Good morning. The Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec is celebrating a new leader while the federal Liberals are focused on today\u2019s by-elections. More politics below, along with Hungary\u2019s election and U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks. Let\u2019s get to it.<\/p>\n
Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n Prime Minister Mark Carney greets his wife Diana Fox Carney as he arrives to speak at the Liberal national convention in Montreal on April 11.Christinne Muschi\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n TOP STORYCanadian politics at play<\/p>\n The latest: In a Saturday speech to the Liberal party\u2019s convention, Prime Minister Mark Carney laid down markers for his plans in the coming months \u2013 including indications of shifting into a new gear for a potential majority government<\/a>. More specific details will follow in the spring economic update, expected within weeks. But first, the Liberals are focused on today\u2019s by-elections. <\/p>\n Context: Last April, voters delivered Carney a minority mandate with 169 out of 343 seats. Three of those seats are now vacant and five Opposition MPs crossed the floor to join the Liberal caucus. The party is widely expected to win two seats in the by-elections, which would bring their total in the House to 173 \u2013 a clear majority. The result in the Terrebonne by-election is less certain. <\/p>\n Meanwhile in Quebec: The Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec has chosen former minister Christine Fr\u00e9chette to be its next leader<\/a>, anointing her the province\u2019s next premier, replacing Fran\u00e7ois Legault. Fr\u00e9chette is promising to breathe new life into a party with just months to go before a provincial election scheduled for October.<\/p>\n What\u2019s next: After the by-elections wrap up today, winning a majority would reshape Carney\u2019s government operations. With defections from other parties, the caucus could grow even further, with as many as eight more opposition MPs being courted to cross the floor<\/a>, three Liberal sources told The Globe and Mail.<\/p>\n Opinion: The week we learned that anyone can come and anyone can go<\/a>. <\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n People pass in front of a pro-government political mural on April 12, in Tehran, Iran.Majid Saeedi\/Getty Images<\/p>\n WorldTrump orders blockade of Strait of Hormuz<\/p>\n The latest: U.S. President Donald Trump said yesterday that the U.S. Navy would \u201cimmediately\u201d begin a blockade of ships<\/a> entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz, after Iranian ceasefire talks in Pakistan ended without an agreement or next diplomatic steps in sight. U.S. Central Command announced that it will blockade all Iranian ports beginning Monday at 10 a.m. ET.<\/p>\n Context: The face-to-face talks<\/a> in Islamabad ended early Sunday and were the highest-level negotiations between the long-time rivals since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.<\/p>\n What\u2019s next: Neither delegation indicated what will happen after the ceasefire expires on April 22. Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said his country will try to facilitate a new dialogue in the coming days. <\/p>\n Elsewhere: Bombing across the Middle East calmed over the past day except in Lebanon, where Israeli air strikes killed an infant girl<\/a> during her father\u2019s funeral, who was also killed by Israel last week.<\/p>\n Opinion: By deliberately targeting water<\/a>, warring factions in the Persian Gulf have weaponized thirst.<\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n Barry Hertz looks at how five new Canadian films are defying expectations.Illustration by Daria Lada<\/p>\n How We LiveElbows up at the box office<\/p>\n The latest: So far, 2026 has already delivered five English-language Canadian films that have crossed the $300,000 mark at the domestic box office: Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie ($1.32-million), the supernatural thriller Undertone ($1.1-million), the animated Charlie the Wonderdog ($710,000), the hockey drama Youngblood ($500,000) and the horror flick Whistle ($309,000).<\/p>\n What\u2019s next: These five films are very different from one another, writes Barry Hertz, but look a little closer, and a few unifying threads emerge. Each new box-office breakthrough offers its own crucial set of lessons<\/a> for the Canadian film industry to succeed. And just in time for National Canadian Film Day on April 15.<\/p>\n HungaryOrban swept out of power in Hungarian election <\/p>\n The latest: Hungary\u2019s opposition Tisza movement scored a landslide election victory<\/a>, ending populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban\u2019s 16 years in power. The country cast ballots Sunday in what is seen as Europe\u2019s most consequential election this year, setting a record turnout in a vote that unseated the ally of Washington and Moscow. <\/p>\n What\u2019s next: The final tally won\u2019t be known for a few days but if the result holds up it will be a remarkable win for Peter Magyar, the ex-diplomat who founded Tisza two years ago after breaking with Orban\u2019s Fidesz.<\/p>\n HealthNew cancer research highlights risks for young adults <\/p>\n The latest: Research published today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal shows that people who\u2019ve been treated for cancer as young adults are twice as likely as their peers<\/a> to develop new tumours years later. The Alberta study reinforces the need for better screening of an often-forgotten cohort. <\/p>\n What\u2019s next: Young adults don\u2019t have the same level of support across Canada when it comes to screening cancer survivors. Work is under way to develop a high-risk breast cancer screening program in Alberta, which is one of several Canadian jurisdictions lacking such programs.<\/p>\n BookmarkedInvestigation: The arrest of a competitor for attacks on GFL executives\u2019 homes underscores the cutthroat nature<\/a> of construction contracts.From the weekend: At Coachella<\/a>, Justin Bieber, Justin Trudeau and Katy Perry search for relevancy.For your finances: Have investors forgotten how to panic<\/a>?For your relationships: In a busy, disconnected world, people are getting inventive<\/a> with their social lives.Conversation starter: We need to embrace the art of diplomacy<\/a>, not the art of the deal, says former Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff.The Quote<\/p>\n For whatever reason, I gravitate often to these very dark subjects. And I don\u2019t know why. But I think people who know me from my writing and then meet me are sometimes taken aback that I\u2019m not all doom and gloom.<\/p>\n \u2014 Patrick Radden Keefe, author<\/p>\n In his new book London Falling, Patrick Radden Keefe has written his most intimate true story <\/a>yet. The new investigation is of the death of Zac Brettler, a 19-year-old British teenager who mysteriously fell to his death in the Thames River from a luxury fifth-floor apartment balcony. <\/p>\n