Hard Numbers: Where do Canada’s weapons go? Plus: One man’s wrong turn, a seal oil sting, new immigration rules

June 08, 2023

A pair of armored personnel carriers parked at the General Dynamics Land Systems Canada factory in London, Ontario.

REUTERS/Chris Helgren

11: Who would you guess is the world’s second-largest importer of Canadian military equipment after the US? For 11 years in a row, it’s been … Saudi Arabia, which imported more than $1 billion in Canadian arms in 2022 alone. The highly public (and recently resolved) spat between Canada and the Kingdom appears not to have affected that brisk arms trade at all.

400: This upcoming sentence doesn’t end how you think it will: An American man who put the incorrect address into his GPS ended up taking a wrong turn, which took him to the Rainbow Bridge at the Canadian border, where he was caught with 400 pounds of weed and $600,000 in his car.

936: In other, more intentional, cross-border smuggling news: A US Department of Justice sting operation nabbed an Ontario-based company for exporting at least 936 bottles of harp seal oil capsules to the US, in violation of strict environmental protection laws. The company, FeelGood, pleaded guilty on Monday and probably isn’t feeling great about facing a maximum penalty of a $500,000 fine and five years of probation. Canada has been stepping up its own efforts to track and trap illicit wildlife traffickers.

5: And for those looking to cross the Canadian border for more upstanding reasons, Canada has announced a new plan to attract immigrants with qualifications in five key areas: healthcare, STEM professions, manual trades like carpentry and plumbing, transportation, and agriculture. The move comes amid a broader debate about the extent to which Canada is suffering labor shortages.

Opinion: Searching for signals on ‘Liberation Day’

President Donald Trump speaks from the Oval Office flanked by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on the day he signed executive orders for reciprocal tariffs, Feb. 13, 2025.

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Details of a group chat between senior administration officials that leaked last week – the so-called Houthi PC small group – provide allies, adversaries, and watchers with revealing insights into the administration’s foreign policy blueprint. Lindsay Newman explores the takeaways.

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Proud Source became a Walmart supplier in 2021. Today, its team has grown by 50%, and it's the largest employer in Mackay, ID. Walmart supports small businesses across the country, and nearly two-thirds of Walmart's product spend is on products made, grown, or assembled in America. It’s all a part of Walmart’s $350 billion investment in US manufacturing, which helps small businesses grow and supports US jobs. Learn more about Walmart’s commitment to US manufacturing.

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As Microsoft celebrates its 50th anniversary, Vice Chair and President Brad Smith sits down with company cofounder Bill Gates for a special episode of Tools and Weapons. They discuss Gates’ new memoir, "Source Code: My Beginnings," reflect on Microsoft’s impact over the past five decades, and explore why the next phase of the digital revolution is shaping up to be the most exciting yet. Subscribe and find new episodes monthly, wherever you listen to podcasts.

Hard Numbers: Where do Canada’s weapons go? Plus: One man’s wrong turn, a seal oil sting, new immigration rules

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Vladimir Putin insists that Volodymyr Zelensky is no longer Ukraine’s legitimate president because his government has imposed martial law and delayed elections that were due in 2024.

Details of a group chat between senior administration officials that leaked last week – the so-called Houthi PC small group – provide allies, adversaries, and watchers with revealing insights into the administration’s foreign policy blueprint. Lindsay Newman explores the takeaways.