Hour 1 of Ottawa Now for Mon. August 24th, 2026

Chris Holski is filling in for the vacationing Kristy Cameron, who will return to the hosting chair on Friday. And whenever Kristy hits the road, breaking news hits the floor. Boy, did we get a lot of it over the weekend. Boy, did we get more of it today. U.S. President Trump has installed a series of 50% tariffs against Canada after the two North American neighbours couldn’t reach an agreement ahead of Friday’s deadline. He is also threatening to target bigger sectors with 50% tariffs on New Year’s Day – obviously depending on how the upcoming months play out. Ontario Premier Doug Ford was having none of it, saying Trump can ‘kiss his ass’. This comes weeks before Canada is set to roll out a series of retaliatory tariffs against Trump’s barrage. It’s definitely a card that our country can play. But against a counterpart as big as Team USA, is it the best option we have? Ian Lee from Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business believes that fighting fire with fire is a dangerous wager to make against the American side, and it could end badly for Canada depending on how long they choose to pursue it. He joins the program in Hour 1. But first, we bring you up to speed on today’s top headlines.