Stephen Harper

After the shooting and the lockdown in Ottawa, Canadian police have shared details about the suspected gunman: Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, a Canadian citizen with a criminal record and a confiscated passport. But further information about his conversion to Islam and radicalization is still scarce.

There’s a new front opening in the effort to pump oil out of Canada’s tar sands. Plans to build pipelines to the south to the Gulf of Mexico and to the west to the Pacific Ocean are in question. Now TransCanada wants to head east from Alberta to refineries on the Atlantic.

As Canada grapples with its budget and tries to make cuts, scientists are protesting the decision, they say, to halt funding for the Experimental Lakes Area and end the important research conducted there.

Canada is emerging as the largest supplier of energy to the United States. It’s electricity, natural gas and oil are all being shipped to America, but environmentalists there and here say it’s coming with a hefty price tag.

As Canada looks to develop markets for its oil after the defeat of the Keystone XL pipeline in the United States, Primer Minister Stephen Harper says the country needs to develop tighter ties with China — one of the world’s fastest growing economies.