#44: MILITARIZED PETRO STATE 🛢️

🚓 CRIME - Winnipeg man arrested after allegedly threatening the prime minister on Twitter

💊 DRUGS - Horse tranquilizer being mixed with fentanyl as overdoses spike in public libraries across Canada

🧑‍⚕️ HEALTHCARE - “To deny me this right is to deny my humanity”: Bipolar Toronto woman clamors for assisted death

Good morning.

“War is back in vogue,” says Pope Leo XIV, and Canada is open for business.

Energy Minister Tim Hodgson says he is getting calls from nations nervous about their oil supply chains being disrupted by war in the Middle East.

“The world right now is feeling incredibly insecure,” Hodgson said. “We've already seen an uptick in inquiries about how quickly Canada can expand its clean and conventional energy exports.”

Hodgson also says Ottawa will begin accelerating domestic mining projects in anticipation of our “allies” soon requiring more critical minerals for totally peaceful activities……

“Our critical minerals are cards in our hands,” he told speculators at the world’s largest mining conference in Toronto this week, “giving us an advantage as we engage in the world as it is, not as we wish it to be.”

Hodgson’s comments come just weeks after Avi Lewis, the frontrunner in the ongoing federal NDP leadership race, said Prime Minister Mark Carney is trying to turn Canada into a “militarized petro state.”

“My objection to Carney’s leadership is exactly that: he’s a smart guy and he’s very popular in Canada right now because he has a diagnosis of where we are in history: we’re at a turning point,” said Lewis at the NDP leadership debate last month.

“But what he wants to do is make us into a petro state—that is, a militarized petro state—a junior arms dealer on the world stage.”

Lewis, who is new to politics, meant for his comments to be an attack on the prime minister, not an endorsement.

Enjoy today’s stories.

-Peter

⌛️ Today’s read is 2.5 minutes long.

🎲 WHAT ARE THE ODDS?

▲ 24% chance a nuclear weapon will be detonated somewhere in the world before 2027* (+13% this month).

▼ 3% chance Canada will strike Iran by end of March (-35% this week).

▲ 29% chance Justin Trudeau and Katy Perry get engaged this year (+2% this week).

▼ 21% chance Trump will make a new trade deal with Canada this year (-11% this month).

*Polymarket removed this betting market on Wednesday after backlash.

A Winnipeg man is in custody after allegedly posting death threats against Prime Minister Mark Carney on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Jason Paul Rindall, 55, was arrested on Feb. 13 following a month-long investigation by the RCMP.

The investigation was launched after police found an X user allegedly posting death threats directed at the prime minister. According to the RCMP, the posts also incited hatred toward Muslims and Jews.

Rindall has been charged with three counts of uttering threats to cause death. He remains in custody and is scheduled to make his next appearance in Winnipeg Provincial Court on March 13.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

Overdoses in public libraries across Canada are on the rise as fentanyl laced with horse tranquilizer makes its rounds on the streets.

Libraries from Hamilton to Saskatoon are reporting a spike in drug poisonings as street fentanyl is increasingly contaminated with medetomidine, a sedative used by veternarians to tranquilize animals like dogs, cats, and horses.

Since December, paramedics have been called to the Hamilton Central Library 105 times, with security administering Naloxone in 44 separate instances. In the first five weeks of 2026, the library recorded 771 security incidents.

Hamilton Public Library CEO Paul Takala says the drug consumption has been “disrupting our ability to be a public library.”

“We’ve found people consuming drugs in the washrooms, sometimes they’re consuming drugs in the library itself,” he told CTV News.

In March 2025, two Saskatoon libraries were temporarily closed due to public safety concerns arising from the number of overdoses inside them.

"We cannot serve as a refuge for people with nowhere else to go," said Saskatoon Public Library CEO Carol Shepstone at the time.

Health officials are increasingly worried by the shift from xylazine (a less potent animal tranquilizer) to medetomidine in street drugs. According to Toronto’s Drug Check Services, medetomidine was found in 86% of fentanyl samples last month—a massive leap from under 20% in late 2023.

Unlike opioids, these tranquilizers do not respond to Naloxone. Medetomidine usually causes hallucinations and low blood pressure, and abrupt stoppage of regular usage can lead to dangerous withdrawal syndrome.

Despite the rise in emergency calls, the rate of fatal overdoses is actually declining.

At its peak in 2021, the opioid crisis claimed 20 lives for every 100,000 Canadians. Midway through last year that number had dropped to 13.5 deaths per 100,000 Canadians.

As the federal government considers extending euthanasia eligibility to patients suffering solely from mental illness, a Toronto woman with bipolar disorder is calling for her Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) request to be approved.

“I’ve been treated by psychiatrists, psychologists, counsellors and 12-steps rehab in Montreal, New York City, Toronto and Los Angeles,” Claire Brosseau told AFP.

“I’ve tried antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, benzos, sleeping pills and stimulants, cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy... tai chi, reiki, meditation, veganism, art therapy and music therapy.”

The 49-year-old former stand-up comedian says there’s “nothing really” she hasn’t tried, and now she’s ready to pull the plug.

“It’s just been too much for too long… I have about 10 to 30 minutes a day where I’m OK. But the rest of it is just terrible.”

Brosseau lives in a little apartment in Toronto with her dog, Olive. She only leaves the apartment to walk Olive when the streets are deserted, and she has very little contact with her family.

She no longer visits friends and she has all her groceries delivered. She conducts her appointments with psychiatrists over video call.

MAID is only currently availible to patients suffering from incurable physical illnesses.

The program was supposed to be broadened in March 2024 to include patients whose sole underlying medical condition is mental illness, but this expansion was delayed by the Trudeau government.

The temporary exclusion for mentally ill patients is now in effect until March 2027. Next month a parliamentary committee will start deliberating on whether the expansion should, indeed, go through.

Brosseau says another delay by the federal government would violate her rights as a human being.

“To deny me this right is to deny my humanity,” she said.

Brosseau questions the government’s position that mentally ill patients are incapable of making informed decisions.

“We’re allowed to get married, write a will, make decisions that affect our entire lives,” she said. “But not this one?”