In the news: Trump’s trade-deal asks, Cold grips the west, Harry Potter baking show

By Canadian Press on December 23, 2025.

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed …

The continental trade pact is up for review in 2026 — here’s what Trump might want

A mandatory review of Canada’s trade with the U.S. and Mexico kicks into high gear in 2026, as President Donald Trump suggests the deal may have served its purpose.

The countries have three choices: renew the deal for another 16 years, withdraw from it, or signal both non-renewal and non-withdrawal — triggering an annual review that keeps negotiations going.

Trump has complained repeatedly about long-standing irritants in the United States’ trade relationship with Canada.

Ryan Majerus with the Washington-based law firm King & Spalding says he doesn’t expect negotiations to be much different from those of the first Trump administration, but says the U.S. will likely push for greater regional content in automobiles.

For Canada, critical minerals and energy will be key bargaining chips.

Interim budget officer says he regrets calling feds’ fiscal management ‘stupefying’

Interim parliamentary budget officer Jason Jacques called the federal government’s finances “unsustainable” and “stupefying” a few months ago — but he now says he’d take those words back if he could.

His commentary lit up the House of Commons this fall as the Conservatives accused the Liberals of reckless spending ahead of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first federal budget.

Jacques told The Canadian Press the budget officer shouldn’t be a critic and he worries now using language such as that helped politicize Ottawa’s finances.

He says the language he would use to communicate the basics of federal finances to people without accounting degrees isn’t what he should use as the office’s spokesman.

Yukon power grid under ‘significant’ strain as deep freeze grips Western Canada

A deep freeze gripping much of Western Canada has one northern territory urging its residents to limit their power use.

Cold warnings are in effect for the northernmost parts of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, as well as the Yukon and the Northwest Territories.

The chill is so severe in the Yukon that Energy Minister Ted Laking is telling residents to conserve electricity because the grid is under significant strain.

Laking says due to equipment failures across the territory, people should be prepared with emergency kits in the event of rolling blackouts.

Pulled ’60 Minutes’ segment surfaces on web with Canadian broadcaster’s branding

A segment of the American news program “60 Minutes,” pulled by CBS News prior to its U.S. airing, began circulating online Monday with the branding of Canadian broadcaster Global TV.

Multiple media reports say the program was uploaded to StackTV, Global’s streaming platform, though it was not available to watch as of late Monday.

CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss has said it was her decision to pull from Sunday’s show the segment featuring deportees who faced egregious torture at a notorious prison in El Salvador because it didn’t “advance the ball.”

But the journalist behind the story has said the segment was cleared by CBS lawyers and she is accusing Weiss of trying to appease the Trump administration — a known critic of the show.

Alberta chocolatier brings Canadian magic to Harry Potter baking show

An Alberta chocolatier brought a distinctly Canadian flavour to the baking show “Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking,” a magical experience she says taught her to think bigger.

Priya Winsor of St. Albert, Alta., a finalist on the show and the owner of Compass Chocolates, said the show pushed her well beyond her comfort zone, particularly when it came to constructing large-scale edible showpieces.

The series saw pastry chefs, chocolatiers and cake artists from around the world compete to make hyper-realistic, edible showpieces inspired by the Harry Potter universe.

Many of the showpieces Winsor created with her partner on the show were inspired by personal experiences that felt especially Canadian, such as including elements of her home province of Newfoundland.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 23, 2025.

The Canadian Press