5 things you need to know this morning: May 30, 2025

Start your day off right with five things you need to know this morning.

Five things you need to know

1. Canada's annualized GDP growth at 2.2% in first 3 months of 2025: StatCan

Canada's economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.2 per cent in the first three months of this year, according to Statistics Canada. That's up from the projection in the fourth quarter of 2024, which was 2.1 per cent. The results come ahead of the Bank of Canada's interest rate decision next week.

Canada’s first quarter GDP expands by 2.2% annualized rate beating estimates https://t.co/9yy2f4GbbF pic.twitter.com/OX1IvyQHH8

— Greg MacEachern (@gmacofglebe) May 30, 2025

2. Saskatchewan joins Manitoba in declaring state of emergency

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has declared a state of emergency in his province as wildfires spread throughout the Prairies and force thousands of people to evacuate. Wab Kinew, Manitoba's premier, declared a state of emergency on Wednesday.

Fire crews fighting a wildfire near Creighton, Saskatchewan, barely escaped after a fire almost surrounded them.

Firefighter Trevor Gene recorded this dramatic video. pic.twitter.com/Y7aceaaFZl

— APTN News (@APTNNews) May 29, 2025

3. Trump spokeswoman says legality of tariffs will be decided by Supreme Court

Donald Trump's spokeswoman has said she expects the legality of the president's tariff policy, which was both halted and resumed by two different courts on Thursday, will ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court. Karoline Leavitt also accused the court that blocked Trump's tariffs of "judicial overreach."

Leavitt on the tariff halt: “The courts should have no role here…America cannot function if President Trump, or any other president for that matter, has their sensitive diplomatic or trade negotiations railroaded by activist judges…The Supreme Court must put an end to this.” pic.twitter.com/LMMZCUjBHI

— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) May 29, 2025

4. Senate Opposition leader slams Liberals after $330K spent to rename rail project

The leader of the Opposition in the Senate has said it was "irresponsible" for the Liberal government to spend $330,000 to rebrand the Crown corporation overseeing the construction of the planned high-speed railway between Quebec City and Toronto. Conservative Senator Leo Housakos said: "This kind of irresponsible spending without any accountability or economic logic illustrates the waste that has characterized the Liberal government." A Quebec firm was paid the cash to rename the VIA Rail subsidiary from "VIA-HFR" to "Alto."

Conservative Senate leader criticizes $330K rebrand of high-speed rail project https://t.co/EkOwleajVH via @CdnPressNews

— Senator Leo Housakos (@SenatorHousakos) May 30, 2025

5. US resorts offering freebies to Canadians amid tourism slump

Our erstwhile chums to the south are growing increasingly desperate for Canadian tourists in the wake of a mass boycott prompted by Donald Trump's repeated attacks on Canada. A golf resort owner in New York state said he "can't really blame" Canadians for avoiding the US, but he's been left suffering "a major downturn" as a consequence. He's now offering a free bucket of golf balls to Canadians alongside other perks in an attempt to lure customers back.

U.S. tourism operators offer exclusive deals for Canadians to try to convince them to return https://t.co/PDvNfFk7nk #travel #Trump

— SophiaHarris (@sophiaharrisCBC) May 30, 2025