Start your day off right with five things you need to know this morning.
Five things you need to know
Canada's economy shrank 1.6 per cent between April and June on an annualized basis, according to Statistics Canada data released this morning. The agency blamed a collapse in exports to the United States amid President Donald Trump's trade war with Canada. Real GDP per capita, meanwhile, also declined in the second quarter, by 0.4 per cent.
Now the pain will begin. I’m watching closely how Canadians react as workers, investors, consumers, and voters. https://t.co/GlMvQmwEb2
— David Coletto 🇨🇦 (@DavidColetto) August 29, 2025
The Canadian Press news agency has interviewed several teachers across the country who think there is a "moral imperative" to discuss climate change in the classroom. One, Lisa Jeffery, said climate change "extends to every single subject in our curriculum," while another, Rochelle Tkach, said she has made her students look at how travelling by car contributes to CO2 emissions. Another, Jason Schilling, said politicians discussing the school curriculum "just makes things much worse," adding: "We just need to depoliticize that stuff."
"Moral imperative": Canadian teachers say more climate change lessons needed in classrooms.https://t.co/TJ3MksXbV8
— CityNews Toronto (@CityNewsTO) August 28, 2025
The 2023 wildfire season in Canada was so disastrous that it resulted in pollution surging to levels not seen since the 1990s, according to a new study. The report, from the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, found that if 2023 pollution levels were maintained over a lifetime, the life expectancy of people in parts of Canada, including British Columbia, could decline by four years.
Wildfires in 2023 drove Canada’s air pollution. How could it affect life expectancy? https://t.co/JuOZ0014fs pic.twitter.com/JIS1gqsXTM
— Toronto Sun (@TheTorontoSun) August 28, 2025
One of the most popular Canadian novels of all time, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, is set to be pulled from library shelves at Edmonton public school this fall, according to a report by the CBC. Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, a warning against eugenics and totalitarianism, will also be among more than 200 books culled from schools because of their sexual content.
This is not ok anywhere and esp not in Canada. This is about our freedom. 📚 ⬇️
— Katie Telford (@telfordk) August 29, 2025
“The Handmaid's Tale among more than 200 books to be pulled at Edmonton public schools.”
https://t.co/mmsiYhJoUx
The collapse in birthrates around the world is not as simple as it seems, according to an opinion column by a Financial Times data journalist. Analyzing surveys about social values, the author argues that the real birthrate crisis is among progressives, with conservatives having just about as many kids as they did decades ago. He writes: "By ceding the topic of family and children to the right, progressives risk ushering in a more conservative world."
NEW: Progressives have a birth rate problem
— John Burn-Murdoch (@jburnmurdoch) August 29, 2025
For all the talk of a general fall in births, the drop is overwhelmingly driven by people on the left having fewer kids.
By ceding the topic of family and children to the right, progressives risk ushering in a more conservative world. pic.twitter.com/FmpYEsGVio
