he acknowledged the US has greater military capacity, he said that "pound for pound" Canadian soldiers would be able to put up a fight.

‘Spit on our sacrifice’: Canadian veterans fume after Trump and allies take jibes at military

John Semley
Tue, October 6, 2026 


Canadian troops launch their assault on the Whale's Back in Eastern Afghanistan 13 March 2002.Photograph: Canadian Press/ShutterstockMore

On the morning of 11 September 2001, Perry Chalmers was running drills for the Royal Canadian Regiment's specialised mortar platoon in New Brunswick when he heard the news: America was under attack. Word quickly spread across the base. "I went inside to watch the news," the former corporal recalls. "And there was a huge feeling of – and you're going to have to excuse me – holy shit. What the fuck just happened?"

Chalmers called his wife, who informed him that, just before 10:30am, the second of the World Trade Center towers had fallen. With that, his battalion was put on notice: dispatched to nearby airports to assist in the forced landings of commercial aircraft after the shutdown of North American airspace.

The Canadian troops went to retrieve their rucksacks and any other necessities, should they need to spring into action at a moment's notice. As Chalmers recalls: "Things started to happen really quickly."

Chalmers would deploy to Afghanistan, on a nine-month tour of combat duty, where he saw combat alongside US troops. He put his mortar platoon training to good use, as a counter-IED engineer, dealing with the threat of improvised explosives in conjunction with the US army's 10th Mountain Division.

He was one of more than 40,000 members of the Canadian armed forces who served in Afghanistan, supporting US and Nato operations. The Canadians lost 158 lives. In 2007, a stretch of Ontario's highway 401 was rechristened the "Highway of Heroes" to commemorate the convoys of fallen soldiers ferried between the military base in Trenton, Ontario, and the coroner's office in Toronto.

This response to 9/11 was consistent with the longer history of Canadian-US military cooperation. About 14,000 Canadians landed on Juno Beach in Normandy on D-day during the second world war. More than 26,000 Canadians served in the Korean war. While Canada did not officially participate in the Vietnam war, an estimated 30,000 Canadians headed across the border to volunteer for the US military.

Over the course of the war in Afghanistan, Chalmers can count 35 fellow Canadian troops who lost their lives. But he never really brooked any regrets, or bad feelings, about his role in the US-led war. "My experience was that we were participating in an operation to help our brothers and sisters in the United States," he says. "None of them ever snubbed their noses at us. We were treated as equals, and respected, for what we brought to the table."

But no longer. While calling Canada "a state", US vice-president JD Vance recently commented that it "had underinvested in its military that quite literally would get invaded by a foreign country were it not for the umbrella of protection provided by the United States of America".

Going one step further, Donald Trump's transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, told Fox News that Canada "doesn't have a military".

Self-styled "secretary of war" Pete Hegseth has spent time on X, mocking Canadian cadets and criticising a Canadian coast guard detachment for taking part in a Pride celebration. Trump himself was criticised earlier this year for claiming that Canadian and other Nato forces in Afghanistan were "never needed", claiming these allies "stayed a little back, a little off the frontlines".

The remarks have been condemned at the highest level of the Canadian government. The defence minister, David McGuinty, described Hegseth's social media posts as "below the dignity of the office he holds". Amid a serious diplomatic dispute between the two nations, the prime minister, Mark Carney, accused Trump and Hegseth of "doing memes".

"It's disrespect and betrayal," Chalmers says. "It makes me very angry."

"It's really hard to hear how ungrateful they are, especially Vance, who served," said Chris Banks, a retired Canadian army sergeant with nearly two decades of experience. "To hear him spit on our sacrifice is insulting, it's hurtful, and it's disrespectful to the dead. On the other hand, these men have proven themselves nothing more than children. So when I heard JD Vance say it, it's like, 'Oh, good. Dumbass said something else'".

Banks deployed to Afghanistan in 2008, where he was part of a Canadian platoon that laid down cover fire for Americans under attack from the Taliban. To this day, he still has vivid memories of taking cover in a ditch near Pashmul, alongside an American platoon, looking up as the trees overhead were shredded by shrapnel.

He says he was proud to serve. But when he came home to Ontario in 2009, he felt something had changed. He began drinking heavily – sometimes as much as a litre of vodka a day – and struggling with suicidal thoughts. All hallmarks of PTSD. He received treatment, and now advocates for the mental health and wellbeing of other Canadian veterans. Still, a tinge of bitterness remains, when he thinks back on fighting on behalf of the US.

"I lost a part of myself," he says. "In that war we fought, for them."

***

Nancy Payne still remembers exactly where she was when she found out her son had died. Cpl Randy Payne served with a military police unit, stationed in Wainwright, Alberta. He was part of a specialised close protection team, charged with safeguarding high-ranking officers, government officials and other VIPs, in war zones.

On 22 April 2006, an armoured vehicle triggered a roadside bomb outside Kandahar airbase, killing Payne and three other Canadian soldiers. It was the deadliest attack on Canadian forces since 2002 – when four Canadian soldiers were killed by a US bomb after a disastrous friendly fire incident at the Tarnak Farms training facility in Afghanistan.

Nancy was at home, alone, when the phone rang in the dead of the night. It was her son's commanding officer. "When you get a call at three in the morning from Randy's boss, you know it's not good news," she recalls, speaking over the phone from her home in Lansdowne, Ontario. "I just kept saying 'Not my Randy … not my Randy'."

In 2025, the Royal Canadian Legion awarded Nancy a Silver Cross, a commendation for Canadian military mothers. She laid a wreath at the national war memorial during the Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa.

More locally, she has commemorated her son with a prize – "the Captain's Award" – bestowed to students who distinguish themselves in athletics and leadership at his former high school. She, too, is unnerved by the US attacks on the Canadian military and veterans like her son. "What they're saying is not right," she says. "We were neighbours for so long. That's all changed, now."

Nancy is not the only military mother who feels this way. Earlier this year, Jane McKay, mother of deceased Master Cpl Tim Wilson, penned an op-ed for the Toronto Sun newspaper taking aim at the Trump administration. "Trump has no respect for any soldier – American, or Canadian, or those from the Nato alliance," she wrote. "He owes them all an apology."

Some US politicians have tried to make amends. On 1 September, Arizona Democrat senator Rueben Gallego travelled to Ottawa on an official congressional trip. The goal was to strengthen the weakening trade relations between the two nations. But Gallego made a point of singling out Hegseth's anti-Canadian military tweets as "deeply disrespectful to the men and women of Canada that have died fighting with us".

For veterans like Chalmers, such lip service may be too little, too late. He used to play tabletop strategy games with a group of civilian friends in the US, via the online social platform Discord. That all ended when they laughed off his concerns about Trump's talk of Canada becoming the "51st state". Banks used to routinely take his family across the border for vacations and stateside shopping trips. No more. "I loved working with Americans, I loved training with them," he says. "But now it's hard to have that same level of empathy."

Would he eagerly enlist to help the US again?

"What would happen if there was another hypothetical 9/11?" he says. "I hate to say it, but why would any nation, ever again, partner with the United States, if this is how they treat their closest neighbour and ally?"

 

  

Trump started a fight that's giving his rival 'unthinkable' popularity: WSJ

Tom Boggioni
September 30, 2026 

RAW STORY

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at a working lunch with leaders of G7 and the Middle East, in Evian-les-Bains, France, June 16, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/File Photo

At the same time Donald Trump's approval numbers are hitting lows never seen before, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is enjoying a burst of popularity that's letting him push his agenda through with little resistance.

The reason? His refusal to be bullied by the American president has Canadians and political rivals lining up behind him as his party adds new members.

Carney is barreling forward with "a rewiring of Canada's economic, national-security and foreign policies" that, in some cases, would once have been "unthinkable" and unpopular, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

A political novice until he won the premiership last year, Carney has vanquished opposition that might have felled his predecessors thanks to a confrontation with Trump that has given him "unthinkable" popularity.

Polls show Carney's Liberals would win a majority if an election were held today.

According to the Journal, "Polls show that Carney’s Liberals would win a majority if an election were held today. A survey released Tuesday from Nanos Research found that Carney was the preferred choice for prime minister of more than 60% of respondents, the highest level it has recorded for him."

That has lawmakers from "across the political spectrum" defecting to the Liberals over the past year, and his opponents are struggling to land a punch; Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has spent recent months fending off critics in his own party."

Even in Alberta, a conservative stronghold, people view Carney more favorably than Poilievre or Premier Danielle Smith, according to the report.

"I cannot remember, in my adult life, a prime minister having this good an 18 months," said Darrell Bricker, chief executive of Ipsos told the Journal. "There has been very little pushback against any of the things that he's proposed."

Lori Turnbull, a political scientist at Nova Scotia's Dalhousie University, said Carney likely wanted to pursue many of these policies regardless, but the conflict with the U.S. "gives him a logic, gives him a narrative that might make more sense to people."

She added: "The way he's describing it is essentially we're in an emergency situation, we're in a kind of something that's similar to a war. He's made this about our sovereignty, and so it all kind of fits together."

 

Fortune Minerals gets water licence and land use permit for NICO mine in Northwest Territories 

Amanda Stutt | September 21, 2026 |

Fortune Minerals’ Nico cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper project in Canada’s Northwest Territories. Credit: Fortune Minerals

Fortune Minerals (TSX: FT) (OTCQB: FTMDF) announced Monday that the water license renewal for the NICO mine and concentrator has been approved by the Minister of Environment and Climate Change for the Northwest Territories after the draft terms recommended by the Wek’èezhìı Land and Water Board (WLWB) were accepted. 

The WLWB also issued the land use permit for the project, and with two primary permits issued following receipt of an environmental assessment, the terms and conditions are set for construction and operation of the mine facilities. They also set the amount of security that will be required for the closure and reclamation plan, the company said.  

The NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper project is a development stage critical minerals asset consisting of a planned open pit and underground mine and concentrator in the NWT and a dedicated hydrometallurgical facility in Alberta, where concentrates from the mine, and other feed sources, will be processed to value-added products.  

The NICO site will be connected to territorial highway system by the already approved NICO project access road, the company said.  

Last year, China announced plans to impose export controls on five key metals — tungsten, tellurium, molybdenum, indium and bismuth — in response to US President Trump’s import tariffs. 

Bismuth is a scarce industrial metal that has characteristics similar to lead, but is non-toxic, and the industry is currently developing uses for replacing lead. 

Hardly any bismuth is currently produced in North America, with the continent relying almost entirely on imports. The NICO deposit contains one of the largest known undeveloped bismuth reserves in the world. It contains 12% of global bismuth reserves as well as 1.1 million in-situ ounces of gold and aims to establish a domestic, reliable North American supply chain, Fortune Minerals has said.  

The company said the NICO project will provide a reliable North American supply of battery grade cobalt sulphate, bismuth ingots and copper cement – with more than one million ounces of in-situ gold as a highly liquid and countercyclical co-product. 

“The Class A Water License and Land Use Permit renewals are the product of numerous engagements with territorial, federal and indigenous governments and communities, focused on identifying and mitigating potential environmental and social concerns related to the NICO development,” Fortune’s VP, Environmental and Regulatory Affairs, Dr. Richard Schryer said in a news release.  

“Fortune Minerals will continue to work with these governments and communities, and through the conditions outlined in the water license to make the NICO mine a successful project.” 

Fortune Minerals stock closed the day down 3.4% in Toronto on Monday. The company has a C$97 million ($69 million) market capitalization.  

‘Blood potash’: Scott Moe reacts to Trump’s Belarus deal

By

Kayla Thompson

Opens in new window

Published: September 21, 2026 

U.S. President Donald Trump says he is working on a “massive deal” to purchase potash from Belarus.

“The pricing would be for substantially less than we are currently paying to Canada, very good news for our Farmers and Ranchers,” he posted to Truth Social on Monday.

Canada is the leading exporter of potash, shipping about 22.9 million tonnes in 2024, accounting for over 39 per cent of global exports according to the Government of Canada.

The leading destination of Canadian exports of potash is the United States. The U.S. imports nearly 85 per cent of its potash from Canada.

Belarus ranks third in potash production behind Russia and Canada.

According to Belarusian media reports Monday, President Alexander Lukashenko said even if there was a desire to enter western markets, there is nothing left to supply.

Reuters reported that potash from Belarus remains under EU sanctions, and the landlocked country has been barred from exporting via the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda since February 2022.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, whose province provides the U.S. with more than 86 per cent of its potash supply from Canada, said Trump’s tentative deal is “wrong and it doesn’t make sense.”

“More than 40 countries - Canada and its allies - have sanctions against Belarus for supporting war criminal Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Buying blood potash from Belarus is supporting Russian aggression,” he posted to X Monday afternoon.

“Does anyone believe Belarusian blood potash shipped through Russia is going to be more affordable, more sustainable or more ethical than potash shipped from Saskatchewan - right here in North America?”

Potash leverage in U.S.-Canada trade war

In June, Trump told reporters that there is nothing the U.S. needs from Canada. However, U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra said America needs a “tremendous amount of things” including Canadian potash, since there are “not lots of other places that you can get it.”

Canada’s premiers have been at odds about whether to leverage the critical mineral against the U.S. amid trade war tensions.

While Ontario Premier Doug Ford has previously pushed to retaliate against Trump’s tariffs by cutting U.S. access to electricity, oil and other minerals, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Moe said they were concerned about the long-term consequences for those industries.

Canada’s 10 active potash mines are located in Saskatchewan.

Moe has said the province would not support any kind of export taxes or withholding supply for the U.S., as losing its biggest customer would cause job losses, price hikes and a tremendous hit to the local economy.

“The United States of America, most assuredly, would switch to buying potash from other nations around the world. We would lose a long-term customer to some degree,” Moe said during trade talks.

Smith also echoed Moe in July, when she told reporters oil and potash being used as retaliatory measures is “not going to happen.”

Canadian potash has remained exempt from Trump’s tariffs amid the ongoing trade war. However, the U.S. looking to Belarus for potash supply signifies the latest escalation.

The move comes after Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomed the “ambition” to become the European Union’s first associate member, which Trump said he’ll retaliate against if he deems it to be a “hostile act.”

This combination photos shows Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, potash, and U.S. President Donald Trump. (Associated Press, Canadian Press)

Belarus sanctions

The U.S., Canada and EU have all imposed sanctions on Belarus for its crackdown on human rights and for allowing its territory to be used by Russia for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

However, in December 2025, the U.S. agreed to lift sanctions on Belarusian potash, after Lukashenko freed 123 prisoners with the help of Trump’s envoy.

With files from The Canadian PressOpens in new window

Kayla Thompson

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Multi-Platform Writer

Trump says U.S. to continue buying Canadian potash but wants cheaper price

By

The Canadian Press

Opens in new window

Published: September 22, 2026

Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, applauds as Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe speaks at Canada's national investment summit, in Toronto, on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

REGINA — U.S. President Donald Trump says his country will continue buying Canadian potash after all.

Trump made the comments to reporters Tuesday during a bilateral meeting at the United Nations General Assembly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

It comes a day after Trump said he was working on a deal to buy cheaper potash from Belarus in a bid to lessen the United States’ dependence on Canada.

“Belarus has a lot of potash, and our farmers need good prices, and we want to get a lower price,” Trump told reporters when asked about the proposed deal.

“We’ll continue to go with Canada, but Belarus would like to sell it for a much lower price.”

Canada is the world’s largest producer of potash, a key component of fertilizers, and the United States is its biggest customer.

Asked about Trump’s comments, Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters at a separate news conference that Canada’s potash is reliable and cost-effective.

He said Canada will continue to supply the United States with potash and that there’s an opportunity for both countries to grow the fertilizer industry together.

“That would be good for Canadian farmers, it would be great for American farmers,” Carney said.

All of Canada’s potash is produced in Saskatchewan.

On Monday, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe condemned Trump’s initial comments, saying Belarusian potash is unethical due to the country’s involvement in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Industry leaders and economists have also questioned how the United States could get cheaper potash from Belarus when Canada is much closer and has reliable supply-chain infrastructure.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has also said his country has limitations, saying it can’t supply the United States with large volumes of potash.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2026

Jeremy Simes, The Canadian Press

Trump says Belarus potash deal in works amid Canada fight

Bloomberg News | September 21, 2026 | 

(Image courtesy of BPC.)

President Donald Trump said the US is working with Belarus to secure more supplies of potash amid a trade fight with Canada, a major supplier of the critical ingredient used in fertilizers.

“The United States is working on a massive Deal with respect to the purchase of Potash from Belarus,” Trump said in a social media post Monday. “The pricing would be for substantially less than we are currently paying to Canada, very good news for our Farmers and Ranchers.”

Trump’s comments come amid an escalating trade war with Canada that has seen the two countries impose tit-for-tat tariffs on imports. Trump’s levies, however, don’t apply to some of the most significant natural resources the US buys from Canada, such as oil, potash and critical minerals — an indication of their importance to the US economy.

Canada is one of the world’s largest exporters of potash and any move to restrict those supplies flowing to the US could have a major impact on the American agricultural sector.

The world’s largest reserves of potash, which is mined, are located in Saskatchewan. Shares of Canadian fertilizer producer Nutrien Ltd. dropped as much as 5.2%, while Tampa-based Mosaic Co. fell 5.9% intraday before paring losses. The two companies dominate North American potash production via their joint venture Canpotex.

Trump has sought to rebuild ties with Belarus and its authoritarian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The US is pushing Ukraine to ease restrictions on imports of potash fertilizers from Belarus and has urged Kyiv to encourage other European allies to do the same.

Potash was a major source of foreign-currency revenue for Belarus before western sanctions over the government’s political repression and its help for Moscow in the war on Ukraine. The US lifted some of its own restrictions on fertilizer from Belarus earlier this year as part of a deal that saw Lukashenko’s regime release hundreds of political prisoners.

Belarus, prior to US trade restrictions, shipped over 700,000 tons of potassium fertilizers to the US in 2021. That’s a fraction of the roughly 13 million tons that the US imported in 2025, with nearly 90% coming from Canada, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

Whether Trump will be able to tap additional supplies is unclear. Belarus doesn’t have enough capacity to supply large volumes to the US, because production for the year is already under contract, Russian news agency Interfax reported, citing Lukashenko. The transport of Belarusian fertilizers has also faced logistical hurdles in recent years, after Lithuania’s rail system ended its contract with state-run Belaruskali OAO in 2022.

US farmers and ranchers, key constituencies for Trump’s Republican Party ahead of November’s midterm elections, are under strain from high costs for diesel, fertilizer and other inputs, as well as disruptions in export markets as the Iran war and Trump’s tariff policies squeeze supply chains. New Orleans potash spot prices are at their highest levels since July 2023, according to Bloomberg Green Markets.

Trump has taken steps to help ease the burden on those groups, with polls showing voters largely disapprove of his party’s handling of the economy and the war.

(By Jeff Mason and Ilena Peng)

Trump’s Belarus potash plan may have limited bite

Cecilia Jamasmie | September 22, 2026 | 

Cory underground potash mine. (Image courtesy of Nutrien.)

US President Donald Trump’s proposed “massive” potash deal with Belarus rattled fertilizer stocks, but BMO Capital Markets says limited supply and costly export routes make the country an unlikely threat to Canadian producers.

Trump said Monday that the US was working to buy Belarusian potash for “substantially less” than it currently pays Canada, which supplies about 80% of US potash imports. He gave no details on volumes, timing or proposed prices.

Belarus could resume supplying some potash to the US as relations between Washington and Minsk thaw, but those tonnes would probably sell at prevailing market prices rather than at deep discounts, BMO fertilizer and chemicals analyst Joel Jackson said in a note.

“We expect those tonnes would be sold at market-based prices, not deep discounts, and in volumes unlikely to materially alter North American potash supply dynamics,” Jackson said.

The prospect hit North American fertilizer stocks after Trump’s announcement. Nutrien (TSX: NTR)(NYSE: NTR) fell about 2.3% Monday, while Mosaic (NYSE: MOS) slipped about 0.4%.

Supply limits

Belarus, one of the world’s largest potash producers, has rebuilt much of its export business since Western sanctions disrupted its traditional routes following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. But the landlocked country remains dependent on more expensive Russian logistics because European Union sanctions restrict access to Lithuania’s Klaipeda port.

That makes Belarus a difficult replacement for Canadian potash, which benefits from established North American transportation infrastructure and Saskatchewan’s enormous production base. Belarus produces about 12 million tonnes annually, split between granular and standard grades, while the US consumes roughly 10 million tonnes, predominantly granular product, according to BMO.

Economics also work against Trump’s suggestion that Belarus could sell large quantities at steep discounts. US potash prices of about $350 to $360 per short ton at New Orleans have risen on strong demand and offer Belarusian suppliers competitive returns relative to other major markets, Jackson said.

Belarus therefore has little incentive to discount one of its largest sources of foreign currency simply to capture US market share.

There may also be little uncommitted product available.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Monday the country had redirected exports east and its potash production was already committed under existing contracts. Even if Western markets reopened completely, Belarus lacked additional volumes to supply them, he said.

Lithuania, meanwhile, has shown no sign of reopening the cheaper Baltic export route. EU restrictions on Belarusian potash remain in place, meaning additional shipments to the US would probably have to move through Russian ports.

Pricing pressure

The more immediate risk for Canadian producers may be psychological rather than physical, Jackson wrote. According to the analyst, the prospect of additional Belarusian tonnes could make Nutrien and Mosaic think twice before pushing North American potash prices materially higher, even if Belarus cannot supply enough product to fundamentally reshape the market.

US demand remains robust and BMO still sees room for further potash price increases. But Trump’s announcement introduces another potential source of competition into a market where Canadian producers have long enjoyed a dominant position.

For Belarus to seriously challenge that dominance, it would need substantially greater export capacity, competitive logistics and enough uncommitted granular potash to serve US buyers. These conditions, BMO’s analysis suggests, are not currently in place.

COMMENT: US-Belarus prisoner talks stall as Minsk fails to win EU potash relief

John Coale's September visit freed just 25 political prisoners in return for relief on two minor companies, as the EU's refusal to reopen potash transit blocks the bigger prize Lukashenko wants. / bne IntelliNewsFacebook

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By Ben Aris in Berlin September 23, 2026

Washington's prisoners-for-sanctions deals with Belarus are losing momentum, with the latest round yielding just 25 freed prisoners and relief for two minor companies, Artyom Shraibman writes for Carnegie Politika.

US special envoy John Coale returned to Minsk on September 15 after a six-month hiatus, but his meeting with Belarus' leader Alexander Lukashenko was less productive than previous encounters, Shraibman, a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, wrote in the commentary published on September 22.

"The recent talks have demonstrated that the terrain of the negotiations is becoming increasingly boggy. The risks of delays are growing, and the process could reach a stalemate," he wrote.

Belarus released and deported 25 political prisoners, including prominent journalists and activists, to Lithuania this time, against more than 120 in December 2025 and 250 in March 2026, most of whom were allowed to stay in Belarus. On the day Coale arrived, sources said as many as 200 prisoners were being prepared for release, and their relatives had already been told.

The shrinking exchange suggests the transactional model that has run since 2025 is hitting its limits. Washington has already handed over its biggest concessions, lifting sanctions on Belarusian potash producers, national carrier Belavia and Belarusian banks, while the prize Minsk wants most - EU sanctions relief and a route for its potash exports through its neighbours - is not in the US' gift. Shraibman warned as early as March that time was running out for Lukashenko's courtship of Trump.

This time the US lifted sanctions on just two companies: paint and coatings maker Lakokraska and state-owned Bellesbumprom, which oversees companies in the timber, paper and furniture industries. The barely profitable Lakokraska is unlikely to gain much from access to the US market, Shraibman wrote, while Bellesbumprom's main problem is the EU ban on exports to or via the bloc, which forces it to sell through Russia. Ending US sanctions will only make it easier to take payment from those third countries.

Ahead of the talks Lukashenko had demanded that the US unfreeze around $44mn apparently held in a Citibank account, part of Citigroup (NYSE: C), because of sanctions. Coale agreed to submit a request to the bank to release the funds, but no final decision has been announced.

Until now each round had been more substantial than the last and followed a simple script - a Coale visit, a prisoner release and a lifting of sanctions, then quiet negotiations before the next trip. This was the first time plans changed while a meeting was under way. Lukashenko's first words before the cameras were that the two sides should implement previous agreements, "a rather chilly opening," and for the first time Prime Minister Alexander Turchin sat in on the meeting, apparently to spell out what had not been done.

The main unresolved problem is the EU, Shraibman argued. Brussels has no desire to lift sanctions on Belarus and keeps imposing new ones. In the spring Washington asked Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine to let Belarusian potash through to their ports, but they refused, and the US has since stepped up pressure on Lithuania to reopen the Klaipeda route.

Minsk is also creating new political prisoners as fast as it frees them. Since the March release another 224 names have been added to the country's list of political prisoners, and even though hundreds have left prison after serving their sentences, the total still hovers at about 900. Belarus has jailed more people than it has released under the US deal.

"Even for the administration of President Donald Trump - not known for its concern about human rights - a deal in which the United States is gradually lifting sanctions while Belarus releases political prisoners at the same rate it's jailing new ones makes little sense," Shraibman wrote.

Lukashenko would like Minsk's neighbours brought into the process because they control the transit of Belarusian potash, and Belarusian officials meeting European experts and diplomats behind closed doors often ask for the releases to be seen as a concession to the EU as well as to Washington, he said.

Ukraine is very unlikely to play along, with Russia still destroying its port infrastructure and relations between Kyiv and Minsk in crisis; in mid-September Ukrainian security officials again alleged that Belarus lets Russian drones bound for western Ukraine use its relay stations and mobile networks. Minsk has courted Poland for months, freeing Andrzej Poczobut, one of the leaders of Belarus' Polish minority, and later allowing him to travel back to Belarus for meetings.

Lithuania is likely to come under the most US pressure. Vilnius is unhappy about the talks, but newly elected Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius, leader of the Social Democratic Party, is slightly more open to negotiations, and Coale met him in Vilnius after seeing Lukashenko and discussed potash transit, according to The New York Times. Latvia, which once handled Belarusian potash, has little reason to help after Minsk redirected migrants it had been pushing towards the Polish border to the Latvian frontier instead.

In any case, EU sanctions bar all three from allowing Belarusian potash exports. Those sanctions come up for renewal in February 2027, and if the dialogue is still alive by then Washington may look for allies inside the EU to block the extension unless potash is exempted, Shraibman wrote.

Trump raised the stakes on September 21 with a post on Truth Social saying the US was negotiating a "massive deal" to buy Belarusian potash at prices "substantially less than we are currently paying to Canada," The Guardian reported on September 22. Canada supplies nearly 85% of US potash imports, according to BNN Bloomberg, and Lukashenko countered that Belarus had no spare volumes for Western markets because its output was already contracted.

The post changes little, Shraibman argued. Lithuania has already said the deal does not concern it, hinting that the US is welcome to buy Belarusian potash through Russia's northern ports - financing both the Lukashenko regime and Russia's war economy. Framing the deal as a blow to Canada could make EU consent even harder to secure.

"It is one thing to help the United States achieve the humanitarian goal of freeing Belarusian political prisoners. It is another to stab Canada, a close EU ally, in the back to help Trump in his trade war with Ottawa," he wrote.

"The irony of the situation is that having railed at US hegemony for over three decades, Lukashenko is now a victim of the weakening of that very hegemony," Shraibman concluded. "Washington's loss of influence in Europe is one of the reasons he cannot get what he wants."