Good morning. Prime Minister Mark Carney will meet with Canada’s premiers next month to discuss his energy plans – including how to ease Western tensions while balancing conventional production with the renewable transition. In Whitehorse, a wind project led by Kwanlin Dün First Nation is already putting that balance into practice. Below, how a Northern initiative is offering national lessons in energy independence and long-term resilience.

Economy: The Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate unchanged Wednesday, brushing off U.S. President Donald Trump’s demands to lower borrowing costs, and said that the risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation have risen.

Investment: Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is leading a new round of investment worth $160-million in Germain Hotels to speed up the Canadian lodging company’s expansion as the tourism industry stays hopeful in an economy fraught with uncertainty.

Telecom: Following years of price declines, Canadian telecoms are raising certain add-on fees and plan prices.

What we’re following: BCE Inc. said it would cut its dividend by more than half as it reported first-quarter earnings. Shopify is also reporting earnings before the bell.

A U.S.-backed takeover of Parkland Corp. could become a defining moment in Canada’s fight to defend economic sovereignty.

• The deal: Dallas-based Sunoco LP, chaired by long-time Trump ally Ray Washburne, has launched a $7.7-billion bid for Parkland, a major Canadian gas station operator and fuel refiner.
• The timing: Talks were underway just as Trump’s April “Liberation Day” tariffs sent Parkland’s stock tumbling, creating a discount window for buyers like Sunoco.
• The backstory: Parkland’s financial struggles and a boardroom battle with major shareholder Simpson Oil already had the company on the ropes, but the tariff shock helped tip it into play.
• The test: Ottawa must now decide whether this constitutes “predatory investment behaviour.” The new review rules introduced in March were designed for exactly this kind of moment.
• The bottom line: “The President doesn’t need to make Canada the 51st state to achieve his nationalist economic goals,” Andrew Willis writes.

Energy, sovereignty, and who’s really leading the transition

When Jeffrey Jones flew to Whitehorse for a conference on renewables in remote communities, he knew the landscape would be dramatic – but he didn’t expect the wind to drive the point home quite so forcefully.

On Haeckel Hill, just outside the city, conditions were bracing and relentless – ideal for the turbines perched there to harness it all. Built to endure Yukon’s cold and high winds, the Thay T’äw Wind Energy Project feeds electricity into the southern Yukon grid.

“I nearly got blown off the hill,” said Jones, The Globe’s ESG and sustainable finance reporter. “But it was the perfect place to see both the potential and the challenges of making renewables work in the North.”

Jones recently explored how Kwanlin Dün First Nation’s ownership of the wind farm offers a model of sovereignty: economic, cultural and environmental. The project and its benefits to the region were fascinating in their own right, but they also served as a model of energy independence, and an opportunity to learn from communities that have been building resilience for decades.

And behind the scenes, what struck Jones most wasn’t the engineering. It was the people – especially the younger generation, many in their 20s and 30s, who are treating clean energy not just as a technical challenge but as a means of cultural renewal.

“There’s a growing strength, expertise and desire among Indigenous communities to be side by side with project developers,” he said. “The energy at that conference in Whitehorse was palpable.”

Among the voices was a youth leader from Six Nations and students mentored by Yukon University’s Michael Ross, whose courses on renewables in remote communities have become foundational. “He’s become a bit of a guru,” Jones said. “They go back to their communities ready to implement what they’ve learned.”

What makes these efforts so striking, Jones said, is their “realism.” Diesel is still essential for base load power in many places. Wind and solar require workarounds – from battery storage to custom-built black turbine blades that resist ice. “You need training, funding and local expertise,” Jones said. “This isn’t about flipping a switch. It’s about reducing dependency over time.”

That makes the political framing especially urgent. As Canada’s leaders talk about ramping up development – from critical minerals to new transmission lines – Indigenous communities remain central to the country’s energy future. But Jones warns against the idea that quick builds can bypass consultation.

“We’ve seen a lot of chest-thumping lately,” he said. “People forget why past projects failed. In many cases, it was about inadequate consultation. The conversation is shifting – from permission to partnership. Including ownership.”

While national parallels were hard to miss, Jones approached the story with a focus on local voices. “I went there to listen,” he said. “People were already making the connections between energy, culture and economics. My job was to reflect that without forcing it.”